Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Justin Pomeranz @pzecology.bsky.social · 22d

I think they generally are intrigued by it and find the documentary to be entertaining and informative. Although, I show this to my freshman-level class and it can sometimes be hard to tell what's going through their heads! 😂

Justin Pomeranz @pzecology.bsky.social · Aug 24

I show the PBS "Serengeti Rules" documentary, which strongly features Jim Estes's research, to my intro class every semester. Sad to hear of his passing.

David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · Aug 24

Jim was an incredible ecologist. I own several of his books, and cite his research reguarly. www.butlernature.com/2025/08/20/j...

Jim Estes, biologist who revealed how sea otters shape entire ecosystems, died on May 20, aged 79

When Jim Estes first arrived in the Aleutian Islands in 1970, he expected a routine wildlife survey. What he found was the outline of a scientific revelation. In places where sea otters thrived, the…

www.butlernature.com

5 38

Reposted by Justin Pomeranz

Tom Astle @tjalamont.bsky.social · Aug 24

🐙🌿 An awesome little insect I found recently in Montana. It's a mantidfly/mantisfly, which is neither a mantis nor a fly. It's in the family Mantispidae, order Neuroptera along with lacewings, antlions, and owlflies. I think this one is Dicromantispa sayi. Adults are predators, and larvae of some--

A macro photo, side angle, of an insect called a mantidfly, facing down and to the right, on top of a piece of wood dappled with yellow and green lichens. The background is out of focus blue sky and greenery. The insect is overall a mix of dark and light brown/tan, with large, round, rainbow-green compound eyes. It's a long, thin insect, with mantis-like raptorial forelegs, clear lacewing-like wings folded along its back, and giraffe-neck-like extension of the thorax. Overall, it looks like a mashup of a mantis and a lacewing, hence the common name.

1 9 100

Justin Pomeranz @pzecology.bsky.social · Aug 23

No views from today's trail run, but I scoped out the last unknown-to-me section for my next race #Ouray50. Just 21 more days to prep and rest before embarking on what is most likely going to be an absolute type 2 #sufferFest. Psyched.

Strava map of a run near Ouray, Colorado

3

Justin Pomeranz @pzecology.bsky.social · Aug 23

I know I just shouldn't make movie references in my courses, but the absolute 🦗 response my R-coding class gave to my Zoolander "the files are in the computer" joke today was absolutely soul-crushing. #academicChatter #higherEd

two men are fighting over a computer monitor and the words `` the files are in the computer '' are visible .

Alt: two men are fighting over a computer monitor and the words `` the files are in the computer '' are visible .

media.tenor.com

1 12

Justin Pomeranz @pzecology.bsky.social · Aug 22

I had no idea and didn't expect it, but I'm starting to realize this is true.

1

Justin Pomeranz @pzecology.bsky.social · Aug 22

#academicChatter #academicSky

Justin Pomeranz @pzecology.bsky.social · Aug 22

One unexpected enjoyment of teaching is observing students mature both academically and socially. I've now been in my position long enough that I'm starting to get folks in my senior-level classes that I first had 4 years ago in my freshman classes. The difference can be like night and day.

2 1 18

Reposted by Justin Pomeranz

Rick Thoman @alaskawx.bsky.social · Aug 13

If you're a storymap kind of person, here's one that nicely explains what's happening & why with the glacial lake outburst flooding now underway on the Mendenhall River near Juneau. #akwx #ClimateChange #Flood #Glacier @spiraledu.bsky.social @alaska.bsky.social

storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/72ce...

Glacier Outburst Floods: Mendenhall Glacier

Every year since 2011, Juneau, Alaska, has been impacted by a unique type of flood that can only occur near places with glaciers.

storymaps.arcgis.com

9 76 170

Justin Pomeranz @pzecology.bsky.social · Aug 22

One unexpected enjoyment of teaching is observing students mature both academically and socially. I've now been in my position long enough that I'm starting to get folks in my senior-level classes that I first had 4 years ago in my freshman classes. The difference can be like night and day.

2 2 11

Justin Pomeranz @pzecology.bsky.social · Aug 21

✌️I'm Justin, an assistant
professor of Env. Sci. @ CO Mesa U.

These days I mostly teach, but my research is on stream communities, focusing on food webs and body size distributions (aka size spectra, individual size distributions).

Selfie of a man wearing an orange vest under a rain jacket with the hood up next to a mountain stream. In the stream, there is another person using a Hess sampler to collect benthic macroinvertebrates.

2 21

Justin Pomeranz @pzecology.bsky.social · Aug 21

Requested this from my interlibrary loan; looking forward to digging into it.

American Naturaliﬆ / ASN 🐌 @asn-amnat.bsky.social · Aug 16

The metabolic theory of ecology can be extended to improve our predictions of climate change impacts
Summary & Analysis by Shubha Govindarajan of "Toward a More Dynamic Metabolic Theory of Ecology to Predict Climate Change Effects on Biological Systems” by Stark et al.
www.amnat.org/an/newpapers...

The metabolic theory of ecology can be extended to improve our predictions of climate change impacts

<p>Read about “Toward a More Dynamic Metabolic Theory of Ecology to Predict Climate Change Effects on Biological Systems” by Keila A. Stark, Tom Clegg, Joey R. Bernhardt, Tess N. Grainger,...

www.amnat.org

2

Justin Pomeranz @pzecology.bsky.social · Aug 19

Colorado #trailRunning views

Aerial view of a mountain town from a lookout point approximately 10,000 feet above sea level.

