Bill Arnold
billarnold.bsky.social
Bill Arnold
@billarnold.bsky.social
EnvE Professor UMN, environmental chemist, working though ACL recovery
15 essential books to better understand climate change www.mprnews.org/story/2025/0...
15 essential books to better understand climate change
Professors at universities and colleges across the state say one of the best ways to understand climate change is simple: reading.
www.mprnews.org
July 21, 2025 at 1:06 PM
Reposted by Bill Arnold
The EPA has eliminated its research division, which for decades has provided the science behind regulations on clean air, clean water, and toxic chemicals.

The US can afford to monitor, research, and regulate the impacts of industries on human and environmental health. We are just choosing not to.
EPA eliminates research and development office, begins layoffs
The Environmental Protection Agency said Friday it is eliminating its research and development arm and reducing agency staff by thousands of employees.
apnews.com
July 19, 2025 at 1:29 PM
Reposted by Bill Arnold
We are looking for a PhD student for a project on chloronitramide in drinking water. Please spread the word!

jobs.ethz.ch/job/view/JOP...
July 17, 2025 at 9:46 AM
What happens when engineers and artists team up? Students (STEM, policy) learn new perspectives on issues and solutions. @aeesprofs.bsky.social doi.org/10.1089/ees.... #Openaccess
Circularity and Sustainability: A Course that Advances Critical Thinking and Teamwork via Art, Community, and Policy | Environmental Engineering Science
An opportunity exists for circular resource use, decreasing environmental impact and economic risk and at the same time enhancing biodiversity and global standards of living. When viewed from the pers...
doi.org
June 26, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Reposted by Bill Arnold
The entire board tasked with overseeing the State Department's Fulbright Program has resigned — claiming political interference from the Trump admin.
 
The Board voted "overwhelmingly" to resign "rather than endorse unprecedented actions … impermissible under the law." substack.com/home/post/p-...
Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board Resignation Statement
Effective immediately, members of the Congressionally mandated Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board voted overwhelmingly to resign from the board, rather than endorse unprecedented actions that we beli...
substack.com
June 11, 2025 at 10:25 PM
Reposted by Bill Arnold
Sign-on campaign: Preserving Scientific Integrity in the PFAS Definition. Scientists raise concerns about ongoing efforts to redefine PFAS and potentially exclude certain fluorinated chemical subgroups from the widely accepted 2021 OECD definition. www.ipcp.ch/news/sign-on...
Sign-on campaign: Scientists’ statement on the chemical definition of PFASs | IPCP
www.ipcp.ch
June 10, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Reposted by Bill Arnold
Here's how we know this EO is a SNEAKY sinister thing:

1. When Trump wants people to know about something, it is very public.
2. It was released on the Friday evening of a holiday weekend
3. Cloaked under piles of sciencey language
4. First thing this morning, loud and proud: RFK's vax rollback
🚨 URGENT RESPONSE CALL 🚨

Trump’s Fool’s Gold Science EO is a dangerous sham.
It gives his appointees the power to dismiss entire bodies of research and punish researchers who fail to fall in line with his agenda.

We’ve launched an open letter.

SIGN & SHARE NOW: actionnetwork.org/petitions/op...
Sign The Open Letter to Stand Up For Science Now!
Science is under siege. Trump’s latest Executive Order calls for politically appointed science commissars to evaluate research. Join us in adding your name to our open letter condemning Trump’s escala...
actionnetwork.org
May 27, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Reposted by Bill Arnold
Cleaning can be messy.

Cleaning indoor spaces can enhance the release of a chemicals with a range of volatility. Most persist for up to five hours in home testing.

While not an excuse to not clean the bathroom, research has implications for cleaning professionals.

pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10....
Influence of Cleaning on Indoor Air Concentrations of Volatile and Semivolatile Organic Compounds in Residences
Cleaning activities can affect indoor air composition long after the cleaning is completed. Utilizing data from detailed observational monitoring campaigns, conducted over 21 weeks, we explore the influence of cleaning activities in two normally occupied, single-family houses. To study emissions and chemistry, we quantified more than 200 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) using a proton-transfer reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometer and 52 semivolatile organic compounds (SVOCs) using a semivolatile thermal-desorption gas chromatograph. During regular professional home cleaning, we observed postcleaning concentration enhancements in ∼60% of measured VOCs and ∼80% of measured SVOCs. Most of these concentration enhancements were not clearly linked to either primary emission from cleaning products or secondary formation through reactive chemistry. Instead, we infer that shifts in the sorptive properties of indoor surfaces account for most of these observations. Cleaning-associated enhancements mostly ebbed within a few hours, with some VOCs and lower-volatility SVOCs persisting more than 5 h, longer than would be expected for removal of inert species by ventilation. The use of carpet cleaner was associated with direct emission of 2-butoxyethanol, which persisted at elevated concentrations for days after the initial event. Home cleaning is potentially relevant for the health of professional cleaners and residents.
pubs.acs.org
May 19, 2025 at 11:59 AM
Reposted by Bill Arnold
✅ ACTION ITEM ✅

The National Science Foundation is under attack.

Trump’s budget is moving to dismantle one of the great engines of U.S. innovation, education, and discovery.

