Ian Areford
@ianareford.bsky.social
FIU PhD Student x Boswell Lab. Deep-Sea Researcher
Pinned
Ian Areford
@ianareford.bsky.social
· Feb 19
Hi everyone! I’m Ian, a PhD student at Florida International University. My current research focuses on the abundance and distribution patterns of deep-pelagic organisms. Follow along if you would like to keep up with my research or learn a bit more about the deep-sea and its wacky inhabitants.
Reposted by Ian Areford
"He was preparing to travel to Australia to attend a conference on protecting Antarctic marine life...He has since been accused by the Russians of high treason."
Russia arrests Ukrainian biologist for backing curbs on Antarctic #krill #fishing | #Antarctica share.google/3AYkcaFLcxeE...
Russia arrests Ukrainian biologist for backing curbs on Antarctic #krill #fishing | #Antarctica share.google/3AYkcaFLcxeE...
Russia arrests Ukrainian biologist for backing curbs on Antarctic krill fishing
‘Trumped-up’ charges spark diplomatic row as scientists express fears for health of 70-year-old Leonid Pshenichnov
share.google
October 28, 2025 at 12:47 AM
"He was preparing to travel to Australia to attend a conference on protecting Antarctic marine life...He has since been accused by the Russians of high treason."
Russia arrests Ukrainian biologist for backing curbs on Antarctic #krill #fishing | #Antarctica share.google/3AYkcaFLcxeE...
Russia arrests Ukrainian biologist for backing curbs on Antarctic #krill #fishing | #Antarctica share.google/3AYkcaFLcxeE...
Reposted by Ian Areford
🌊 Marine heatwave leaves critical Florida corals "functionally extinct"
Following the record-breaking 2023 marine heatwave and the ninth mass coral bleaching, staghorn and elkhorn corals have dwindled to populations too small to reproduce
oceanographicmagazine.com/news/marine-...
Following the record-breaking 2023 marine heatwave and the ninth mass coral bleaching, staghorn and elkhorn corals have dwindled to populations too small to reproduce
oceanographicmagazine.com/news/marine-...
Marine heatwave leaves critical Florida corals "functionally extinct" - Oceanographic
Following a record-breaking marine heatwave in 2023 Florida's critical staghorn and elkhorn corals have been left 'functionally extinct.'
oceanographicmagazine.com
October 25, 2025 at 5:25 AM
🌊 Marine heatwave leaves critical Florida corals "functionally extinct"
Following the record-breaking 2023 marine heatwave and the ninth mass coral bleaching, staghorn and elkhorn corals have dwindled to populations too small to reproduce
oceanographicmagazine.com/news/marine-...
Following the record-breaking 2023 marine heatwave and the ninth mass coral bleaching, staghorn and elkhorn corals have dwindled to populations too small to reproduce
oceanographicmagazine.com/news/marine-...
Reposted by Ian Areford
The National Science Foundation plans to abruptly end operation of the RV Nathaniel B. Palmer, the sole U.S. research ship capable of braving the farthest reaches of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. scim.ag/4mB8LOX
NSF plans abrupt end to lone U.S. Antarctic research icebreaker
Imminent termination of the RV Nathaniel B. Palmer shocks polar scientists
scim.ag
July 28, 2025 at 9:02 PM
The National Science Foundation plans to abruptly end operation of the RV Nathaniel B. Palmer, the sole U.S. research ship capable of braving the farthest reaches of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. scim.ag/4mB8LOX
Reposted by Ian Areford
As Interest in Deep-Sea Mining Grows, Scientists Raise Alarms About the Possible Ecological Consequences
www.smithsonianmag.com/science-natu...
🦑🧪🌎
www.smithsonianmag.com/science-natu...
🦑🧪🌎
As Interest in Deep-Sea Mining Grows, Scientists Raise Alarms About the Possible Ecological Consequences
Gathering minerals such as nickel, cobalt, manganese and lithium from the seabed could affect everything from sponges to whales. The long-term effects of these extractions remain uncertain
www.smithsonianmag.com
July 18, 2025 at 8:13 PM
As Interest in Deep-Sea Mining Grows, Scientists Raise Alarms About the Possible Ecological Consequences
www.smithsonianmag.com/science-natu...
🦑🧪🌎
www.smithsonianmag.com/science-natu...
