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Stephen Murphy (smurph)

@smurph.bsky.social

7K followers 1.9K following 1.1K posts

Professor at U Waterloo - Sch Environment, Resources & Sustainability. Ecologist, EIC Restoration Ecology, Botanist, Protected Areas. Grasslands. https://uwaterloo.ca/environment-resources-and-sustainability/blog/you-break-it-we-fix-it .. more

Videos

Environmental science 40%

Agriculture 29%

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Reposted by Peter Thorne, Juan Cole, Stephen D. Murphy , and 1 more Peter Thorne, Juan Cole, Stephen D. Murphy, Adrian Vickers

Julia Simon @juliaradio.bsky.social · 20h

When the power went out in Spain this spring, many people immediately pointed the finger at the country's solar and wind power as the cause.

That wasn't the trigger, but a new survey finds that all that misinformation?

It had an impact.

Read more here, only on @npr.org 🎧⬇️

After Spain's blackout, critics blamed renewable energy. It's part of a bigger attack

When millions lost power in Spain and Portugal this spring, some were quick to blame too much solar and wind power. That wasn't the cause, but the misinformation had an impact.

www.npr.org

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Reposted by Martijn Duineveld, Stephen D. Murphy

Joshua Basseches @joshuabasseches.bsky.social · 21h

Oil and gas companies will often claim to be partners in the clean energy transition, when it is politically expedient to do so, but new research finds their actual contributions are marginal:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Oil and gas industry’s marginal share of global renewable energy

Nature Sustainability - The decarbonization of oil and gas companies may not be as speedy or robust as advertised. This analysis finds that renewable energies make up just a minor fraction of the...

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Stephen D. Murphy

Evan Frost @wildwoods.bsky.social · 1d

"Research shows wildfires are 4x more likely in areas w/roads than in roadless forests...and >90% of wildfires occur within 1/2 mile of a road. Even USFS's own research undercuts the argument that repealing the roadless rule would have a positive effect on fire mgmt."🌍 www.sacbee.com/opinion/op-e...

The Trump administration’s latest attack on cherished public lands | Opinion

“For more than two decades, the Roadless Rule has protected nearly 60 million acres of our national forests from industrial development.”

www.sacbee.com

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Reposted by Stephan Lewandowsky, American Library Association, Alan Richardson , and 4 more Stephan Lewandowsky, American Library Association, Alan Richardson, Stephen D. Murphy, Alessandro Rigolon, James Connelly, Nathan P. Kalmoe

Thomas M. Keck @tmksyracuse.bsky.social · 1d

Weber State administrators told student they couldn't present their research on the state's anti-DEI law at an on-campus conference on censorship(!) unless they removed all mentions of DEI from their slides

www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...

Weber State Censors, Then Cancels, Censorship Conference

University officials said that several planned presentations violated a Utah state law banning diversity, equity and inclusion at public universities.

www.insidehighered.com

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Reposted by Simon Roux, Stephen D. Murphy

Cathy Hernandez @cathyhernandez.bsky.social · 1d

Very happy to share that I will be starting as an Assistant Professor in the department of Biological Sciences at the University of South Carolina in January! My group will be working on environmental phage ecology and evolution, and I am recruiting for the upcoming year (more info below).

A graphic advertising phage ecology and evolution research at the University of South Carolina, showing a central image of a tide pool flanked by a photo of an agar plate containing diverse microbes and a TEM image of a virus particle.

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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 2d

#WarRavagedPortland

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Reposted by Norbert Schwarz, Robert W. Wallace, Anders Nilsson , and 11 more Norbert Schwarz, Robert W. Wallace, Anders Nilsson, Stephen D. Murphy, Lesley Bartlett, Victor Galaz, Scott A. Imberman, Michael D. McDonald, Jennifer A. Johnson, Andrew Novak, Stephen A. Meserve, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò, Nathan P. Kalmoe, Southern Africa

Amanda Katz @katzish.bsky.social · 2d

Horrific reporting from the AP on the Myanmar families watching their kids starve to death from Trump and Musk’s aid cuts apnews.com/article/myan...

Starving children screaming for food as US aid cuts unleash devastation and death across Myanmar

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has repeatedly said “no one has died" because of his government’s decision to gut its foreign aid program.

apnews.com

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Stephen Murphy (smurph) @smurph.bsky.social · 2d

On this issue, I note that the editorial staff do not have any say in which publisher is used - the governing Society decides that and whether to switch & contracts cannot legally end until they are up for renewal. I understand the anger to be sure & wish I had a solution.

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Stephen Murphy (smurph) @smurph.bsky.social · 2d

With due respect, I think this is actually a Canadian variant of "Minnesota Nice".

Reposted by Stephen D. Murphy, Jonathan A. Myers

Lars Brudvig @lars-brudvig.bsky.social · 2d

Apply to become the next MSU EEB Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow!

These are two year positions with research stipend, working with 2+ MSU EEB faculty. Applications due 10 November 2025. More here:

eeb.msu.edu/initiatives/...

Postdoctoral Fellowship - Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior

eeb.msu.edu

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Reposted by Stephen D. Murphy

Gail Drakes @gaildrakes.bsky.social · 4d

I just learned that the number of children in the U.S. navigating life with Long COVID exceeds that of the number of kids with asthma.

Wow.

Long COVID is here to stay—even in children

Post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC, also known as long COVID) are complex, multisystem, long-lasting complications of SARS-CoV-2 infection that profoundly impact the daily life of those...

www.thelancet.com

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Stephen Murphy (smurph) @smurph.bsky.social · 5d

And I write this from sitting in the shade reading a book on a lovely fall day

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Stephen Murphy (smurph) @smurph.bsky.social · 5d

Damn right. Well said as always

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Stephen Murphy (smurph) @smurph.bsky.social · 6d

You would think our uni would. But we both know they never do.

