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Virginia Gewin

@virginiagewin.bsky.social

16K followers 2.6K following 830 posts

PDX-based science journalist writing about climate change, food security, land use, biodiversity loss, and diversity in STEM she/her Signal: ginnyg.04 Stories here: www.virginiagewin.com

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Virginia Gewin @virginiagewin.bsky.social · Aug 7

Around the world, the student visa landscape is undergoing a tectonic shift. My latest for @nature.com looks at the impacts on early career researchers—& country economies.

One PhD student from China now plans to leave the US: “I want to work somewhere where I feel seen, valued and appreciated”

How researcher visa curbs threaten science careers

Anti-immigration sentiment is fuelling a drive to slash international student and worker numbers, but at what cost to researchers and countries leading the charge?

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Virginia Gewin

Silvia Secchi @profsecchi.bsky.social · 1h

Another EWG 🎯, read the 🧵
“the top 4 practices that would generate the largest reductions in GHG emissions on continuous corn […] are: riparian forest buffers, tree or shrub establishment, hedgerow planting & windbreak establishment”
Note how these are all PERMANENT practices,unlike cover crops.

Anne Schechinger @anneschech.bsky.social · 3h

New @ewgofficial.bsky.social analysis released today from me and @albine14.bsky.social. We found that just under 15 million cropland acres across Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin are used for continuous corn, representing 20% of the total harvested cropland. 1/4 www.ewg.org/research/fer...

Fertilizing ‘continuous corn’ drives major source of farm greenhouse gases, but conservation can help

Millions of acres in four major Corn Belt states are used to grow "continuous corn” on the same fields year after year, requiring significant use of

www.ewg.org

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Virginia Gewin @virginiagewin.bsky.social · 1h

—>the report estimated that emerging technologies "could destroy nearly 100 million U.S. jobs in a decade," replacing 47 percent of truck drivers, 64 percent of accountants and 89 percent of fast food and counter workers.

AI could ‘destroy nearly 100 million jobs,’ Senate report finds

The report identified 20 jobs at significant risk from AI, 15 of which could see more than half of their positions replaced.

www.newsweek.com

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Virginia Gewin @virginiagewin.bsky.social · 2h

“Now at NOAA’s helm, Jacobs (the guy who backed Trump’s Sharpie-drawn hurricane map) will be responsible for weather forecasting and keeping climate records.”

Senate confirms scientist with ties to 'Sharpiegate' as top NOAA official

Neil Jacobs was assistant secretary for environmental observation at NOAA when Trump displayed a map altered with a black Sharpie to incorrectly show Hurricane Dorian's path.

www.nbcnews.com

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Virginia Gewin @virginiagewin.bsky.social · 2h

Asked who is to blame for the loss of his son, Taher is direct: the United States.

“In the camps, we survive only on rations,” he says. “Without rations, we have nothing — no food, no medicine, no chance to live.”

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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Reposted by Virginia Gewin

John Pfaff @johnpfaff.bsky.social · 15h

Um, ICE just coldly shot an unarmed PRIEST in the head w a pepper ball when he (and everyone around him) clearly posed no threat.

For the crime of … complaining about government policy.

Core 1A speech.

With cameras rolling, they’re sniping priests for sport.

Kurt @flglchicago.bsky.social · 17h

Here’s video of the incident

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Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 18h

Gonna be thinking about this lede for a minute.

(RNS) — Last month, the Rev. David Black stood in front of a Chicago-area U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility and spread his arms wide. Adorned in all black and wearing a clerical collar, the pastor looked up at a group of masked, heavily armed ICE agents on the roof and began to pray.

“I invited them to repentance,” Black, a minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA), said in an interview. “I basically offered an altar call. I invited them to come and receive that salvation, and be part of the kingdom that is coming.”

But when Black began to lower his arms a few seconds later, the agents responded to his spiritual plea by firing pepper balls, or chemical agents that cause eye irritation and respiratory distress, video footage shows. One struck Black in the head, exploding into a puff of white pepper smoke and forcing him to his knees. Fellow demonstrators rushed to his aid, and as the pastor rubbed his face in pain, the agents continued to fire.

“We could hear them laughing,” Black said.

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Robinson Meyer @robinsonmeyer.bsky.social · 23h

NEW: Trump is moving to kill all funding for proposed Texas and Louisiana mega-hubs to capture CO₂ from the atmosphere

The bipartisan-backed hubs represented a rare clean tech industry where the US was on the cutting edge

by @emilypont.bsky.social for @heatmap.news

heatmap.news/politics/doe...

Trump to Cancel Direct Air Capture Hubs in Texas, Louisiana

A new list of grant cancellations obtained by Heatmap includes Climeworks and Heirloom projects funded by 2021 infrastructure law.

heatmap.news

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Justin Hendrix @justinhendrix.bsky.social · 2d

"The hundreds of billions of dollars companies are investing in AI now account for an astonishing 40 per cent share of US GDP growth this year... In a way, then, America has become one big bet on AI."

America is now one big bet on AI

It’s seen as the magic fix for every threat to the US economy

www.ft.com

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Virginia Gewin @virginiagewin.bsky.social · 21h

Freelance science journalists: how is everyone doing?

I sent out two pitches to two different outlets in the last week--and both editors were laid off within days of receiving the pitch.

It's rough out there. Take care.

Reposted by Virginia Gewin

Angie Rasmussen @angierasmussen.bsky.social · 1d

I wrote a thing about how this split the MMR up into monovalents is bullshit that Andrew Wakefield cooked up. It will be used to strip access to the MMR.

