Jessica Tierney
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leafwax.bsky.social
Jessica Tierney
@leafwax.bsky.social
1.6K followers 130 following 69 posts

Climate scientist living in the Sonoran Desert. Analyzer of leaf waxes to learn about past climate change. Professor at the University of Arizona. I also like birds, nature, petsπŸ¦‰πŸŒΏπŸ• | Opinions are mine, not those of my employer .. more

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Jessica E. Tierney (born 1982) is an American paleoclimatologist who has worked with geochemical proxies such as marine sediments, mud, and TEX86, to study past climate in East Africa. Her papers have been cited more than 2,500 times; her most cited work is Northern Hemisphere Controls on Tropical Southeast African Climate During the Past 60,000 Years. Tierney is currently a professor of geosciences and the Thomas R. Brown Distinguished Chair in Integrative Science at the University of Arizona and faculty affiliate in the University of Arizona School of Geography, Development and Environment Tierney is the first climatologist to win NSF's Alan T Waterman Award (2022) since its inception in 1975. .. more

Environmental science 43%
Geology 26%
Posts Replies Media Videos

Reposted by Kevin J. Anchukaitis, Jessica E. Tierney, Rosemary A. Joyce , and 6 more

simifresh.bsky.social
simi @simifresh.bsky.social Β· 9h
the bushes were people πŸ˜‚

Reposted by Jessica E. Tierney, Smith, Laurent Dubois , and 7 more

sorayanadiamcdonald.com
Soraya Nadia McDonald @sorayanadiamcdonald.com Β· 10h
Benito is a threat b/c he makes art so alluring and enjoyable you want to understand everything about it and then you end up learning about sugar and slavery and colonialism and the TaΓ­nos and Hawaii and then you probably have some thoughts of your own, and that's why art is powerful and dangerous

Reposted by Jessica E. Tierney, Silvia Secchi, James Goodwin , and 3 more

jmijin.bsky.social
J. Mijin Cha @jmijin.bsky.social Β· 10h
Commenting on energy injustice is now the floor for any halftime act.

Reposted by Jessica E. Tierney

dr-thompson.bsky.social
Daniel Thompson @dr-thompson.bsky.social Β· 10h
This was everything. #SuperBowlLX

leafwax.bsky.social
Jessica Tierney @leafwax.bsky.social Β· 16d
yes, it does!

Reposted by Ben Bond‐Lamberty, Kevin J. Anchukaitis, Flavio Lehner , and 1 more

leafwax.bsky.social
Jessica Tierney @leafwax.bsky.social Β· 16d
Really excited to see this paper out!! Led by @vtcoop.bsky.social we show that if you use cold and warm paleoclimates together, you can reduce uncertainty in Earth's climate sensitivity by quantifying the pattern effect and more precisely constrain future climate change www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Paleoclimate pattern effects help constrain climate sensitivity and 21st-century warming | PNAS
Paleoclimates provide examples of past climate change that inform estimates of modern warming from greenhouse-gas emissions, known as Earth’s clima...
www.pnas.org

leafwax.bsky.social
Jessica Tierney @leafwax.bsky.social Β· Dec 18
Who I wonder is an "appropriate operator" for the Trump administration? πŸ€” Will we be losing Derecho core hours to an AI company? πŸ€¦β€β™€οΈ #SaveNCAR

leafwax.bsky.social
Jessica Tierney @leafwax.bsky.social Β· Dec 18
The latest unhinged threat from the Trump administration would destroy the best climate modeling center in the world. It would also be a blow to US researchers (including me) who depend on NCAR's modeling expertise and educational training programs for students. #SaveNCAR www.cnn.com/2025/12/17/c...
The Trump admin is closing a critical climate research center. Officials believe it’s really trying to punish a governor | CNN
The Trump administration announced plans Tuesday to shut down the National Center for Atmospheric Research, an organization responsible for improved weather models to tools that aid hurricane safety. ...
www.cnn.com

