Sophie Gilbert
@sophielgilbert.bsky.social
Scientist working to better value and incorporate nature into our decisions. Climate, Biodiversity, Equity, let's do this! Biodiversity lead at Vibrant Planet, Affiliate faculty at U. Idaho.
I just discovered Students for Abundance and it's making me feel hopeful, which I needed today
studentsforabundance.org/chapters
studentsforabundance.org/chapters
Students for Abundance
We organize students across the country to renew our institutions and rebuild the American Dream.
studentsforabundance.org
January 5, 2026 at 10:53 PM
I just discovered Students for Abundance and it's making me feel hopeful, which I needed today
studentsforabundance.org/chapters
studentsforabundance.org/chapters
Reposted by Sophie Gilbert
In the era of affordability politics, making clean energy cheaper may be a more viable emissions mitigation strategy than making dirty energy more expensive. My latest over at The Climate Brink digs into the debate:
Keep it in the ground?
When the politics of affordability meet the needs of climate mitigation
www.theclimatebrink.com
January 5, 2026 at 5:19 PM
In the era of affordability politics, making clean energy cheaper may be a more viable emissions mitigation strategy than making dirty energy more expensive. My latest over at The Climate Brink digs into the debate:
Reposted by Sophie Gilbert
People of Bluesky! Are you ready for the Top Squirrels of 2025??????
a group of squirrels standing next to each other with a tumblr.com logo in the background
Alt: a group of animated squirrels very excited
media.tenor.com
December 31, 2025 at 2:54 PM
People of Bluesky! Are you ready for the Top Squirrels of 2025??????
Reposted by Sophie Gilbert
"In roughly five years, according to Lanzerac’s operations manager, Tiaan Lategan, electricity for the estate will essentially be free. 'The pros definitely outweigh the cons,' he said"
Simple math.
Simple math.
Cheap Solar Is Transforming Lives and Economies Across Africa
www.nytimes.com
December 31, 2025 at 3:13 PM
"In roughly five years, according to Lanzerac’s operations manager, Tiaan Lategan, electricity for the estate will essentially be free. 'The pros definitely outweigh the cons,' he said"
Simple math.
Simple math.
Reposted by Sophie Gilbert
We are expanding into Florida, and we are hiring! www.perc.org/careers/flor...
Florida Strategic Initiatives Director
The Florida Strategic Initiatives Director is an exciting new role that will coordinate PERC’s market-based conservation work in Florida to advance meaningful conservation outcomes through improvement...
www.perc.org
December 22, 2025 at 11:20 PM
We are expanding into Florida, and we are hiring! www.perc.org/careers/flor...
Controversial take: some friction in our lives, like the beautiful agony of trying to write something original, is good and we shouldn't try to smooth it out with tech.
a person is laying on their stomach on the floor with the word friction above them
ALT: a person is laying on their stomach on the floor with the word friction above them
media.tenor.com
December 28, 2025 at 6:13 PM
Controversial take: some friction in our lives, like the beautiful agony of trying to write something original, is good and we shouldn't try to smooth it out with tech.
Brownfield solar, preferably with eco-voltaics like native vegetation re-planting, for the double win! Additional clean energy AND restoration, same site, same time! #ConservationAbundance
There are over 10,000 closed landfills in the United States.
Something like 4,312 of these sites could host at least 63 gigawatts producing 83 terawatt hours of clean electricity annually.
#EnergySky
rmi.org/press-releas...
Something like 4,312 of these sites could host at least 63 gigawatts producing 83 terawatt hours of clean electricity annually.
#EnergySky
rmi.org/press-releas...
RMI Projects a Bright Future for Landfill Solar - RMI
RMI’s new report, The Future of Landfills Is Bright, outlines how governments can leverage closed landfills to bring clean energy, jobs and more to communities.
rmi.org
December 28, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Brownfield solar, preferably with eco-voltaics like native vegetation re-planting, for the double win! Additional clean energy AND restoration, same site, same time! #ConservationAbundance
Like 2025, my 2026 resolution is to use zero gen-AI*
It's bed for our cognitive function
It's bad for our social lives, because it's algorithmic and addictive
It's bad for our environment
Nope
*I'm ok with task-specific AI, like computer vision models for remote sensing of the environment
It's bed for our cognitive function
It's bad for our social lives, because it's algorithmic and addictive
It's bad for our environment
Nope
*I'm ok with task-specific AI, like computer vision models for remote sensing of the environment
a woman in a silver jacket is standing in front of a group of dancers and says " my sign is " .
