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

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Faith Kearns, Ph.D. @fkearns.bsky.social · 4h
Same same
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Peter Nguyen @dptbirder.bsky.social · 12h
Had a California equivalent to a “snow day” because of El Niño Balboa Boulevard was under water throughout most of the peninsula Long underwater Kelvin waves and the oncoming storm surge caused havoc and preventing me from getting to one of my clients homes today 🌊
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Mark Gongloff @markgongloff.bsky.social · 12h
“Nothing is sacred right now" www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adve...
outsideonline.com
The Border Wall Just “Decapitated” a 7,000-Year-Old Arizona Carving Created Before Stonehenge and Egypt’s Pyramids
A newly dated 272-foot rock carving in Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge was severely damaged by border contractors, exposing a growing threat to public lands, outdoor access, and sacred Indigeno...
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Faith Kearns, Ph.D. @fkearns.bsky.social · 11h
Just watching a bunch of reels over on threads - people driving through waist deep water in southern California to evacuate coastal flooding today. Might need a bit more readiness.
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Daniel Swain @weatherwest.bsky.social · 12h
Seeing multiple reports of notable and even locally damaging coastal flooding ongoing already in parts of coastal SoCal. This could get significantly worse this weekend due to TS Rachel.
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Silvia Secchi @profsecchi.bsky.social · 14h
This was a really lovely and generative conversation for me. Thanks to Faith, Mallika and Samuel for asking me great questions!
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Anthony Edwards @edwardsanthonyb.bsky.social · 15h
A tropical storm watch has been issued for San Diego County. This is just the second time a tropical storm watch has been issued in California, after Tropical Storm Hilary in August 2023 www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh...?
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Faith Kearns, Ph.D. @fkearns.bsky.social · 14h
We had a great time talking with @profsecchi.bsky.social about all things Mississippi River basin, from agriculture to conservation to economics. Listen to Water Talk wherever you get your podcasts or on our website www.watertalkpodcast.com/episodes/epi...
watertalkpodcast.com
Mississippi Watershed Past, Present, and Futures — Water Talk
A conversation with Professor Silvia Secchi (University of Iowa) about the Mississippi River watershed, its sociohydrology, and visioning alternative futures. Released October 9, 2026.
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Dr. Samantha Montano @samlmontano.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
One thing about me is I will always buy the tote bag if it has a zipper. (And also if it supports good organizations like @skypeascientist.bsky.social)
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Nature @nature.com · 08/10/2026
International students in the US would face a $100,000 price tag to work a science job in the country after graduation under a proposal made public yesterday by the Trump administration go.nature.com/4AWqQi8
go.nature.com
US proposes $100,000 charge for international students to do post-graduate work
Proposed rule would choke off a crucial STEM talent pipeline, policy specialists say
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Jennifer Molidor @jennifermolidor.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
The last Grandmother Tree, a centuries-old cottonwood in the San Rafael Valley was cut down by Border Patrol to clear space for a new border wall after a 71-day protest. Agents arrested a dozen protesters and tore these elder trees from the Earth. For what? insideclimatenews.org/news/0510202...
insideclimatenews.org
Final ‘Grandmother’ Cottonwood Toppled, Protesters Arrested in Arizona - Inside Climate News
Armed Border Patrol agents raided a protest camp in Lochiel, in southeast Arizona, making way for contractors to cut down the last standing cottonwood tree Monday morning for a double border wall, aft...
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Daniel Swain @weatherwest.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
The most significant impacts will likely be from heavy rainfall in desert portions of far southeastern CA, western AZ, and much of UT. Serious flash flash flooding is possible, depending on track, anywhere from eastern slopes of San Diego County mtns to mtns of central Utah.
Map of accumulated precipitation over the next 6 days from ECMWF ensemble. It shows a swath of significant, locally heavy rainfall arcing northeastward from far SoCal/northern Baja CA across the SE CA deserts into AZ/UT.
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Daniel Swain @weatherwest.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Update: The remnants of Hurricane Rachel, likely as a post-tropical (perhaps still tropical) storm, now appears likely to bring significant impacts to northern Baja CA, far S. California, AZ, and UT--mainly Sunday into Monday. [Brief thread]
Map of currently projected track or Rachel and its remnants from NOAA's National Hurricane Center.
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Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
The “literacies“ framework is as intellectually bankrupt as polarization right now. We will keep using it because when you’ve got one hammer and the NSF social science funding has dried up everything looks like a nostalgic managerial class nail.
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Stephen Leahy @stephenleahy.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
US households pay 62% more for water than they did a decade ago, study finds For-profit water corporations, federal cuts and climate crisis are ‘supercharging water rate hikes’, www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
theguardian.com
US households pay 62% more for water than they did a decade ago, study finds
For-profit water corporations, federal cuts and climate crisis are ‘supercharging water rate hikes’, study co-author says
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Maya Weeks, Ph.D. @mayaweeks.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
"Drinking water costs spiked faster than inflation, grocery prices and median household income, researchers at nonprofit Food & Water Watch outlined in a first-of-its-kind report released Tuesday"
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Greg Pierce @gregspierce.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Meanwhile in France: "More than 83,000 residents are relying on emergency measures – a 30% increase since the start of the month. These measures primarily include deliveries by tanker trucks or the provision of bottled water." www.lemonde.fr/en/environme...
lemonde.fr
Persistent drought puts pressure on France's drinking water networks
Water reserves supplying distribution systems across France remain under strain due to a significant rainfall deficit.
