Paul Selmants
@biogeocycle.net
Ecosystem scientist, bike nerd, transit fan.
Research on forests, carbon and climate change.
Opinions my own.
📍San Francisco, CA
https://www.usgs.gov/staff-profiles/paul-c-selmants
Research on forests, carbon and climate change.
Opinions my own.
📍San Francisco, CA
https://www.usgs.gov/staff-profiles/paul-c-selmants
Yeah, more fuel for @sevier.io‘s fire:
Another way to reduce electricity prices? Shifting from for-profit, investor-owned monopoly utilities to municipal utilities or member-owned co-operatives would save about 15% on electricity bills, averaged over locations and customer classes.
8. For-profit utilities charge 14% more (13.3 c/kWh, 2023 average) than cities (11.7 c/kWh) and 16% more than rural coops (11.5 c/kWh). This trend is accelerating: For-profit utility prices rose 2.7 c/kWh from 2019-2023, 225% more than cities (1.2 c/kWh) and 270% more than coops (1 c/kWh).
November 15, 2025 at 12:54 AM
Yeah, more fuel for @sevier.io‘s fire:
OK, looks like I can go back to work tomorrow. Also, whoever wrote the text for this email violated the Hatch Act.
November 12, 2025 at 11:57 PM
OK, looks like I can go back to work tomorrow. Also, whoever wrote the text for this email violated the Hatch Act.
Just out: more evidence for a weakening land carbon sink across the contiguous U.S. Proud to be part of this collaborative effort among (mostly) federal scientists! 🧪 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Land change, fire, and climate weaken carbon sink in the conterminous United States
The United States has experienced rising carbon sources driven by land use, fire, and climate factors.
www.science.org
November 12, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Just out: more evidence for a weakening land carbon sink across the contiguous U.S. Proud to be part of this collaborative effort among (mostly) federal scientists! 🧪 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Best abstract ever.
"The domination of scientific publishing...by major commercial publishers is harmful to science. We need the most powerful members of the research community, funders, governments & Universities, to lead the drive to recommunalise publishing to serve science not the market"
arxiv.org/abs/2511.04820
arxiv.org/abs/2511.04820
The Drain of Scientific Publishing
The domination of scientific publishing in the Global North by major commercial publishers is harmful to science. We need the most powerful members of the research community, funders, governments and ...
arxiv.org
November 11, 2025 at 8:13 PM
Best abstract ever.
This thread encapsulates why I have zero regrets about escaping academia - the culture is just so low key toxic. I have nothing but respect for those of you inside shining a light on it and fighting to make it better (like Colin), but I had to get out.
At the end of the day, for all the ongoing cultural changes, academia will always be possible to split into the people who are desperate to move deeper and deeper into the in-group and the people who know they’ll never be able to “earn” it
November 8, 2025 at 8:05 PM
This thread encapsulates why I have zero regrets about escaping academia - the culture is just so low key toxic. I have nothing but respect for those of you inside shining a light on it and fighting to make it better (like Colin), but I had to get out.
I was on a bus in Honolulu when this alert went out. Bus driver pulled over and told us we were supposed to “take shelter” in a nearby Safeway, but we all just stood around on the sidewalk and talked story.
October 26, 2025 at 11:02 PM
I was on a bus in Honolulu when this alert went out. Bus driver pulled over and told us we were supposed to “take shelter” in a nearby Safeway, but we all just stood around on the sidewalk and talked story.
I’m a furloughed federal scientist. Under normal circumstances I’d be stoked so many fed agencies (finally) came over to bluesky - but these ain’t normal times. Block and move on.
October 18, 2025 at 3:26 AM
I’m a furloughed federal scientist. Under normal circumstances I’d be stoked so many fed agencies (finally) came over to bluesky - but these ain’t normal times. Block and move on.
Every year or so, the guys from the tire shop behind our place change the mural on the side of their building. This new one isn’t quite finished but it’s a banger so far.
October 4, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Every year or so, the guys from the tire shop behind our place change the mural on the side of their building. This new one isn’t quite finished but it’s a banger so far.
Reposted by Paul Selmants
Published today: our new paper showing a 44-year trend of increasing global wildfire disasters (fatalities and economic losses) due to climate change-induced extreme weather. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
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 ...
www.science.org
October 2, 2025 at 6:28 PM
Published today: our new paper showing a 44-year trend of increasing global wildfire disasters (fatalities and economic losses) due to climate change-induced extreme weather. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
The giant blimp hangar at Moffett Field got a new skin, now it looks like something from David Lynch’s Dune movie.
September 19, 2025 at 11:07 PM
The giant blimp hangar at Moffett Field got a new skin, now it looks like something from David Lynch’s Dune movie.
