Maureen Kearney
@maureenmkearney.bsky.social
Biology, evolution, phylogenetics, biodiversity, sustainability, science, and science policy. Also: nature, music, poetry, history, philosophy and all the good things.
Reposted by Maureen Kearney
The Nation stands up for the nation.
www.thenation.com/article/acti...
www.thenation.com/article/acti...
“The Nation” Nominates Minneapolis for the Nobel Peace Prize
With their resistance to violent authoritarianism, the people of Minneapolis have renewed the spirit of Dr. King’s call for “the positive affirmation of peace.”
www.thenation.com
February 12, 2026 at 10:30 PM
The Nation stands up for the nation.
www.thenation.com/article/acti...
www.thenation.com/article/acti...
Reposted by Maureen Kearney
I stand with Colette.
WTF
Staying silent would be better than this… a lot better.
He also said that he would sue Harvard for $1B because to NYT hurt his feelings with good reporting.
@standupforscience.bsky.social
WTF
Staying silent would be better than this… a lot better.
He also said that he would sue Harvard for $1B because to NYT hurt his feelings with good reporting.
@standupforscience.bsky.social
MERE HOURS after the President of the United States posted an AI video of the Obama’s as monkeys, the Science Tech Action Committee (led by @aaas.org and @researchamerica.bsky.social) posted a THANK YOU to TRUMP for SIGNING THE BUDGET.
Shot. Chaser.
sciencetechaction.org/aboutus/
Shot. Chaser.
sciencetechaction.org/aboutus/
February 7, 2026 at 1:46 AM
I stand with Colette.
WTF
Staying silent would be better than this… a lot better.
He also said that he would sue Harvard for $1B because to NYT hurt his feelings with good reporting.
@standupforscience.bsky.social
WTF
Staying silent would be better than this… a lot better.
He also said that he would sue Harvard for $1B because to NYT hurt his feelings with good reporting.
@standupforscience.bsky.social
Reposted by Maureen Kearney
Ta-Nehisi Coates lays bare in brilliant prose the original sin of the Department of Homeland Security. It is right there in its name. www.vanityfair.com/news/story/t...
“The Homeland” Is War on America: The Blood-and-Soil Nationalism That Killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti
In the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, Trump has clarified an inconvenient fact: The culture war is an actual war.
www.vanityfair.com
January 27, 2026 at 1:33 PM
Ta-Nehisi Coates lays bare in brilliant prose the original sin of the Department of Homeland Security. It is right there in its name. www.vanityfair.com/news/story/t...
Reposted by Maureen Kearney
This graph makes me want to cry.
This is the most astonishing graph of what the Trump regime has done to US science. They have destroyed the federal science workforce across the board. The negative impacts on Americans will be felt for generations, and the US might never be the same again.
www.nature.com/immersive/d4...
www.nature.com/immersive/d4...
January 20, 2026 at 11:54 PM
This graph makes me want to cry.
Sometimes, you just really have to contemplate the distinction between gatekeeping and peer review...
January 20, 2026 at 11:05 PM
Sometimes, you just really have to contemplate the distinction between gatekeeping and peer review...
Exactly. Not to mention damage to translational science-based policies, or the redistribution of funding away from critical research agendas and towards others.
This reflects only the appropriation levels.
The damage done to processes and personnel within the science agencies is considerable.
The damage done to processes and personnel within the science agencies is considerable.
“Science is doing OK,” [AAAS spokesperson says] “Things are not bad at all, given our expectations.”
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/10/s...
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/10/s...
January 11, 2026 at 1:03 PM
Exactly. Not to mention damage to translational science-based policies, or the redistribution of funding away from critical research agendas and towards others.
Reposted by Maureen Kearney
Powerful piece in STAT this morning from some NIH staff members who have resigned
www.statnews.com/2026/01/10/n...
1/3
www.statnews.com/2026/01/10/n...
1/3
The NIH has lost its scientific integrity. So we left
“We can no longer lend our credibility to an organization that has lost its integrity,” write four scientists and administrators who recently resigned from the NIH.
www.statnews.com
January 10, 2026 at 12:24 PM
Powerful piece in STAT this morning from some NIH staff members who have resigned
www.statnews.com/2026/01/10/n...
1/3
www.statnews.com/2026/01/10/n...
1/3
Reposted by Maureen Kearney
“We cannot withdraw from the fact that over 1 million species of plants and animals face extinction.”
IPBES remains committed to its mandate to provide the most credible science and evidence about biodiversity to all decision makers and actors.
— @davidobura.bsky.social , @ipbes.net Chair
IPBES remains committed to its mandate to provide the most credible science and evidence about biodiversity to all decision makers and actors.
— @davidobura.bsky.social , @ipbes.net Chair
January 8, 2026 at 6:13 PM
“We cannot withdraw from the fact that over 1 million species of plants and animals face extinction.”
IPBES remains committed to its mandate to provide the most credible science and evidence about biodiversity to all decision makers and actors.
