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Faith Kearns, Ph.D.

@fkearns.bsky.social
7.2K followers 1.5K following 3.9K posts

Scientist and science communicator writing about mostly humans, water, wildfire, climate, and disasters | author: Getting to the Heart of Science Communication | co-host: Water Talk podcast | views=mine

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Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.
Manon Jacob @manonjacob.bsky.social · 3h
🌊Hello network! Would love to dive in (no pun intended) to the topic of the Kelvin wave, and the temporary elevated sea levels we're going to see in California, for the purpose of potential upcoming coverage/stories! Feel free to volunteer or suggest peers 🌊! #womeninSTEM
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Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.
Dr. Sam Anderson @sam-science.bsky.social · 2h
Happy new water-year! Welcome to hydrological 2027!
Mountains reflect on Widgeon CreekBraided streams on Devon Island, NU.Copper Island on Shuswap LakeReflections on Duffy Lake
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Faith Kearns, Ph.D. @fkearns.bsky.social · 2h
Gen Xer here - I had all my M-M-R shots as an infant and a booster in the early 90s as an undergrad. Got my titers checked last year and my mumps immunity was extremely low so I got another MMR booster. Turns out it might be a thing for certain age groups and if you’re concerned get another shot!
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Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.
Amy Westervelt @amywestervelt.bsky.social · 4h
Still processing the blur of NY Climate Week, but something that's really stuck in my craw is how increasingly rare it is to meet someone in particularly the US context who has any belief that trumps their desire for access to power, validation, etc. When you find an outlier, protect them!
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maura quint @mauraquint.bsky.social · 16h
Yes every woman has been harassed, many assaulted. But every woman has also experienced invisible loss from moments she avoided harassment. She felt a space becoming unsafe, so she left, while men stayed on. And in leaving, she lost: opportunities, experiences, learning, promotions, even simply fun.
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Jason Koebler @jasonkoebler.bsky.social · 4h
we've seen how important student journalism can be with the reporting by the Cornell Daily Sun. but schools around the country regularly censor student journalists. (often illegally!) we have public records that show how this happens: www.404media.co/how-schools-...
404media.co
How Schools and Universities Try to Censor Student Journalists
As the Cornell 7 case highlights the importance of student journalism, public records reveal how schools try to censor on-campus news outlets.
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Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.
Dr. Samantha Montano @samlmontano.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
By this definition emergency management has no role in mitigation and recovery and also excludes from response groups like the Red Cross, utility companies, public health, hospital/ university emergency management, etc.
Purpose: Emergency Management requires consistency and alignment with mission
requirements as well as the legal framework of existing authorities. Until now, the field has
struggled to articulate the scope of work, which has diluted our credibility, capability, and
professional development. This memorandum solidifies the definition of Emergency
Management as well as core characteristics of Emergency Management as a profession.
Background: FEMA describes Emergency Management as “the strategic coordination of
emergency services to protect life, property, and continuity of operations.” This definition
establishes a clear scope for emergency management and provides a common foundation for the
profession.
Over time, the field of emergency management has expanded well beyond its original
operational purpose, evolving to include new programs, responsibilities, priorities, and
expectations, driven in large part by the solution-oriented approach of professionals working in
crisis response. Despite this growth, operational and functional characteristics should guide what
is appropriately included within the broader emergency management mission space.
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Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.
Megan Zahneis @mzahneis.bsky.social · 21h
US military academies will no longer award tenure — which Hegseth said was among the "structural mechanisms that have allowed civilian academic norms to dilute our focus on lethality" — to civilian professors. Quick update from me @chronicle.com.
chronicle.com
Defense Secretary Tells Military Academies to Stop Giving Out Tenure
In making the directive, Pete Hegseth wrote that tenure “often leads to academic stagnation, faculty complacency, and institutional inability to adapt to emerging needs.”
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airplane ian - abolish ICE @airplaneian.com · 22h
Significant vegetation fire in West Berkeley in the area of Berkeley Meadow, numerous resources dispatched/on-scene, response operating on ACFD TAC 31 watch duty incident: app.watchduty.org/i/122980 CAD info: berkeleycrime.com/i/id/36cac92... ALERT CA cam: ops.alertcalifornia.org/cam-console/...
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Faith Kearns, Ph.D. @fkearns.bsky.social · 22h
“Just so scared all the time, it makes me one more reason why the world's dangerous” Truth No. 2 from The Chicks. All I can think to say about fortresses. These guys are just so scared of everything all the damn time.
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Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.
