Tim Curran

Join the Laughlin lab and our new NSF funded project! Awesome opportunity to visit forests across the western US and examine the functional basis of demographic responses to drought and wildfire.

More info on the project here:

www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/...

Great PhD opportunity with an excellent supervisor:

Quantify traits of tree species across the western US to determine how tree populations and forest communities will respond to drought and fire.

plant-traits.net/lab-openings/

The Trump administration’s latest attack on cherished public lands | Opinion “For more than two decades, the Roadless Rule has protected nearly 60 million acres of our national forests from industrial development.”

"Research shows wildfires are 4x more likely in areas w/roads than in roadless forests...and >90% of wildfires occur within 1/2 mile of a road. Even USFS's own research undercuts the argument that repealing the roadless rule would have a positive effect on fire mgmt."🌍 www.sacbee.com/opinion/op-e...

Applications for @ipcc.bsky.social AR7 Chapter Scientists close on 18th October. Great opportunity for emerging researchers from developing countries! 🧪🌎🌱

Mparntwe Alice Springs burning due to buffel grass again. The old trees are disappearing :(

Meanwhile the cattle industry can and does seed buffel anywhere except in SA

NZ’s native lizards are at risk from land development – future policy must ensure better protection All but four of New Zealand’s 120 lizard species are threatened or at risk. But little consideration is given to lizards during most land development projects.

NZ’s native lizards are at risk from land development – future policy must ensure better protection
theconversation.com/nzs-native-l...

Proposal to Undo Roadless Rule Would Open Some of Southern California’s Last Wild Forests to Development - Inside Climate News The Trump administration claims opening protected areas like Cleveland National Forest to road building will aid the timber industry and reduce wildfires. Opponents see a giveaway that will lead to mo...

“We just have all of this evidence to show that if you put more roads in there, you’re going to get more fires.” insideclimatenews.org/news/0310202...

The remarkable rise of eBird – the world’s biggest citizen science project In 2002, an online database was set up allowing birdwatchers to record their species observations. It is now a vast resource, shaping scientific research.

theconversation.com/the-remarkab...

Arizona faces rising death toll from wildfire smoke A new study warns wildfire smoke could kill hundreds more Arizonans annually.

ARIZONA: “Without protective measures, wildfire smoke could cause tens of thousands more deaths annually across the U.S. by midcentury — and hundreds more in Arizona, a new study warns.” www.axios.com/local/phoeni... - AXIOS Phoenix

#Arizona #AZFire #WildfireSmoke

Indeed!

I then repeated this several times before my wife suggested it was time to move on. It was a fair suggestion, as we were on our honeymoon.

Such an amazing experience.

For me it has to be the Open Sea tank at Monterey Bay. I visited in Jan 2008 when they still had a juvenile white shark, which is my only time seeing a live one.

My wife describes me as being like a little kid, waiting for it to swim around to the viewing area then walking beside it.

1/2

Harry's trying to save Tasmania's 'alien' plants using people's backyards The backyards of ordinary Tasmanians are becoming urban climate refuges for a "biobank" of alpine plants threatened by climate change and bushfire.

Backyard biobank project sets out to save Tasmania's 'spectacular' alpine plants from bushfire threat

www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10...

Bulbostylis paradoxa flowering 24 hs afrer fire

18 and 24 hs after fire!

Cuphea spermacoce

Turnera incana

The Cerrado is really amazing! Post-fire flowering is one of the most interesting and beautiful fire response! It is not a response of a specific species or family! Bulbostylis paradoxa never fails and can be seen flowering already 18 hs after fire! @leveg.bsky.social @programabiota.bsky.social

Chance sighting reveals new species of fluffy beetle A researcher from The University of Queensland has discovered a remarkable new genus of fluffy longhorn beetle while camping within rainforest in the Gold Coast hinterland.

More about the discovery of the beetle here: stories.uq.edu.au/news/2024/ch...

by @calxcunningham.bsky.social @climate-guy.bsky.social @pyrogeog.bsky.social et al.

Climate-linked escalation of societally disastrous wildfires Climate change and land mismanagement are creating increasingly fire-prone built and natural environments. However, despite worsening fire seasons, evidence is lacking globally for trends in socially ...

Climate-linked escalation of societally disastrous wildfires | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

The effect of fire on a resprouting plant at the sub-individual scale!
Final version now published in @journalofecology.bsky.social
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

🧪🌍🔥🌿🌳🌾 botany #ecoevo #plantbiology traits
@cideinvestiga.bsky.social @dicv.csic.es

Open letter to UniSaver Board members 2025 Tēnā koe, University Workers for Palestine has been trying for over a year to get UniSaver, the preferred superannuation provider for most universities, to divest from Israel and companies complicit ...

NZ academics... please take a moment to read this.
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

From frog saunas to butterfly puddles: 8 ways to turn your homes into a wildlife refuge Urban sprawl has forced native animals and humans to live close together. Here are eight ways to make your home a refuge for wildlife.

How can we intentionally design our homes to co-inhabit with wildlife? That’s the question we explored in an a new work at the NGV - www.whenwildlifemovesin.com

From frog saunas to butterfly puddles: 8 ways to turn your homes into a wildlife refuge
theconversation.com/from-frog-sa...

Great to see another plant BBQ in action!

Our work for the Natural Resources Defense Council showed that moderate levels of home hardening in high-risk zones could boost the California economy by $26.5B. #riskmitigation

HISTORIC HEAT IN AUSTRALIA 43 DEGREES

It's the 2nd hottest September day ever recorded anywhere in AUSTRALIA.
Records broken
42.9 Wyndham
41.0 Ngukurr
41.7 Victoria River Downs

It will get worse !

PS:>150 countries are breaking records,
expect MANY tweets later !

Waiting for the moment when the lightbulb goes on at Labour HQ & Hipkins stands up and says “ you know the billions this Govt has promised to the oil companies? Well, we’re going end that & invest it in YOU with subsidised solar on every roof in 10 years.”

Students rate identical lectures differently based on professor's gender, researchers find When philosophy students were asked to evaluate identical lectures assigned to men or women professors, their responses varied by gender. The study suggests gender bias plays a role in how teaching is...

www.psypost.org/students-rate-identical-lectures-differently-based-on-professors-gender-researchers-find/# #AcademicSky - it never ends.

Female left, male right (Roman nose!).

From traits to flames: leaf traits, plant strategies, and plant flammability across a moisture gradient in a frequently burned subtropical landscape The distribution of plant functional traits across environmental gradients can reflect species' adaptations to local abiotic conditions. Widely measured leaf traits such as leaf area (LA), specific l...

From traits to flames: leaf traits, plant strategies, and plant flammability across a moisture gradient in a frequently burned subtropical landscape

@owenschmowen.bsky.social et al.

@oikosjournal.bsky.social

nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

The Mechanisms Through Which Fire Drives Population Change in Terrestrial Biota Understanding the mechanisms through which fire influences populations is necessary to protect species from fire regime change. We develop a cross-taxa framework that identifies mechanisms through wh...

The Mechanisms Through Which Fire Drives Population Change in Terrestrial Biota

Fascinating review which seeks to find common fire-response mechanisms across wide-ranging taxa, and associated traits

@ellapouton.bsky.social et al. ft. @ltkelly.bsky.social

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Title of the paper: Sequoia and Sequoiadendron: Two paleoendemic megatrees with markedly different adaptive responses to recent high-severity fires

Sequoia and Sequoiadendron: Two paleoendemic megatrees with markedly different adaptive responses to recent high-severity fires
bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
@botsocamerica.bsky.social