Michael Nelson | Lightnews

Michael Paul Nelson

@michaelpaulnelson.bsky.social

460 followers 220 following 160 posts

philosopher, writer, consultant, speaker, professor.

environmental and climate ethics, forests and wildlife, concepts, reason, arguments. undisciplined.

oregon state university 🦫
www.michaelpnelson.com

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Michael Nelson is an American political scientist, noted for his work on the Presidency and elections. He is a Fulmer Professor of Political Science at Rhodes College.

Source: Wikipedia

Environmental science 52%

Geography 13%

Posts Replies Media Videos

Reposted by Michael Nelson

rob mahurin @robtasm.bsky.social · 1d

Best advice is to wear little bells, so the bears know you're coming, and carry bear spray. It also helps to be able to identify scat. Black bear scat has undigested bits of berries and twigs. Grizzly bear scat smells like bear spray and has little bells in it.

Michael Paul Nelson @michaelpaulnelson.bsky.social · 5d

@brianandreas.bsky.social @storypeople.bsky.social

Michael Paul Nelson @michaelpaulnelson.bsky.social · 7d

“We are nearly out of time…but not out of choices. The whale asks for more space. The river asks for standing. The tern asks for habitat and room. We can give it.”

Lovely piece!

www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...

The last frontier of empathy: why we still struggle to see ourselves as animals | Megan Mayhew Bergman

Champions of exceptionalism say humans hold a unique moral status. Yet there’s only one species recklessly destroying the planet it needs to survive

www.theguardian.com

Michael Paul Nelson @michaelpaulnelson.bsky.social · 11d

So glad, you and Johnny are definitely Number 1!

Sarah Kendzior @sarahkendzior.bsky.social · 11d

I’m back.
substack.com/@sarahkendzi...

Reposted by Richard S.J. Tol, Steve Peers, Michael Nelson , and 2 more Richard S.J. Tol, Steve Peers, Michael Nelson, Greg O’Brien, Eugene McCann

Sarah Kendzior @sarahkendzior.bsky.social · 11d

I’m back.
substack.com/@sarahkendzi...

Paolo Crosetto @paolocrosetto.bsky.social · 13d

What is the most profitable industry in the world, this side of the law? Not oil, not IT, not pharma.

It's *scientific publishing*.

We call this the Drain of Scientific Publishing.

Paper: arxiv.org/abs/2511.04820
Background: doi.org/10.1162/qss_...

Thread @markhanson.fediscience.org.ap.brid.gy 👇

Michael Paul Nelson @michaelpaulnelson.bsky.social · 16d

“It still feels like something is chasing me, but nowadays, I walk alone.”

@sarahkendzior.bsky.social

sarahkendzior.substack.com/p/election-d...

Election Day, 1990

A tale of simpler times, and the poem I wrote about Trump when I was twelve.

sarahkendzior.substack.com

Michael Paul Nelson @michaelpaulnelson.bsky.social · 23d

Some, I hear, might even spend 75% of their time thinking about this, or contacting colleagues at other places, or reading about emigration, etc.

Alison Banwell, Ph.D. @alibanwell.bsky.social · 24d

Yup! 75% of us are considering leaving (/made plans to leave/already left) 😢 🧪

www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...

Top researchers consider leaving U.S. amid funding cuts: 'The science world is ending'

A poll from the journal Nature found that 75% of researchers in the U.S. are considering leaving the country. That includes a man who’s been dubbed the "Mozart of Math." Stephanie Sy examines what’s b...

www.pbs.org

Michael Paul Nelson @michaelpaulnelson.bsky.social · 23d

"He took a hard look around
He saw people were starving all over the place
While others were painting the town"

www.youtube.com/watch?v=FV9d...

07 - Randy Newman - The World Isn't Fair

YouTube video by Eitoants P.

www.youtube.com

Reposted by Michael Nelson

Alison Banwell, Ph.D. @alibanwell.bsky.social · 24d

Yup! 75% of us are considering leaving (/made plans to leave/already left) 😢 🧪

www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...

