@chrisfrazier.bsky.social
Aquatic ecologist, dad, and PhD student at the University of Nevada, Reno. I study bugs and other stuff going on in streams, wetlands, rivers, reservoirs, and lakes
The U.S. Secretary of Defense just stated that—so far—the war with Iran has cost $37.5 billion dollars. That's since February. That same amount is how much the United States spent on planetary science from FY2013 through FY2026 inclusive. Thirteen years of planetary science or five months of war.
Great field day in the Sierras collecting emergent insects! Lupine was blooming in full force
NSF's grantmaking is miserly when compared to recent years, but when compared it to the historical record, we see it's a radical break from the long-term consensus of investing in scientific innovation. grant-witness.us/posts/2026-0... #NSF 🧪
The NSF is on Track for its Worst Year in Generations – Grant Witness
Throttling of science funding is utterly unprecedented and radical when compared to the past 50 years.
grant-witness.us
Incredible Goodwill find from yesterday. Only $2! Little outdated (2007) but still fun
Of all the harm this administration has done to US science, today's proposed changes to the way federal grants are awarded and administered is the most damaging yet. The text of the federal register document is impenetrably tedious by design, so here's an excellent summary of what it says.
elizabethginexi.bsky.social@elizabethginexi.bsky.social · 3mo agoSummary of Key Changes in OMB’s Proposed Federal Financial Assistance Rule. Russell Vought is going destroy American Science. elizabethginexi.substack.com/p/summary-of...
Mormon crickets destroyed my emerging insect traps 😬. They try to cross the stream then get swept down current and stuck under the mesh, where they quickly decide they need to eat each other and my net
Big week of sampling emerging and benthic aquatic insects (plus crayfish!) in Wall Creek, NV! As an aside, I've really developed a beef with cows after they destroyed several of my sticky traps
New-ish ecosystem metabolism paper out with coauthors including @connorbrown.bsky.social ! We looked at metab in a hypereutrophic reservoir in Kansas and found some interesting things (link: doi.org/10.1080/2044... )
Spatiotemporal variation of ecosystem metabolism in a eutrophic, polymictic reservoir: water column stability begets metabolism stability
Reservoirs are globally important aquatic ecosystems that provide critical anthropogenic functions, including water storage and fisheries, yet their ecosystem metabolism remains understudied. We es...
doi.org
Breaking news: Multiple scientists who serve on an independent board established to guide the nation’s nearly $9 billion basic science funding agency were terminated from their positions Friday by President Trump.
Trump ousts National Science Board members
Members of the independent board that guides the National Science Foundation said they received a notice from the White House that their position was being terminated.
washingtonpost.com
Republicans just handed the Boundary Waters to a foreign corporation. For the GOP, it’s foreign billionaires first, America last.
With the GRFP awards announcement, I thought it'd be fun to look at how this year stacks up against the history of the award (mostly prompted by the context of last year's cycle being relatively thin):
Massive and important positive news... #NSF #GRFP awards are out. 2,599 awards! + 1,440 Honorable Mentions. A significant boost from last year. Congratulations to the winners (and HM-s)! & many thanks to the reviewers & program officers who made this possible. www.research.gov/grfp/Awardee...
New 🦐 paper out in Hydrobiologia (with one of my faves @bugginbusch.bsky.social )! We asked: how do resistant ephemeral wetland communities change when insects can't colonize? Short answer is: the species list stays the same, but the populations look different!
The National Science Foundation’s entire budget is $10 billion.
The Washington Post@washingtonpost.com · 6mo agoBreaking news: Trump officials have struggled to figure out how to increase military spending by $500 billion. The White House budget chief was among those who objected to the defense secretary’s plan to increase military spending by roughly 50 percent.
Covers of the 2 leading science journals this week @science.org and @nature.com www.science.org/content/arti... www.nature.com/immersive/d4...
🗣️ MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT: Over 80% of our nation’s 4.4M miles of rivers aren’t adequately protected! Our brand new peer-reviewed research with Conservation Science Partners published in Nature Sustainability shows just how vulnerable our rivers are. ➡️ Learn more: www.americanrivers.org/npra-explore...
Over the holidays, every single national wildlife refuge, plus some fish hatcheries and marine monuments were directed to conduct a system-wide review. Outrageous deadline of Jan 5 functionally eliminates public input & tribal consultation. news.bloomberglaw.com/environment-...
Interior to Spend Holidays Studying Refuges for Possible Closure
Congress will have to approve any Interior Department plans to abolish national wildlife refuges as staff members spend the next few weeks completing a review the US Fish and Wildlife Service has orde...
news.bloomberglaw.com
My statement on President Trump’s actions in Venezuela.
The EPA has announced changes to the definition of Waters of the U.S. that leave critical systems supporting drinking water, floodwater storage, and biodiversity unprotected. Public comments on the changes are open until January 5, 2026. Read SFS's response: freshwater-science.org/news/sfs-res...
SFS Response Letter on Changes to Waters of the U.S. Definition | Society for Freshwater Science
December 30, 2025 — The Society for Freshwater Science (SFS) today released a letter outlining changes to the Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) definition and our response.
freshwater-science.org
The Trump administration just unveiled a plan to significantly narrow which bodies of water qualify for protection under the Clean Water Act. They proposed a new definition of what counts as a “water of the United States,” a change that would
dramatically reduce which waterways fall under federal pollution safeguards. Under the proposal, groundwater would be excluded entirely, and interstate waters would no longer receive automatic protection.
The rule also removes protections for ephemeral streams (waterways that flow only after rain or snow) despite their importance to downstream water quality. In short, this proposal rolls back long-standing protections and leaves millions of acres of waterways more vulnerable to pollution.
EPA & Army Corps Unveil Clear, Durable WOTUS Proposal | US EPA
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, and Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Adam Telle, today announced a proposed rule that would establish a clear, durable, common-sense definition of “waters ...
epa.gov
Often overlooked, small water bodies - streams, damp ditches, small bogs, ponds - support more rare species compared with larger habitats while high-quality ponds support about 2/3 of all freshwater plant + animal species in a landscape. 🧵 1/4 freshwaterhabitats.org.uk/news/start-w...
Alpine lakes among the dramatic peaks of Kings Canyon Nat'l Park grace Ecosphere's October cover. New research shows how introduced trout have impacts that ripple through the food web and reshape bird communities Browse the full #OpenAccess issue: esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/21508925...
Our peer review system for scientific publishing -we pay to publish our MSs -pay to read other’s MSs -and donate our time to review MSs is bad enough without passive aggressive review reminders, touting the “quality” journal’s rapid turnaround time and asking why you are setting back science.
New from #SCIMaP - analysis of the White House’s Proposed FY 2026 National Science Foundation Budget. Take-home: Slashing NSF by >50% will lead to ~$11 billion in economic loss and extensive job loss and reduced training opportunities in communities nationwide. Report: osf.io/e8rnc a 🧵
More than 1800 detainees are missing after the closure of Alligator Alcatraz. Their families and lawyers can’t find them and they’ve vanished from the ICE database. Feels like this should be a much bigger story www.miamiherald.com/news/local/i...
Hundreds of Alligator Alcatraz detainees drop off the grid after leaving site
As of the end of August, the whereabouts of two-thirds of more than 1,800 men detained at Alligator Alcatraz during the month of July could not be determined by the Miami Herald.
miamiherald.com