🦑🧪🌎
Reposted by Ian Areford
It's hard to adequately summarize how destructive NOAA's 2026 proposed budget released on Monday is for hurricane forecasting, but I crammed all I could into today's newsletter. I encourage everyone with interests along the coast to read it carefully. ⬇️
NOAA Proposes Permanently Closing Premiere Hurricane Research Institute
In its proposed 2026 budget released Monday, NOAA closes all federally funded weather and climate research labs, including the one responsible for maintaining the nation’s top hurricane models
michaelrlowry.substack.com
July 1, 2025 at 3:21 PM
It's hard to adequately summarize how destructive NOAA's 2026 proposed budget released on Monday is for hurricane forecasting, but I crammed all I could into today's newsletter. I encourage everyone with interests along the coast to read it carefully. ⬇️
Reposted by Ian Areford
🚨In a timely comment piece in @nature.com ahead of #UNOC3, leading ocean scientists make the case for protecting the High Seas from all extraction.
@profcallum.bsky.social @ubcoceans.bsky.social @marklynas.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
@profcallum.bsky.social @ubcoceans.bsky.social @marklynas.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Why we should protect the high seas from all extraction, forever
Exploitation of the high seas risks doing irreversible damage to biodiversity, climate stability and ocean equity. A consensus must be built now to save them.
www.nature.com
June 4, 2025 at 4:07 PM
🚨In a timely comment piece in @nature.com ahead of #UNOC3, leading ocean scientists make the case for protecting the High Seas from all extraction.
@profcallum.bsky.social @ubcoceans.bsky.social @marklynas.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
@profcallum.bsky.social @ubcoceans.bsky.social @marklynas.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Ian Areford
US pioneers restoration of deep water corals damaged by country’s worst oil spill
US pioneers restoration of deep water corals damaged by country’s worst oil spill
In the twilight depths of the Gulf of Mexico, about as deep down as a football field is long, U.S. Navy divers carefully snip small branches of corals with gloved hands. Their voices crackle through…
news.mongabay.com
May 31, 2025 at 2:52 PM
US pioneers restoration of deep water corals damaged by country’s worst oil spill
Reposted by Ian Areford
How bad will it be? Catastrophic.
Proposed cuts to #NSF, #NIH, and #NASA will set the US R&D landscape back 25 yrs+, cause economic and job loss now, and undermine innovations to come.
But, this is the WH's *proposed* budget.
Speak up now before it is too late.
(inflation adjusted $-s below)
Proposed cuts to #NSF, #NIH, and #NASA will set the US R&D landscape back 25 yrs+, cause economic and job loss now, and undermine innovations to come.
But, this is the WH's *proposed* budget.
Speak up now before it is too late.
(inflation adjusted $-s below)
May 31, 2025 at 2:50 AM
Reposted by Ian Areford
Trump's Budget is out. For NOAA, it's exactly what the previous passback document showed.
Trump administration eliminations NOAA's Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research in its ongoing fight against science and reality.
www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/...
Trump administration eliminations NOAA's Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research in its ongoing fight against science and reality.
www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/...
May 30, 2025 at 9:38 PM
Trump's Budget is out. For NOAA, it's exactly what the previous passback document showed.
Trump administration eliminations NOAA's Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research in its ongoing fight against science and reality.
www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/...
Trump administration eliminations NOAA's Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research in its ongoing fight against science and reality.
www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/...
Reposted by Ian Areford
New Caledonia Approves 50-Year Moratorium on Deep-Seabed Mining
🦑
www.pew-bertarelli-ocean-legacy.org/en/home/rese...
🦑
www.pew-bertarelli-ocean-legacy.org/en/home/rese...
New Caledonia Approves 50-Year Moratorium on Deep-Seabed Mining
In the ocean depths off the South Pacific archipelago of New Caledonia, a vast array of marine species thrive in ecosystems found nowhere else. Deep-sea areas—200 meters (656 feet) or more below the o...
www.pew-bertarelli-ocean-legacy.org
May 30, 2025 at 2:11 PM
New Caledonia Approves 50-Year Moratorium on Deep-Seabed Mining
🦑
www.pew-bertarelli-ocean-legacy.org/en/home/rese...
🦑
www.pew-bertarelli-ocean-legacy.org/en/home/rese...
Reposted by Ian Areford
Shocking new paper shows that well-designed marine protected areas that get staffing and implementation work
(This is my shocked face)
www.cell.com/cell-reports...