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Christina Toms @christinatoms.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Pretty sure this is Keyhole Arch at Pfieffer Beach in Big Sur. In the future, perhaps as early as this winter, the cliff edge he’s standing on will fall into the sea.
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Prof Ian Hall @ianhall.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Fire is natural in many forests. But hotter, drier conditions and more intense fires can overwhelm their ability to recover, pushing some landscapes toward shrubland or other ecosystems. That’s the real concern: a changing fire regime... edition.cnn.com/2026/10/04/u...
edition.cnn.com
Wildfires across the US are changing forest landscapes – and the tipping point may be on the horizon | CNN
As Monica Turner trekked across the western hills of Yellowstone National Park, the cold rain was inescapable. Even the constant movement of putting one foot in front of the other as she fought throug...
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Brad Johnson @climatebrad.hillheat.com · 05/10/2026
Another wildfire survivor describes the hidden cost of neighborhoods being destroyed even if the houses are "rebuilt" as people are crushed by debt, displaced by short term rentals, etc
An activist Extreme Weather Survivors
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Ben Young Landis @younglandis.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
“'The microplastic footprint Helene left behind was pretty substantial,' said Austin Gray, a Virginia Tech biologist. 'Microplastics are depositing all over terrestrial and aquatic areas, especially after a storm event...'" news.vt.edu/content/news... 🧪
news.vt.edu
Hurricane Helene deposited nearly one-fifth of annual microplastics at one North Carolina site
Microplastics are often linked to urban areas near roads and development, but a new study shows that wind and rain carry them from the atmosphere into remote headwaters — a process intensified by majo...
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Robert Mahon @bedform.org · 05/10/2026
Why are aspens so damn pretty
Golden stand of aspens
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Faith Kearns, Ph.D. @fkearns.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
OMG yes. This drives me bananas but I gave up saying it to anyone else even though in my own head I am like “I think you mean post.” 😂
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Faith Kearns, Ph.D. @fkearns.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Yeah, I think that’s a slightly different question, but at the end of the day my sense is faculty maybe need to hear from people who’ve been dealing with it for a long time (social workers etc) about the intent, and how to navigate doing what is best for the person you’re ostensibly there to help.
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Faith Kearns, Ph.D. @fkearns.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Yes - this. Just had a long conversation with a broker about this very thing and this was the answer about grey houses, fences, even cars. That anything else is too personal and will reduce resale.
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Victor @wwbugs.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Colorado Supreme Court will hear major climate change case involving devastating Marshall wildfire. Colorado case is part of a wave of climate change litigation across the country. #ClimateChange #litigation #law #suit coloradosun.com/2026/10/04/c...
coloradosun.com
Supreme Court will hear major climate change case involving devastating Marshall wildfire
Colorado case is part of a wave of climate change litigation across the U.S. The justices will hear the case that could decide the fate of similar cases.
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Faith Kearns, Ph.D. @fkearns.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
The reporting actually actively caused me problems that I did not need and was used so incorrectly as to be at the very least a ridiculous use of resources.
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Faith Kearns, Ph.D. @fkearns.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Yes. There is some work on institutional betrayal that touches it. But, in general, no. I learned what I know about it from a psychologist I won’t name, and only because someone mandatorily reported an incident I told them about that happened 20 years ago. I was very far from active harm.
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Pam Kan-Rice @ucanrpam.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Small Farms and Groundwater Policy. Sam Sandoval & @fkearns.bsky.social talk with Ngodoo Atume @ucanr.edu and Judith Redmond of Full Belly Farm about California's Sustainable Groundwater Management Act and its impacts on small, family farms www.watertalkpodcast.com/episodes/epi...
watertalkpodcast.com
Small Farms and Groundwater Policy in CA — Water Talk
A conversation with Ngodoo Atume (University of California Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program) and Judith Redmond (Full Belly Farm) about California's Sustainable Groundwater Manag...
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Arrianna Marie Planey, PhD MA @arrianna-planey.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
"What we found is alarming: this fast-growing Civility Industrial Complex is driven by an anti-democratic agenda to suppress organic student organizing." www.uncivilcollective.org
uncivilcollective.org
UNCIVIL | Exposing the Civility Industrial Complex
Billionaire funders and extremist politicians are funneling millions into campus dialogue programs and civics centers. They claim to be reducing “polarization” and promoting “pluralism,” but their rea...
