Benjamin Gill
@sedgeochem.bsky.social
Biogeochemist. Dad. Earth Historian. Gardener. Professor in the Department of Geosciences at Virginia Tech. He/him.
I'm not a lawyer but this seems like its a violation of the Article I, Section 9, Clause 3 of the constitution. It would be an ex post facto law that retrospectively changes the legal consequences of action that happened before the enactment of the law.
constitution.congress.gov/browse/artic...
constitution.congress.gov/browse/artic...
November 14, 2025 at 5:44 PM
I'm not a lawyer but this seems like its a violation of the Article I, Section 9, Clause 3 of the constitution. It would be an ex post facto law that retrospectively changes the legal consequences of action that happened before the enactment of the law.
constitution.congress.gov/browse/artic...
constitution.congress.gov/browse/artic...
Reposted by Benjamin Gill
Well this would fuck me and my lab over- I wasn't entirely sure because, like many scientists, I collaborate widely and may not even know all of my coauthors (let alone their nationality) but I'm 99% sure it would make me ineligible for federal funding.
November 14, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Well this would fuck me and my lab over- I wasn't entirely sure because, like many scientists, I collaborate widely and may not even know all of my coauthors (let alone their nationality) but I'm 99% sure it would make me ineligible for federal funding.
Reposted by Benjamin Gill
This has gotten surprisingly little attention — it's not even on the front page of @science.org right now — but it's really hard to describe what the SAFE Research Act would do to US science and scientists without sounding insane
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
November 14, 2025 at 5:16 PM
This has gotten surprisingly little attention — it's not even on the front page of @science.org right now — but it's really hard to describe what the SAFE Research Act would do to US science and scientists without sounding insane
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
Reposted by Benjamin Gill
a very large proportion of american scientists have worked with chinese scientists at some point in the last five years
November 14, 2025 at 5:20 PM
a very large proportion of american scientists have worked with chinese scientists at some point in the last five years
Well if this actually happens, I'm hosed.
In the past five years papers I've co-authored at least 10 papers with Chinese collaborators and I've advised a Chinese Ph.D. student. I also currently have project that has a cooperative agreement between the Chinese science foundation and the NSF.
In the past five years papers I've co-authored at least 10 papers with Chinese collaborators and I've advised a Chinese Ph.D. student. I also currently have project that has a cooperative agreement between the Chinese science foundation and the NSF.
November 14, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Well if this actually happens, I'm hosed.
In the past five years papers I've co-authored at least 10 papers with Chinese collaborators and I've advised a Chinese Ph.D. student. I also currently have project that has a cooperative agreement between the Chinese science foundation and the NSF.
In the past five years papers I've co-authored at least 10 papers with Chinese collaborators and I've advised a Chinese Ph.D. student. I also currently have project that has a cooperative agreement between the Chinese science foundation and the NSF.
Reposted by Benjamin Gill
They are really planning to go through with these cuts at Nebraska, despite recommendations not to. Unbelievable.
If you want to hire highly qualified, very successful earth and atmospheric sciences faculty in teaching and research, quite a few are probably looking for jobs for next year.
If you want to hire highly qualified, very successful earth and atmospheric sciences faculty in teaching and research, quite a few are probably looking for jobs for next year.
Final Budget Reduction Plan | Budget Process | Nebraska
budgetprocess.unl.edu
November 10, 2025 at 11:19 PM
They are really planning to go through with these cuts at Nebraska, despite recommendations not to. Unbelievable.
If you want to hire highly qualified, very successful earth and atmospheric sciences faculty in teaching and research, quite a few are probably looking for jobs for next year.
If you want to hire highly qualified, very successful earth and atmospheric sciences faculty in teaching and research, quite a few are probably looking for jobs for next year.
Reposted by Benjamin Gill
A paper in Scientific Reports presents the origins of vivid colours within the gemstone ammolite — a rare type of brightly coloured fossilised ammonite shell. go.nature.com/48OT5DX #Paleosky ⚒️ 🧪
October 30, 2025 at 10:22 PM
A paper in Scientific Reports presents the origins of vivid colours within the gemstone ammolite — a rare type of brightly coloured fossilised ammonite shell. go.nature.com/48OT5DX #Paleosky ⚒️ 🧪
Reposted by Benjamin Gill
i don’t know how to cross-post this from FB but this is absolutely heartbreaking. The age of scientific ocean discovery we were brought up in is gone & will never come back. I can’t.
October 30, 2025 at 2:51 AM
i don’t know how to cross-post this from FB but this is absolutely heartbreaking. The age of scientific ocean discovery we were brought up in is gone & will never come back. I can’t.
