Stephen Murphy (smurph)
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smurph.bsky.social
Stephen Murphy (smurph)
@smurph.bsky.social
7.1K followers 2K following 1.4K 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

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Environmental science 40%
Agriculture 29%
Posts Replies Media Videos

smurph.bsky.social
Stephen Murphy (smurph) @smurph.bsky.social · 17h
"President Trump expresses sympathy for our military heroes in what is clearly a permanent change in his tone"

- Washington Post
atrupar.com Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 19h
"Helicopter pilots were wounded pretty badly in the legs landing on the couple of machine gunners seemed to have make it through a thicket of bombs. But they were taken out rapidly by our snipers who stationed on platforms. Hellu-- actually unbelievable, helicopter platforms all the way the line"

smurph.bsky.social
Stephen Murphy (smurph) @smurph.bsky.social · 17h
Ugh!

Reposted by Ben H. Ansell, Elizabeth Saunders, Rebecca Solnit , and 27 more

mikehixenbaugh.com
Mike Hixenbaugh @mikehixenbaugh.com · 18h
On Thanksgiving, the immigrant children held at the Dilley detention center gathered in the gym for what they thought was a holiday feast.

The kids salivated over a spread of turkey, sandwiches, pastries and pies, a family told me.

But the food wasn’t for detainees — it was for the staff.
On Nov. 16, a mental health counselor recorded in Kamilla’s medical records that her mother reported the girl had lost her appetite after being “served food that contained worms.” A week later, the couple said, children were told to gather in the gym for what they believed would be a Thanksgiving celebration. Excitement spread as families saw tables set with turkey, sandwiches, pastries and pies, they said. The children waited expectantly. But when a parent asked when the celebration would begin, Oksana said, staff told them the holiday meal was for employees, not detainees. The children, she said, watched despondently as the feast was packed away.

Reposted by A. E. Dessler, Arthur Geßler, Stephen D. Murphy

rahmstorf.bsky.social
Prof. Stefan Rahmstorf @rahmstorf.bsky.social · 18h
I also have often made this observation stated below: the arguments of the deniers of human-caused climate change are so poor, so easily refuted, and intended only for gullible lay people, that they basically prove how strong and compelling the evidence for human-caused climate change really is.
andrewdessler.com Andrew Dessler @andrewdessler.com · 20h
I've been getting a lot of requests from reporters for comments about the removal of the DOE Climate Working Group report from the EPA's repeal of the endangerment finding.

Here are some comments:
The EPA's decision not to rely on the DOE Climate Working Group report for the Endangerment Finding repeal is appropriate. The report’s fundamental flaws make it unsuitable as a basis for policy decisions. The report demonstrates systematic methodological failures. It relies heavily on cherry-picked studies while omitting contrary evidence from the peer-reviewed literature. Key findings are presented in ways that misrepresent what the underlying research actually shows. These are not minor errors—they are the kinds of problems that would render a scientific analysis indefensible in any rigorous review process, including judicial review. The process itself also failed to meet basic scientific standards. The report was not peer reviewed and certainly appears to be working backward from a pre-determined conclusion. The DOE received substantial public comments challenging the report’s conclusions after the public release but never responded to them. A credible scientific assessment requires engagement with contrary evidence and criticism, not silence. Notably, the Climate Working Group’s membership are the cream of the crop of climate contrarians. The DOE report therefore represents the best case against mainstream science. That they produced a report that is so lacking in credibility actually demonstrates how strong mainstream climate science actually is.

Reposted by Stephen D. Murphy, Michael D. McDonald

atrupar.com
Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 19h
"Helicopter pilots were wounded pretty badly in the legs landing on the couple of machine gunners seemed to have make it through a thicket of bombs. But they were taken out rapidly by our snipers who stationed on platforms. Hellu-- actually unbelievable, helicopter platforms all the way the line"

Reposted by Stephen D. Murphy

davidsacerdote.bsky.social
David Sacerdote @davidsacerdote.bsky.social · 19h
We could have clean air, safe water, and health care. Or we could cut taxes for billionaires and have concentration camps.

It's a choice.

Gift link, but WaPo wants your info:
wapo.st/3OfarSk

Archive doesn't need that
archive.is/XIBfR
ICE plans to spend $38.3 billion turning warehouses into detention centers
ICE plans to spend $38.3 billion converting warehouses into detention centers, according to planning documents, more than the annual budgets of 22 states.
wapo.st

smurph.bsky.social
Stephen Murphy (smurph) @smurph.bsky.social · 20h
Protip for granting agencies: Asking people to do a review of a full proposal in less than 7 business days is not a good idea.

