Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Drew Peltier

Desert Research Institute @driscience.bsky.social · 1d

Thank you to the @lasvegassun.bsky.social and reporter @hillarylvsun.bsky.social for a terrific story on research into underground ecosystems that could inform the search for life beyond Earth. Read the story: bit.ly/drinasa #NSHE #NASA #DiscoverDRI #UNLV #UNR

Underground research in Nevada may shape NASA's search for extraterrestrial life

The Nevada System of Higher Education secured a $750,000 grant from NASA's Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research for the study.

bit.ly

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Reposted by Drew Peltier

Ben R Lee, PhD @benrlee.com · 4d

🚨 Please repost widely!🚨

I am recruiting a PhD student to join my lab next fall to work on forest and climate change ecology projects in southern Appalachia! Come join me in one of the most beautiful, biodiverse, and understudied parts of North America. Details below and happy to answer questions

An ad for a PhD position to start fall 2026 working with me at ETSU. For more info, please email at LeeBR1@etsu.edu.

A close-up picture of dimpled trout lilies active in early spring, still largely surrounded by the previous year's senesced tree leaves.

A beautiful vista of the Blue Ridge Mountains from on top of Carver's Gap on the border between North Carolina and Tennessee.

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Drew Peltier @peltierdrew.bsky.social · 5d

Drake, D. C., & Naiman, R. J. (2007). Reconstruction of Pacific salmon abundance from riparian tree‐ring growth. Ecological Applications, 17(5), 1523-1542.

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Reposted by Drew Peltier

The Associated Press @apnews.com · 7d

Chunk, a 1,200-pound behemoth with a broken jaw, swept the competition Tuesday in the popular Fat Bear Week contest — his first win after finishing in second place three previous years.

Chunk, a 1,200-pound bear with a broken jaw, wins Alaska's popular Fat Bear Week contest

Chunk, a 1,200-pound behemoth with a broken jaw, swept the competition Tuesday in the popular Fat Bear Week contest — his first win after finishing in second place three previous years.

bit.ly

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Drew Peltier @peltierdrew.bsky.social · 7d

It's possible I will recruit a PhD student this year: If you are interested in tree physiological ecology, Bayesian modelling, carbohydrates, hydraulics, or desert/arid ecology please email with a description of your experience. Application deadline December 15. www.unlv.edu/graduatecoll... 🌏

white leaves on a albino redwood sprout.

Burned and unburned bristlecone pine along a ridgeline.

A new phd student enjoying the perks of fieldwork in Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument.

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Drew Peltier @peltierdrew.bsky.social · 7d

1st pub from Phd student Alicia Formanack synthesizing tree ring widths in drought-killed trees to show that, nope, there are no universal patterns. We present a framework combining previously described syndromes: flashy, decoupled, or declining?🌏🌐
doi.org/10.1111/nph....
@newphyt.bsky.social

Flashy, decoupled, or declining? Single theories fail to explain the diversity of drought mortality signals in tree rings

Growth patterns recorded in tree rings may predict drought ‘winners’ and ‘losers’. Past studies of drought-killed trees have produced conflicting evidence. Some show killed trees were highly respons...

doi.org

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Drew Peltier @peltierdrew.bsky.social · 8d

Really enjoyable. Many good one-liners, but my favorite:

"AI-made material is itself a waste product: flimsy, shoddy, disposable, a single-use plastic of the mind."
www.nplusonemag.com/issue-51/the...

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Reposted by Drew Peltier

Meade Krosby @meadekrosby.bsky.social · 9d

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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Drew Peltier @peltierdrew.bsky.social · 12d

What a cool one!

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Reposted by Drew Peltier

Bob Shriver @bkshriver.bsky.social · 22d

New paper led by PhD student Elise Pletcher! Forecasts from simple, density-dependent population models are highly transferable to new sites. Adding env. covariates does little to improve prediction in-sample and worsens forecasts out-of-sample. besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Density‐dependent growth and dispersal can accurately forecast near‐term range shifts in a dominant dryland tree species

We found that the inclusion of external drivers such as climate conditions or topography generally did not improve forecast accuracy and that at multidecadal time scales, intrinsic population process....

besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Reposted by Drew Peltier

Kevin Anchukaitis @thirstygecko.bsky.social · 13d

Nice article talking about our new NSF-funded radiocarbon and stable isotope facility (The TIME Lab - Tree-Ring Innovations in Mass Spectrometry of Earth Systems) in the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research at the University of Arizona! science.arizona.edu/news/univers...

