John (Jack) Williams
@iceageecologist.bsky.social
Climate change ecologist, paleoecologist, biogeographer, open data scientist.
Prof. at UW-Madison, co-leader of Neotoma Paleoecology Database www.neotomadb.org
Fearless sifter and winnower. All posts my own.
Prof. at UW-Madison, co-leader of Neotoma Paleoecology Database www.neotomadb.org
Fearless sifter and winnower. All posts my own.
Reposted by John (Jack) Williams
Come work with us!
We have three openings right now.
We have three openings right now.
We currently have openings for a Senior Analyst, Climate Philanthropy and Investing; Program Manager, Global Strategic Partnerships; and Research Fellow. Check out our Careers page to learn more and apply today! #hiring #climatejobs drawdown.org/careers
Careers
Project Drawdown careers page.
drawdown.org
October 29, 2025 at 2:07 AM
Come work with us!
We have three openings right now.
We have three openings right now.
Reposted by John (Jack) Williams
Biodiversity Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2-year (2026-2028) - 2 positions OPEN
UBC, Vancouver, Canada
biodiversity.ubc.ca/training-and...
"The UBC Biodiversity Research Centre comprises over 100 faculty members with interests in ecology, evolution, systematics, biodiversity, and conservation"
UBC, Vancouver, Canada
biodiversity.ubc.ca/training-and...
"The UBC Biodiversity Research Centre comprises over 100 faculty members with interests in ecology, evolution, systematics, biodiversity, and conservation"
Postdoctoral Fellowship Opportunities
Biodiversity Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2-year (2026-2028) - 2 positions OPENAt UBC, we believe that attracting and sustaining a diverse workforce is key to the successful pursuit of excellence in resea...
biodiversity.ubc.ca
October 24, 2025 at 7:49 PM
Biodiversity Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2-year (2026-2028) - 2 positions OPEN
UBC, Vancouver, Canada
biodiversity.ubc.ca/training-and...
"The UBC Biodiversity Research Centre comprises over 100 faculty members with interests in ecology, evolution, systematics, biodiversity, and conservation"
UBC, Vancouver, Canada
biodiversity.ubc.ca/training-and...
"The UBC Biodiversity Research Centre comprises over 100 faculty members with interests in ecology, evolution, systematics, biodiversity, and conservation"
Reposted by John (Jack) Williams
AMNH is hiring a tenure track Assistant Curator/Professor in Climate Physics. You can find the posting here: careers.amnh.org/postings/4579
Assistant Curator in Climate Physics: Atmosphere or Ocean
The Division of Physical Sciences at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) seeks an outstanding colleague to join the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences (EPS). This is an Assistant lev...
careers.amnh.org
September 6, 2025 at 6:39 PM
AMNH is hiring a tenure track Assistant Curator/Professor in Climate Physics. You can find the posting here: careers.amnh.org/postings/4579
Reposted by John (Jack) Williams
No matter what history teaches us about the dire consequences of unconstrained hubris there is always some idiot who comes along and proclaims, “Hey! I’ve had this really neat idea.”
Check out this great article in the US magazine Slate by their Dunedin based reporter about why the moa should not be brought back from extinction. slate.com/technology/2...
Those De-Extinct Dire Wolves Were a Warning. Well, the Next Phase Is Coming.
It involves a giant flightless bird.
slate.com
August 9, 2025 at 10:54 AM
No matter what history teaches us about the dire consequences of unconstrained hubris there is always some idiot who comes along and proclaims, “Hey! I’ve had this really neat idea.”
Reposted by John (Jack) Williams
Trump zet steeds meer stappen om onafhankelijke wetenschap de nek om te draaien.
Trump's new executive order "looks like an explicit attempt to destroy peer review for federal science grants,” a physicist in Texas tells @dangaristo.bsky.social. 🧪
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Trump order gives political appointees vast powers over research grants
Researchers are alarmed that the move might upend a long-standing tradition of peer-review for grants.
www.nature.com
August 8, 2025 at 8:55 PM
Trump zet steeds meer stappen om onafhankelijke wetenschap de nek om te draaien.
Reposted by John (Jack) Williams
Interested in helping out with one of the most innovative, grassroots, publishing efforts around? The Journal of Open Source Software (@joss-openjournals.bsky.social) is looking for editors. We conduct collaborative checklist-based peer review of research software using GitHub issues.
