My neighborhood is getting absolutely wrecked by smoke tonight.. all the air purifiers in my house running on full blast
Tori Barber
@vbarber.bsky.social
Assistant Professor @ UCLA. Physical and Atmospheric Chemistry. I love a weird radical. All views my own.
Life update: I made another really good baby. Enjoying maternity leave with this little peanut.
Join Hannah Horowitz and me in Chicago for ACS Fall 2026 (August 23 - 27) for a discussion of “Atmospheric Chemistry from Molecular to Global Scales!” Abstract submission is available here through March 30: callforabstracts.acs.org/acsfall2026/...
ACS Fall 2026 - American Chemical Society
callforabstracts.acs.org
A fun fact about me is that I am measles non-immune. I have been vaccinated 3x (twice as a child on the regular schedule, and once after my first pregnancy when my titers came back negative for measles). They tested my titers again at the beginning of this pregnancy and still no measles immunity.
Cannot believe this little goober turns 3 in just a few short weeks! Loving my big kid but missing having a baby.. good thing we're getting another one this spring!
UPS keeps attempting to deliver us a package and, without knocking, simply leaving a slip and walking away. They want to charge us 8 dollars to hold it at the UPS location. I need to lie down for 12 years
Tell me you have a toddler without telling me you have a toddler
Another terrifying article about Stardust, with (what I think is) some new info: - they claim they'll finally release info on their secret particles starting in early 2026 - they plan a first atmospheric test in 2027 - they've been funding academic research (with one PI named)
Dave Levitan@davelevitan.bsky.social · 9mo agoThis is a VERY long piece about solar geoengineering that starts, scientifically speaking, badly, but gets better, but still has a few issues.
Every word of this www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
The Professor and the Pedophile | Opinion | The Harvard Crimson
Summers should choose the most straightforward path and resign. Should he refuse to, though, the University must cut ties with its former president to the greatest extent possible.
thecrimson.com
It is raining so much in LA and now I have to decide if I want to spend a Saturday cooped up at home with my toddler or if we both want to get a hideous virus at an indoor playground
Add this to my list of stuff to worry about: LA is about to get atmospheric river-ed. Just as a reminder, this is what happened last time we got a big storm. Please cross your fingers and toes for a flood free weekend in the barber lab!
the transition from programs/files/folders as the default mode of interacting with an OS to an app-based model where most things are stored on the cloud has already made things hard- students often have no idea that files are organized in directories, and that you can navigate that structure
Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE
nyti.ms
I am able to sponsor postdoctoral fellows through this program! www.chemistry.ucla.edu/bhaumik-priz...
Bhaumik Prize Postdoctoral Fellows Program – UCLA
The Departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Physics and Astronomy at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) invites nominations for the Bhaumik Prize Postdoctoral Fellows Program. This newly instated program seeks to bring the brightest young scientists to UCLA to expand their scientific training, make new discoveries, and network with interdisciplinary scientists of all stages. The Bhaumik Prize Postdoctoral Fellows Program is made possible by the philanthropy of physicist and entrepreneur Dr. Mani L. Bhaumik. The program supports three fellows annually for a three-year postdoctoral position.
chemistry.ucla.edu
Imagine thinking that having a baby that only needs 4 hours of sleep is a desirable trait lmao we live in hell
Sharon 🪳🌹@sharonk.bsky.social · 2y agowelcome to america's cyberpunk years
I have a student with a full draft, who now is ineligible. What a waste. Especially challenging for students in chemistry who don't settle into labs until at least half way through their first year.
Alex Wild@alexwild.bsky.social · 10mo agoNSF GRFP is out, but they’ve unexpectedly made 2nd year students ineligible.
A good read on an important chapter of Earth science history, and what is at risk of being lost under Trump.
Zack Labe@zacklabe.com · 11mo ago"Over the past 60 years, scientists have largely succeeded in building a computer model of Earth to see what the future holds. One of the most ambitious projects humankind has ever undertaken has now reached a critical moment." via @quantamagazine.bsky.social
Joseph S. Francisco named 2025 Pauling Medal Award winner The award will be presented Oct. 18 at Seattle University as part of a poster session and symposium. cen.acs.org/people/award... #chemsky
Joseph S. Francisco named 2025 Pauling Medal Award winner
The award will be presented Oct. 18 at Seattle University as part of a poster session and symposium
cen.acs.org
We took my 2 yo to his first baseball game today and my favorite part was when we told him it was over and the Dodgers won, and he thought for a second, then put up his hand and waved goodbye while yelling "bye bye Dodgers! Bye bye baseball guys!"
God what a demoralizing time to be an early career scientist in the US
Breaking: NSF is suspending roughly 300 grants with UCLA, following a DOJ finding on Tuesday that the university violated Title VI by "creating a hostile educational environment for Jewish and Israeli students."
Nadia’s paper exploring technologies that can be used to minimize harmful byproducts of 222 nm germicidal light is now published! pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
Mitigation of Indoor Ozone and Secondary Products from 222 nm Germicidal Ultraviolet Light Using Commercial Air Cleaners
Far ultraviolet-C (UVC) light, especially germicidal UV light at 222 nm (GUV222), has received considerable attention for its potential to deactivate airborne pathogens indoors and prevent the spread ...
pubs.acs.org
An underrated part of being a lab scientist is how much confidence it gives you for small fixes around the house.
Here’s Spencer Ackerman with by far the best take I’ve read on the racist moral panic targeting Zohran Mamdami. zeteo.com/p/my-fellow-...
Amid all of the truly terrible federal funding news, I am extremely pleased to report my group has received our first multi-year NSF support!
"Women are PIs on 58% of the canceled grants, although they are PIs on only 34% of all active NSF grants. Similarly, Blacks are PIs on 17% of the terminated grants, although they make only 4% of the total pool. Hispanic PIs and those with disabilities were twice as likely to lose a grant."
David Malakoff@davidmalakoff.bsky.social · last yr.Another scoop from Jeff Mervis (@policyhound.bsky.social): NSF's ~1400 grant terminations have disproportionately affected PIs from groups underrepresented in science: women, racial & ethnic minorities, & those with disabilities. 1/3 www.science.org/content/arti...
Please support my students kickstarter to finish an educational wastewater video game we started building! I taught an interdisciplinary capstone class video game where programmers, artists, sound designers, and education students could work together! www.kickstarter.com/projects/que...
What the Floc: Educational Wastewater Video Game
Educational video game where players operate a wastewater treatment plant to protect the city and environment from pollution!
kickstarter.com