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Dr. Peter Neff

@icy-pete.bsky.social
3.2K followers 1.2K following 281 posts

Assistant Prof U Minnesota. Antarctic history from ice cores. Antarctic science. Views mine.

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Dr. Peter Neff @icy-pete.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Yes, long recruiting the best and brightest. Sure will complicate the narrative if he’s invited to the WH…
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Dr. Peter Neff @icy-pete.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
My take on the @nobelprize.org for Francis Halzen and @icecubeneutrino.bsky.social: beyond being a huge accomplishment for the individual & team, a win for US basic research, the National Science Foundation, US Antarctic Program and the 70 years of Operation Deep Freeze.
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Dr. Peter Neff @icy-pete.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Or maybe all the concern is a hoax (unlike climate change) meant to manipulate the AI bubble? I feel old.
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Dr. Peter Neff @icy-pete.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Replace every use of AI artificial intelligence with global warming/ climate change and this is exactly how climate scientists have been warning the public my entire lifetime. Accelerating. Unknown dangers. Trust experts and researchers. Slow the pace. It is enraging. Also, slow the pace on AI.
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Dr. Peter Neff @icy-pete.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
NSF, now with get-out-of-peer-review-free Golden Tickets! This (announcement and letter) is real. Whether what it states will become durably real… another question. www.nsf.gov/news/nsf-lea...
nsf.gov
NSF leadership in a new golden age of science
The U.S. National Science Foundation was established in 1950 to keep American discovery at the frontier. That mission has not changed. The science and technology ecosystem around it has...
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Dr. Peter Neff @icy-pete.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
This is so dumb.
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Michael Le Page @mjflepage.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Initial analyses of satellite images and seismic data by @watershedlab.bsky.social & @kristencook.bsky.social suggest that the collapse of a high glacier caused the flash flood disaster in Nepal www.newscientist.com/article/2586...
newscientist.com
A glacier collapse is most likely cause of the Nepal disaster | New Scientist
Melting snow appears to have weakened a steep glacier at an altitude of 5 kilometres, causing it to plummet around a kilometre into the river valley below
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Dr. Peter Neff @icy-pete.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Terrifying footage from Nepal. Per @watershedlab.bsky.social seems likely the result of a glacier collapse. Mountain glaciers are increasingly unstable in our warming world. Hope that rescues are successful and recovery possible. 😔
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Dr Dan Shugar 🇨🇦 @watershedlab.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
The source of the flood in Nepal is a collapsed glacier 🧪⚒️
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Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
NSF just announced its GRFP solicitation due in October - deadline varies by field: www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo... Now for the bad news... * NSF estimates they will issue 1,500 awards, down from 2,500+ last year. * NSF removed STEM Education and Learning Research as a Major Field.
nsf.gov
NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP)
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Dr. Peter Neff @icy-pete.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Sorry, don’t mean to pretend to tell you something you already know in my off the cuff tone there!
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Dr. Peter Neff @icy-pete.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Indeed a large anomaly. Byrd Station record can put it in context. But these types of maritime air injections into West Antarctica aren’t uncommon even in late winter
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Dr. Peter Neff @icy-pete.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Periodic reminder that U.S. Antarctic research remains icebreaker-less. Brought to you by Eidson Aerial showing latest in Louisiana icebreaking. Vessels were built and operated by Edison Chouest under lease to NSF until 2024 (Gould) and 2025 (Palmer). Old, expensive ships were too much for budgets.
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Dr. Peter Neff @icy-pete.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
"Modern science outreach" 6 recs for scientists: 1) Craft research summary 2) Get public comms training 3) Engage w/ media, journalists 4) Challenge yourself w/ public speaking 5) Amplify your impact online (90% of Americans use social media daily) 6) Join podcasts www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
cell.com
Modern science outreach: A guide for scientists
This paper outlines six actionable practices to help scientists effectively reach and engage broad audiences, with a focus on leveraging modern media and emerging dissemination channels. We encourage ...
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Dr. Peter Neff @icy-pete.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Building a glacier protecting berm or curtain would cost more than the U.S. has ever spent on Antarctic exploration and science dating back to the 1950s… which is probably somewhere around $20B, less than a single costly conflict of late.
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Dr. Peter Neff @icy-pete.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
It is telling that one singular South Korean research icebreaker is going to this inhospitable region, and only every other year… but yes we will build a Panama Canal scale berm underwater.
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Dr. Peter Neff @icy-pete.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Great report by @milesobrien.com and great photo of the most capable ship for Thwaites Glacier science: RV ARAON 🇰🇷. Oh and it’s only like three researchers “suggesting” we work on glacier geoengineering. It’s the world’s largest bandage protecting one symptom of human caused global change.
