Greg Tucker
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gregtucker.bsky.social
Greg Tucker
@gregtucker.bsky.social
Earth science researcher, educator, writer, and open-source software lover. Professor at CU Boulder and Executive Director of CSDMS.

Slightly longer musings at https://earthcastings.ghost.io
US researchers: Do you think science should be free from political interference? Do you think NCAR is a national treasure that shouldn't be erased at the stroke of a pen? Please consider submitting comments on NSF's Strategic Plan. Deadline is Tue 27 Jan midnight ET.

www.nsf.gov/od/updates/n...
NSF seeks public input on its Fiscal Year (FY) 2026–2030 NSF Strategic Plan
www.nsf.gov
January 24, 2026 at 7:48 PM
Just finished Mark Miodownik’s wonderful book “It’s a Gas” - highly recommend! @markmiodownik.bsky.social

www.penguin.co.uk/books/312206...
It's a Gas
Why are most gases invisible, odourless and tasteless? Why do some poison us and others make us laugh? And why do some power our engines while others make drinks fizzy? In It's a Gas, Mark Miodownik m...
www.penguin.co.uk
January 18, 2026 at 7:55 PM
Reposted by Greg Tucker
The National Science Foundation sign on our Eisenhower Av building is now gone.

The NSF mural in the foyer is removed and torn off in sheets.

We were supposed to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the agency in May 2025. That never happened.
January 18, 2026 at 2:00 AM
Reposted by Greg Tucker
This may come as a shock to you, but I wrote a thing.
Begins with ICE violence in Minnesota, ends with the Buddhist walk for peace across the Southeast. Discusses the profound weakness of the administration in the middle.
Weak Violence, Strong Peace: Who We Are in This Crisis
It's getting more extreme out there, especially in Minnesota where the unaccountable army of the Trump regime has, in the wake of its murder, beaten up employees, ripped civilians from their cars, kid...
www.meditationsinanemergency.com
January 14, 2026 at 6:09 PM
Reposted by Greg Tucker
I encourage everyone to read this beautiful piece by my friend Lisa Graumlich.

open.substack.com/pub/lisagrau...
THIN PLACES: CLIMATE CHANGE AND SEEING EARTH WHOLE
Published on the winter solstice, 2025 - a thin time for reflection and turning.
open.substack.com
December 29, 2025 at 5:32 AM
Reposted by Greg Tucker
In the span of four days, we’ve built a coalition of over 80 lawmakers — including several Republicans — to stop the dismantling of NCAR.

I’m grateful to them for their efforts as we work to secure language protecting NCAR in the upcoming CJS appropriations bill.

We will not back down!

👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽
Proud to build and lead a bipartisan coalition with Rep. Jeff Hurd and @bennet.senate.gov & @hickenlooper.senate.gov — joined by more than 80 of our colleagues in the House and Senate — to protect NCAR in the FY26 NSF appropriations bill.

We will not stop until NCAR is protected — period.
December 23, 2025 at 1:58 AM
Reposted by Greg Tucker
Scientist at #AGU25 are speaking out to #SaveNCAR. Join more than 2000 of your colleagues to call or email your members of Congress to ask them to support NCAR today: agu.quorum.us/campaign/151...
December 18, 2025 at 10:25 PM
Reposted by Greg Tucker
From wildfire warnings to flood forecasts, NCAR's research impacts everyone in America.

President Trump's attempt to dismantle it for political vengeance is beyond reckless.

We will fight against this dangerous scheme every step of the way.
December 20, 2025 at 11:32 PM
Reposted by Greg Tucker
December 19, 2025 at 12:08 AM
NCAR is a crown jewel of US scientific innovation. Dismantling it is utterly crazy. I hope representatives around the country are hearing lots of pushback from their constituents.
NCAR is quite literally our global mothership.

Everyone who works in climate and weather has passed through its doors and benefited from its incredible resources.

Dismantling NCAR is like taking a sledgehammer to the keystone holding up our scientific understanding of the planet.

