Monica Palta

@monicapalta.bsky.social

Specialist in Urban Water Quality, Health, and Justice @ucanr @ucirvine #UrbanEcology #WaterResources #Wetlands #ParticipatoryScience

Alexis Woods is focused on sustainable glyphosate management and environmental equity. She mentors students and promotes diversity in STEM through BioGals and the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE).

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White House budget proposal could shatter the National Science Foundation - 'The cuts could be as deep as 66 percent, with one person indicating the top-line budget number for the National Science Foundation could start at $3 billion.' vs. $9 billion currently arstechnica.com/science/2025...

White House budget proposal could shatter the National Science Foundation

“This kind of cut would kill American science and boost China.”…

arstechnica.com

@charlesgaba.com is a hero and downloaded CDC’s entire website. A small group of us has come together to preserve this critical resource and make it accessible to the scientific community. More to come. These data are public and they are ours. Deletion disobedience is one way to fight back.

Charles Gaba ✡️@charlesgaba.com · 2y ago

📣 UPDATE: OK, still working with some others to figure out the best way to present it all, but in the meantime here's the first batch of links to the most-recent archived versions of every page at the CDC prior to the Trump/Musk Purge: acasignups.net/25/02/02/whi...

If the reports are correct, Trump will release from these reservoirs, 32,000 acre-ft (~10 billion gals) will be lost. Some will evaporate, some will seep into groundwater. Farmers who had rights to that water are now unlikely to have physical or legal access to it. sjvwater.org/trumps-emerg...

Trump’s emergency water order responsible for water dump from Tulare County lakes – SJV Water

The sudden announcement Thursday by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that Kaweah and Success lakes would immediately begin dumping water was in response Trump’s emergency water order responsible for w...

sjvwater.org

A Los Angeles Times' opinion piece on the dangers of post-wildfire mudslides relies on the expertise of UC Irvine civil & environmental engineering Professor Brett Sanders and research he did with his Department of Urban Planning and Public Policy colleague Professor Doug Houston. bit.ly/3PTEcFS

Opinion: After the Los Angeles fires stop burning, another grave risk to lives and property looms

Mudslides and debris flows are a risk around Altadena, Pacific Palisades and other areas affected by the wildfires, which can destabilize mountain slopes.

bit.ly

NEW: Officials warn of potential thunderstorms Saturday and Sunday. Isolated downpours could trigger debris flows in the Eaton and Palisades burn areas and threaten nearby communities of Altadena, Malibu and Pacific Palisades. #LAfire #CAwx #EatonFire #PalisadesFire #CAfire

With L.A. expecting rain, here’s how likely debris flows are near burn scars

If rainfall rates exceed a half-inch per hour the Eaton and Palisades burn scars will be susceptible to debris flows, threatening Altadena, Pacific Palisades

sfchronicle.com

Just had a sample of the Eaton Fire ash that is in my driveway run on the department XRF. Is there titanium (new house paint)? Yup. Lead (old house paint)? You betcha. Heavy metals? Check. Treat that ash like it's toxic folks (because it is)

A computer screen with a display showing output from an xray diffraction spectrometer. Close up view showing fraction of metals. Fun stuff.

SoCal showers now likely Sun-Mon! Decent soaking (0.5+ in.) possible mtns; lighter (0.2-0.5 in.) elsewhere. This will be a cold/convective system (w/showers + t-storms). Enough to tamp down but not end fire season; t-storm downpours may risk fire zone debris flows. #CAwx #CAfire

Map of ECMWF ensemble average precipitation over the Western U.S. through Tuesday morning. Half an inch or more of liquid equivalent (locally snow) is possible in the SoCal mountains, with a few tenths of rain elsewhere.

Recording of the talks are now available www.cee.psu.edu/events/women... #wildfire #hotwater #machinelearning #reactivetransport #Matryoshka @waterbarnes.bsky.social

WARR Seminar Series | Penn State Engineering

cee.psu.edu

Li Li (李黎)@lireactivewater.bsky.social · 2y ago

First pair of #WARR talks in 2025! On hot water, wild fire, thermal habitats across the US, and data-driven + process-based models. Alison Appling from USGS + Xingyuan Chen from PNNL Register here: psu.zoom.us/meeting/regi... Past talks here: www.cee.psu.edu/events/women...

This is a phenomenal overview of the LA Fires: the climate science of the causes and spread, the science and logistics of fire response capacity (including engineering of municipal water systems), the numerous policy implications, plus so much more. Also a master class in science communication. 🛟🧪📈

Daniel Swain@weatherwest.bsky.social · 2y ago

I very strongly encourage folks to check out this long-form conversation I had with @AdamConover.net on his Factually! podcast (recorded just two days ago) focusing on offering context and busting myths surrounding the devastating Los Angeles #wildfires. www.youtube.com/watc...

Why have the LA wildfires overwhelmed city water systems? UCLA water expert Greg Pierce tells @nytimes.com that municipal water systems are designed for urban fires—not the fast-moving wildfires intensified by climate change. @gregspierce.bsky.social

‘Completely Dry’: How Los Angeles Firefighters Ran Out of Water

As wildfires roar into residential neighborhoods, firefighters in California and elsewhere are finding that water systems can’t keep up with the demand.

nytimes.com