Pam Kan-Rice @ucanrpam.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
“Tides are already running a foot or more above average thanks to the extreme marine heatwave, and additional sea level elevation may begin soon as the largest coastally trapped Kelvin wave of the El Niño-generated sequence thus far arrives in October,” said @weatherwest.bsky.social @ucanr.edu
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Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.
Dr. Kristina Hill ☠️ 🏳️‍🌈 thinks this is a bad timeline @kzhill.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
There’s SO MUCH legacy contamination in coastal soils. We found more than 1400 administratively active sites in the SF Bay Area alone. And there are thousands more that could have residual contamination. In Hawaii, they’ve seen petroleum in groundwater produce explosive levels of methane…
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Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.
Steven Rodas @stevenrodas.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
As a record breaking El Niño continues to grow in the Pacific, @weatherwest.bsky.social explains what may be in store for the next year as we brace for an El Niño “so far above anything we've previously seen, it doesn't even fit on the same axis.” (@ninardietz.bsky.social for @insideclimatenews.org)
insideclimatenews.org
Incoming El Niño Is so Extreme It Doesn’t Have a Scientific Name - Inside Climate News
As a record breaking El Niño continues to grow in the Eastern Pacific, climate scientist Daniel Swain explains what may be in store for the next year as we brace for an El Niño “so far above anything ...
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Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.
Ian James @ianjames.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
The proposed desalination project calls for Arizona to build a plant in Mexico to supply drinking water there. In exchange, Arizona would get some of Mexico’s Colorado River water. But the project faces considerable challenges, @bobbymagill.bsky.social reports: news.bloomberglaw.com/environment-...
news.bloomberglaw.com
Drying Colorado River Seen as Risky Bet for Mexico Water Swap
A proposal to find new water for the Southwest by using desalinated ocean water from Mexico faces difficult odds as what remains of the waning Colorado River is legally contested by its surrounding st...
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Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.
Nicole Bedera @nbedera.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I’m seeing a lot of posts from older women about how they won’t talk or think about Cornell because it’s too painful or the problem is too big to solve. I’m urging you all to remember how you felt as a college student when older women said that to you. Don’t turn your back on the next generation.
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Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.
Susan of Texas @susanoftexas.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
A woman’s lifetime of suffering is weighed against a potential temporary setback in a man’s career, and the man’s self-induced plight always carries more weight.
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Faith Kearns, Ph.D. @fkearns.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
It is so depressing to live in a world where women’s lives are so disposable. I had a day or two of thinking that guy might face some consequences, how delusional of me. Incredible to watch people who should know better close ranks and not say a word. It’s vile.
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Faith Kearns, Ph.D. @fkearns.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
“Brossard and Schefuele once had a romantic and sexual relationship in the early 2000s, while he was a professor and she was a postdoctoral researcher at Cornell University, investigators found.”
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Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.
Josh Morsell @joshmorsell.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
"Nearly 4,900 people have been evacuated to shelters, with around 52,000 households affected by the floods, which prompted a disaster declaration across the capital, according to the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration." www.afp.com/en/bangkok-f...
afp.com
Bangkok floods send thousands into shelters after days of rain
Deep floodwaters in Bangkok drove thousands of residents into shelters as others scrambled to buy groceries or dry out their homes on Sunday after days of heavy...
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Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 28/09/2026
And when I say bad behavior I mean no, you should not be fucking your students and I mean that broadly. Not a student in your department, not a recent graduate, not even a student in another department. Not someone you’re mentoring. Some of the men who like to talk about me have done these things
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Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.
Judd Legum @juddlegum.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
1. Jay Feely, a former NFL kicker and a GOP candidate for Congress in Arizona, has made “protecting women’s sports” a centerpiece of his election campaign. So I reviewed years of Feely’s podcast appearances to see what he actually thinks about female athletes. 🧵
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Lawrence Culver @lawrencecphd.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Gift article: “Residents are fighting to protect their seafront property and calling for emergency armoring of the shore…But such emergency measures could also hasten the beach’s deterioration, experts say.” www.nytimes.com/2026/09/25/u...
nytimes.com
Beaches Are Disappearing in Southern California as El Niño Bears Down (Gift Article)
Beachfront homeowners and beachcombers are watching the sand vanish into the ocean as torrid waves strike the coast.
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Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.
Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 27/09/2026
Four days ago, a scientist was surprised by the news that Anthropic discovered new virus genes for making DNA. He says he’s been studying them for years—and feeding his data to Anthropic’s AI as part of his own research. Coincidence? Here’s my story. nyti.ms/3VSWayc
nyti.ms
Did Anthropic’s A.I. Really Make a Scientific Discovery on Its Own? (Gift Article)
An expert at the University of Copenhagen said his team had been sharing its research with the company’s A.I. model, Claude, and that its new finding matched their work.