Reposted by Benjamin Gill
Paleontologists - are these tabulate corals? ⚒️
October 16, 2025 at 11:28 PM
Paleontologists - are these tabulate corals? ⚒️
Reposted by Benjamin Gill
Doing research has to come with an epistemological humility that accepts you don't already know everything & understands that some things are going to be uncomfortably ambiguous. The 'mainstream' consensus on any issue won't be perfect, but you aren't going to overturn it with 5 min with ChatGPT.
October 16, 2025 at 5:49 AM
Doing research has to come with an epistemological humility that accepts you don't already know everything & understands that some things are going to be uncomfortably ambiguous. The 'mainstream' consensus on any issue won't be perfect, but you aren't going to overturn it with 5 min with ChatGPT.
Reposted by Benjamin Gill
⚒️ The Proterozoic Earth had radically different ocean and atmospheric chemistry, was ruled by bacterial mats, and was possibly being shaped by not-plate-tectonics, or at least different-plate-tectonics.
Calling it boring is such a depressing failure of the imagination.
Calling it boring is such a depressing failure of the imagination.
“That name, man,” Riedman says of the boring billion. “We’ve got to kill it. Kill it with fire.”
Gave me a smile to see they interviewed you about your work too.
Gave me a smile to see they interviewed you about your work too.
October 16, 2025 at 12:04 AM
⚒️ The Proterozoic Earth had radically different ocean and atmospheric chemistry, was ruled by bacterial mats, and was possibly being shaped by not-plate-tectonics, or at least different-plate-tectonics.
Calling it boring is such a depressing failure of the imagination.
Calling it boring is such a depressing failure of the imagination.
Reposted by Benjamin Gill
“That name, man,” Riedman says of the boring billion. “We’ve got to kill it. Kill it with fire.”
Gave me a smile to see they interviewed you about your work too.
Gave me a smile to see they interviewed you about your work too.
October 15, 2025 at 5:59 PM
“That name, man,” Riedman says of the boring billion. “We’ve got to kill it. Kill it with fire.”
Gave me a smile to see they interviewed you about your work too.
Gave me a smile to see they interviewed you about your work too.
Reposted by Benjamin Gill
After getting zero firm commitments to this point from the first nine invitees, the Trump administration is extending its proposed compact to all colleges. Expect some red-state publics to say yes.
Trump Offers All Colleges Preferential Funding Plan Rejected by MIT
The Trump administration is inviting all US colleges to participate in a compact — initially rejected by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology — that would grant preferential federal funding in re...
www.bloomberg.com
October 13, 2025 at 10:17 PM
After getting zero firm commitments to this point from the first nine invitees, the Trump administration is extending its proposed compact to all colleges. Expect some red-state publics to say yes.
Reposted by Benjamin Gill
The Crinoid hat video is up on my channel!
youtu.be/ZdPTYamnqQA
youtu.be/ZdPTYamnqQA
October 12, 2025 at 3:20 PM
The Crinoid hat video is up on my channel!
youtu.be/ZdPTYamnqQA
youtu.be/ZdPTYamnqQA
Reposted by Benjamin Gill
Astrogeology and Astrochemistry: Apollo Samples From 1972 Reveal Exotic Sulfur Hidden In The Moon’s Mantle
astrobiology.com/2025/10/astr... #astrobiology #astrochemistry #Artemis #astrogeology
astrobiology.com/2025/10/astr... #astrobiology #astrochemistry #Artemis #astrogeology
Astrogeology and Astrochemistry: Apollo Samples From 1972 Reveal Exotic Sulfur Hidden In The Moon’s Mantle - Astrobiology
When astronauts returned from NASA’s final Apollo Moon mission in 1972, some of the samples they collected were sealed and carefully stored away
astrobiology.com
October 8, 2025 at 6:17 PM
Astrogeology and Astrochemistry: Apollo Samples From 1972 Reveal Exotic Sulfur Hidden In The Moon’s Mantle
astrobiology.com/2025/10/astr... #astrobiology #astrochemistry #Artemis #astrogeology
astrobiology.com/2025/10/astr... #astrobiology #astrochemistry #Artemis #astrogeology
Reposted by Benjamin Gill
Last week I was co-leading a field trip in Utah, to check out some fluvial and eolian rocks. It was exhausting but fun and forced me to think more carefully than before about complex bedforms. This is a 3D model of one of the many stunning exposures of the Navajo Sandstone near Escalante 🧪⚒️
September 30, 2025 at 1:10 AM
Last week I was co-leading a field trip in Utah, to check out some fluvial and eolian rocks. It was exhausting but fun and forced me to think more carefully than before about complex bedforms. This is a 3D model of one of the many stunning exposures of the Navajo Sandstone near Escalante 🧪⚒️
Reposted by Benjamin Gill
New co-author paper out today in @pnas.org led by the fantastic Dr. Lubna Shawar!
