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Jeff Opperman

@jjopperman.bsky.social
451 followers 322 following 269 posts

Rivers, renewable revolution, and rock and roll. Global Lead Freshwater Scientist for WWF 🐟💧☀️🎸🎶 Writer for Forbes.com Energy and Sustainability sections Author, Floodplains Posts my own.

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Jeff Opperman @jjopperman.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Today kicks of #FatBearWeek - and you can vote for your favorite bear. The chubby bears are fun but, at its heart, Fat Bear Week is a celebration of rivers. Because it’s a river that delivers the food behind the fat. @fatbearweek.bsky.social jeffopperman.substack.com/p/mud-cultur...
jeffopperman.substack.com
Mud Culture: Fat Bears Mean Healthy Rivers
Fat Bear Week is Really a Celebration of Rivers of Food
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Jeff Opperman @jjopperman.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Today kicks of Fat Bear Week - and you can vote for your favorite bear. The chubby bears are fun but, at its heart, Fat Bear Week is a celebration of rivers. Because it’s a river that delivers the food behind the fat jeffopperman.substack.com/p/mud-cultur...
jeffopperman.substack.com
Mud Culture: Fat Bears Mean Healthy Rivers
Fat Bear Week is Really a Celebration of Rivers of Food
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Jeff Opperman @jjopperman.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
New in forbes.com on risk to hydropower frm glacial retreat: both steady decline in baseflows & from sudden floods, such as recent Nepal disaster. Strategic planning of diversified power systems and careful siting will be essential for more resilient grids. www.forbes.com/sites/jeffop...
forbes.com
Shrinking, Fast And Slow: The Nepal Flood Reveals Growing Risks To Hydropower From Glacial Retreat
The recent deadly flood disaster in Nepal also damaged 13 hydropower projects, revealing the risk to hydropower from glacial retreat in high mountain.
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Jeff Opperman @jjopperman.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Check out my new Substack! Short summaries of recent articles about how animal dietary choices ripple through ecosystems: rats eating bats, invasive ants that drive lions to eat more buffalo, and the significance of mice choosing truffles for their last meal jeffopperman.substack.com/p/clear-as-m...
jeffopperman.substack.com
Clear as Mud: Hell’s Kitchen, wildlife edition
Recent scientific papers on the gastronomy of bats, rats, cats and scats
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Jeff Opperman @jjopperman.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
I’ve been writing about how my kids and their friends benefitted from independent play in nature. Here, i'm asking one of those kids to talk about this in their own words, and art... jeffopperman.substack.com/p/mud-cultur...
jeffopperman.substack.com
Mud Culture: The Art of KozmoZooey
From a muddy childhood to a senior thesis made from childhood mud
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Tom Nichols @radiofreetom.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
I don’t think he cared at all, but plenty of other people in the government did and they were allowed to do their work. Maybe not at the funding level you might’ve liked.
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Jeff Opperman @jjopperman.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
A quick review of recent scientific papers that demonstrate how we can have a renewable transition that is both fast and careful. jeffopperman.substack.com/p/clear-as-m...
jeffopperman.substack.com
Clear as Mud: stable climate, healthy nature edition
A review of recent articles about achieving a nature-positive renewable transition
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Jeff Opperman @jjopperman.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
An essay celebrating the nondescript patch of woods where my kids learned to roam - & to connect to nature. Because to forge a bond w/ nature, kids don’t need it to be epic. They just need nature to be there, as a frequent and familiar part of their lives. jeffopperman.substack.com/p/the-ballad...
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Jeff Opperman @jjopperman.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
This is the third post in a series on the surprising parallels between raising healthy kids and sustainably managing migratory fish, such as salmon. Perceptions of risk have slowed restoration of roaming for both, but the science points toward clear benefits. substack.com/home/post/p-...
substack.com
What salmon know about childhood
Juvenile roaming is in the DNA of both salmon and people
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Jeff Opperman @jjopperman.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
Short accessible summaries of some recent studies of animal friendships - within species and between species. Along with a tribute to our beloved dog Birch who we had to say goodbye to a few days ago. open.substack.com/pub/jeffoppe...
open.substack.com
Clear as Mud: animal friendship edition
A review of recent (and some older) journal articles about animal friends
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Dr Paul Dorfman @drpauldorfman.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
24/7 renewables could happen sooner than you think. Grouping wind, solar, and batteries together can already be more affordable than building a coal or gas plant in prime locations, new report finds. www.canarymedia.com/articles/cle...
canarymedia.com
24/7 renewables could happen sooner than you think
Grouping wind, solar, and batteries together can already be more affordable than building a coal or gas plant in prime locations, new report finds.
