Marine flyways are the missing map we can use to boost seabird conservation (commentary) Last week, governments, conservationists and civil society from around the world gathered in Brazil for the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS-15). In a rare mo...

Exciting news for seabird and ocean conservation: governments have formally recognised marine flyways at #CMSCOP15!

Read how marine flyways can benefit migratory seabirds in this @mongabay.com article by BirdLife's @tammyedavies.bsky.social and Aline Kühl-Stenzel

➡️ tinyurl.com/MongabayMarFly

Pentagon seeks more than $200 billion in budget request for Iran war That figure would far surpass the costs of the U.S. airstrike campaign to date and aims to boost production of critical weapons depleted in the conflict, people familiar with the matter said.

$200 billion could fund the National Science Foundation for 20 years.

Afroman Wins Civil Trial Over Use of Police Raid Footage in His Music Videos Seven law enforcement officers had accused the rapper, whose name is Joseph E. Foreman, of causing them “humiliation” by using images from their 2022 raid on his Ohio home in two music videos.

An Ohio jury ruled in favor of the rapper Afroman after a civil trial in which law enforcement officers accused him of causing them mental distress by using footage from their 2022 raid on his home in music videos.

Year 2, Week 11 Mar 7-13, 2026 - recalibrating

Each Friday night, I write a briefing on what happened in US science & higher ed. 🧪 

Just a quick one while I’m on the road this week. March 13 (Yr 2, Wk 11)
- follow-ups on measles, sched F, ACIP recommendations
- three essays from NIH insiders
& more

buttondown.com/liminalcreat...

Year 2, Week 10 Feb 28-Mar6, 2026 - time (for) change

Each Friday night, I write a briefing on what happened in US science & higher ed. 🧪

Mar 6 (Year 2, Week 10)
- NIH revoking certification of early career workers union
- FDA 'chaos' & Prasad out (again)
- even more delay & interference in NIH funding
& so much more

buttondown.com/liminalcreat...

During marine heatwaves, the thermal habitat for humpback whales is compressed, increasing the risk of entanglements with fishing gear.

New research in PLOS Climate by Jarrod Santora and colleagues 👇

🔗 journals.plos.org/climate/arti...

📸 Anne Smith, Pixabay

@ehazen.bsky.social

Bird Flu Strikes California Elephant Seals for the First Time

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/25/s...

It would be a nice time to have invested in mRNA vaccines…

Low counts of overwintering monarchs trouble experts who see a potential species collapse. Western monarch butterfly counts hit a new low, signaling a potential species collapse due to habitat loss and pesticides, alarming conservation experts.

Low counts of overwintering Pacific Monarchs suggests a collapse is likely www.montereycountynow.com/news/local_n...

This is an important step forward in species distribution modelling, enabling researchers and policymakers to better understand marine biodiversity patterns and develop more effective conservation strategies.

journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

A bumper berry harvest has New Zealand's weird flightless parrot in a rare mood for romance New Zealand conservationists have been fighting for years to keep the kakapo, the world’s only flightless parrot, from disappearing, with intensive conservation efforts.

Something positive for your scrolling today: Apparently kakapo are having a great year. apnews.com/article/kaka...

U.S. government has lost more than 10,000 STEM Ph.D.s since Trump took office A Science analysis reveals how many were fired, retired, or quit across 14 agencies

The US government lost more than 10,000 STEM PhDs last year, according to an analysis by Science of newly released OPM data, with 11 departures for every hire. And many OPM calls "voluntary" separations were probably pushed. www.science.org/content/arti...

NIOZ - Postdoc positie Deep-sea prey and environment The Department of Coastal Systems (COS) at the Royal Netherlands Institute of Sea Research (NIOZ) is looking for a highly motivated postdoc to join a research team exploring the deep-sea predatory int

Postdoc Opportunity in the Netherlands! Apply by Jan 26.

We are seeking an enthusiastic candidate to work with us on a postdoc at the NIOZ. It is a 2-year position, the NL-gvt-funded Vidi project.

Application and details can be found here:

workingat.nioz.nl/l/nl/o/postd...

I'm hiring a postdoc to work with myself, Dr Jim Lyons and the entire NOAA Firebird team on the adaptive management part of our larger project focused on the impacts of prescribed fire on Gulf Coast wetlands

Accepting applications until Feb 15th

blogs.illinois.edu/view/7426/19...

www.pnas.org/doi/full/10....

New study finds fishing-fleet movements can reveal marine-ecosystem shifts UC Santa Cruz researchers show how vessel-tracking data mirrored tuna roaming beyond their typical territory due to unusually warm ocean temperatures

Just in time for the holidays, can VMS fleet data be used as ecosystem sentinel information? Why yes it can! And fishing fleets are highly responsive to changing ecosystem conditions.

news.ucsc.edu/2025/12/fish...

