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Joe Brown

@j0ebr0wn.bsky.social

350 followers 230 following 250 posts

Professor, UNC Department of Environmental Sciences & Engineering. Interim Director, UNC Water Institute. Environmental health microbiology, pathogen transmission, environmental epidemiology, global health engineering. Art. http://tarheels.live/brown

tarheels.live

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Joe Brown @j0ebr0wn.bsky.social · 1d

I sowed all my wild oats years ago. Now I am sowing thoroughly domesticated oats.

I prefer these ones.

Joe Brown @j0ebr0wn.bsky.social · 2d

👀

Under Trump, E.P.A. Explored if Abortion Pills Could Be Detected in Wastewater

www.nytimes.com

Joe Brown @j0ebr0wn.bsky.social · 2d

youtu.be/VwcKwGS7OSQ?...

Woody Guthrie~ All You Fascists Bound To Lose

YouTube video by UnAmericanBandstand

youtu.be

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Joe Brown @j0ebr0wn.bsky.social · 5d

Joe Brown @j0ebr0wn.bsky.social · 10d

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/01/w...

In East Timor, U.S. Retreats From Plan to Build ‘Lifesaving’ Sewage Plant

www.nytimes.com

Joe Brown @j0ebr0wn.bsky.social · 15d

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/24/t...

The Next Big Thing in Pop Culture: Public Bathrooms

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Joe Brown

Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 16d

NSF GRFP is out 2.5 months late w/key changes

1. 2nd year graduate students not eligible.

2. "alignment with Administration priorities"

3. Unlike prior years, they DO NOT specify the expected number of awards... that is a BIG problem.

a brief 🧵 w/receipts

www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP)

www.nsf.gov

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Joe Brown @j0ebr0wn.bsky.social · Sep 11

My dog Daisy (x.com/DaisyFetch) is an anti-rabies-vaccine activist

Y'all should check her out

Joe Brown @j0ebr0wn.bsky.social · Sep 11

I can only clap at this news

Sorry, I guess that's gonorrhea. Maybe I will hold my applause until we finally have a solution to the epidemic of koala gonorrhea

Reposted by Joe Brown

William Porter @willporter.bsky.social · Sep 3

Water pollution doesn't necessarily stay in the water, and downwind communities suffer. Proud to have been a part of this study led by Ben Rico and the Prather team at UCSD, and hoping for some effective action to clean things up soon.

@kprather.bsky.social

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Heavily polluted Tijuana River drives regional air quality crisis

Industrial chemicals and untreated sewage have polluted the Tijuana River for decades, recently causing >1300 consecutive days of California beach closures. In summer 2024, wastewater flows surged to ...

www.science.org

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Joe Brown @j0ebr0wn.bsky.social · Sep 3

Horrific & stupid. Polio will come back to Florida.

By the way, everyone should just follow WHO guidance on vaccines. They are there (despite recent funding losses as America leaves the chat) to guide everyone, including folks in fragile states or in other places that lack competent leadership.

States Go Their Own (and Contradictory) Ways on Vaccine Policy

www.nytimes.com

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Joe Brown @j0ebr0wn.bsky.social · Aug 28

This is the sort of work this administration is halting with their ridiculous, backward policies.

Public health scientists solve important problems and help people.

In a Lab, the Hunt for a Killer: The Legionella Germ Causing an Outbreak

www.nytimes.com

Joe Brown @j0ebr0wn.bsky.social · Aug 28

These monsters are undoing decades of progress. We will all be sicker. More people will die. Needless suffering brought on my willful ignorance, grievance, spite, & cruelty.

I have no words to describe how distressing this all is. There is just no point.

Never let the pigeon drive the bus.

Kennedy Sought to Fire C.D.C. Director Over Vaccine Policy

www.nytimes.com

Joe Brown @j0ebr0wn.bsky.social · Aug 28

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Joe Brown @j0ebr0wn.bsky.social · Aug 28

They objected to a propsed change to the vax schedule

Joe Brown @j0ebr0wn.bsky.social · Aug 21

Just assume flood water has poo in it, because it universally does, though human versus animal & the amounts differ a lot. But any flood water carries exposure risks.

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/18/w...

The Unseen Dangers of Floodwaters

www.nytimes.com

Joe Brown @j0ebr0wn.bsky.social · Aug 21

Today on the sanitation beat: cave remediation

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/20/c...

A Miles-Long Cave in Kentucky Was a Smelly Disaster. Now It’s Spectacular.

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Joe Brown

The New York Times @nytimes.com · Aug 20

New Jersey scientists are testing mosquitoes after a resident may have contracted malaria locally, which health officials said would be the first known instance in decades of someone being exposed while in the state.

New Malaria Case Prompts Testing of Mosquitoes in New Jersey

A Morris County resident may have contracted the illness locally, which would be the first known instance in decades of someone being exposed while in the state.

nyti.ms

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Joe Brown @j0ebr0wn.bsky.social · Aug 21

Excellent points! And the number 51 is my favorite example of a number that seems like it should be a prime but isn’t 😃

Joe Brown @j0ebr0wn.bsky.social · Aug 20

One of the students in my wife’s 3rd grade math class is headed for disappointment

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Joe Brown @j0ebr0wn.bsky.social · Aug 18

Clear victory on the field of battle

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Joe Brown @j0ebr0wn.bsky.social · Aug 18

Today on the sanitation beat: near constant shitting

Birds have to top the list of daily defecation by body mass, as observers of Canada geese & chickens will attest. But some clearly top the league tables.

"Streaked shearwaters ... [shed] about 5 percent of their body mass every hour."

These Majestic Seabirds Never Stop Pooping

www.nytimes.com

Joe Brown @j0ebr0wn.bsky.social · Aug 18

I’m not assigning this one - I teach in the UNC Department of Environmental Sciences & Engineering - but this is a fantastic collection, & not just for the name-brand authors like John Cage & Bucky Fuller. Plenty of folks I had never heard of, truly a delight to read!

Well done!

The Anthology of Black Mountain College Poetry

Founded in 1933 near Asheville, North Carolina, Black Mountain College fostered experimentation and interdisciplinary learning, placing the arts at the heart...

uncpress.org

Joe Brown @j0ebr0wn.bsky.social · Aug 14

A hero sandwich