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Evan Walker @ecologicalev.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
“If current trends continue,” he said, “around 90% of the Mekong Delta would be underwater by the end of this century.” - @jjopperman.bsky.social 🌎 news.mongabay.com/2026/05/the-...
news.mongabay.com
The world’s great deltas are sinking — and with them, a global food system
“I would like for me and my children to live here forever,” said Lâm Thu Sang, a resident of Vietnam’s Cần Thơ, a city of more than 2 million people located near the mouth of the Mekong River on one o...
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Jeff Opperman @jjopperman.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
Today is World Fish Migration Day, so what can parents learn from migratory—fish management (& vice versa)? It’s all about ensuring small fry & juveniles (both fish & kid version) have access to healthy rearing habitat. W/ insights from @jonathanhaidt.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/jeffoppe...
open.substack.com
Snowplows, barges, and habitat for kids and fish
What parents can learn from migratory-fish management (and vice versa)
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Jeff Opperman @jjopperman.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
Swim on Up: An essay on the value of hope, the joy of music, and how the world’s first contest for songs about migratory fish connected me with Adam Met, climate leader and the “A” in the multiplatinum band, AJR. @adambmet.bsky.social @ajrbrother.bsky.social substack.com/@jeffopperma...
substack.com
Mud Culture: Amplifying Hope and Happy Fish
This post is part of “Mud Culture,” a section of Track Some Mud where I dive deep into the rivers and mud and general good stuff out of which culture grows and transforms.
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Jeff Opperman @jjopperman.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
The first video podcast for my new Substack, Track Some Mud, is with Adam Met, a climate leader and the "A" in the multiplatinum band AJR! @ajrbrother.bsky.social @adambmet.bsky.social substack.com/home/post/p-...
substack.com
A conversation with Adam Met about amplifying hope
A recording by Jeff opperman
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Jeff Opperman @jjopperman.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
#WaterYear Beautiful spring day along the Chagrin River
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Jeff Opperman @jjopperman.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
On my new Substack I’ll periodically offer short summaries of current science articles. This first one will provide some good stories you can tell at cocktail parties and it’s about…animal cocktail parties. jeffopperman.substack.com/p/clear-as-m...
jeffopperman.substack.com
Clear As Mud: animal happy hour edition
A review of recent journal articles about party animals
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Jeff Opperman @jjopperman.bsky.social · 10/05/2026
#WaterYear Happy Mother's Day! along the Zambezi River...
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Jeff Opperman @jjopperman.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
My second Substack post, about how both pie charts and poetry are needed to catalyze climate and conservation progress. Includes a music video (in which you can get a glimpse of when my hair looked like 1970s-era Allman Brothers Band). substack.com/home/post/p-...
substack.com
Will Nature Be the Last Book on the Shelf?
Want climate and conservation action? Use poetry as well as logic.
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Jeff Opperman @jjopperman.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
#WaterYear - a photo my son took of the Colosseum during his gap year
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Jeff Opperman @jjopperman.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
For Earth Day, #WaterYear announces the start of my new Podcast, 'Track Some Mud': a scientist and parent looks for resilience through messiness in an increasingly channelized world. jeffopperman.substack.com?r=d3yv5&utm_...
jeffopperman.substack.com
Track Some Mud | Jeff opperman | Substack
A scientist and parent looks for resilience through messiness in an increasingly channelized world. Click to read Track Some Mud, by Jeff opperman, a Substack publication. Launched 32 minutes ago.