Unbelievable.
Trump moves to dismantle major US climate research center in Colorado
The Trump administration is breaking up the National Center for Atmospheric Research, taking aim at one of the world's leading climate research labs.
www.usatoday.com
December 18, 2025 at 1:15 AM
Lewis Fry Richardson, often considered the father of numerical weather prediction, turns out to have been a fascinating guy: scientist, Quaker, pacifist, visionary. I wrote a short piece about his legacy:
earthcastings.ghost.io/a-roomful-of...
A Roomful of Computers: the Prescience of Lewis Fry Richardson
In a course I teach on geophysical fluid mechanics, I like show students a video depicting a year of weather on planet earth. The video looks down on a projected map of the world as viewed from space....
earthcastings.ghost.io
December 9, 2025 at 11:11 PM
Reposted by Greg Tucker
Election Day is a week from tomorrow, and millions of Americans have a chance to elect important local leaders — judges, council members, school boards, and more — crucial to defending and rebuilding democracy. If you haven’t already, make a plan to cast your vote.
Everything You Need to Vote - Vote.org
Register to vote. Check your registration status. Get your absentee ballot. Fast, free, easy, secure, nonpartisan.
www.vote.org
October 28, 2025 at 12:54 AM
Reposted by Greg Tucker
Applications are open for the CIRES Visiting Fellows Program! Two-year fellowships are available for postdocs, and terms of up to 12 months for senior scientists on leave or sabbatical. Learn more: cires.colorado.edu/award-progra... #fellowships #postdoc #sabbatical Photo:@alibanwell.bsky.social
October 27, 2025 at 7:51 PM
I recently gave a talk on earth science to a group of middle schoolers, and it dawned on me that many of the kids in that age group will be alive to witness what the outcome of Roger Revelle's "great geophysical experiment" looks like in the year 2100.

earthcastings.ghost.io/pathways/
Pathways
Last month I was invited to give a lecture on earth science to a group of 8th graders at a nearby middle school. I leaped at the chance. Although my day job is teaching university students, it’s not o...
earthcastings.ghost.io
October 26, 2025 at 10:24 PM
Reposted by Greg Tucker
No words
May 30, 2025 at 12:23 PM
Reposted by Greg Tucker
It’s not too late to join the #NoKingsKickoff livestream! Great line up of speakers.
🚨 Big news: @markruffalo.bsky.social will also join us tonight! We hope to see you in an hour at the No Kings mass kickoff call as we look ahead to our next nationwide day of defiance: www.mobilize.us/nokings/even...
September 19, 2025 at 12:19 AM
This summer I got the chance to visit the home town of Eunice Newton Foote, the 19th century inventor and scientist who first noted the heat-trapping property of CO2, and who was also a key player in the US women’s rights movement:

earthcastings.ghost.io/the-wizard-o...
The Wizard of Seneca Falls
I’m enchanted by waterfalls, and not just for the obvious reasons. To a geologist, a waterfall is a slow-motion wave in solid rock. Occasionally you find waterfalls that are stationary, pinned in plac...
earthcastings.ghost.io
September 9, 2025 at 12:36 AM
Interesting perspective on higher ed teaching in the age of AI (gift link):
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/26/o...
Opinion | Students Hate Them. Universities Need Them. The Only Real Solution to the A.I. Cheating Crisis.
www.nytimes.com
August 26, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Reposted by Greg Tucker
I wrote a thing, a roundup of some of the resistance going on.
August 12, 2025 at 2:43 AM
Reposted by Greg Tucker
Federal agencies hiding out in a bunker
July 31, 2025 at 11:46 PM
Reposted by Greg Tucker
Geologic Periods

xkcd.com/3120/
July 28, 2025 at 11:58 PM
“The flowing water in a mad river reshapes the entire landscape, a process known as fluvial erosion.”

www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
In an Age of Climate Change, How Do We Cope with Floods?
The deaths in the Texas Hill Country are a tragic testament to the force of a raging river. Flood-stricken Vermont has a radical plan to counter the threat it faces.
www.newyorker.com
July 28, 2025 at 3:24 AM
Reposted by Greg Tucker
An effusive review of #ScienceUnderSiege by #KirkusReviews of my forthcoming book with @peterhotezmdphd.bsky.social, #ScienceUnderSiege
SCIENCE UNDER SIEGE | Kirkus Reviews
Pursuing science and truth in the age of disinformation.
www.kirkusreviews.com
July 3, 2025 at 1:49 PM
July 2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the "Endless Frontier" report, which led to the establishment of NSF and transformed the US from a science backwater to a global research powerhouse. Will today's congress sustain or abandon that incredible success story?
earthcastings.ghost.io/the-endless-...
The Endless Frontier
This month marks the 80th anniversary of a report that transformed American science and technology. In July 1945, Vannevar Bush delivered a report to President Harry Truman titled “Science: The Endles...
earthcastings.ghost.io
July 3, 2025 at 1:48 AM