Call for editors | Journal of Open Source Software Blog
Blog for the Journal of Open Source Software • <a href='https://joss.theoj.org'>https://joss.theoj.org</a>
blog.joss.theoj.org
August 8, 2025 at 1:39 PM
Interested in helping out with one of the most innovative, grassroots, publishing efforts around? The Journal of Open Source Software (@joss-openjournals.bsky.social) is looking for editors. We conduct collaborative checklist-based peer review of research software using GitHub issues.
Reposted by John (Jack) Williams
2025 has seen the second warmest first half of the year on record after 2024 – and is on track to be the second or third warmest year since records began in 1850. My latest State of the Climate report over at Carbon Brief: www.carbonbrief.org/...
July 29, 2025 at 11:23 PM
2025 has seen the second warmest first half of the year on record after 2024 – and is on track to be the second or third warmest year since records began in 1850. My latest State of the Climate report over at Carbon Brief: www.carbonbrief.org/...
Reposted by John (Jack) Williams
I hope a journalist on the climate beat will report on this - this may be only one piece of the general awfulness that is happening to federal science, but the NOAA Climate and Global Change Fellowship has trained many of the current leaders in weather and climate: cpaess.ucar.edu/cgc/current-...
July 7, 2025 at 3:43 PM
I hope a journalist on the climate beat will report on this - this may be only one piece of the general awfulness that is happening to federal science, but the NOAA Climate and Global Change Fellowship has trained many of the current leaders in weather and climate: cpaess.ucar.edu/cgc/current-...
Reposted by John (Jack) Williams
Good news! Trump sought to eliminate NOAA's Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), which would have led to the closure of NOAA Research Labs. Among other important climate research, this would have meant eliminating the Keeling Curve.
The Senate Appropriations Committee said no!
bit.ly/3TShZKk
The Senate Appropriations Committee said no!
bit.ly/3TShZKk
July 22, 2025 at 10:26 AM
Good news! Trump sought to eliminate NOAA's Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), which would have led to the closure of NOAA Research Labs. Among other important climate research, this would have meant eliminating the Keeling Curve.
The Senate Appropriations Committee said no!
bit.ly/3TShZKk
The Senate Appropriations Committee said no!
bit.ly/3TShZKk
Reposted by John (Jack) Williams
I'm back home with my dad and have thoughts about being an Indigenous scientist and academic. I'm writing this in real time so it might get disrupted and will have typos.
I am fairly successful by academic standards. I have a tenure track job, wrote papers, have grant funding, mentor students.
I am fairly successful by academic standards. I have a tenure track job, wrote papers, have grant funding, mentor students.
July 21, 2025 at 9:18 PM
I'm back home with my dad and have thoughts about being an Indigenous scientist and academic. I'm writing this in real time so it might get disrupted and will have typos.
I am fairly successful by academic standards. I have a tenure track job, wrote papers, have grant funding, mentor students.
I am fairly successful by academic standards. I have a tenure track job, wrote papers, have grant funding, mentor students.
Reposted by John (Jack) Williams
Lately I keep having to choose between open access and paying my staff's salaries. It would be nice... not to have to do that.
In a few weeks, we'll be publishing the finding that [redacted] people die every year because of climate change, equivalent to a loss of $[redacted]T USD, every year.
Here's what it costs us to open that publication to you. We have no federal grants for that work, and can't apply for them.
Here's what it costs us to open that publication to you. We have no federal grants for that work, and can't apply for them.
July 21, 2025 at 9:51 PM
Lately I keep having to choose between open access and paying my staff's salaries. It would be nice... not to have to do that.
Two good #AGU2025 sessions about vegetation-climate interactions and past ecosystems... abstracts due July 30!
PP019: Modeling and Reconstructing Vegetation-Climate Interactions in the Past.
PP026: Paleoecological Perspectives on Past Climates
Section: Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology
PP019: Modeling and Reconstructing Vegetation-Climate Interactions in the Past.
PP026: Paleoecological Perspectives on Past Climates
Section: Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology
July 18, 2025 at 8:04 PM
Two good #AGU2025 sessions about vegetation-climate interactions and past ecosystems... abstracts due July 30!
PP019: Modeling and Reconstructing Vegetation-Climate Interactions in the Past.
PP026: Paleoecological Perspectives on Past Climates
Section: Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology
PP019: Modeling and Reconstructing Vegetation-Climate Interactions in the Past.
PP026: Paleoecological Perspectives on Past Climates
Section: Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology
Reposted by John (Jack) Williams
Hi folks. I’m doing a panel. Hit me with your best networking tips for your academic career. Conference or meeting networking, professional networking - give me your best tips for ECRs and I’ll pass them forward for my panel!