Reposted by Stephen D. Murphy

Jason Mark @jasondovemark.bsky.social · 7d

If conservationists work from a compromised baseline, our notions of abundance, scarcity, and ecological wellbeing will keep getting defined downward:
"The researchers show that using the 1970s as a baseline tends to normalize an already severely degraded state."
phys.org/news/2025-10...

Bird conservation threatened by shifting baseline syndrome

New research shows that populations of dozens of waterbird and seabird species have been declining for much longer than previously thought in Europe. The article "Shifting the baseline for waterbird a...

phys.org

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Stephen Murphy (smurph) @smurph.bsky.social · 7d

Once again, I'll be quoting you in my class - next week we tackle the policies and politics of how to apply systems analysis to things like energy and climate.

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Reposted by Stephen D. Murphy

Hadrian @hadrianmk.bsky.social · 7d

Such a vital point. Max doesn't focus on it here, but this is also essentially the reason why the consumer carbon price failed. There is no political constituency for broad-based regulations that have no tangible local benefits. It doesn't matter if a policy is "efficient" if it's not durable.

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Reposted by Stephen D. Murphy

Max Fawcett @maxfawcett.bsky.social · 7d

For more than a decade, the economists have led the design of Canadian climate policies. It's time for the political scientists to take over -- and the debate over rooftop solar offers a perfect example of why. #cdnpoli

www.nationalobserver.com/2025/10/02/o...

The political case for rooftop solar

If there’s one lesson progressive politicians should take to heart from the last decade, it’s that the durability of their climate policies is more important — way, way more important — than their eco...

www.nationalobserver.com

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Reposted by Tobias Kuemmerle, Erle C. Ellis, Jonathan Lenoir , and 2 more Tobias Kuemmerle, Erle C. Ellis, Jonathan Lenoir, Julie L. Lockwood, Stephen D. Murphy

Markus Eichhorn @markuseichhorn.bsky.social · 8d

Trophic rewilding depends on the assumption that replacing lost megafauna with alternative species can generate similar benefits. This new review by Bescond-Michel et al. challenges that belief. 🌏🌐🧪

Harms of introduced large herbivores outweigh benefits to native biodiversity - Nature Communications

Using impact assessment frameworks, this study shows that the introduction of large mammalian herbivores outside their native range has predominantly caused negative impacts on native biodiversity globally. The authors advise caution regarding their further intentional introduction for conservation purposes.

www.nature.com

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Stephen Murphy (smurph) @smurph.bsky.social · 8d

Yes - and as you have said clearly and often - that warning should be "Don't fucking go to the USA".

Stephen Murphy (smurph) @smurph.bsky.social · 8d

A great (horrible) example of why Canadian's cannot pretend we are really any better.

Stephen Murphy (smurph) @smurph.bsky.social · 8d

Are we living in a tritely written episode of "Yes, Minister" or "The Thick of It"?

Stephen Murphy (smurph) @smurph.bsky.social · 8d

Sadly and terrifyingly you are right on all counts

Stephen Murphy (smurph) @smurph.bsky.social · 8d

It's like they never heard of why there was the rise of the Levittown model.

Or the destruction of Cairo, IL

Reposted by Stephen D. Murphy, Scott A. Imberman

Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 8d

Oof. In new Quinnipiac poll, Trump's approval is down to 43-54 in *Pennsylvania.*

Among independents in Pennsylvania Trump is down to an abysmal 29-64.

Josh Shapiro's approval just hit 60 percent.

By the way, there are contested House races in Pennsylvania.

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Reposted by Stephen D. Murphy, Ann Bartow, Southern Africa

Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 9d

There's a strange tendency in center-left discourse to treat Zohran's focus on cost-of-living as the *only* reason he's succeeding. Yes, it's critical. But that overlooks the other big thing he's doing: Relentlessly highlighting Trump's authoritarian abuses.

newrepublic.com/article/2011...

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Reposted by Stephen D. Murphy

tomjwebb @tomjwebb.bsky.social · 9d

Useful overview of R packages / functions for modelling different kinds of response variables (continuous, proportional, counts, bounded, zero-inflated, etc.) in a regression framework, with mixed models and Bayesian options too: strengejacke.github.io/regressionmo...

Overview of R Modelling Packages

Overview of modelling strategies and packages. Which model do I need for my data?

strengejacke.github.io

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Reposted by Yadvinder Malhi, Garry Peterson, Timon McPhearson , and 2 more Yadvinder Malhi, Garry Peterson, Timon McPhearson, Stephen D. Murphy, Michael Muthukrishna

Erle Ellis @erleellis.bsky.social · 9d

Redefine how the world measures progress!
🌍🧑‍🌾🌽🌎🌴🐬🌏🚵‍♀️🍄🌐👍

Join the Global Expert Consultation to develop
The Nature Relationship Index (NRI) @undp.org

<15 mins to make a difference
anu.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
> Deadline: Oct 15, 2025
> Background: rdcu.be/etpiQ

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Stephen Murphy (smurph) @smurph.bsky.social · 9d

Best phrasing ever

Reposted by Stephen D. Murphy, Anthony Burke

Aarne Granlund @aarnegranlund.bsky.social · 9d

"Past efforts to stem biodiversity loss and nature’s decline have not met their goals because they have failed to address the underlying causes: deeply rooted, interconnected social and cultural patterns that shape, influence, and reinforce direct and indirect drivers of biodiversity loss."

Transformative change to address biodiversity loss is urgent and possible

Transformative change for a just and sustainable world often appears overwhelming. This Perspective highlights the key messages from the IPBES Transformative Change Assessment and how everyone can be ...

journals.plos.org

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