Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Christina Toms

Andrew Alden @geology.bsky.social · 1h

Awarding these scholarships is my society's most gratifying activity. Applications are now open.

Northern California Geological Society @norcalgeolsoc.bsky.social · 1h

Applications are being accepted now for the NCGS 2025-26 Richard Chambers Memorial Scholarship. These $2000 awards go to graduate students to support geological research projects in/near Northern California. More info and application form on the Scholarships page. ncgeolsoc.org/scholarships/

Scholarships

NCGS Richard Chambers Memorial Scholarships Recipients of the Richard Chambers Memorial Scholarship are chosen from graduate-level applicants who submit an application that describes their proposed…

ncgeolsoc.org

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Christina Toms @christinatoms.bsky.social · 13m

Ohhh I had to do this once at my mom’s house, at 2 AM on the landing to the second floor outside everyone’s bedrooms. I used a shoebox to trap the bat against the wall, then slid the lid to the shoebox between the wall and the bat, and then threw the shoebox off the front porch. NO ONE WOKE UP. 🤩

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Rich Raho @richraho.bsky.social · 7h

Chicago priest Fr. Larry Dowling describes procession to ICE facility: “No one had the courage to speak directly to us. No one from Homeland Security could stand in the presence of the Monstrance holding the Blessed Sacrament. No wonder. Evil is repelled, recoils in the presence of Christ.”

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KneeDeep Times Magazine @kneedeeptimes.bsky.social · 1d

As #climatechange intensifies storms and accelerates #sealevelrise, managing these natural processes could save California's disappearing coastlines. #BeachErosion #ClimateAdaptation

Read all about it at KneeDeep Times: buff.ly/GdPiGkj

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Can Rivers Save Beaches and Wetlands from Sea Level Rise?

As new research hones in on the importance of sediment transfer, two rivers may hold the key to rescuing beaches and wetlands in Santa Cruz and the Bay Area.

www.kneedeeptimes.org

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KneeDeep Times Magazine @kneedeeptimes.bsky.social · 1d

“We know that letting nature do the work for us is always going to be the cheapest option,” says Scott Dusterhoff, senior #scientist at @sfestuaryinstitute.bsky.social. “Those are the types of processes that we are trying to reestablish in many areas around the region right now.”

📷: SFEI
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KneeDeep Times Magazine @kneedeeptimes.bsky.social · 1d

New research reveals that #flooding events send massive loads of sand to eroding #beaches, giving them a natural boost against rising seas. San Lorenzo River delivers enough sediment during wet years to elevate Santa Cruz's Main Beach for 3-4 years. #SeaLevelRise

📷: Peter Pearsall
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Christina Toms @christinatoms.bsky.social · 1d

it’s like when huckleberries grow on redwood trees; I’ve seen that a few times!

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Christina Toms @christinatoms.bsky.social · 1d

teach the children about Mitch “Wild Thing” Williams

👻Spooky Sean🎃 @huckelcommasean.bsky.social · 1d

Ah you think losing sucks? You merely adopted the losing. I was born in it, molded by it. I didn't see a championship until I was already a man, by then it was nothing to me but amazing! - me to the youths of Philadelphia

JokerSince 2022 @fansince09.bsky.social · 1d

Parents across Philadelphia had to have The Talk with their young kids today. And by The Talk I mean “Our teams usually never win, that Superbowl isn’t an every year thing. Last night is basically how it’s gonna be for most of your life”

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ProPublica @propublica.org · 1d

Federal workers: If you were impacted by the Trump administration's just-announced mass layoffs, our reporters are here to listen.

We understand you may be taking a risk in contacting us, and we take your privacy seriously.

Here's how to get in touch securely 👇

How to Contact ProPublica or Send a Tip Securely — ProPublica

Our job is to hold people and institutions accountable. To do that, we need evidence.

propublica.org

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Christina Toms @christinatoms.bsky.social · 1d

I don't even like medical dramas!

another screenshot that reads:

The initiative to add HOV lanes in the stretch of road between Sears Point and Mare Island comes with an ecological silver lining: a plan to restore a long belt of high marsh called Strip Marsh East, which protects SR 37 from erosion and flooding. If the highway is raised, this strip will also protect marshes to the north. It’s a great candidate for restoration because it’s in better shape than a lot of the diked and subsided high marsh in the Bay. But it’s still full of water that doesn’t drain, which has caused the loss of high marsh vegetation that endangered species, like the salt marsh harvest mouse, rely on. Without its pickleweed to hold it together, Strip Marsh East is slowly deteriorating.

“Fixing the drainage problem here has been a goal of a lot of folks in the tidal wetland conservation and restoration community because we have so little high marsh habitat,” Toms tells me. “You want to stop the bleeding before you try to save the patient. And so that’s what this Strip Marsh East project is going to do.”

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Christina Toms @christinatoms.bsky.social · 1d

Look, if Jesus spoke in parables, then they're good enough for me.

baynature.org/article/what...

screenshot of a paragraph from a Bay Nature article about Highway 37 that reads:

Tolay Creek is a small, scrubby stream at the juncture of SR’s 37 and 121, traversed by a two-lane, aging bridge. This tiny aperture is the only connection between the Bay and thousands of acres of salt marsh east of the highway. “You’ve got this potentially huge Slurpee upstream of Highway 37,” said Christina Toms, an engineer with an eye for metaphor at the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board. “And you’ve got a tiny, tiny straw at the Highway 37 bridge at Tolay Creek that connects much of those areas to San Pablo Bay.” Unless that bottleneck is widened, potential wetland restoration in the area is limited—Tolay Creek simply can’t handle the amount of water that would need to flow in and out of the marsh.

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Christina Toms @christinatoms.bsky.social · 2d

!!!! Wow indeed!!

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Wet Luzinski @wetluzinski.bsky.social · 2d

Mathematically you have to marvel at the improbable ratio

Philadelphia losing three different sports by a 2:1 score ratio

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Christina Toms @christinatoms.bsky.social · 2d

Kiddo put it best. “Well mama, I bet the fans of the other teams are really happy.” They are, kiddo, they are. If we’re lucky, we all get a turn.

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Christina Toms @christinatoms.bsky.social · 2d

Too much talent to look like this.

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Christina Toms @christinatoms.bsky.social · 2d

Hmm. Gonna drink some antifreeze and think about it.

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LancCo Rob (Give Me Whimsy, Damnit Edition) @lanccorob.bsky.social · 2d

Watching Philadelphia sports the last seven calendar days

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Christina Toms @christinatoms.bsky.social · 2d

update bsky.app/profile/chri...

Christina Toms @christinatoms.bsky.social · 2d

the vibes have shifted

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Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 18d

I think…people’s obsession with “a cause”…is precisely because autism’s genetic randomness is hard to stratify by social class……………..

Audra Mitchell @audralmitchell.bsky.social · 18d

THERE. ARE. NO. 'CAUSES'. OF. AUTISM.

(other than being born as a member of Homo sapiens, which is a huge risk factor for turning out to be Autistic).