July 18, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Hi folks. I’m doing a panel. Hit me with your best networking tips for your academic career. Conference or meeting networking, professional networking - give me your best tips for ECRs and I’ll pass them forward for my panel!
Reposted by John (Jack) Williams
This is a great article by Bill McKibben @billmckibben.bsky.social on how solar power hit an inflection point and has now become an unstoppable force.
A must read.
www.newyorker.com/news/annals-...
A must read.
www.newyorker.com/news/annals-...
4.6 Billion Years On, the Sun Is Having a Moment
In the past two years, without much notice, solar power has begun to truly transform the world’s energy system.
www.newyorker.com
July 14, 2025 at 5:17 AM
This is a great article by Bill McKibben @billmckibben.bsky.social on how solar power hit an inflection point and has now become an unstoppable force.
A must read.
www.newyorker.com/news/annals-...
A must read.
www.newyorker.com/news/annals-...
Reposted by John (Jack) Williams
Even in oil country, the energy shift is undeniable. In just 6 yrs, Texas (ERCOT) flipped its midday grid from gas-heavy to solar-dominant—with wind & batteries now key players. This isn’t theory. It’s reality. Even in a red state, the sun shines & change wins. Yellow = progress.⚡☀️ #EnergyTransition
@johnarnoldfndtn.bsky.social:
"Good illustration of how much the Texas grid has changed in just 6 years.
yellow = solar; purple = batteries; dark green = wind; blue = gas; brown = coal; light green = nuke"
#alwaysbecharging nitter.net/JohnArnoldFn...
"Good illustration of how much the Texas grid has changed in just 6 years.
yellow = solar; purple = batteries; dark green = wind; blue = gas; brown = coal; light green = nuke"
#alwaysbecharging nitter.net/JohnArnoldFn...
July 11, 2025 at 11:23 PM
Even in oil country, the energy shift is undeniable. In just 6 yrs, Texas (ERCOT) flipped its midday grid from gas-heavy to solar-dominant—with wind & batteries now key players. This isn’t theory. It’s reality. Even in a red state, the sun shines & change wins. Yellow = progress.⚡☀️ #EnergyTransition
Reposted by John (Jack) Williams
Very sorry to learn that Martin Cruz Smith, author of the incomparable Arkady Renko series, has died. My deepest condolences to his family, including @luisacruz.bsky.social.
His final book, HOTEL UKRAINE, was published earlier this month and was a fitting send-off to the series.
His final book, HOTEL UKRAINE, was published earlier this month and was a fitting send-off to the series.
July 13, 2025 at 12:34 PM
Very sorry to learn that Martin Cruz Smith, author of the incomparable Arkady Renko series, has died. My deepest condolences to his family, including @luisacruz.bsky.social.
His final book, HOTEL UKRAINE, was published earlier this month and was a fitting send-off to the series.
His final book, HOTEL UKRAINE, was published earlier this month and was a fitting send-off to the series.
Reposted by John (Jack) Williams
Senate appropriators showed today they are *not* down with Trump's proposed budget cuts for NASA and NSF. (Likely NOAA too, but can't say for 100% yet.)
Long way to go to a law. But this is rare good news for scientists this year.
www.science.org/content/arti...
Long way to go to a law. But this is rare good news for scientists this year.
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org
July 10, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Senate appropriators showed today they are *not* down with Trump's proposed budget cuts for NASA and NSF. (Likely NOAA too, but can't say for 100% yet.)
Long way to go to a law. But this is rare good news for scientists this year.
www.science.org/content/arti...
Long way to go to a law. But this is rare good news for scientists this year.
www.science.org/content/arti...
Reposted by John (Jack) Williams
In the interest of celebrating good things, former lab postdoc David Fastovich (and new Assistant Prof at University of Georgia!) has a new paper looking at rates of ecosystem change in response to past climate change: press release: phys.org/news/2025-07...
Paper: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Paper: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Climate change outpaces trees: Forests face centuries-long lag in adaptation
Ecologists are concerned that forest ecosystems will not keep pace with a rapidly changing climate, failing to remain healthy and productive. Before the rapid climate change of the past century, tree ...
phys.org
July 4, 2025 at 1:32 PM
In the interest of celebrating good things, former lab postdoc David Fastovich (and new Assistant Prof at University of Georgia!) has a new paper looking at rates of ecosystem change in response to past climate change: press release: phys.org/news/2025-07...
