Owen McKenna (He/Him)
banner
changingecosystems.bsky.social
Owen McKenna (He/Him)
@changingecosystems.bsky.social
Husband. Dad. Ecosystem Scientist, wetlands mostly. Living wages for all! https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=iEv4cC8AAAAJ&hl=en
Pinned
I have always been told I have a face for radio!

Tune in to hear about government science!

news.prairiepublic.org/podcast/main...
Dr. Owen McKenna - North Dakota's Wetlands Research and Landscape
Dr. Owen McKenna explores how climate & land use impact North Dakota's vital wetlands, crucial for wildlife & water quality. Ag debt on Harvest Public Media
news.prairiepublic.org
I have always been told I have a face for radio!

Tune in to hear about government science!

news.prairiepublic.org/podcast/main...
Dr. Owen McKenna - North Dakota's Wetlands Research and Landscape
Dr. Owen McKenna explores how climate & land use impact North Dakota's vital wetlands, crucial for wildlife & water quality. Ag debt on Harvest Public Media
news.prairiepublic.org
June 10, 2025 at 9:17 PM
doi.org/10.1016/j.ec...
How good is remote sensing getting at detecting surface water in small waterbodies? The answer is always.....it depends! So proud of the work of all the co-authors to get this truly interdisciplinary effort out. Cheers to useful science.
Redirecting
doi.org
May 9, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Reposted by Owen McKenna (He/Him)
I'm supporting a large team grant writing process.
#Transdisciplinary 🧪

I'm also on a large team grant being supported by someone else

Big differences

I won't 'out' the bad stuff

Here are some things that work well if you want the best from the team: A #HigherEd 🧵
April 10, 2025 at 6:32 PM
April fools, the last 71 days don't count! Right, right, right?!?!
April 1, 2025 at 12:27 AM
Reposted by Owen McKenna (He/Him)
Super excited to share our new paper out today in Nature Water led by Christina McCabe. @naturewaterjnl.bsky.social

“The ecological benefits of more room for rivers”

Find the paper here: www.nature.com/articles/s44...

Free to read version: rdcu.be/eeuBx

#rivers #floods #biodiversity #resilience
The ecological benefits of more room for rivers - Nature Water
This Review synthesizes the ecological features and processes that arise when rivers are given room to move. Understanding these interactions will support more sustainable decisions that weigh river e...
www.nature.com
March 22, 2025 at 2:02 AM
Reposted by Owen McKenna (He/Him)
Lower survival rate among trainees in labs with highly productive mentors raises important concerns about what we value in academia. Many interesting things to stew over with this paper!

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Academic mentees thrive in big groups, but survive in small groups - Nature Human Behaviour
Using longitudinal genealogical data on mentor–mentee relations and their publications, the authors find that mentees trained in larger groups tend to exhibit superior academic performance compared wi...
www.nature.com
March 18, 2025 at 11:39 AM
Reposted by Owen McKenna (He/Him)
Another devastating plan. EPA science is critical for keeping our air, water and environment safe. 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 12:07 PM
Tax the rich
March 18, 2025 at 11:26 PM
Reposted by Owen McKenna (He/Him)
A US-born citizen was walking near Chicago in January. ICE snatched him off the street, handcuffed him, threw into a van. His wallet, which contained his ID, was confiscated. He was detained for 10 hours before being released without a record of what occurred.

immigrantjustice.org/sites/defaul...
March 17, 2025 at 10:06 PM
Reposted by Owen McKenna (He/Him)
Federal scientists: You are not alone. ❤️ @csldf.org provides free, confidential legal advice to researchers facing legal intimidation, harassment, & other attempts to sideline your critical work. Please reach out for a 1:1 with one of our attorneys: csldf.org/contact
Contact - Climate Science Legal Defense Fund
CONTACT If you’re a scientist and would like a free, confidential consultation with one of our attorneys, please reach out.…
csldf.org
March 14, 2025 at 7:24 PM
Reposted by Owen McKenna (He/Him)
Tenth Annual HBCU Climate Change Conference: A Decade of Action and Impact. Our #HBCU Consortium is punching above its weight. We built community-university partnerships that work. Our goal is to add all of our schools to the network.
www.bullardcenter.org/hbcu-ccc #HBCUClimateChange #HBCUalum
HBCU Climate Change Conference
The Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice at Texas Southern University was selected as one of the eleven “Grantmakers” under its $600 million Environmental Justice Thriving Communities ...
www.bullardcenter.org
March 12, 2025 at 12:00 AM
This would be a bigger story in a less crazy world. Imagine what else is not making it to your eye balls
Researchers have long complained about unpaid peer review. But these arguments are now playing out in federal court. My latest for @statnews.com on a proposed class-action lawsuit targeting six of academia's biggest publishers.
www.statnews.com/2025/03/10/p...
Scientists’ suit against top academic publishers lays bare deep frustration over unpaid peer review
Researchers have sued six big academic publishers, arguing their practices are illegal and anticompetitive.
www.statnews.com
March 11, 2025 at 12:00 AM
Reposted by Owen McKenna (He/Him)
Look here, you calcareous asshole, who asked you anyway?
March 4, 2025 at 9:06 PM
Reposted by Owen McKenna (He/Him)
From a colleague: The unstaffed USGS booth at the world’s largest mining and exploration conference, the 2025 PDAC in Toronto.
⚒️🧪
March 6, 2025 at 12:28 AM
Thanks to the National Weather Service and NOAA scientists everywhere
npr.org NPR @npr.org · Mar 4
A spring storm is bringing various weather conditions across the U.S. Some regions are facing snow, possible tornadoes, and critical fire conditions, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
Severe weather and critical fire risk, ranked 'multi-hazard,' expected nationwide
A spring storm is bringing various weather conditions across the U.S. Some regions are facing snow, possible tornadoes, and critical fire conditions, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
www.npr.org
March 4, 2025 at 2:15 AM
Reposted by Owen McKenna (He/Him)
Due to the Musk/Trump Administration’s draconian cuts, the National Science Foundation is significantly scaling back its program to provide college students with paid summer research internships. Many of my colleagues attribute their start in science to this program.

www.science.org/content/arti...
NSF downsizes summer research program for undergraduates
Many participants are from groups underrepresented in science
www.science.org
March 1, 2025 at 1:35 PM
Dark days ahead. Protect and amplify the humanity of those that will be impacted the most. Everything else can wait.
February 27, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Reposted by Owen McKenna (He/Him)
Word of the Day is ‘ingordigiousness’ (18th century): extreme greed at the expense of principles.
February 26, 2025 at 7:59 AM
Reposted by Owen McKenna (He/Him)
Your regular reminder that the US air & water pollution laws passed in the 60s & 70s -- and the elaborate federal bureaucracy created to administer them -- constitute one of the most successful gov't interventions in history. WILDLY successful. The envy of the world.
February 24, 2025 at 6:43 PM
Reposted by Owen McKenna (He/Him)
A friend who works for the US Department of the Interior (DOI) says that their government credit cards (PCards) have their purchasing limits set to $1, so they essentially can’t buy anything. Also, the DOI doubled down on the 5 bullets email and wants to make it a weekly occurrence. 🤬
February 25, 2025 at 12:46 AM