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Max M.

@ambystomax.bsky.social
518 followers 149 following 568 posts

PNW Ecologist | MS student @ OSU College of Forestry | community ecology 🦇🦌🐸🐦 | forest disturbance 🌋🌲 | B.Sc. from UF WEC | views my own | 🏳️‍🌈 he/him

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Jeff VanderMeer @jeffvandermeer.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
I hiked the Nestucca National Wildlife Refuge, Bob Straub State Park, and Sitka Sedge State Natural Area today for a total of 13 miles. All three glorious and amazing and highly recommended. Thanks to @sarahlovesbirds.bsky.social for some of the recs.
river early morningbeach with reeds and dunes and mud flatscreepy fairy forestwater with mist rainbow
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Jim Whittington🔥 @jimwhittington.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
The US Forest Service can no longer manage one of the crown jewels of the wilderness system, but please tell us again how all the DOGE actions did not affect land management or incident response. 1/
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Nick Mustoe @nickmustoe.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
There is something magical about confiers under aspen canopies.
A seral aspen stand with young spruce infill.A Christmas tree of Engelmann spruce is spotlighted by the sun in front of yellow fall aspen color.
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Max M. @ambystomax.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Seasonal job opportunity in Northeastern Oregon with some of the cool people I work with! Spend your summer chasing woodpeckers and hiking around some beautiful country 😊 jobs.rwfm.tamu.edu/view-job/?id...
jobs.rwfm.tamu.edu
USFS Wildlife Technician | Natural Resources Job Board
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Max M. @ambystomax.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Processing data for my masters, I'm really beginning to recognize just how research begets research. "Huh, this is weird" ➡️ "has anyone else looked into this?" ➡️ "Not really... how would one go about studying this?" I keep these in a "backburner" list. Gotta focus on one thing at a time lol
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Mount St. Helens Archive @mountsthelens1980.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
youtube.com
What Mount St. Helens looks like 45 years after its historic eruption
YouTube video by KGW News
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Mark Coupe Photography @mcoupephotography.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
It seems some of our local residents aren't looking too pleased that fall came so quickly, but man those fall colours area beautiful. #birds #owls #fall
Great grey owl surrounded by yellow leaves.
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Steph likes native plants @dendromecon27.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
At least in our research agency, there has been a hiring freeze since the moment Trump 2.0 took office. So, even when Congress appropriates the money to fund us, we cannot hire back positions we lost. This includes scientists, technicians, and admin support.
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Max M. @ambystomax.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Starting my first actual grad school classes this week! Going to be a bit of an adjustment after... 5.5 years of not being a student 😵‍💫
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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Vought's goals are a) to reduce scientific funding generally, and b) especially to universities. Political appointees within agencies can already block spending. This would centralize this power in the White House. By requiring unanimity, it would ensure far less money will be spent on science.
The proposed board would include Bhattacharya and Vought and would be required to reach unanimous decisions on grant awards, the officials said.

The arrangement would give Vought, the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, a direct role in determining how the nation’s largest biomedical research agency distributes its $48 billion in congressionally-appropriated money.
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Smooth Dunk @smoothdunk2.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
when ai leaves u behind
7 panel comic.

Panel 1:
A Red Guy with AI across his chest looks like he’s about to run away. A Yellow Guy stands next to him. Red Guy says “I’m the future, buddy. You comin’?”
Yellow Guy replies “Nah”

Panel 2: 
Red Guy is almost out of the panel. He leans in and says “Enjoy getting left behind, pal”
Yellow Guy replies “ok”

Panel 3:
Yellow Guy stands alone.

Panel 4: 
Close up on Yellow Guy, there is a quiet “huff-huff-huff” noise coming from behind him

Panel 5:
Yellow Guy turns to look behind him

Panel 6: 
Close up on Yellow Guy’s face as if from the point of view of an attacker.
Yellow Guy yells “Jesus Christ”

