Erin Hotchkiss
@fluvialbenthos.bsky.social
I am a scientist who works (& plays) in waterways to understand their health & function.
Associate Professor in Biological Sciences & Global Change Center Faculty Affiliate @ Virginia Tech. UWYO/Emory alum. she/her. Posts=my opinions. www.hotchkisslab.com
Associate Professor in Biological Sciences & Global Change Center Faculty Affiliate @ Virginia Tech. UWYO/Emory alum. she/her. Posts=my opinions. www.hotchkisslab.com
Pinned
Are you working with #OpenData to advance #freshwater #biogeochemistry? Consider submitting an abstract to share your science in our special session at #2026SFS!
Organized by Ashif H Abir, Wil Wollheim, me, & Kelly Aho @kellyaho.bsky.social. Abstracts due 16 Jan 2026. www.sfsannualmeeting.org 💧🌎🧪
Organized by Ashif H Abir, Wil Wollheim, me, & Kelly Aho @kellyaho.bsky.social. Abstracts due 16 Jan 2026. www.sfsannualmeeting.org 💧🌎🧪
Reposted by Erin Hotchkiss
Applications for student travel assistance to attend the #2026SFS annual meeting through the Instars program are now open.
Undergraduates from historically underrepresented backgrounds interested in freshwater science are eligible to apply. (1/2)
Undergraduates from historically underrepresented backgrounds interested in freshwater science are eligible to apply. (1/2)
November 26, 2025 at 2:10 AM
Applications for student travel assistance to attend the #2026SFS annual meeting through the Instars program are now open.
Undergraduates from historically underrepresented backgrounds interested in freshwater science are eligible to apply. (1/2)
Undergraduates from historically underrepresented backgrounds interested in freshwater science are eligible to apply. (1/2)
Reposted by Erin Hotchkiss
Since February, according to my latest analysis, almost 600,000 Black women have been economically sidelined. The November 20, 2025, Jobs Report makes clear this isn’t a blip. It’s a structural crisis. That is not a recovery. It is a redistribution of opportunity.
The exit economy is here. Black Women are paying the highest price | Fortune
This isn’t a blip. It’s a structural crisis. And it's not a recovery, it's a redistribution of opportunity.
fortune.com
November 23, 2025 at 12:49 PM
Since February, according to my latest analysis, almost 600,000 Black women have been economically sidelined. The November 20, 2025, Jobs Report makes clear this isn’t a blip. It’s a structural crisis. That is not a recovery. It is a redistribution of opportunity.
Reposted by Erin Hotchkiss
Study after study shows that using LLMs is bad for cognition, bad for learning, bad for understanding, bad for mental health. So why are our schools and universities still relentlessly pushing them?
Relying on ChatGPT to teach you about a topic leaves you with shallower knowledge than Googling and reading about it, according to new research that compared what more than 10,000 people knew after using one method or the other.
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
November 21, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Study after study shows that using LLMs is bad for cognition, bad for learning, bad for understanding, bad for mental health. So why are our schools and universities still relentlessly pushing them?
Reposted by Erin Hotchkiss
This week, we updated our pages on data security and surveillance, immigration, the federal workforce, and medical research funding. Our brisk, rigorously cited weekly briefing is live at Unbreaking:
unbreaking.org/blog/this-we...
unbreaking.org/blog/this-we...
Unbreaking
How the administration is breaking the government, and what that means for all of us.
Unbreaking.org
November 21, 2025 at 12:50 AM
This week, we updated our pages on data security and surveillance, immigration, the federal workforce, and medical research funding. Our brisk, rigorously cited weekly briefing is live at Unbreaking:
unbreaking.org/blog/this-we...
unbreaking.org/blog/this-we...
Reposted by Erin Hotchkiss
Why do so many ecologists share common feelings of disconnection between their research goals and real-world impact? 🌍
Our new article in #FE&E explores the constraints that limit ecological research and how we can mitigate them. 👇
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Our new article in #FE&E explores the constraints that limit ecological research and how we can mitigate them. 👇
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Overcoming barriers that limit the impact of ecological research
Ecology and conservation researchers have diverse goals that often include both personal career aspirations and desires to enhance the well-being of the natural world and its inhabitants. Perception ....
