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Claire G. Griffin

@polargriffin.bsky.social

3.5K followers 2K following 610 posts

Asst Prof, Ex-pat Texan, biogeocheminist and arctic scientist, excited about organic matter and rivers. Water science, fluffy pet photos, #QueerinSTEM, and crafty things.

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Claire G. Griffin @polargriffin.bsky.social · Feb 24

I have been making a playlist of Fresh Water Songs for my Hydrology class, with some help from friends. It's pretty great! Please enjoy.

open.spotify.com/playlist/7jl...

Fresh Water Songs

Playlist · cofertest · 70 items · 8 saves

open.spotify.com

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Matthew Kirschenbaum @mkirschenbaum.bsky.social · 12h

Virginia State Senate Dems just brought down fire and fury regarding the “Compact,” notifying the President and Rector that UVA would lose ALL STATE APPROPRIATIONS if it signs and cedes the University to “federal political control.” Notably, their letter directly restates points made here by @siva.

Siva @sivav.bsky.social · 14h

The “compact” for higher ed is an unserious document written by unserious people from a position of spectacular ignorance. No one should take it seriously. Sadly, my bosses are taking it seriously.

newrepublic.com/article/2013...

Why This Essay Could Cause the University of Virginia to Shut Down

How Linda McMahon’s latest “compact” would do deep and permanent harm to American higher education

newrepublic.com

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Dominique Baker @bakerdphd.bsky.social · 4h

I'll be updating next week's current-state-of-state-higher-ed-policy slides.

Left is an article about the VA senate dems telling UVA their state funding will be in question if they agree to that odious compact. On the right is the key part of the senate letter.

www.cbs19news.com/news/state-s...

Screenshot from the top of the article. Title is "State Senate Democrats tell UVA to not consider education compact." Published today.

Main text reads "RICHMOND, Va. (CBS19 NEWS) -- The University of Virginia could lose state funding if it signs onto an education compact it received from the federal government last week."

Screenshot from the letter from VA dems which reads "Therefore, we call upon you to immediately cease all consideration of signing this compact.
Furthermore, we want to be explicitly clear: if the University of Virginia signs this compact, there will be significant consequences in future Virginia budget cycles. As the leadership of the Senate with responsibility for appropriations affecting higher education, we will work with our colleagues to ensure that the Commonwealth does not subsidize an institution that has ceded its independence to federal
political control."

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Amanda Katz @katzish.bsky.social · 19h

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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KOJAMF🤘🖤🤘 @kojamf.bsky.social · 3d

Dr. Jane Goodall filmed an interview with Netflix in March 2025 that she understood would only be released after her death.

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Chemjobber @chemjobber.bsky.social · 6d

Good God

Matthew Herper @matthewherper.bsky.social · 6d

Mississippi Baby Dies of Whooping Cough, the State’s First Pertussis Death in 13 Years www.mississippifreepress.org/mississippi-...

Mississippi Baby Dies of Whooping Cough Amid Rising Cases

A baby in Mississippi has died of whooping cough for the first time since 2012. The baby was less than two months old—too young for vaccination.

www.mississippifreepress.org

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Claire G. Griffin @polargriffin.bsky.social · 6d

Could you share a list of what minerals might be on the list for retirement?

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Claire G. Griffin @polargriffin.bsky.social · 6d

So proud of our alma mater! Not.

Good luck recruiting good folks to stay at UT

Reposted by Claire G. Griffin

DrAnnD @drannd.bsky.social · 6d

Really @utaustin.bsky.social?

Jon Becker @jonbecker.bsky.social · 6d

Bruh!

“The University of Texas system is honored that our flagship — the University of Texas at Austin — has been named as one of only nine institutions in the U.S. selected by the Trump administration for potential funding advantages under its new Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education,” Kevin P. Eltife, the chairman of the University of Texas Board of Regents, said in a statement on Thursday. “We enthusiastically look forward to engaging with university officials and reviewing the compact immediately.”

The other eight

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NPR @npr.org · 7d

Today marks the first day in public media’s history without federal funding. And we’re not going anywhere.

Listeners like you keep our mission alive. Protect one of the last places where America comes together to hear itself.

Stand with us today. Donate at this link: n.pr/46wamAj

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Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 7d

Jane Goodall, ethologist and conservationist, has died. She was 91

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More Perfect Union @moreperfectunion.bsky.social · 8d

Electricity now costs up to 267% more than it did five years ago in areas near data centers.

www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...

AI Data Centers Are Sending Power Bills Soaring

Wholesale electricity costs as much as 267% more than it did five years ago in areas near data centers. That’s being passed on to customers.

www.bloomberg.com

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Rick Thoman @alaskawx.bsky.social · 8d

End of an era and a sad day for those that care about Arctic work done in the best ways possible. 😢 Nonetheless "… the goal of broadening participation in Arctic-focused research, education, and policy is still an important mission to achieve." #Arctic

A Final Message from the Arctic Research Consortium of the U.S. (ARCUS)
After nearly four decades of service to the Arctic research community, the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States (ARCUS) has now reached its sunset. This will be our final message to the community.

On behalf of the ARCUS Board of Directors and all ARCUS staff, we want to thank you for the many years of collaboration, support, and partnership that made ARCUS possible. We have enjoyed working with this community immensely and believe that the goal of broadening participation in Arctic-focused research, education, and policy is still an important mission to achieve.

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Dave Vanness @djvanness.bsky.social · 9d

A lot of people think that every international student admitted means one fewer spot for domestic students, when the opposite is more likely true - the tuition revenue international students bring allows public universities to provide substantial discounts to domestic students, improving access.