University of Arizona opens groundbreaking TIME Lab to link past and present

Run by a team of distinguished researchers, the lab aims to “date the undateable,” linking natural events like eruptions or droughts to human history. With a focus on student training and public outre...

science.arizona.edu

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Reposted by Drew Peltier

Adam Csank @acsank.bsky.social · 27d

Come work with us! The University of Nevada, Reno is hiring an Assistant Professor in Human-Environment Geography, with a focus on energy and/or water sustainability, and environmental justice. Details at this link nshe.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/UNR-ex...

Assistant Professor, Human-Environment Geography

The University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) appreciates your interest in employment at our growing institution. We want your application process to go smoothly and quickly. Final applications must be submitt...

nshe.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com

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Reposted by Drew Peltier

Tom Flood @tomflood.bsky.social · Sep 5

Shared Responsibility.

@thebikinglawyer.bsky.social

black car with a red x and a bright yellow car with a green check mark.
It's getting dark out earlier, be sure to add a bright coat of paint to your vehicle. Remember road safety is a shared responsibility.

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Drew Peltier @peltierdrew.bsky.social · Sep 4

"I've taught this class before, I won't put as much work into prep this time"🥲

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Reposted by Drew Peltier

Northwest Climate Adaptation Science Center @nwcasc.bsky.social · Aug 29

A new USGS-led synthesis, supported by NW CASC, uses cutting-edge science to help the Bureau of Land Management understand how shifting precipitation patterns & rising temps are affecting big sagebrush ecosystems, helping support decisions to related to conserving big sagebrush 🔗 bit.ly/4mPkh9x

A National Park Service staff member measures the height of a big sagebrush plant in the City of Rocks National Preserve, Idaho.

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Drew Peltier @peltierdrew.bsky.social · Aug 29

I guess it's friday. Anyways look at this foxtail pine.

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Drew Peltier @peltierdrew.bsky.social · Aug 28

this is an excellent hashtag

Reposted by Drew Peltier

Steve Voelker @thetreecorener.bsky.social · Aug 28

New Tenure Track Position in Data Science or Biostatistics with us here at MTU is live.

We have great people here in a fantastic location that is probably a lot cooler (temperature-wise) than wherever you live during summer!

www.employment.mtu.edu/en-us/job/49...

Assistant Professor, Environmental Data Science & Biostatistics | Michigan Technological University

Explore career opportunities at Michigan Technological University located in Houghton, MI. Browse and filter job listings to find the perfect fit and learn more about each position.

www.employment.mtu.edu

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Reposted by Drew Peltier

Andrew Dessler @andrewdessler.com · Aug 28

Our comment on the DOE CWG report is done. It tips the scales at 439 pages, approx. 3x longer than the DOE report.
This is related to Brandolini's law: The amount of energy needed to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude bigger than that needed to produce it.

Example: refuting one sentence.

DOE CWG STATEMENT (second paragraph of section 2.1.1, page 3): “Piao et al. (2020) noted
that greening was even observable in the Arctic.”
COMMENT: This statement implies that the Arctic greening signal was caused by elevated CO2
,
however that is not the scientific consensus. Piao et al. (2020) attribute the greening trend in the
Arctic predominantly to growing season length driven by warmer temperatures (see also Y.
Zhang et al., 2022). Piao et al. (2020) also note that this positive impact of increasing
temperatures appears to have weakened over the past four decades, “suggesting a possible
saturation of future greening in response to warmer temperature” (see also comment on
greenness trends related to Section 2.1.1, first sentence of Page 4). It is also important to put
Arctic greening more broadly into the context of the carbon cycle and other impacts. While
above-ground plants may have displayed more leaf area over the past decades, rising
temperatures also thaw permafrost and drive accelerated decomposition in highly carbon rich
soils (Turetsky et al., 2020), a process which is expected to accelerate as climate continues to
warm (Miner et al., 2022). Thus even with Arctic greening, high latitude terrestrial systems may
become net carbon sources to the atmosphere, causing an amplifying feedback (Braghiere et
al., 2023). Other risks to the Arctic linked to higher CO2