Reposted by Monica G. Turner, Benjamin I. Cook, Kevin J. Anchukaitis , and 1 more

leafwax.bsky.social
Jessica Tierney @leafwax.bsky.social Β· Oct 15
I am currently seeking a Lab Manager for our Organic Geochemistry Lab at the University of Arizona! Full time position with benefits. If you have a chemistry/biology/geology degree and like fixing things and working with students, this position could be for you! arizona.csod.com/ux/ats/caree...
Laboratory Coordinator I - Geosciences
Maintenance and repair of the Organic Geochemistry Laboratory equipment, including but not limited to gas chromatographs, liquid chromatographs & ...
arizona.csod.com

leafwax.bsky.social
Jessica Tierney @leafwax.bsky.social Β· Sep 17
The special issue @quantamagazine.bsky.social on Climate Science just dropped and I know what my weekend readings is gonna be πŸ‘πŸ» www.quantamagazine.org/how-we-came-...
How We Came To Know Earth | Quanta Magazine
Climate science is the most significant scientific collaboration in history. This series from Quanta Magazine guides you through basic climate science β€” from quantum effects to ancient hothouses, from...
www.quantamagazine.org

leafwax.bsky.social
Jessica Tierney @leafwax.bsky.social Β· Sep 8
I do love Reddit for so many reasons. Thanks for accepting me bros!

Reposted by Kevin J. Anchukaitis

leafwax.bsky.social
Jessica Tierney @leafwax.bsky.social Β· Sep 4
I stand by my offer to appear on Joe Rogan and set the record straight about our half-billion-year temperature reconstruction www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Joe Rogan claims study shows Earth cooling – but report’s authors say he’s wrong
Scientists say β€˜old-school denier nonsense’ isn’t helpful as podcaster repeatedly airs false claim on his show
www.theguardian.com

leafwax.bsky.social
Jessica Tierney @leafwax.bsky.social Β· Aug 7
A proposed Amazon data center in Tucson (β€œProject Blue”, FFS) that would have sapped power and water from the city has been REJECTED thanks to amazing community solidarity. The people of the desert have spoken and won ✊🌡🏜️

Reposted by Jessica E. Tierney

yanak.bsky.social
Yana Kunichoff @yanak.bsky.social Β· Aug 6
The Tucson city council unanimously rejected the Project Blue data center today.

That comes after weeks of dogged organizing plus our little team @azluminaria.org going hard on helping Tucson understand who was behind this project and its impact on our community

azluminaria.org/2025/08/06/t...
Tucson City Council rejects Project Blue data center amid intense community pressure - AZ Luminaria
The Tucson city council voted unanimously Wednesday against bringing the massive and water-devouring Project Blue data center β€” tied to tech giant Amazon β€” into city limits. After weeks of escalating ...
azluminaria.org

Reposted by Peter Thorne, Jessica E. Tierney, Keith S. Taber , and 3 more

mims.bsky.social
Christopher Mims @mims.bsky.social Β· Jul 31
struggling with an analogy here but imagine NASA posting a meme about how excited they are to return aviation to the pre-jet age
u.s. department of energy post on x praising coal: "She's an icon She's a legend And she is the moment [sparkly picture of coal]

Reposted by Jessica E. Tierney

joshuasweitz.bsky.social
Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social Β· Jan 27
It's Monday morning. Instead of advancing its leadership role in science, the current administration seems to be continuing its move of putting sand in the gears, NSF panel edition.

More via @pleunipennings.bsky.social, @cabarbieri.bsky.social and @robp.bsky.social.

Reposted by Jessica E. Tierney

huwiceandstuff.bsky.social
Huw Griffiths @huwiceandstuff.bsky.social Β· Mar 12
Another berg faces the storm! #biopole2
@bas.ac.uk @biopole.bsky.social

Reposted by Jessica E. Tierney

highcountrynews.org
High Country News @highcountrynews.org Β· Mar 13
Spitfire Raul Grijalva, a congressman from Arizona for more than 40 years, advocate for public lands and fighter against climate change, has died at age 77 in a major loss for the West. πŸ§΅πŸ‘‡

Reposted by Jessica E. Tierney

wired.com
WIRED @wired.com Β· Jul 24
AI this, AI that, what about how much energy AI actually uses?

