In memoriam: Hans-Dieter Sues (1956–2026) Published in Historical Biology: An International Journal of Paleobiology (Ahead of Print, 2026)

My obituary of the highly accomplished and brilliant Professor Hans-Dieter Sues (1956-2026) is now online, let me know if you want a pdf... www.tandfonline.com/eprint/NICGG...

Sea monster montage featuring monsters from the 1539 Carta Marina.

Mesozoic marine reptiles: (a) plesiosaur, (b) mosasaur, (c) thalattosuchian, images by Darren Naish.

Sea monsters proposed by Heuvelmans: (a) many-humped sea serpent, (b) many-finned sea serpent, (c) long-necked seal, images by Darren Naish.

The new issue of Geology Today, out today, features my article 'Monsters of the Deep', a discussion of how views on legendary sea monsters have been, and still are, connected to the discovery of fossils like plesiosaurs onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... Message me if you want a pdf :)

Comparison of species richness curves and environmental proxies.

High-resolution quantitative stratigraphical study shows the heterogenous extinction responses of foraminifera, with benthics being struck hard and collapsing fast.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧪 ⚒️ #Geology #Paleobio #EvoBio #Macroecology

How a TikToker and former actress is helping lead California’s earthquake work Wendy Bohon has built a TikTok following as an earthquake geologist. She helps lead earthquake work for the California Geological Survey.

Wendy Bohon has built a TikTok following as an earthquake geologist. She helps lead earthquake work for the California Geological Survey.

‘It’s sick’: Trump administration uses mascot called ‘Coalie’ to push dirtiest fossil fuel Cartoon lump of coal with giant eyes was spotlighted by US interior secretary in X post saying: ‘Mine, Baby, Mine!’

Context: www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

The Trump admin's new coal mascot is accidently spot-on. Poor dude looks profoundly sad. He knows he shouldn't be doing this. Look at that little forced half smile. (Oh, Coalie, we see you and we don't blame you.)

Hooke: "the Patient understands not, nor remembereth any Thing that he seeth, heareth or doth, in that Extasie; yet is he very merry and laughs and sings and speaks . . . yet he is not giddy or drunk, but walks and dances and sheweth many odd Tricks." 2/2

A friend in chat made a joke about Robert Hooke's accomplishments being all the more impressive given how baked he was all the time (based on this painting). Amusingly, it turns out Hooke presented a case (self?) report to the Royal Society on getting stoned. 1/2

@geosociety.bsky.social It's time for a commitment to move meetings to Canada for foreseeable future (hybrid if not possible in 2026). Aside from changes in visa screening making it harder for international delegates to attend, things are unsafe for non-citizens of colour.

To the people of Minnesota: The world sees what's going on and is horrified by it. I've visited your state, and people were wonderful. Strangers opened their home to me and my partner. It's a cherished memory. It breaks my heart to watch the news.

Chapter 1 of Bjørlykke's Petroleum Geoscience is a great overview.(Depending on the level of your class.) Book is pricey, but in Canada, you can reproduce one chapter for teaching free legally. Not sure where you're at/rules.

Crude: The Incredible Journey Of Oil (2007) - ABC Australia Documentary YouTube video by Ben Hooft

There are probably legal copies too: m.youtube.com/watch?v=I7bm...

It's an actual 90 min documentary. Is on YouTube. I might have linked wrong thing.

Home - Deep Carbon Observatory The Deep Carbon Observatory (DCO) is a global community of more than 1000 scientists who, in the last ten years, were on a quest to understand the quantities, movements, forms, and origins of carbon i...

The Deep Carbon Observatory has lots of good info and graphics that I've stolen: deepcarbon.science

This ABC documentary is good: www.abc.net.au/science/crud...

I've posted similar images many times before, but every time I come across a slab like this, it still blows my mind that raindrops are things that can preserve. (Also fun historical fact: Specimens from Sydney Mines, NS, played a crucial role in supporting Charles Lyell's paper on the subject.)

A friend sent us this dinosaur mobile they made themselves. My gosh!

Wasn't quite this bright to the naked eye, but pretty neat seeing red aurora b. for my first time... in Nova Scotia all places! (Wire digitally removed from photo.)

Read Mark Carney's full speech on middle powers navigating a rapidly changing world | CBC News Read the full text of Prime Minister Mark Carney's speech about a shakeup of the global order and role of middle powers at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

As a call to action, a lamination, & an "open for business" billboard, this speech is great. It's depressing, but its existence & eloquence is also reassuring. Pretty proud of our Prime Minister today. www.cbc.ca/news/politic...

I'm a fossil guy, so sedimentary architecture is a secondary consideration, if considered at all when I'm out. But gosh, the rocks sometimes make you stare at them in wonder anyway. (Near Wadden's Cove, Cape Breton.)

Even for visa exempt countries "C.B.P. said it plans to ask applicants for a long list of personal data including [up to five years] social media, email addresses from the last decade, and the names, birth dates, places of residence and birthplaces of parents, spouses, siblings and children." Nope.

U.S. Plans to Scrutinize Foreign Tourists’ Social Media History

I don't plan on visiting the US anytime soon anyway, but this would have been a deal breaker. The US tourism industry is worth the same as their agricultural exports. Combined w/ new visa & park fees, it's like they're actively trying to shut it down. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/09/t...

My stats are 90% male too. I wonder how much of that is YouTube as a platform vs. a problem engaging a female audience with geology as a subject?

According to National Geographic, when the GSA finally gave Harley Bretz the Penrose Medal for his visionary work on catastrophic glacial floods at 96 years old, he joked to his son, "All my enemies are dead, I have no one to gloat over." Ha!

Was just chatting with Sam Hamilton about possibility of using as template for future CSVP. :)

I looked at Alibaba and got overwhelmed by a million suppliers. Might be worth reaching out to the PRI to see where they get their Paleozoic Pals made.

Hadrosaurs and Brussels sprouts... who even are we anymore?

Graphic with the text ‘I like my crust deformed’ above illustrations of a slice of pumpkin pie and a whole pumpkin pie topped with whipped cream. A small GPS antenna sits on the whole pie. The background is a shaded-relief map, and the EarthScope Consortium logo appears at the bottom.

Monitoring crustal deformation: sometimes in the lithosphere, sometimes on your pie plate.

🍁🍂 Happy Thanksgiving from EarthScope!

Trump Administration Will Raise Prices for Foreign Visitors at National Parks

Don't inherently oppose charging premium for foreign visitors, but $100 likely crosses threshold to counter productive. I visited Grand Canyon on side trip after conference in 2019. Spent >$1000 on trip. Probably wouldn't have gone w/ that surcharge. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/u...

I think I'd watched one baseball game in my life before the last week. I watched every minute of this series... and it was fantastic. Sad to lose, but amazing to come so close. And amazing to see how sport brought together ppl accross country in hope and support. #GoJaysGo