This nails it!

Global Cold‐Water Coral Biodiversity Redistribution Under Projected Climate Change 🔗 buff.ly/FyhJb97

Climate variations over the last 2000 years provide valuable context and help answer questions about how unusual the recent changes are. Now with added global sea level rise: climatelabbook.substack.com/p/climate-ch... Graphics: ed-hawkins.github.io/climate-visu...

I'm happy to share that I’ve been promoted to full professor! 🎉 So many people to thank. Suffice to say, I wouldn’t have reached this point without important mentors, students, colleagues, and family. I can’t wait to celebrate with them properly over a beverage of choice soon. 🍻🍷☕️

Most of society misses out on making real connections with #nature. We’re lucky in NZ to have an amazing network of backcountry huts that are dirt cheap to stay in. One night here can shift perspective forever. If we want people to care for nature, we need to help them fall in love with it first.

You know what I want in a politician? Someone who thinks beyond the next 3-5 years. Someone who thinks beyond their generation. Let’s vote for these people.

Diverse forests make complementary use of canopy space and produce more biomass

New paper alert! We (well, Gabrielle Koerich) modelled distributions of 28 Antarctic moss species using Bayesian spatial models. Results? Moss diversity is shaped by proximity to seabird colonies and water availability, with clear differences between maritime and continental assemblages.

New paper alert! We (well, Gabrielle Koerich) modelled distributions of 28 Antarctic moss species using Bayesian spatial models. Results? Moss diversity is shaped by proximity to seabird colonies and water availability, with clear differences between maritime and continental assemblages.

For my Substack, every second week is a little round-up of ideas I’m exploring, articles I'm reading, and other stuff that caught my attention related to climate, biodiversity, and water. It’s part reading list, part reflection. I call this series 'Nexus Notes'.

"I've found that the most rewarding aspects of an academic career often lie in the unmeasured — in meaningful collaborations, moments of discovery, and watching students and mentees flourish." Very true.

What would you share with an earlier version of yourself?

Real action requires looking forward, not back The world is changing at pace – a pace that requires approaches that are anticipatory, not reactionary Some thoughts on a recent call for a more anticipatory approach to the Global Biodiversity Framework.

Real action requires looking forward, not back The world is changing at pace – a pace that requires approaches that are anticipatory, not reactionary Some thoughts on a recent call for a more anticipatory approach to the Global Biodiversity Framework.

Delighted to announce a new paper, led by Mansi Mungee, which studies insect populations over the UK using weather radar and is covered by the Guardian: www.theguardian.com/environment/... more below... #entomology #radar #biodiversity #insect #research #conservation #data #tech #sustainability

I couldn’t think of a better example of short-term thinking than this! 🤦‍♂️ www.1news.co.nz/2025/10/30/f...

If you’re not sure of your vaccination record with MMR, just go to the pharmacy and get a jab. There’s no harm in getting an extra dose. Measles is not worth the risk.

"Basic research is easily mocked because it can seem impractical, but, in fact, it is a major driver of economic growth. “The return on investment in basic research — the return to society — is very high, typically multiple dollars back per dollar invested,” says Holdren."

Ugh. No thanks. Auckland folks keep an eye out please! Please share.

On the second day of our annual hui, we started the day with a keynote from University of Otago Vice-Chancellor Grant Robertson on the research system in Aotearoa 🧪🧵

After four days off the grid in the NZ backcountry, I’m excited to be heading to Dunedin to talk complexity at the annual hui (meeting) for @tepunahamatatini.bsky.social, the NZ centre of research excellence in complex systems.

One of the things that was special about the Marsden Fund is that the decision-making process was tweaked over the years rather than reinvented over and over again like other funds. That allowed for decades of learning that I hope will not be lost in this latest restructure.

You have to check this out. #Rivers of #food: How healthy rivers are central to feeding the world, from @wwf-water.bsky.social. @jjopperman.bsky.social wonderfully presented this work recently at the International Society for Rivers Science conference in Davis, CA. rivers-of-food.panda.org

The seventh Planetary Boundary of nine has been crossed. Ocean acidification has joined climate change, change in biosphere integrity, land system change, freshwater change, modification of biogeochemical flows, and introduction of novel entities.

