Heather Killen
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heatherkillen.bsky.social
Heather Killen
@heatherkillen.bsky.social
Postdoc @ Institute for Learning Sciences UBuffalo • 2023 National Academy of Education/Spencer Dissertation Fellow • PhD @ UMaryland • Mapmaker and Community Data Storyteller supporting local landscape and climate change learning • she/her
Being at the American Educational Research Association conference and watching in real time as people learn the National Science Foundation has canceled promised funding mid-project is heartbreaking.
April 25, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Data transparency is essential. I shared these slides last month at a conference and now they are public. I'd love for researchers to use and share them widely. sites.google.com/view/tobecle...
ToBeClear
Welcome to the ToBeClear Project Public access to federally collected data in the United States is under threat by shifting political stances regarding the collection, funding, and maintenance of fede...
sites.google.com
April 17, 2025 at 2:17 PM
So excited to have had the opportunity to present my work on collaborative community mapping for peer to peer climate change learning alongside this important work from @heather2mezimm.bsky.social and colleagues this week at @narst.bsky.social
Our Penn State College of Education research team was excited to present our work about supporting family talk and learning in informal settings with augmented reality at NARST 2025. I had great conversations with my Strand 6 and Strand 14 colleagues. @narst.bsky.social @psuedu.bsky.social
March 27, 2025 at 1:12 PM
Reposted by Heather Killen
Our Penn State College of Education research team was excited to present our work about supporting family talk and learning in informal settings with augmented reality at NARST 2025. I had great conversations with my Strand 6 and Strand 14 colleagues. @narst.bsky.social @psuedu.bsky.social
March 26, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Moved in August and hoped there might be bulbs hiding in the backyard. So far so magical. Snowdrops everywhere!
March 19, 2025 at 9:16 PM
Another example of how last fall was many lifetimes ago: Prepping for next week's science Ed conference: Oh it's a presentation, I was sure I got in as a poster . . . Huh, apparently I also signed up to be a mentor . . . Oh yeah, I do vaguely remember signing up for that pre-conference field trip.
March 17, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Reposted by Heather Killen
We are so lucky to have @charleswlogan.bsky.social here to educate, inspire, and lead. What a privilege.
March 14, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Houses everywhere that have been just fine for 30, 50, or even 100 years are now in danger from more intense storms, heavier rain, higher tides, and faster fires. There are still actions we can take to make our tomorrows better. Fund #climatescience and #climateresilience
youtu.be/D3TzgisfAf8?...
Beach house collapses into water
YouTube video by CNN
youtu.be
February 24, 2025 at 7:47 PM
Was at #AAASmtg last weekend and saw a fair to good job meeting this moment. The individual presentations included references to no-longer available data sets and funding as needed, while multiple panels seemed (re?)crafted to speak to our new reality. www.statnews.com/2025/02/17/a...
At premier science gathering, ‘anger, uncertainty, and anxiety’ about the future of research under Trump
At the AAAS annual meeting, "anger, uncertainty, and anxiety" about the future of science under Trump.
www.statnews.com
February 20, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Lovely picture of McMurdo, where I was lucky enough to live and work for a season, way back when the government valued being a world leader in scientific knowledge production.
Sabotage. Criminal sabotage.

"[The NSF] is planning to lay off between a quarter and a half of its staff in the next two months, a top National Science Foundation official said Tuesday."

www.eenews.net/articles/sci...
Science funding agency threatened with mass layoffs
National Science Foundation staff heard the plans at a meeting Tuesday.
www.eenews.net
February 5, 2025 at 12:53 AM
This is neither a fair or accurate metaphor, but I keep thinking about how DC feels like LA facing wildfires right now. The Elon wind is a fierce, but almost invisible, threat. It is setting small fires everywhere that then rage out of control. Everyone knows someone who has lost their career.
February 4, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Never would have thought that getting that NSF postdoc application in would land me on a historic Dear PI email list. I am to stop all "non-compliant grant and award activities" immediately while being thanked for my "work advancing science, engineering, technology and innovation for our nation."
January 29, 2025 at 3:31 AM
You simply can't live in Buffalo without rooting for the Bills. What a special fandom. Let's go Buffalo!!
January 26, 2025 at 11:39 PM
An early hiring freeze is normal. Biden had one. Requiring people to come back to duty stations continues an unevenly enforced Biden policy. Firing people for making sure that federal recruiters went to HBCUs as well as all the other universities - that's the one that deserves our energy.
January 24, 2025 at 12:55 AM
A torrent of executive orders are about to land on our heads. Starting tomorrow, we will have concrete notice about what we need to show up for and stand against. So let's take a minute to understand what an executive order is, and, very importantly, what it is not. 🧵
January 20, 2025 at 9:09 PM
We are getting deeper into the journey driven by human-generated CO2, however, as I heard a county resiliency officer once say, "Just because you missed your stop you don't ride the bus to the end of the line." Decisions now will have amplified future effects. Let's all work to get off this bus.
January 9, 2025 at 7:58 PM
Reposted by Heather Killen
SoCal friends, I’m so sorry you’re dealing with this. A few things I wish I’d known as we evacuated ahead of a wildfire (that took our home in 2021) 🧵
January 8, 2025 at 10:54 PM
Professionally, I care about equitable responses to local climate challenges.
Personally, the historic church I was baptized in burned to nothing in Lahaina. Now my grandfather's beautiful mausoleum is likely lost in Altadena. Climate-driven loss is personal for hundreds of thousands this week.
January 9, 2025 at 2:08 PM
✅ I hit send on a postdoc fellowship to NSF this afternoon! Whatever the outcome what a great learning journey. 🛫
If you want to focus your thinking, apply to a big funding opportunity. They are built to make you hone your ideas and a hard deadline is magic!. 🧙
December 3, 2024 at 11:19 PM
So if you were going to send a survey to all the K-12 teachers in a state in a effort to get a current snapshot of what they are doing and thinking about climate education, what yould you ask?
I might be doing a thing . . .
November 27, 2024 at 10:53 PM
Left work today at 5:45pm. It was pitch black, 42 degrees, and the parking lot was full of tailgaters for the home game. Color me impressed U Buffalo. #hornsup!
November 27, 2024 at 3:10 AM
Loved rooting on the #WashingtonSpirit last night in the #NWSL final! But get it together #Paramount+ The link to the main feed disappeared, leaving only the 'Star Cam' option. No surprise that watching a single player wait for the ball is not a viable way to view a match.
November 25, 2024 at 5:49 AM
Reposted by Heather Killen

These opportunities include sectors already mobilizing, sub-national progress including - state leadership, America is All in (org commitments), & Climate Mayors (city leadership) & the businesses that keep building this market because the need doesn’t go away.
www.wri.org/insights/tru...
Trump May Thwart Federal Climate Action, but Opportunities for Progress Remain
The Trump administration will inevitably stall much climate action at the federal level. Nevertheless, opportunities for progress remain.
www.wri.org
November 24, 2024 at 4:48 PM
Reposted by Heather Killen
Education peeps, we released a new report today on scaling and sustaining innovations in STEM education. Overview available here. Report is free online and download able PDF.
nap.nationalacademies.org/resource/279...
Scaling and Sustaining Pre-K-12 STEM Education Innovations Systemic Challenges, Systemic Responses
Scaling and Sustaining Pre-K-12 STEM Education Innovations Systemic Challenges, Systemic Responses
nap.nationalacademies.org
November 21, 2024 at 12:02 AM