Dr. Bess Koffman
@bkoffman.bsky.social
Ice core scientist studying dust, winds, and climate.
Colby Geology professor. Outdoor enthusiast. Gardener. Fiddle player. [she/her]
Colby Geology professor. Outdoor enthusiast. Gardener. Fiddle player. [she/her]
Celebrating #PolarPride today. Thanks to all my LGBTQ+ colleagues for your many contributions to polar science! Raising a #Pride flag in Denali National Park during fieldwork in 2017.
November 18, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Celebrating #PolarPride today. Thanks to all my LGBTQ+ colleagues for your many contributions to polar science! Raising a #Pride flag in Denali National Park during fieldwork in 2017.
I experienced some of this at the polls yesterday, too.
The Maine Office of the Secretary of State says they received several complaints from voters and municipalities about aggressive behavior by groups petitioning for a citizen’s initiative at the polls on Tuesday:
Voters report aggressive behavior at polls over petition to ban trans students from girls sports
The Maine Office of the Secretary of State says they received several complaints from voters and municipalities about aggressive behavior by groups petitioning for a citizen’s initiative at the polls ...
www.mainepublic.org
November 5, 2025 at 9:41 PM
I experienced some of this at the polls yesterday, too.
Reposted by Dr. Bess Koffman
Gift Article!
A great article! Well-researched and written, with an excellent animation that makes climate change and the associated increase in atmospheric water vapor much easier to understand!
"The water vapor in Earth's atmosphere has increased by 12 % in the last 85 years.“
A great article! Well-researched and written, with an excellent animation that makes climate change and the associated increase in atmospheric water vapor much easier to understand!
"The water vapor in Earth's atmosphere has increased by 12 % in the last 85 years.“
Deadly rivers in the sky
A new Washington Post investigation reveals where climate change has supercharged the movement of moisture through the skies.
wapo.st
November 4, 2025 at 10:24 AM
Gift Article!
A great article! Well-researched and written, with an excellent animation that makes climate change and the associated increase in atmospheric water vapor much easier to understand!
"The water vapor in Earth's atmosphere has increased by 12 % in the last 85 years.“
A great article! Well-researched and written, with an excellent animation that makes climate change and the associated increase in atmospheric water vapor much easier to understand!
"The water vapor in Earth's atmosphere has increased by 12 % in the last 85 years.“
Reposted by Dr. Bess Koffman
This perfectly encapsulates what the GOP position is on the shutdown.
October 29, 2025 at 10:30 PM
This perfectly encapsulates what the GOP position is on the shutdown.
Reposted by Dr. Bess Koffman
Reposted by Dr. Bess Koffman
"After nearly 40 years, the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States, or ARCUS, will close September 30."
"The Arctic Research Consortium of the United States funded programs that aided Indigenous communities and tracked melting sea ice, among dozens of initiatives."
"The Arctic Research Consortium of the United States funded programs that aided Indigenous communities and tracked melting sea ice, among dozens of initiatives."
After Trump cut the National Science Foundation by 56 percent, a venerable Arctic research center closes its doors
The Arctic Research Consortium of the United States funded programs that aided Indigenous communities and tracked melting sea ice, among dozens of initiatives.
grist.org
September 28, 2025 at 2:10 PM
"After nearly 40 years, the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States, or ARCUS, will close September 30."
"The Arctic Research Consortium of the United States funded programs that aided Indigenous communities and tracked melting sea ice, among dozens of initiatives."
"The Arctic Research Consortium of the United States funded programs that aided Indigenous communities and tracked melting sea ice, among dozens of initiatives."
Reposted by Dr. Bess Koffman
🚨 NEW: Climate change is already causing 30,000 deaths per year - a global annual economic loss of $100-350B USD - but the true damage is probably 10x higher. Out TODAY in Nature Climate Change: the first systematic look at the science of "health impact attribution" 🔓 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
September 17, 2025 at 11:57 AM
🚨 NEW: Climate change is already causing 30,000 deaths per year - a global annual economic loss of $100-350B USD - but the true damage is probably 10x higher. Out TODAY in Nature Climate Change: the first systematic look at the science of "health impact attribution" 🔓 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Dr. Bess Koffman
History rhymes a bit too well sometimes.
September 19, 2025 at 11:37 PM
History rhymes a bit too well sometimes.
Reposted by Dr. Bess Koffman
To understand modern risk, we have to grapple with emergent and novel aspects of hazard, vulnerability, exposure, and response that comprise risk.
Find out more in a new article with @danielaldrich.bsky.social and Daniel Hoyer, just out in @issuesinst.bsky.social.
issues.org/mental-model...
Find out more in a new article with @danielaldrich.bsky.social and Daniel Hoyer, just out in @issuesinst.bsky.social.
issues.org/mental-model...
Updating Mental Models of Risk
Disasters are no longer isolated events. This demands a fundamental change in how we think about and respond to complex risk.
issues.org
September 8, 2025 at 11:10 PM
To understand modern risk, we have to grapple with emergent and novel aspects of hazard, vulnerability, exposure, and response that comprise risk.
