Drew Peltier
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peltierdrew.bsky.social
Drew Peltier
@peltierdrew.bsky.social

Drought, global change, and the temporal weirdness of trees.
Assistant Professor at UNLV
Southwest Climate Adaptation Science Center (swcasc.arizona.edu)
Drewpeltier.com

Opinions my own.
he/him/his

Environmental science 65%
Geography 20%
AGU has a Congressional email and call script up on NCAR:
Save NCAR from being dismantled today!
The Trump Administration has vowed to dissolve the center that provides critical extreme weather and climate data for our nation.
agu.quorum.us
Learned today that “Galápagos” comes from a Spanish word for tortoise, meaning that “Galápagos Tortoise” is,

in fact,

a tortology
I started getting reports of an unseasonal Joshua tree bloom in the last few weeks, and looking over records on @inaturalist.bsky.social it's pretty widespread! So we're putting out the call for folks to record this "bonus bloom" and help us study it 🌿

lab.jbyoder.org/2025/12/10/w...
Weird wet weather has Joshua trees flowering early — or late? Help the Yoder Lab map this “bonus bloom” to understand why
A flowering tree in Yucca Valley, CA, observed by iNaturalist contributor wanderingmojave on December 9. A tree with lots of flowers in Tehachapi, CA, observed by iNaturalist contributor tina9294 o…
lab.jbyoder.org
Earth's largest land animals are limited by salt.

Sodium availability constrains the density and distribution of elephants, giraffes and rhinos across Africa, and offers a new explanation for the so-called 'missing megaherbivores'.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Free access: rdcu.be/eTPY2

I think there have been a couple since then? El Jefe for starters. Sombra and Yo'oko, too. But awesome to see there is a new one!

How do you like that rope runner device? Is it also a descender?
Flagstaff’s Lowell Observatory plans to cut nearly all its research funding and reduce the number of paid science staff to just two positions next year.
Lowell Observatory slashes research funding in the midst of financial struggle
Flagstaff’s Lowell Observatory plans to cut nearly all its research funding and reduce the number of paid science staff to just two positions next year.
buff.ly

Reposted by Drew Peltier

I had missed this article earlier. An example of what we're losing, in terms of science that could make a difference for people in this time of climate crisis. Just one relatively small research group at one university (my own #NorthernArizonaUniversity). Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/c...
He Studied How Emissions Are Heating Up U.S. Cities
www.nytimes.com

Happy Nevada day to all who celebrate. I see some people who have dressed up in spooky costumes. I don't totally understand what this has to do with Nevada, but to each their own.

magnolia trees are pretty cool

Reposted by Drew Peltier

The megadrought currently sucking the Southwest dry is having far-reaching impacts on wildlife, especially migratory birds. The elegant trogon is one of them. With arid conditions intensifying, the birds are producing few young, leading to population declines that worry researchers. 🌎
A Megadrought Is Reshaping Birdlife in the Southwest
A recent bad year for elegant trogons is only the latest in a string of changes
www.sierraclub.org

Cool piece, highlighting some of the impacts of the recent wildfires on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, as well as impacts of shutdown in slowing recovery.
I'm riding my mountain bike on the 850-mile Arizona Trail this fall to see and write about #climate impacts along the way. We're publishing weekly dispatches from the trail in The Arizona Republic | @azcentral.com as I go.

The first one just dropped:
www.azcentral.com/story/news/l...
I'm riding my mountain bike on the 850-mile Arizona Trail this fall to see and write about #climate impacts along the way. We're publishing weekly dispatches from the trail in The Arizona Republic | @azcentral.com as I go.

The first one just dropped:
www.azcentral.com/story/news/l...
With the AWS outage, now‘s as good a time as any to post this old strip.
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/
Lab openings | Laughlin Research Lab
plant-traits.net

Reposted by Drew Peltier

Thank you to the @lasvegassun.bsky.social and reporter @hillarylvsun.bsky.social for a terrific story on research into underground ecosystems that could inform the search for life beyond Earth. Read the story: bit.ly/drinasa #NSHE #NASA #DiscoverDRI #UNLV #UNR
Underground research in Nevada may shape NASA's search for extraterrestrial life
The Nevada System of Higher Education secured a $750,000 grant from NASA's Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research for the study.
bit.ly
🚨 Please repost widely!🚨

I am recruiting a PhD student to join my lab next fall to work on forest and climate change ecology projects in southern Appalachia! Come join me in one of the most beautiful, biodiverse, and understudied parts of North America. Details below and happy to answer questions

Drake, D. C., & Naiman, R. J. (2007). Reconstruction of Pacific salmon abundance from riparian tree‐ring growth. Ecological Applications, 17(5), 1523-1542.

Reposted by Drew Peltier

Chunk, a 1,200-pound behemoth with a broken jaw, swept the competition Tuesday in the popular Fat Bear Week contest — his first win after finishing in second place three previous years.
Chunk, a 1,200-pound bear with a broken jaw, wins Alaska's popular Fat Bear Week contest
Chunk, a 1,200-pound behemoth with a broken jaw, swept the competition Tuesday in the popular Fat Bear Week contest — his first win after finishing in second place three previous years.
bit.ly

Really enjoyable. Many good one-liners, but my favorite:

"​AI-made material is itself a waste product: flimsy, shoddy, disposable, a single-use plastic of the mind."
www.nplusonemag.com/issue-51/the...
Despite broad political support, one third of the nation's Climate Adaptation Science Centers will wind down in coming days due to lack of funds.

The Northeast, South Central, and Pacific Islands will be left without actionable science on drought, floods, wildfire, sea level rise and other hazards.
Trump officials shut off funding for climate adaptation centers
A third of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Climate Adaptation Science Centers are expected to drastically wind down and possibly close after Sept. 30.
www.washingtonpost.com

What a cool one!
Nice article talking about our new NSF-funded radiocarbon and stable isotope facility (The TIME Lab - Tree-Ring Innovations in Mass Spectrometry of Earth Systems) in the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research at the University of Arizona! science.arizona.edu/news/univers...
University of Arizona opens groundbreaking TIME Lab to link past and present
Run by a team of distinguished researchers, the lab aims to “date the undateable,” linking natural events like eruptions or droughts to human history. With a focus on student training and public outre...
science.arizona.edu
New paper led by PhD student Elise Pletcher! Forecasts from simple, density-dependent population models are highly transferable to new sites. Adding env. covariates does little to improve prediction in-sample and worsens forecasts out-of-sample. besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Density‐dependent growth and dispersal can accurately forecast near‐term range shifts in a dominant dryland tree species
We found that the inclusion of external drivers such as climate conditions or topography generally did not improve forecast accuracy and that at multidecadal time scales, intrinsic population process....
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Come work with us! The University of Nevada, Reno is hiring an Assistant Professor in Human-Environment Geography, with a focus on energy and/or water sustainability, and environmental justice. Details at this link nshe.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/UNR-ex...
Assistant Professor, Human-Environment Geography
The University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) appreciates your interest in employment at our growing institution. We want your application process to go smoothly and quickly. Final applications must be submitt...
nshe.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com

Reposted by Drew Peltier

Shared Responsibility.

@thebikinglawyer.bsky.social

"I've taught this class before, I won't put as much work into prep this time"🥲

I guess it's friday. Anyways look at this foxtail pine.

Reposted by Drew Peltier

A new USGS-led synthesis, supported by NW CASC, uses cutting-edge science to help the Bureau of Land Management understand how shifting precipitation patterns & rising temps are affecting big sagebrush ecosystems, helping support decisions to related to conserving big sagebrush 🔗 bit.ly/4mPkh9x

this is an excellent hashtag