Paul Robbins
@earthfutures.bsky.social
Dean, Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Phenomenal day with Tribal natural resources reps. Humbled that so many spent the day with us up here in Hayward. Special thanks to Alex Bohman at GLIFWC.
October 24, 2025 at 9:12 PM
Phenomenal day with Tribal natural resources reps. Humbled that so many spent the day with us up here in Hayward. Special thanks to Alex Bohman at GLIFWC.
We're up in Hayward, to learn from our Tribal partners about possibilities and limits of wildlife biostorage. Northern Wisconsin is stunning in the fall.
October 23, 2025 at 11:09 PM
We're up in Hayward, to learn from our Tribal partners about possibilities and limits of wildlife biostorage. Northern Wisconsin is stunning in the fall.
Richard Matheson was a fine storyteller ("The Shrinking Man", 1956) - but benefitted from good screenwriters in adaptation. Nowhere is that clearer than his awkward bourgeois 1958 "Stir of Echoes", refashioned into a believably working class, Chicago, psychic, ghost story by David Koepp in 1999.
October 15, 2025 at 2:44 AM
Richard Matheson was a fine storyteller ("The Shrinking Man", 1956) - but benefitted from good screenwriters in adaptation. Nowhere is that clearer than his awkward bourgeois 1958 "Stir of Echoes", refashioned into a believably working class, Chicago, psychic, ghost story by David Koepp in 1999.
I'm a climate realist (as opposed to, say, a climate "catastrophist"). But climate reality is getting really real. And in summer, it bites. [Annual days when temperatures exceeded 85°F, 80-84/20-24; Copernicus ERA5 data; Ronnkvist, Haskell-Craig, et al., via NYT].
August 12, 2025 at 12:25 PM
I'm a climate realist (as opposed to, say, a climate "catastrophist"). But climate reality is getting really real. And in summer, it bites. [Annual days when temperatures exceeded 85°F, 80-84/20-24; Copernicus ERA5 data; Ronnkvist, Haskell-Craig, et al., via NYT].
If you heard that UW's storied Science Hall might get a long overdue refit, you heard right. Advanced planning is all I can report, but recent budget and donors mean it may get an upgrade. Now we need friends to invest in what's going on INSIDE the old red giant! cpd.fpm.wisc.edu/planning/sci...
July 29, 2025 at 7:00 PM
If you heard that UW's storied Science Hall might get a long overdue refit, you heard right. Advanced planning is all I can report, but recent budget and donors mean it may get an upgrade. Now we need friends to invest in what's going on INSIDE the old red giant! cpd.fpm.wisc.edu/planning/sci...
Mr. Fox: Where did you come from?
Mr. Fox: What are you doing here?
Mr. Fox: I don't think he speaks English or Latin
Mr. Fox: Pensez-vous que l'hiver sera rude?
Mr. Fox: I'm asking if he thinks we're in for a hard winter.
Mr. Fox: What a beautiful creature.
Mr. Fox: Wish him luck boys.
Mr. Fox: What are you doing here?
Mr. Fox: I don't think he speaks English or Latin
Mr. Fox: Pensez-vous que l'hiver sera rude?
Mr. Fox: I'm asking if he thinks we're in for a hard winter.
Mr. Fox: What a beautiful creature.
Mr. Fox: Wish him luck boys.
June 16, 2025 at 9:40 AM
Mr. Fox: Where did you come from?
Mr. Fox: What are you doing here?
Mr. Fox: I don't think he speaks English or Latin
Mr. Fox: Pensez-vous que l'hiver sera rude?
Mr. Fox: I'm asking if he thinks we're in for a hard winter.
Mr. Fox: What a beautiful creature.
Mr. Fox: Wish him luck boys.
Mr. Fox: What are you doing here?
Mr. Fox: I don't think he speaks English or Latin
Mr. Fox: Pensez-vous que l'hiver sera rude?
Mr. Fox: I'm asking if he thinks we're in for a hard winter.
Mr. Fox: What a beautiful creature.
Mr. Fox: Wish him luck boys.
My rudimentary grasp of Von Thunen came in handy!
June 16, 2025 at 9:33 AM
My rudimentary grasp of Von Thunen came in handy!
The 2025 "Forest and People" meeting in Aussois, hosted by Francois Libois and colleagues at CNRS and beyond, was GREAT. Filled me with hope for the future, and that is no small lift.
June 16, 2025 at 9:28 AM
The 2025 "Forest and People" meeting in Aussois, hosted by Francois Libois and colleagues at CNRS and beyond, was GREAT. Filled me with hope for the future, and that is no small lift.
Alex (now age 9) has taken to reading this book from the (now dated) series "Gravity Falls", filled with ciphers, puzzles, and madness. The boy is basically reading a Cthulhu Mythos tome. I think it's great.
June 16, 2025 at 9:04 AM
Alex (now age 9) has taken to reading this book from the (now dated) series "Gravity Falls", filled with ciphers, puzzles, and madness. The boy is basically reading a Cthulhu Mythos tome. I think it's great.
Five days with thoughtful comrades at the "Forests and People" workshop in Aussois, this week. Especially good showing from colleagues in Environmental/Resource Economics and those in Remote Sensing. Land Change Science is thriving.
