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Rebecca Finger Higgens

@fingdinger.bsky.social
263 followers 443 following 11 posts

Ecologist with USGS Southwest Biological Science Center. Lover of tundra, drylands, and long term weather data. She/her/hers

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Reposted by Rebecca Finger Higgens
The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 20/09/2025
Breaking news: The Environmental Protection Agency has ordered scientists in at least one of its research offices to immediately pause almost all research and stop publishing their studies.
wapo.st
EPA tells scientists to stop publishing studies, employees say
Staff from the EPA’s Office of Water were summoned to a town hall meeting this week and told to pause the publication of most research, pending a review.
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Reposted by Rebecca Finger Higgens
DC Environmental Film Festival @dceff.bsky.social · 26/08/2025
ABOUT DAMN TIME is now streaming on YouTube! The new short chronicles the journey of the Colorado River's trailblazing boatwomen. Learn more about the @americanrivers.bsky.social supported film and start watching here: substack.com/home/post/p-...
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Seth Munson @smmunson.bsky.social · 17/08/2025
“Average North American Monsoon onset is delayed in years with anomalously high spring soil moisture in the Colorado Plateau”
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Raymond J. Mollica @raymondmollica.bsky.social · 17/08/2025
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Jonas Lembrechts @jlembrechts.bsky.social · 16/08/2025
New for all microclimate enthusiasts! A step-by-step workflow to build your own sensor network - with awesome R code for site selection + tips on engagement, fieldwork & outreach. Led with @thenaturedave.bsky.social and @rebeccasenior.bsky.social 🔗 the3dlab.org/2025/08/16/h...
the3dlab.org
How to set up your own microclimate network
Back in 2021, we had an important thought: maybe we should start treating microclimate the same way we treat macroclimate. Weather and climate are monitored by national governments through organize…
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Justin S. Mankin @jsmankin.bsky.social · 14/08/2025
With the EPA targeting the Endangerment Finding, @ccallahan45.bsky.social, Alex Gottlieb, & I conducted an end-to-end attribution of climate damages from U.S. power sector emissions. The result: $78 billion in climate losses to the U.S. economy over 1973–2023. See here: zenodo.org/records/1687...
Left: Annual-scale direct economic damages to the U.S. economy from the U.S. electric power sector emissions over the 1973-2023 period in billions of U.S. dollars benchmarked to the 2015 dollar value ($US2015). Right: Cumulative direct economic damages from U.S. power sector emissions, equivalent to the integral under the curve at the left.
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Eliza Maher Hasselquist @emhasselquist.bsky.social · 14/08/2025
I had a few people at #ESA2025 say that it was hard to find where to apply for jobs in Sweden. If you want to check jobs at university, here's the website: www.slu.se/en/about-slu... #forests #restorationecology #forestry #silviculture
slu.se
Jobs and vacancies | slu.se
Would you like to join us in creating the conditions for a sustainable, thriving and better world? Welcome with your application!
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Nicole Rust @nicolecrust.bsky.social · 07/08/2025
Loud voice: This is a win for a classroom! (Whisper: it’s a win for you too. It doesn’t take long and it’s hard to imagine feeling low after participating in @skypeascientist.bsky.social). I participated last spring it and will again. Strong recommend!!
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Rebecca Finger Higgens @fingdinger.bsky.social · 05/08/2025
"Nature’s secrets will continue to be uncovered, even if Americans aren’t the ones who see them first."
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Reposted by Rebecca Finger Higgens
Global Change Biology @globalchangebio.bsky.social · 04/08/2025
Grazing Modulates the Multiscale Spatial Structure of Dryland Vegetation 🔗 buff.ly/AZABRtK
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DC Environmental Film Festival @dceff.bsky.social · 25/07/2025
ABOUT DAMN TIME, the new short supported by @americanrivers.bsky.social, follows the trailblazing boatwomen of the Colorado River. Read more about it and stream it for free (this weekend only) via our Shorts: Wild Lives virtual collection. open.substack.com/pub/dceff/p/watch-now-about-damn-time
open.substack.com
Watch Now: About Damn Time
A love letter to the Colorado River and its trailblazing boatwomen
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Brooke Osborne (she/her) @brookebosborne.bsky.social · 22/07/2025
Way excited for Savannah's defense next week! If you love biogeochemistry and thinking about potential for soil carbon management, mark your calendar for Monday, July 28th @ 11:00 AM MDT (or stop by campus if you're in Moab 😉) Public Zoom Link: usu.zoom.us/j/8144285688...
