Teamrat

"We spoke with nine C-level U.S. airline executives and senior officials across six U.S. carriers for this story. They expressed varying degrees of skepticism, but none felt the cuts were without some level of political interference."

Grew up under a dictatorship, they attacked expertise first. This is alarmingly familiar. Trust in expertise is the foundation of modern civilization. Even as a researcher, I rely on expert knowledge I could never master in a lifetime. Rejecting that isn’t freedom, it’s how societies collapse!

Historians See Autocratic Playbook in Trump’s Attacks on Science

“Despots want science that has practical results,” said Paul R. Josephson, an emeritus professor of history at Colby College and author of a book on totalitarian science. “They’re afraid that basic knowledge will expose their false claims.”

Bill Jury receiving medal

The Soil Physics Kirkham Medal was given to Bill Jury at the Kirkham Conference in Fukushima. He had an illustrious career at UC Riverside before retiring as Distinguished Professor Emeritus. #soil #soilphysics #kirkhamconference #sssa

James B. Milliken named 22nd president of the University of California The University of California Board of Regents today approved the appointment of James B. Milliken as the 22nd president of UC’s world-renowned system of 10 campuses, six academic health centers, and t...

It’s official, JB Milliken will be the 22nd President of the University of California system. It was a privilege to represent UC faculty interests in this search.
… he currently serves as Chancellor of the UT System, previously led the CUNY system, U of NE and was v. Pres of UNC

Defining soil science: Balancing fundamental research and societal needs Soil science's identity emerges from studying Earth's complex living and nonliving systems across scales. Defining soil science requires balancing practical impacts with fundamental scientific explo.....

Gardner (1991) argued that “if basic soil science did not exist, there is ample evidence that we need to invent it.” While practical applications are valuable outcomes of soil science research, they should emerge from a deep understanding of soil systems rather than define the discipline's scope.

📢 New pub: Defining #soil science: Balancing fundamental research and societal needs, in Soil Science Society of America Journal doi.org/10.1002/saj2...
@teamrat.bsky.social & I argue, soil science, though crucial for solving environmental challanges, should not be defined solely by its applications

Pope Offers Mass on Island Beacon for Refugees (Published 2013) With a service before 10,000 people, Francis seeks to call attention to a humanitarian problem at what has become a gateway for thousands of migrants.

Pope Francis’s first papal visit was to Lampedusa, where thousands have perished. There he criticized the “globalization of indifference”. He said we “have forgotten how to cry” for migrants and “take care of each other,” in his homily.

It seems the indifference is worsening everywhere.

Happy to see you here!

Opinion | What the War on California’s Water Is Really About If we are to take seriously the threats of drought, climate change and water security, we should not reduce this place to a warring of two — or even many — sides.

the so-called war over California’s water is a dangerous, flawed trope that reduces certain water uses to right or wrong, and turns the Delta into a place with no local stakes. Faced with threats of drought, climate change and water scarcity, we should not reduce this place to a warring of... sides.

@katharinehayhoe.com has great starter packs

Thousands of highly cited scientists have at least one retraction Database shows that researchers with retracted papers had higher self-citation rates and published more than those without retractions.

"Thousands of highly cited scientists have at least one retraction"

"Oransky says the results throw into question the practice of ranking scientists on the basis of citations at all."

The Ahwahnee at Yosemite

A foggy and rainy Yosemite. #yosemite

Heron on a bridge

Heron on a bridge.

Picture of white fronted geese standing on shallow water

Geese at the Merced National Wildlife Refuge.

A blue heron basking under the morning sun at @ucmerced.bsky.social

Today, as President Jimmy Carter is honored, we reflect on his 2010 visit to UC Merced, where he received the Spendlove Prize and celebrated the Central Valley’s diversity as a strength of our nation. 🔗ucm.edu/lhgqp1

Jimmy Carter Was Right About Materialism but, Alas, Wrong About Us “Too many of us now tend to worship self-indulgence and consumption,” he said in his 1979 “Crisis of Confidence” speech. If only we had listened.

“… Research Program at the UCLA, surveys first-year college students every year. The percentage who named being “very well off financially” as an important goal doubled from 1967 to 2019. Those who wanted to develop a “meaningful philosophy of life” decreased by nearly half.

This study suggests our faces evolve to match our names. It makes me wonder - what people think when they first see my name? Do I look like a Teamrat? Like most Eritrean names, which reflect the hopes and circumstances of the family at the time of birth, it's a story in a word. #names #culture

what did you use?

I hear you! This is my least favorite part of the job.

Congratulations to QSB graduate student Dean Wu on successfully defending your PhD!!

Today marked my 25th PhD committee/reader sign-off since joining @ucmerced.bsky.social in 2009. What a privilege to support these brilliant minds on their research journeys. Each defense reminds me why I love this profession. Congrats to the newest PhD, Dr. Dean Wu 🎓 #AcademicLife

Delighted to see my friend and colleague Jing Yan, a new Assistant Professor of Soil Physics at University of Hawaii, Manoa, join @bsky.app Proud to see his continued success! Follow him at @jyansci.bsky.social

Congratulations to my @ucmerced.bsky.social colleague John Abatzoglou on his well deserved election to Felloe of AGU. #AGU24

I have used Bear before 2.0 and switched to Agenda. I was intrigued by its calendar integration. But I am realizing that topic based organization suits my needs better. I will check out Bear and may be switch. I hate transferring notes though.

Could ChatGPT get an engineering degree? Evaluating higher education vulnerability to AI assistants | PNAS AI assistants, such as ChatGPT, are being increasingly used by students in higher education institutions. While these tools provide opportunities f...

This paper offers valuable insights on adapting teaching and assessment methods for new technologies. However, I question the framing of the title and similar concerns I see lately. By this logic, should we ask if libraries could get degrees? #HigherEd #ai #education