Find out more in a new article with @danielaldrich.bsky.social and Daniel Hoyer, just out in @issuesinst.bsky.social.
issues.org/mental-model...
Find out more in a new article with @danielaldrich.bsky.social and Daniel Hoyer, just out in @issuesinst.bsky.social.
issues.org/mental-model...
Curious whether this approach could work in other environments
🍃 🐸 🧪
This luxury treatment is a practical solution to a deadly fungal frog infection
go.nature.com/3Jo7r3t
go.nature.com/3Jo7r3t
August 20, 2025 at 7:36 PM
Curious whether this approach could work in other environments
I'm looking for someone who could give an engaging seminar about natural disasters and the intersection of science and human vulnerability. Maybe a scientist who works in disaster response? Grateful for any recommendations!
August 20, 2025 at 5:19 PM
I'm looking for someone who could give an engaging seminar about natural disasters and the intersection of science and human vulnerability. Maybe a scientist who works in disaster response? Grateful for any recommendations!
Ice breaking capabilities are essential to support critical research on the Antarctic ice sheet and its response to climate change. This reversal of decades of US leadership in polar research is shortsighted and counterproductive.
What a blow to Antarctic research in the US and all of us in the international Antarctic science community that rely on the logistical and intellectual infrastructure - sending strength to colleagues affected this 🌊
The National Science Foundation will stop operating the Nathaniel B. Palmer icebreaker and slash polar science funding by 70 percent, devastating Antarctic research
August 20, 2025 at 1:45 AM
Ice breaking capabilities are essential to support critical research on the Antarctic ice sheet and its response to climate change. This reversal of decades of US leadership in polar research is shortsighted and counterproductive.
Reposted by Dr. Bess Koffman
Hurricane Erin achieved something most storms do not this weekend. "Extreme Rapid Intensification". Did climate change play a part? Science says, yes.
In 12 hours winds increased by ~65 mph. Only 3 other storms have done that and Erin was the earliest & only August storm to do so.
1/
In 12 hours winds increased by ~65 mph. Only 3 other storms have done that and Erin was the earliest & only August storm to do so.
1/
August 18, 2025 at 10:15 PM
Hurricane Erin achieved something most storms do not this weekend. "Extreme Rapid Intensification". Did climate change play a part? Science says, yes.
In 12 hours winds increased by ~65 mph. Only 3 other storms have done that and Erin was the earliest & only August storm to do so.
1/
In 12 hours winds increased by ~65 mph. Only 3 other storms have done that and Erin was the earliest & only August storm to do so.
1/
Reposted by Dr. Bess Koffman
The Trump administration has asked NASA staffers to draw up plans to end at least two satellite missions that measure carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, according to current and former NASA employees.
Why a NASA satellite that scientists and farmers rely on may be destroyed on purpose
The Trump administration has asked NASA staffers to draw up plans to end at least two satellite missions that measure carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, according to current and former NASA employees.
n.pr
August 10, 2025 at 6:09 PM
The Trump administration has asked NASA staffers to draw up plans to end at least two satellite missions that measure carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, according to current and former NASA employees.
Reposted by Dr. Bess Koffman
Of the 20 costliest weather disasters in history, four have occurred in just the last year.
U.S. socked with 15 billion-dollar weather disasters during the 1st half of 2025 » Yale Climate Connections
Four of the top 20 costliest weather disasters have occurred in the last year.
yaleclimateconnections.org
July 16, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Of the 20 costliest weather disasters in history, four have occurred in just the last year.
Basic science is cool!!!
Americans *still* won't eat insects.
They might sour on shrimp, though.
HT @jeffdean-uga.bsky.social
www.smithsonianmag.com/science-natu...
They might sour on shrimp, though.
HT @jeffdean-uga.bsky.social
www.smithsonianmag.com/science-natu...
You Might Think of Shrimp as Bugs of the Sea. But a Remarkable Discovery Shows the Opposite: Bugs Are Actually Shrimp of the Land
A recent study suggests that insects branched out from crustaceans on the tree of life
www.smithsonianmag.com
June 10, 2025 at 11:42 PM
Basic science is cool!!!
Reposted by Dr. Bess Koffman
It is hard to convey in words how lethal the ideology of necropolitics truly is, but the sarcastic, smirking delivery here reinforces that in 2025 we must contend with a political class that publicly delights in human suffering and death.
June 1, 2025 at 12:02 PM
It is hard to convey in words how lethal the ideology of necropolitics truly is, but the sarcastic, smirking delivery here reinforces that in 2025 we must contend with a political class that publicly delights in human suffering and death.
Reposted by Dr. Bess Koffman
There are 2 previous historical cases of countries destroying their science and universities, crippling them for decades: Lysenkoism in the USSR and Nazi Germany. The Trump administration will be the 3rd.
It's not just budgets but research, institutions, expertise, and training the next generation.
It's not just budgets but research, institutions, expertise, and training the next generation.
