Josh Papacek

'Huge win for Florida's wetlands': Green groups cheer order undoing Florida's permit control Florida had been one of three states controlling developent permits affecting wetlands. The order returns control to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Well this is an interesting development

www.jacksonville.com/story/news/e...

Picture of a wetland in central Florida with floating waterlilies and emergent cattails mixed with sawgrass

Happy World Wetlands Day! 🧪

Picture from trip to check out Sawgrass Lake WMA, a reclaimed wetland in the Upper St. Johns River Basin Project, almost a year ago. I need to get out in the field more…

dashboard.waterdata.usgs.gov/app/nwd/en/

Image from USGS National Water Dashboard showing current streamflow status at gauges across the lower 48 United States

Almost 15% of USGS gauges in the lower 48 are currently classified as “All-time high for this day-of-year” for streamflow after yesterday’s storm system 🧪

Several state agencies and other groups will do conventional “grab” sampling for algal and water quality analysis. I believe So. Fl. Water Mgmt. District also still has some in-lake sondes for more real-time data.

WVU board approves cuts to degree programs, faculty layoffs WVU’s Board of Governors approved cuts to dozens of programs and 143 faculty positions to help fix a $45 million budget shortfall.

I guess it’s not a surprise at this point, but still a huge disappointment: WVU is going through with the cuts that will axe over 25 programs and 140 faculty. 😢

Space capsule streaking over black night sky with near full moon in foreground

NASA’s Crew-6 returned from the ISS to Earth over Florida earlier tonight 🧪

We’re looking for a PhD student to join us in Fall 24. Potential research topics include:
1)N spiraling in urban streams, ditches, and canals
2)Impacts of DOM quantity/quality on metabolism and nutrient dynamics of stormwater ponds
3)Any urban aquatic biogeochemical cycling questions (pretty open)

The Evisceration of a Public University West Virginia University is being gutted, and it’s a preview for what’s in store for higher education.

I wrote this piece in The Nation about the cuts at WVU and how small states will crush their R1 unis to cash grab for big tech. WVU is the only R1 in WV and these cuts will shred higher ed in the state. Please read and share.

Seeking ecologists with a #fieldworkfail to share If you’re an ecologist who has ever worked in the field, I’d love to hear from you.

Are you an ecologist? I'd love to chat to you about you experiences in the field as background research for Fieldwork, our short film project. I'm curious to know what you're studying, where, why & what's ever gone wrong (because something always does!)

cc @luehea.bsky.social @anaspene.bsky.social

Maps showing the 24 most common proper names (eg. Creek, stream, rio, etc) for flowing waterbodies in the continental US

When does a stream become a river? Czuba & Allen suggest a river is at least 15m bank-to-bank. 🧪

https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.4185 (OA)

They also reported the most common proper names for flowing waters in the U.S. Very interesting to see the geographic differences!

Climate Education That Builds Hope and Agency, Not Fear - Eos Reframing climate change education around a message of “hopeful alarm” not only will underscore the threats we face but will also show students how they can act to shape the future.

In a new essay, @jeffcorbin.bsky.social, Meg Duffy, @carlyziter.bsky.social and I talk about the urgent need to move beyond "it's real, it's bad, it's us" approaches to climate education, instead sharing pathways to climate action that engage and empower, while fighting the immobility of despair.

Florida corals in hotter water than first thought. Scientists blame ‘weird phenomenon’ Scientists call it an ‘inverse thermocline.’

This is very very not good. Inverse thermocline exposing Florida Keys corals to hotter, saltier waters than at the surface 🧪 https://ca.style.yahoo.com/style/florida-corals-hotter-water-first-093000533.html

Will always be the GLOAT

The biogeochemical redox paradox: how can we make a foundational concept more predictive of biogeoch... Oxidation–reduction (redox) ladders are a fundamental biogeochemical concept that explain basic and applied phenomena including microbial metabolic evolution and chemical pollution remediation. Howe...

🧪 Great explanation by Burgin & Loecke on why observed redox states don’t always explain dominant rxns in environment. Is measuring redox buffering capacity key? https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10533-023-01036-9

Sometimes in grad school I would balance half rxns as a calming exercise 🤓

🧪 My Lake Appreciation Month shout out: The deepest lake in the US, “Lake Majesty” herself, born of a cataclysmic volcanic eruption, fed only by precipitation, one of the cleanest clearest naturally occurring bodies of water in the world. I give you, Crater Lake. #nofilter

Image of Blue Cypress Lake from vantage of an airboat. The water is very still and shows the reflection of the clouds. The tree line along the edge of the lake is visible in the distance.

🧪 July is Lakes Appreciation Month! Big shout out to Blue Cypress Lake, the headwaters of the Florida’s famous St. Johns River, for being awesome. What’s your favorite lake?

Read more about what the month means from NALMS: https://www.nalms.org/lakes-appreciation-month/

Bringing Back our Coastal Wetlands Rising sea levels increasingly threaten coastal communities but restoring wetlands boosts resilience.

🧪In early-mid 20th century many of Florida’s coastal wetlands were ditched to eliminate mosquito breeding. Some coworkers at SJRWMD put together this cool storymap showing restoration is helping bring back vital ecosystem services https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/e4d0f606c20240999f92fa76fe9e6e86

Thanks for checking!!

Thanks!! Did I do something wrong with my most recent post or is there a time lag? Not seeing it in the feed.

Two images of Lake Okeechobee in Florida. On the left is a true color image from the OLCI satellite showing scattered clouds and clear center of the lake. The right image is a NOAA derived Cyanobacteria Index showing blues and greens around the north, west, and south shores indicating low to medium Cyanobacteria bloom potential. NOAA estimates the bloom covers 60 square miles, a decrease since July 5th.

🧪 Most recent NOAA product for Lake Okeechobee shows pretty dramatic decrease in Cyanobacteria Index values and extent, although it’s always possible winds have mixed cells enough below the surface that satellites can’t pick them up. Previous samples showed Microcystis as the dominant bloomer 🦠

@danirabaiotti.bsky.social wondering if I could be added to the science feed when you can. Environmental Scientist with focus on water quality and wetlands here 😁

Oh. Oh no.

My Threads feed is random brands, influencers, and gays so it’s basically hell

Signing up for monthly TOC updates for 500 journals I don’t even have access to and still getting surprised at how much time I waste going through my inbox at the beginning of each month

can’t believe my stupid ass has imposter syndrome while elon musk is confidently marching around twitter HQ and chewing on wires until something breaks

Unpopular opinion: generating data is as, if not more important than actually doing the sciencey analysis bit.

By generating and sharing data you open a door for thousands of minds to work on a myriad of scientific problems.