levels and rising temperatures are not
mentioned in this report (Virkkala et al., 2025). The Arctic is warming at a rate of 2 to 3 times the
global average, leading to thawing of permanently frozen soils (permafrost), with downstream
impacts including loss of structural support for buildings and subsidence, threatening
communities, roads, runways, and other assets across Alaska (Manos et al., 2025; University of
Alaska Fairbanks Institute of Northern Engineering US Army Corps of Engineers Alaska District
& Laboratory, 2019).

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Reposted by Drew Peltier

Meade Krosby @meadekrosby.bsky.social · Aug 27

Three of nine regional Climate Adaptation Science Centers (CASCs) across the country will shut down by October if OMB continues to withhold funds to renew their 5-year cooperative agreements - which includes funds already appropriated to the CASCs by Congress for Fiscal Year 2025.

WBUR @wbur.org · Aug 27

“This is just another way to stop science,” said Bethany Bradley, the center’s co-director. The Northeast Climate Adaptation Science Center is 1 of 9 regional hubs across the country that helps state and local partners develop plans to adapt wildlife, water and land to the effects of climate change.

Amherst climate science center could close as feds freeze funding

“This is just another way to stop science,” said Bethany Bradley, the center’s co-director. The Northeast Climate Adaptation Science Center is one of nine regional hubs across the country that helps s...

www.wbur.org

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Reposted by Drew Peltier

Alex de Campi @alexdecampi.bsky.social · Aug 27

There are tons of graphic novels, academic papers, film and TV scripts, & prose novels/nonfiction on the LibGen list Anthropic used.

As settlement approaches, make it easy for the class action lawyers to contact you! Here’s how

Part 1: is your work in Libgen?

www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...

Search LibGen, the Pirated-Books Database That Meta Used to Train AI

Millions of books and scientific papers are captured in the collection’s current iteration.

www.theatlantic.com

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GrumpyUncleSean🔥 @grumpyunclesean.bsky.social · Aug 21

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Please see our new paper just published in Global Change Biology: “Intensifying fire season aridity portends ongoing expansion of severe wildfire in western US forests”. 🧪🌍🔥

Intensifying Fire Season Aridity Portends Ongoing Expansion of Severe Wildfire in Western US Forests

Area burned by wildfire has increased in western US forests over recent decades. However, high-severity fire—fire that kills all or most trees—is also an important metric of fire activity given its d...

doi.org

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Reposted by Drew Peltier

Karolina Heyduk @kheyduk.bsky.social · Aug 19

Our "Joshua tree is CAM" paper is finally out: nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Data collection started back in 2021, when we saw weird results in some RNAseq that made me stop and wonder if Joshua trees, long thought to be C3, were actually...CAM!

Cryptic CAM photosynthesis in Joshua tree (Yucca brevifolia, Y. jaegeriana)

Joshua trees are long-lived perennial monocots native to the Mojave Desert in North America. Composed of two species, Yucca brevifolia and Y. jaegeriana (Asparagaceae), Joshua trees are imperiled by...

nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Reposted by Drew Peltier

Amanda Amodeo @aaamodeo.bsky.social · Aug 14

My Department (Biology) at @dartmouthartsci.bsky.social is hiring this year! We have an opening for a Tenure Track Cell and/or Molecular biologist (broadly defined).

Please share with your trainees/labmates/friends and reach out if you have questions.

apply.interfolio.com/171625

Apply - Interfolio {{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio

apply.interfolio.com

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Reposted by Drew Peltier

Kevin Anchukaitis @thirstygecko.bsky.social · Aug 14

The University of Arizona is hiring a tenure-track Assistant/Associate Professor in Physical Geography! Research specialities could include wildfire, climate and water resources, and/or natural hazards, amongst others. Please apply and join us! arizona.csod.com/ux/ats/caree...

Assistant or Associate Professor, Physical Geography (T/TE) (Updated)

Develop and maintain an active research program.Teach undergraduate and graduate courses.Develop advanced courses at the graduate level.Mentor and adv...

arizona.csod.com

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