10

Justin Pomeranz @pzecology.bsky.social · Aug 19

Classes started today and my throat is on fire; I probably talked more today than I did all summer.

2

Justin Pomeranz @pzecology.bsky.social · Aug 18

Views from the trail. #trailRunning

Mountain landscape with dramatic lighting in a partly cloudy sky and a distinct, dark, rock feature on the right side. The feature is known locally as the "lizard head", but I don't really think it looks reptilian.

1 7

Justin Pomeranz @pzecology.bsky.social · Aug 18

Could this be the origin of the mythical jackalope??

I wonder if frontier-stories of infected rabbits got exaggerated to stories of jack rabbits with deer-like antlers...

www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-...

Why Are Rabbits Sprouting Tentacles?

Rabbits spotted with hornlike growths on their face in northern Colorado are doing better than they look

www.scientificamerican.com

1 1 3

Justin Pomeranz @pzecology.bsky.social · Aug 12

Last Saturday, I had the privilege of waking up in the dark, watching the moon set over Moab, the sun rise over Castle Valley, feeling the wind rip at 12,000 feet, and was back in camp to watch the peaks alight with alpenglow.
In between, I ran 50 miles and climbed >11k ft.
Great day. #trailRunning

Night sight image of a campground with a full moon over a backlit mountain ridge.

Over exposed image of a full moon setting over a desert landscape illuminated by twilight.

Campers sitting in front of a desert hill with a wildfire color-enhanced sunset.

Part of a map of a 50 mile run near Moab and Castle Valley Utah.

1 15

Justin Pomeranz @pzecology.bsky.social · Jul 25

They also have really nice and vibrant orange spots on the wings but I couldn't quite get the angle.

1

Justin Pomeranz @pzecology.bsky.social · Jul 25

*State insect

Justin Pomeranz @pzecology.bsky.social · Jul 25

Saw a Colorado Hairstreak (Hypaurotis crysalus) today on its host plant (Gamble oak, Quercus gambelii). This is Colorado's official state butterfly!

Purple and black butterfly on gamble oak leaves.

2

Justin Pomeranz @pzecology.bsky.social · Jul 25

Saw a Colorado Hairstreak (Hypaurotis crysalus) today on its host plant (Gamble oak, Quercus gambelii). This is Colorado's official state butterfly!

1 1 4

Justin Pomeranz @pzecology.bsky.social · Jul 12

Happy #Hardrock100 to all who celebrate! This is old news but it was SO. SMOKEY. In the San Juans this morning. Glad it's cleared up for the runners and I'm blown away to hear that Katy Schide (as of 15 hours elapsed race time) is almost an hour ahead of Courtney Dauwalter's (🐐) course record pace 🤯

2

Reposted by Justin Pomeranz

Dr. Jessica L Ware @jessicalwarelab.bsky.social · Jun 15

Do you fish in freshwater? Please share or/and complete our survey gathering data on observations of insects for our study on aquatic insect population declines! The link to our survey is here: www.surveymonkey.com/r/VXLMY89. Please share if you know anyone who might be interested in participating!

a dragonfly perched on a hand wearing pink nailpolish

4 37 54

Reposted by Justin Pomeranz

Kimberley @kimberleyfox.bsky.social · Jun 28

The 2025 Western States 100 has started:
Live coverage, via Youtube: m.youtube.com/watch?v=ehpq...

#running #wser #westernstates100 #westernstates2025 #ultrarunning #trailrunning

Western States 2025 Live Stream

YouTube video by Western States 100

m.youtube.com

4 26

Justin Pomeranz @pzecology.bsky.social · Jun 28

I am so excited for #westernStates100 #ws100 tomorrow. Can't wait to watch who starts crossing the line in about 24 hours from now 🤠🏃🤙
youtu.be/WHA8gO_A_gc?...

What Normal People Do | Western States 15 Years Later (Part II)

YouTube video by Kilian Jornet

youtu.be

5

Justin Pomeranz @pzecology.bsky.social · Jun 27

Fantastic day of #trailRunning today. I don't have a ton of efforts on this local beast of a run, but I was able to shave off over 40 minutes on my previous PR. Incredible what nearly a year of consistent, structured training can do. If only I'd started earlier!

Map of a mountain run showing numerous segments with new personal records.

Screen shot from Strava with the following statistics: distance = 10.06 miles; elevation gain= 4,525 feet; moving time = 2:27:38; average pace = 14:40 minutes per mile; average grade adjusted pace = 9:29 minutes per mile.

Selfie of a runner at the top of a feature near Ouray, Colorado named "the bridge of heaven". The background shows craggy peaks with limited remaining snowfields.

7

Reposted by Justin Pomeranz

Society for Freshwater Science @freshwaterscience.bsky.social · Jun 27

Don't forget to apply for the Headwaters Leadership Academy by Monday!

Poster advertising the Headwaters Leadership Academy. The Headwaters Leadership Academy mission is to build a pipeline for emerging leaders by forming a network of early career freshwater scientists and providing mentorship, service, and professional development opportunities beyond the typical training offered in traditional academic setings. Apply by Monday, June 30th, 2025

5 7