Pick Narker
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nicholasparker.bsky.social
Pick Narker
@nicholasparker.bsky.social
Environment, social science, and other nasty words. Personal postings. Please message me. ☘️
Pinned
I think I’ll pin this. Cheers to photographer Enric Gener, if he ever comes ‘round to Bluesky. 📷
Once upon a time, deep in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Sebastiao, his wife, and a porter wandered out of the dark and up to our dinner campfire. They brought a chicken. I ended up helping him over the next couple of days as he photographed gorillas for his UNESCO project. Pretty great memory.
Sebastião Salgado, Acclaimed Brazilian Photographer, Is Dead at 81
www.nytimes.com
May 26, 2025 at 9:16 PM
Reposted by Pick Narker
say it again:

4 million people work in higher ed, the largest employer in 10 states, second largest employer in 10 more, and in 60 of the 100 biggest cities

ROI for NIH and NSF for local economies is conservatively 4x, often close to 10x

demolishing higher education is economic sabotage
There is a false dichotomy drawn between "the ivory tower" and "the real world," and I'm here to report that in a post-industrial society, your real-world economy absolutely hinges on the university.

University towns are factory towns. Universities drive economic activity, not the other way around.
May 18, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Reposted by Pick Narker
Whether you care most about climate, competition with China, or local economic development, you should oppose the repeal of the IRA. Would be so damaging to US economic, national & climate security.
A Clean Energy Boom Was Just Starting. Now, a Republican Bill Aims to End It.
www.nytimes.com
May 18, 2025 at 12:28 PM
@thisisdeepseadiver.bsky.social home at Showbox, Seattle 🙌
May 18, 2025 at 2:34 PM
Reposted by Pick Narker
It’s especially galling that AG Pam Bondi personally wrote the memo approving the gift of the Qatari airplane. Her last job was as a lobbyist for Qatar! efile.fara.gov/docs/6415-Ex...
May 11, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Reposted by Pick Narker
Short thread (hopefully in plain English) on the nuclear deterrence dynamics in the India-Pakistan relationship and where this goes if escalation continues. <1>
May 10, 2025 at 1:52 AM
Reposted by Pick Narker
Our NOAA Climate Adaptation Partnership for the Northwest region was terminated this week. I'm so proud of the work we did to support the climate resilience efforts of frontline communities and Tribal Nations. And I'm deeply concerned for what the loss of this support means for NW communities.
May 9, 2025 at 3:29 AM
One of my recent faves.
May 7, 2025 at 6:47 PM
South Park, #Seattle
May 4, 2025 at 11:10 PM
Reposted by Pick Narker
A few folks sent me messages about some unusual pigeons that appeared on the show Andor. Thank you! They are real pigeons and not CGI. They belong to the group of breeds called Pouters or Croppers. Here’s an illustration of an English Pouter from my book A Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching.
May 4, 2025 at 5:36 PM
May 4, 2025 at 4:29 PM
if u see this
post your getaway vehicle
May 3, 2025 at 5:02 AM
Reposted by Pick Narker
Dear ICE Agents:
When your parents told you that you could be anything you want when you grow up, they didn’t mean masked kidnappers.
May 2, 2025 at 3:37 AM
Do school dances still end with Stairway?
May 2, 2025 at 1:52 AM
Reposted by Pick Narker
Opinion | I was addicted to heroin for 20 years. Here's why I am eliminating federal funding for Narcan so that an extra 10,000 people can die each year from opiate overdoses.

by RFK Jr.
April 30, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Reposted by Pick Narker
It’s a very distressing moment for a lot of us in meteorology. Thousands of years of experience in our field are literally exiting this week. Gone. Just like that. And for no good reason. To them I am grateful and wish them the best. To our country: They deserve(d) better.
What a wonderful video from Cole Vaughn in tribute to all of the many NOAA staff leaving federal service this week. To all of my colleagues, thank you for your service, and I hope you are as proud of NOAA and our work as I am.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Si-R...
Dear NOAA: Thank You
YouTube video by Cole Vaughn
www.youtube.com
May 1, 2025 at 2:32 AM
Reposted by Pick Narker
She’s in jail for writing an op-ed.
NEW: The Second Circuit halts Rümeysa Öztürk's physical transfer from Louisiana to Vermont until a 3-judge panel has the chance to hear arguments on the govt's emergency motion next Tuesday, May 6. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
April 28, 2025 at 11:18 PM
My daughter had salmonella when she was young. Awful and dangerous.
USDA withdraws a plan to limit salmonella levels in raw poultry
The Agriculture Department says it is withdrawing a plan to limit salmonella bacteria in poultry products.
www.seattletimes.com
April 25, 2025 at 3:48 AM
Keep on this.
Getting rid of safeguards designed to limit civilian harm from U.S. military operations & ensure compliance with international humanitarian law undermines our credibility, jeopardizes our missions & raises the risk of natl security threats.
Senators challenge Hegseth on civilian deaths in Yemen strikes
Democrats have demanded that the Trump administration account for rising loss of life from its intensified campaign against Iran-backed militants.
www.washingtonpost.com
April 25, 2025 at 1:18 AM
💯
Great to see some pushback + oversight on this issue
Getting rid of safeguards designed to limit civilian harm from U.S. military operations & ensure compliance with international humanitarian law undermines our credibility, jeopardizes our missions & raises the risk of natl security threats.
April 25, 2025 at 1:16 AM
Reposted by Pick Narker
Great to see some pushback + oversight on this issue
Getting rid of safeguards designed to limit civilian harm from U.S. military operations & ensure compliance with international humanitarian law undermines our credibility, jeopardizes our missions & raises the risk of natl security threats.
Senators challenge Hegseth on civilian deaths in Yemen strikes
Democrats have demanded that the Trump administration account for rising loss of life from its intensified campaign against Iran-backed militants.
www.washingtonpost.com
April 24, 2025 at 10:25 PM
Reposted by Pick Narker
On Yom HaShoah, we remember the six million Jews and millions of others killed during the Holocaust. Let the memory of those who were murdered serve as our calling to combat antisemitism and hate.
April 25, 2025 at 12:18 AM
Reposted by Pick Narker
Since we’re in a golden age of new Star Wars tv shows, I’ll again pitch “David Attenborough style nature documentaries but of fictional Star Wars creatures.”

No empire. No Jedi. Like, what the Jedi would watch on tv to relax after a stressful mission.
a black and white bird is standing in the grass
ALT: a black and white bird is standing in the grass
media.tenor.com
April 24, 2025 at 10:54 AM
Reposted by Pick Narker
NEW: The total loss of NOAA’s office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research —a nerve center of global climate science, data collection and modeling — represents a setback for climate preparedness that experts warn the nation may never recover from.

By @abrahm.bsky.social
White House Proposal Could Gut Climate Modeling the World Depends On
Potential funding cuts for NOAA and its research partners threaten irreparable harm not only to climate research but to American safety, competitiveness, and national security.
www.propublica.org
April 24, 2025 at 12:00 PM