Reposted by Stephen D. Murphy, Tommaso Jucker

riva-ecology.bsky.social
Federico Riva @riva-ecology.bsky.social · 21h
We have opened two positions for PhD students at GLEL: csee-scee.ca/job/two-phd-... please share widely! Note that the positions are unfortunately not open to international applicants (only Canadian students are eligible).
Two PhD Positions at Carleton University: Biodiversity Conservation and Landscape Ecology | CSEE: Canadian Society for Ecology and Evolution
Start date: September 2026 (some flexibility) We are seeking two PhD students to join the Geomatics and Landscape Ecology Research Laboratory (GLEL) at Carleton University. GLEL is a centre of excelle...
csee-scee.ca

Reposted by Stephen D. Murphy, Susan D. Amussen, Nathan P. Kalmoe

nbedera.bsky.social
Nicole Bedera @nbedera.bsky.social · 23h
“The abolition of gender studies is a way of further guaranteeing impunity to the elite men whose contempt for and exploitation of women and girls apparently knew no bounds, whether they actually slept with the women on offer or simply shared Epstein’s fantasies in order to gain influence.”
Gender studies courses are shutting down across the US. The Epstein files reveal why | Joan Wallach Scott
Texas A&M University is the latest school to end women’s and gender studies programs and teaching race. We know why
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Stephen D. Murphy

njbbari3.bsky.social
Dr Noor Bari @njbbari3.bsky.social · 1d
So at the beginning of the pandemic I said it would take about 5-7 years for people to figure stuff out using heuristic learning methods.

I am a crystal ball.
The BMJ v @bmj_latest X.com Covid-19 is not just a respiratory infection. Cardiovascular symptoms are seen in acute and long covid. Katharine Lang reports on what we've learnt since the onset of the pandemic Why covid-19 is "a vascular disease masquerading as a r...

Reposted by Stephen D. Murphy

ibioconsultants.com
International Biodiversity @ibioconsultants.com · 1d
Well, this is interesting - results from this paper show #PES restored #forests are successfully sounding like mature forest again! Research in #CostaRica 🇨🇷 used #ecoacoustics at 119 sites 🌍

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1...
Large‐Scale Forest Restoration Accompanied by Biodiversity Recovery in Costa Rica's Redistributive Payment for Ecosystem Service Program
Transforming recorded sound into meaningful ecological insights requires carefully designed methodologies. This workflow diagram describes the steps of our analysis (contained within circles labeled ....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com

smurph.bsky.social
Stephen Murphy (smurph) @smurph.bsky.social · 1d
Cartoon movie villains once again tell us their evil plans out loud
benforward3.bsky.social Ben Ewen-Campen @benforward3.bsky.social · 1d
Facebook plans to put facial recognition in its glasses and they think we’re too stupid to fight back.

Their internal memo: “We will launch during a dynamic political environment where many civil society groups that we would expect to attack us would have their resources focused on other concerns.”
Meta Plans to Add Facial Recognition Technology to Its Smart Glasses
www.nytimes.com

smurph.bsky.social
Stephen Murphy (smurph) @smurph.bsky.social · 1d
Great paper Matt!

Reposted by Stephen D. Murphy

pablo-ecology.bsky.social
Pablo Garcia-Diaz @pablo-ecology.bsky.social · 1d
Key criteria for developing ecosystem service indicators to inform decision making 🌎🌐🧪 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Key criteria for developing ecosystem service indicators to inform decision making
Decision makers are increasingly interested in information from ecosystem services (ES) assessments. Scientists have for long recognised the importanc…
www.sciencedirect.com

smurph.bsky.social
Stephen Murphy (smurph) @smurph.bsky.social · 1d
Wood snake for me. Pretty apropos for an ecologist

Reposted by Michael E. Mann, Eric Goldman, Rebecca Tushnet , and 7 more

benforward3.bsky.social
Ben Ewen-Campen @benforward3.bsky.social · 1d
Facebook plans to put facial recognition in its glasses and they think we’re too stupid to fight back.