Paper: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Paper: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by John (Jack) Williams
The GOP is trying to kill the Keeling Curve, the most iconic time series in the environmental sciences.
Trump admin tries to kill the most indisputable evidence of human-caused climate change by shuttering observatory | CNN
The Mauna Loa laboratory in Hawaii has measured atmospheric carbon dioxide, which — along with other planet-warming pollution — has led directly to climate change, driving sea level rise, superchargin...
edition.cnn.com
July 3, 2025 at 4:26 AM
The GOP is trying to kill the Keeling Curve, the most iconic time series in the environmental sciences.
Reposted by John (Jack) Williams
Things are looking DRY out west, especially in the Colorado and Rio Grande river basins. The Missouri too. This is megadrought country, and it's a HOT megadrought (since 1999) thanks to climate change.
droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap/S...
droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap/S...
July 2, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Things are looking DRY out west, especially in the Colorado and Rio Grande river basins. The Missouri too. This is megadrought country, and it's a HOT megadrought (since 1999) thanks to climate change.
droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap/S...
droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap/S...
My new favorite conference activity: themed fossil stamps of conference swag! Kudos to @vojtechabraham.bsky.social for this fun activity.
July 2, 2025 at 2:59 PM
My new favorite conference activity: themed fossil stamps of conference swag! Kudos to @vojtechabraham.bsky.social for this fun activity.
Reposted by John (Jack) Williams
From 1939-41, the WPA funded a massive Texas paleontology survey. I wrote about some of my favorite discoveries from its archives. Field crews behaving badly! Landowner nightmares! The creation of a creationist myth! Someone unexpected accidentally joins the Manhattan Project!
It's HEAT DEATH!
🧪🦖
It's HEAT DEATH!
🧪🦖
Dug Up Treasures
Fast times and paleontological headaches from the archives of the Texas WPA
heat-death.ghost.io
June 26, 2025 at 5:44 PM
From 1939-41, the WPA funded a massive Texas paleontology survey. I wrote about some of my favorite discoveries from its archives. Field crews behaving badly! Landowner nightmares! The creation of a creationist myth! Someone unexpected accidentally joins the Manhattan Project!
It's HEAT DEATH!
🧪🦖
It's HEAT DEATH!
🧪🦖
Excited to see (and be part of) this conceptual framework now published about the ecoevolutionary acclimation of ecosystems to climate change, across a range of timescales. Really nice press release here: www.ecosystemscience.ca/news/bridgin...
June 27, 2025 at 9:22 AM
Excited to see (and be part of) this conceptual framework now published about the ecoevolutionary acclimation of ecosystems to climate change, across a range of timescales. Really nice press release here: www.ecosystemscience.ca/news/bridgin...
Reposted by John (Jack) Williams
20. Furlough of @unidata.bsky.social (May 9, 2025)
NSF-supported Unidata announced that almost their entire staff will be furloughed as of today. This is a huge threat to weather education and research at universities--Unidata provides crucial realtime data feeds of weather data, including satellite, radar, and observations.
This is a seismic gut punch to the weather enterprise.
It is impossible to overstate how important @unidata.bsky.social is in implementing many datasets/libraries (LDM, netCDF, THREDDS, metPy) we currently use in meteorological research & operations.
www.unidata.ucar.edu/blogs/news/e...
It is impossible to overstate how important @unidata.bsky.social is in implementing many datasets/libraries (LDM, netCDF, THREDDS, metPy) we currently use in meteorological research & operations.
www.unidata.ucar.edu/blogs/news/e...
May 9, 2025 at 8:33 PM
20. Furlough of @unidata.bsky.social (May 9, 2025)
Reposted by John (Jack) Williams
Well this is exciting! Here's an interview I did for @nature.com about #NaturesMemory - talking about how natural history #museums can help save the world, as the best evidence we have for understanding environmental change, plus colonial legacies, male bias, and more:
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
‘Natural history museums can save the world’: anti-colonialism, conservation and climate change
Zoologist Jack Ashby explains why it’s vital to invest in protecting specimens stored in scientific collections.
www.nature.com
June 23, 2025 at 6:28 PM
Well this is exciting! Here's an interview I did for @nature.com about #NaturesMemory - talking about how natural history #museums can help save the world, as the best evidence we have for understanding environmental change, plus colonial legacies, male bias, and more:
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...