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Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.
Jonathan Overpeck @greatlakespecktwo.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
A record breaking El Niño on top of increasing sea level rise due to climate warming, all coinciding with unusual high tides. CA is about to get a taste of what will likely worsen by winter. Prepare, be careful. apple.news/AUfINX3XdRlC...
apple.news
Concern mounts over slow-moving, planetary-scale ‘Kelvin’ wave heading for California — Guardian US
The ocean phenomenon could raise sea levels by up to a foot as El Niño keeps warm water trapped along the coast
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Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.
Timmons Roberts @timmonsroberts.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
This new paper is hot hot hot.
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Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 27/09/2026
Back on Twitter, scientists (and other types of specialists) used to think out loud together and people understood that was a thing we were doing in our corner of the commons and they could watch Here, it’s now like you’re in an arena and the crowd is preparing to throw tomatoes at you
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Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.
David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
My former colleagues, Mark Cane and Stephen Zebiak, were the first to successfully predict El Niño more than a year in advance in the late 1980s. Now we’re really good at it, and know the consequences. It’d be irresponsible for governments not to take action. Read this from my buddy Jeff Shaman.
nytimes.com
Opinion | The Super El Niño Comes Bearing One Gift: Time to Prepare (Gift Article)
There’s still time to prepare.
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Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.
Greg Porter @gporterwx.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
I loved writing this story! California vineyards are experiencing one of their strangest weather years ever. And it's lead to record early harvests, lower crop yields, but a spike in quality. Now, El Niño is coming.
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Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.
Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
People don’t understand how fragile our water infrastructure is. I’ve had contaminated water in the last six years. I’ve had my water co. hijacked for digital ransom. We are in perpetual near drought conditions... in NC, not AZ. AI boosters use pedantry about water use as an accountability shield.
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Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.
cait (and adonis) @cait.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
the "iced coffee at a job interview" discussion is obviously stupid but also a great representation of the fact that every single HR person/recruiter has their own different made up rules for candidates and all of them think they are absolutely correct
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Faith Kearns, Ph.D. @fkearns.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Really? In this epically brutal job market full of the *worst* hiring practices you’ve ever seen, bringing a water bottle or a beverage of any kind is the hill to die on? Also…some of us live in hot places where beverages are kind of life?
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Terry McGlynn @hormiga.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
"[Scheufele] violated university policy by participating in sexual and romantic relationships with two of his students...The Office of Compliance concluded Scheufele failed multiple times to maintain professional honesty and integrity as required by faculty policy in his interactions with students."
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Greg Pierce @gregspierce.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Check out @fkearns.bsky.social longer write-up on Sapeta and teams work in Lake County here ucanr.edu/blog/conflue...
ucanr.edu
Rethinking Water Systems in a Fire-Prone West: A Fire Chief’s Approach | The Confluence
Image
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Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.
Greg Pierce @gregspierce.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Climate change pushes on the internal external and existential margins of the obligation to serve of public utilities. This is one, and an exceedingly rare, progressive example. Stay for some grumpy quotes from me on statewide standards and support efforts. calmatters.org/environment/...
calmatters.org
He knows his community is going to burn again. Now he's making sure they’re ready
As climate-fueled wildfires test water systems in new and devastating ways, a rural California county has a plan to adapt
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Faith Kearns, Ph.D. @fkearns.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
The Water Talk podcast is back for a seventh season with an opening episode on PFAS, aka "forever chemicals," and how best to communicate with publics about them based on new research from the University of Wisconsin - Madison www.watertalkpodcast.com/episodes/epi...
watertalkpodcast.com
PFAS: Science, Risk, and Communication — Water Talk
A conversation with Gavin Dehnert (Emerging Contaminants Scientist, University of Wisconsin–Madison) and Lyn van Swol (Professor of Communication Arts, University of Wisconsin–Madison) about Perfluoro...
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Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.
Josh Morsell @joshmorsell.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Trump cut their climate jobs. This secretive network found them new ones.-- grist.org/labor/trump-...
grist.org
Trump cut their climate jobs. This secretive network found them new ones.
Climate Reserve has been quietly building a lifeline for America's lost climate workforce, one job at a time.
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Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Most people have no idea how much international students are the lifeblood of higher education. But they’re about to learn. Sigh.