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
November 20, 2025 at 9:02 AM
Why do so many ecologists share common feelings of disconnection between their research goals and real-world impact? 🌍
Our new article in #FE&E explores the constraints that limit ecological research and how we can mitigate them. 👇
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Our new article in #FE&E explores the constraints that limit ecological research and how we can mitigate them. 👇
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Reposted by Erin Hotchkiss
Can’t believe the whole country has to suffer through the return of Dickensian childhood diseases because the worst, most ignorant attention-demanders decided other people’s expertise makes them feel bad
November 20, 2025 at 4:19 AM
Can’t believe the whole country has to suffer through the return of Dickensian childhood diseases because the worst, most ignorant attention-demanders decided other people’s expertise makes them feel bad
Reposted by Erin Hotchkiss
New #PrePrint by #PhD @jodittmann.bsky.social open for discussion on @egubg.bsky.social investigating the question: 'Are #GhostForests a substantial source of #Methane from #Reservoirs?' 👻🪵
👇
egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/20...
👇
egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/20...
November 19, 2025 at 9:45 PM
New #PrePrint by #PhD @jodittmann.bsky.social open for discussion on @egubg.bsky.social investigating the question: 'Are #GhostForests a substantial source of #Methane from #Reservoirs?' 👻🪵
👇
egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/20...
👇
egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/20...
Reposted by Erin Hotchkiss
Few things bug me more than higher ed leaders saying that we lost our mission and lost the trust of the public, when we have actually been the target of a decades-long smear campaign by the right wing that worked. The moment we’re losing our mission is right now, in capitulation.
November 19, 2025 at 1:03 PM
Few things bug me more than higher ed leaders saying that we lost our mission and lost the trust of the public, when we have actually been the target of a decades-long smear campaign by the right wing that worked. The moment we’re losing our mission is right now, in capitulation.
Reposted by Erin Hotchkiss
Repeatedly! When I was researching for my article on Trump and the Supreme Court's latest threat to the Clean Water Act, I learned the Cuyahoga River caught on fire not once, not twice, but over a dozen times
ballsandstrikes.org/law-politics...
ballsandstrikes.org/law-politics...
November 19, 2025 at 7:54 PM
Repeatedly! When I was researching for my article on Trump and the Supreme Court's latest threat to the Clean Water Act, I learned the Cuyahoga River caught on fire not once, not twice, but over a dozen times
ballsandstrikes.org/law-politics...
ballsandstrikes.org/law-politics...
Reposted by Erin Hotchkiss
In our new review in WIREs WATER, we synthesize knowledge on ecosystem (dis)services, multifunctionality, and trade‐offs in urban ponds and highlight garden ponds as a specific subtype that deserves more attention
🏙️🔵🏡
doi.org/10.1002/wat2...
@epcn.bsky.social
🏙️🔵🏡
doi.org/10.1002/wat2...
@epcn.bsky.social
Urban Ponds and the Emerging Role of Garden Ponds: Ecosystem Services and Disservices, Multifunctionality, and Trade‐Offs
Urban ponds and garden ponds—a specific subset of the former, usually located in private gardens—are both typical examples of ponds in the urban landscape. They deliver multiple ecosystem services bu...
doi.org
November 19, 2025 at 11:56 AM
In our new review in WIREs WATER, we synthesize knowledge on ecosystem (dis)services, multifunctionality, and trade‐offs in urban ponds and highlight garden ponds as a specific subtype that deserves more attention
🏙️🔵🏡
doi.org/10.1002/wat2...
@epcn.bsky.social
🏙️🔵🏡
doi.org/10.1002/wat2...
@epcn.bsky.social
Reposted by Erin Hotchkiss
Scientists (especially early career researchers): How has your career been impacted over the last year of policy changes and funding cuts? Contact me here or on Signal if you have a story to share.
