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Silvia Secchi

@profsecchi.bsky.social

Natural resource economist, geographer, meanderer, informed agitator, immigrant Trans rights are human rights Landback 💧Dall’acqua salata a quella dolce e zozza💧 Personal account - these are my views, not my employer’s

4134 Posts8410 Follower2583 Folgt
Silvia Secchi@profsecchi.bsky.social · 1h ago

I do not really know how my colleagues navigate today's treacherous academic waters, but I - a tenured full professor - am very aware of the risks of speaking up. Prof. Reddy is quoted as saying "This is what tenure is for", alas there is a ton of evidence including this piece that's not the case.

David M. Luebke@davidmluebke.bsky.social · 1h ago

In case you were not aware, higher education in the United States is collapsing rapidly, with the connivance of university administrators and trustees. Maybe we should elect representatives who think that this is not a good thing? #edusky 🗃️ www.nytimes.com/2026/08/05/n...

Silvia Secchi@profsecchi.bsky.social · 2h ago

As some of you know I am a big fan of Grant Wood and one of my bucket list items is to teach a class and write a paper on Iowa’s environmental history through his paintings. My favorite work of his is Young Corn, but this is a top five. The Mourner's Bench: “the way of the transgressors is hard”.

Grant Wood 1891-1942 The Mourner's Bench, 1921-1922 Oak, carved and stained On loan from the Cedar Rapids Community School District L1.70.3.169 The Mourner's Bench is an example of Grant Wood's great craftsmanship abilities and sense of humor. He carved the doleful and weeping children's heads for the bench while the rest was made with the assistance of his art students from McKinley Junior High School, who also helped him paint and decorate his 5 Turner Alley studio-home. This "mourner's" bench has the look of a medieval church pew bench. It was actually created for students to sit on while they "mourned" the deeds that brought them to the principal's office, where the bench was.
Victoria Rose Richards@aerialembroidery.bsky.social · yesterday

'You'll choke too' - an aerial embroidery landscape inspired by all the wildfires happening right now... I'm upset every time I smell smoke outside and somehow we have people starting them maliciously too! But we all breathe the same air so they'll choke too (1/2 - see thread for close-ups)

An embroidery hoop containing a sewn landscape from above. It shows a forest on the right, a line of fire and charred ground with smoke on the left. The smoke is felted wool.
Lawrence Culver@lawrencecphd.bsky.social · last wk.

In the 1800s French “wetlands considered unhealthy and unproductive were drained and replaced with pine forest” for timber and resin. Now it’s burning: "This isn't a fire in a natural forest. It’s a fire in a forest that was planted there to support industrial activity." www.cbc.ca/news/world/h...

A human-made forest is at the centre of France's raging wildfires | CBC News

Scientists say climate change is driving the extraordinary fire conditions gripping western Europe, but that the scale of those fires cannot be understood without looking at how humans drastically cha...

cbc.ca

Silvia Secchi@profsecchi.bsky.social · last wk.

BTW what you see on the right is a gravel road: big ag knows these CAFOs are awful facilities and so they are hidden away. In Iowa and other ag-ruled states they keep passing ag gag laws (that the courts tear down). What happens on the inside is much worse than that the smell and carcasses outside.

Silvia Secchi@profsecchi.bsky.social · last wk.

One of my major pet peeves about the visuals of Iowa’s agriculture is that they show animals out and about in the farm free range. This is a hog Confined Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO). The one in three US 🐖 raised in Iowa all come from places like this. The animals are never outside. Iowa beef… 1/

Two big hog confinements with feed storage, windmills in the background and corn in the foreground.
Silvia Secchi@profsecchi.bsky.social · last wk.

One of my major pet peeves about the visuals of Iowa’s agriculture is that they show animals out and about in the farm free range. This is a hog Confined Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO). The one in three US 🐖 raised in Iowa all come from places like this. The animals are never outside. Iowa beef… 1/

Two big hog confinements with feed storage, windmills in the background and corn in the foreground.
Covering Climate Now@coveringclimatenow.org · last wk.

Brackish water is creeping into farmland from the Mekong Delta to the Chesapeake to Bangladesh — and it's not receding. If your beat touches a coast, this is your story. New #LocallySourced out today: how to cover saltwater intrusion, with research, experts, and reporting angles.

Covering Saltwater Intrusion — Locally Sourced

A nearly invisible poison is creeping into coastal communities around the world — saltwater is moving inland, killing once fertile farmlands and contaminating…

buff.ly

Manisha Sinha@profmsinha.bsky.social · last wk.

Historian of abolition here. Yeah about time we gave these unsung heroes of American democracy their due! I write about him in #theslavescause

Patrick McCray@patrickmccray.bsky.social · last wk.

Remembering Silas Soule, born OTD in 1838. American abolitionist, conductor on the Underground Railroad, military officer, and hero for disobeying orders to participate in Sand Creek Massacre and then giving evidence against his commander. Murdered 1865. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silas_S...

Ben Railton@americanstudier.bsky.social · last wk.

I know it was 4000 news cycles ago, but earlier this month the administration released a 162-page attack on the Smithsonian, featuring an argument that the Chinese Exclusion Act wasn’t based on racism. That pissed me off. My new column on the white supremacist hate & violence that built to the Act.🗃️

Considering History: Does Remembering Injustice Erase America’s True Story…or Help Us Better Understand It? | The Saturday Evening Post

The Chinese Exclusion Act was the culmination of decades of racist narratives, white supremacist hate, and exclusionary laws. Should we include this narrative when telling the story of America?

saturdayeveningpost.com

Silvia Secchi@profsecchi.bsky.social · last wk.

Chances that corn would have been burned in your car nowadays are about 60%. And you would be paying for it with multiple subsidies (crop insurance, conservation, disaster payments). I’d rather enjoy these instead. Better in so many ways.

Purple coneflowers.Brown eyed Susans. Monardas.
Silvia Secchi@profsecchi.bsky.social · last wk.

The floodplain of the Upper Iowa River where the Community Prairie has now been restored was a corn field right up to the water. Because stewards of the land and blah blah blah

Silvia Secchi@profsecchi.bsky.social · last wk.

I think rather than running on water quality Rob Sand is running to catch up with the salience of the issue. As for Iowa State University (one of the entities in charge of the nutrient reduction strategy, their website is even run by ISU) faculty speaking on water quality issues…

I Think You Should Leave Hot Dog Suspect

ALT: I Think You Should Leave Hot Dog Suspect

static.klipy.com

Civil Eats@civileats.com · last wk.

Come November, many Iowa voters will be choosing candidates based on their plans to address water contamination and rising cancer rates. “I feel like we have representatives right now who don’t care,” one voter said.