The fight to save NSF is on—and now there’s a new home base to join the front lines (🧵 1/3):

www.savensf.com
Home | Save NSF
www.savensf.com
May 7, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Reposted by Bill Arnold
🚨 EPA's Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (#CASAC) is seeking nominations!

Experts in #air quality, #epidemiology, #toxicology, #riskassessment, and more are encouraged to apply.

🗓️ Deadline: June 2, 2025
🔗 casac.epa.gov
📧 Any questions please contact: yeow.aaron@epa.gov

#AEESP #EPA
May 1, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Reposted by Bill Arnold
We are searching for a Group Leader in Experimental Atmospheric Chemistry! You can find details in the link; please share with qualified colleagues! jobs.ethz.ch/job/view/JOP...
Group Leader in Experimental Atmospheric Chemistry
jobs.ethz.ch
April 7, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Check out the Three Rivers Park District's Wandering Naturalist podcasts on neonicotinoids (epsidoes 237-239) www.threeriversparks.org/podcast

Episode 239 is about our work on neonics in MN waters.
Podcast | Three Rivers Park District Toggle NavigationToggle SearchFind Us on FacebookFind Us on FacebookFind us on X (formerly Twitter)Find Us on LinkedInFind Us on YouTubeFind U...
www.threeriversparks.org
April 4, 2025 at 8:50 PM
Reposted by Bill Arnold
This article does a great job describing the lives of young American scientists:

“You roll up your sleeves, try to make or discover something useful and then let the scientific community try to punch holes in your work to make sure that it’s sound”
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/03/o...

Really important piece to share widely. Too many Americans don’t know how severe a threat this Administration poses to our scientific infrastructure, global leadership, and health security
Opinion | The Uncertain Fate of the Young American Scientist (Gift Article)
Young researchers are choosing between staying in science and staying in the United States.
www.nytimes.com
April 4, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Reposted by Bill Arnold
People have no understanding of the enormous avoided health costs that EPA has made possible. The Clean Air Act alone has paid for all of EPA's costs by a factor of nearly 100.
March 18, 2025 at 6:56 PM
Reposted by Bill Arnold
Seriously, it’s hard to overstate the importance of the work these EPA scientists do and how devastating their firing would be to public health. So much of what we know about #PFAS, for example, and many of the methods used to detect these toxic chemicals are thanks to these researchers’ work.
Holy shit. I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say they’re trying to kill us all.

“The Environmental Protection Agency plans to eliminate its scientific research arm, firing as many as 1,155 chemists, biologists, toxicologists and other scientists”
Trump Administration Aims to Eliminate E.P.A.’s Scientific Research Arm (Gift Article)
More than 1,000 chemists, biologists and other scientists could be laid off under a plan to dismantle the Office of Research and Development.
www.nytimes.com
March 18, 2025 at 1:32 PM
Reposted by Bill Arnold
The air quality and health models I have used throughout my career have emerged from EPA’s Office of Research and Development. Shuttering it would be a devastating loss.
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/17/c...
Trump Administration Aims to Eliminate E.P.A.’s Scientific Research Arm (Gift Article)
More than 1,000 chemists, biologists and other scientists could be laid off under a plan to dismantle the Office of Research and Development.
www.nytimes.com
March 18, 2025 at 11:34 AM
Reposted by Bill Arnold
Welcome to the Bluesky account for Stand Up for Science 2025!

Keep an eye on this space for updates, event information, and ways to get involved. We can't wait to see everyone #standupforscience2025 on March 7th, both in DC and locations nationwide!

#scienceforall #sciencenotsilence
February 12, 2025 at 5:04 PM
@aeesprofs.bsky.social is now on BlueSky!
February 19, 2025 at 9:35 PM
Reposted by Bill Arnold
An absolutely scorching OpEd by Harold Varmus, Nobel laureate, on Trump's destruction of the vaunted US scientific & biomedical enterprise & on Trump's kooky picks to lead the US health & science agencies

Gift link to share far & wide

www.nytimes.com/2025/02/14/o...
Opinion | American Science is Under Attack (Gift Article)
The Trump administration hobbles research and endangers the public health.
www.nytimes.com
February 14, 2025 at 8:14 PM
Reposted by Bill Arnold
MIT professor Desirée Plata designs novel materials to tackle challenging environmental problems and has cofounded two climate- and energy-related start-ups: Moxair and Nth Cycle. cen.acs.org/people/profi... #chemsky🧪 #scinews
Desirée Plata: Chemist, oceanographer, engineer, entrepreneur
MIT professor is passionate about reducing the chemical industry’s impact on the environment and human health
cen.acs.org
February 2, 2025 at 12:14 PM
Reposted by Bill Arnold
I’m looking for new PhD students wanting to use computational chemistry to study atmospheric reactions. Topics: Hg redox reactions at surfaces. AI to study how hydrogen bonds (R=O--HO• and RO(H)--HO) affects kinetics of H-abstraction.
See www.esf.edu/faculty/dibble or tsdibble@esf.edu
January 29, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Reposted by Bill Arnold
Some thoughts on the confusion and anxiety created by the current freeze on communications, hiring, grant reviews, travel, etc at NIH (gift link):
Trump's NIH Freeze Puts Scientific Research at Risk
America’s best scientific minds are scrambling to determine the impact of the disruption.
www.bloomberg.com
January 24, 2025 at 2:21 PM