Doug Jerolmack
@dougjerolmack.bsky.social
#SoftEarthGeophysics is the future
In a study led by my colleague Hugo Ulloa, we reveal a surprising new mechanism for erosion by raindrops. Sandballs form when rolling drops mop up sand, even reaching a jammed state! #SoftEarthGeophysics
Science Magazine@science.org · 7mo agoRaindrops can bounce and then roll down a slope, picking up sand as they go. The sand-covered balls transport up to 100 times more sediment downhill than drops that don’t roll, a fact that could help make more realistic computer models of soil erosion and land change. https://scim.ag/4p7ghBE
🧪Today we begin releasing the #SoftEarthGeophysics Chalk Talks, INFORMAL lectures laying out how to think of Earth's surface as a soft matter landscape. This labor of love started w/ a @kitp-ucsb.bsky.social blackboard talk, and grew with support across @sas.upenn.edu @pennengineering.bsky.social
I am beyond honored to be recognized by @apsphysics.bsky.social ! Being an "adult learner" in physics is hard, but the community has been so supportive! More important, to me, is the recognition of #SoftEarthGeophysics and its home in APS.
Penn Arts & Sciences@sas.upenn.edu · 10mo agoCongratulations to Prof. Douglas Jerolmack on being named as a 2025 American Physical Society (APS) fellow! Jerolmack, an experimental geophysicist, has dual appointments in Penn Arts & Sciences and @pennengineering.bsky.social. @dougjerolmack.bsky.social
Recently, NASA announced that samples from an ancient dry riverbed on Mars may contain potential biosignatures, possible evidence of ancient microbial life. On CBS News, @dougjerolmack.bsky.social of the Department of Earth and Environmental Science discussed the exciting news.
The significance of Mars rover's latest discovery
This week, NASA said scientists took the biggest step yet toward discovering whether there was ever life on Mars when a rock sample collected by the Mars rover Perseverance contained potential…
buff.ly
On the "seminar circuit" I keep finding people who didn't know about our #SoftEarthGeophysics conference at @kitp-ucsb.bsky.social and that want to come. Please share with your colleagues and research groups. Details below.
Doug Jerolmack@dougjerolmack.bsky.social · 12mo agoCheck out the @kitp-ucsb.bsky.social conference we're (Vashan Wright, Sujit Datta, Nathalie Vriend) organizing: www.kitp.ucsb.edu/activities/s... for THIS JANUARY 6-9! Geoscientists, physicists and engineers: are you intellectually adventurous and been wondering "is this all there is?" 🧪
Check me out on @cbsnews.com talking about Mars rocks and using landscape patterns to search for life on other planets. #SoftEarthGeophysics @upenn.edu www.cbsnews.com/video/the-si...
If there was ever a time where deep and original thinking in science is needed. Thanks @davidjonfurbish.bsky.social
david jon furbish@davidjonfurbish.bsky.social · 11mo agoeBook Preview Statistical Physics of Rarefied Sediment Particle Motions and Transport: Applications to Hillslopes and Rivers Posting this preview of material from my next (unfinished) book might be a mistake. But eh… what the hell. 1/n cdn.vanderbilt.edu/t2-my/my-prd...
Can forests damp earthquake waves and thus limit co-seismic landslides? What does this mean for Critical Zone development? Postdoctoral position with Will Struble and a multi-disciplinary team (including me🌲🌲🌊🌳). Position is open until filled. willstruble.com #CZScience #Postdoc
Will Struble
Tectonic Geomorphology and Surface Processes at the University of Houston
willstruble.com
Check out the @kitp-ucsb.bsky.social conference we're (Vashan Wright, Sujit Datta, Nathalie Vriend) organizing: www.kitp.ucsb.edu/activities/s... for THIS JANUARY 6-9! Geoscientists, physicists and engineers: are you intellectually adventurous and been wondering "is this all there is?" 🧪
KITP
kitp.ucsb.edu
🧪 idea for 1 way to address federal cuts to science funding: if the big dumb bill passes and >middle class people get tax breaks they don't need, can we organize a system to divert these to private foundations that already fund science? I'm serious. Anybody got ideas on if and how to do this?
Check out PCSSM postdoc @asinclair.bsky.social's latest paper with collaborators in @nathumbehav.nature.com on their SCIMaP project that visualizes cuts to NIH funding & how that impacts economy and employment nationwide. And check out the map here: scienceimpacts.org @michaelemann.bsky.social
Allie Sinclair@asinclair.bsky.social · last yr.Out now in @nathumbehav.nature.com: Cuts to NIH funding will impact the economy and employment nationwide. We visualize these losses and advocate for a theory-driven approach to communicating local, self-relevant impact. w/ @joshuasweitz.bsky.social + SCIMaP team: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
I think most people don't understand exactly what universities do or how they are funded. It's worth reading this and then talking with folks you know about it.🧪 www.npr.org/2025/04/25/n...
What losing billions in federal grants means for universities, and the nation
The Trump administration has so far frozen about $11 billion in research funding. University leaders say no other source can fill the void.
npr.org
Over 90% of Americans rely on federally funded science, But only 10% are worried about losing access to it. That’s a dangerous disconnect. Help us close the gap. Join our #SummerFightForScience and help spread the word about how essential science is to everyday lives. www.npr.org/2025/05/06/n...
