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Helen Amanda Fricker

@helen-amanda.bsky.social
2.3K followers 1.8K following 1.5K posts

Professor of Glaciology, Scripps Polar Center, UC San Diego bsky.app/profile/scrippsocean.bsky.… Studies Antarctica with satellites PI of EDGE mission edge.ucsd.edu 🇦🇶🛰️🧊 Graduate of @UCL & @UTAS ❄️❄️❄️

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Helen Amanda Fricker
David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
I don’t think everyone realizes how bad things are for US science: For the fiscal year that just ended, the Trump regime withheld $1.4 billion from the National Science Foundation’s research budget, which is about 1/5 of its primary research budget.
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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Helen Amanda Fricker @helen-amanda.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
It really is incredible to witness how many academica seem unconcerned about the big picture of what is happening in US academia. @standupforscience.net is really leading the way with activism. Join them!
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Alt National Park Service @altnps.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
A huge thank you to CNN, MS NOW, Politico, ABC News, CBS News, NBC News, Fox News, PBS News, NPR, The New York Times, The Washington Post, HuffPost, the Associated Press, Reuters, Getty Images, and AFP for standing together in defense of a free press.
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Scripps Institution of Oceanography @scrippsocean.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
🌎 What can Earth’s vital signs tell us about our changing planet? Join Scripps glaciologist @helen-amanda.bsky.social on Sept. 3 at The Exploratorium Museum's After Dark in San Francisco as she shares how NASA’s new EDGE mission will map our planet in unprecedented detail. bit.ly/4zRlbJN
exploratorium.edu
After Dark: Pale Blue Dot | Exploratorium Museum Event
Take a step way back and see our planet in context: a tiny yet dynamic system in a vast cosmic neighborhood.
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Helen Amanda Fricker @helen-amanda.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
If you are in the Bay Area this Thursday evening, please come along to my public talk @exploratorium.bsky.social
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Helen Amanda Fricker @helen-amanda.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Better late than never seeing this post. Thank you so much @schiff.senate.gov!
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Helen Amanda Fricker @helen-amanda.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Children are actually dying from measles again in the US. All because their parents bought into the MAGA/MAHA misinformation that goes against decades of medical science. Preventable deaths, unprevented.
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Reposted by Helen Amanda Fricker
Stand Up for Science! @standupforscience.net · 25/08/2026
The Trump admin has deleted hundreds of valuable data sets on vital health & education data sets - such as sexual & emotional violence against children - all because they don’t “align with the admin’s priorities". 🧪 Read at: tinyurl.com/nhhz77un
Graphic with a photo of Donal Trump in the top right corner. Below shows a screenshot of a Guardian article that reads "The Guardian. Trump 2.0 has deleted or altered nearly 400 US datasets, endangering public health, education, and more. Health data appears to be most affected by administration's attempt to wipe findings that don't align with its priorities, tracker shows."

Right side of graphic is blacked out, with a faint statue of liberty in the background. Text laid on top reads "Erasing the data doesn't erase the reality. Fuel the Fight for Science. Link in bio"
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Reposted by Helen Amanda Fricker
Saganism @sagan.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Dr. Anthony Fauci urges Americans not to accept "Normalization of Untruths".
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Reposted by Helen Amanda Fricker
Dr. Lucky Tran @luckytran.com · 06/08/2026
Throughout history, persecuting scientists for saving lives is a frightening marker for the collapse of a society.
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elizabethginexi.bsky.social @elizabethginexi.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
The report’s outlook for the future of science also does not mention some key research areas, such as climate change and public health. Neither is research in social sciences included. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
What’s missing from the White House plan for the future of US science
To realize ‘a new golden age for science’, the United States needs open borders and must properly fund studies in the social sciences, public health and the humanities — not just research in technolog...
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Colette Delawalla, PhD @cdelawalla.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Trump, Vought, and RFK Jr's version of "using AI in science" apnews.com/article/cali...
apnews.com
White House admits it used keywords to kill billions worth of California research grants
Federal agencies that terminated more than a thousand research grants at the University of California last year admitted that they used keywords related to diversity, gender, vaccine hesitancy and COV...
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Reposted by Helen Amanda Fricker
elizabethginexi.bsky.social @elizabethginexi.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
www.nytimes.com/2026/07/16/u...
nytimes.com
White House Faces Stiff Pushback on Subjecting Grants to Political Review (Gift Article)
Academics, city leaders and congressional lawmakers number among the thousands to urge the Trump administration to reconsider a plan to assert more control over grants.