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Faith Kearns, Ph.D. @fkearns.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Totally get feeling that way
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The Associated Press @apnews.com · 03/10/2026
Sea levels along the West Coast will begin to rise by up to a foot this month as a series of pulses of warm water called Kelvin waves hit the shoreline and move north, sparking concerns about beach erosion and flooding in areas already impacted by climate change and El Nino.
bit.ly
A pulse of warm water hitting the Pacific coast could mean erosion and flooding
Sea levels along the West Coast will begin to rise by up to a foot this month as a series of pulses of warm water called Kelvin waves hit the shoreline and move north, sparking concerns about beach erosion and flooding in areas already impacted by climate change and El Niño.
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Dannagal Goldthwaite Young @dannagal.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
It wild to witness: so many of our institutions are captured by capital and power incentives that the only place we do see courage right now is among individual people*. *and a handful of grassroots organizations and independent news orgs
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Jared Dahl Aldern @jdaldern.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
2000 years of managing water and controlling fire: "The Talang Tuwo inscription is a historical record dated to the year 684 C.E. and written in Old Malay. The inscription documents the creation of a green park and the treatment of ponds and dams under king Sri Jayanasa."
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Faith Kearns, Ph.D. @fkearns.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
It has really been a theme that student journalists are the leading edge on so many of these things. Truly grateful for their courage.
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Faith Kearns, Ph.D. @fkearns.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
And, the State Press at ASU continues to follow this story and has an update. Student journalists have so much more courage than his collaborators who seem unable or unwilling to say a word www.instagram.com/reel/Dd-r-9e...
instagram.com
Instagram
Create an account or log in to Instagram - Share what you're into with the people who get you.
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Faith Kearns, Ph.D. @fkearns.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Man that website is a cesspool!
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Paul Kingsley @paulkingsley7.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
🧪 “The National Science Foundation, one of the biggest sources of federal research funding, withheld $1.4 billion that Congress had intended for research over the course of the past year, according to internal data reviewed by The New York Times.” www.nytimes.com/2026/10/02/u...
nytimes.com
National Science Foundation Diverted $1.4 Billion in Science Funds Mandated by Congress (Gift Article)
The move, affecting about one-fifth of the National Science Foundation’s primary research budget, is the latest sign of how the White House is asserting more control over grants.
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Faith Kearns, Ph.D. @fkearns.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Awful all the way around
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Dannagal Goldthwaite Young @dannagal.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Do yourself a favor. Read these 7 pages by @lilymasonphd.bsky.social right now. It is the most concise explanation of the current situation in U.S. politics I've seen and it captures why calls to reduce "polarization" can ultimately worsen the problem 🧵 www.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/pol...
journalofdemocracy.org
Polarization Is Not the Problem | Journal of Democracy
Americans have never been angrier with one another. But polarization is not the disease—it is the response to a revanchist movement seeking to roll back sixty years of social progress.
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Meade Krosby @meadekrosby.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Some excellent news to end the week.
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Faith Kearns, Ph.D. @fkearns.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Take note, science and research communicators. Polarization is not what we’re solving for, for once and for all!
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Faith Kearns, Ph.D. @fkearns.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Small farms in California have struggled to participate in groundwater management efforts since day one. We talked with Ngodoo Atume @ucanr.edu and Judith Redmond, co-founder of Full Belly Farms, about new work on how to better support these small farms www.watertalkpodcast.com/episodes/epi...
watertalkpodcast.com
Small Farms and Groundwater Policy in CA — Water Talk
A conversation with Ngodoo Atume (University of California Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program) and Judith Redmond (Full Belly Farm) about California's Sustainable Groundwater Manag...
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Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD @elizabethjacobs.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I found this video after my husband stepped on the rattlesnake and there are 100 reasons to watch it, not least because this scientist made a fake leg and foot to see what rattlers do when people step on them. Spoiler alert: they rarely strike. youtu.be/s_GtpGyChlw
youtu.be
What happens if you step on a rattlesnake??
YouTube video by Phoenix Herpetological Sanctuary
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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
“It’s not just people coming in and getting a free book. People use libraries for meeting spaces, because they may not have a computer or internet at home, or they just need a place to go during the day that doesn’t cost money to be at. You can just be there and exist.” -Bradley Woodruff, Chicago
nytimes.com
Librarians Discuss the Challenges and Triumphs of Running a Library Today
We asked dozens of them about America’s libraries — what they provide, what they need to survive. Here’s what they told us.
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Lily Mason @lilymasonphd.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
My new JOD piece arguing against the “cure polarization” approach to saving democracy.
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Anjali Dayal @anjalikdayal.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
you do want to see this
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Soraya Nadia McDonald @soraya.press · 01/10/2026
Decided to be a pain in Netflix's ass today.
soraya.press
'A Different World' spends too much time mining nostalgia
Don't blame critics for identifying flaws. It's part of the job.
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Faith Kearns, Ph.D. @fkearns.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
But also… bsky.app/profile/bach...
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Faith Kearns, Ph.D. @fkearns.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
I will say it was interesting to know. I got my chicken pox checked too because I never had any signs of having it despite trying to get it. Turns out I had it but no symptoms. I also don’t think it matters anymore wrt to shingles vaccine but still interesting.
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