Most Americans use federal science information on a weekly basis, a new poll finds
Most Americans frequently use federal science information. But few are concerned that cuts to federal science spending could affect their access to such information, a new poll finds.
npr.org
Seen on @cnn.com @andersoncooper360.bsky.social this evening, courtesy of my #ScienceUnderSiege co-author @peterhotezmdphd.bsky.social
🧪 YASSSSS!!! 👏👏👏 Sooo excited to see this. Time *for us* to flood the zone! I'm especially excited to hear about the formation of Stand Up For Science **LOCAL**. Who will lead each local chapter? Could be you. We're the leaders we've all been waiting for to #StandUpForScience.
Stand Up for Science!@standupforscience.net · last yr.At the end of this summer, the future of U.S. science and research will be decided. From weather alerts to cancer breakthroughs, science shapes every part of our lives. We need everyone in this fight. The Summer Fight for Science starts now. Are you in? The fight starts here: bit.ly/4ddiuqU
In panel discussion at Penn "How did we get here and what do we do?", I answered that generations of increasing competition for funding has narrowed our communication to very small numbers of other scientists... And that an era of direct communication with the pubic is needed. Let's do it!!!
Stand Up for Science!@standupforscience.net · last yr.Corndogs, funnel cakes, and deep fried butter, anyone? Host a SUFS science demo table at your state fair!
☀️THE SUMMER FIGHT FOR SCIENCE☀️ 🫵 WHO: You + all our friends 🧪 WHAT: Share science with your neighbors and tell them about the impact of proposed budget cuts. 🇺🇸 WHERE: Your local community 🏖️ WHEN: Now to Sept 30th 🔬 WHY: The 9/30 budget vote will determine the future of science in America.
To get an idea of what the 37 existing divisions of NSF do, and what is likely to be lost, see the current NSF web site www.nsf.gov/about/direct... But hurry, since this list is apt to disappear at any time.
Our Directorates and Offices
nsf.gov
Join, or Die. If the Big 10 can create a "mutual defense pact", why can't the Ivy League? As Trump takes away all federal money for research, they have less leverage over us. We have nothing to lose by joining Harvard and saying "No compromise. Bring it".
Eos@eos.org · last yr.Opinion: Within science higher education, senior scientists are well-positioned to raise their voices to influence institutional actions and support vulnerable colleagues, writes @profmoldwin.bsky.social. eos.org/opinions/sen...
Dorks, it’s time to throw sand in the gears. They want us to stop teaching, we will teach in the streets. They want us to stop our research, we will use archival data. They want to send us back to the dark ages, we will be a light. We will not lay down and take this.
Science Magazine@science.org · last yr.Exclusive: National Science Foundation staff were told today that the agency’s 37 divisions—across all eight directorates—are being abolished and the number of programs within those divisions will be drastically reduced.
www.reuters.com/world/us/tru... It is time to "Join, or Die". Founding father of the USA, and Penn, recognized the unorganized colonies had to unite for common cause or face destruction. This is where American Universities are now. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Join,_o...
Trump administration freezes future grants to Harvard
The U.S. Department of Education informed Harvard University on Monday that it was freezing billions of dollars in future research grants and other aid until the nation's oldest and wealthiest college concedes to a number of demands from the Trump administration, a senior department official said.
reuters.com
Australia and Canada in one week!! Trump may have single handedly reversed a global political trend. I wish my country wasn't sacrificed in the process...
Dr. Lucky Tran@luckytran.com · last yr.Australia rejects Trumpism 🙌
Open letter from NSF Union: www.savensf.com/_files/ugd/e... 🧪 They are trying to destroy American science. They can't without our permission. Science without funding sucks, but science without truth isn't science at all.
savensf.com
GOOD EVENING, DORKS. Did you know you can call your senators and house rep and ask for specific grants to be restored? You can ask for specific jobs to be restored. You can ask for data to be restored. You can ask for teams tracking food safety to be restored. Do what you want with this info!
⬆️New research from @dougjerolmack.bsky.social @upenn.bsky.social, Gábor Domokos at Budapest University of Technology and Economics, & others; comments from Lucas Goehring at Nottingham Trent University and Nina Lanza at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
📣 GET IN, DORKS! We are going protesting...AGAIN! 📣 This time we are standing up for our core value of academic freedom and asking university leadership to STAND UP WITH US against Trump's attack on higher ed ✊ #StandUpWithUS Register/find an event: actionnetwork.org/event_campai...
We're excited to be a cohost for the Climate Storytellers' Summit on 4/10 with High Meadows Environmental Institute, @yaleclimatecomm.bsky.social, and My Climate Story! Register now at the link below for this online event moderated by @michaelemann.bsky.social. web.sas.upenn.edu/pcssm/calend...
Climate Storytellers’ Summit
EVENT DESCRIPTION Join My Climate Story project, the Yale Program on Climate Communication, the Penn Center for Science, Sustainability, & the Media, and the High Meadows Environmental Institute f...
web.sas.upenn.edu
A letter from many of us STEMM faculty at Penn, led by Andrea Liu, with a simple message: our values aren't for sale, and preserving science funding by giving up our rights is simply not worth it. 🧪 www.thedp.com/article/2025...
STEMM Faculty | Great STEMM research requires more than funding
Members of STEMM faculty urge the Penn administration to stand firm to uphold the principles upon which Penn was founded.
thedp.com