Chris Osburn
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closburn.bsky.social
Chris Osburn
@closburn.bsky.social
Professor of Marine Biogeochemistry and PI of the OsburnLab.
Director of the Blue Economy Innovation Program at NC State University.
I study the C-SAW: Carbon Saturation and Weather among other things involving organic matter and other elements.
Pinned
As a carbon #biogeochemist who is mostly aquatic and focused on organic matter I love being able to dust off my min/pet brain cells and consider a change in focus area.
NEW PAPER—Suitability of rocks, minerals, and cement waste for CO2 removal via enhanced rock weathering

Read the study here:
www.nature.com/articles/s42...

#CDR #ERW
This is oceanography-adjacent but no less important to note. UNL geology and meteorology work reaches far across disciplines. More info here: unlcas.github.io/eas-budget/%...
November 12, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Great story!
Portland record store owner remembers over 30 years of friendship with KISS founding member Ace Frehley Ace Frehley's death has left record store owner Steven Cook, who first met Frehley as a teenager, mourning his loss and celebrating his iconic legacy. www.kgw.com/mobile/artic...
Portland record store owner remembers over 30 years of friendship with KISS founding member Ace Frehley
Ace Frehley's death has left record store owner Steven Cook, who first met Frehley as a teenager, mourning his loss and celebrating his iconic legacy.
www.kgw.com
October 18, 2025 at 12:19 PM
Ace Frehley, may he rest in rock, was my favorite guitarist. A nice article, but c'mon (and love me) - "I Was Made for Loving You" was not "sparking a metal fever" in its prime. It's disco.

www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
Ace Frehley, legendary Kiss guitarist, dies at 74
The cause of death wasn't immediately released. Frehley fell in his studio in September and had recently canceled his 2025 tour dates.
www.nbcnews.com
October 17, 2025 at 1:10 AM
Physical Oceanographers! Come join us in the Department of Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences at NC State University.
Job posting now live: jobs.ncsu.edu/postings/223... 🌊
Assistant Professor
The Department of Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences (MEAS) at North Carolina State University seeks to fill a tenure-track faculty position at the rank of Assistant Professor in physical oceanog...
jobs.ncsu.edu
October 9, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Reposted by Chris Osburn
Scientists have followed unwritten guidelines for their conduct for hundreds of years. These norms act as guiding principles for science and reasons it should be trusted.

The 6 principles, from universalism to humility:
theconversation.com/scientific-n...
Scientific norms shape the behavior of researchers working for the greater good
While rarely explicitly taught to scientists in training, a set of common values guides science in the quest to advance knowledge while being ethical and trustworthy.
theconversation.com
July 14, 2025 at 8:06 AM
Neither organic carbon nor phosphorous are pollutants without the proper context. Ecosystems need both, and at least from the organic carbon perspective the type of the carbon matters. Different types of organic carbon react differently in natural waters.

Phosphorus is an essential nutrient! 1/
grist.org Grist @grist.org · Jun 27
Pollution from wildfires can contaminate our water for up to 8 years, study finds.

An analysis of 500 watersheds found levels of organic carbon, phosphorus, and other pollutants up to 103 times higher after a wildfire.

grist.org/wildfires/po...

#Wildfire #Pollution #Environment #Climate #Policy
Pollution from wildfires can contaminate our water for up to 8 years, study finds
An analysis of 500 watersheds found levels of organic carbon, phosphorus, and other pollutants up to 103 times higher after a wildfire.
grist.org
June 27, 2025 at 2:54 PM
What a great way to celebrate #BlackFlagDay this weekend - I will create my ideal set list for this line-up.
42 years ago today
Black Flag, Misfits and The Vandals - Santa Monica Civic Auditorium - June 11, 1983

#punk #punks #punkrock #hardcorepunk #blackflag #misfits #thevandals #history #punkrockhistory #otd
June 11, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Reposted by Chris Osburn
In recent years, rainfall flooding has overtaken storm surge as the leading cause of death in tropical cyclones—and climate change is poised to make the rain worse, @marinakoren.bsky.social reported last year:
An Alarming New Trend in Hurricane Deaths
The biggest threat from tropical cyclones is no longer storm surge but rains like those dumped by Helene on North Carolina.
bit.ly
June 6, 2025 at 8:00 PM
As a geek myself I had a lot of fun presenting in the @wclivestream.bsky.social - many thanks to the organizers and hosts! Get out there and rally to support critical weather and climate research.
May 29, 2025 at 9:59 AM
Reposted by Chris Osburn
Weather and climate scientists determined to resist funding and program cuts in the geekiest way possible - with a 100-hour livestream of science presentations www.cnn.com/scientists-r...
Climate and weather scientists are joining the anti-Trump resistance in the most ‘scientist-iest’ way | CNN
In the face of steep funding cuts for climate and weather research and forecasting, scientists have found a new way of engaging the public.
www.cnn.com
May 27, 2025 at 5:58 PM
I'll be talking about carbon saturation and weather (#CSAW) in the coastal zone tomorrow bright and early at 0500 EDT (0900 GMT)! Grab a coffee and support forecasting for weather, water quality, public health, and biogeochemistry.🌊
Our 💯 hours to #SaveAmericasForecasts starts tomorrow!

