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antarcticabella.bsky.social
Bella Duncan
@antarcticabella.bsky.social
1.3K followers 600 following 120 posts
Climate scientist in Aotearoa NZ. Ancient Antarctica, paleoclimate, biomarkers, geology and the implications of it all for climate change!
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Reposted by Bella Duncan
acgeddis.bsky.social
This, from OUSA's President, is very good and warrants reading:

"For decades, governments of every stripe have treated universities as businesses to be managed rather than institutions of learning and curiosity. ... Students are rebranded as customers, research, degrees and graduates as outputs."
November 9, 2025 at 11:01 PM
antarcticabella.bsky.social
Super happy to have this published! This is a big team effort to create a 'cookbook' of best practices for marine GDGT paleothermometry. As GDGT work becomes ever more widely applied this is a really important step to future proof data and create more consistency within the field!
ninadavtian.bsky.social Dr. Nina Davtian (she/her/hers) @ninadavtian.bsky.social · 4d
My co-authored marine GDGT « cookbook » review paper led by Peter Bijl 👨‍🔬 and @kasiasliwinska.bsky.social 👩‍🔬 is now published in @egubg.bsky.social!
doi.org/10.5194/bg-2...
Again, I am so happy to be the @cerege.bsky.social @climatecerege.bsky.social expert on #GDGTs!
@egu.eu
🧪 ⚒️ 🌊
#PaleoSky
(1/3)
November 7, 2025 at 4:51 AM
Reposted by Bella Duncan
lcsnz.bsky.social
I'm sure it's totally coincidental that the AoNZ government's changes to the Marsden Fund have been followed by successful applications led by female investigators dropping from 55% to 33%, and successful applications led by Māori investigators dropping from 13% to 5%. 🫠 🧪
Information on the 2025 Marsden Fund round
Information about the number of funded proposals in the 2025 Marsden Fund round broken down by research area and institution, also including gender and ethnicity data
www.royalsociety.org.nz
November 5, 2025 at 9:16 PM
Reposted by Bella Duncan
marcdaalder.bsky.social
Asked whether he’s sure technology will allow the Government to meet its climate goals, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts replies: ‘Can we be sure about anything in life?’
newsroom.co.nz/2025/11/06/g...
Gutting of Zero Carbon Act crashes bipartisan climate consensus
It took more than a year of painstaking cross-partisan negotiation to land the Zero Carbon Act. Now, the Govt is gutting it unilaterally, Marc Daalder reports
newsroom.co.nz
November 5, 2025 at 9:53 PM
Reposted by Bella Duncan
mehr.nz
I appear to have spoken to a reporter who took seriously the gravity of NZ's science crisis

does anybody have a newsroom pro subscription so that I can learn what other choice phrases I used on the record?