Lubna breathes new life into the sponge sterol hypothesis with her meticulous organic geochemistry, and the ID of two new sponge-derived C31 Steranes in ~600 Myr rocks. Check it out! 🧪⚒️
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Lubna breathes new life into the sponge sterol hypothesis with her meticulous organic geochemistry, and the ID of two new sponge-derived C31 Steranes in ~600 Myr rocks. Check it out! 🧪⚒️
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Chemical characterization of C31 sterols from sponges and Neoproterozoic fossil sterane counterparts | PNAS
Putative metazoan body fossils from the Precambrian are curiously lacking morphological
characteristics that link them unambiguously to extant anim...
www.pnas.org
September 30, 2025 at 12:08 AM
New co-author paper out today in @pnas.org led by the fantastic Dr. Lubna Shawar!
Lubna breathes new life into the sponge sterol hypothesis with her meticulous organic geochemistry, and the ID of two new sponge-derived C31 Steranes in ~600 Myr rocks. Check it out! 🧪⚒️
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Lubna breathes new life into the sponge sterol hypothesis with her meticulous organic geochemistry, and the ID of two new sponge-derived C31 Steranes in ~600 Myr rocks. Check it out! 🧪⚒️
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Reposted by Benjamin Gill
A reminder to please support non-profit publishers.
It’s good for science and scientists.
It’s a responsible use of taxpayer dollars.
It requires resisting peer pressure to submit to Nature journals.
Thanks @bacteriality.bsky.social for this helpful slide for microbiology journals.
It’s good for science and scientists.
It’s a responsible use of taxpayer dollars.
It requires resisting peer pressure to submit to Nature journals.
Thanks @bacteriality.bsky.social for this helpful slide for microbiology journals.
September 27, 2025 at 10:36 PM
A reminder to please support non-profit publishers.
It’s good for science and scientists.
It’s a responsible use of taxpayer dollars.
It requires resisting peer pressure to submit to Nature journals.
Thanks @bacteriality.bsky.social for this helpful slide for microbiology journals.
It’s good for science and scientists.
It’s a responsible use of taxpayer dollars.
It requires resisting peer pressure to submit to Nature journals.
Thanks @bacteriality.bsky.social for this helpful slide for microbiology journals.
Reposted by Benjamin Gill
Today was a hard day for Ph.D. students who found out that they can no longer apply for NSF's prestigious Graduate Research Fellowship Program. "Devastating“ was how one student described it to me. #GradSchool #NSFGRFP
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
‘Completely shattered.’ Changes to NSF’s graduate student fellowship spur outcry
The announcement comes months later than usual, leaving many would-be applicants stranded
www.science.org
September 26, 2025 at 11:25 PM
Today was a hard day for Ph.D. students who found out that they can no longer apply for NSF's prestigious Graduate Research Fellowship Program. "Devastating“ was how one student described it to me. #GradSchool #NSFGRFP
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
Reposted by Benjamin Gill
For those anxiously awaiting it: the NSF GRFP solicitation is out, with a November 14 deadline for Geoscience applicants: www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...
NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP)
www.nsf.gov
September 26, 2025 at 3:54 PM
For those anxiously awaiting it: the NSF GRFP solicitation is out, with a November 14 deadline for Geoscience applicants: www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...
Reposted by Benjamin Gill
Wang, H., Li, C., Peng, Y. et al. Two-billion-year transitional oxygenation of the Earth’s surface. #stableisotopes Nature 645, 665–671 (2025). doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Two-billion-year transitional oxygenation of the Earth’s surface - Nature
A 2.5-billion-year record of oxygen isotopes in sedimentary sulfate reveals the transitional oxygenation of the Earth’s surface and provides constraints on the dynamic, lengthy co-oxygenation of Earth...
doi.org
September 20, 2025 at 10:58 AM
Wang, H., Li, C., Peng, Y. et al. Two-billion-year transitional oxygenation of the Earth’s surface. #stableisotopes Nature 645, 665–671 (2025). doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Reposted by Benjamin Gill
Everyone writing about Perseverance today should be asking how many of the scientists and engineers who were involved in this discovery no longer work for NASA bc of Trump.
September 10, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Everyone writing about Perseverance today should be asking how many of the scientists and engineers who were involved in this discovery no longer work for NASA bc of Trump.
Reposted by Benjamin Gill
We’re looking for a stable isotope geochemist to run our IRMS lab here in beautiful Cornwall! Interested or know someone who might be? Please reach out!
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DOO041/t...
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DOO041/t...
Technical Specialist at University of Exeter
Apply for the Technical Specialist job on jobs.ac.uk, the top job board for professional services positions in higher education.
www.jobs.ac.uk
September 3, 2025 at 9:56 AM
We’re looking for a stable isotope geochemist to run our IRMS lab here in beautiful Cornwall! Interested or know someone who might be? Please reach out!
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DOO041/t...
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DOO041/t...