— @davidobura.bsky.social , @ipbes.net Chair
IPBES remains committed to its mandate to provide the most credible science and evidence about biodiversity to all decision makers and actors.
— @davidobura.bsky.social , @ipbes.net Chair
Reposted by Maureen Kearney
“President Trump’s withdrawal of the United States from the bedrock global treaty to tackle climate change is a new low and yet another a sign that this authoritarian, anti-science administration is determined to sacrifice people’s well-being and destabilize global cooperation."
Read UCS Statement:
Read UCS Statement:
Trump Sinks to New Low by Announcing US Withdrawal from 66 International Organizations, Including UNFCCC and IPCC
President Trump announced today that he is removing the United States from the UNFCCC and IPCC, as well as 64 other entities or U.N. organizations. Statements by the Union of Concerned Scientists.
www.ucs.org
January 8, 2026 at 1:33 AM
“President Trump’s withdrawal of the United States from the bedrock global treaty to tackle climate change is a new low and yet another a sign that this authoritarian, anti-science administration is determined to sacrifice people’s well-being and destabilize global cooperation."
Read UCS Statement:
Read UCS Statement:
Includes withdrawal from IPBES and IPCC..
So, this happened today. www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
January 8, 2026 at 1:03 AM
Includes withdrawal from IPBES and IPCC..
This morning, Mavis Staples' "It's a Sad and Beautiful World" came up for me and I thought - pretty apropos right now. And that was before the news of today...
Maybe all we have left right now is to document things and tell the truth about what's happening and write heartrending songs, IDK.
Maybe all we have left right now is to document things and tell the truth about what's happening and write heartrending songs, IDK.
January 7, 2026 at 10:30 PM
This morning, Mavis Staples' "It's a Sad and Beautiful World" came up for me and I thought - pretty apropos right now. And that was before the news of today...
Maybe all we have left right now is to document things and tell the truth about what's happening and write heartrending songs, IDK.
Maybe all we have left right now is to document things and tell the truth about what's happening and write heartrending songs, IDK.
Reposted by Maureen Kearney
This is a little orgasmic, I won’t lie.
Mamdani: For too long, those fluent in the good grammar of civility have deployed decorum to mask agendas of cruelty
January 1, 2026 at 8:29 PM
This is a little orgasmic, I won’t lie.
You know you really have the right sort of friends, when you receive a gift with a card that reads "CAUTION: Contains mushrooms!"😍
December 23, 2025 at 3:32 PM
You know you really have the right sort of friends, when you receive a gift with a card that reads "CAUTION: Contains mushrooms!"😍
Reposted by Maureen Kearney
But it is also frequently over-estiamted. Thus I would suggest people look at this new paper (not by me) on this topic:
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
"Reassessing Interkingdom Horizontal Gene Transfer Suggests Limited Influence on Plant Genomes"
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
"Reassessing Interkingdom Horizontal Gene Transfer Suggests Limited Influence on Plant Genomes"
Reassessing Interkingdom Horizontal Gene Transfer Suggests Limited Influence on Plant Genomes
Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) has been proposed as an important contributor to plant genome evolution, with hundreds of candidate genes reported across kingdoms. By reanalyzing published cases with ...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
December 22, 2025 at 12:39 AM
But it is also frequently over-estiamted. Thus I would suggest people look at this new paper (not by me) on this topic:
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
"Reassessing Interkingdom Horizontal Gene Transfer Suggests Limited Influence on Plant Genomes"
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
"Reassessing Interkingdom Horizontal Gene Transfer Suggests Limited Influence on Plant Genomes"
Reposted by Maureen Kearney
December 19, 2025 at 2:03 AM
Reposted by Maureen Kearney
Meanwhile, over at NSF…
NSF now planning to let POs largely decide what gets funded, and to send PIs reviews that are only 3-5 sentences long. They don't have to use outside reviewers (except maybe 1) and don't have to convene panels. (1/5)
NSF pares down grant-review process, reducing influence of outside scientists
Memo cites overburdened staff, but some say move also aims to elevate White House priorities
www.science.org
December 16, 2025 at 2:14 AM
Meanwhile, over at NSF…
Reposted by Maureen Kearney
From Nina Simone’s lyrical protest of systemic racism to Bad Bunny’s advocacy for immigrants’ rights through song, music has always played a critical role in resistance.
Sounds like activism: musicians who fight for change – in pictures
Photographer Janette Beckman and curator Julie Grahame have organized a one-time fundraiser for the ACLU that showcases images of musicians who have recorded protest songs or are known for their activism
www.theguardian.com
December 12, 2025 at 11:41 PM
From Nina Simone’s lyrical protest of systemic racism to Bad Bunny’s advocacy for immigrants’ rights through song, music has always played a critical role in resistance.
Reposted by Maureen Kearney
New Special Issue of #HOPOS on Paul Feyerabend.
Featuring a new transcription and critical overview of Paul Feyerabend’s unpublished manuscript “On the Responsibility of Scientists” as well as eight new papers.
