Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Donovan Dennis @donovanpdennis.com · 4d

Ready for @berlinscienceweek.bsky.social?! Come by the Diverse Minds, Shared Future event on 1 Nov from @berlin-soapbox.bsky.social and LGBTQIA+ STEM Berlin. You’ll hear six great talks, including one about glacier tipping points 😉. No PowerPoints, just props!

berlinscienceweek.com/programme/di...

Diverse Minds, Shared Future

Our event brings the fascinating world of science to the streets, merging scientific inquiry with artistic expression. The invited speakers, women and queer scientists, present their research in a jar...

berlinscienceweek.com

1

Donovan Dennis @donovanpdennis.com · May 14

Thanks so much to @nature.com for providing the space to share this and @annenotintokyo.bsky.social for her careful editorial guidance.

I only hope it’s useful for folks.

1 1

Donovan Dennis @donovanpdennis.com · May 14

others are the “network” I talk about here.

In January, I finally defended a PhD here in Berlin. And the other happy ending is that Shivani, the other PhD who had to leave our group in Boston, joined us here at PIK last year as a post-doc. Finally we have the chance to work together on Antarctica.

Me and Shivani smiling at my defense in Berlin, 7 years after leaving Boston.

1 3

Donovan Dennis @donovanpdennis.com · May 14

resilient in case things go wrong.

Lindsey Nicholson, @allenpope.bsky.social, Brad Markle, Margi Rusmore, Scott Bogue, Ann Blythe—these were the folks who kept me on my feet during that horrible time, putting me in touch with everyone and anyone to find a new supervisor. 🙏 They and many (6/7)

1 1

Donovan Dennis @donovanpdennis.com · May 14

protect themselves, but because I am a realist, and I know that there are others out there who will be called to task--that other students will go through similar situations. This is my advice for them, as well as advisors, and administrators on how to make their programs and experiences more (5/7)

1

Donovan Dennis @donovanpdennis.com · May 14

precarity of dreams (and grad school). Unfortunately, because of the "little fiefdom" structures of academia, it's often students and those with less autonomy who also endure the consequences of those abusers' actions.

I wrote this commentary not because I believe students should *have* to (4/7)

1

Donovan Dennis @donovanpdennis.com · May 14

saved in an album at home in Montana. Joining the BU Antarctic group was my absolute dream.

Like Jane, I was from a small town in a big, empty state, with dreams of seeing every corner of this world, with science as my ticket. Leaving that group 18 months later was a reality check in the (3/7)

1

Donovan Dennis @donovanpdennis.com · May 14

power and were held to account for their actions.

I remember exactly where I was when I received his call… when he told me I would be joining his lab group and going to Antarctica. I still have the letter of admission from B.U., signed by the administrators who would later scrap my funding, (2/7)

1

Donovan Dennis @donovanpdennis.com · May 14

It's hard to believe that nearly a decade has passed since @geojane.bsky.social went to B.U.'s administration and detailed her shocking experiences as a grad student under my then-adviser, Dave Marchant.

In the years since, we have learned of so, so, so many others who likewise abused their (1/7)

Nature @nature.com · May 13

My main advice is this: students, treat your PhD as you would a job

https://go.nature.com/457wUqv

My PhD adviser was fired and I was collateral damage. I learnt how to build resilience into graduate school

Students and institutions should treat PhD degrees as they would a job.

go.nature.com

1 5 11

Donovan Dennis @donovanpdennis.com · May 7

supporting #PinkSummits who've invited me to join. (Follow them both, as well as fellow speaker, Fabian on Insta, they're not yet Bluesky). You can still sign up to participate but spaces are already very limited, so do so soon! (www.eventbrite.ca/e/pride-hike...)

Pride Hike & Climb 2025 Austria for LGBTIQ+ Visibility Outdoors

We will hike, rock-climb and climb some via ferratas in the Kaiser Mountains (Kaisergebirge) and celebrate pride

www.eventbrite.ca

Donovan Dennis @donovanpdennis.com · May 7

Super stoked to be one of the speakers at this year's #PrideHike in the beautiful Kaisergebirge! I'll be chatting all weekend about the changing alpine environment and how that impacts us ~all~, especially those of us whose happy place is up in the thin air. Thanks to Osprey (packs) Europe for (1/2)

1 2

Donovan Dennis @donovanpdennis.com · Mar 11

Check it out!

