El Lower

@helloellower.bsky.social

Invasion biologist, science communicator, forager, and general-purpose naturalist. (they/them) 🏳️‍🌈🍃✨

Talk about a spooky name: Invasive bloody red shrimp seem to have successfully set up shop in all five Great Lakes. Researchers don't have clear evidence that the shrimp are harming the Great Lakes, but any change to an already wobbly food web could bring long-term consequences:

Scientists find proof of invader established in Lake Superior

By Eric Freedman  Scientists now have evidence that yet another invasive aquatic species — the bloody red shrimp — is established in all five Great Lakes.

buff.ly

🎉 THE GREAT LAKES WON TODAY. MISC just vacated the permit for Enbridge's Line 5 oil tunnel — 6 to 1. The oil tunnel has no state siting approval, which is required under federal law. This victory belongs to the Tribes who never stopped fighting: They led. The Court listened. #ShutDownLine5

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BIG NEWS - Victory for the Tribes, environmental advocates, and our #GreatLakes today - the Michigan Supreme Court has vacated a key Line 5 oil tunnel permit in a 6-1 decision! Enbridge’s tunnel application now heads back to the MPSC. And we'll keep going until our Straits are safe. #ShutDownLine5

Michigan Supreme Court vacates key Line 5 permit - Bridge Michigan

The court ruled 6-1 that the Michigan Public Service Commission’s review of a key permit for the petroleum pipeline tunnel was overly narrow, failing to consider whether the tunnel will harm public tr...

bridgemi.com

The bighead and silver (aka Asian) carp have been swimming north into Lake MI for years....this was an effort to help protect the $multi-BILLION tourism, fishing, etc. industries in the region. This is VERY bad for not only MI but all Great lakes states and Canada. 🧪🦑🌎🧬

Great Lakes carp barrier project halted without explanation again

New stoppage comes four months after Trump officials shifted management of the $1.15 billion project to Michigan and claimed it would move forward aggressively.

mlive.com

true story: a 1967 survey of the Cuyahoga River found 2 fish. not just 2 species, but 2 *actual* fish. Pollution tolerant and invasive. today, more than 70 species call the crooked river home, including many more sensitive to pollution and thriving in improved water quality.

YSUBassoon@bassoonysu.bsky.social · 3w ago

By the time it happened in 1969, the Cuyahoga was completely devoid of fish and most life. That's the product of nearly a century of industrial pollution so heavy that the river ignited multiple times. It's taken a ton of work to bring it back to life.

LAST DAY to submit your comment for the proposed OMB rule changes! I submitted mine this weekend, took under 30min (mostly bc I got on a roll typing out impacts to process my anger…and then editing into more eloquent reasoning lol)

Maureen Barr@barrlab.bsky.social · 4w ago

Posted my comments opposing OMBs proposed rule. It was so easy, using this great letter writing tool of @faseborg.bsky.social www.faseb.org/science-poli... Did you submit yours yet? The deadline is soon - July 13. This is essential to save science and research in the US.

I write in my personal capacity as a research-active faculty member, not on behalf of my institution. I am a distinguished professor at a leading state R1 university. I am also a Senior Principal Investigator whose research laboratory is NIH. I submit these comments in strong opposition to OMB's proposed rule revising 2 C.F.R. Part 200 (Docket OMB-2026-0034). I am requesting that OMB withdraw this rule entirely because of the devasting consequences it will have on biomedical research, human health, the economy, and the nation.

The proposed pre-issuance review requirement (§ 200.205) eliminates that independence by giving political appointees – who may have no experience or training in the biomedical research field - veto power over peer-reviewed funding decisions. As a Senior PI / Lab director whose research is supported by NIH, I am deeply concerned that the best science will not be funded, instead politicians will decide not based on merit and research quality, but rather ideology. Peer-review is critical for gold-standard science.

This proposed discretionary termination provision (§ 200.340) jeopardizes the future and well-being of the researchers in my laboratory, my department, my university, my state, and the United States.  My research program has been continuously funded by the NIH for over two decades. My laboratory is like a small business – with NIH funding, I employ eight full-time personnel. These scientists are at all stages of their careers – newly minted bachelors who are working as research technicians or graduate students; postdoctoral researchers who are completing additional training in order to go onto careers in academia, biotech, industry, governments; senior scientists who have devoted their entire careers to biomedical research and training the next generation of scientists, physicians, dentists, teachers, etc. 

The proposed international collaboration restrictions (§§ 200.202(e), 200.220) will isolate US scientists and lead to the demise…

Tomorrow is the deadline for submitting a comment to stop the administration from dismantling U.S. science. There are nearly 280,000 public comments filed so far! But! Do not assume they are all, or even most, against the proposal. This is a key pillar of Project 2029 - wind down federal R&D.

Costa Samaras@costasamaras.com · 4w ago

Here’s a great resource to help write a comment this weekend before the deadline, by @colesci.bsky.social and @cdelawalla.bsky.social: www.standupforscience.foundation/policy-and-a...

🚨 HEADS UP: If you haven't submitted a comment on the OMB proposal yet, there's still time - but it's running out! There are only 5 days left to push back against Russell Vought's attempt to give political appointees unprecedented control over federal research funding. Take Action: zurl.co/w6DcW

Graphic from Stand Up for Science urging action on a federal funding proposal. Large text reads: "5 Days Left" and "Help Us Stop Vought From Destroying American Science." A portrait of Russell Vought appears beside the U.S. Capitol. A banner along the bottom reads: "Submit a comment on the OMB proposal | Link in bio to take action." The Stand Up for Science logo appears in the top left.