Dr. Jessica Ball 🍪
@tuffcookie.bsky.social
Volcanologist, scicomm-er, Magma PI, Field Fiddler. She/her. Tweets, likes, retweets do not speak for or represent past/present employers.
Good riddance. Let's spend 2026 not actively destroying the world, mkay?
January 1, 2026 at 5:46 AM
Good riddance. Let's spend 2026 not actively destroying the world, mkay?
A very important doggo from one of today's #NoKings protests. (The other side of his signs says "No tariffs on treats")
@weratedogs.com
@weratedogs.com
June 15, 2025 at 4:08 AM
A very important doggo from one of today's #NoKings protests. (The other side of his signs says "No tariffs on treats")
@weratedogs.com
@weratedogs.com
Well, that's the presidential proposed USGS budget for FY26. It’s not just NSF and NASA that would be taking earth science research hits if it's enacted.
May 31, 2025 at 1:58 AM
Well, that's the presidential proposed USGS budget for FY26. It’s not just NSF and NASA that would be taking earth science research hits if it's enacted.
Not even in frame. That's gotta be over 400 meters
May 26, 2025 at 3:24 AM
Not even in frame. That's gotta be over 400 meters
Also this cute little goober. She's "helping". #geokitties 🐾
March 10, 2025 at 4:28 AM
Also this cute little goober. She's "helping". #geokitties 🐾
Glad I have this elegant lady in my life. #geokitties 🐾
March 10, 2025 at 4:02 AM
Glad I have this elegant lady in my life. #geokitties 🐾
January 22, 2025 at 4:34 AM
And of course:
December 31, 2024 at 10:04 PM
And of course:
More volcano self-help:
December 31, 2024 at 10:04 PM
More volcano self-help:
Sharing today's USGS Volcanoes post...because.
"Even volcanoes make resolutions! This New Year's Eve, we're sharing a few of our favorite self-help titles for improving eruptions, reshaping slopes, and becoming a better volcano.
To all our followers, we wish you a very Happy New Year in 2025!"
"Even volcanoes make resolutions! This New Year's Eve, we're sharing a few of our favorite self-help titles for improving eruptions, reshaping slopes, and becoming a better volcano.
To all our followers, we wish you a very Happy New Year in 2025!"
December 31, 2024 at 10:04 PM
Sharing today's USGS Volcanoes post...because.
"Even volcanoes make resolutions! This New Year's Eve, we're sharing a few of our favorite self-help titles for improving eruptions, reshaping slopes, and becoming a better volcano.
To all our followers, we wish you a very Happy New Year in 2025!"
"Even volcanoes make resolutions! This New Year's Eve, we're sharing a few of our favorite self-help titles for improving eruptions, reshaping slopes, and becoming a better volcano.
To all our followers, we wish you a very Happy New Year in 2025!"
If you're not watching a rainbow over a lava-fall, what are you doing with your day?
(View from the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory's S2 webcam at Nāpau Crater) ⚒️ 🌋https://www.usgs.gov/observatories/hvo/s2cam-view-napau-crater-east-rift-zone-kilauea-view-southwest
(View from the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory's S2 webcam at Nāpau Crater) ⚒️ 🌋https://www.usgs.gov/observatories/hvo/s2cam-view-napau-crater-east-rift-zone-kilauea-view-southwest
September 19, 2024 at 5:59 PM
If you're not watching a rainbow over a lava-fall, what are you doing with your day?
(View from the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory's S2 webcam at Nāpau Crater) ⚒️ 🌋https://www.usgs.gov/observatories/hvo/s2cam-view-napau-crater-east-rift-zone-kilauea-view-southwest
(View from the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory's S2 webcam at Nāpau Crater) ⚒️ 🌋https://www.usgs.gov/observatories/hvo/s2cam-view-napau-crater-east-rift-zone-kilauea-view-southwest
I'm declaring it No Context Field Photo Day. Tell me what happened here, wrong answers only! ⚒️🧪
September 17, 2024 at 5:48 PM
I'm declaring it No Context Field Photo Day. Tell me what happened here, wrong answers only! ⚒️🧪
Bluesky now has over 10 million users, and I was #254,202! Not quite as elder as some of y'all...but up there.
September 16, 2024 at 11:38 PM
Bluesky now has over 10 million users, and I was #254,202! Not quite as elder as some of y'all...but up there.
Geology is the art of decoding a landscape AND snickering at terrible visual jokes.
(Mud Creek, Mount Shasta, after a couple of years of debris flow sedimentation and attempts at grading. It's a small creek, but it has a big floodplain thanks to offing a bunch of trees via burial.)
