El Lower

Happy birthday to one of my favourite haters, Charles Darwin

Keep it Shrimple

Today is International Day of Women & Girls in Science!

It is a privilege to work with a small but mighty team at the @iaglr.bsky.social where 86% of our staff and contractors is made up of woman in science.

#WomenInScience

Help us protect new water bodies and access points from aquatic #invasivespecies by applying for funding for this summer's #GreatLakes AIS Landing Blitz! This annual event unites partners to prevent the spread of AIS at boating access sites.

https://ow.ly/E4Xi50Ych2m #GLAISBlitz

A screenshot of text from a newsletter that reads: "When I struggle to find value in my own work during such times, I think of a line my friend Sierra Crane Murdoch once wrote: “Violence toward land begets violence toward people, and vice versa.” Similarly, care for the land begets care for its people. The well-being of all beings is connected. We can care about plants and animals and ecosystems while also caring about human lives, not only because we have complex brains capable of holding multiple truths at once but because we’re all intertwined. Government violence connects to oil connects to climate change connects to biodiversity. People connect to oxygen connect to trees connect to fungi connect to insects connect to birds."

If you write primarily about nature and environmental issues, it can be hard to see the value of your work during times like these. I wrote about this a bit in my introduction to @biographic.bsky.social's weekly newsletter.

A map of the Great Lakes showing the number of federal employees lost by each state

Since January 20, 2025, the #GreatLakes region has lost 19,450 federal jobs including at NOAA's Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (which lost 20% of its workforce) + US Fish & Wildlife Service, threatening scientific research and ecosystem protection www.nemw.org/trump-admini...

I ask myself this often.

Oh that is beyond wack.

YouTube video by Bruce Springsteen Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Minneapolis (Official Audio)

I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.

Stay free

I’m one of the panelists in this session — tune in if you can!

After Trump promised speed, Great Lakes carp barrier faces delay Michigan and Illinois lawmakers say an unexplained federal review threatens to slow the long-awaited Lake Michigan invasive species protection project.

More delays for the Brandon Road Interbasin Project which aims to prevent invasive carp from entering the #GreatLakes

“The federal investment currently is on hold without justification and additional contracts for the project cannot be awarded due to the funding pause" www.mlive.com/environment/...

"106,636 years of federal work experience were lost across the 10,109 employees with Ph.D.s who departed STEM or health roles 1 January–30 November."

It isn't just the scientific knowledge but the *institutional* knowledge that's been lost. Rebuilding federal science will be a generational effort.

An illustration of a common loon, the state bird of minnesota, attacking a bald eagle. The eagle has a deceased loon chick clutched in its talons. The illustration is a reference to a real life incident where a bald eagle was found dead of a stab wound to the heart that matched a loon's sharp beak, next to a dead loon chick. The text below reads JUSTICE with ICE in red and crossed out.

been thinking a lot recently about that story of the bald eagle found dead, next to the body of a loon chick, with a hole in its heart the size and shape of a loon's beak

The Senate passed a package of appropriations bills, sending them to the President’s desk. The bill increases funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, and rejects proposed cuts to NOAA and the EPA. Read NEMWI’s Great Lakes analysis here:
buff.ly/UlAZcJh

It’s been driving me up the wall. So many brands using the same obnoxious copy, too!

This line graph illustrates the percentage change in agency staff levels from the previous year for nine major U.S. federal scientific and health organizations between the fiscal years 2016 and 2025. The agencies tracked include the CDC, Department of Energy, EPA, FDA, NASA, NIH, NIST, NOAA, and NSF. For the majority of the timeline between 2016 and 2023, the agencies show relatively stable fluctuations, generally staying within a range of +5% to -5% change per year. However, there is a dramatic and uniform plummet starting in the 2024–25 period. Every agency depicted shows a sharp downward trajectory, with staffing losses ranging from approximately -15% to over -25%. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) shows the most significant decline, dropping to roughly -26%, while the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) shows the least severe but still substantial drop at approximately -15%.