Nick Fleisher @nickfleisher.bsky.social · 9d

30% drop year over year!

Amid visa restrictions, international freshmen enrollment plummets at UW-Madison

This year’s number of international freshmen is the lowest recorded since at least 2015.

www.jsonline.com

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Zack Labe @zacklabe.com · 10d

"After nearly 40 years, the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States, or ARCUS, will close September 30."

"The Arctic Research Consortium of the United States funded programs that aided Indigenous communities and tracked melting sea ice, among dozens of initiatives."

After Trump cut the National Science Foundation by 56 percent, a venerable Arctic research center closes its doors

The Arctic Research Consortium of the United States funded programs that aided Indigenous communities and tracked melting sea ice, among dozens of initiatives.

grist.org

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Jonathan Cohn @jonathancohn.bsky.social · 11d

“I’m emotionally shellshocked right now,” said one professor in the Texas Tech system. “What does it say about academic freedom? It says we don’t have it.”

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/26/u...

Texas Tech Moves to Limit Academic Discussion to 2 Genders

www.nytimes.com

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c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 13d

South Texas game cam catches a raccoon riding a javelina (Dicotyles tajacu).

The deer feeder corn attracts a lot of other species, but maybe we should worry about them all teaming up against us?

(📷: Jeff Davis, TAMU-Kingsville alumni forum)

On a black and white game cam, three javelinas are browsing corn while a raccoon sits on one of their backs. The lighting produces laser-eyes in the raccoon, who is secretly one of the X-Men.

A raccoon knight on a javelina steed. "Onward, Pigasus! Let us show them the meaning of haste". Motion blurred, black and white game cam shot.

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Olivia Messer @oliviamesser.bsky.social · 12d

Since Charlie Kirk’s assassination, HBCUs received terroristic threats. Black students have been expelled or forced to withdraw. Black professors and teachers have been fired and placed on leave. A Black firefighter was placed on leave. A Black journalist was fired

thebarbedwire.com/2025/09/26/f...

The Free Speech Crisis for Black Americans Is Worse Than You Think

Don’t let Jimmy Kimmel’s return fool you: Black academics are more frightened of talking to the press than I’ve ever seen.

thebarbedwire.com

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derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 12d

Commercial hand block printing has mostly disappeared from Western Europe bc it's too laborious and thus expensive. But the craft lives on in India. You can find Indian block printed clothes from Kartik Research, Kardo, Harago, 11.11/eleven eleven, and 18 East — if you can put up with the tariffs.

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derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 12d

Let me tell you a beautiful story about this couch. 🧵

IG msviciousdesign

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Science Magazine @science.org · 12d

NSF today released instructions for the next round of applicants to its Graduate Research Fellowship Program. A key group—second-year Ph.D. students—is no longer eligible, and students who are still able to apply will face an unusually narrow timeframe. https://scim.ag/3KlQkQk

‘Completely shattered.’ Changes to NSF’s graduate student fellowship spur outcry

The announcement comes months later than usual, leaving many would-be applicants stranded

www.science.org

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Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽 @needhibhalla.bsky.social · 13d

"the benefits of NIH research in general are wide and diffuse. A very large number of advances—roughly one in two during the 21st century—are linked to NIH grants that are cut in our counterfactual scenario."

Drug Monkey @drugmonkey.bsky.social · 13d

This may be the most important paper ever published about NIH funded research.

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

What if NIH had been 40% smaller?

Replaying history with less NIH funding shows widespread impacts on drug-linked research

www.science.org

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Jeremy BOO! Yoder 🎃💀🕷️ @jbyoder.org · 13d

Really cool, conceptually simple approach here: cross-referencing grant proposal scores with literature citations and explicit acknowledgments in drug patents to identify patents linked to projects that wouldn't have been funded given a smaller budget

Drug Monkey @drugmonkey.bsky.social · 13d

This may be the most important paper ever published about NIH funded research.

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

What if NIH had been 40% smaller?

Replaying history with less NIH funding shows widespread impacts on drug-linked research

www.science.org

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Claire G. Griffin @polargriffin.bsky.social · 14d

Hematite! Hematite!

Mineral Cup #MinCup25 @mineralcup.bsky.social · 14d

#MinCup25 Round 3 Match 1: Colourful phoenix #haüyne goes against heavyweight industrial powerhouse #hematite.

Vote: www.mineralcup.org/2025/vote/r3...
Results: www.mineralcup.org/2025/results...

www.mineralcup.org

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Andrew Rumbach @andrewrumbach.bsky.social · 14d

Terrific investigation by the @houstonchronicle.com finds that 20% of residential properties built since Harvey in greater Houston are in a mapped floodplain, 57,000 in-all. www.houstonchronicle.com/projects/202...

65K Houston-area properties have been built in floodplains since Hurricane Harvey

Houston’s relentless push into new suburbs has overlooked flood risks, putting tens of thousands of families in harm’s way.

www.houstonchronicle.com

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Vicky Veritas @vickyveritas.bsky.social · 14d

Tiger Iron is a metamorphosed banded iron formation (BIF) from Australia. It consists of shimmering golden tiger’s eye, red jasper, and jet black hematite. More at comment below.

#MinCup25 ⚒️ sci-fi 🧪 🖖🏼 scifi Geosciences #WomenInSTEM geology 🔭🪐 #hematite

Huge polished slabs of Tiger Iron (tiger’s eye, red jasper and black hematite) from Australia.

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