Reposted by Paul Selmants
Maybe the land carbon sink is weaker than we thought. Big implications: "A lower-than-expected land carbon sink would also imply that the land biosphere may be closer to transitioning from a net carbon sink to a net source than current models predict" Randerson et al. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
The weak land carbon sink hypothesis
Satellite-derived time series of vegetation carbon do not support a strong Northern Hemisphere net land carbon sink.
www.science.org
September 15, 2025 at 10:14 PM
Maybe the land carbon sink is weaker than we thought. Big implications: "A lower-than-expected land carbon sink would also imply that the land biosphere may be closer to transitioning from a net carbon sink to a net source than current models predict" Randerson et al. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Some well deserved publicity for a new kind of newsroom. Congrats @laurawenus.bsky.social, @noaharroyo.bsky.social & @daphnem.bsky.social!
We're honored to be featured by Amalie Nash and @inmaorg.bsky.social !!
In her latest blog, INMA Newsroom Transformation Initiative Lead Amalie Nash shares insights from @laurawenus.bsky.social about a planned pilot newsroom @newsrelaynetwork.bsky.social will roll out next month in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighbourhood. www.inma.org/blogs/newsro...
September 12, 2025 at 1:23 AM
Some well deserved publicity for a new kind of newsroom. Congrats @laurawenus.bsky.social, @noaharroyo.bsky.social & @daphnem.bsky.social!
Reposted by Paul Selmants
Postdoctoral position in Forest Monitoring available. Know your way around spatial datasets? Join us to help monitor changes in Australia's precious forest estate! @westsyduhie.bsky.social
jobs.smartrecruiters.com/WesternSydne...
jobs.smartrecruiters.com/WesternSydne...
Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Forest Monitoring
Company Description: Western Sydney University is a modern, forward-thinking, research-led institution at the heart of Australia’s fastest-growing and most economically significant region. With 11 cam...
jobs.smartrecruiters.com
September 9, 2025 at 12:08 PM
Postdoctoral position in Forest Monitoring available. Know your way around spatial datasets? Join us to help monitor changes in Australia's precious forest estate! @westsyduhie.bsky.social
jobs.smartrecruiters.com/WesternSydne...
jobs.smartrecruiters.com/WesternSydne...
Reposted by Paul Selmants
Hi everyone! I am looking for any #scientists (including grad students, post docs) that’d be willing to be interviewed about their research by my #SciComm students in October. Here is the form to fill out if interested! Our time zone is Alaska, FYI. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
BIOL 311 Sci Comm Fall 2025 - Interview Sign up!
Please fill out this form to be interviewed as part of BIOL 311's students project for the second half of the semester. One form per one participant is preferred, so if you have post-docs or graduate ...
docs.google.com
September 8, 2025 at 1:45 AM
Hi everyone! I am looking for any #scientists (including grad students, post docs) that’d be willing to be interviewed about their research by my #SciComm students in October. Here is the form to fill out if interested! Our time zone is Alaska, FYI. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Local climate nerds! Claim your god damn award, you deserve it.
bros if you do a climate nerd good thing in your town I’ll make you a god damn award
holler at me
holler at me
September 5, 2025 at 3:27 AM
Local climate nerds! Claim your god damn award, you deserve it.
OK, these budget cuts have gotten ridiculous.
September 2, 2025 at 7:23 PM
OK, these budget cuts have gotten ridiculous.
Reposted by Paul Selmants
Just out: A new geodatabase of fuel treatments across federal lands—published in Scientific Data.
Whether you’re mapping change or assessing risk, TWIG shows when and where treatments happened.
Grateful to be part of a team!
Paper - www.nature.com/articles/s41...
TWIG - reshapewildfire.org/twig
Whether you’re mapping change or assessing risk, TWIG shows when and where treatments happened.
Grateful to be part of a team!
Paper - www.nature.com/articles/s41...
TWIG - reshapewildfire.org/twig
August 31, 2025 at 3:42 PM
Just out: A new geodatabase of fuel treatments across federal lands—published in Scientific Data.
Whether you’re mapping change or assessing risk, TWIG shows when and where treatments happened.
Grateful to be part of a team!
Paper - www.nature.com/articles/s41...
TWIG - reshapewildfire.org/twig
Whether you’re mapping change or assessing risk, TWIG shows when and where treatments happened.
Grateful to be part of a team!
Paper - www.nature.com/articles/s41...
TWIG - reshapewildfire.org/twig
Yup, full support here. SF has been in dire need and we finally got 33 of them this year.
There’s a widespread myth that Americans hate traffic cameras. It’s simply not true.
On the contrary, researchers have consistently found that Americans broadly support using automatic enforcement to curb crashes. And for good reason: It works.