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Reposted by Rebecca Finger Higgens
Ning Chen @chenning-cn.bsky.social · 23/07/2025
Happy to share an excellent study on the self-organized spatial patterns of biocrusts. Biocrusts make a difference. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
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The Onion @theonion.com · 17/07/2025
Rising Cost Of Living Forcing More Buddhists To Continue Working Years Into Reincarnation theonion.com/rising-...
Rising Cost Of Living Forcing More Buddhists To Continue Working Years Into Reincarnation 

Few Can Save Enough To Relax And Enjoy Next Life
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Eos @eos.org · 10/07/2025
Senate Appropriations has a markup hearing for science this morning. In their bill: $9B for NSF (current is $9.06B). Also includes protections for NOAA and NWS staffing. 🧪 eos.org/research-and...
eos.org
New U.S. Budget Proposal Slashes Billions in Funds for Science - Eos
President Trump’s proposed 2026 budget, released today, slashes non-defense discretionary spending by $163 billion, a 22.6% reduction from 2025.
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Eos @eos.org · 11/06/2025
Climate.gov will likely soon shut down, as most of the staff charged with maintaining it were fired. 🧪 eos.org/research-and...
eos.org
NOAA’s Climate Website May Soon Shut Down - Eos
Climate.gov, NOAA’s portal to the work of their Climate Program Office, will likely soon shut down as most of the staff charged with maintaining it were fired on 31 May.
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Michael Battalio @battalio.com · 31/05/2025
The President's Budget request as released yesterday will gut scientific research. Why should you care? 1) Science is fundamentally a jobs program. Many 100,000s are employed to do science and work for you, the US taxpayer.
NSF, NASA and NIH budgets per year, inflation adjusted from 2000-2025 along with the proposed cuts. NSF includes research component only. Massive cuts across all sectors, well below support spanning 25 years.
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Reposted by Rebecca Finger Higgens
Kevin Anchukaitis @thirstygecko.bsky.social · 01/06/2025
'The [Ecosystems Mission Area] is also a core part of federal climate research. The Trump administration has sharply reduced or eliminated funds for climate science across federal agencies, calling the study of climate change part of “social agenda” research' www.nytimes.com/2025/05/31/c...
nytimes.com
Trump’s Proposed Budget Would Cut a Major Ecology Program
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Eos @eos.org · 28/05/2025
Are you keeping up with the firehose of changes to science policy? You can, with our handy (and sortable) tracker. eos.org/research-and... Lately, we're thinking about how the #SAA2025Denver program was called a “two-page blood bath of federal disengagement” by one attendee. Yikes. (‪@nytimes.com‬)
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jessamine finch @seedystudies.bsky.social · 27/05/2025
Mojave Desert Land Trust is hiring a Field Coordinator with the Mojave Desert Seed Bank! 🫘 #seedjobs 2 positions posted, hiring 1 candidate depending on quals & experience. Coordinator/Lead – min 1 yr experience, $23-25/hr Supervisor – 2-5 yrs exp., $25-28/hr saveplants.org/forums/topic...
saveplants.org
Job Opportunity, Mojave Desert Seed Bank Field Coordinator - Center for Plant Conservation
Mojave Desert Land Trust is recruiting to fill a Field Coordinator position with the Mojave Desert Seed Bank! We are recruiting to fill the position of Seed Bank Field Coordinator/Lead – Field Supervi...
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Eos @eos.org · 01/05/2025
A climate change curriculum cocreated by a team of Western and Indigenous researchers could amplify adaptation on the Colorado Plateau.
eos.org
Teaming Up to Tailor Climate Education for Indigenous Communities - Eos
A new college-level curriculum, cocreated by Indigenous and Western researchers, could help Indigenous communities adapt to climate change on the Colorado Plateau.
