Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Jeff Walker @walkerenvres.bsky.social · 1d

Was not aware we could tag butterflies. That’s incredible.

Janet Hill @saskajanet.bsky.social · 4d

Look at her go!
#invertebrates 🌿

Screen shot of Project Monarch app map of progress of a monarch butterfly from southern Ontario to Oklahoma.

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Reposted by Jeff Walker

Xavier Mouy @xaviermouy.bsky.social · 8d

Excited to share our new open‑access paper in PLOS ONE! We present a Monte Carlo framework to estimate how far resident killer whale pulsed calls can be detected in the Salish Sea by combining in‑situ ambient noise, tagging data and propagation modeling. 🧪🔊🐋

journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

Modeling the detection range of pulsed calls from resident killer whale in nearshore waters of British Columbia, Canada

Passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) using underwater listening stations is widely employed to assess the presence and movements of marine mammals. Accurate interpretation of PAM data requires knowledge ...

journals.plos.org

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Reposted by Jeff Walker

Burrito Justice @burritojustice.bsky.social · 11d

quick while the government is shut down let’s all switch to metric

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Jeff Walker @walkerenvres.bsky.social · 13d

Sadly, at least some of that work on stream and river temperatures is currently funded by the northeast climate adaptation science center, which looks to be shutting down imminently.

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Jeff Walker @walkerenvres.bsky.social · 14d

Nicely researched article on the effects of warming temperatures in Maine (gift link)
www.pressherald.com?p=7503460&uu...

How climate-fueled summers are reshaping Maine's environment

The Portland Press Herald spoke to 2 dozen experts this summer about the ways increasing heat is affecting Maine's environment.

www.pressherald.com

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Reposted by Jeff Walker

Meade Krosby @meadekrosby.bsky.social · 14d

Despite broad political support, one third of the nation's Climate Adaptation Science Centers will wind down in coming days due to lack of funds.

The Northeast, South Central, and Pacific Islands will be left without actionable science on drought, floods, wildfire, sea level rise and other hazards.

Trump officials shut off funding for climate adaptation centers

A third of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Climate Adaptation Science Centers are expected to drastically wind down and possibly close after Sept. 30.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Reposted by Jeff Walker

Climate.us @climate.us · Sep 6

Our Mission:

To be a nonprofit successor to Climate(.)gov, delivering climate data and information to promote public climate literacy and to equip people to turn knowledge into meaningful conversations and climate-conscious actions.

Read more at Climate.us

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Reposted by Jeff Walker

David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · Jul 30

Motherfucking wind farms…

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Jeff Walker @walkerenvres.bsky.social · Jul 30

Nice thing about living in Maine is all the world class coastal camping just 20 min from home.

Photo of a tent and bike at a campsite with ocean view.

Photo of the rocky Maine coastline at sunset

Photo of kayakers on a coastal Maine bay with islands in the distance.

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Reposted by Jeff Walker

Zeke Hausfather @hausfath.bsky.social · Jun 30

This comparsion in the NYTimes today is pretty stark. China is racing ahead to be a high-tech exporter of 21st century technologies, while the US is doubling down on being a petro-state exporting the technologies of the 19th century: www.nytimes.com/inte...

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Reposted by Jeff Walker

David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · Jun 11

Climate.gov, a major US government website supporting public education on climate science, will likely shut down after almost all of its staff were fired. What would be worse is if the website were co-opted to publish climate denial content.

Major US climate website likely to be shut down after almost all staff fired

Exclusive: Climate.gov, which supports public education on climate science, will soon no longer publish new content

www.theguardian.com

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Jeff Walker @walkerenvres.bsky.social · Jun 6

Excited to announce the launch of a new homepage for passive acoustics monitoring at NOAA Fisheries. This is just the start of something big! #bioacoustics #NARW

Passive Acoustics | NOAA Fisheries

Passive acoustic technologies allow us to study the behavior and movements of marine animals, their contribution to the ocean soundscape, and how they are affected by human-made sounds.

passiveacoustics.fisheries.noaa.gov

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Jeff Walker @walkerenvres.bsky.social · Jun 6

Yep, it’s faster, easier and cheaper than running a traditional tile server, and can handle way more features than geojson. If you build web apps to show large geospatial vector datasets, highly recommend giving this a try.

Kyle Walker @kylewalker.bsky.social · Jun 6

This is a niche post, but tippecanoe + PMTiles + MapLibre is a remarkable technology stack

Visualize tens of millions of features on a map, lightning fast, all with free and open source tools running locally on your computer

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Reposted by Jeff Walker

Phil Levin @phillevin.bsky.social · Jun 1

USGS’s Ecosystems Mission Area faces elimination, threatening salmon, bat, and wildlife research. Cuts align with Project 2025’s rollback of environmental protections. A generational setback for science. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/31/c...

Trump’s Proposed Budget Would Cut a Major Ecology Program

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Jeff Walker

Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · May 22

Trump Has Cut Science Funding to Its Lowest Level in Decades www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Trump Has Cut Science Funding to Its Lowest Level in Decades

The lag in funding extends far beyond D.E.I. initiatives, affecting almost every area of science: chemistry, computing, engineering, materials and more.