(This is my shocked face)
www.cell.com/cell-reports...
Marine protected areas stage of establishment and level of protection are good predictors of their conservation outcomes
Global targets should track MPA quality and quantity. This is the first study using
a new science-based framework across 123 MPAs and tying levels of protection and stages
of establishment directly to...
www.cell.com
May 21, 2025 at 9:54 AM
Shocking new paper shows that well-designed marine protected areas that get staffing and implementation work
(This is my shocked face)
www.cell.com/cell-reports...
(This is my shocked face)
www.cell.com/cell-reports...
Reposted by Ian Areford
Ever wondered what lurks in the ocean’s deepest waters? Meet the deep-sea fish, denizens of the abyss, where sunlight fades and pressure mounts. These are the zones of underwater life. 🧵⬇️ (1/4)
May 19, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Ever wondered what lurks in the ocean’s deepest waters? Meet the deep-sea fish, denizens of the abyss, where sunlight fades and pressure mounts. These are the zones of underwater life. 🧵⬇️ (1/4)
Reposted by Ian Areford
DEFEND THE DEEP: Deep-sea mining could cause irreparable damage to our oceans, but the Trump administration is charging forward anyway without proper safeguards.
Fight back against these attacks & demand U.S. Congress step in to protect our seas: oceana.ly/4jQUCvv
Fight back against these attacks & demand U.S. Congress step in to protect our seas: oceana.ly/4jQUCvv
May 12, 2025 at 3:06 PM
DEFEND THE DEEP: Deep-sea mining could cause irreparable damage to our oceans, but the Trump administration is charging forward anyway without proper safeguards.
Fight back against these attacks & demand U.S. Congress step in to protect our seas: oceana.ly/4jQUCvv
Fight back against these attacks & demand U.S. Congress step in to protect our seas: oceana.ly/4jQUCvv
Reposted by Ian Areford
This week, scientists released the first video of a colossal squid in its natural habitat, filmed nearly 2,000 feet deep in the South Atlantic Ocean.
Dr. Kat Bolstad, who helped identify the squid, joins us to talk about the sighting.
Dr. Kat Bolstad, who helped identify the squid, joins us to talk about the sighting.
A Colossal Squid Video? That’s A Big Deal
Researchers captured the first confirmed video of a colossal squid swimming in its natural habitat—almost 2,000 feet deep.
www.sciencefriday.com
April 18, 2025 at 7:07 PM
This week, scientists released the first video of a colossal squid in its natural habitat, filmed nearly 2,000 feet deep in the South Atlantic Ocean.
Dr. Kat Bolstad, who helped identify the squid, joins us to talk about the sighting.
Dr. Kat Bolstad, who helped identify the squid, joins us to talk about the sighting.
Reposted by Ian Areford
After TMC's reckless and concerning decision to bypass international law and the ISA to push its mining agenda, there is no time to waste to protect the deep.
Urge your government to support a moratorium on #DeepSeaMining today! ➡️ defendthedeep.org
buff.ly/vCTOB2o
Urge your government to support a moratorium on #DeepSeaMining today! ➡️ defendthedeep.org
buff.ly/vCTOB2o
Help Stop Deep-Sea Mining Now! #DefendTheDeep
Stop the machines - Call on governments to take action now and protect the health of our ocean for future generations.
defendthedeep.org
April 1, 2025 at 6:26 PM
After TMC's reckless and concerning decision to bypass international law and the ISA to push its mining agenda, there is no time to waste to protect the deep.
Urge your government to support a moratorium on #DeepSeaMining today! ➡️ defendthedeep.org
buff.ly/vCTOB2o
Urge your government to support a moratorium on #DeepSeaMining today! ➡️ defendthedeep.org
buff.ly/vCTOB2o
This week I got the awful news that so many grad students have faced—the project I came in to work on as a PhD student was terminated due to gov’t budget cuts. I’m very fortunate to still have support from my lab and department, but the news has made “sciencing” particularly tough lately
March 28, 2025 at 3:19 PM
This week I got the awful news that so many grad students have faced—the project I came in to work on as a PhD student was terminated due to gov’t budget cuts. I’m very fortunate to still have support from my lab and department, but the news has made “sciencing” particularly tough lately
Reposted by Ian Areford
If #DeepSeaMining were to go ahead, destruction would not stop at the seafloor - the midwater zone, a vital ecosystem for marine life & climate regulation, would face threats from sediment plumes and wastewater discharge.