This is very sad, but also not surprising. The science has warned for a long time, including in IPCC reports, that even modest levels of global warming will devastate virtually all coral reefs. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Brainstorming what we need to do for one of these car parks at Berkeley. With @albertruhi.bsky.social and @stefanolarsen.bsky.social

This time around, #WaterYear is also gonna have water memes...

Looking forward to our first Plenary for #ISRS2025 @riversociety.bsky.social @jdtonkin.bsky.social

Great call for #SciComm action at #ISRS2025 by @jdtonkin.bsky.social “if we aren’t speaking to the public, we leave a gap that will be filled by others.” @riversociety.bsky.social #AcademicSky

We often think of fisheries management as being the role of the government fisheries manager. They certainly play an essential role but there is a diverse supporting cast. We discuss what that looks like here: cdnsciencepub.com/doi/abs/10.1...

En route to the US to deliver a keynote at this exciting meeting of the International Society for River Science. Looking forward to catching up with old colleagues and making new ones.

Happy to see this preprint up on bioRxiv, led by Daniel Hernandez-Carrasco: Accounting for the influence of dissimilarity gradients on community uniqueness If you've ever used LCBD in analyses of ecological uniqueness, this one is for you, but there's a lot more than that in here.

1 in 6 vertebrate species were highly exposed to unprecedented temperature in 2024. This is a shocking statistic. In this post, I give some of the details behind this statistic from a recent paper led by Cory Merow.

Great piece by Julia Talbot-Jones on syncing local and general elections to increase voter turnout.

Taught a class on river flow regimes, edited a student manuscript, went home to plant five fruit trees in my garden. Not a bad day at all.

A useful and enjoyable series of blogs by @jdtonkin.bsky.social. Kudos. 👏

new zealand government reaching new heights of stupidity next year our public dollars will go more to AI grants ($70 million) than all investigator-initiated basic science combined ($56 million in the Marsden fund)

Post three of a three-part series on some unique aspects of rivers and why they’re so challenging to manage. We’re exploring how rivers function as networks, their unique rhythms, and what that means for conservation and restoration. predirections.substack.com/p/to-heal-a-...

Fascinating short sharp introductions to river ecologies. Thanks @jdtonkin.bsky.social

Post three of a three-part series on some unique aspects of rivers and why they’re so challenging to manage. We’re exploring how rivers function as networks, their unique rhythms, and what that means for conservation and restoration. predirections.substack.com/p/to-heal-a-...

I’m lichen this!

Butterflies need our help. If you’re in the UK please sign and share. 🦋 @savebutterflies.bsky.social #pesticides butterflyemergency.good.do/rescue-missi...

The amount of carbon that forests can take up is much lower than previous estimates. If we don't reduce CO₂ emissions rapidly, we can say goodbye to the Paris climate targets forever.

Post 2 of 3 in my rethinking rivers mini series highlights how rivers have their own distinct rhythms. Life evolves to match these rhythms — and when we disrupt them, ecosystems unravel. So rhythmic in fact that you can make music from them. Dig in to find out how. And stay tuned for the final post.

Testing whether including GIFs now works on @bsky.app (new update)!

Post 2 of 3 in my rethinking rivers mini series highlights how rivers have their own distinct rhythms. Life evolves to match these rhythms — and when we disrupt them, ecosystems unravel. So rhythmic in fact that you can make music from them. Dig in to find out how. And stay tuned for the final post.

On the overwhelming public support for climate action: Great to see Ximeng Fang and Stefania Innocenti quoted on their research that sparked the 89% Project. (And globally, 69% of people are willing to give 1% of their income to help fix climate change.) @coveringclimatenow.org

The achievable carbon uptake from planting trees is much lower than previous estimates, and even lower than many nations have committed to. New paper by Wang et al. in Science. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... 🧪🌏🌳🌲🌐

I'm glad some people still believe in vaccines.