Nick Barber 🌋
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volcannick.bsky.social
Nick Barber 🌋
@volcannick.bsky.social
Asst Professor, geoscientist, volcanophile
magma, metals, and minerals 🌋🪨🛰️Philadelphian 🦅, father, husband. he/him. www.volcannick.com
Opinions my own
Pinned
I know the world sucks right now, but for the next week I’m going to be exclusively posting about my trip to Geneva for #IAVCEI2025. I’m presenting a poster on Thursday, and looking forward to a week of fun and cutting edge volcano science.
Reposted by Nick Barber 🌋
'Iran’s capital must be moved because the country “no longer has a choice,” President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Thursday in remarks carried by state media, warning that severe ecological strain has made Tehran impossible to sustain'

#Iran 🇮🇷
Iran president says capital move now a necessity as water crisis deepens
Iran’s capital must be moved because the country “no longer has a choice,” President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Thursday in remarks carried by state media, warning that severe ecological strain has mad...
www.iranintl.com
November 21, 2025 at 4:52 AM
Reposted by Nick Barber 🌋
Semeru, Indonesia is erupting. Communities are being evacuated.

Incredible footage of pyroclastic density currents in the news.

youtube.com/watch?v=ducv...
Indonesia's Mount Semeru erupts and covers villages with falling ash
YouTube video by Associated Press
youtube.com
November 20, 2025 at 10:26 PM
Reposted by Nick Barber 🌋
The organisers of the world's biggest planetary science conference are outlawing any DEI-related submissions because their lawyers are afraid they'll lose federal support.

They're losing the support of the planetary science community fucking fast.

www.science.org/content/arti...
‘This is censorship.’ Conference requires abstracts to comply with Trump anti-DEI order
NASA-funded planetary science institute previously scrubbed hundreds of records from its archive
www.science.org
November 21, 2025 at 12:30 AM
Reposted by Nick Barber 🌋
What’s the most significant advice you received from a teacher?

I had a Geology prof who always said “have strong opinions, loosely held”

Be passionate, assess alternatives with conviction, take sides. But don’t fall so in love with your opinions that you can’t change them with better data.
November 21, 2025 at 12:54 AM
Reposted by Nick Barber 🌋
i don't agree with the attitude of some faculty that their job is to train people who can run the code, even if they don't understand the underlying physics

i want a society of people who are trained to be curious about the code they're being asked to run and capable of understanding it, actually
November 20, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Reposted by Nick Barber 🌋
A very interesting seismology and philosophy of science paper on natural hazard, with seismology side done by @rlacassin.bsky.social
The crisis of a paradigm. A methodological interpretation of Tohoku and Fukushima catastrophe
The 2011 Japanese disaster often presented as a ‘new Chernobyl’ accumulated the effects of earthquake, tsunami and of the subsequent nuclear accident …
www.sciencedirect.com
November 20, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Reposted by Nick Barber 🌋
A magnesium-rich basalt retrieved by the Apollo 12 mission from the Moon. brightly coloured pyroxene and olivine surround grey plagioclase in cross-polars.

This photo was taken in 2003 from a travelling collection of thin sections sponsored by NASA […]

[Original post on fosstodon.org]
November 20, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Reposted by Nick Barber 🌋
The nhdplusTools R package from USGS can generate simple interactive Leaflet maps of river basins and networks with one line of code. Here is the North Platte above the WY-NE state line, which I've used for almost two decades as a case study of mountain snowmelt and stream discharge.
November 19, 2025 at 11:28 PM
Reposted by Nick Barber 🌋
Breaking news: A panel appointed by President Trump to review whether to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency has instead concluded that the agency should be more powerful and autonomous.
Noem at odds with Trump-appointed panel over future of FEMA
Instead of further shrinking and dismantling FEMA, the FEMA Review Council wants to make it more independent.
wapo.st
November 19, 2025 at 10:25 PM
Reposted by Nick Barber 🌋
Understanding of Earth Sciences is fundamental to society's sustainability and development. Please support the department at the University of Leicester which is under threat. ⚒️🧪
c.org/jzkHKh9byy
Sign the Petition
Save Geology at the University of Leicester
c.org
November 19, 2025 at 12:39 PM
Reposted by Nick Barber 🌋
#Semeru #volcano (East Java, Indonesia): massive block and ash flow created billowing ash plume - A strong eruption occurred at the volcano a couple of hours ago.
At about 04:00 PM local time today, a massive pyroclastic flow descended over the southern slope. The block-and-ash flow has been lik...
Semeru volcano (East Java, Indonesia): massive block and ash flow created billowing ash plume
www.volcanodiscovery.com
November 19, 2025 at 11:43 AM
Reposted by Nick Barber 🌋
I think it's a lot easier to think of #nuclear as "clean energy" if you are willing to ignore the people who mined the fuel, the communities they live in, and what happens after the mines close.