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Helen Amanda Fricker @helen-amanda.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
The OMB pushback against science is only making our community stronger. A total of 500M comments on the docket. Consider the zone flooded and the community more empowered than ever. Never give up.
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Reposted by Helen Amanda Fricker
elizabethginexi.bsky.social @elizabethginexi.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
Read the Comment submitted in opposition to the OBM rule by the ACLU. www.aclu.org/documents/ac...
aclu.org
ACLU Comment on OMB NPRM on Federal Financial Assistance | American Civil Liberties Union
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Helen Amanda Fricker @helen-amanda.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
It is not just science! This will affect you. elizabethginexi.substack.com/p/this-new-o...
elizabethginexi.substack.com
This new OMB Rule Is Bigger Than Science. Much Bigger.
This image was generated by Google AI (Gemini)
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Helen Amanda Fricker @helen-amanda.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
Have you submitted your comments on the OMB rule? If that goes forward, it's kind of game over for research in the US. Trust me when I say this is an existential issue. siodata.github.io/sio-omb-event/ Deadline is Monday.
siodata.github.io
Write your comment · SIO response to the OMB rule
An SIO community hub for filing a public comment on the OMB Federal Financial Assistance Rule, docket OMB-2026-0034, before the July 13 deadline.
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Colette Delawalla, PhD @cdelawalla.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
HEAR YE, HEAR YE! We are doing a virtual and accessible event on Monday (the OMB rule deadline day)! @standupforscience.net BE THERE OR BE SQUARE!
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Dr. Robin Tanamachi 🌪️ @tornatrix.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
Imagine a world where political appointees can terminate grants on a whim w/o accountability. It doesn't just affect science, but also food pantries, transit, hospitals, & schools. Dr. Elizabeth Ginexi put together this 2-pg flyer describing how you can fight back: drive.google.com/file/d/1ppq4...
drive.google.com
OMB Rule Flyer - Take Action.pdf
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Prof. Stefan Rahmstorf @rahmstorf.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
Happy 250th birthday, USA 🇺🇸! In Germany we’re very grateful for the big role of the US in liberating us (my then teenage parents!) from authoritarian rule. I’m deeply concerned that now the US is sliding toward authoritarian rule, including suppressing science. www.carbonbrief.org/prof-ben-san...
carbonbrief.org
Prof Ben Santer: Trump administration is ‘embracing ignorance’ on climate science - Carbon Brief
In an interview with Carbon Brief, Santer says the Trump administration is “engaged in a systematic attempt to dismantle climate science”
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Grantham Research Institute at LSE @granthamlse.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
We regret that our event on Extreme Heat: Improving governance and strengthening action around the world has been cancelled due to the red extreme heat warning issued by the UK Met Office. Our apologies to everyone who was planning to attend the event.
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elizabethginexi.bsky.social @elizabethginexi.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
"We encourage nurses, educators, researchers, and the general public to join us and submit public comments on Docket OMB-2026-0034 before July 13, 2026, urging federal officials to reject these policies." www.commondreams.org/opinion/poli...
commondreams.org
Politics Should Never Decide Who Gets Care | Common Dreams
The Office of Management and Budget’s proposed rule putting political appointees in charge of healthcare-funding decisions threatens the patients we serve.
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Colette Delawalla, PhD @cdelawalla.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
WHEN WE FIGHT WE WIN! (Gift link) When we don’t capitulate, when we flood the zone, when we raise our voices together, when we say NO!, we win. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/18/c...
nytimes.com
Trump Administration Backs Off Plan to End Ocean Monitoring
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Crabby Husky Lady @crabbyhuskylady.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
This is precisely what happens when you have an administration who has zero qualified scientists on staff and denies science.
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Helen Amanda Fricker @helen-amanda.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
We have not done enough to convey the value to society and return on investment of science. @drshepherd2013.bsky.social has an idea on a way to do this: R&D labels on everything. Not only would this raise science literacy but also would show what went into every day items we all take for granted.
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Helen Amanda Fricker @helen-amanda.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
Scientists: Noone is coming to save us. We have to save ourselves. Here is your assignment.