Link to the special issue: www.journals.uchicago.edu/toc/hopos/20...
Featuring a new transcription and critical overview of Paul Feyerabend’s unpublished manuscript “On the Responsibility of Scientists” as well as eight new papers.
Link to the special issue: www.journals.uchicago.edu/toc/hopos/20...
December 10, 2025 at 8:01 AM
New Special Issue of #HOPOS on Paul Feyerabend.
Featuring a new transcription and critical overview of Paul Feyerabend’s unpublished manuscript “On the Responsibility of Scientists” as well as eight new papers.
Link to the special issue: www.journals.uchicago.edu/toc/hopos/20...
Featuring a new transcription and critical overview of Paul Feyerabend’s unpublished manuscript “On the Responsibility of Scientists” as well as eight new papers.
Link to the special issue: www.journals.uchicago.edu/toc/hopos/20...
a reminder to focus on processes, not things.
By focussing on charismatic large fauna rather than restoring ecosystem functions, there is the danger that some rewilding projects
are less about radical processed-based conservation
and instead are a reinvention of species-centric approaches
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
are less about radical processed-based conservation
and instead are a reinvention of species-centric approaches
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Biodiversity conservation requires integration of species-centric and process-based strategies | PNAS
Conservation science and policy are geared primarily toward the preservation of species
and habitats, with priority often given to the rarest, most...
www.pnas.org
December 10, 2025 at 1:32 PM
a reminder to focus on processes, not things.
Reposted by Maureen Kearney
The National Academies is inviting nominations for experts to review the draft United by Nature assessment. Ecology, climate, conservation, social science, sci-comm + more. If someone comes to mind—maybe you—please nominate & please the word!
www.nationalacademies.org/projects/DEL...
www.nationalacademies.org/projects/DEL...
Review of the draft United by Nature assessment
The United by Nature Assessment is designed to be “a holistic assessment of U.S. lands, waters, and wildlife, and the benefits they provide.
www.nationalacademies.org
December 2, 2025 at 8:32 AM
The National Academies is inviting nominations for experts to review the draft United by Nature assessment. Ecology, climate, conservation, social science, sci-comm + more. If someone comes to mind—maybe you—please nominate & please the word!
www.nationalacademies.org/projects/DEL...
www.nationalacademies.org/projects/DEL...
"The N.S.F. started the year with funding delays...it lost about a third of its employees in layoffs or forced retirements. The agency ended the year awarding 25 percent fewer new grants."
The nuanced impacts of internal budget decisions made due to fiscal crisis.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
The nuanced impacts of internal budget decisions made due to fiscal crisis.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
The U.S. Is Funding Fewer Grants in Every Area of Science and Medicine (Gift Article)
A quiet policy change means the government is making fewer bets on long-term science.
www.nytimes.com
December 2, 2025 at 1:51 PM
"The N.S.F. started the year with funding delays...it lost about a third of its employees in layoffs or forced retirements. The agency ended the year awarding 25 percent fewer new grants."
The nuanced impacts of internal budget decisions made due to fiscal crisis.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
The nuanced impacts of internal budget decisions made due to fiscal crisis.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Reposted by Maureen Kearney
A major reorganization and significant downsizing has left scientists wondering about the future of the US National Academies. www.science.org/content/arti...
Can a smaller U.S. National Academies remain relevant?
Loss of federal support leads to staff layoffs and fewer committees of outside experts
www.science.org
November 21, 2025 at 10:02 PM
A major reorganization and significant downsizing has left scientists wondering about the future of the US National Academies. www.science.org/content/arti...
Reposted by Maureen Kearney
It is very hard to overstate the evil of the fossil fuel industry.
When people finally do figure it out, it may be too late to undo the damage.
When people finally do figure it out, it may be too late to undo the damage.
U.N. climate talks fizzle out 10 years after Paris accord
Nearly 200 countries at the U.N. climate summit reached a deal that didn’t include a road map to curtail use of fossil fuels, the main driver of climate change.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 23, 2025 at 2:14 PM
It is very hard to overstate the evil of the fossil fuel industry.
When people finally do figure it out, it may be too late to undo the damage.
When people finally do figure it out, it may be too late to undo the damage.
Look who I found in a photo hangin' around next to Robyn Hitchcock at a recent show... "Where's Gordon?"
November 23, 2025 at 11:05 AM
Look who I found in a photo hangin' around next to Robyn Hitchcock at a recent show... "Where's Gordon?"
Reposted by Maureen Kearney
A tour de force expose of those trying to smother us in anti-science propaganda. Michael Mann and Peter Hotez are leaders in confronting the anti-science crowd. They describe their own experiences and name and shame the organizations and individuals involved and how we can defeat them. Read it. 🧪
November 13, 2025 at 10:52 PM
A tour de force expose of those trying to smother us in anti-science propaganda. Michael Mann and Peter Hotez are leaders in confronting the anti-science crowd. They describe their own experiences and name and shame the organizations and individuals involved and how we can defeat them. Read it. 🧪