β€œIt blows my mind that you can buy a car and know how many miles per gallon it consumes, yet we use all these AI tools every day and we have absolutely no efficiency metrics, emissions factors, nothing." From the experts:
How Much Energy Does AI Use? The People Who Know Aren’t Saying
A growing body of research attempts to put a number on energy use and AIβ€”even as the companies behind the most popular models keep their carbon emissions a secret.
www.wired.com

leafwax.bsky.social
Jessica Tierney @leafwax.bsky.social Β· Jul 24
Here's some lovely artwork from the no desert data center (www.instagram.com/no_desert_da...) coalition that captures our feelings β›ˆοΈ

It would be great if a national news outlet picked up this story - its a type case for something that is increasingly an issue in the West. /fin

leafwax.bsky.social
Jessica Tierney @leafwax.bsky.social Β· Jul 24
The good news is that Tucsonians are organized ✊ and are asking tough questions. azluminaria.org/2025/07/21/t...
The Project Blue data center proposal sprang up fast β€” so did the organizingΒ  - AZ Luminaria
Until the first heady weeks of Tucson’s scorching summer, Vivek Bharathan and Elaina Richards had never worked or campaigned together, let alone been on a shared Google document.Β  One month into coord...
azluminaria.org

leafwax.bsky.social
Jessica Tierney @leafwax.bsky.social Β· Jul 24
AI data centers are just the latest put your junk in the desert thing. But we as desert dwellers don't need to stand for it. Why would we repeat the past's mistakes? All for an AI response for a search (that sometimes you didn't ask for and don't really need!).

leafwax.bsky.social
Jessica Tierney @leafwax.bsky.social Β· Jul 24
There is a long history in the American West of putting our country's junk in the desert. c.f. a large portion of the State of Nevada (incl. the nuclear test range) and Dugway Proving Ground in Utah, where chemical and biological weapons were tested en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dugway_...
Dugway Proving Ground - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org

leafwax.bsky.social
Jessica Tierney @leafwax.bsky.social Β· Jul 24
It seems to me that data centers in the desert is the new "growing alfalfa in the desert." It makes more sense to put these in places with more water...but land is cheap in the desert and local cities might be more amenable to the deal...

leafwax.bsky.social
Jessica Tierney @leafwax.bsky.social Β· Jul 24
Economically the boost of the data center would be the construction jobs, and there is no denying that, hence for trade unions this is a really good thing. But in the long-term, there are almost no people working at places like this. www.kold.com/2025/07/24/e...
Emotions run high in public meeting held by City of Tucson over Project Blue
The project has drawn a lot of attention around Pima County
www.kold.com

leafwax.bsky.social
Jessica Tierney @leafwax.bsky.social Β· Jul 24
The city claims the River won't be affected, but it's hard to imagine how, since water diverted to the data center means less outflow on the river at one of the flow stations no matter where it occurs. Prof. Michael Bogan at @uarizona.bsky.social crunched the math drive.google.com/file/d/1sSAp...
ProjectBlue_SantaCruzImpacts_11Jul2025.pdf
drive.google.com

leafwax.bsky.social
Jessica Tierney @leafwax.bsky.social Β· Jul 24
Reclaimed water is used to restore the Santa Cruz River, which was in the early 20th century an actual flowing river but due to ground water pumping no longer flows on its own. But thanks to reclaimed water we now have these beautiful riparian areas coming back www.azcentral.com/story/news/l...
Proposed data center raises concerns about drying up this Arizona river
The Santa Cruz River, dried up and polluted, came back to life recently, sustained by highly treated wastewater from two water reclamation facilities.
www.azcentral.com

leafwax.bsky.social
Jessica Tierney @leafwax.bsky.social Β· Jul 24
The water would rely on extending Tucson's reclaimed water system to the build to supply an estimated 0.8 million gallons per day (data centers in Phoenix use more than this). The problem is, reclaimed water demand is already very high in the city, and...

leafwax.bsky.social
Jessica Tierney @leafwax.bsky.social Β· Jul 24
As far as power goes, the project is estimated to require 400-600 MW at full build. It's not clear yet how TEP our power supplier will meet that. Current peak energy demand is 2400 MW so this is non-trivial. It could involve keeping coal-fired plants up and running past their expiration date.

leafwax.bsky.social
Jessica Tierney @leafwax.bsky.social Β· Jul 24
"Project Blue" is some (read: greenwashing) name for a data center that would be roughly the size of downtown Tucson, eat power and water, and provide only 180 jobs. For perspective, my department alone at the @uarizona.bsky.social employs about 130 people within 3-4 floors of a single building.