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Britta Jensen

@tephrabird.bsky.social

420 followers 420 following 140 posts

Associate Professor, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Alberta. I like things that fly through the air (not shit hitting fan though), science, nature, pottery, and well, many things actually. Opinions are my own and probably questionable.

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Britta Jensen @tephrabird.bsky.social · Jan 20

My first social media account ever (except my lab account @tephrotastic.bsky.social). My science is tephrochronology, volcanoes, stratigraphy & climate. I am an amateur potter, advanced procrastinator, middling, but enthusiastic, birder. Growing a garden for bumblebees, can't wait for my next hike.

North face of Mount St. Helens from a helicopter, what a beast!

Bumble bee inspecting a feral rudbeckia in the garden

Cross-country skiing right in Edmonton at Mayfair.

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Britta Jensen @tephrabird.bsky.social · 22h

Hits a bit too close… gah. 😩

Jeremy Bassis @bassisjeremy.bsky.social · 22h

The University: We need to become leaders in climate and sustainability and there is an urgent need to develop climate science courses.

Me: Our department has climate in the name and we already offer courses on climate science at every level.

The University: Who invited you to this meeting?

Reposted by Britta Jensen

St Andrews Earth & Environmental Sciences @earthscista.bsky.social · 1d

Over the last six weeks, SEES scientists Mengwen, Patrick, Helen & Andrea jointed the Beyond EPICA – Oldest Ice project, which aims to analyse the oldest ice on Earth – up to 1.5 million years old, beyond the 800,000 years previously covered – to understand more about Earth's climate 🧊🧪🥼 @bas.ac.uk

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Reposted by Britta Jensen

Radiocarbon @14cjournal.bsky.social · 5d

👋 Hello, Bluesky! We’re Radiocarbon, an international peer-reviewed journal (since 1959) dedicated to advancing radiocarbon research, from calibration and chronology to applications across archaeology, geology, environmental science, and more. We’re glad to be here. #Radiocarbon #Geochronology

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Britta Jensen @tephrabird.bsky.social · 3d

@ualberta.bsky.social
How about showing EAS you also think we are worth supporting?The geoscience side has lost so many that we are losing research capacity and ability to teach our programs. Best rated in Canada. Top 5 in North America. But not for long. Investing in existing strengths pays too!

Dr Dan Shugar 🇨🇦 @watershedlab.bsky.social · 5d

🚨FOUR tenure track positions in my dept @ucalgary.bsky.social @ucalgaryscience.bsky.social in applied & computational geophysics, subsurface geochemistry, sedimentary geology, and sustainable soil science. careers.ucalgary.ca/search/jobs?...

(please reskeet widely!) #academicsky 🧪⚒️🇨🇦

Opportunities matching 'earth'

Search 4 Careers available at University of Calgary.

careers.ucalgary.ca

Reposted by Britta Jensen

isset-ualberta.bsky.social @isset-ualberta.bsky.social · 27d

Hello folks! We're thrilled to announce that the 2025 University of Alberta Space Exploration Symposium will take place Wednesday, October 15th, Thursday October 16th, and Friday, October 17th. Stay tuned for more info about participation and our two fantastic keynote speakers! 🌟

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Britta Jensen @tephrabird.bsky.social · 5d

I jumped ahead last #fieldworkfriday and forgot about our first year geology field school before Iceland. Amazing rocks, landscapes and students on a road trip through southern Alberta and SE BC. Drumheller to Waterton, Fernie and Jasper just to name a few spots. Glorious. ⚒️🧪🪨

The amazing Horsethief Canyon outside of Drumheller never gets old. Stunning landscape of Cretaceous fluvial sequence - Horseshoe Canyon Formation

Our mascot is scale for cryoturbated Pleistocene gravels - a remnant periglacial landscape in the Del Bonita uplands on the Milk River Ridge - one of the only spots in Alberta not over ridden by an ice sheet during the last glacial maximum.

A lunch break at Fort Steele. We found a goat. He was great.

After I told the students if they stick their heads into the freezing Kootenay River near canal flats they will be able to hear the silt hissing and gravel moving on the river bed. They did it and were blown away that I wasn’t lying!

Reposted by Britta Jensen

Maryanne W 🇺🇦 @uptownone.bsky.social · 14d

Dr Markland was the heartbeat of Friday’s @coffeeoutside.bsky.social in Edmonton.
Here’s a few of my favorite photos from over the years.
You made us all better humans for knowing you. RIP

5 people in a snowy park, 3 sitting on benches & the others social distancing, smiling & enjoying the company

8 people in a park, 2 sitting on benches, 1 sitting on the ground & 5 standing

Man making coffee, 2 others standing on a sunny cool morning

Man in a green canoe being towed by a man on a bike smiling

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Britta Jensen @tephrabird.bsky.social · 13d

Was joined for the first week with @hanaayousif.bsky.social, now in Copenhagen learning all about the other aspects of ice core science. What a September!