May 31, 2025 at 4:43 AM
There are 2 previous historical cases of countries destroying their science and universities, crippling them for decades: Lysenkoism in the USSR and Nazi Germany. The Trump administration will be the 3rd.
It's not just budgets but research, institutions, expertise, and training the next generation.
It's not just budgets but research, institutions, expertise, and training the next generation.
An incredible triumph for medicine, underscoring the critical importance of basic research !!! www.nytimes.com/2025/05/15/h...
Baby Is Healed With World’s First Personalized Gene-Editing Treatment
www.nytimes.com
May 15, 2025 at 5:14 PM
An incredible triumph for medicine, underscoring the critical importance of basic research !!! www.nytimes.com/2025/05/15/h...
Reposted by Dr. Bess Koffman
America, what have you become?
NEW: A federal judge raised alarm Friday that the Trump administration appeared to have deported a 2-year-old U.S. citizen to Honduras with "no meaningful process" — even as her father was fighting to keep her in the country.
Details w/ @joshgerstein.bsky.social
www.politico.com/news/2025/04...
Details w/ @joshgerstein.bsky.social
www.politico.com/news/2025/04...
April 26, 2025 at 12:38 AM
America, what have you become?
Reposted by Dr. Bess Koffman
If there is ever a breach in the spacetime continuum, we’ll know where it began.
April 19, 2025 at 3:01 PM
If there is ever a breach in the spacetime continuum, we’ll know where it began.
Reposted by Dr. Bess Koffman
Calling all US and Canadian students thinking about graduate studies! Come study science at #SFU in beautiful British Columbia, Canada. Graduate admissions have been reopened. Apply by April 25th. ⚛️ 🧪👩🔬🎢 🇨🇦
Applications are open for select graduate studies programs at #SFU, including biomedical physiology, chemistry, molecular biology and @sfuphysics.bsky.social. Canadian and US students encouraged to apply by April 25. www.sfu.ca/gradstudies/...
Lead the Way: Graduate Studies at SFU in Canada for Fall 2025 & Spring 2026
Select SFU graduate programs are opening their applications particularly for Canadian students choosing to remain and study in Canada as well as US students looking to study outside the US. Applicatio...
www.sfu.ca
April 18, 2025 at 10:22 PM
Calling all US and Canadian students thinking about graduate studies! Come study science at #SFU in beautiful British Columbia, Canada. Graduate admissions have been reopened. Apply by April 25th. ⚛️ 🧪👩🔬🎢 🇨🇦
Reposted by Dr. Bess Koffman
Can confirm that my NSF grant "How False Beliefs Form & How to Correct Them" was cancelled today because it is "not in alignment with current NSF priorities" Shocking that understanding how people are misled by false information is now a forbidden topic. Our work will continue but at a smaller scale
NSF has posted an “update on priorities.”
They’re canceling all “DEI and misinformation/disinformation” grants.
And the guidance on how to fulfill the longstanding, legally mandated Broadening Participation requirement is utterly incoherent.
www.nsf.gov/updates-on-p...
They’re canceling all “DEI and misinformation/disinformation” grants.
And the guidance on how to fulfill the longstanding, legally mandated Broadening Participation requirement is utterly incoherent.
www.nsf.gov/updates-on-p...
Updates on NSF Priorities
www.nsf.gov
April 18, 2025 at 10:40 PM
Can confirm that my NSF grant "How False Beliefs Form & How to Correct Them" was cancelled today because it is "not in alignment with current NSF priorities" Shocking that understanding how people are misled by false information is now a forbidden topic. Our work will continue but at a smaller scale
Reposted by Dr. Bess Koffman
Writing about this right now, just need to scream.
"Investigators wishing to expand participation in STEM for women & underrepresented groups must ensure that all outreach, recruitment, or participatory activities in NSF projects are open & available to all Americans"
www.nsf.gov/updates-on-p...
"Investigators wishing to expand participation in STEM for women & underrepresented groups must ensure that all outreach, recruitment, or participatory activities in NSF projects are open & available to all Americans"
www.nsf.gov/updates-on-p...
April 18, 2025 at 11:58 PM
Writing about this right now, just need to scream.
"Investigators wishing to expand participation in STEM for women & underrepresented groups must ensure that all outreach, recruitment, or participatory activities in NSF projects are open & available to all Americans"
www.nsf.gov/updates-on-p...
"Investigators wishing to expand participation in STEM for women & underrepresented groups must ensure that all outreach, recruitment, or participatory activities in NSF projects are open & available to all Americans"
www.nsf.gov/updates-on-p...
Reposted by Dr. Bess Koffman
NSF has spent decades—and billions of dollars—trying to attract more women and members of underrepresented groups into STEM. Not anymore. scim.ag/3RUtgZg
NSF starts to kill grants that violate Trump’s war on diversity efforts
Attracting women and minorities into science and studying misinformation are no longer priorities, agency says
scim.ag
April 18, 2025 at 10:30 PM
NSF has spent decades—and billions of dollars—trying to attract more women and members of underrepresented groups into STEM. Not anymore. scim.ag/3RUtgZg