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Jeff Walker

molly taft @mollytaft.com · May 21

SCOOP from me: the mass exodus of employees from NOAA is decimating a tiny office that literally keeps our measurements of latitude and longitude accurate — and, former employees tell me, endangers the science of how the US understands global measurements:

Trump Cuts Are Killing a Tiny Office That Keeps Measurements of the World Accurate

A tiny but crucial agency that maintains physical coordinates like latitude and longitude in the US is struggling as the Trump administration forces out federal employees.

www.wired.com

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Reposted by Jeff Walker

Kyle Walker @kylewalker.bsky.social · May 21

The Lost Decade of Small Data?

Pretty amazing what we can do with @duckdb nowadays.

duckdb.org/2025/05/1...

The Lost Decade of Small Data?

We benchmark DuckDB on a 2012 MacBook Pro to decide: did we lose a decade chasing distributed architectures for data analytics?

duckdb.org

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Reposted by Jeff Walker

Dryland Plant Ecophysiology Lab @hultinelab.bsky.social · May 16

What do monarchs, trout, bison, black bears & YOU have in common? You're all supported by the USGS Ecosystems Mission Area.

Join our Rally for the Cornerstone of Conservation Science!
May 22 | 12–1 PM ET
Rally with us: www.mobilize.us/nwf/event/79...

#ScienceForWildlife #ForPeopleAndWildlife

Virtual Rally to Save the Cornerstone of Conservation Science · National Wildlife Federation

We need YOU as we rally in support of critical federal government services at risk of being lost forever. The U.S. Geological Survey Ecosystems Mission Area is responsible for many of the programs tha...

www.mobilize.us

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Reposted by Jeff Walker

Meade Krosby @meadekrosby.bsky.social · May 14

Unfortunately, federally funded climate adaptation science and services are being cut well ahead of the FY26 budget.

We've been doing our best to speak up for what would be lost if the Climate Adaptation Science Centers are eliminated.

The Conversation U.S. @us.theconversation.com · May 13

The White House is proposing to eliminate funding for climate adaptation science in the next federal budget.

Researchers explain the federally-funded work they’ve been doing to help reduce the harm climate change is causing to lives and livelihoods. buff.ly/Pr7lEVG 🌎 #climatesky

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Reposted by Jeff Walker

Bill McKibben @billmckibben.bsky.social · May 12

From @leahstokes.bsky.social aka one of the smartest energy folks in the country, the details on the GOP attempt to kneecap clean energy development

Leah Stokes @leahstokes.bsky.social · May 12

Today, House Republicans are unveiling their plan to increase energy bills and pollution for everyday Americans, just to give billionaires another tax break. A summary of their proposals. THREAD! 🧵

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Reposted by Jeff Walker

Joshua J. Friedman @joshuajfriedman.com · May 9

Rümeysa Öztürk has been freed!!

Tufts student detained by ICE in viral video is released, thanks supporters

Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk was released from ICE detention on Friday, offering brief words of thanks to supporters gathered outside the Louisiana facility.

www.nbcboston.com

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Reposted by Jeff Walker

Peter Gleick @petergleick.bsky.social · May 9

He's basically saying they're considering declaring martial law and suspending the Constitution if the courts continue to rule against them. This guy is seriously the worst of them all.

Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · May 9

Stephen Miller says they are “actively looking at” suspending the writ of habeas corpus, which is only allowed when the US has been invaded or during an insurrection, which would not allow people to challenge their incarceration in court if they are arrested and detained.

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Reposted by Jeff Walker

Meade Krosby @meadekrosby.bsky.social · May 9

Our NOAA Climate Adaptation Partnership for the Northwest region was terminated this week. I'm so proud of the work we did to support the climate resilience efforts of frontline communities and Tribal Nations. And I'm deeply concerned for what the loss of this support means for NW communities.

Climate Impacts Group @cig-uw.bsky.social · May 9

We are deeply saddened to report that the funding for the Northwest Climate Resilience Collaborative has been terminated effective immediately. This is a devastating setback for climate resilience in rural and Tribal communities in the PNW. Read more>> cig.uw.edu/2025/05/cig-... @nwcasc.bsky.social

CIG Update: Termination of the Northwest Climate Resilience Collaborative | Climate Impacts Group

Dear supporters of the University of Washington Climate Impacts Group,We are deeply saddened to report that the Acting Director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s Grants M...

cig.uw.edu

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Reposted by Jeff Walker

Alt National Park Service @altnps.bsky.social · May 8

Federal scientists will stop updating the NOAA list of billion-dollar weather disasters. The list, which had grown rapidly in recent years, reflected both worsening extreme weather and expanding development nationwide.

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Jeff Walker @walkerenvres.bsky.social · May 8

This is terrible news. Been working with USGS Ecosystems Mission Area for almost 10 years, and it's all about to go POOF, just like that.

Meade Krosby @meadekrosby.bsky.social · May 7

It looks like the Trump administration isn't going to wait for the FY26 budget to decimate the National Park Service and the USGS Ecosystems Mission Area.

Thousands of job cuts (1,500 in NPS and 1,000 in USGS) are planned via reduction in force within 10 days. Who benefits from this? Not Americans.

Thousands of layoffs to hit Interior, National Parks imminently

Employees fear diminished capacity after RIFs are tacked on to existing mass exodus.

www.govexec.com

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