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Dr. Mariana García Criado @nanitundra.bsky.social · 30/04/2025
🌸Plant diversity dynamics over space and time in a warming Arctic 🌸 Our new study @nature.com analysed plant diversity change in >2000 tundra plots over 4 decades. We found that plants changed unevenly, mostly driven by warming and biotic interactions. www.nature.com/articles/s41... 🧵 (1/7) 🌐🧪🌱🌍
Illustration of a Greenlandic landscape, showing in the foreground Rhododendron lapponicum on a cliff, with sea ice and icebergs in the background. Illustration by Alberto S. Ballesteros (@asbillustration.bsky.social)
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Humboldt-Stiftung @humboldt-foundation.de · 25/04/2025
Happy #WorldPenguinDay! Did you know that the Humboldt penguin (with whom Humboldt dances here) can blush? This penguin type lives in relatively warm habitats – in contrast to the icy environments of other species. The blushing helps it to cool down! 💚
AI-generated image of a man who looks like Alexander von Humboldt dancing with a Humboldt penguin.
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Jared Rennie @jjrennie.bsky.social · 25/04/2025
Here's the start of a python script / notebook that starts tapping into some NCEI API's to get the data you need. The goal here is for this to become a supplement to the RCC's ACIS API, should that go away for...reasons github.com/jjrennie/nce...
github.com
GitHub - jjrennie/ncei-climate-data-online: Jupyter Notebook to Access Data From NOAA/NCEI's Climate Data Online
Jupyter Notebook to Access Data From NOAA/NCEI's Climate Data Online - jjrennie/ncei-climate-data-online
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Scott Delaney @scott-delaney.bsky.social · 21/04/2025
🧪 Our Terminated NSF Grant Tracker is live 🧪 🔴 114 NSF grants listed so far 🔴 Cancelled grants focused on → Training scientists → Misinformation → AI → Climate change Credit to @noamross.net for all the work to build this & to all PIs who submitted their info. Link: airtable.com/appGKlSVeXni...
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Evan Frost @wildwoods.bsky.social · 20/04/2025
Not only are more forests/trees around the world experiencing mortality as a result of increasing stressors, but recovery is impaired as a result of increasing temps, drought, other climate-related impacts. Positive feedback loop -- as forests go, so do we. 🌏
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juli g pausas @jgpausas.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
What are the ultimate factors controlling fire regimes? The case of boreal forests royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.... Phil Trans Roy Soc B, @royalsociety.org With JE Keeley & @dramalamujer.bsky.social jgpausas.blogs.uv.es/2025/04/17/t... 🧪🌍🔥🌳🌐🍁🌾 wildfire #philsci #ecoevo
Simplified scheme of the two evolutionary mechanisms (top-down vs bottom-up) explaining the relationship between plants and their environment
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Dr. Elise Gornish @restorecal.bsky.social · 16/04/2025
Hi Folks! Myself and the Barberan Lab at U of A are still looking for a PhD student to work on an NSF funded project exploring effects of fire and invasion on soil microbes. We are looking for someone to start in Fall! SOON! Email me if you are interested! PLS Repost! @EsaSeeds
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Jeff, Stopping by Woods @jeffontherock.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
Liverwort, Marchantia polymorpha. The happiest of the bryophytes. Northwest Territories, Canada. #bryophyte
Photo of a green liverwort plant. Structures on the plant look like two eyes and a smiling mouth.
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Pete Homyak @petehomyak.bsky.social · 07/04/2025
In new work by Sharon, we studied whether changes in #soil N in response to shifts in precipitation may favor tradeoffs between AOA and AOB nitrifiers and the emission of NO and #N2O 🧪 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Nitrogen Availability and Changes in Precipitation Alter Microbially Mediated NO and N2O Emissions From a Pinyon–Juniper Dryland
Climate change is altering precipitation regimes that control nitrogen (N) cycling in terrestrial ecosystems. In ecosystems exposed to frequent drought, N can accumulate in soils as they dry, stimula...