Panel 7:
AI Red Guy is now chasing the Yellow Guy. 
Red Guy: “Use me”
Yellow Guy “No”
Red Guy “USE ME”
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Union of Concerned Scientists @ucs.org · 18/09/2026
UCS’s Julian Reyes analyzes the Trump administration’s continued attacks on forestry research, federal land management agencies, and the scientific workforce that supports effective decision-making. A must-read for National Public Lands Month. Read his blog:
act.ucs.org
What Teddy Roosevelt Knew and Trump Doesn't Get: Public Lands Need Science  
US Forest Service founders Gifford Pinchot and President Teddy Roosevelt would be rolling in their graves knowing what has become of the world’s largest wildland fire research organization, the very institution they helped build. Teddy Roosevelt helped establish 230 million acres of public lands dur
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Meade Krosby @meadekrosby.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Mount Rainier’s subalpine meadows ablaze in fall colors.
Subalpine meadows ablaze in crimson and gold beneath a line of conifers and, above them, a looming Mount Rainier and clear blue sky.
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Rebekah Rogers @evolscientist.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
USDA approves blight resistant chestnut trees. www.newyorkupstate.com/outdoors/202...
newyorkupstate.com
USDA approves genetically modified American chestnut tree developed at SUNY ESF
Decision marks first time a genetically modified tree designed for forest restoration clears regulatory hurdle.
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elizabethginexi.bsky.social @elizabethginexi.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Agencies spent nearly $10 billion for feds not to work in 2025. www.govexec.com/oversight/20...
govexec.com
Agencies spent nearly $10 billion for feds not to work in 2025
The use of paid administrative leave as part of the Trump administration’s deferred resignation program, an effort to entice federal workers to quit, across government in 2025 was 435% higher than two...
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Mount St. Helens Archive @mountsthelens1980.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Mount St. Helens.
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David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Gray whales are washing up dead on the West Coast. The reason is alarming www.scientificamerican.com/article/gray...
scientificamerican.com
Gray whales are washing up dead on the West Coast. The reason is alarming
Up and down the Pacific coast, dead gray whales are mysteriously washing ashore—and scientists think they know why
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Brad Johnson @climatebrad.hillheat.com · 11/09/2026
DOGE is still running the show: The Bureau of Land Management gave its state directors *3 days* to list public lands that could be turned over to Big Tech to build AI hyperscalers, after Interior Secretary Doug Burgum met with Amazon CEO Andrew Jassy
washingtonsun.com
Inside Trump’s Aggressive Push to Build Data Centers on Public Lands
The Interior secretary is quietly meeting with AI hyperscalers while seeking to accommodate them on his department’s land.
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OPB @opb.org · 10/09/2026
Oregon and Washington are among states suing the Trump administration over proposed changes to the Endangered Species Act that would make it harder to designate critical habitat.
opb.org
Washington, Oregon sue to prevent federal changes that would undercut Endangered Species Act
Washington and Oregon have joined states around the country in filing lawsuits challenging the Trump administration’s changes to the Endangered Species Act.
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Erin Reed @erininthemorning.com · 10/09/2026
The military is racing to separate all remaining transgender troops, searching for troops that even have mere "symptoms" of gender dysphoria. This even includes trans troops who have gone back into the closet. Subscribe to support our journalism. www.erininthemorning.com/p/the-pentag...
erininthemorning.com
The Pentagon Is Digging Through Medical Records To Find Trans Troops Before A Court Can Stop It
A federal court has already issued an injunction, but the Department of Justice has been able to stall while it continues to separate trans troops.
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Sharon 🪳🌹 @sharonk.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
well,
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Phil Manlick @pmanlick.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Trapping smammals at HJ Andrews today. Beautiful old growth in our grid that didn’t burn. 🐭 🐿️
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Max M. @ambystomax.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Mama raccoon keeping a watchful eye on me at my local wildlife refuge.
Raccoon in the grass sitting up on hind legs staring my direction.
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Rima I Anabtawi @rimaanabtawi.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Radars across the eastern half of the U.S. States exploded with reflectivity ~22 hrs ago. Most is the result of birds with current estimates now over half a BILLION actively in flight. This is part of the annual fall migration southward and appears to be the busiest night of the season underway.
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Tyson Wepprich @tysonwepprich.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
U.S. Fish and Wildlife staff down more than a third nationwide, 40% in Oregon since Trump 2.0 oregoncapitalchronicle.com/2026/09/03/u...
oregoncapitalchronicle.com
U.S. Fish and Wildlife staff down more than a third nationwide, 40% in Oregon since Trump 2.0 • Oregon Capital Chronicle
Fish and Wildlife went from nearly 10,000 staffers in 2024 to 6,300 today, federal data obtained by the Center for Biological Diversity show.
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Eloise Powers @elnopower.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
- The American kestrel (Falco sparverius) is the smallest and most common falcon in the Americas. - Photo courtesy of George Rosema.
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Claire E. Aubin @ceaubin.com · 04/09/2026
Almost every young woman academic I know (including myself) has been targeted and belittled, sexually or otherwise, at some point by a higher-ranking man. After the state of the job market, it’s probably the number two thing I warn prospective grad students about.
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Joshua Wallace @wildwallacephoto.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Northwestern Gartersnake along the Oregon Coast. It's always such a treat to see snakes on the beach
A red striped Gartersnake on a rocky beach along the Oregon Coast
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OPB @opb.org · 03/09/2026
Labs in Seattle and Wenatchee that were previously identified for closure were spared in the latest plan. The regional headquarters in Portland will be closed.
opb.org
US Forest Service releases long awaited restructuring plan
After months of uncertainty, researchers with the U.S. Forest Service are learning whether they will have to relocate under the agency’s sweeping restructure.
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Ian Rose @ianrosewrites.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