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Jeff Opperman @jjopperman.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
If you build it, they will come (and by "it" I mean wetlands and floodplains and by "they" I mean multiple benefits for people) Field of Dreams...
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UN Environment Programme @unep.org · 27/03/2026
Dorado catfish travel thousands of kms through the Amazon Basin each year, undertaking the longest freshwater migration of any fish on Earth. But human-caused disruptions risk ending that journey. At #CMSCOP15, nations have the chance to change that: ow.ly/vbic50YzzqT
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Jeff Opperman @jjopperman.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
Migratory freshwater fish are among most imperiled wildlife on Earth; at COP15 of Convention on Migratory Species, now in Brazil, solutions are needed! Here's a theme song & music video youtu.be/471W4MqZ5M0 @cms.int @worldwildlife.org @oldenfish.bsky.social @solomonrdavid.bsky.social
youtu.be
Swimways (FINAL)
YouTube video by Jeff Opperman
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Jeff Opperman @jjopperman.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
For most sewer districts, if you asked about their influencer, they'd hear "influent sewer" and imagine water draining into their system during a rain. @neorsd.org has both of the homophones
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Jeff Opperman @jjopperman.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
A new global assessment published by @worldwildlife.org finds 325 migratory freshwater fish species that are eligible for international conservation action but not yet listed. @cms.int @wwf-water.bsky.social www.worldwildlife.org/publications...
worldwildlife.org
Global Assessment of Migratory Freshwater Fishes
This report provides the most comprehensive global assessment to date of migratory freshwater fishes.
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Jeff Opperman @jjopperman.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
Steven Kwan spends his days watching nature shows
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Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) @cms.int · 24/03/2026
Join the #CMSCOP15 launch of the Global Assessment on Migratory Freshwater Fishes, the most comprehensive overview yet of migratory freshwater fish. Vital freshwater fish migrations are collapsing and hundreds of species need urgent action. View the live stream: www.youtube.com/@BonnConvent...
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Jeff Opperman @jjopperman.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
Many of the world’s great wildlife migrations take place underwater & they are in serious trouble. New research released @ CMS COP15 reveals that migratory freshwater fish are among the most imperiled wildlife on Earth www.cms.int/news/un-vita... @cms.int @wwf-water.bsky.social @worldwildlife.org
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NE Ohio Regional Sewer District @neorsd.org · 24/03/2026
it's March 24.
left image: water in a detention basin. headline: "detention basin"

right image: same basin, but a group of 5 "Breakfast Club" characters sitting in the middle. headline: "saturday detention basin"
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David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
Epic river migrations of fish rapidly collapsing, UN report finds
theguardian.com
Epic river migrations of fish rapidly collapsing, UN report finds
Vast journeys, among world’s great wonders, found to be under threat as freshwater fish populations crash by 81%
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Jeff Opperman @jjopperman.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
Today is International Puppy Day! And yesterday was #WorldWaterDay. #WaterYear celebrates puppies enjoying clean water. This photo was taken 15 years ago; Birch just celebrated her 15th birthday in February!!
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Jeff Opperman @jjopperman.bsky.social · 21/03/2026
#WaterYear In Comfort of Crows @margaretrenkl.bsky.social describes a vernal pool: “from the nearby path it looks as though someone has buried a large mirror in the sleeping woods…” (Carolina Beach State Park in NC)
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NE Ohio Regional Sewer District @neorsd.org · 19/03/2026
college basketball tournament is trademarked but Marsh Madness is not.
marshy wetland. shallow water with felled trees across the surface left to right. bright green vegetation in the background. 

location is Medina Marsh, a preservation project.
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Jeff Opperman @jjopperman.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
#WaterYear loves this time of year, with everyone talking about Marsh Madness (thanks to @neorsd.org for the pun). One big difference is that with Marsh Madness, you really should avoid filling in pools (A marshy pool in the Great Plains of Montana)
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NE Ohio Regional Sewer District @neorsd.org · 19/03/2026
consulted with our maintenance team and picked U-Shaped to win it all this year in my Bracket Bracket™️ fingers crossed.
a printed “2026 Bracket Bracket” sheet of 32 “teams,” just brackets grouped by Shape, Material, Application, and Mounting Method.