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Nick Haddad @nickhaddad.bsky.social · 04/04/2025
Excellent special issue in @Ecology_Letters featuring decades long studies onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Insights Into Ecology, Evolution and Global Change Responses From Very Long‐Term Studies
Click on the article title to read more.
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Global Change Biology @globalchangebio.bsky.social · 04/04/2025
The Response of Carbon Uptake to Soil Moisture Stress: Adaptation to Climatic Aridity 📄 buff.ly/fA7kTkN
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Luiza Aparecido @luiza-aparecido.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
A busy day for the Aparecido lab! @biancazorger.bsky.social taught my Ecosystem Ecology class on warming effects on ecosystems. Later, lab undergrads, Tucker (mentored by @rebeccasenft.bsky.social) and Sydney, presented on their ug research at the College of Science res symp. Proud of this crew!! 😎🤩
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Bob Berwyn @bberwyn.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
Amid political turmoil, NOAA is still issuing crucila climate messages, including drought warnings in a key seasonal climate update.
insideclimatenews.org
Despite Staff and Budget Cuts, NOAA Issues Critical Drought Warnings in Its Spring Climate Outlook - Inside Climate News
The embattled agency continues to disseminate crucial updates in a hostile political environment, while scientists warn that cutting climate intelligence is folly at a time of escalating climate extre...
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Dr. Merritt Rae Turetsky @queenofpeat.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
New paper alert! Zombie fires overwinter, going underground to smolder through winter before reemerging. Until recently, we knew these fires occurred but knew little of their ecological or carbon impacts. Along with my amazing coauthors, we set out to change this. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Overwintering fires can occur in both peatlands and upland forests with varying ecological impacts - Nature Ecology & Evolution
Field measurements of fires burning over winter at 20 sites in the Northwest Territories of Canada and in Alaska find that such fires occur in both peatlands and upland forests, and provide informatio...
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Theresa Crimmins @theresacrimmins.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
More info: link.springer.com/collections/...
link.springer.com
Plant phenology in an era of rapid global change: new perspectives and frontiers
Phenology is a crucial indicator of plant responses to environmental changes, with multifaceted implications for individual plants, ecological communities, ...
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Robert G. Björk @robertgbjork.bsky.social · 15/03/2025
🚨We are hiring🚨ECR with a PhD within 7 years? Tenure track position (akin to Assistant Prof) in Earth and Env Data Science at U of Gothenburg, Sweden. Expertise in remote sensing and machine learning. Work on climate change, Earth systems, biodiversity, #EO, #UAV Deadline May 10 tinyurl.com/58ft38du
tinyurl.com
Associate Senior Lecturer in Earth and Environmental Data Science
Associate Senior Lecturer in Earth and Environmental Data Science At the Department of Earth Sciences, we
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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
The people who produce this Mauna Loa atmospheric CO₂ record have a lab in Hilo, Hawaiʻi, about 50 miles (80 km) from the observatory. By closing the lab, it'll be really difficult to maintain the CO₂ observations.
A line graph showing atmospheric CO2 levels at Mauna Loa Observatory from 1955 to 2025. The y-axis represents CO2 mole fraction in parts per million (ppm), ranging from 320 to 420 ppm, while the x-axis is years.
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Erica Gies / SlowWater.world @ericagies.bsky.social · 15/03/2025
There were a record 331.9 million recreation visits to U.S. National Parks and properties in calendar year 2024. Almost one per person (U.S. pop 340 million). In case anyone was thinking they weren't popular and no one would notice/care if they were gutted. www.nps.gov/subjects/soc...
nps.gov
Visitor Use Data - Social Science (U.S. National Park Service)
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Eos @eos.org · 15/03/2025
Windblown dust has heavy economic consequences. When comparing billion-dollar disasters, dust was second only to hurricanes. 🧪
eos.org
Will Its $154 Billion Price Tag Keep Dust from Being Swept Under the Rug? - Eos
Data from 2017 show that costs associated with dust were second only to hurricanes when comparing billion-dollar disasters.