Tune in to hear over 200+ US meteorologists and climate scientists share the importance of federally funded weather and climate research!

wclivestream.com
May 28, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Reposted by Chris Osburn
Federal research funding isn’t just for the benefit of scientists.

A key part of many NSF grants requires researchers to share their findings with the public, including K-12 students. This “broader impacts” component helps make science more accessible while benefiting society🧪
Basic research advances science, and can also have broader impacts on modern society
Basic research that doesn’t have a specific industrial or experimental application still adds value outside the lab by engaging people with exciting research.
buff.ly
May 9, 2025 at 8:06 AM
Reposted by Chris Osburn
Happy to share our new paper in Biogeochemistry!

We show that CDOM changes at low salinities due to flocculation, potentially making it a less reliable tracer in estuaries. We also introduce a new fluorescence metric: the red shift ratio.

🔗 link.springer.com/article/10.1...

@closburn.bsky.social
Optical transformation of riverine colored dissolved organic matter during salt-induced flocculation - Biogeochemistry
Flocculation of riverine dissolved organic matter (DOM) in estuaries is crucial for transforming and removing terrestrial carbon inputs across the land-to-ocean aquatic continuum. We measured variatio...
link.springer.com
May 6, 2025 at 7:01 AM
Reposted by Chris Osburn
I'm proud to say that I was a co-author on the last National Climate Assessment (NCA5). I'm sad to say it looks like I was a co-author on the LAST National Climate Assessment.
www.npr.org/2025/04/20/n....
Trump administration cancels the National Climate Assessment
The Trump administration has halted work on the National Climate Assessment. It's the most comprehensive source of information about how climate change affects the U.S.
www.npr.org
April 20, 2025 at 10:11 PM
He’s #wavingcane to make good trouble
The semiotics of Al Green waving his cane around.
March 6, 2025 at 11:19 AM
I am looking forward to this exhibit celebrating North Carolina's diverse #blueeconomy!
African Americans in seafood industry heart of new exhibit coastalreview.org/2025/02/afri...
African Americans in seafood industry heart of new exhibit | Coastal Review
The exhibit debuting March 9 on Harkers Island features the ongoing NC Catch initiative that highlights African Americans in the state seafood industry.
coastalreview.org
February 21, 2025 at 11:30 AM
Reposted by Chris Osburn
Why is water different colors in different places? An engineering professor explains:
Why is water different colors in different places?
Blue, green orange, brown − water comes in many colors, depending on what’s in it.
buff.ly
February 18, 2025 at 9:06 AM
🌊 - Probably more than ever this is an important point.
‘Words matter’: Accepted ‘pocosin’ definition unsupported coastalreview.org/2025/02/word...
'Words matter': Accepted 'pocosin' definition unsupported | Coastal Review
Duke University researcher Dr. Ryan Emanuel has found no documented evidence behind the long-used English translation of the Eastern Algonquian as a "swamp on a hill."
coastalreview.org
February 12, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Hey #CDOM folks out there who use #fluorescence. Ever wonder how well end-member mixing analysis (EMMA) models hold up to instrument and procedural variability? My colleague Peter Hoff (Duke University) and I just posted a pre-print to #Arxiv-stat on this topic.

arxiv.org/abs/2412.14263
Evaluation of the linear mixing model in fluorescence spectroscopy
Analyses of spectral data often assume a linear mixing hypothesis, which states that the spectrum of a mixed substance is approximately the mixture of the individual spectra of its constituent parts. ...
arxiv.org
December 20, 2024 at 1:55 PM
Pretty out of touch with pop culture, but I did not know Ashley Judd and Tom Cruise were an item. He must be on a step stool.
December 13, 2024 at 9:02 PM
Good renewable energy news from eastern NC!
Energy company secures financing for Chowan wind facility coastalreview.org/2024/12/ener...
Energy company secures financing for Chowan wind facility | Coastal Review
Apex Clean Energy, based in Charlottesville, Virginia, has secured construction funding for the 45-turbine wind facility currently being built in Chowan County.
coastalreview.org
December 12, 2024 at 5:48 PM