Morgan Tingley

I thought I'd put the administration's proposed "compact" with universities in context, so I wrote the blog post below.

It's especially for journalists covering this story!

Many details about how the compact itself works and why the administration has retreated to this strategy.

Some problems have simple solutions. This new “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” is one. The answer is simply saying no.

Simple does not mean easy. But Brown, Dartmouth, MIT, Vanderbilt, Univ of AZ, UPenn, USC, UT Austin & UVA must understand what they’ll lose if they sign on.

Webpage on the hidden curriculum of applying to ecology and evolution grad programs in the US (a lot of the info applies to other fields too, but perhaps less well): applyingtoeeb.info

#AcademicSky 🧪

Happy Birthday, Dan!! 🎊🎊🎊 (that's what you were asking for, right?)

Jane Goodall, Eminent Primatologist Who Chronicled the Lives of Chimps, Dies at 91 Her discoveries in the 1960s about how chimpanzees behaved in the wild broke new ground and represented what was called “one of the Western world’s great scientific achievements.”

Farewell to Jane Goodall 🌿 A pioneering scientist whose groundbreaking work with primates transformed how we understand ourselves. She showed how research and advocacy can unite, inspiring generations.

The GRFP announcement from NSF cuts out an entire cohort of 2nd year students from consideration, without warning. This is so deeply unfair that it warrants a formal protest from the scientific community. If someone wants to work with me to craft an open letter and solicit signatures, LMK.

There is so much in the news cycle these days that the complete dismantling of the Forest Service -- so *our* forests can be auctioned off to Big TImber -- is unfortunately getting little air play. But if this happens, US landscapes may be almost unrecognizable in a decade, and never coming back. 🌍

Flea? Tick? Insect of some sort?

Illustration of the profile of a Crested Jayshrike, a warm brown songbird with a white collar, hooked black beak, and tall feathery crest. It is fringed in bright white light, with a blurry background of tropical greenery.

For @cassalalia.bsky.social, a Crested Jayshrike! Thanks so much for the #Waymakers donation!

To donate and request a bird: act.theyoungcenter.org/a/birdsbeyon... . Include your bsky name if you want a ping!

Every dollar helps support unaccompanied immigrant kids in the US!

🎨🪶 #SciArt #BirdArt

What the Bloom After L.A.’s Wildfires Reveals About Our Ecological Future

A bunch of wonderful scientists are working to study how the LA fires in January impacted our local nature. We had a great time working with @brookejarvis.bsky.social and @nytimes.com on this beautiful article.

feat. @kendallcalhoun.bsky.social @ltkelly.bsky.social et al.

Said student group was ordered alphabetically, although they then changed their name in 2009:
www.thecrimson.com/article/2009...

Since at least the 1990s, the identity-based Harvard student group was labeled with that ordering. Since the ordering of letters is, at best, arbitrary, I think no one decided it was worth changing, and became standard on campus for related topics.

As one can imagine, I have some thoughts. Here’s a thread no one asked for:

1. SCIENCE IN THE US IS POLITICAL. No matter how much you want to ignore that fact, it is supported by taxpayer dollars and is therefore, political by nature.

2. BUT it has had bipartisan support for decades, which…

The Roadless Rule Explained: How the Last Unbroken Forests Could Be Lost Forever For 25 years it has protected 59 million acres of wild forest. The latest repeal puts them all at risk.

"The Roadless Rule Explained: How the Last Unbroken Forests Could Be Lost Forever. For 25 years it has protected 59 million acres of wild forest. The latest repeal puts them all at risk." 🌏 morethanjustparks.substack.com/p/the-roadle...

Are you planning on attending the @amornith.bsky.social (American Ornithological Society) #AOS25 meeting in St. Louis this year?

I'm making a Starter Pack of attendees so we can easily follow each other. Attending the meeting and want on the list? Comment here or DM me! go.bsky.app/3dybD1a

NEW: A federal judge has demanded NSF explain in court how the UCLA grant suspensions are not in violation of her June order that restored grants to UC scientists

😑

Birds are dinosaurs who shrugged off a couple apocalypses. Some eat bone marrow. Some drink nectar. They outswim fish in the sea. They smile politely at gravity’s demands. ‬

‪I am grateful to see them. I am grateful to feed them. I am grateful to know them.‬

It's incredibly distressing, because - my lab needs funding but look, realistically, I'll be okay - but the entire generation of people who were going to move into this research space are just completely orphaned. There's no way to start a lab on this now. Funders need to pivot back to funding.

One thing very few people know, even in the climate-health research space, is that - in addition to NIH / NSF / NASA / EPA blocking any new research on climate change and health - all the philanthropies have decided to take NGO-shaped roles rather than fund research, and so they aren't stepping in.

I normally think about #fire from an ecological perspective, so really enjoyed thinking about the role of fire in the evolutionary past and future with @ltkelly.bsky.social. Take a look, it's a short read!

Extreme weather events like Texas rain are more likely to occur due to climate change, scientists warn Climate change is likely to make extreme weather events like those experienced in Texas occur more intensely and more frequently, scientists are warning.

This is a pretty good article, with comments from @weatherwest.bsky.social and me.

abcnews.go.com/US/extreme-w...

It is difficult to describe just how disastrous it would be if just-released NOAA budget proposal (or even large portions) were to be enacted: It would involve a wholesale dismantling (decimation, really) of entities relevant to weather, climate, & ocean research & prediction.

Oh you've never heard of piculets before? The mini woodpeckers? Well here ya go- have a Rufous Piculet. Your life is now that much cuter. You're welcome.

📷 Ayuwat Jearwattanakanok, eBird

Career planning in an era of scientific disinvestment Know not just the destination and the route, but all the other features on the map

In a time when support for junior scientists is disappearing, how can you plan for a career in STEM? I think it starts by thinking of science as a big map with many routes and destinations, instead of a pipeline. 🧪

scienceforeveryone.science/p/career-pla...

It’s destroying our future.

screenshot from the NSF budget request to congress showing that the number of people involved in NSF activities will drop from 330,100 to 90,000.

The bottom line with the proposed cuts to NSF is to cut the number of working scientists and disappear opportunities to train new scientists.

This is a PROPOSED budget to Congress. Call your reps.

Goodbye REUs, goodbye GRFPs, goodbye CAREERs (which ironically I just finished writing today). This is the end of the road for all early-career scientists. If you aren't enraged you aren't paying attention.

Graphs showing 25 years of budgets for the National Institute of Health, NASA, and the NSF. In all cases, the proposed budget for next year is far, far below any year of the previous quarter century.

There are 2 previous historical cases of countries destroying their science and universities, crippling them for decades: Lysenkoism in the USSR and Nazi Germany. The Trump administration will be the 3rd.
It's not just budgets but research, institutions, expertise, and training the next generation.

In case you couldn't bear to read all the way to the end (understandable), here is the proposed picture for the BIO Directorate.