Turns out there are a lot of Native Americans in those two categories.
November 17, 2025 at 6:32 PM
Reposted by Nick Barber 🌋
Our @iavcei.bsky.social #VIPS Commission committee is looking for someone to take over my #EDI officer role.
Do you want to help diversify our community and make us more inclusive? Apply before 12th December!
vipscommission.org/vips-is-look...
@egu.eu @agu.org @vmsg.bsky.social
VIPS is looking for new committee members! - VIPS Commission
The IAVCEI commission for Volcanic and Igneous Plumbing Systems is currently seeking members to fill the following three roles: Commission vice-president, EDI officer, and Focus on VIPS Blog Editor. I...
vipscommission.org
November 17, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Reposted by Nick Barber 🌋
💛🧡❤️ This microscopic view of a rock from Mountsorrel is full of autumn colours!

📍 East side of Mountsorrel Quarry

ℹ️ "Quartz dolerite", Dr Hallimond

©️ British Geological Survey
November 19, 2025 at 11:05 AM
Reposted by Nick Barber 🌋
Science People: We at NSF are still recovering/catching up/getting our lives together. But the agency posted these FAQs about post-shutdown resumption of operations which might answer a lot of Qs for you: www.nsf.gov/resumption-o...
Resumption of Operations at NSF
Information for NSF staff and the research community regarding the agency's resumption of operations after a lapse in appropriations.
www.nsf.gov
November 18, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Reposted by Nick Barber 🌋
In 2024, we convened a group of 25 workers and organizers across the transportation supply chain. They traveled over 3 days and 600+ miles across Nevada to tour the frontlines of new lithium mining in the US. Watch our new documentary that follows their journey. climateandcommunity.org/nvfilm
Supply Chain Solidarity: Lessons from the Lithium Frontlines - Climate and Community Institute
Workers and organizers, representing different parts of the transportation supply chain, journey across Nevada to learn first-hand about the impacts of lithium mining for electric vehicle batteries.
climateandcommunity.org
November 18, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Reposted by Nick Barber 🌋
Me, asleep on a plane, being woken up by the attendant asking if I want a bag of nuts
November 16, 2025 at 8:02 PM
Reposted by Nick Barber 🌋
I've started research on historic (preWW2) women who worked on volcanology/magmatic rocks. This includes anyone who was traveling to and writing about/observing/drawing/engaging with the landscape in myriad ways.

I'm building a list for further investigation. Will share soon! Any tip offs welcome!
November 16, 2025 at 8:09 PM
Reposted by Nick Barber 🌋
WE WON. I am *begging* you to take note of who did this. *Not* UCLA admin—they’re still scuttling around behind closed doors, attempting to appease—but FACULTY AND STAFF, led by AAUP.
BREAKING: In AAUP et al v. Trump (wall-to-wall union lawsuit challenging the administration’s unlawful use of TItle VI to reshape the University of California system), the faculty and staff of the UC system WON!!!

We were granted our preliminary injunction! @aaup.org
November 15, 2025 at 12:01 AM
Reposted by Nick Barber 🌋
Visiting Boscobel Quarry today. ⚒️
November 14, 2025 at 10:44 PM
Reposted by Nick Barber 🌋
Picking through the core discard pile at Luck Stone's Boscobel Quarry. ⚒️
November 14, 2025 at 8:26 PM
Reposted by Nick Barber 🌋
an undergraduate in our dept asked me yesterday if the cuts in science funding was affecting me and our dept –– I took this opportunity to explain how things have worked and that, yes, this new paradigm negatively impacts us, including ability to hire ugrads for summer research, for example 1/2
November 14, 2025 at 5:09 PM
One of the best feelings in science is reviewing a paper that builds on work you’ve done, while inspiring you with new directions for research you hadn’t considered 🤓
November 14, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Reposted by Nick Barber 🌋
Happy to advertise this PhD project on the evolution of magma reservoirs. Please get in touch if you're interested!

www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
GW4+ Doctoral Landscape Training Partnership (DLTP): How to Build a Magma Reservoir at Cardiff University on FindAPhD.com
PhD Project - GW4+ Doctoral Landscape Training Partnership (DLTP): How to Build a Magma Reservoir at Cardiff University, listed on FindAPhD.com
www.findaphd.com
November 14, 2025 at 11:27 AM
Reposted by Nick Barber 🌋
“The prohibited activities would include joint research, co-authorship on papers, and advising a foreign graduate student or postdoctoral fellow. The language is retroactive, meaning any interactions during the previous 5 years could make a scientist ineligible for future federal funding.”
U.S. Congress considers sweeping ban on Chinese collaborations
Researchers speak out against proposal that would bar funding for U.S. scientists working with Chinese partners or training Chinese students
www.science.org
November 14, 2025 at 1:03 AM