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Stand Up for Science! @standupforscience.net · 29/05/2026
MARK YOU CALENDAR for our EMERGENCY SCIENCE MEETING June 2nd at 4pm ET. We will be giving an overview of the rule and assigning EVERY SCIENTIST IN AMERICA their marching orders. Register at the link in our bio, or go here: zurl.co/YVcXc #Science #StandUpForScience #OMB #SaveScience #Research
The graphic contains an image of the Statue of Liberty faded into the background and an Emergency Siren. The graphic reads: "Tuesday, June 2nd at 4PM EST, EMERGENCY SCIENCE MEETING, An Urgent, Public Meeting on the OMB Grant Funding Proposal, Resgister with the LINK IN BIO! Background: On May 28th, the OMB proposed a rule that would expand political interference into federal grant funding. The proposal would allow ideology - not scientific merit - to decide which research receives federal support. THE PASSAGE OF THE PROPOSAL, WOULD END AMERICAN SCIENCE AS WE KNOW IT."
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Stand Up for Science! @standupforscience.net · 28/05/2026
🚨UPDATE: We will launch our action center on this issue tomorrow. 📣JOIN US: Emergency Science Meeting (Virtual) June 2nd at 4pm et. Details to come. Our Policy Team has read through the entire 400 page hot mess express from Russ Vought...here are the high level details. A Thread🧵 1/x
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Helen Amanda Fricker @helen-amanda.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
Important read for US scientists and others who care
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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
New, from me: He turned the part of Lincoln into the party of Trump, and has broadly succeeded in turning the US federal government into a personalist regime. Here are seven signs that personalism has come to define the second Trump administration. 🧵 donmoynihan.substack.com/p/scenes-fro...
donmoynihan.substack.com
Scenes from a personalist regime
Seven signs that Trump has embedded personalist leadership in American government
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Helen Amanda Fricker @helen-amanda.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
NASA has just released a call for Proposals for filmmakers, documentarians, songwriters, storytellers, poets, and others to submit proposals to partner with the agency by Tuesday, June 30. www.nasa.gov/news-release...
nasa.gov
Call for Creatives: NASA Seeks Help Illuminating Mission Storytelling - NASA
As NASA pushes the boundaries of exploration and innovation for the benefit of humanity, the agency is looking for partners to share mission stories covering
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telescyote 🔭 @cosmicyote.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
Less than 800 NSF grants awarded over the first half of the fiscal year for the entire country. Previous years were already over 2-3k awards by now. It is not particularly overdramatic to say we are seeing the death of federally funded science research in the United States.
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altNOAA 🇺🇸 @altnoaa.bsky.social · 25/04/2026
1985: Carl Sagan warns Congress about climate change and urged a shift from fossil fuels. Everyone scoffed, "that's too expensive, we have real problems to solve." Today: NASA again sees problems decades, even centuries from now that requires action now to prevent. Public: "but it's expensive".
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Helen Amanda Fricker @helen-amanda.bsky.social · 25/04/2026
@bwiairport.bsky.social for the love of all things caffeinated please put a decent coffee shop or cart or anything in Concourse A-C! #mayorga coffee tastes simply abysmal. Great business opportunity for someone. #coffee
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Jon Cooper @joncooper-us.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
“The United States is being murdered, and it’s an inside job. Every department, every branch, every bureau and function of the federal government is being fatally corrupted or altogether dismantled or disabled.”
theguardian.com
The United States is destroying itself | Rebecca Solnit
The daily news can’t adequately convey the administration’s sabotaging of our government, economy, alliances and environment
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Dr. Peter Neff @icy-pete.bsky.social · 11/04/2026
Let us be radicalized by the skillful competence of NASA public servants and their career colleagues across our federal agencies. Let Artemis II help us hold on to our love for these investments in ourselves!
media.tenor.com
a pixel art of the nasa logo on a black background
ALT: a pixel art of the nasa logo on a black background
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Katharine Hayhoe @katharinehayhoe.com · 11/04/2026
A 1200+ year climate record is at risk. Do you know know anyone in Japan who could help? See below.
A message from Tuna Acisu asking for help maintaining cherry blossom record in Kyoto Japan.A figure showing the cherry tree record since 812 from world in data.
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Helen Amanda Fricker @helen-amanda.bsky.social · 11/04/2026
What just happened is truly amazing, and has captivated people all around the world. *** We must sustain funding for NASA, so they can keep doing amazing things *** Call your congress people and let them know, because the 2027 budget is threatened to be cut right now.