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Dr. Peter Neff @icy-pete.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
OPP recently moved from the Geosciences directorate into the Office of the Director, and combined their Arctic and Antarctic sections into one. Would be welcome news to continue operational and research capacity in the Arctic and Antarctic.
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Dr. Peter Neff @icy-pete.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
New attention on NSF Office of Polar Programs in the Senate: a proposal to make OPP a permanent directorate within the National Science Foundation. From Sullivan (R-AK), Murkowski (R-AK), and Hickenlooper (D-CO). www.sullivan.senate.gov/newsroom/pre...
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Dr. Peter Neff @icy-pete.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
This should be an above the fold scandal, but in this unprecedented administration it’s just part of the noise. Thanks for your continued service, governor (of my home state).
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Dr. Peter Neff @icy-pete.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Hopefully repaired soon, but losing our only fully capable Arctic icebreaker for patrol and science support is on par with US readiness TBH. Newly purchased Storis maybe can fill some of the gap if this is a long repair… but future icebreakers remain years out.
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Dr. Peter Neff @icy-pete.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Fed agencies joining TikTok, after DOJ updates. This after forced sale to US owners. Worrisome during present admin., given partisan use of agency comms. An important opportunity for future admins. Credible voices—scientists—must join TikTok or be irrelevant. www.yahoo.com/news/politic...
yahoo.com
Several U.S. government departments now have TikTok accounts, including the FBI
Your American spy is officially on TikTok.
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Shobita Parthasarathy @shobitap.org · 23/07/2026
I suffered through Kratsios' answer to Science: the Endless Frontier. The NYT summary is good, but there's more to it. And I should say that I welcome improvements to the scientific enterprise (which is why I'm participating in @alondra.bsky.social and Jenny Reardon's Public's Science project). 🧵
nytimes.com
Trump’s Plan for Science: More Money for A.I., Less for Universities (Gift Article)
Michael Kratsios, President Trump’s science adviser, proposed overhauling how the government funds research. Democrats said Mr. Trump’s actions had weakened science.
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Dr. Peter Neff @icy-pete.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
❄️⛴️Today from Congressional Research Service: "U.S. Research Vessels and Scientific Leadership in Antarctica." Timely summary of challenges for U.S. Antarctic scientists who depend on #icebreaker research vessels, which NSF now has none of. www.congress.gov/crs-product/...
congress.gov
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Dr. Peter Neff @icy-pete.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
All so embarrassing… and I’m from a Canadian American family… we are indeed led by hosers
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Ed Maibach @maibached.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
Batten down the hatches: @zekehausfather.com reports that the strongest El Niño ever is likely to create dangerous conditions later this year and throughout 2027. *Disclosure: I have a special fondness for Zeke because he and I share a special fondness for the word "gobsmacked."
open.substack.com
The Strongest El Niño Ever
With all the July runs in, dynamical models give a ~90% chance of a record-setting event
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Tech Policy Press @techpolicypress.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
Using an open-source pipeline to read every comment on OMB's proposed grants rule that could have significant impact on science and technology research funding, Christopher Steven Marcum and Abigail Haddad find the verdict "clear and lopsided": ~94% oppose it.
buff.ly
The Public Rejects OMB's Federal Financial Assistance Rule
Tens of thousands of scientists, clinicians, and ordinary citizens warned OMB about putting political appointees in charge of which research gets funded.
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Mauri Pelto @mauri-pelto.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
I collaborated with Seattle Times Climate Lab on the Big Four Ice Caves looking at the ice and the biota of this unique location. In June 2026 it is the smallest for early summer in the last 50+ years. It may not survive the summer. #glaciology www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
seattletimes.com
Hunting for rare plants in the fragile ecosystem of Big Four's Ice Caves
The caves northeast of Seattle are succumbing to the Pacific Northwest’s hotter, drier summers and winters with dwindling snowpack.
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Dr. Peter Neff @icy-pete.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
That we don’t have regular weather balloon observations across the central US where daily extreme weather forms is INFURIATING. Without observations no model or AI can hope for good forecasting to save money and lives.
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Daniel Swain @weatherwest.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
Also note the continued absence of regular radiosonde observations across nearly the entire interior western and central U.S... which has become a pattern as of late.
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Dan Garisto @dangaristo.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
New: The National Science Foundation is preparing to claw back some $500 million in funds from some of its core science programs in physics, math, computer science, and engineering in order to fund a project from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
nature.com
NSF plans cuts to core science programmes to fund White House initiative
A proposed clawback of already distributed research funds comes as the US agency’s budget is already squeezed and it struggling to clear a backlog of grant applications.