IT'S RAINING. All I want to do is listen to it, walk in it, feel it on my face and hear it on my roof. Despite the long days, I'll never be a summer person. Summer in the Pacific Northwest can be pretty, but it feels wrong because it's dry. This is a wet place. Rain turns it back into itself.
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Jen Fifield @jenafifield.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
1/ Just in: An anonymous federal worker has filed a whistleblower disclosure warning that the U.S. Postal Service's attempt to create a system to regulate mail voting for the midterms has been "rushed, chaotic, and fundamentally flawed." @propublica.org has the details 👇
Screenshot of the top of a whistleblower disclosure titled "USPS Rushed Implementation of New and Untested IT Systems Threatens U.S. Ballot Mail Delivery." Addressed to Senator Blumenthal, the first point details how the whistleblower has "significant concerns about the USPS's secretive, rushed, chaotic, and fundamentally flawed process for the creation and implementation of an entirely new and untested set of IT systems" intended for the 2026 midterms.
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Jeff VanderMeer @jeffvandermeer.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
tegu don't care. tegu take what delicious and be on *your* doorstep in twenty years, *portland* in a winter coat eatin yer cats and drinking your lattes.
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OPB @opb.org · 30/08/2026
This experimental forest straddles 1,600 acres in the Willamette National Forest about 50 miles east of Eugene, Oregon.
opb.org
Research projects in the Pacific Northwest’s experimental forests face funding uncertainty
A reorganization of the U.S. Forest Service and threats to federal funding could affect ongoing research in the Pacific Northwest.
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Steph likes native plants @dendromecon27.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Thank you to the gov employee who leaked this information out. I am happy it is trending because if there is an issue that crosses the aisle, it is the selling off of public land.
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Max M. @ambystomax.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Last two days of Alaska fieldwork were beautiful. Very dramatic landscapes! Now time to rest my feet 😴
Trail winding through alder thicket with mountain ridge rising on the left side of a canyonAlpine meadow and forest with mountains in the backgroundSun filtering through a stand of tall cottonwoods with dense understory of alder and devil's clubOld beaver pond with dam washed out. Forest and mountains in the background.
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Phil Manlick @pmanlick.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Spent the week setting up a cafeteria trial to see how small mammal seed predation impacts forest recovery after a fire. Excited to see what we find! 🔥 🐭 🌱
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america.is.not.free @antifapatriot.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
American Kestrel North America's smallest and most colorful falcon found throughout North and South America 📷: Jose Raposo Photography #birds
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ghost malone ergo propter bones @proptermalone.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
three hundred and thirty million books
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Elon Green @elongreen.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
“How we are is who we are” is such a lovely sentiment.
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Brad Johnson @climatebrad.hillheat.com · 25/08/2026
The Trump Department of Interior is forcing out dozens of its most senior career staff, giving them two weeks to accept involuntary reassignments or leave. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey, Bureau of Land Management, and more. www.notus.org/agencies/int...
notus.org
‘They Want Us All To Leave’: Interior Reassigns Dozens of Senior Staff
Around 30 top staffers have been reshuffled, with some people moving to teams outside their areas of expertise.
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Max M. @ambystomax.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Making the most of my day off - first wild orca I've seen!
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Hannah Clipp, PhD @allthatwildlife.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
www.nature.org/en-us/newsro... This was a fun collaborative project! I applied my ornithological expertise 🪶 and contributed as a co-author to the wildlife chapter of a recently published book called "Ecology and Restoration of Red Spruce Ecosystems in the Central and Southern Appalachians". 🧪
nature.org
New book helps guide conservation professionals in restoring red spruce to Appalachian forests
"Ecology and Restoration of Red Spruce Ecosystems of the Central and Southern Appalachians" is now available for free download through Springer Press.
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Max M. @ambystomax.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
I'm interpreting "stayed a while" to be 1-6 months consecutively and "lived here" to be 6+ months consecutively.
Map of US states colored by whether the post author has visited them or stayed certain amounts of time.
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Erin Biba @erinbiba.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
The “you just don’t like AI because you don’t understand it” argument is completely demolished whenever I post about this nuance because everyone resoundingly agrees and supports this version. People understand AI. They understand what they don’t like about it. They are not ignorant.
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Max M. @ambystomax.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Alaska is unreal. Very physically challenging place to do fieldwork though!
Blue glacial lake with cloud-skirted mountains rising on either side.Stream with five visible, bright red, sockeye salmon swimming upstream.Wide, green glacial valleyView looking down and across the valley from a brushy ridge, with many layers of mountains visible in the distance.
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Max M. @ambystomax.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Lived in Maryland for 8 months (specifically DC/Baltimore area) and this 100% tracks. Have driven in many states, MD drivers are the worst I've ever encountered and it's not close.
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Max M. @ambystomax.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
In case you're lacking a convenient glacial lake to sit by, you can share mine. 📍Kenai Peninsula, AK
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Phil Manlick @pmanlick.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Predator-prey dynamics in action! Check the time stamps...moose followed closely by wolves, who come back with a prize a few hours later. 🐺 🫎 👀 #Alaska #KAMStudy
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Ryan Brook, PhD. Chairman of the Boar @ryankbrook.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Polar bears think they are ordering food at a drive through at my caribou trail cameras.
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Mount St. Helens Archive @mountsthelens1980.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Starting today, our Washington State friends can show their Mount St. Helens fandom on the road! Head to the @wadol.bsky.social website to snag your specialty Loowit plate.
dol.wa.gov
Special design plates | Washington State Department of Licensing
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