Faith Kearns, Ph.D.

Brooklyn blizzard.

I could say more about the stages of accepting that the institutional life upon which you built your identity is gone. Something between grief and consciousness-raising. And we are all moving at our own pace. But yeah.

wanna know who made the deal that we could have a website not owned by Elon but we would be doomed to repeat the same four discourses until we bring the social media gods enough offerings of touched grass

I think an i95 snowstorm might be the clearest sign that the weather space is way overcrowded in news these days. Live coverage with updates when NYC is up to half an inch of snow etc.

This is a must read.

This is so important. In the end, all communication & creative endeavor is about the exchange between living beings; it's process, not merely a static output.

Even beautiful words, from a computer, offer nothing. (Except, of course, for the many instances when it's stolen from a human.)

Thank you! I’m in the southern tier otherwise I’d give up 😂

Such a stupid day to need to fly across the country

I, more than most, get that sports is actually a way to get some non-college grads to care about the institution. But I think we have to start thinking deeply about what a university is, given that accreditation is months away from fully breaking

This is a really good debate format for like 50 different reasons, but especially at this moment. There's a lot of equivocating over stuff that is not that complicated.

Opposition to Mega Prison Project Shapes a Local Election in Rural Arkansas - Bolts Incarceration has become a central issue in Western Arkansas, where the governor wants to build a new prison that has angered and mobilized residents.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders' plan to build a huge mega-prison in rural Arkansas has drawn major opposition, with some residents saying it's made them think differently about incarceration in the face of organizing.

Now that's bleeding into a local election, as candidates vow to fight the governor.

NEW:

“When you first hear about [charges against Epstein] it doesn’t sound like something serious.” Tells you all you need to know about these men and their brilliance.

A border wall through Big Bend is particularly gutting given the long history of efforts - first initiated by FDR in 1944 - to make the area an international peace park.

Instead of this wall, we could have an inspiring example of binational cooperation to ensure thriving ecosystems and communities.

Truly think trust is a bad metric at this point

Tohono O'odham tribal leaders denounce plan to extend Arizona border wall Tohono O'odham leaders reiterated their opposition to extending a physical border wall on tribal lands in Arizona, arguing it is ineffective.

From me: ‘Tohono O'odham tribal leaders denounce plan to extend Arizona border wall’

Scientists worry about lasting damage from Potomac sewage spill Drinking water around the District of Columbia hasn't been contaminated. But scientists say the environmental damage could be severe.

Drinking water around the District of Columbia hasn't been contaminated. But scientists say the environmental damage could be severe. n.pr/4kOnfLF

One thing which I find telling, if not surprising: despite decades of rhetoric on transferable skills and alt-ac paths, nobody I’ve talked to about pursuing a PhD expresses much interest in them. Instead, they temper their hopes about how long they can do *this* work — even if it’s just a few years.

For LGBTQ Winter Olympians, visibility matters just as much as medals There's a record-breaking number of out LGBTQ+ athletes competing in the 2026 Winter Olympics, including medal winners for Team USA.

"She posted pictures of her and teammate Alysa Liu with their Olympics team skate gold medals on TikTok with the caption: “They hate to see two woke bitches winning."

[GOLD for Alysa!]
www.usatoday.com/story/sports...

Revealed: Epstein cultivated relationship with CBP officer, causing US investigation Guardian review of US justice department files reveals Epstein interacted with six CBP officers. The officer investigated denied any knowledge of trafficking underage girls

"We Brooklyn Boys stick together," one CBP supervisor texted Epstein.

"Atta boy", Epstein responded.

In November 2016, Epstein texted the supervisor that another CBP officer had been “nasty”. “I will speak to him!” the supervisor responded. “I will handle it, formally.”

"Some have even suggested that private equity investment in McMullen Valley is a form of “saving” the community. Rural Arizonans do not share that view. The purchase of local land for speculative gain does not feel like protection; it feels like displacement." #westwater #groundwater

Democrats sound alarm on Interior reorg's impact on wildfires, land management Unauthorized shifts to staffing could leave DOI agencies underresourced for critical duties, lawmakers say.

Unauthorized shifts to staffing could leave DOI agencies underresourced for critical duties, lawmakers say.
www.govexec.com/management/2...

Virginia Giuffre was a brave woman who did something almost no one in history has managed to do

A woman with set hair in a red jacket and a string of pearls.

Griffin is a 91 year old Republican state legislator from the southeastern corner of the state who chairs the natural resources, energy and water committee

Pretty incredible op ed piece from several rural county supervisors taking on Rep Gail Griffin’s actions on groundwater in their counties archive.is/2026.02.17-2...

The Colorado River Crisis is Here States fail to reach a deal; Lake Powell Deadpool appears imminent

Federal officials now project that Lake Powell will "most probably" drop below power pool level — meaning Glen Canyon Dam will no longer be able to generate hydropower — before the end of this year: www.landdesk.org/p/the-colora... via @landdesk.bsky.social

Seasonal variation of volatilized tetrachloroethene and trichloroethene concentrations in sewer systems in contaminated coastal landscapes Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as trichloroethene (TCE) and tetrachloroethene (PCE) are commonly detected in urban environments with legacy co…

We have a new paper out showing the impact of higher groundwater on VOCs in sewers, which creates an indoor air contamination risk.

As sea level rises, this is a potentially v serious public health risk at schools and older buildings w old plumbing seals.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

My Girl Scout troop used to clean a beloved bar in the college town I mostly grew up in on Sunday mornings. This seems a better route. That stale beer smell just never really leaves you.

Heartbreaking and deeply wrong

We are torpedoing a major advancement in vaccine development & public health due to fringe ideas and misinformation about the dangers of mRNA vaccine technologies. We will regret this & future generations will look back at this moment and wonder what the hell we were thinking.

It provides a counterpoint to my own and can, I hope, help to better clarify the different scicomm assumptions and approaches that are out there in very clear terms. Let's advance this field!