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National Weather Service @nws.noaa.gov · 24/09/2026
NWS Flood Inundation Mapping (FIM) now covers nearly 100% of the U.S. population! FIM visually displays projected river flooding for more than 3.3 million river miles across the United States and its territories. www.noaa.gov/news-release... or water.noaa.gov/fim
A map of the United States titled "NWS Flood Inundation Mapping Services," showing different regions color-coded by service implementation year (2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026), including insets for Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
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Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
The former bodyguard accused of having an affair with ex-Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is facing charges for allegedly breaking into her home, destroying over $200,000 worth of property
azfamily.com
Kyrsten Sinema’s ex-bodyguard accused of causing $200K in damage at her Cave Creek home
The former bodyguard accused of having an affair with ex-Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is facing charges for allegedly breaking into her home, destroying over $200,000 worth of property.
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Josh Chafetz @joshchafetz.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
The more we buy into the logic that academia needs to be more like "the real world"--the more we buy into the idea that all we're doing is training students to go out and be good workers--the less we are fulfilling any sort of distinct mission, and the less exciting our work is our students.
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Adam Conover @adamconover.net · 23/09/2026
Do data centers actually use that much water? Spoiler alert: they do! Check out the new Factually! episode with @parismarx.com wherever you get podcasts. » Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/f... » Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/0fK8WJw... » YouTube: youtu.be/N__8ubegY1c
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Gale Sinatra @galesinatra.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
El Niño is coming. Communities should get prepared. theconversation.com/as-cities-pr...
theconversation.com
As cities prepare for 2026’s super El Niño, some crucial blind spots can’t be ignored
Aging levees and dams are only the beginning of the risks communities face. One of the biggest challenges is helping people manage the heat and storms.
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Faith Kearns, Ph.D. @fkearns.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Five NAS colloquia and five related PNAS issues between 2012 and 2025, all focused on the science of science communication. Multi-millions in grants from public and private sources that seemingly continue through to today.
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Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.
Chokely Carmichael🥋 @stewartcoles.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
How many lives are upended, how many careers are cut short, because of men who want to abuse power for their own (sexual) gratification?
She met with her adviser to determine if she could complete the Ph.D. program without research funding from Scheufele and Brossard. Her adviser said it would be difficult.

“He (Scheufele) had the funding. He and Dominique (Brossard) were the only people that had this large amount of money,” the student said.

She transferred to another UW-Madison department in August 2024 after informing her adviser about her concerns with Scheufele. Her adviser then reported the conversation to the university’s Title IX office, which investigates harassment and discrimination. She did not complete her doctorate.
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Faith Kearns, Ph.D. @fkearns.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
I have made a viable career in scicomm on my own, but it has been and certainly is now, precarious. I will say again that there is no real way forward without a serious investment in human scicomm labor, and infrastructure. It is truly depressing out here for practitioners.
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Virginia Schutte @vgwschutte.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
A friend told me they think scicomm is only viable as a career path if you have a financial safety net: a partner with a steady and good salary, money coming in from some other source, etc. It made me mad and sad to hear but I'm in the midst of thinking about new income streams soooooooooo
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Dr. Carlie Trott @carlietrott.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
"According to the AI industry, we should be more worried about a fictional machine god than about the climate catastrophe these data centers exacerbate, the asthma suffered by those living near them, the rising electricity bills of the public subsidizing them, or the water...[for] cooling them."
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Dave Jones @cadavejones.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Insurers say they're starting to write new California homeowner policies, but few new policies being written despite homeowners' investment in home hardening and defensible space and billions invested in nature based forest management. calmatters.org/economy/2026...
calmatters.org
Insurers say they're starting to write new California homeowner policies, but how many?
A new analysis shows few home insurance policies are being written for Californians in high-risk areas despite incentives.
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Mark Gongloff @markgongloff.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Urban heat island effects are bad enough. Clustering data centers in cities, each of which can produce the heat of 54,000 houses, will make it exponentially worse, especially in already hot places like Phoenix Gift link to this great @bloomberg.com infographic: www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...
bloomberg.com
AI Data Centers Release Heat, Posing New Problem for Cities
As facilities to power AI grow larger and are built in clusters, they are spreading hot air beyond their property lines
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Terry McGlynn @hormiga.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
19 people who follow my account also follow this guy's account. I am assuming at least half of y'all aren't aware of this egregious case of misconduct. Please take a moment to learn about your colleagues who are unsafe for trainees. captimes.com/news/educati...
captimes.com
UW-Madison students, records detail investigation of professor
Dietram Scheufele resigned after investigators determined he had sexual relationships with two students and engaged in unwelcome sexual conduct with one.
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