November 18, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Scientists (especially early career researchers): How has your career been impacted over the last year of policy changes and funding cuts? Contact me here or on Signal if you have a story to share.
Reposted by Erin Hotchkiss
Last Wednesday marked the end of the longest government shutdown in US history, and Unbreaking will continue to update our resources as its effects become clear. In the meantime, our most recent briefing explores Medicaid and the loss of federal food safety oversight: unbreaking.org/blog/this-we...
This week at Unbreaking, November 13 — Unbreaking
As of yesterday, the longest-ever shutdown of the federal government has ended. We’ll be updating our timelines and explainers as the implications of this resolution become clear for all the issues we...
unbreaking.org
November 18, 2025 at 10:44 PM
Last Wednesday marked the end of the longest government shutdown in US history, and Unbreaking will continue to update our resources as its effects become clear. In the meantime, our most recent briefing explores Medicaid and the loss of federal food safety oversight: unbreaking.org/blog/this-we...
Are you working with #OpenData to advance #freshwater #biogeochemistry? Consider submitting an abstract to share your science in our special session at #2026SFS!
Organized by Ashif H Abir, Wil Wollheim, me, & Kelly Aho @kellyaho.bsky.social. Abstracts due 16 Jan 2026. www.sfsannualmeeting.org 💧🌎🧪
Organized by Ashif H Abir, Wil Wollheim, me, & Kelly Aho @kellyaho.bsky.social. Abstracts due 16 Jan 2026. www.sfsannualmeeting.org 💧🌎🧪
November 18, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Are you working with #OpenData to advance #freshwater #biogeochemistry? Consider submitting an abstract to share your science in our special session at #2026SFS!
Organized by Ashif H Abir, Wil Wollheim, me, & Kelly Aho @kellyaho.bsky.social. Abstracts due 16 Jan 2026. www.sfsannualmeeting.org 💧🌎🧪
Organized by Ashif H Abir, Wil Wollheim, me, & Kelly Aho @kellyaho.bsky.social. Abstracts due 16 Jan 2026. www.sfsannualmeeting.org 💧🌎🧪
Reposted by Erin Hotchkiss
The thing about the latest news in the Nuzzi/Lizza story is that RFK cost the nation its measles elimination status.
"Heck of a job, Bobby."
"If the outbreaks cannot be extinguished by January, the anniversary of the first cases in Texas, the United States will lose what is known as “elimination status” as determined by the World Health Organization."
(gift link)
"If the outbreaks cannot be extinguished by January, the anniversary of the first cases in Texas, the United States will lose what is known as “elimination status” as determined by the World Health Organization."
(gift link)
C.D.C. Links Measles Outbreaks in Multiple States for the First Time
www.nytimes.com
November 18, 2025 at 3:04 AM
The thing about the latest news in the Nuzzi/Lizza story is that RFK cost the nation its measles elimination status.
Reposted by Erin Hotchkiss
It is genuinely incredible to me how much evidence there is to support investing in the public good and how much animus there is to do this simple, effective thing.
November 18, 2025 at 3:00 AM
It is genuinely incredible to me how much evidence there is to support investing in the public good and how much animus there is to do this simple, effective thing.
Reposted by Erin Hotchkiss
We're seeking a Program Specialist to lead communications, coordinate federal reporting, and support program initiatives for Lake Champlain Sea Grant and two allied programs. Learn more and apply online at www.uvmjobs.com/postings/84002.
![We're hiring! LCSG seeks a program specialist to join our team [text superimposed on a picture of the Lake Champlain shoreline]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:th5gekjxzu3z3uwm52pmwx7v/bafkreifjmvpjdmyuxg35a334lvrx7bwymdpucvpjb2minznmaf5d6de4qi@jpeg)
November 17, 2025 at 6:52 PM
We're seeking a Program Specialist to lead communications, coordinate federal reporting, and support program initiatives for Lake Champlain Sea Grant and two allied programs. Learn more and apply online at www.uvmjobs.com/postings/84002.