newsroom.co.nz/2025/10/29/w...
Winner of top science prize blames ‘batshit’ Budget for brain drain
Dr Samuel Mehr says the Government values science, but their ‘idiotic’ approach to funding it will cost them their best and brightest.
newsroom.co.nz
October 28, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Reposted by Bella Duncan
mehr.nz
I'm not 100% sure but I think Newsroom may have omitted a 'f*cking' from my phrase "Do these people read the news?"
The Marsden Grant, New Zealand’s flagship discovery science fund, was recently restructured to focus on research with economic potential, and its total was set to decrease by $15m over three years. The Strategic Science Investment Fund decreased by $24m in Budget 2025, the Health Research Fund by $17m and the Catalyst Fund, for international collaboration, by $12m. Money was reallocated towards the new Invest New Zealand agency, aimed at attracting overseas innovation and investment. Since then, the 2025 Nobel Prize in Economics was awarded to a team of researchers who investigated the link between increased technology funding and sustained societal growth, which Mehr said underscored his point. “Do these people read the news? Like, a Nobel Prize was just awarded to people who proved that investing in science is a better mechanism for economic growth – which Luxon ostensibly cares about – than these other kinds of short-term investments,” Mehr said. “We’ve got $55 million, roughly, per year to spend on basic science. And if you open up the news, what you hear about is Chris Luxon spending 320 times that on a single road. It’s just kind of pathetic. “You could change the colour of the signs on that road, and you would spend more than this entire country spends on basic science. That is batshit. It’s just completely insane.” (The road in question was the Northland Corridor, the low end estimate of which was recently revised to $18.2b.)
October 28, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Reposted by Bella Duncan
mehr.nz
i think this is the thing I find so frustrating / depressing about how our govt works. there's a complete dissociation between what they say "we love science its great" and what they spend on basic science
In 2023, Mehr was awarded the Prime Minister’s MacDiarmid Emerging Scientist Prize – a top honour for New Zealand researchers – for his work on how humans perceive and create music. Mehr told Newsroom his interaction with Luxon at the awards ceremony was brief, but engaging. “I remember he was so excited to talk to scientists about what we were up to. He told me that he had been looking forward to this event for several weeks. He said it was one of the most fun things he gets to do.” But this enthusiasm did not square with the budget for research set under Luxon’s Government – or the governments that preceded it. “So either he’s totally insincere, and he was bullshitting me, or he’s incompetent and doesn’t realise that he, himself – and his own Government, the people he’s put in power – have signed off on pennies on the dollar for scientific funding in this country, rather than serious investment in research that can change the world. “I don’t think they’re lying about being excited about science; I think they’re just being totally disingenuous about the connection between their own decisions about the Budget and the scientific outcomes that the country can produce.”
October 28, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Reposted by Bella Duncan
bmcnoldy.bsky.social
#Melissa has made landfall in #Jamaica, and has preliminarily tied the record for the lowest pressure of any landfalling hurricane in Atlantic history: 892 mb. That was last observed 90 years ago with the 1935 Labor Day hurricane.
The storm does not look like it even notices Jamaica being there.
October 28, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Reposted by Bella Duncan
mehr.nz
our govt wants to spend 327 times more on a single road ($18b) than they are currently spending yearly on all of basic science in new zealand ($55m) #nzpol
publicaddress.bsky.social Russell Brown @publicaddress.bsky.social · 15d
The Northern Expressway we were told would cost $10 billion is now priced at $18 billion, or six times the Cook Strait crossing we were told was unaffordable. This is fantasy stuff. www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-adv...
Game-changer: New $18b expressway endorsed to boost jobs and road safety
The Northland Expressway from Te Hana to Whangārei is expected to boost Northland.
www.nzherald.co.nz
October 26, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Reposted by Bella Duncan
metaomicsnerd.bsky.social
that abstract
Abstract: Recent self-reported and cross-sectional survey evidence documents high levels of mental health problems among PhD students. We study the relationship between PhD studies and mental health care utilization using Swedish administrative records of prescriptions for psychiatric medication for the full population of PhD students. We find that prior to starting their PhD studies, prospective students use psychiatric medication at a rate similar to a matched sample of individuals with a master’s degree. However, following the start of their PhD studies, psychiatric medication use among PhD students increases substantially. This upward trend continues throughout the course of PhD studies, and by the fifth year medication use has increased by 40 percent compared to pre-PhD levels. After the fifth year, when most students in our sample graduate, the psychiatric medication use declines notably. Heterogeneity analyses indicate that the increase in medication use occurs broadly across different student subgroups and academic disciplines, with the exception of students in the medical and health sciences.
October 16, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Reposted by Bella Duncan
organiccarbon.bsky.social
The global average concentration of the CO2 surged by 3.5 parts per million to 424ppm in 2024, the largest increase since modern measurements started in 1957. We might be switching from negative to positive carbon cycle feedbacks - a horrific disaster, if so.

www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Record leap in CO2 fuels fears of accelerating global heating
CO2 in air hit new high last year, with scientists concerned natural land and ocean carbon sinks are weakening
www.theguardian.com
October 15, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Reposted by Bella Duncan
paullecomtephoto.nz
Could you pls do an old ex-Art History teacher a solid, sign this petition to save the subject in our schools, and pass it on.

These philistines need to hear from you all.

Thank you

petitions.parliament.nz/a1acf19a-72f...
Edvard Munch's 'Scream' but with the text 'I can't believe they're cancelling Art History' in a speech bubble
October 14, 2025 at 2:41 AM
Reposted by Bella Duncan
mehr.nz
NZ's govt has announced reforms to science funding

just one line about basic science in there: "Discovery-led science & research will continue to be funded. This will sit outside the pillars & is essential for maintaining vibrant curiosity-driven science system"