(Mud Creek, Mount Shasta, after a couple of years of debris flow sedimentation and attempts at grading. It's a small creek, but it has a big floodplain thanks to offing a bunch of trees via burial.)
September 4, 2024 at 5:02 PM
Geology is the art of decoding a landscape AND snickering at terrible visual jokes.
(Mud Creek, Mount Shasta, after a couple of years of debris flow sedimentation and attempts at grading. It's a small creek, but it has a big floodplain thanks to offing a bunch of trees via burial.)
(Mud Creek, Mount Shasta, after a couple of years of debris flow sedimentation and attempts at grading. It's a small creek, but it has a big floodplain thanks to offing a bunch of trees via burial.)
So many new followers! Welcome to the show - I guess I should start posting more volca-knowledge (har har).
I'm Jessica Ball, a volcanologist who works at the USGS California Volcano Observatory (obligatory opinion disclaimers here). I talk volcanic hazards, #scicomm, and cats. (Void for #cattax)
I'm Jessica Ball, a volcanologist who works at the USGS California Volcano Observatory (obligatory opinion disclaimers here). I talk volcanic hazards, #scicomm, and cats. (Void for #cattax)
August 20, 2024 at 5:13 PM
The inverted information hierarchy is important! Scientists think a certain way because we've been trained to - the interested non-scientist absorbs information differently.
June 10, 2024 at 10:09 PM
The inverted information hierarchy is important! Scientists think a certain way because we've been trained to - the interested non-scientist absorbs information differently.
"Hello there. It looks like you're stuck in a co-author-instigated revisions black hole. Would you like to a) Send another email everyone will ignore, b) Hide under a blanket, or c) Erase all evidence of this paper's existence and deny responsibility?"
April 22, 2024 at 5:58 PM
"Hello there. It looks like you're stuck in a co-author-instigated revisions black hole. Would you like to a) Send another email everyone will ignore, b) Hide under a blanket, or c) Erase all evidence of this paper's existence and deny responsibility?"
Oooooh yeah, this is gonna go over well.
March 29, 2024 at 11:13 PM
Oooooh yeah, this is gonna go over well.
If they don't simmer down afterward, I vote you invoke Wheaton's Law.
February 14, 2024 at 12:23 AM
If they don't simmer down afterward, I vote you invoke Wheaton's Law.
Sabrina, aka Fluffball, aka Fluffer the Grouch. I got her as a thesis support kitty back in grad school and now she rules my very small apartment. Not to be confused with Dolci, the little wacko I adopted under the mistaken assumption that Sabrina wanted a companion...
February 6, 2024 at 9:58 PM
Sabrina, aka Fluffball, aka Fluffer the Grouch. I got her as a thesis support kitty back in grad school and now she rules my very small apartment. Not to be confused with Dolci, the little wacko I adopted under the mistaken assumption that Sabrina wanted a companion...
All the cool people have the same cat, apparently :)
(My) standard cat for reference:
(My) standard cat for reference:
February 6, 2024 at 9:19 PM
All the cool people have the same cat, apparently :)
(My) standard cat for reference:
(My) standard cat for reference:
Welcome to the good mayhem, new users! I post about #volcanoes, #scicomm, government work, and cats. Here's a cat who thinks this is a normal position to sleep in. Play nice and don't forget your Alt text! ⚒️🧪🐈
February 6, 2024 at 5:51 PM
Welcome to the good mayhem, new users! I post about #volcanoes, #scicomm, government work, and cats. Here's a cat who thinks this is a normal position to sleep in. Play nice and don't forget your Alt text! ⚒️🧪🐈
Am I attending AGU since I live in the Bay Area? No.
Am I attending multiple AGU-adjacent meetings, dinners, and get-togethers? Yes.
Am I leaving several hours in advance of these so as to avoid the near-perpetual commuting hell of getting into San Francisco? Also yes.
Am I attending multiple AGU-adjacent meetings, dinners, and get-togethers? Yes.
Am I leaving several hours in advance of these so as to avoid the near-perpetual commuting hell of getting into San Francisco? Also yes.
December 11, 2023 at 9:46 PM
Am I attending AGU since I live in the Bay Area? No.
Am I attending multiple AGU-adjacent meetings, dinners, and get-togethers? Yes.
Am I leaving several hours in advance of these so as to avoid the near-perpetual commuting hell of getting into San Francisco? Also yes.
Am I attending multiple AGU-adjacent meetings, dinners, and get-togethers? Yes.
Am I leaving several hours in advance of these so as to avoid the near-perpetual commuting hell of getting into San Francisco? Also yes.