Top researchers consider leaving U.S. amid funding cuts: 'The science world is ending'

www.pbs.org

Reposted by Michael Nelson

Jarod K. Anderson @jarodkanderson.bsky.social · 26d

Rainy day thought.
#poetry

Michael Paul Nelson @michaelpaulnelson.bsky.social · 26d

Professors in a lot of places in the US feel under siege.

Nature @nature.com · 26d

Politics trumps salary as the main reason academics are looking for jobs in other states

go.nature.com/4nNxMql

Policed and censored: professors in the southern US feel under siege

Politics trumps salary as the main reason academics are looking for jobs in other states, a survey of university educators shows.

go.nature.com

Reposted by Michael Nelson

Nature @nature.com · 26d

Politics trumps salary as the main reason academics are looking for jobs in other states

go.nature.com/4nNxMql

Policed and censored: professors in the southern US feel under siege

Politics trumps salary as the main reason academics are looking for jobs in other states, a survey of university educators shows.

go.nature.com

Michael Paul Nelson @michaelpaulnelson.bsky.social · 28d

“If we know something irrevocable has been set into motion — if we already know where the story begins and where it ends — what, then, do we do with the middle? With that space of possibility in between?”

Yes! In this space there’s a lot of work to do!

www.hcn.org/issues/57-10...

Watching the Oregon ash vanish - High Country News

The emerald ash borer is killing the native tree. How do we make the most of the time while it’s still here?

www.hcn.org

Michael Paul Nelson @michaelpaulnelson.bsky.social · Oct 26

“But as long as we are alive, as long as we are resolved, as long as we are taking action to stop the worst of this, as long as we are trying to make America and the world even a bit better — have no doubt: We will triumph.”

Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · Oct 26

I believe future generations will look back on this scourge and see not just what was destroyed but also what was born. Some thoughts for your Sunday... https://robertreich.substack.com/p/sunday-thought-were-winning

Reposted by Michael Nelson

Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · Oct 26

Reposted by Michael Nelson

Greg Olear @gregolear.bsky.social · Oct 26

There is no current writer whose wisdom and insight I respect more than @mollymckew.bsky.social’s. This piece beautifully sums up where we are, what we face, and how we shall prevail, and it has left me in tears:

The sacred American spaces desecrated by the American president

The American faithful must find their voice if the divine American idea is to survive

open.substack.com

Reposted by Michael Nelson

Bryan Schott @schotthappens.com · Oct 24

Aristotle never said this. It never appeared in any of his writings.

Completely unsurprising that Utah Rep. Trevor Lee (R-Dunning-Kruger) posted this without verifying whether it was a real quote.

Reposted by Michael Nelson

Jarod K. Anderson @jarodkanderson.bsky.social · Oct 24

Writer milestone!
I have a poem in a biology textbook!

I’m really delighted by this.
(Thanks to Margaret Riley and Princeton University Press for reaching out.)

Michael Paul Nelson @michaelpaulnelson.bsky.social · Oct 22

“The higher-education sector remains disorganized,” the "administration will continue to use that to their advantage.”
www.chronicle.com/article/many...

Many Colleges Have Turned Down Trump’s Compact. Now Some Are Willing to Talk.

The openness to talking to the White House points to the continued division in the sector about how best to interact with the Trump administration.

www.chronicle.com

Michael Paul Nelson @michaelpaulnelson.bsky.social · Oct 20

You mean someone would have paid me for this? Well, phuck! 😖
#NoKings

Michael Paul Nelson @michaelpaulnelson.bsky.social · Oct 18

#nokings

#philosophersandothersensiblepeopleagainstkings

Michael Paul Nelson @michaelpaulnelson.bsky.social · Oct 11

The only Kings I want in my country!

youtu.be/sxkjvKBPQjo?...

The Kings - This Beat Goes On/Switchin' to Glide

YouTube video by thekingsarehere

youtu.be

Reposted by Michael Nelson

Molly McKew @mollymckew.bsky.social · Oct 17

For no reason at all: I suggest you take time & watch footage from the Hong Kong democracy protests — specifically 2019-2020 protests. Get a sense of what tech-enabled anti-protest policing looks like. Those kids came up with wild stuff to withstand/neutralize “non-lethal” crowd control techniques.