Randall Kramer

Immigration officers hauled away a construction worker in Cary NC. "A half mile up the road, they looked at his wallet and saw he was a citizen," said his supervisor. "They pulled him out of the van and threw his wallet out the window. He had to walk back here." #ncpol www.cbs17.com/news/local-n...

Two postdoctoral opportunities in evolutionary anthropology at Duke - HBES https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/30783 Position Description The Pontzer Lab in the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology at Duke University seeks two Postdoctoral Associates for research in h...

Two postdoctoral opportunities in evolutionary anthropology at Duke University!
The Pontzer Lab is hiring for projects on human ecology, energetics, and aging & health.
More info: www.hbes.com/two-postdoct...

Caffeinated Coffee Consumption or Abstinence to Reduce Atrial Fibrillation This clinical trial compares the effect of caffeinated coffee consumption vs abstinence from coffee and caffeine on recurrent atrial fibrillation.

More good news for coffee enthusiasts from my specialty!

jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Despite what Bill Gates says, the new State of the Climate Report says “we are hurtling toward climate chaos”

You can’t reboot the planet if you crash it What Gates is putting forward aren’t legitimate arguments that can be made in good faith. They are shopworn fossil fuel industry talking points.

While I believe that Bill Gates deserves high praise for his sustained commitment to protecting public health, I agree with @michaelemann.bsky.social that he is failing to understand that we must—and can—rapidly quit fossil fuels while addressing illness and poverty. @docsforclimate.bsky.social

A Short-Lived Win in a Never-Ending Fight Over Forever Chemicals - Inside Climate News For seven years N.C. activists overcame political and scientific hurdles to convince the EPA to enact PFAS regulations in drinking water. Now they’re confronting a Trump administration intent on quash...

Scientists found PFAS in fresh vegetables & fish, eggs & beer. Pine needles, honey & house dust. Landfills, compost and sewage sludge. 
Blood of horses. Blood of dogs. Their own blood.

1st in a series re: NC's PFAS crisis under Trump @cleancapefear.bsky.social
insideclimatenews.org/news/1210202...

If there’s one place on Earth you don’t want to be, it’s in the mouth of a Komodo dragon.

Not convinced? No problem - you can see all of their deadly dental secrets in this week’s #SurprisingScience 🦎 ☠️

Zero traffic deaths is achievable, with political will

Great news for the long struggling USFWS red wolf restoration program in North Carolina

North Carolina’s Bogs Have a Dirty Secret, and That’s a Good Thing

The New York Times recently covered work by The Nature Conservancy in their 50 States, 50 Fixes series! This edition focuses on restoring peat bogs in North Carolina.

Congratulations Fidy! A well deserved recognition of your path breaking work in Madagascar!

4.6 Billion Years On, the Sun Is Having a Moment In the past two years, without much notice, solar power has begun to truly transform the world’s energy system.

Among all the big bad things happening on our planet, there's one Big Good Thing, the sudden, startling rise of solar energy.
It changes the power dynamic, in every sense of the word 'power.'
www.newyorker.com/news/annals-...

A very insightful take on the U.S. drug pricing problem and how best to solve it by Rob Califf

Talking to North Carolina’s Latest Pulitzer Prize Winner Durham historian Kathleen DuVal's latest book, "Native Nations: A Millennium in North America," spans more than 700 pages.

"I want readers to learn that Native nations have been here for millennia. They have been complicated and powerful, and changing over time. And maybe even more importantly, I want readers to know that Native nations are still here today."

Wild how the Fed chair saying that *entire regions of the United States* won’t be able to get a mortgage in the next decade barely registered as a news event

Today In History: Great Smoky Mountains National Park established On June 15, 1934, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the most-visited national park in the United States, was established by Congress.

GSMNP - Truly one of the nation’s best biodiversity reserves.

www.chicagotribune.com/2025/06/15/t...

Go Gavin! Great music as always!

‘Half the tree of life’: ecologists’ horror as nature reserves are emptied of insects A new point in history has been reached, entomologists say, as climate-led species’ collapse moves up the food chain even in supposedly protected regions free of pesticides

The collapse of insect populations in protected areas

UNC faculty concerned over lack of tenure for professors WRAL has obtained a letter from the faculty chair to the dean and chancellor at UNC-Chapel Hill expressing concern about a lack of tenure for certain professors.

I’m one of 20 assistant professors in A&S at UNC who has had their tenure decision deferred.

I was planning to spend my summer editing my third book. Now? 🤷🏻‍♀️

www.wral.com/video/unc-fa...

Unaffordable treatment for severe malaria highlights U.S. drug market pitfalls It is shocking to think that U.S. citizens may receive better treatment for severe malaria at lower cost in a low-income country than they would at home.

Every time I see a case of severe malaria requiring IV artesunate I am reminded of how completely bonkers drug pricing in the US is. A treatment course anywhere else in the world is <100$ in the US it's $30,000. Pls take malaria prophylaxis if indicated for travel.🙏🏽
www.statnews.com/2021/06/11/u...

Oil and Gas Companies Are Trying to Rig the Marketplace

[image of real-life beekeeper costume and a detail from a painting by Peter Brueghel the Elder]

one thing I respect about medieval beekeepers is their total commitment to looking like Doctor Who villains

Top FDA aide Tracy Beth Hoeg was reportedly involved with the delay in approving Novavax’s Covid-19 vaccine. Former FDA head @robcaliff.bsky.social says allowing political appointees to weigh in on approvals could be opening Pandora’s box:

#STATSummit

Paywall

CSAE VISITING FELLOWSHIPS CSAE Visiting Fellowships

Are you an African scholar pursuing a career in economics? Apply to be a CSAE Visiting Fellow in 2026 online today.

#EconSky @oxfordecondept.bsky.social @blavatnikschool.bsky.social @odid-qeh.bsky.social @oxmartinschool.bsky.social

⏰31 May 2025. www.csae.ox.ac.uk/visiting-fel...

Africa’s Outbreak Response Is the Global Standard Now From outbreak containment to clinical innovation, African nations are setting new global standards for success

Uganda stopped a Sudan Ebola virus outbreak in under 3 months.
No chaos. Just fast action, local leadership, and a rapidly implemented vaccine trial.
Maybe the problem isn’t capacity in Africa after all—maybe it’s the story we keep telling about it.
open.substack.com/pub/bktitanj...

U.S. Aid Cuts Are Hitting Global Conservation Projects Hard The Trump Administration’s dismantling of USAID has done more than cut off life-saving humanitarian assistance. It has also eliminated funding for environmental protection and conservation work in doz...

In addition to humanitarian and health work, USAID supported "projects that protected elephants in Tanzania, great apes and national parks in central Africa, giant fishes and watersheds of the Mekong River basin in Southeast Asia, and rainforests in the Amazon."

e360.yale.edu/features/usa...

U.S. citizen interested in grad studies at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver (Canada)?

Grad programs are re-opening applications of US programs for one week. With expedited decisions.

U.S. Applicant Week:

www.grad.ubc.ca/us-applicant...

#AcademicChatter #Canada #GradSchool

Great opportunity to work on climate, migration and forest relationships in Madagascar.