Stephen D. Murphy | Lightnews

Stephen Murphy (smurph)

@smurph.bsky.social

7K followers 2K following 1.2K posts

Professor at U Waterloo - Sch Environment, Resources & Sustainability. Ecologist, EIC Restoration Ecology, Botanist, Protected Areas. Grasslands. https://uwaterloo.ca/environment-resources-and-sustainability/blog/you-break-it-we-fix-it .. more

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Environmental science 40%

Agriculture 29%

Posts Replies Media Videos

Stephen Murphy (smurph) @smurph.bsky.social · 1d

Time once again to be linking to @cghlewis.bsky.social when I do my winter class that involves data analysis

Crystal Lewis @cghlewis.bsky.social · 3d

A picture of a woman reviewing a sketchpad that shows a data dictionary. With the text "The documentation we always hope we'll see when we open a repository."

Reposted by Joe R. Feagin, Cathy N. Davidson, Karen Benjamin Guzzo , and 5 more Joe R. Feagin, Cathy N. Davidson, Karen Benjamin Guzzo, Caroline T. Schroeder, Stephen D. Murphy, Nazita Lajevardi, Nathan P. Kalmoe, David Darmofal

Brian Goldstone @brian-goldstone.bsky.social · 1d

Some news: tomorrow at 9am, Ted Koppel + CBS Sunday Morning will air a two-part story on the devastating surge of full-time workers being pushed into homelessness.

I'll be interviewed along with two families from There Is No Place for Us. It would mean a lot if you'd watch and help spread the word.

Reposted by Stephen D. Murphy

The Narwhal @thenarwhal.ca · 1d

The Doug Ford government is setting its sites on conservation authorities for the fifth time, merging the watershed protection agencies. Staff tell @fatimabsyed.bsky.social it may ‘slow approvals, create confusion’ — not to mention it's leaving them with ‘whiplash.’ thenarwhal.ca/ontario-cons...

Inside Ontario’s plan to merge 36 conservation authorities to 7 | The Narwhal

Doug Ford’s government is seeking public feedback on its plan to overhaul Ontario’s conservation authorities, reducing local agencies from 36 to 7

thenarwhal.ca

Reposted by Timothy Snyder, Anna O. Law, David H. Kaye , and 11 more Timothy Snyder, Anna O. Law, David H. Kaye, Aaron Sojourner, Adrian Daub, Stephen D. Murphy, Will Lowe, Rebecca M. Bratspies, Dean Eckles, Dana R. Fisher, James Connelly, Daxton R. Stewart, Dunlap, David Darmofal

Rev. Dr. Michael Woolf @revdrmichaelwoolf.bsky.social · 2d

I wanted to share probably the most important sermon I’ve given and it’s while I’m being arrested. It’s torture pure and simple what happens at #Broadview. I’m ok, though I was thrown to the ground and choked with my pectoral cross. A review of the video shows I was peaceful - did I deserve this?

Reposted by Stephen D. Murphy, Suzanne de Cheveigné

Yung En Chee @yungenchee.bsky.social · 2d

Harmful algal bloom (HAB) spread across 20,000 km2 & resulted in the deaths of millions of marine animals, from at least 550 species

Scientists found a novel, significant brevotoxin-producing algal species, Karenia cristata, in the multispecies Karenia HAB—1st time brevetoxins have been found in 🇦🇺

Stephen Murphy (smurph) @smurph.bsky.social · 2d

I also loathe the narrative that somehow it is this 'recent massive' drop in the Canadian dollar (its about where it was vs 2016; ups and downs in between); as many note, the big issue is that CAD is still a petrodollar and when the Saudis flooded the oil market mid-2010s, it lost value

Stephen Murphy (smurph) @smurph.bsky.social · 2d

Shugar Island has a nice ring to it

Reposted by Stephen D. Murphy

Alison Forde @n8rnerd.bsky.social · 2d

You can also check out this profile I provided a few years ago to get an idea of our work and why I think it's amazing!

careers.atkinsrealis.com/blogs/2023-5...

Build your ecology career at AtkinsRéalis Canada | AtkinsRéalis news and blogs

Meet Alison Forde, Ecologist at AtkinsRéalis in CanadaI've always had a strong interest in animals, probably fostered by numerous family visits to local...

careers.atkinsrealis.com

Reposted by Stephen D. Murphy

Alison Forde @n8rnerd.bsky.social · 2d

Hey new grads! My team is hiring Biologists! I'm happy to chat about what it's like to work at AtkinsRéalis and the incredible fieldwork we get to do.

careers.atkinsrealis.com/job/biologis...