yea mate seems like a real priority
A new strategy for the science system | Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment
The Government is changing how science, innovation and technology are funded and supported in New Zealand. The goal is a simpler and more strategic system that helps researchers turn ideas into solutions that benefit New Zealand.
www.mbie.govt.nz
October 14, 2025 at 2:55 AM
Reposted by Bella Duncan
smcnz.bsky.social
Big shakeup for NZ’s research funding – Expert Reaction
Big shakeup for NZ's research funding - Expert Reaction - Science Media Centre
The Government will consolidate decision-making for New Zealand's science research funding as part of its new science system strategy. Research Funding New Zealand will be a new independent board that...
www.sciencemediacentre.co.nz
October 14, 2025 at 4:16 AM
Reposted by Bella Duncan
cubaraglanguy.bsky.social
My recent comments on NZ methane targets summarised here.
theconversation.com/a-lack-of-am...
A ‘lack of ambition’ over livestock emissions targets now threatens NZ’s reputation and trade
The government’s weakened methane reduction target mirrors the approach promoted by industry lobby groups but rejected by the Climate Change Commission.
theconversation.com
October 14, 2025 at 5:14 AM
Reposted by Bella Duncan
rohmac.bsky.social
Stuff front page right now… what a juxtaposition.

#climate #nzpol
October 14, 2025 at 4:44 AM
Reposted by Bella Duncan
lcsnz.bsky.social
Like most of the science system reforms this year, there's some good ideas here but the overarching direction this government dictates for research ('value for the private sector') is not one that will actually lead to good research
October 14, 2025 at 3:21 AM
Reposted by Bella Duncan
rkpriestley.bsky.social
In 2026 we are offering a new course on Climate Change Communication. You can study this important topic as part of a wider programme or as a standalone course, at undergraduate (SCIS 317) or postgraduate (SCIS 417) level. More info here, or ask me questions #kikorangi www.wgtn.ac.nz/courses/scis...
SCIS 317 Climate Change Communication   | Course | Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington
Examine how scientists, writers, Indigenous advocates, artists, and activists engage public audiences with the realities of climate change and the need for mitigation and adaptation. You will explore ...
www.wgtn.ac.nz
October 14, 2025 at 2:05 AM
Reposted by Bella Duncan
robertmclachlan.bsky.social
""Our trading partners are unlikely to smile on this reduction in ambition," [Renwick] said." – perhaps we'll hear from the EU High Commission in Wellington about this soon
October 13, 2025 at 7:23 AM
Reposted by Bella Duncan
kirstyjohnston.bsky.social
I thought I’d have a go at answering the question: what’s the flow on effect on emissions budgets from the methane cuts?

The answer was worse than I had anticipated

www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
Scientists fear weaker methane target signals wider retreat from climate action
After cutting methane targets, New Zealand has a choice: shoulder the burden at huge cost - or cause more warming to the planet.
www.rnz.co.nz
October 13, 2025 at 4:00 AM
Reposted by Bella Duncan
marcdaalder.bsky.social
My analysis: The Government’s methane announcement is the policy equivalent of a steaming cowpat on cross-partisan climate consensus and international efforts to tackle the crisis.

The headline effect of a new, weaker climate target is a warmer, more dangerous world.
newsroom.co.nz/2025/10/13/f...
Farmers off the hook on climate means rest of us pick up the slack
Comment: The Government's methane announcement is the policy equivalent of a steaming cowpat on cross-partisan climate consensus.
newsroom.co.nz
October 12, 2025 at 10:44 PM
Reposted by Bella Duncan
loraxcate.bsky.social
The government knows this is bad policy because they've announced it on a Sunday.
The continued priority of short-term profit over long-term solutions is utterly shameful. Farmers will not be better off when the next cyclone or flood comes. www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
Government lowers methane target, rules out methane taxes
The government is lowering its biogenic methane target for the next 25 years, a move opposed by the Greens and environmental activists.
www.rnz.co.nz
October 12, 2025 at 2:08 AM
Reposted by Bella Duncan
mshooper.bsky.social
“Planet-heating methane is escaping from cracks in the Antarctic seabed as the region warms, with new seeps being discovered at an "astonishing rate," scientists have found, raising fears that future global warming predictions may have been underestimated.”
Scientists discovered something alarming seeping out from beneath the ocean around Antarctica
New seeps of methane are being discovered at an "astonishing rate," scientists have found.
www.rnz.co.nz
October 12, 2025 at 7:00 AM
Reposted by Bella Duncan
dreddieclark.bsky.social
My sincere belief - & baked into Q & A style teaching I do - is that uni education is best when we learn together. I sincerely do learn things from my students, & students learn from the comments & questions of others as well as from me. Plus it's just much less lonely to have a shared endeavour.
October 9, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Reposted by Bella Duncan
yasharali.bsky.social
Earlier this year, Dr. Jane Goodall sat down for an interview for Brad Falchuk’s new Netflix series, Famous Last Words.

The premise of the series is to interview people on the condition that the interview not air until the subject has passed away.
October 5, 2025 at 9:23 PM