Reposted by Erin Hotchkiss
Really pleased to be part of this new study led by Josh Hashemi showing that to accurately upscale CH₄ budgets, especially in complex landscapes, we need high-res data and land-cover classes that reflect the key enviro factors driving CH4 production and emissions
www.nature.com/articles/s43...
www.nature.com/articles/s43...
Coarse land cover datasets bias Arctic-Boreal wetland methane budgets - Communications Earth & Environment
Estimation of methane flux remained within 13% error at a resolution within 25 m, but resolutions coarser than 1 km often misclassified sites as methane sources instead of sinks, based on high-resolut...
www.nature.com
November 17, 2025 at 9:31 PM
Really pleased to be part of this new study led by Josh Hashemi showing that to accurately upscale CH₄ budgets, especially in complex landscapes, we need high-res data and land-cover classes that reflect the key enviro factors driving CH4 production and emissions
www.nature.com/articles/s43...
www.nature.com/articles/s43...
Reposted by Erin Hotchkiss
My colleague @avnimalh0tra.bsky.social is hiring a Postdoctoral Research Associate to investigate rhizosphere processes influencing methane (CH₄) dynamics in northern peatlands! Super cool opening -- please circulate careers.pnnl.gov/jobs/11061?l...
Post Doctorate Research Associate - Peatland Rhizosphere and Trace Gas Processes in Richland, Washington | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
PNNL is hiring a Post Doctorate Research Associate - Peatland Rhizosphere and Trace Gas Processes in Richland, Washington. Review all of the job details and apply today!
careers.pnnl.gov
November 17, 2025 at 6:58 PM
My colleague @avnimalh0tra.bsky.social is hiring a Postdoctoral Research Associate to investigate rhizosphere processes influencing methane (CH₄) dynamics in northern peatlands! Super cool opening -- please circulate careers.pnnl.gov/jobs/11061?l...
Reposted by Erin Hotchkiss
“CSIRO has announced it will slash up to 350 jobs as the national science agency grapples with long-term financial challenges … with current funding failing to keep pace with the rising costs of running a modern science agency.”
Not “challenges”. They’re choices. 😡
Not “challenges”. They’re choices. 😡
CSIRO to cut up to 350 research jobs in major overhaul
After 440 positions were slashed last year, the CSIRO has announced more staff cuts across the country in a bid to remain financially viable.
www.abc.net.au
November 18, 2025 at 6:15 AM
“CSIRO has announced it will slash up to 350 jobs as the national science agency grapples with long-term financial challenges … with current funding failing to keep pace with the rising costs of running a modern science agency.”
Not “challenges”. They’re choices. 😡
Not “challenges”. They’re choices. 😡
Reposted by Erin Hotchkiss
Invasive species can disrupt food web energy dynamics by altering pelagic-benthic pathways. In this example, interactions between invasive species and nutriment enrichment influenced concentrations of LC-PUFAs in key consumers, indicating functional shifts in resource fluxes.
Cascading Effects of Biological Invasion and Nutriment Enrichment Disrupt Freshwater Trophic Energy Pathways and Food Web Quality
Freshwater ecosystems are globally threatened by multiple climatic and anthropogenic stressors, including facilitated biological invasion and eutrophication, and thus understanding their effects o...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
November 16, 2025 at 8:53 AM
Invasive species can disrupt food web energy dynamics by altering pelagic-benthic pathways. In this example, interactions between invasive species and nutriment enrichment influenced concentrations of LC-PUFAs in key consumers, indicating functional shifts in resource fluxes.
Reposted by Erin Hotchkiss
Actual causes of death in the US and media coverage of same.
And then we wonder why people have such a skewed understanding of the world.
@ourworldindata.org is a treasure. Thanks, @hannahritchie.bsky.social and colleagues.
ourworldindata.org/does-the-new...
And then we wonder why people have such a skewed understanding of the world.
@ourworldindata.org is a treasure. Thanks, @hannahritchie.bsky.social and colleagues.
ourworldindata.org/does-the-new...