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Jan Rosenow @janrosenow.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
When I started working on UK energy in 2007, fossil fuels provided ~78% of electricity. Coal alone: 34%. Wind & solar: less than 2%. Today: wind & solar 33%, fossil fuels 28%, coal 0%. The chart below tells the story better than words can.
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Jeff Opperman @jjopperman.bsky.social · 14/03/2026
#WaterYear Sun and ice and water
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NE Ohio Regional Sewer District @neorsd.org · 12/03/2026
good night, sewers. good night, streams. good night, operations and maintenance teams. good night, settling tanks. good night, stream banks. good night, engineers, scientists, crews, managers, inspectors, analysts too. a good night for us means serving with care. good night, sewers, everywhere.
overlooking a series of circular water filled tanks of a sewage treatment plant at night. 

lights line a long brick building on the horizon as a blue-black sky is stark behind a veil of thin puffy clouds in the distance.
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Jeff Opperman @jjopperman.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
Great blog post from Ted Sommer on a quarter century of science and dedication to turn good ideas into reality, increasing access for native fish to the super-productive habitats on floodplains. @ucdaviswater.bsky.social californiawaterblog.com/2026/02/15/a...
californiawaterblog.com
A Flood of Hope - California WaterBlog
By Ted Sommer . . . My most inspiring bike ride this past year was not on a mountain or in some exotic destination. It was sixteen flat and muddy valley miles under overcast skies. My destination was ...
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Jeff Opperman @jjopperman.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
#WaterYear Today is #WorldWildlifeDay - a good time to celebrate that wildlife also includes swimmers, e.g., Irrawaddy Dolphin, from Mekong (Laos) in 2013 (dolphins now gone from Laos). Rivers are also essential for wildlife that walks, for habitat & corridors (elephants along Zambezi) #WWD2026
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Project Drawdown @projectdrawdown.bsky.social · 01/03/2026
Big Battery Energy? Yes, America boomed in 2025. 🔋 Batteries are one of the 6 technologies outlined by Sr. Scientist Amanda Smith, PhD. that will make up the cleaner electric grid of the future. Read more in Wired: bit.ly/4tTTk8Z Read more from Amanda Smith, PhD.: bit.ly/4tOZI10
bit.ly
The US Had a Big Battery Boom Last Year
Despite Donald Trump’s unrelenting attacks on renewable energy, there’s a quiet revolution happening on US grids.
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Jeff Opperman @jjopperman.bsky.social · 28/02/2026
#WaterYear On this day in 1968, Ohio became perhaps world’s first gov't to legislate system of protected rivers: Ohio Wild and Scenic Rivers Act preceded U.S. Wild & Scenic by 10 months. Little Miami River was first Grand River was the second protected river Luca kayaks on the Grand, summer 2022.
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Jeff Opperman @jjopperman.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
‪Tell me the truth...I'm ready. New IPBES report finds that $220 billion were directed to conservation & restoration of biodiversity in 2023... yet $7.3 trillion flowed toward subsidies that directly harm nature. IPBES Business & Biodiversity Assessment www.ipbes.net/business-imp... @ipbes.net
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Jeff Opperman @jjopperman.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
New report from IPBES finds that $220 billion were directed to conservation and restoration of biodiversity in 2023... yet $7.3 trillion flowed toward subsidies that directly harm nature. We need a better world. IPBES Business & Biodiversity Assessment; www.ipbes.net/business-imp... @ipbes.net
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Alex Wild @alexwild.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
Finally, the bug is back with a round of the Guinness.
Macro photo of a brown stink bug in face view on a leaf, guarding a tightly-clustered bunch of eggs that are shaped and colored exactly like a full tray of dark beer with foam on top.
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Jeff Opperman @jjopperman.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
#WaterYear Reflecting on warmer months ahead
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Jeff Opperman @jjopperman.bsky.social · 20/02/2026
#WaterYear A few days ago was National Random Acts of Kindness Day...
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Jeff Opperman @jjopperman.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
#WaterYear There are some gulls on the Cuyahoga River
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