Ben Johnson
@geologistben.bsky.social
Geologist, dad, banjo player, Assistant Professor at Iowa State University. Opinions here my own. (he/him)
Reposted by Ben Johnson
Science People: We at NSF are still recovering/catching up/getting our lives together. But the agency posted these FAQs about post-shutdown resumption of operations which might answer a lot of Qs for you: www.nsf.gov/resumption-o...
Resumption of Operations at NSF
Information for NSF staff and the research community regarding the agency's resumption of operations after a lapse in appropriations.
www.nsf.gov
November 18, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Science People: We at NSF are still recovering/catching up/getting our lives together. But the agency posted these FAQs about post-shutdown resumption of operations which might answer a lot of Qs for you: www.nsf.gov/resumption-o...
Reposted by Ben Johnson
They are really planning to go through with these cuts at Nebraska, despite recommendations not to. Unbelievable.
If you want to hire highly qualified, very successful earth and atmospheric sciences faculty in teaching and research, quite a few are probably looking for jobs for next year.
If you want to hire highly qualified, very successful earth and atmospheric sciences faculty in teaching and research, quite a few are probably looking for jobs for next year.
Final Budget Reduction Plan | Budget Process | Nebraska
budgetprocess.unl.edu
November 10, 2025 at 11:19 PM
They are really planning to go through with these cuts at Nebraska, despite recommendations not to. Unbelievable.
If you want to hire highly qualified, very successful earth and atmospheric sciences faculty in teaching and research, quite a few are probably looking for jobs for next year.
If you want to hire highly qualified, very successful earth and atmospheric sciences faculty in teaching and research, quite a few are probably looking for jobs for next year.
Reposted by Ben Johnson
Please sign this
🚨 NASA scientists warn: critical equipment at Goddard Space Flight Center could be discarded during the shutdown, jeopardizing decades of Earth & space science missions.
📢 Act now: agu.quorum.us/campaign/146...
#sciencepolicy #saveNASA
📢 Act now: agu.quorum.us/campaign/146...
#sciencepolicy #saveNASA
November 7, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Please sign this
Reposted by Ben Johnson
We're hiring! I'm recruiting a Postdoctoral Research Associate in climate & paleoclimate modeling of the tropical Americas. Come obsess over the tropical rain belt with me! :) Please share w/folks who may be interested. Ad here: wustl.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Extern...
Postdoctoral Research Associate - Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences
Position Summary The Climate and Paleoclimate Lab in the Department of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences at WashU in St. Louis seeks a Postdoctoral Research Associate in tropical climate/pa...
wustl.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com
October 29, 2025 at 5:25 PM
We're hiring! I'm recruiting a Postdoctoral Research Associate in climate & paleoclimate modeling of the tropical Americas. Come obsess over the tropical rain belt with me! :) Please share w/folks who may be interested. Ad here: wustl.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Extern...
Reposted by Ben Johnson
Paleontologists have identified the 410-million-year-old specimens of Spongiophyton nanum from the Ponta Grossa Formation in the Paraná Basin of Brazil as one of the oldest and most widespread lichens from the fossil record.
www.sci.news/paleontology...
#fossils #paleontology
www.sci.news/paleontology...
#fossils #paleontology
November 3, 2025 at 1:21 AM
Paleontologists have identified the 410-million-year-old specimens of Spongiophyton nanum from the Ponta Grossa Formation in the Paraná Basin of Brazil as one of the oldest and most widespread lichens from the fossil record.
www.sci.news/paleontology...
#fossils #paleontology
www.sci.news/paleontology...
#fossils #paleontology
Reposted by Ben Johnson
Since search is dead, how soon do you think Google Scholar is headed for the Google Graveyard? I'm betting it's soon, and academia is NOT prepared
Google Scholar Is Doomed
Academia built entire careers on a free Google service with zero guarantees. What could go wrong?
hannahshelley.neocities.org
August 13, 2025 at 1:28 AM
Since search is dead, how soon do you think Google Scholar is headed for the Google Graveyard? I'm betting it's soon, and academia is NOT prepared
Reposted by Ben Johnson
Recruiting now: #geoscience mentors and mentees! Applications are now OPEN through September 12 for both mentors (senior graduate students through senior faculty/staff) and mentees (students interested in geoscience graduate school and fellowships). Check it out! gems-program.org/matching
August 7, 2025 at 10:53 PM
Recruiting now: #geoscience mentors and mentees! Applications are now OPEN through September 12 for both mentors (senior graduate students through senior faculty/staff) and mentees (students interested in geoscience graduate school and fellowships). Check it out! gems-program.org/matching
What a pull
voyage of the mimi
Name something you remember watching in this!
July 11, 2025 at 11:07 PM
What a pull
Reposted by Ben Johnson
US Earth Science people: Our June webinar felt so good, we’re making it a series. Join us next Tuesday 7/15 (and again in Aug & Sept) to hear from NSF staff and to get (most of?) your questions answered. www.nsf.gov/events/nsf-d...