Biologist New Graduate (Ontario)

Overview Join us as part of the wider Environment division practice, you’ll be at the heart of the business with the opportunity to work alongside a variety of...

careers.atkinsrealis.com

Stephen Murphy (smurph) @smurph.bsky.social · 2d

A great quote there. I tell my u/g students this sort of thing - ug tends to emphasize synthesis over analysis and receipt of a lot of new information vs later assessments of quality and then devising new information

That said, the places I've been a student or taught, shift in year 3 ug

Reposted by Stephen D. Murphy

Billy Hanlon @bhanlon15.bsky.social · 2d

Medical Dialogues: 'Women are three times more likely than men to get severe long COVID: Here’s why'

'Research published in Cell Reports Medicine reveals key biological differences that may explain why women with long COVID..'

medicaldialogues.in/pulmonology/...

Women are three times more likely than men to get severe long COVID: Here’s why

Research published today in Cell Reports Medicine reveals key biological differences that may explain why women with long COVID-especially those who develop chronic fatigue syndrome-tend to...

medicaldialogues.in

Reposted by Stephen D. Murphy

Wolfgang Blau @wblau.bsky.social · 3d

China has added more than 8,000 miles of ultra‑high‑voltage transmission in just four years, compared with fewer than 400 miles in the United States.
The Republicans run a museum.
You are welcome.

Reposted by Stephen D. Murphy

Evan Frost @wildwoods.bsky.social · 3d

"The Beef Industry Plan doesn’t strengthen the West — it destroys our fragile ecosystems and puts wildlife at risk while treating every ungrazed acre as a missed opportunity to squeeze and extract." oregoncapitalchronicle.com/2025/11/12/u...

USDA’s beef industry plan sells out public lands • Oregon Capital Chronicle

The Beef Industry Plan doesn’t strengthen the West — it destroys our fragile ecosystems and puts wildlife at risk while degrading recreational experiences like hunting and fishing.

oregoncapitalchronicle.com

Reposted by Stephen D. Murphy

Sean Mullen, Ph.D. @drseanmullen.bsky.social · 5d

The Unseen Journey is an interactive, educational visual timeline of scientific milestones associated with 11 viruses. This includes the first discovery, evidence of the first recognition of latency/persistence, reactivation (or other key papers), and the first major chronic association.

Link below

Dark-themed web visualization titled “The Unseen Journey: Tracing viral persistence through a century of discovery.” The page explains that many viruses don’t disappear after infection but persist in the nervous system, blood, bone marrow, or organs. A box of colorful buttons below allows users to select viruses such as SARS-CoV-2, Epstein–Barr, HIV-1, HSV-1, Varicella-zoster, Cytomegalovirus, HHV-6, JC virus, Hepatitis B and C, and Parvovirus B19. Below, glowing colored trajectories represent each virus’s path from discovery to scientific understanding.

Reposted by Stephen D. Murphy

Eric Higgs @ehiggs.bsky.social · 5d

Still buzzing from the Mountain Voices launch event in Banff at the Whyte Museum on Friday. Thrilled to share the stage with Senator Karen Sorensen, Bill Snow, Ali Criscitiello, Leanne Allison and a dozen more contributors—mountain royalty! @mountainlegacy.bsky.social
@ucalgarypress.bsky.social

Stephen Murphy (smurph) @smurph.bsky.social · 6d

Hear hear So wonderful from a great group of people

Stephen Murphy (smurph) @smurph.bsky.social · 6d

Awesome Eric and everyone involved

Eric Higgs @ehiggs.bsky.social · 7d

It’s out and it’s beautiful. Mountain Voices featuring photographs from @mountainlegacy.bsky.social went on sale Friday evening at our launch event at the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies in Banff.

Stephen Murphy (smurph) @smurph.bsky.social · 6d

@ehiggs.bsky.social fyi

European Research Council (ERC) @erc.europa.eu · 7d

Rob Marchant, Laura Pereira, Unai Pascual, and Thomas Hickler will use their ERC Synergy Grant to understand how nature and societies interact in and beyond mountain socioecological systems ⛰️

@rob-marchant.bsky.social @laurap18.bsky.social @upascual.bsky.social

👉 buff.ly/ZQhLp4h

#ERCSyG

Reposted by Stephen D. Murphy

Paul Waldman @paulwaldman.bsky.social · 6d

Let a single person feed their family with food stamps when they don't "deserve" the benefit and Republicans will be filled with such rage that they'll take away those benefits from millions of others.

Meanwhile the administration is doing this:

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/b...

With little public scrutiny, the Trump administration is handing out hundreds of billions of dollars in tax cuts to some of the country’s most profitable companies and wealthiest investors.

The Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service, through a series of new notices and proposed regulations, are giving breaks to giant private equity firms, crypto companies, foreign real estate investors, insurance providers and a variety of multinational corporations.

Reposted by Stephen D. Murphy

Sholto David @sholtodavid.bsky.social · 6d

Reverse Image Forensics Challenge: Try to find a unique area in Figure 9 of this recent Scientific Reports paper: 10.1038/s41598-025-17456-6 [Aug 2025] - Annotated by ImageTwin.ai

Reposted by Silvia Secchi, Stephen D. Murphy

Federica Genovese @fgenovese.bsky.social · 6d

During the Great Recession (2008-09) UK GDP fell by 6%. Thankfully, it mostly recovered after 5 years.

Since Brexit referendum (2016) UK GDP has fallen between 6% and 8%. Unclear whether and when it will fully recover.

www.nber.org/papers/w3445...

The Economic Impact of Brexit

Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...

www.nber.org

Reposted by Peter Thorne, Simon Roux, Trevor A. Branch , and 1 more Peter Thorne, Simon Roux, Trevor A. Branch, Stephen D. Murphy

Helen Czerski @helenczerski.bsky.social · 6d

Oh, I love this. A new species of sea anemone was discovered recently that parks itself on top of a hermit crab shell like a hat. It seems to feed partly off the crab's faeces, but it also excretes a hard shell that extends the crab's home. In return, it's carried around the seafloor like a king.

Pictures of a pink sea anemone sitting on top of a hermit crab shell.

Reposted by Stephen D. Murphy, Seth M. Munson, Billur Bektaş

ESA Journals @esajournals.bsky.social · 6d

🆕 in "Ecological Monographs": Static models miss the mark—adding nonlinear, density-based facilitation helps predict coexistence, persistence, and realistic community dynamics

📄Neighbor density-dependent facilitation promotes coexistence and internal oscillation
doi.org/10.1002/ecm....

Schematic illustrating how species interactions can depend on neighborhood density and identity.

Reposted by Jens‐Christian Svenning, Brian J. Enquist, Julie L. Lockwood , and 4 more Jens‐Christian Svenning, Brian J. Enquist, Julie L. Lockwood, Anthony Ricciardi, Stephen D. Murphy, Seth M. Munson, Joan Dudney

Milan Chytrý @milanchytry.bsky.social · 6d

Our new paper in Ecology Letters, led by Jan Divíšek, shows that non-invasive alien plant species that successfully establish within local plant communities tend to resemble the resident native species. In contrast, invasive alien species usually differ from native plants.
doi.org/10.1111/ele....

Reposted by Stephen D. Murphy, Nikolay Marinov

Joey Politano🏳️‍🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 6d

Finished Lowenstein's "Ways & Means" on the financial and tax reforms that won the Civil War for the Union—brilliant book that manages to make bond sales gripping & shows how many US institutions (land-grant colleges, Union Pacific, etc) we owe to wartime reforms
www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Joey Politano's review of Ways and Means

5/5: "The Yankees did not whip us in the field—we were whipped in the Treasury Department" bemoaned one Confederate officer. The man was half right, as the well-earned American victories on the battle...

www.goodreads.com

Reposted by Eric Higgs, Stephen D. Murphy

Alan MacEachern 🇨🇦 @alanmaceachern.bsky.social · 6d

Informed, inspiring text. Beautiful, illuminating pix.

Congratulations, @ehiggs.bsky.social, Zac Robinson, @msanseve.bsky.social, Kristen Walsh, & @mountainlegacy.bsky.social!

@ucalgarypress.bsky.social & @nichecanada.bsky.social

press.ucalgary.ca/books/978177...

Reposted by Jens‐Christian Svenning, Stephen D. Murphy

ECONOVO - DNRF Center of Excellence @econovoau.bsky.social · 7d

#meetECONOVO - @jonastrepel.bsky.social is a PhD researcher working with Robert Buitenwerf, Elizabeth Le Roux and @jcsvenning.bsky.social. His research explores how large herbivores shape vegetation dynamics and plant diversity, including fieldwork in South Africa.

Reposted by Rob Marchant, Laura Pereira, Stephen D. Murphy

European Research Council (ERC) @erc.europa.eu · 7d

Reposted by Stephen D. Murphy

Eric Higgs @ehiggs.bsky.social · 7d

Reposted by Stephen D. Murphy

Sierra Jech @sierrajech.bsky.social · 8d

CrustNet visits the California coastal scrublands! We set up a site at the Santa Margarita Reserve and were excited to find liverworts and a highly diverse community of moss and lichen. Gorgeous landscape!

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