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Claire G. Griffin

@polargriffin.bsky.social

Asst Prof, Ex-pat Texan, biogeocheminist and arctic scientist, excited about organic matter and rivers. Water science, fluffy pet photos, #QueerinSTEM, and crafty things.

795 Posts3712 Follower2103 Folgt
Chris W 64.9N@borealchrys.bsky.social · 2d ago

Gift link to NYT article about the NOAA Arctic Report Card getting canceled. Share widely. This said, the authors are volunteers anyway, everyone seems to be still working on it, and an organization could easily pick up the publicity / press release part. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/11/c... 🧪

Trump Administration Kills Annual Arctic Report Card (Gift Article)

The top of the world is warming faster than any other region. For 20 years, the Arctic Report Card chronicled the extraordinary transformation.

nytimes.com

Robert Simmon@rsimmon.bsky.social · 3d ago

Lots of stories about water in the Colorado, but most focus on Lake Mead or Lake Powell. I wanted t look at the system as a whole. Assuming I did my math right, as of August 8 the reservoirs along the Colorado River were at 32.7% of total capacity.

Two pie charts showing current water storage in the reservoirs in the Colorado River watershed vs. the total system capacity. Mead and Powell are the largest two reservoirs by far, and both are far smaller than normal. Some of the smaller reservoirs, Flaming Gorge in particular, have a larger percentage of the total than normal. Current storage is about 32.7 percent of the maximum possible.
Joyce Feral Oates 🏳️‍⚧️@marthaharbison.bsky.social · 3d ago

Your reminder that Common Eider sound like this. It would take a stronger man than I to keep a straight face during mass every time I looked at that window. Just constant surprise and delight over the Eucharist. Anyway, I love everything about this. www.youtube.com/watch?v=yh5r...

Common eider courtship display and vocalisations

YouTube video by Paul Rose

youtube.com

Jay Hulme@jayhulmepoet.bsky.social · 3d ago

The modern stained glass on Holy Island goes HARD.

A stained glass window with the sacred heart of Jesus, seals, a puffin, the tidal causeway and rescue refuges, birds, st Cuthbert's cross, and a deer
Robert McNees@mcnees.bsky.social · 2w ago

Geologist Marie Tharp was born #OTD in 1920. She built the first accurate map of the Atlantic Ocean floor, discovering the Mid-Atlantic Ridge that provided evidence for seafloor spreading and plate tectonics. 🧪 👩‍🔬 Image: Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory

Black and white photo of Marie Tharp adding detail to a large map of the sea floor , which is probably 6ft x 3ft. She is wearing a dark sweater over a white, collared blouse, and holding a pen in her right hand.
Claire G. Griffin@polargriffin.bsky.social · 2w ago

This might have been my favorite drive along the Dalton ever? Gorgeous morning north of Coldfoot to Atigun Pass, then several inches of snow from there to Sagwon. Oh, and, a herd of musk ox right next to the road!!! I only wish I had better photos

Sukapak Mountain in the Brooks Range, backlit by the sun against a perfect blue skyStudents fleeing from a frozen debris love (a slow-moving permafrost landslide)The Atigun River near Galbraith Lake, with a couple inches of snow covering the tundra on July 27thMusk ox by the side of the road!!!
Claire G. Griffin@polargriffin.bsky.social · 2w ago

This might have been my favorite drive along the Dalton ever? Gorgeous morning north of Coldfoot to Atigun Pass, then several inches of snow from there to Sagwon. Oh, and, a herd of musk ox right next to the road!!! I only wish I had better photos

Sukapak Mountain in the Brooks Range, backlit by the sun against a perfect blue skyStudents fleeing from a frozen debris love (a slow-moving permafrost landslide)The Atigun River near Galbraith Lake, with a couple inches of snow covering the tundra on July 27thMusk ox by the side of the road!!!
Claire G. Griffin@polargriffin.bsky.social · 3w ago

Spent the last day or so in Fairbanks, and we're off to Prudhoe Bay! Theres a cold front coming in, so we'll spend a night in Coldfoot first - 3-6 in of snow along parts of the Dalton Hwy north of the Brooks! My students this year had never been on a plane, but are having a blast in Alaska so dar!