NSF Division of Earth Sciences Informational Webinar
www.nsf.gov
July 10, 2025 at 1:29 PM
US Earth Science people: Our June webinar felt so good, we’re making it a series. Join us next Tuesday 7/15 (and again in Aug & Sept) to hear from NSF staff and to get (most of?) your questions answered. www.nsf.gov/events/nsf-d...
Reading and thinking and writing (words and code) are all fun and rewarding and good human activities to do
i just find this so bizarre. searching through texts and doing the reading for myself is how i actually think through ideas! trying to put together a sentence is how i figure out what i actually want to say!
Everyone Is Using A.I. for Everything. Is That Bad?
www.nytimes.com
June 18, 2025 at 1:48 AM
Reading and thinking and writing (words and code) are all fun and rewarding and good human activities to do
Reposted by Ben Johnson
wrote about what the protests say about the strength, or lack thereof, of the trump administration www.nytimes.com/2025/06/11/o...
Opinion | Trump Wants to Be a Strongman, but He’s Actually a Weak Man (Gift Article)
He is still dangerous, though.
www.nytimes.com
June 11, 2025 at 1:40 PM
wrote about what the protests say about the strength, or lack thereof, of the trump administration www.nytimes.com/2025/06/11/o...
Reposted by Ben Johnson
"The employee, who did not want to be named out of fear of retaliation for speaking to the media, said that the NSF's rigorous review process had been disassembled, and that political mandates had taken precedence over scientific merits when assessing proposals." www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Trump Has Cut Science Funding to Its Lowest Level in Decades
The lag in funding extends far beyond D.E.I. initiatives, affecting almost every area of science: chemistry, computing, engineering, materials and more.
www.nytimes.com
May 27, 2025 at 1:25 PM
"The employee, who did not want to be named out of fear of retaliation for speaking to the media, said that the NSF's rigorous review process had been disassembled, and that political mandates had taken precedence over scientific merits when assessing proposals." www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Reposted by Ben Johnson
🚨 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...
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 26, 2025 at 4:19 PM
🚨 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...
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...
Reposted by Ben Johnson
If you benefited from past NAGT/NSF Early Career Geoscience workshops you may want to support this years participants and activities which have apparently been defunded by NSF.
Contribute here: nagt.org/nagt/get_inv...
Contribute here: nagt.org/nagt/get_inv...
Donate Online
Thank you for being a member of NAGT! Donating through your account is quick and easy. Click the link below to be directed to the member donation page. Donate Now » Your NAGT membership has lapsed! Pl...
nagt.org
May 14, 2025 at 1:34 AM
If you benefited from past NAGT/NSF Early Career Geoscience workshops you may want to support this years participants and activities which have apparently been defunded by NSF.
Contribute here: nagt.org/nagt/get_inv...
Contribute here: nagt.org/nagt/get_inv...
Reposted by Ben Johnson
"For me, the answer now lies in refusal, the withdrawal of participation from systems that require dishonesty as the price of belonging."
Today I am resigning from the National Science Board and the Library of Congress Scholars Council.
I wrote about my decision in TIME.
time.com/7285045/resi...
Today I am resigning from the National Science Board and the Library of Congress Scholars Council.
I wrote about my decision in TIME.
time.com/7285045/resi...
Why I’m Resigning from the NSF and Library of Congress
I cannot participate in systems that require dishonesty as the price of belonging.
time.com
May 13, 2025 at 11:19 AM
"For me, the answer now lies in refusal, the withdrawal of participation from systems that require dishonesty as the price of belonging."
Today I am resigning from the National Science Board and the Library of Congress Scholars Council.
I wrote about my decision in TIME.
time.com/7285045/resi...
Today I am resigning from the National Science Board and the Library of Congress Scholars Council.
I wrote about my decision in TIME.
time.com/7285045/resi...
Reposted by Ben Johnson
Interesting article on the spatial biases in paleotemperature reconstructions using d18O. Important observations:
• End-Ordovician-Silurian was colder than appears
• End-Carboniferous was even colder than appear in face-value-record
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
🧪 ⚒️ #Geology #Paleobio
• End-Ordovician-Silurian was colder than appears
• End-Carboniferous was even colder than appear in face-value-record
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
🧪 ⚒️ #Geology #Paleobio
May 13, 2025 at 11:18 AM
Interesting article on the spatial biases in paleotemperature reconstructions using d18O. Important observations:
• End-Ordovician-Silurian was colder than appears
• End-Carboniferous was even colder than appear in face-value-record
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
🧪 ⚒️ #Geology #Paleobio
• End-Ordovician-Silurian was colder than appears
• End-Carboniferous was even colder than appear in face-value-record
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
🧪 ⚒️ #Geology #Paleobio
Reposted by Ben Johnson
Exclusive: National Science Foundation staff were told today that the agency’s 37 divisions—across all eight directorates—are being abolished and the number of programs within those divisions will be drastically reduced.
Exclusive: NSF faces radical shake-up as officials abolish its 37 divisions
Changes seen as a response to presidential directives on what research to fund
scim.ag
May 8, 2025 at 11:35 PM
Exclusive: National Science Foundation staff were told today that the agency’s 37 divisions—across all eight directorates—are being abolished and the number of programs within those divisions will be drastically reduced.