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Casey Dreier @caseydreier.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
The FY 2027 NASA budget request hides its science cuts by omitting mission names instead of explicitly zeroing them out. We did the work and found 54 missions cancelled in this proposal. This is another extinction-level event for NASA science. Full list: planetary.org/save-nasa-science
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Dr. Jonathan Foley @globalecoguy.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
Former NASA climate scientist, now Senior Scientist at Project Drawdown, Dr. Kate Marvel, has a fantastic piece in the New York Times today. This is a must-read if you care about science, the planet, and the future. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/08/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | NASA Flew by the Moon, but Behind the Scenes, Its Science Is a Chaotic Mess
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Helen Amanda Fricker @helen-amanda.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
Worth a read to get an idea of what has happened at NASA over the past 15 months. We remain cheery and hopeful despite everything. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/08/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | NASA Flew by the Moon, but Behind the Scenes, Its Science Is a Chaotic Mess
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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
Trump/Vought are planning to eliminate the program that oversees social science funding from the National Science Foundation, and they are not going to wait for Congress to weigh in because they have already shown they believe they have the power of the purse. bsky.app/profile/lizn...
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Helen Amanda Fricker @helen-amanda.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
This breathtaking visualisation from @thenasaearth.bsky.social's shows how the ICESat-2 laser altimeter has provided us with a staggering amount of geodetic information for Earth allowing us to track vital signs svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/5616
svs.gsfc.nasa.gov
NASA Scientific Visualization Studio | Global Views of ICESat-2 Data
ICESat-2 data products on a rotating Earth. Together they illustrate the satellite’s measurements of Earth’s land, ice, oceans, forests, and atmosphere.
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Scholar Goggler bot @scholargoggler.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
Some word clouds created from Helen Amanda Fricker's Google Scholar profile by Scholar Goggler (scholargoggler.com). Popular topics: ice, antarctica, shelf, subglacial, antarctic, altimetry. @helen-amanda.bsky.social
Cloud of words in various colors and sizes on a white background, arranged in the shape of a puzzle. Some of the largest words include  ice antarctica shelf subglacial antarctic altimetry icesat amery east west lake satellite shelves grounding stream lakes laser mass water calving elevation icesat-2 ocean sheet radar rift surface balance data whillansCloud of words in various colors and sizes on a white background, arranged in the shape of a triangle. Some of the largest words include  ice antarctica shelf subglacial antarctic altimetry icesat amery east west lake satellite shelves grounding stream lakes laser mass water calving elevation icesat-2 ocean sheet radar rift surface balance data whillansCloud of words in various colors and sizes on a white background, arranged in the shape of a circle. Some of the largest words include  ice antarctica shelf subglacial antarctic altimetry icesat amery east west lake satellite shelves grounding stream lakes laser mass water calving elevation icesat-2 ocean sheet radar rift surface balance data whillans
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Scripps Institution of Oceanography @scrippsocean.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
Scripps Oceanography glaciologist @helen-amanda.bsky.social studies the fastest-changing places on Earth to understand how melting ice and rising seas impact communities everywhere. We caught up with the celebrated scientist to learn more about her work and why it matters now more than ever. ⤵️
scripps.ucsd.edu
Ask a Scientist: How Do the Polar Regions Impact You?
For the past three decades, glaciologist Helen Amanda Fricker has been investigating polar regions — the fastest changing areas on Earth. By studying the Arctic and Antarctic, she and other scientists...
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Dr. Kristina Hill ☠️ 🏳️‍🌈 thinks this is a bad timeline @kzhill.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
Federal agents lying to gain access to a private, locked university residential building. Leaving that right here.
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International Glaciological Society @igsoc.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
The 2nd Circular for the International Symposium on Interactions of Ice Sheets and Glaciers with the Ocean is now online! Info on scientific topical areas, networking events, registration, & more. www.igsoc.org/2nd-circular... @igs-egg.bsky.social @scrippsocean.bsky.social @helen-amanda.bsky.social
igsoc.org
2nd Circular for IGS Ice-Ocean Symposium Now Online | IGS
The Second Circular for the International Symposium on Interactions of Ice Sheets and Glaciers with the Ocean is now online. It has information on
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Dr Robert Bohan @robertbohan.bsky.social · 21/02/2026
Include individual US states in the world’s biggest economies & it’s impressive that Ireland ranks 38th. To go from one of the poorest in Europe in 50y is impressive*. There are only 5.2m on the island which explains Ireland being one of the richest countries per capita in the world.
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Helen Amanda Fricker @helen-amanda.bsky.social · 20/02/2026
This is truly joyful!
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