The MAHA movement continues to destroy public health.

open.substack.com/pub/rasmusse...

The Monovalent Mirage

A pretend alternative to the MMR exists, just ask Andrew Wakefield

open.substack.com

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Eric Roston @eroston.bsky.social · 1d

Oh:
- The US sold $80 billion in oil and gas abroad through July.
- China exported $120 billion in green technology over the same period.
By @akshatrathi.bsky.social
🎁🔗 www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

China Is Beating the US in the Battle for Energy Export Dominance

China’s exports of clean energy technology hit a record in August, with $20 billion shipped globally.

www.bloomberg.com

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Virginia Gewin @virginiagewin.bsky.social · 1d

“Research has tied it to lower infant mortality, healthier birth weights, higher immunization rates and better academic outcomes for children who participate. Nearly half of those who are eligible don’t enroll, often because they believe they don’t qualify or they can’t reach a WIC office.”

Government shutdown threatens food aid program relied on by millions of families

Experts say a food aid program that helps 6 million low-income mothers and young children will run out of federal money unless the government shutdown ends within two weeks.

apnews.com

Virginia Gewin @virginiagewin.bsky.social · 2d

If the goal is to dismantle US higher education, this is one way to achieve that goal

Nearly 20 Percent Fewer International Students Traveled to the U.S. in August

The data shows the steepest decline in August international student arrivals since the pandemic.

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Virginia Gewin

Public Citizen @publiccitizen.bsky.social · 2d

BREAKING: The Trump admin has installed 100+ fossil fuel insiders and corporate lobbyists to roles across federal agencies.

These staffers are enacting a dirty energy agenda and destroying our public lands.

Our new report with Revolving Door Project breaks it all down ⬇️

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Senator Ron Wyden @wyden.senate.gov · 2d

Republicans talk a big game about toning down political violence. But last week I called for a vote on my bill that would have given all Americans, including judges and other elected officials like this necessary privacy protections to stay safe. Republicans blocked it.

The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 2d

Same judge. While Miller rails about judges.

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Grist @grist.org · 2d

At least 170 US hospitals face major flood risk. Experts say Trump is making it worse.

At many of these facilities, flooding from heavy storms has the potential to jeopardize patient care, block access to emergency rooms, and force evacuations.

grist.org/accountabili...

#Health #Hospitals #Floods

At least 170 US hospitals face major flood risk. Experts say Trump is making it worse.

At many of these facilities, flooding from heavy storms has the potential to jeopardize patient care, block access to emergency rooms, and force evacuations.

grist.org

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Reposted by Virginia Gewin

Union of Concerned Scientists @ucs.org · 2d

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin recently proposed a rule that would eliminate requirements for measuring and reporting carbon emissions for most US industries, including fossil fuel producers and refiners. UCS’s Laura Peterson explains why this proposal could backfire, harming both people and business.

Trump Administration Attempt to Eliminate Carbon Emissions Reporting Could Backfire

A look at the global business and policy landscape, however, indicates that this effort may hurt not just public health and safety, but the very companies the proposal is supposed to help.

blog.ucs.org

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Columbia Journalism Review @columjournreview.bsky.social · 2d

Bari Weiss has officially been announced as the editor in chief of CBS News. “She’s not a reporter; she’s never been in the field,” a 60 Minutes producer told Adam Piore for a recent profile of CBS. “Talk about controversies.”
www.cjr.org/feature/cbs-...

For the past year, journalists at CBS News have been up against extraordinary pressure. The network reached a tipping point.

“Who would have thought this is the piece that would get me fired?” Bill Owens, the former executive producer of 60 Minutes, said in the screening room. For the past year, CBS journalists have been up...

www.cjr.org

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Grist @grist.org · 6d

Why Trump’s purge of ‘negative’ national park signs includes climate change.

National parks are melting, burning, and drying out. Rangers are being forced to take down signs explaining why.

grist.org/politics/why...

#NationalParks #Climate #Environment #Nature #GreenSky #Outdoors

Why Trump’s purge of ‘negative’ national park signs includes climate change

National parks are melting, burning, and drying out. Rangers are being forced to take down signs explaining why.

grist.org

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Reposted by Virginia Gewin

John Walke @johndwalke.bsky.social · 2d

Trump tariff taxes are a massive wealth transfer from ordinary Americans to the government, then back to favored special interests hurt by those same tariff taxes.

Trump considers massive bailout of at least $10 billion for American farmers hurt by his trade war. www.cnn.com/2025/10/05/b...

Trump considers massive bailout of at least $10 billion for American farmers hurt by his trade war | CNN Business

American farmers are having a tough year, in no small part because of President Donald Trump’s trade war. Now, the White House is gearing up to extend them a multi-billion-dollar bailout, sources tell...

www.cnn.com

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Alex Baumhardt @alexbaumhardt.bsky.social · 2d

She’s still out here ✌️

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Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social · 2d

Immergut deposed Monica Lewinsky for Ken Starr, was a US attorney under Bush, and was appointed to the bench by Trump during his first term. This is not some left-wing judge.

Anna Bower @annabower.bsky.social · 2d

Immergut: I'm handling this on expedited basis, but defendants haven't provided new info.

SHE RULES FROM THE BENCH: I grant the plaintiffs motion for a second TRO based on reasons stated in previous order...

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Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 2d

A Trump-appointed federal judge has, for the second time in two days, blocked President Donald Trump from sending National Guard troops into Oregon, ruling that the administration appeared to defy her Saturday order that Trump lacked a legal basis for sending the military into Portland.