Their internal memo: “We will launch during a dynamic political environment where many civil society groups that we would expect to attack us would have their resources focused on other concerns.”
Meta Plans to Add Facial Recognition Technology to Its Smart Glasses
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Stephen D. Murphy

jmbecologist.bsky.social
James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 1d
‘Habitat condition’: a measure of conformity to simple metrics (often composition), usually linked to policy

‘Ecosystem condition’: a measure of how an ecosystem is functioning, including its resilience to pressures

The 1st is easy but its utility is questionable

The 2nd is hard but what we need

Reposted by Richard S.J. Tol, Brendan Nyhan, Gavin A. Schmidt , and 13 more

themodsisyphus.bsky.social
Dheepa Sundaram, PhD (she/her) @themodsisyphus.bsky.social · 1d
CBP didn’t give her or anyone any water; she asked 3 times accg to other reports. CBP killed a 7yr old.

“8 hours after the girl & her father were taken into custody, she began having seizures & her body temperature was measured at 105.7 degrees by emergency medical technicians. shorturl.at/d2OTJ
7-Year-Old Migrant Girl Dies Of Dehydration And Shock In U.S. Border Patrol Custody
The girl's death underscores the crisis precipitated by large groups of families seeking asylum where there are inadequate facilities to detain them.
shorturl.at

Reposted by Stephen D. Murphy

colincarlson.bsky.social
Colin Carlson @colincarlson.bsky.social · 1d
This is my favorite thing I've worked on in a very, very long time, and it's also the first real product out of our project studying the Pandemic Agreement negotiations over the last four years. Nothing would make me happier than if you read and share. ❤️🔓👉 papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Expert engagement and evidence use in treaty negotiations 24 Pages Posted: Anna Bezruki affiliation not provided to SSRN Chloe Batie Yale University Colin Carlson Yale University Date Written: February 10, 2026 Abstract Science-and evidence-based decision-making are core values in global health, but in multilateral processes, they often take a backseat to politics. The Pandemic Agreement requires Parties to use "the best available science and evidence as the basis for public health decisions for pandemic prevention, preparedness and response," but is the treaty itself evidence-based? In this chapter, we trace how scientific and technical evidence were introduced into the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body. External experts were a key source of advice, especially on legal issues, but they were mostly excluded from the negotiations. Over time, Member States began to treat Relevant Stakeholders as a secondary source of technical expertise, introducing potential conflicts of interest into the process. In the end, scientists and stakeholders successfully leveraged scientific authority to facilitate the incorporation of One Health approach to pandemic prevention (Articles 4 and 5)-but otherwise, the treaty was shaped more by politics and pragmatism than by science. Moving forward, the Conference of Parties will be an opportunity for Member States to establish formal channels for scientific evidence synthesis and engagement-or to preserve a status quo that falls substantially behind evidence-based global governance in other areas. Keywords: Citation networks, evidence-based policy, One Health, Pandemic Agreement, scientometrics, World Health Organization

Reposted by Stephen D. Murphy

colincarlson.bsky.social
Colin Carlson @colincarlson.bsky.social · 1d
NEW‼️ For the forthcoming Pandemic Agreement travaux préparatoires edited by @alexandraphelan.bsky.social, we did a deep dive on how experts and evidence shaped the negotiations. What we found is a microcosm of global health: limited time, high stakes, and familiar shady actors like Big Pharma. (1/3)
Expert engagement and evidence use in treaty negotiations 24 Pages Posted: Anna Bezruki affiliation not provided to SSRN Chloe Batie Yale University Colin Carlson Yale University Date Written: February 10, 2026 Abstract Science-and evidence-based decision-making are core values in global health, but in multilateral processes, they often take a backseat to politics. The Pandemic Agreement requires Parties to use "the best available science and evidence as the basis for public health decisions for pandemic prevention, preparedness and response," but is the treaty itself evidence-based? In this chapter, we trace how scientific and technical evidence were introduced into the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body. External experts were a key source of advice, especially on legal issues, but they were mostly excluded from the negotiations. Over time, Member States began to treat Relevant Stakeholders as a secondary source of technical expertise, introducing potential conflicts of interest into the process. In the end, scientists and stakeholders successfully leveraged scientific authority to facilitate the incorporation of One Health approach to pandemic prevention (Articles 4 and 5)-but otherwise, the treaty was shaped more by politics and pragmatism than by science. Moving forward, the Conference of Parties will be an opportunity for Member States to establish formal channels for scientific evidence synthesis and engagement-or to preserve a status quo that falls substantially behind evidence-based global governance in other areas. Keywords: Citation networks, evidence-based policy, One Health, Pandemic Agreement, scientometrics, World Health Organization Figure 1. Evidence use in the WHO Pandemic Agreement negotiations: (A) by user type and evidence type; and (B) by individual users and documents. Flows are proportional to the number of instances. In panel B, shaded flows represent self-citations by individual contributors (purple) or by organizations (red). Figure 2. Evidence use networks connecting documents (red) and users (blue). Edge width and node size is proportional to the number of references made. For visual clarity, only the most influential nodes are labeled. Layout is based on network connections and readability, and does not necessarily reflect node properties (e.g., centrality).