November 16, 2025 at 5:26 AM
Actual causes of death in the US and media coverage of same.
And then we wonder why people have such a skewed understanding of the world.
@ourworldindata.org is a treasure. Thanks, @hannahritchie.bsky.social and colleagues.
ourworldindata.org/does-the-new...
And then we wonder why people have such a skewed understanding of the world.
@ourworldindata.org is a treasure. Thanks, @hannahritchie.bsky.social and colleagues.
ourworldindata.org/does-the-new...
Reposted by Erin Hotchkiss
Under President Trump, the U.S. has taken steps to roll back climate policies. Here are six significant changes.
Countries are gathering for climate negotiations. Here's where the U.S. stands
Under President Trump, the U.S. has taken steps to roll back climate policies. Here are six significant changes.
n.pr
November 16, 2025 at 11:24 PM
Under President Trump, the U.S. has taken steps to roll back climate policies. Here are six significant changes.
Reposted by Erin Hotchkiss
I once listed on my annual activities report the time I spent on things like
strategizing with a fellow junior prof about how to avoid her harasser at a conference while still getting to network,
etc
just to make a point
strategizing with a fellow junior prof about how to avoid her harasser at a conference while still getting to network,
etc
just to make a point
Imagine the things we could do with our time if we didn’t have to do this bsky.app/profile/chan...
I did my job. And then I did a job that never should have been my responsibility afterwards, sending emails and having meetings about how this was allowed to happen in the first place. Other women scholars had to spend their time explaining to Aspen leadership why this was not ok.
November 16, 2025 at 7:54 PM
I once listed on my annual activities report the time I spent on things like
strategizing with a fellow junior prof about how to avoid her harasser at a conference while still getting to network,
etc
just to make a point
strategizing with a fellow junior prof about how to avoid her harasser at a conference while still getting to network,
etc
just to make a point
Reposted by Erin Hotchkiss
Former UVA president Jim Ryan, who resigned over the summer due to pressure from the Trump Administration, just shared this 12-page letter with the Faculty Senate, detailing his experience with the Board of Visitors and DOJ.
It's a surreal--and troubling--read.
drive.google.com/file/d/1Is6x...
It's a surreal--and troubling--read.
drive.google.com/file/d/1Is6x...
November 14, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Former UVA president Jim Ryan, who resigned over the summer due to pressure from the Trump Administration, just shared this 12-page letter with the Faculty Senate, detailing his experience with the Board of Visitors and DOJ.
It's a surreal--and troubling--read.
drive.google.com/file/d/1Is6x...
It's a surreal--and troubling--read.
drive.google.com/file/d/1Is6x...
Reposted by Erin Hotchkiss
NEW:
‘Unlawful coercion’: Trump can’t withhold funds or demand payment from UC, federal judge rules.
The judge has previously sided with UC scholars several times since June in halting Trump’s termination of science and health research funding. The latest ruling is arguably the most sweeping yet.
‘Unlawful coercion’: Trump can’t withhold funds or demand payment from UC, federal judge rules.
The judge has previously sided with UC scholars several times since June in halting Trump’s termination of science and health research funding. The latest ruling is arguably the most sweeping yet.
‘Unlawful coercion’: Trump can’t withhold funds or demand payment from UC, federal judge rules
A federal judge ruled Donald Trump cannot demand that UCLA pay a $1.2 billion settlement that would have restricted academic freedoms.
calmatters.org
November 15, 2025 at 1:18 AM
NEW:
‘Unlawful coercion’: Trump can’t withhold funds or demand payment from UC, federal judge rules.
The judge has previously sided with UC scholars several times since June in halting Trump’s termination of science and health research funding. The latest ruling is arguably the most sweeping yet.
‘Unlawful coercion’: Trump can’t withhold funds or demand payment from UC, federal judge rules.
The judge has previously sided with UC scholars several times since June in halting Trump’s termination of science and health research funding. The latest ruling is arguably the most sweeping yet.