It's time to hit pause ⏸️
theconversation.com/deep-sea-min...
It's time to hit pause ⏸️
theconversation.com/deep-sea-min...
Deep-sea mining threatens sea life in a way no one is thinking about − by dumping debris into the thriving midwater zone
A planned mining method to gather critical minerals from the seafloor would create sediment plumes higher up in the water column where many creatures live.
theconversation.com
March 27, 2025 at 2:12 PM
If #DeepSeaMining were to go ahead, destruction would not stop at the seafloor - the midwater zone, a vital ecosystem for marine life & climate regulation, would face threats from sediment plumes and wastewater discharge.
It's time to hit pause ⏸️
theconversation.com/deep-sea-min...
It's time to hit pause ⏸️
theconversation.com/deep-sea-min...
Reposted by Ian Areford
Earlier this year, a video of a gloriously creepy anglerfish inspired tears and poetry online. But why was this deep-sea dweller near the surface at all?
Why The Internet Was Captivated By A Hideous Fish
A video of a gloriously creepy anglerfish inspired tears and poetry online. But why was this deep-sea dweller near the surface at all?
www.sciencefriday.com
March 22, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Earlier this year, a video of a gloriously creepy anglerfish inspired tears and poetry online. But why was this deep-sea dweller near the surface at all?
Reposted by Ian Areford
Calling it the "biggest deregulatory action in U.S. history," the EPA rolled out sweeping moves Wednesday aimed at walking back environmental protections and eliminating a host of climate change regulations, some decades in the making.
EPA takes aim at water, air and toxics protections as part of massive deregulation campaign
EPA takes aim at water, air and toxics protections as part of massive deregulation campaign.
abcnews.go.com
March 13, 2025 at 12:11 PM
Calling it the "biggest deregulatory action in U.S. history," the EPA rolled out sweeping moves Wednesday aimed at walking back environmental protections and eliminating a host of climate change regulations, some decades in the making.
Reposted by Ian Areford
DESANTIS AXES MARINE SANCTUARY RESTORATION PLAN IN STATE WATERS
DESANTIS AXES MARINE SANCTUARY RESTORATION PLAN IN STATE WATERS
In a move striking a critical blow to the Florida Keys’ marine ecosystem, Gov. Ron DeSantis has vetoed all components of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary’s (FKNMS’) newly-finalized…
buff.ly
March 10, 2025 at 4:57 PM
DESANTIS AXES MARINE SANCTUARY RESTORATION PLAN IN STATE WATERS
Reposted by Ian Areford
Reposted by Ian Areford
I am now hearing from multiple folks in the past two hours (including some who have personally been fired) that mass firings have now commenced within NOAA--including, yes, at the National Weather Service.
February 27, 2025 at 9:17 PM
I am now hearing from multiple folks in the past two hours (including some who have personally been fired) that mass firings have now commenced within NOAA--including, yes, at the National Weather Service.
Reposted by Ian Areford
Biodiversity is depleted and large furrows still lie in the seabed where deep-sea mining equipment operated more than 40 years ago.
Deep-sea life is still recovering from mining activity 40 years ago
The site of a deep-sea mining test in 1979 had lower levels of biodiversity when researchers revisited the site in 2023 compared with undisturbed areas nearby
www.newscientist.com
February 24, 2025 at 6:32 PM
Biodiversity is depleted and large furrows still lie in the seabed where deep-sea mining equipment operated more than 40 years ago.
Scientists & experts: Add your name to this open letter calling on Congress and the Trump administration to ensure that NOAA and its sub-agencies remain fully funded and staffed, and that the independent, trusted science the agency produces is protected. act.ucsusa.org/4kajJuk
Science at Risk: Protect NOAA
Scientists & experts: Add your name to this open letter calling on Congress and the Trump administration to ensure that NOAA and its sub-agencies remain fully funded and staffed, and that the independ...
act.ucsusa.org
February 21, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Scientists & experts: Add your name to this open letter calling on Congress and the Trump administration to ensure that NOAA and its sub-agencies remain fully funded and staffed, and that the independent, trusted science the agency produces is protected. act.ucsusa.org/4kajJuk