ALT: a woman in a silver jacket is standing in front of a group of dancers and says " my sign is " .
media.tenor.com
December 28, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Like 2025, my 2026 resolution is to use zero gen-AI*
It's bed for our cognitive function
It's bad for our social lives, because it's algorithmic and addictive
It's bad for our environment
Nope
*I'm ok with task-specific AI, like computer vision models for remote sensing of the environment
It's bed for our cognitive function
It's bad for our social lives, because it's algorithmic and addictive
It's bad for our environment
Nope
*I'm ok with task-specific AI, like computer vision models for remote sensing of the environment
Reposted by Sophie Gilbert
"Hard-to-abate" is sometimes code for "we haven't looked closely yet." This great new report shows opportunities for clean heat (low/medium-temp industrial process heat) through electrification, which also has public health benefits.
December 23, 2025 at 4:29 PM
"Hard-to-abate" is sometimes code for "we haven't looked closely yet." This great new report shows opportunities for clean heat (low/medium-temp industrial process heat) through electrification, which also has public health benefits.
Reposted by Sophie Gilbert
A Wildfire Is Coming for Electricity Bills #energysky -- via Heatmap News heatmap.news/energy/...
December 22, 2025 at 9:03 PM
A Wildfire Is Coming for Electricity Bills #energysky -- via Heatmap News heatmap.news/energy/...
We are expanding into Florida, and we are hiring! www.perc.org/careers/flor...
Florida Strategic Initiatives Director
The Florida Strategic Initiatives Director is an exciting new role that will coordinate PERC’s market-based conservation work in Florida to advance meaningful conservation outcomes through improvement...
www.perc.org
December 22, 2025 at 11:20 PM
We are expanding into Florida, and we are hiring! www.perc.org/careers/flor...
Reposted by Sophie Gilbert
"We envision a resistance that is...a repudiation of the efficiencies that automated algorithmic education falsely promises: a resistance comprising the collective force of small acts of friction."
"How to Resist AI in Education" by me & @cnygren.bsky.social
www.publicbooks.org/four-frictio...
"How to Resist AI in Education" by me & @cnygren.bsky.social
www.publicbooks.org/four-frictio...
Four Frictions: or, How to Resist AI in Education - Public Books
We are calling for resistance to the AI industry’s ongoing capture of higher education.
www.publicbooks.org
December 16, 2025 at 5:27 PM
"We envision a resistance that is...a repudiation of the efficiencies that automated algorithmic education falsely promises: a resistance comprising the collective force of small acts of friction."
"How to Resist AI in Education" by me & @cnygren.bsky.social
www.publicbooks.org/four-frictio...
"How to Resist AI in Education" by me & @cnygren.bsky.social
www.publicbooks.org/four-frictio...
Ok folks, legal question here... CEQA seems to require a dynamic environmental baseline for the "no action" scenario/alternative, although I’ve never heard of it happening? - www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/...
December 16, 2025 at 10:27 PM
Ok folks, legal question here... CEQA seems to require a dynamic environmental baseline for the "no action" scenario/alternative, although I’ve never heard of it happening? - www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/...
Reposted by Sophie Gilbert
Community solar via agrivoltaics!
Community solar projects allow electricity ratepayers in nearby areas to save money by purchasing locally-produced solar power, even if they don’t have the means or desire to install solar panels on their own property.
#EnergySky
triplepundit.com/2025/farmers...
Community solar projects allow electricity ratepayers in nearby areas to save money by purchasing locally-produced solar power, even if they don’t have the means or desire to install solar panels on their own property.
#EnergySky
triplepundit.com/2025/farmers...
TriplePundit • A New Business Organization Helps U.S. Farmers Forge Community Connections with Solar Power
A New Business Organization Helps U.S. Farmers Forge Community Connections with Solar Power
triplepundit.com
December 16, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Community solar via agrivoltaics!
Community solar projects allow electricity ratepayers in nearby areas to save money by purchasing locally-produced solar power, even if they don’t have the means or desire to install solar panels on their own property.
#EnergySky
triplepundit.com/2025/farmers...
Community solar projects allow electricity ratepayers in nearby areas to save money by purchasing locally-produced solar power, even if they don’t have the means or desire to install solar panels on their own property.
#EnergySky
triplepundit.com/2025/farmers...
Reposted by Sophie Gilbert
Another way to restart the world’s idea machine is to restore funding and grants to universities, researchers, and artists.
America, you have spoken loud and clear: You do not like AI. But what if AI is the way to restart the world’s idea machine?
We’re running out of good ideas. AI might be how we find new ones.
What if the best use of AI is restarting the world’s idea machine?
www.vox.com
December 16, 2025 at 3:35 AM
Another way to restart the world’s idea machine is to restore funding and grants to universities, researchers, and artists.