This is the most astonishing graph of what the Trump regime has done to US science. They have destroyed the federal science workforce across the board. The negative impacts on Americans will be felt for generations, and the US might never be the same again.

www.nature.com/immersive/d4...

For ease of navigation and sharing, I have turned my little list into a website: standwithminnesota.org

Feeling this. 🫩🫩🫩

Friendly reminder that government spending on Great Lakes Restoration averages a $3:$1 ROI.

Coalition Urges EPA and Army Corps to Withdraw Proposed Revision to WOTUS — Healthy Lakes The Coalition, along with more than 70 member groups submitted a letter urging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to withdraw their proposed revision to the…

The Coalition, along with more than 70 member groups submitted a letter urging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to withdraw their proposed revision to the definition of “Waters of the United States" #GreatLakes

buff.ly/uaTiksB

A diagram showing the differences between lamprey (top image) and an eel (bottom image)

Joyeux No-eel: Lampreys as a group are sometimes incorrectly called “lamprey eels." While they do look like eels in that they have slender, snake-like bodies and smooth, slippery skin, lampreys are more primitive, lacking jaws and having a skeleton made of cartilage instead of bone #25DaysofFishmas

Lampreia de Ovos, a Portuguese Christmas dessert

My absolute favorite holiday tradition is Lampreia de Ovos, a Portuguese Christmas dessert which contains zero (0) actual lamprey but 50 (!) egg yolks, sugar, and almonds - and is shaped to look like a lamprey. Don’t forget cherries for the eyes! #25DaysofFishmas www.atlasobscura.com/foods/lampre...

FINAL DAY!

There have been some fantastic submissions by some awesome #scicomm folks. Don’t miss out on being a part of an amazing week of scicomm at the annual conference. bit.ly/4nTTfxz

#IAGLR26 #ConnectedWaters26

Last day to submit an abstract, folks!

a colour photograph of a Christmas postcard with fish themed wordplay. The card reads With best wishes for a very happy Christmas. Grief find no plaice and pain no perch nor carping critic vex your sole. The words plaice, perch, carp and sole are illustrated with those fish species

Before we head off for the holiday season we wanted to wish you all a Merry Fishmas 🐟 and a Happy New Year 🎆

📷PCU1.3: A festive postcard from Joseph Thomas Cunningham, a marine biologist known for his work on flatfish, to an unknown recipient

Don’t miss out! Last day for abstracts is tomorrow.

#scicomm #IAGLR26 #ConnectedWaters26

If you were considering submitting an abstract for SCAS/IAGLR for our EDI session but didn't because you were only allowed to give one talk, you are now allowed to submit a second talk for sessions 7-11! (We're #10 🤓)

And you still have 2 days left to submit an abstract!

iaglr.org/iaglr-scas26...

Gills Gone Wild In October 1960, Prince Akihito of Japan visited Chicago for 21 hours. Chicago’s mayor presented the prince with a diplomatic gift: 18 bluegill. What happened next would change the underwater world…

Back in the 1960s, 18 American bluegill got a royal welcome in Japan -- and became the center of an ecological catastrophe. Great reporting from Interlochen Public Radio's Points North team (including an interview with our own @helloellower.bsky.social !)

Join the #GLANSIS team in Winnipeg next year at the joint #IAGLR & #SCAS-SCSA conference!

19. Invasive Species Research and Communication Invasive species are a leading threat to native species and biodiversity, are an important driver of global ecological and evolutionary change, restructure food webs, and have caused significant economic damage to aquatic ecosystems. This session welcomes presentations reflecting a broad array of aquatic invasive species research in aquatic ecosystems, including ecological, economic, social science, communications, education, and evaluation research. Presentations about efforts to connect invasive species research to lay audiences (community science, education, etc.) are also welcome. Chaired by: Rochelle Sturtevant, El Lower

Are you a #GreatLakes #InvasiveSpecies researcher or communicator planning to attend #IAGLR26 in Winnipeg? Submit an abstract to our Session 19 by December 19! bit.ly/4nTTfxz
@iaglr.bsky.social #AIS