Current snapshot from NRCS snow dashboard for the Upper Colorado River Basin, depicting snow water equivalent taking an extraordinary nosedive in March and moving well into record-low territory for the calendar date.

The astonishing rate of March snowmelt in Colorado River Basin continues, and is now well into record-low territory (even, it appears, relative to pre-SNOTEL era). And the extreme regional heatwave is only slowly fading, with unprecedented March melt continuing in meantime.

Comic. [Two people looking at a board with apparent formula (3.1.3.1)/(3.1.2.1)] PERSON: Do mammologists think these are hard? I mean, this one just evaluates to 3/2. [caption] Mathematicians encounter dental formulas

Dental Formulas

xkcd.com/3213/

Current snapshot from NRCS snowpack tool of map showing current snow water equivalent (SWE) levels across all Western U.S. watersheds as of 2/5. It depicts all such basins as being below average, with numerous watersheds from the Pacific Northwest eastward to Colorado near or under 50% of average, and at/near record low levels.

This mountain snow in the U.S. West is desperately needed--snowpack has reached record low levels for time of year in many locations & will fall even further behind until early next wk, when there will likely be *some* recovery. TBD just how much; the existing deficits are huge.

Awesome resource, thanks!

Poster announcing the workshop.

Join us for an @smtpb.bsky.social workshop on Modern Coexistence Theory. We'll cover mathematical foundations, the theory of partitioning, and data-based applications. Featuring @swatipatel.bsky.social, Nick Kortessis, & Lauren Shoemaker. Zoom link here: smtpb.org/event-6426026

Comic. [Two people in front of projected satellite image. A small portion of the image is pixelated squares.] PERSON 1: Wait, when was this imagery taken? Is this censorship the work of the contractor? One of our people? *Foreign actors!?* PERSON 2 with ponytail: Do we know who’s operating a facility at that location? PERSON 1: We can’t find *anything*. [caption] My hobby: Setting up big colored panels in the middle of nowhere as a prank on remote sensing people

Satellite Imagery

xkcd.com/3173/

Quarto has been great! Here’s a good tutorial: ucsb-meds.github.io/EDS-296-DS-p...

Photo of master's student Alex Pavlik conducting wildlife research in the field and safely holding a small bird in his hand.

Meet Alex Pavlik, our master’s student! 🦫 Co-advised by our PI Dr. Doney and lab partner Dr. Taylor Foerster, Alex is pursuing a degree in Wildlife Science at @oregonstate.edu and researching narratives surrounding wolves in Oregon. Website link in bio for more about Alex! #Wolves #SocialScience

The text that explains that only students in the first year of their first graduate program was surprising. Many people in wildlife come into their PhD with a master’s and are now barred from applying. I waited two years to become re-eligible only to suddenly become permanently ineligible.

The text that explains that only students in the first year of their first graduate program was surprising. Many people in wildlife come into their PhD with a master’s and are now barred from applying. I waited two years to become re-eligible only to suddenly become permanently ineligible.

Very cool to see @mdcatchen.bsky.social , who was an invaluable source of guidance in my first Spatial Ecology course, pushing Spatial Ecology forwards!

One of the Funniest Documentaries of the Year Is Streaming for Free on YouTube Listers is a journey into the dark and cringy heart of one of the world’s most peculiar hobbies.

I wrote about the Reiser brothers and their hilarious, disgusting Listers documentary for Slate:

slate.com/culture/2025...

Either gridMET or from RAWS if there are stations nearby

Comic. The Most-Observed Animal and Plant in Each State on iNaturalist. (Not the most common species in the state, just the one people have reported the most times.) [labeled map of the US] WA: Mallard/Western Sword Fern. OR: Mule Deer/Western Ponderosa Pine. CA: Western Fence Lizard/California Poppy. HI: Green Sea Turtle/‘Ōhi’a Lehua. ID: Mallard/Big Sagebrush. NV: Common Side-Blotched Lizard/Creosote Bush. MT: White-Tailed Deer/Common Yarrow. WY: American Bison/Sticky Geranium. UT: Mule Deer/Utah Juniper. AZ: Ornate Tree Lizard/Saguaro. CO: Mule Deer/Great Mullein. NM: Mule Deer/Creosote Bush. AK: Moose/Fireweed. ND: American Bison/Prairie Rose. SD: American Bison/Hoary Vervain. NE: American Robin/Common Milkweed. KS: Ornate Box Turtle/Amur Honeysuckle. OK: Pond Slider/Eastern Redcedar. TX: Northern Cardinal/Pinladies. MN, WI, IL: Common Eastern Bumble Bee/Common Milkweed. IA, MI: White-Tailed Deer/Common Milkweed. MO: Brown-Belted Bumble Bee/Amur Honeysuckle. AR: Three-toed Box Turtle/Chinese Privet. LA: Green Anole/Baldcypress. IN: American Robin/Amur Honeysuckle. OH: Eastern Pondhawk/Virginia Springbeauty. KY: Common Box Turtle/Amur Honeysuckle. TN: American Robin/Christmas Fern. MS: Northern Cardinal/Pale Pitcher Plant. AL: Gulf Fritillary/American Sweetgum. GA: Green Anole/American Sweetgum. FL: Brown Anole/White Beggarticks. NY: Eastern Gray Squirrel/White Snakeroot. PA: White-Tailed Deer/Garlic Mustard. WV: White-Tailed Deer/Great Rhododendron. VA: White-Tailed Deer/Eastern Poison Ivy. MD: White-Tailed Deer/Wineberry. DE: Fowler’s Toad/American Pokeweed. NC: Eastern Gray Squirrel/Christmas Fern. SC: Northern Cardinal/American Sweetgum. NJ: Spotted Lanternfly/Common Mugwort. VT: Common Eastern Bumble Bee/Eastern White Pine. NH: White-Tailed Deer/Eastern White Pine. MA: Common Eastern Bumble Bee/Eastern White Pine. CT: Common Eastern Bumble Bee/Striped Wintergreen. RI: American Herring Gull. ME: American Herring Gull/Canadian Bunchberry.

iNaturalist Animals and Plants

xkcd.com/3118/

Me making small talk at the function

Los Padres NF

Awesome, thanks!

Moving there this fall, looking forward to getting to know it! Anything to recommend?

On a logistical note, using eventbrite made it extremely easy to attend, with reminders in the days leading up and a direct link emailed right when the talk started!

Title slide

Question Answering

I thoroughly enjoyed @lauradee.bsky.social ‘s talk on using causal inference to improve ecology and conservation research! It is great inspiration as I start thinking about how to mesh causal inference, population modeling, and species interaction modeling for my upcoming PhD.

It would be great to see messaging from high up folks on what certain parties see as possibilities for these agencies in a future era of rebuilding / reinvestment. It could give young people a possible future to hope and fight for.

Table Mesa in Boulder Colorado is classic!

Very excited this paper is now out in Ecology Letters onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.... #causalsky