"Australian MPAs and unprotected areas exhibit similar patterns of exposure to warming, acidification, deoxygenation, and marine heatwaves, suggesting that MPA placement with respect to future climate is no better than random."

agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

🌊 World Fisheries Day 2025 🐟
Respect our oceans. Support our fishers.
Sustainable seas are our shared future. 🌍💙

#WorldFisheriesDay #SustainableFisheries #BlueEconomy #OneOcean

A male Anna’s hummingbird at the door. So nosy! 🤣

Earlier today, I was notified that someone was at my door.

This is who it was:

Widespread influence of artificial light at night on ecosystem metabolism - Nature Climate Change The authors combine light intensity data with eddy covariance observations from 86 sites to show that artificial light at night increases ecosystem respiration and alters carbon exchange, with impacts...

Johnston et al (2025) Widespread influence of artificial light at night on ecosystem metabolism 💡🧪🔓

www.nature.com/articles/s41... @natclimate.nature.com

(H/T @zarahpattison.bsky.social)

Pan-basin warming now overshadows robust Pacific Decadal Oscillation - Nature Climate Change Natural patterns of climate variability, such as the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), strongly influence regional climate. This study shows that anthropogenic warming now has greater influence than ...

Important new paper by Allison Cluett highlighting what has happened to the PDO. It's still there, it's just swamped by the global warming signal since 2024.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The normalization of (almost) everything: Our minds can get used to anything, and even crises start feeling normal Our minds can get used to anything, and even crises start feeling normal

Honored and excited to share that I am the winner of Nomis & Science Young Explorer Award!!

Also thrilled to share that my article describing my research is out now in @science.org today!

The normalization of (almost) everything www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

1/

Hiring alert: Pacific Fisheries Management Council staff scientist. A good job opportunity!

workforcenow.adp.com/mascsr/defau...

Foreign Food Safety Inspections Hit Historic Low After Trump Cuts The dramatic shift in oversight comes at a time when the U.S. has never been more reliant on foreign food, which accounts for the vast majority of the nation’s seafood and more than half its fresh fru...

NEW: Billions of pounds of food are imported to the U.S. each year.

The FDA inspects foreign producers to ensure what we're eating is safe from pathogens and dangerous manufacturing practices.

But now, after Trump's drastic staff cuts, these inspections have plummeted to a historic low.
🧵/

New Perspective paper in #npjOceanSustainability highlights that marine spatial planning (#MSP) and marine protected area (#MPA) planning are not the same, but both are key for ocean sustainability in a changing ocean!🌊

doi.org/10.1038/s441...

@erc.europa.eu @plantprojecterc.bsky.social

A newly released Global Tipping Points report suggested that coral reefs have passed thresholds beyond which they can't bounce back.

Our new study from Fiji shows just the opposite - astonishing, rapid recovery within 4 years of reefs pummeled by a category 5 cyclone.

#ForCoral

The U.S. Is Skipping This Year’s Climate Summit. For Many, That’s OK. World leaders, gathering in Brazil, will try to agree on new, more ambitious plans to cut greenhouse gases.

The U.S. will not attend the annual UN climate summit, COP30, which kicks off on Thursday in Brazil. And that's just fine for those who see the Trump administration’s hostility toward anything related to climate change as a menace to international cooperation.

The current government shutdown is now officially the longest in U.S. history, surpassing the 35-day shutdown of President Trump’s first term. The impact of the shutdown, having lasted 35 full days, has already been felt across the country. nyti.ms/3Xaygvt

The shutdown – and the House’s inaction – helps pave Congress’ path to irrelevance With major shutdown impacts beginning to set in, a scholar of Congress says the House has all but abdicated its position as ‘The People’s Chamber.’

Congress’ path to irrelevance did not begin during the #shutdown. It is the result of decades of erosion that created a political culture in which Congress is relegated to second-class status, according to a political scientist. buff.ly/8hYHW3j

Postdoctoral opportunity at UDelaware!

careers.udel.edu/cw/en-us/job...

How to Rescue an Overloaded Organization - by Nelson P. Repenning and Donald C. Kieffer - Behavioral Scientist Many leaders mistakenly believe that their organizations thrive under constant pressure. But overloaded systems are broken systems—to fix them, we must learn our way to the right amount of work.

“No one would ever ask a cardiac surgeon to stop an operation midstream because something supposedly more important popped up... yet we ask knowledge workers to do something similar multiple times a day because the immediate impact doesn’t seem onerous.” | via @behscientist.bsky.social