Hanaa watching the IC check the concentration of SO4 in our samples. Make sure we have enough!

Britta Jensen @tephrabird.bsky.social · 13d

Also currently in (sunny?!) St. Andrews Scotland learning the mysteries of volcanic sulphur isotopes from ice cores with @oceanicandrea.bsky.social and the tephra crew. I want to thank @uniofstandrews.bsky.social and their amazing Global Fellowship scheme for making this opportunity possible. 🌋

Looking back at St. Andrew’s from West Beach

Walking along the Fife Coastal Path, so much to do here not in the office!

Weighing out our samples to make sure we get enough to measure our sulphur isotopes

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Britta Jensen @tephrabird.bsky.social · 13d

Hardest thing is picking the photos! So many. Thanks so much to the team that organized it and my roomies including @icylava.bsky.social

Britta Jensen @tephrabird.bsky.social · 13d

Have been laying low, but wanting do something light hearted, I will start sharing my summer for #fieldworkFriday. In May I joined the @iavcei.bsky.social @volc-ice.bsky.social field trip in Iceland. Stunning sunny days the entire time, so I can’t go back 🤣. Ready for future field work in NW BC! ⚒️🧪

Field tripper hiking up a valley to along the escarpment that the 2010 lava flows of Eyafjallajökul flowed over

Ignimbrite deposit of an eruption from to the north that was deposited around 50 ka years ago (i think!)

Incredible hyaloclastite deposits produced by an eruption under an ice sheet.

Amazing experience to do a glacier walk on Solheimajokull.

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Britta Jensen @tephrabird.bsky.social · 13d

The most disturbing thing for me in this video are all the people with cameras that run and swarm around this women as she is knocked to the ground by the agent. It looks like a feeding frenzy out in the ocean. Just angling to get a better view of the abuse. This world is cooked.

Till Eckert @tilleckert.com · 13d

1/ I’m Till Eckert, a ProPublica reporter. For the past 2 weeks, I’ve been going to the same NY immigration courthouse.

Nearly every time, I see ICE agents arresting immigrants. Today, a woman was slammed to the ground after begging officials not to take her husband away.

Thread 👇

Britta Jensen @tephrabird.bsky.social · Sep 4

That was exactly what I needed today.

Andrew Kurjata @akurjata.ca · Sep 4

! www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVmZ...

'It jumped into his arms': Low water on Cowichan River leads to beaver rescue

YouTube video by CHEK Media

www.youtube.com

Britta Jensen @tephrabird.bsky.social · Aug 31

Wow! Say hello. Blast from the past, they are looking fantastic.

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Reposted by Britta Jensen

Mineral Cup #MinCup25 @mineralcup.bsky.social · Aug 29

Behold, the #MinCup35 bracket!

Use it to follow along, plan campaigns to support your favs, or make predictions on how voting will shake out. We start at the top left on September 1st, then alternate left and right as we work our way down.

A sports-style elimination bracket of 32 minerals labeled "Mineral Cup 2025". Text below reads, "Daily voting takes place on www.MineralCup.org in September. Campaign on your favorite social media using #MinCup25."

The starting matches are, in chronological order: chrysotile versus pectolite, stibnite versus okenite, jeremejevite versus haüyne, calcite versus perovskite, silver versus baryte, carpathite versus leucite, sanidine versus hematite, pollucite versus tugtupite, kosmochlor versus azurite, dioptase versus wavellite, titanite versus thortveitite, zunyite versus molybdenite, topaz versus kyanite, cuprosklodowskite versus ikaite, taenite versus nontronite, and paddlewheelite versus mannardite.

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Reposted by Britta Jensen

Cailynn Klingbeil @cailynn.bsky.social · Aug 16

I wrote something for @theglobeandmail.com
www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti... #yycbike #yegbike #BikeTO #BikeHFX

Opinion: The premiers are using bike lanes as a political scapegoat

Safe cycling infrastructure saves lives, but sadly, many politicians are ignoring the facts

www.theglobeandmail.com

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Reposted by Britta Jensen

James Dalziel @j-dalziel.bsky.social · Aug 15

This paper by Meredith et al. (2025) examines global city exposure to volcanic hazards, using metrics such as population and distance to GVP Holocene volcanoes to quantify and rank cities at risk. This data has also been visualised through a web app. nhess.copernicus.org/articles/25/...

Cities near volcanoes: which cities are most exposed to volcanic hazards?