Me, in Bloomberg 🧵
On the contrary, researchers have consistently found that Americans broadly support using automatic enforcement to curb crashes. And for good reason: It works.
Me, in Bloomberg 🧵
Automated Traffic Enforcement Is More Popular Than You Think
Cameras that ticket drivers who run red lights and speed are effective and widely popular with city residents. So why are they banned in so many places?
www.bloomberg.com
August 28, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Yup, full support here. SF has been in dire need and we finally got 33 of them this year.
My journalist friends started a newsroom! Check it out:
Our #SF newsroom will produce high-quality coverage **driven directly by the audience.**
Rather than staff having full editorial control — that’s the norm — we’ll empower the community to determine what we report on, on an ongoing basis. ... #SanFrancisco newsrelaynetwork.org/coming-soon-...
Rather than staff having full editorial control — that’s the norm — we’ll empower the community to determine what we report on, on an ongoing basis. ... #SanFrancisco newsrelaynetwork.org/coming-soon-...
Coming soon: A newsroom that empowers its audience
Hi! It’s so good to have you. I’d grab you a chair if I could.
This is the first edition of our newsletter, which will chronicle wins, losses, and what we learn as we conduct a novel experiment in jo...
newsrelaynetwork.org
August 15, 2025 at 12:26 AM
My journalist friends started a newsroom! Check it out:
Reposted by Paul Selmants
We have a new paper that is the result of a working group on nature-based climate solutions using forests. We identify challenges in quantifying net cooling, durability, additionality, and leakage and provide solutions and research needs for each of the challenges.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Towards more effective nature-based climate solutions in global forests - Nature
A strategy to improve the implementation of nature-based climate solutions in global forests for climate mitigation is described, comprising four key components to highlight notable science and policy...
www.nature.com
July 30, 2025 at 4:26 PM
We have a new paper that is the result of a working group on nature-based climate solutions using forests. We identify challenges in quantifying net cooling, durability, additionality, and leakage and provide solutions and research needs for each of the challenges.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Kimchi risotto. Don’t you dare judge me.
July 26, 2025 at 8:04 PM
Kimchi risotto. Don’t you dare judge me.
Reposted by Paul Selmants
Did you know that many consider San Francisco's system of care broken?
People fall through the cracks, or only get care after they've lost their jobs or housing.
#sf, and the public, have an opportunity to transform that system for the better.
www.sfpublicpress.org/sf-has-a-cha...
People fall through the cracks, or only get care after they've lost their jobs or housing.
#sf, and the public, have an opportunity to transform that system for the better.
www.sfpublicpress.org/sf-has-a-cha...
SF Has a Chance to Reinvent Its Mental Health Care System - San Francisco Public Press
San Francisco, like all California counties, may have to re-imagine its behavioral health care system in response to state mandates.
www.sfpublicpress.org
July 19, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Did you know that many consider San Francisco's system of care broken?
People fall through the cracks, or only get care after they've lost their jobs or housing.
#sf, and the public, have an opportunity to transform that system for the better.
www.sfpublicpress.org/sf-has-a-cha...
People fall through the cracks, or only get care after they've lost their jobs or housing.
#sf, and the public, have an opportunity to transform that system for the better.
www.sfpublicpress.org/sf-has-a-cha...
Been kinda angry jealous at everybody posting they got @kashana.bsky.social’s book in the mail these last couple days - finally got mine today!
July 18, 2025 at 10:18 PM
Been kinda angry jealous at everybody posting they got @kashana.bsky.social’s book in the mail these last couple days - finally got mine today!
Also, @wired.com has been kinda killing it lately.
I'd just like to point out how weird it is that places with hundreds or even thousands of reporters — the NYT, WaPo, CBS, NBC, AP, etc. — are all getting pummeled on every major story by the dozen computerboys at Wired. To fumble the bag this consistently is, at some point, cowardice and a choice.
NEW: Metadata from the “raw” Epstein prison video shows approximately 2 minutes and 53 seconds were removed from one of two stitched-together clips. The cut starts right at the “missing minute.”
July 16, 2025 at 1:36 AM
Also, @wired.com has been kinda killing it lately.
This is so needed, and you can sjgn up to participate.
Going beyond the article... Read about @plos.org's new initiative, funded by @moorefound.bsky.social & Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. plos.io/45XeXvx
Redefining Publishing: PLOS, supported by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation & Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is launching an important new initiative
PLOS believes in a better future where science is open to all, for all. We are redefining publishing by demonstrating that new solutions are feasible and deliver tangible benefits for the entire resea...
plos.io
July 9, 2025 at 2:56 PM
This is so needed, and you can sjgn up to participate.