Reposted by Ben Johnson
🔔BREAKING🔔
The NSF has frozen all research grant awards—cutting off life-saving science midstream and demanding ideological screenings for future funding.
This is censorship disguised as oversight.
Here’s how you can help us spread the word ➡️🧵(1/3):
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
The NSF has frozen all research grant awards—cutting off life-saving science midstream and demanding ideological screenings for future funding.
This is censorship disguised as oversight.
Here’s how you can help us spread the word ➡️🧵(1/3):
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Exclusive: NSF stops awarding new grants and funding existing ones
US science funder also plans to screen grant applications for compliance with ‘agency priorities’.
www.nature.com
May 2, 2025 at 1:31 AM
🔔BREAKING🔔
The NSF has frozen all research grant awards—cutting off life-saving science midstream and demanding ideological screenings for future funding.
This is censorship disguised as oversight.
Here’s how you can help us spread the word ➡️🧵(1/3):
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
The NSF has frozen all research grant awards—cutting off life-saving science midstream and demanding ideological screenings for future funding.
This is censorship disguised as oversight.
Here’s how you can help us spread the word ➡️🧵(1/3):
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Ben Johnson
The @planetarysociety.bsky.social makes it super easy to send letters to your congresspeople urging them to support NASA science during these trying times. If you believe in the power of science to transform the world for the better, please consider doing this.
Advocacy Action Center
The Planetary Society is organizing a new space constituency that is educated, empowered, and loud.
www.planetary.org
April 15, 2025 at 12:20 PM
The @planetarysociety.bsky.social makes it super easy to send letters to your congresspeople urging them to support NASA science during these trying times. If you believe in the power of science to transform the world for the better, please consider doing this.
Reposted by Ben Johnson
BREAKING from @science.org: The Trump admin is seeking to kill nearly all climate research at NOAA, its climate science agency.
Its near-final budget proposal would end all NOAA research labs, academic institutes, and regional climate centers. And it wants to fully end the NOAA Research division.
Its near-final budget proposal would end all NOAA research labs, academic institutes, and regional climate centers. And it wants to fully end the NOAA Research division.
Trump seeks to end climate research at premier U.S. climate agency
White House aims to end NOAA’s research office; NASA also targeted
www.science.org
April 11, 2025 at 3:20 PM
BREAKING from @science.org: The Trump admin is seeking to kill nearly all climate research at NOAA, its climate science agency.
Its near-final budget proposal would end all NOAA research labs, academic institutes, and regional climate centers. And it wants to fully end the NOAA Research division.
Its near-final budget proposal would end all NOAA research labs, academic institutes, and regional climate centers. And it wants to fully end the NOAA Research division.
Reposted by Ben Johnson
Exclusive: Weeks after President Donald Trump’s administration ordered NIH to pull $250 million in biomedical research grants to Columbia University, the agency is freezing all remaining grant money owed to the university until further notice. scim.ag/4if5Rg1
NIH freezes all research grants to Columbia University
Amid negotiations with Trump, the university could risk losing nearly $700 million
scim.ag
April 9, 2025 at 6:56 PM
Exclusive: Weeks after President Donald Trump’s administration ordered NIH to pull $250 million in biomedical research grants to Columbia University, the agency is freezing all remaining grant money owed to the university until further notice. scim.ag/4if5Rg1
Reposted by Ben Johnson
Reposted by Ben Johnson
The DOGE firings have nothing to do with “efficiency” or “cutting waste.” They’re a direct push to weaken federal agencies perceived as liberal. This was evident from the start, and now the data confirms it: targeted agencies overwhelmingly those seen as more left-leaning. 🧵⬇️
February 20, 2025 at 2:18 AM
The DOGE firings have nothing to do with “efficiency” or “cutting waste.” They’re a direct push to weaken federal agencies perceived as liberal. This was evident from the start, and now the data confirms it: targeted agencies overwhelmingly those seen as more left-leaning. 🧵⬇️
Reposted by Ben Johnson
Please let the GEO/EAR community know: Program Directors and Mission Support who’ve been at NSF under two years were just terminated via Zoom. Even those of us whose offer letter stated one probationary year and whose government data states “permanent”.
February 18, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Please let the GEO/EAR community know: Program Directors and Mission Support who’ve been at NSF under two years were just terminated via Zoom. Even those of us whose offer letter stated one probationary year and whose government data states “permanent”.
Reposted by Ben Johnson
In Iowa:
NIH Funding:
$209 million
Jobs Supported:
2,579
Economic Activity Supported:
$504 million
www.unitedformedicalresearch.org/nih-in-your-...
NIH Funding:
$209 million
Jobs Supported:
2,579
Economic Activity Supported:
$504 million
www.unitedformedicalresearch.org/nih-in-your-...
February 8, 2025 at 6:27 PM
In Iowa:
NIH Funding:
$209 million
Jobs Supported:
2,579
Economic Activity Supported:
$504 million
www.unitedformedicalresearch.org/nih-in-your-...
NIH Funding:
$209 million
Jobs Supported:
2,579
Economic Activity Supported:
$504 million
www.unitedformedicalresearch.org/nih-in-your-...