Two Allegheny College students posing in the Fairbanks airport with a polar bearForecast for northern alaskaView of Denali from the UAF campus - the mountain is out!Heika, a collaborator's very good dog
Tom Pepinsky@tompepinsky.com · 3w ago

Americans have more confidence in higher education than in big tech companies, and the gap is growing rather than shrinking. The higher ed-doomsday pundits need to get on board with the real vibe shift in public trust that is happening right now.

BildBild
Mark Copelovitch@mcopelov.bsky.social · 3w ago

I look forward to all the reports & coverage about all of the internal problems & mistakes of all of these other institutions, in the same way that universities are constantly blamed (& blaming themselves) for “declining trust.” “Compared to what?” news.gallup.com/poll/712436/...

tony romm@tonyromm.bsky.social · 3w ago

NEW: In a stunning admission, the Trump administration admitted in court documents that it canceled billions in energy grants to states "based solely" on politics -- and whether that state was represented by Democrats and backed Harris in 2024. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/24/b...

Trump Administration Admits Canceling Grants to States That Did Not Vote for Him

Federal officials said in court documents that they halted billions of dollars in funding for energy projects to states “based solely” on whether they backed President Trump in the 2024 election.

nytimes.com

Henning@geohenning.bsky.social · 3w ago

Apparently cliffs collapsed at an old marble quarry in Makrana, India due to recent heavy rainfall. Can't find a credible source though. It's bigger than you might have expected. #Geology ⚒️

Carl T. Bergstrom@carlbergstrom.com · 3w ago

19. Biologists study the theory of photosynthesis but few can convert light energy into chemical energy in the form of simple sugars....The result is a generation of researchers who can model phenomena mathematically but cannot create their own food by standing outside with arms outstretched.

oo many of our universities and elite science and technology curricula have severed the connection between theory and craft. Engineering students study the theory of combustion, but few can disassemble and rebuild a combustion engine. Graduate programs reward theoretical contributions measured in citation counts, but not practical applications measured in jobs and dollars. The result is a generation of researchers who can model phenomena mathematically but cannot repair the apparatus in their own laboratories.
Carl T. Bergstrom@carlbergstrom.com · 3w ago

15. I keep coming back to this line. It is willful misrepresentation of our federal funding agencies' mission beyond discovery: developing that R&D workforce (and a pipeline of ideas) that flow into the private sector so beloved to our author. We employ trainEES because trainING is what we do.

Frequent turnover fragments efforts and slows progress. As science funders have noted, no technology company would entrust its core R&D to a workforce composed primarily of temporary trainees, yet this is the standard model in academic research.62 A more balanced approach would expand stable, well-compensated career paths for staff scientists, engineers, and technicians, roles critical to sustained institutional capability.
Carl T. Bergstrom@carlbergstrom.com · 3w ago

9. By supporting universities, they support the human capital development that flows into the commercial sector and generates the growth and innovation that has been a massive boon for US commerce. This plan undercuts that role, with disastrous consequences that will ricochet for years to come.

Carl T. Bergstrom@carlbergstrom.com · 3w ago

8. One of the biggest misunderstandings or misrepresentations running through the report involves the role of US funding agencies. Indeed, they serve in part to promote tech discoveries and medical breakthroughs, but their role and charge is also to develop and perpetuate a vibrant STEM ecosystem.

Ainsley S@americanbeetles.bsky.social · 3w ago

Hiring a real-life artist instead of farting out some AI slop? LOOK HOW GOOD THE RESULTS ARE (and by an undergraduate too?)

Jake Berv@jakeberv.bsky.social · 3w ago

Here is Supplementary Figure 18, which better showcases the beautiful illustrations we commissioned from @umich.edu undergrad Olivia Stein. These illustrated species represent clades where our method identifies significant increases in the rate of body-shape evolution. Also see Supp Table 7.