Abstract. Cities near volcanoes expose dense concentrations of people, buildings, and infrastructure to volcanic hazards. Identifying cities globally that are exposed to volcanic hazards helps guide l...

nhess.copernicus.org

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Reposted by Britta Jensen

Leah Marshall @leahpmarshall.bsky.social · Jul 31

Check out our new paper about carbon, productivity and climate over 15,800 years in central Alaska. Out in @aaarjournal.bsky.social this paper pairs new sediment records from Eight Mile Lake with soil cores from the adjacent hillslope.

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

A 15,800 year record of productivity, carbon accumulation and environmental change at Eight Mile Lake and its catchment, central Alaska

Despite their efficient burial of organic carbon (OC), the role of high-latitude lakes in storing and processing OC under changing climates is poorly understood. We investigate a 15,800 year sedime...

www.tandfonline.com

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Britta Jensen @tephrabird.bsky.social · Jul 19

After volcanic ash, loess, my second favourite sediment that falls out of the sky. It is great. Too many words to explain why here, it is a more in person over beer thing anyway.

Joe Mason @moreorloess.bsky.social · Jul 19

Had to take another look at a classic paper today. Loess section at Loveland, Iowa, on the right. Lohnes and Handy report data from nearby.

First page of an article in the Journal of Geology, May, 1968, titled Slope Angles in Friable Loess by R.A. Lohnes and R. L. Handy. The first sentence of the abstract reads "Maximum stable heights of steep, friable loess slopes of western Iowa and western Tennessee were found to relate to soil density and shear strength in accord with the sliding-wedge method of analysis."

A large exposure of loess in a borrow pit, with steep to near-vertical faces cut by gullies. There are trees, shrubs, and grass on benches across the face and on the top of the exposure.

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Britta Jensen @tephrabird.bsky.social · Jul 17

This is so cool! Can’t wait to get up there next week. Go Yukon Go!

Theron Finley @theronfinley.bsky.social · Jul 17

A thread on this paper! 🧪⚒️

The Tintina fault is a major right-lateral fault, stretching ~1000 km across the Yukon, and having slipped a total of ~430 km in its lifetime. It's generally thought to have been inactive since the Eocene.

Regional topographic map showing the location of the Tintina fault in the Yukon. Black dots show earthquake epicentres and blue arrows show GPS velocities recording crustal deformation. Blue, yellow and pink polygons show the extent of ice in three past glaciations. White box encompasses the study area in northern Yukon near Dawson City

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Reposted by Britta Jensen

Julie Talbot @julietalbot.bsky.social · Jul 10

Un beau résumé des travaux de recherche de mon étudiante Élodie, co-supervisée par @tephrabird.bsky.social - Élodie fait un travail minutieux d'enquête pour trouver des traces d'éruptions volcaniques passées dans les tourbières de la vallée du St-Laurent 🌋🔬🧪

L’histoire imprégnée dans le sol

Élodie Roussel consacre ses travaux de maîtrise à la recherche de traces des éruptions volcaniques du passé dans les tourbières.

nouvelles.umontreal.ca

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Britta Jensen @tephrabird.bsky.social · Jul 5

*isn’t*

Britta Jensen @tephrabird.bsky.social · Jul 5

Yay! Super exciting. The only part that is amazing is waiting until 2029.

IAVCEI - International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry @iavcei.bsky.social · Jul 4

We are thrilled to announce that the next IAVCEI Scientific Assembly will be held in Costa Rica! 🇨🇷

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who joined us in #IAVCEI2025 in Switzerland. We look forward to seeing you all again in #IAVCEI2029.

Welcome to Costa Rica!

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Britta Jensen @tephrabird.bsky.social · Jul 2

Check it out, avoid the for-profits! Help build up these journals. CJES has a long and proud history.

Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences @canjearthsci.bsky.social · Jul 2

CJES offers corresponding authors from @crkn-rcdr.bsky.social affiliated institutions a 25% discount on open access fees. Enjoy unlimited Read Access to @cdnsciencepub.com research as well.

Publish with us 🍁▶️ buff.ly/hoSVFeh

#AcademicSky #SciComm 🧪 #AcWri #PHDSky #ScholComms #OpenScience

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Britta Jensen @tephrabird.bsky.social · Jun 26

The Beringia Interpretive Centre was amazing to work with on some of the new displays they generously invited me to collaborate on. They accomplished so much with relatively few resources and it looks amazing! I still haven’t seen this though and won’t, so will have to take Brent at his word. 😬
🧪

Brent Ward @geobrentatlarge.bsky.social · Jun 26

And they have many short videos from many friends and colleagues that have worked in Beringia. This is @tephrabird.bsky.social telling me everything I need to know about volcanic ash's and how to fingerprint them!

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