June 14, 2025 at 11:13 AM
Five days with thoughtful comrades at the "Forests and People" workshop in Aussois, this week. Especially good showing from colleagues in Environmental/Resource Economics and those in Remote Sensing. Land Change Science is thriving.
It's possible that my journey into conservation began watching an episode of Star Trek ("Devil in the Dark") as a kid n the early '70s. Here the crew meets deep rock miners who are plagued by a monster that, in the end, turns out to be a mother, and one whose home has been invaded by these settlers.
May 29, 2025 at 11:41 AM
It's possible that my journey into conservation began watching an episode of Star Trek ("Devil in the Dark") as a kid n the early '70s. Here the crew meets deep rock miners who are plagued by a monster that, in the end, turns out to be a mother, and one whose home has been invaded by these settlers.
Tolkien Heads! Come by the Robinson Map Library in Science Hall this summer, where Mark Fonstad will display hand-drawn maps crafted by his mother, Middle Earth cartographer Karen Wynn Fonstad. The "Fantastic Worlds" installation runs July 21–August 1 (open weekdays, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.).
May 16, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Tolkien Heads! Come by the Robinson Map Library in Science Hall this summer, where Mark Fonstad will display hand-drawn maps crafted by his mother, Middle Earth cartographer Karen Wynn Fonstad. The "Fantastic Worlds" installation runs July 21–August 1 (open weekdays, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.).
These are the lights from the conference room at the Usona Institute, and, yes, it's the molecule for psilocybin.
May 13, 2025 at 10:55 AM
These are the lights from the conference room at the Usona Institute, and, yes, it's the molecule for psilocybin.
Albert also spoke out strongly on the first Earth Day, 55 years ago.
April 23, 2025 at 2:24 AM
Albert also spoke out strongly on the first Earth Day, 55 years ago.
We had "Planetwalker" John Francis in the house tonight and it was GREAT. Also the awesome James Edward Mills and the amazing Tia Nelson. So, lots of well-earned superlatives for this panel.
April 23, 2025 at 2:19 AM
We had "Planetwalker" John Francis in the house tonight and it was GREAT. Also the awesome James Edward Mills and the amazing Tia Nelson. So, lots of well-earned superlatives for this panel.
If you wanted a brilliant expression of human metabolism of nature, of industry, and of labor, you couldn't do much better than the Diego Rivera murals in Detroit. Just, wow.
March 26, 2025 at 3:36 PM
If you wanted a brilliant expression of human metabolism of nature, of industry, and of labor, you couldn't do much better than the Diego Rivera murals in Detroit. Just, wow.
In 1987, Jean-Luc Godard adapted "King Lear" with Peter Sellars, Molly Ringwald, and Burgess Meredith. Wait, what??
February 25, 2025 at 5:52 PM
In 1987, Jean-Luc Godard adapted "King Lear" with Peter Sellars, Molly Ringwald, and Burgess Meredith. Wait, what??
Peachy Carnehan: And Daniel never let go of Peachy's hand and Peachy never let go of Daniel's head.
Rudyard Kipling: [aghast] His head?
Peachy Carnehan: You knew Danny, sir. Oh, yes, you knew, most Worshipful Brother.
- "The Man Who Would Be King" (John Huston, dir., 1975)
Rudyard Kipling: [aghast] His head?
Peachy Carnehan: You knew Danny, sir. Oh, yes, you knew, most Worshipful Brother.
- "The Man Who Would Be King" (John Huston, dir., 1975)
February 20, 2025 at 1:19 AM
Peachy Carnehan: And Daniel never let go of Peachy's hand and Peachy never let go of Daniel's head.
Rudyard Kipling: [aghast] His head?
Peachy Carnehan: You knew Danny, sir. Oh, yes, you knew, most Worshipful Brother.
- "The Man Who Would Be King" (John Huston, dir., 1975)
Rudyard Kipling: [aghast] His head?
Peachy Carnehan: You knew Danny, sir. Oh, yes, you knew, most Worshipful Brother.
- "The Man Who Would Be King" (John Huston, dir., 1975)
Peachy Carnehan: And Daniel never let go of Peachy's hand and Peachy never let go of Daniel's head.
Rudyard Kipling: [aghast] His head?
Peachy Carnehan: You knew Danny, sir. Oh, yes, you knew, most Worshipful Brother.
Rudyard Kipling: [aghast] His head?
Peachy Carnehan: You knew Danny, sir. Oh, yes, you knew, most Worshipful Brother.
February 20, 2025 at 1:15 AM
Peachy Carnehan: And Daniel never let go of Peachy's hand and Peachy never let go of Daniel's head.
Rudyard Kipling: [aghast] His head?
Peachy Carnehan: You knew Danny, sir. Oh, yes, you knew, most Worshipful Brother.
Rudyard Kipling: [aghast] His head?
Peachy Carnehan: You knew Danny, sir. Oh, yes, you knew, most Worshipful Brother.
Less ice on Lake Mendota every year - unmistakable signal.
February 11, 2025 at 2:17 AM
Less ice on Lake Mendota every year - unmistakable signal.