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Alan Dreams of Candy Corn @alans9.bsky.social · 09/03/2025
Confirmed by my psychologist family
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Nina Turner @ninaturner.bsky.social · 08/03/2025
2020: attacks on “BLM” 2022: attacks on “CRT” 2024: attacks on “woke” 2025: attacks on “DEI” BLACK. THEY MEAN BLACK.
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Bill Smith @wkolby.bsky.social · 03/03/2025
Happy to share a new paper with novel insights into the impacts of precip variability in a semiarid #rangeland ecosystem. Unfortunately, with unconstitutional layoffs at #USDA #ARS, we have been forced to transition this longterm experimental facility into dormancy. link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com
Differential phenological responses of plant functional types to the temporal repackaging of precipitation in a semiarid grassland - Plant and Soil
Aims Large portions of the western United States have witnessed extended dry intervals between rainfall events due to an intensified hydrological cycle triggered by global warming. Semiarid ecosystems...
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Colby Moorberg @colbydigssoil.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
Here's an excellent reflection from a now former NRCS employee, a range management specialist, who lost her job in the recent purge of probationary employees. NRCS lost 1,200 employees nationwide. kansasreflector.com/2025/02/25/c...
kansasreflector.com
Conservation service has offered vital support to Kansas farmers and ranchers. Cuts imperil it all. • Kansas Reflector
Hearing that 1,200 Natural Resource Conservation Service employees have been eliminated nationwide is heartbreaking.
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Dr Ecology 🌲 @ecologyphd.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
🚨 Job Boards 🚨 Some resources for those who may need it now 🧵: 🌎🌾🧪🌿🌳🌲🍁🪶🪴🦦🎓 #PlantScience #Ecology #JobAlert - Rangelands Job Board | rangelands.org/job-listings/ - TAMU Natural Resources Job Board | jobs.rwfm.tamu.edu - Western Landowners Alliance Job Board | westernlandowners.org/job-board/
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Rebecca Finger Higgens @fingdinger.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
Amzing article written by an intelligent, hard working co-worker who was wastefully let go. Thanks for sharing your story.
sltrib.com
Voices: I lost my job because of Trump’s mass layoffs. What are Utah’s political leaders doing to stand up for people like me?
“Now, rather than paying income taxes in Utah and continuing to work sustaining the health of the federal lands that fuel Utah’s economy, I am applying for unemployment in Utah,” writes Dr. M. Allison...
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American Meteorological Society @ametsoc.org · 21/02/2025
The AMS is temporarily opening its career services to all who need them, regardless of membership status, and offering dues waivers and meeting registration fee reductions for those impacted by job loss due to changes in the government. Read more: bit.ly/4gRiHAk
The official AMS logo.
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The Salt Lake Tribune @sltrib.com · 21/02/2025
Utah’s national park sites brought $3 billion to the state’s economy in 2023, according to a National Park Service report released in September, bringing in 15.7 million visitors and supporting over 26,500 jobs.
sltrib.com
Trump’s mass layoffs hit Utah’s national parks
Utah’s national park sites brought $3 billion to the state’s economy in 2023, according to a National Park Service report released in September, bringing in 15.7 million visitors and supporting over 26,500 jobs.
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Abby Lewis @aslewis.bsky.social · 18/02/2025
Do you know any students that might be interested in ecological forecasting? The @ecoforecast.bsky.social student/early career association is hosting two workshops on how to get involved. Both are targeted to early career (e.g., undergraduate) audiences, but open to all!
Flyer about virtual graduate student flash talks hosted by the ecological forecasting initiative early career association. Talks are February 25th 2025, 1:00-2:30 PST. Flyer about a hands on workshop for forecasting beetle abundance hosted by the ecological forecasting initiative early career association. The workshop is on March 4th, from 1-2:30 pm PST.
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Lauren Sommer @lsommer.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
Hey NOAA, FEMA and federal scientists and staff — I’m a climate reporter at NPR. To share info anonymously, you can reach me on Signal at sommer.55
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