Controversial take: if you cite a fake paper in your journal article, you should have to retract it.
Grading and googling hallucinated citations, as one does nowadays, and now that LLMs have been around for a while, I've discovered new horrors: hallucinated journals are now appearing in Google Scholar with dozens of citations bc so many people are citing these fake things
December 15, 2025 at 11:51 PM
Controversial take: if you cite a fake paper in your journal article, you should have to retract it.
Wildfires are getting more destructive in the US, especially in conifer forests of the Northwest...10% of exposed buildings were destroyed in 2002–2012, but this percentage more than tripled, to 32% in 2013–2022. Nice work @amandacarlson.bsky.social and co-authors! www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Rising rates of wildfire building destruction in the conterminous United States | PNAS
Many regions of the world have seen an increase in highly destructive wildfires, driven
by well-documented increases in burned area and growth of h...
www.pnas.org
December 15, 2025 at 11:47 PM
Wildfires are getting more destructive in the US, especially in conifer forests of the Northwest...10% of exposed buildings were destroyed in 2002–2012, but this percentage more than tripled, to 32% in 2013–2022. Nice work @amandacarlson.bsky.social and co-authors! www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
"I pay $90,000 in an electric bill,” Teichert said... “Jason’s about $150,000. If Jason had that $150,000 back, his kids could all come back to Cokeville, and work and live here, and you’d be able to raise kids here in Cokeville.”
insideclimatenews.org/news/1412202...
insideclimatenews.org/news/1412202...
Wyoming Ranchers Hoping Solar Can Lower Costs Say Utilities and the State Stand in Their Way - Inside Climate News
Lower electricity bills could help two Cokeville cattlemen compete and pass their businesses on to their kids, they say, but lawmakers won’t let ranch-scale solar projects feed power to the grid.
insideclimatenews.org
December 15, 2025 at 9:09 PM
"I pay $90,000 in an electric bill,” Teichert said... “Jason’s about $150,000. If Jason had that $150,000 back, his kids could all come back to Cokeville, and work and live here, and you’d be able to raise kids here in Cokeville.”
insideclimatenews.org/news/1412202...
insideclimatenews.org/news/1412202...
@afe-fireecology.bsky.social's Fire Gallery is so beautiful, and inspiring! More good fire, please.
fireecology.org/photo-gallery
fireecology.org/photo-gallery
December 15, 2025 at 7:19 PM
@afe-fireecology.bsky.social's Fire Gallery is so beautiful, and inspiring! More good fire, please.
fireecology.org/photo-gallery
fireecology.org/photo-gallery
Reposted by Sophie Gilbert
looking to chat with a lawyer about NEPA and Clean Water Act permitting today.
shoot me an email jael@heatmap.news
#greensky #cleansky #energysky #climatesky
shoot me an email jael@heatmap.news
#greensky #cleansky #energysky #climatesky
December 15, 2025 at 3:18 PM
looking to chat with a lawyer about NEPA and Clean Water Act permitting today.
shoot me an email jael@heatmap.news
#greensky #cleansky #energysky #climatesky
shoot me an email jael@heatmap.news
#greensky #cleansky #energysky #climatesky
What happened to "all of the above" and "level the playing field" and efficiency?! Hmmmmmm.
HUGE: In a letter to Congress, more than 140 solar companies detail how the Trump permitting freeze on renewables is worse than imagined and hitting copious projects on private lands
They’re asking Congress to intervene and say “bipartisan permitting reform” won’t help without forcing Trump’s hand
They’re asking Congress to intervene and say “bipartisan permitting reform” won’t help without forcing Trump’s hand
Solar Industry Group Describes Trump’s ‘Complete Moratorium on Permitting’
A letter from the Solar Energy Industries Association asks for Congress’ help to reverse the administration’s effective permitting ban.
heatmap.news
December 15, 2025 at 5:39 PM
What happened to "all of the above" and "level the playing field" and efficiency?! Hmmmmmm.
Slop wins Word of the Year, over gerrymander, touch grass, performative, tariff, six seven, conclave, and.... Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg.
December 15, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Slop wins Word of the Year, over gerrymander, touch grass, performative, tariff, six seven, conclave, and.... Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg.
🤣🍪🤓
Dunno who needs to hear this, but before your start writing your reviewer comments, eat a cookie. Only you can prevent rude reviews.
December 15, 2025 at 5:28 PM
🤣🍪🤓
Reposted by Sophie Gilbert
Animals with misleading names. I'm seeing this go around as part of a viral tumblr thread so I thought I'd reshare it.
December 15, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Animals with misleading names. I'm seeing this go around as part of a viral tumblr thread so I thought I'd reshare it.