PIK_climate @pik-potsdam.bsky.social · Mar 10

#GlobalWarming is pushing the world closer to tipping points, risking irreversible changes. A Joint Research Centre policy brief, with PIKs @donovanpdennis.com & Sina Loriani, explains the need for anticipatory governance to tackle systemic risks.
joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/jrc-news-and...

Earth system tipping points are a threat to Europe – how to get prepared?

Global warming is bringing the world closer to crossing tipping points, setting a path to events that could permanently alter how the planet works, within years, decades or centuries.

joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu

1 3

Donovan Dennis @donovanpdennis.com · Mar 5

From Bertolt Brecht’s poem “An die Nachgeborenen” (1939).

Donovan Dennis @donovanpdennis.com · Mar 5

This quote at my SBahn stop hitting differently this week.

“What a time it is when talking about trees is almost a crime. Because it involves silence about so many misdeeds!”

How I feel coming and going talking about clim. change/Michelangelo, trying to ignore the rising tide in my former home.

Quote in German from Bertolt Brecht translated as: What a time it is when talking about trees is almost a crime. Because it involves silence about so many misdeeds!

1 4

Donovan Dennis @donovanpdennis.com · Feb 28

4️⃣Improve scientific understanding of the fundamentals of ES tipping systems, processes, and dynamics.

and 5️⃣ Strengthen cooperation across member states to tackle climate risks collectively.

Read the brief linked above for the background and the full list of recommendations!

Donovan Dennis @donovanpdennis.com · Feb 28

In short, Europe needs to:

1️⃣Assess the vulnerability, resilience and adaptation planning for macro-sectors such as food and energy.
2️⃣Improve understanding of early warning indicators through modeling, observations.
3️⃣ Enhance the capacity to manage financial stability
risks.
[...]

1

Donovan Dennis @donovanpdennis.com · Feb 28

Following a workshop on Earth system #tippingpoints at the @ec.europa.eu's Joint Research Centre, @pik-potsdam.bsky.social colleagues and I have contributed to a policy brief with recommendations for how the EU can/should move forward--check it out!: publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/h...

Earth System Tipping Points are a threat to Europe

With global warming rapidly approaching 1.5 °C, widespread and systemic risks of crossing several Earth System Tipping Points (ESTP) are becoming an emerging security threat for Europe. Stepping up in...

publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu

1 7 12

Donovan Dennis @donovanpdennis.com · Jan 28

Getting a bit teary on the train listening to two elderly gays signing up for new life insurance policies and making each other the beneficiaries. Something really beautiful in the mundanity of that. Speaking a mix of English, Swedish, German, and French. Stunning.

3

Donovan Dennis @donovanpdennis.com · Jan 21

Now off to France with the ‘rents 😍😎.

2

Donovan Dennis @donovanpdennis.com · Jan 21

at EGU, then AGU, the panic as friends saw at it then looked back at me. Losing the fire somewhere along the route, finding it again recently. What a decade. 🥹. So many friends. Thanks to all—it took a village.

2 2

Donovan Dennis @donovanpdennis.com · Jan 21

Did a thing last week🎓. Really thought I wouldve left it before that day came tbh.

Can remember the moment I was accepted to a PhD, 21, totally gobsmacked. The day I left Boston and that first PhD, my supervisor in the Times for harassing his students in Antarctica. The first time w/ my 🌈 pin(1/2)

5 11

Donovan Dennis @donovanpdennis.com · Jan 9

*study of climate change attribution

Donovan Dennis @donovanpdennis.com · Jan 9

Hello world — with little luck, I’m looking for a paper that summarises the history of study of climate change, particularly with respect to glaciers. I.e., what did researchers in the early 20th century think caused the kind of variability that led to terminus position changes?

Suggestions?

1 2 1

Donovan Dennis @donovanpdennis.com · Dec 8

Had a great time at this year’s TIPMIP meeting with @docaharper.bsky.social and so many others! We had a night at the Maryland Science Center and a keynote by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse as well as many many productive science conversations 😊.

1 1

Donovan Dennis @donovanpdennis.com · Dec 1

Just spent the last two weeks crisscrossing the U.S. West with my TIPMIP colleague to talk climate and Earth system tipping points. We’ve learned so much about the state of tipping research in the U.S.!

Looking forward to our next stops on the East coast before our TIPMIP General Assembly and AGU!

1 7