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Dr. Peter Neff @icy-pete.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Post-Twitter still find it useful for my specific Antarctic/Arctic international science networking and analysis but that is it! So many great connections scattered into the wind with science twitter 🪦
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Dr. Peter Neff @icy-pete.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
👀
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Jennifer Ouellette @jenlucpiquant.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Here’s Why Weather Forecasts Have Seemed So Inaccurate Lately. Meteorologists simply aren't able to gather as much data as they used to, and you're suffering for it. gizmodo.com/heres-why-we...
gizmodo.com
Here's Why Weather Forecasts Have Seemed So Inaccurate Lately
Meteorologists simply aren't able to gather as much data as they used to, and you're suffering for it.
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Zack Labe @zacklabe.com · 27/06/2026
At the end of the day, this visualization shows what's driving the rising risk of these dangerous heat waves. It's the human-caused burning of fossil fuels and the resulting increase in greenhouse gases. That's it. More climate change indicators: zacklabe.com/climate-chan...
This graphic shows four line graph time series and each are monthly from January 1984 through May 2026. The first graph is a 12-month running mean of global mean surface temperature anomalies. Anomalies are computed relative to a 1991-2020 baseline using ERA5 data. The second graph is monthly carbon dioxide abundance. The CO2 graph is the Keeling Curve. Current levels are 432 ppm. The third graph is monthly global methane abundance. Current levels are 1940 ppb. The fourth graph is monthly global nitrous oxide abundance. Current levels are 340 ppb. The three greenhouse gases show seasonal cycles and long-term increasing trends using data from NOAA GML. The global mean surface temperature anomaly record also exhibits decadal variability and a long-term increasing trend. All graphs are rising and shown in four different colors, including white, yellow, orange, and pink.
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Meade Krosby @meadekrosby.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
Applications due next week - please share and apply!
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Dr. Peter Neff @icy-pete.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
I feel like we totally lost touch post-Twitter… and here you are again with amazing (terrifying, disappointing) reporting. 👋 🙌
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Dr. Peter Neff @icy-pete.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
Talk about saying the quiet part out loud…! Unfortunately your talent won’t find much room in our science system that is quietly being brutally dismantled.
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Dr. Peter Neff @icy-pete.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
NZ prime minister wants to “brutally commercialize our science system.” 👀 As with the US currently, what can you commercialize if you destroy your university based science innovation system? Feeling for my Kiwi colleagues (VUW alum here). 🇳🇿
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Benjamin Gill @sedgeochem.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
So the US National Science Foundation (NSF) is diverting a large amount of public money for basic science into areas of science that already well funded by investors and for profit companies. This will continue to undermine the pipeline of trained scientists and engineers from higher education. 🧪
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Jacquelyn Gill @jacquelyngill.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
Remember X-Labs? Without transparency, and in defiance of Congress, a new memo to NSF directs “program managers to stop seeking funding for any proposals, even those that received the highest marks from outside reviewers and program staff, “until we are able to provide more details.”
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Dr. Peter Neff @icy-pete.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
*Creation not condition, autocorrect
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M.J. Crockett @mjcrockett.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
Basic science funding slashed to free up funds for ~6 labs to get up to $300 million apiece.
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Dr. Peter Neff @icy-pete.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
A major upheaval in US science funding that runs counter to the direction of Congress and the people. Cuts across NSF to give millions to “X-Labs” which are a new condition to funnel funding to industry with limited oversight and transparency.
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Dr. Peter Neff @icy-pete.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
🫡 😆
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Dr. Peter Neff @icy-pete.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
Noted. Hi Scott! 👋
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Dr. Peter Neff @icy-pete.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
What website are you using to make these? I can’t get Copernicus to work right now for Sentinel-1 timelapses… Important to track closely as the shelf is likely to go soon and public communication about the implications (not immediate disaster, but not good) will need managing if we scientists can 🙏
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Dr. Peter Neff @icy-pete.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
I have literally the same book I inherited from a retiring faculty member… too cool to toss but definitely unused
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Dr. Peter Neff @icy-pete.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
With no jaw
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Dan Garisto @dangaristo.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
New: NSF is tightening its conflict of interest rules in what could be a headache for the understaffed agency. Starting in August, reviewers will no longer be able to participate in a panel with any proposals from their own institution. My reporting for @science.org:
science.org
NSF imposes stricter conflict-of-interest rules for grant-review panels
Researchers say changes could further burden the understaffed agency
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