Reposted by Jens‐Christian Svenning, Simon Roux, Stephen D. Murphy , and 3 more

jotlovell.bsky.social
John Lovell @jotlovell.bsky.social · 1d
I'm super excited to share that this article was published today in Science! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

All made possible by the fantastic group of donors, volunteers and scientists at The American Chestnut Foundation (tacf.org), HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, and our collaborators.

Reposted by Scott L. Greer, Bruce D. Baker, Robert C. Richards , and 1 more

revolvingdoordc.bsky.social
Revolving Door Project @revolvingdoordc.bsky.social · 1d
Great to see the new House Oversight Democrats’ report on the schemes behind DOGE's creation, the benefits it offered the billionaire class, and the harms it brought to taxpayers, federal workers, and public services. 🧵
oversightdemocrats.house.gov/imo/media/do...

Reposted by Stephen D. Murphy, Graham D. Raby, Ryan K. Brook , and 1 more

jeffcbowman.bsky.social
Jeff Bowman @jeffcbowman.bsky.social · 1d
Now published: Landscape connectivity across Canada and the USA. A seamless, high resolution connectivity map across both countries. 🧪🌎 Open access in Facets, including open data www.facetsjournal.com/doi/full/10....
A map showing the probability of movement for terrestrial animals across Canada and the USA.

Reposted by Anna O. Law, Dorothy Bishop, Jesse M. Shapiro , and 19 more

lettersofnote.com
Letters of Note @lettersofnote.com · 1d
Happy birthday to one of my favourite haters, Charles Darwin

Reposted by Stephen D. Murphy

cmacquar.bsky.social
Chris MacQuarrie @cmacquar.bsky.social · 1d
Ontario's Regional Forest Health Network is hosting a virtual workshop on silvicultural and insecticide Controls for Hemlock Woolly Adelgid

Register here:
us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: RFHN Online Forest Practitioner Workshop. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meeting.
Silviculture and Insecticide Controls for Hemlock Woolly Adelgid
us06web.zoom.us

smurph.bsky.social
Stephen Murphy (smurph) @smurph.bsky.social · 1d
Per Don, and as others have reported, Canada has WAY too much involvement in these supply chains.
donmoyn.bsky.social Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 1d
New at Can We Still Govern: One aspect of ICE that is not discussed much is how dependent it is on private supply chains, including foreign companies. That provides an opportunity to name-and-shame firms providing its services.
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/private-ch...
Private Chains, Public Harm
How Supply Networks Fuel ICE Operations
donmoynihan.substack.com

Reposted by Stephen D. Murphy

drjoepajak.bsky.social
@DrJoePajak CSci CChem FRSC @drjoepajak.bsky.social · 1d
We need:
Data systems that are fast, interoperable, and transparent, not fragmented across agencies or quietly scaled back when political attention wanes.
Reporting structures that are resilient, not dependent on temporary emergency funding.

Reposted by Stephen D. Murphy

thenarwhal.ca
The Narwhal @thenarwhal.ca · 1d
The Great Lakes region is in the midst of a seismic energy shakeup, from skyrocketing data centre demand to a nuclear energy boom. Along with U.S. media partners, we’re kicking off a series on what this means for the lakes' water. thenarwhal.ca/energy-boom-...
The energy boom is thirsty for Great Lakes water | The Narwhal
How the region powers its growth, on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border, will determine the future of the Great Lakes
thenarwhal.ca

Reposted by Stephen D. Murphy

janrosenow.bsky.social
Jan Rosenow @janrosenow.bsky.social · 1d
MISLEADING: A new academic paper by @qmul.bsky.social has attracted significant media attention by claiming that EVs & heat pumps deliver no proven carbon savings in UK ahead of 2030 clean power target - and should therefore be postponed.

Here is why this paper should never have been published.🧵

Reposted by Norbert Schwarz, Linda J. Skitka, Stephen D. Murphy

donmoyn.bsky.social
Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 1d
New at Can We Still Govern: One aspect of ICE that is not discussed much is how dependent it is on private supply chains, including foreign companies. That provides an opportunity to name-and-shame firms providing its services.
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/private-ch...
Private Chains, Public Harm
How Supply Networks Fuel ICE Operations
donmoynihan.substack.com