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Laurel Anderson

@laurelscipoet.bsky.social
383 followers 960 following 40 posts

Plant ecologist/poet. I love teaching, learning, and writing about our incredible planet Earth. Research: plants and global change, collaborative research/education networks EREN and MEFA. Views my own. Poetry pubs at laurelandersonpoetry.com.

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Reposted by Laurel Anderson
Massimo (mirror) @rainmaker1973-m.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
This incredible fountain in Yaroslavl, Russia, uses water to create the ballerinas' skirts. Original post
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🇨🇦JOY 🇨🇦 @joycomes.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Black-footed albatrosses lifespan 15-40years pairs mate for life, reunite with their mates after months apart! BREED 97% of the population nests colonially protected NW Hawaii chicks fly at 6 months After leaving their colonies around June, they spend the non-breeding months entirely at sea.
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Rhett Ayers Butler @rhettayersbutler.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
AI, remote sensing, and satellite internet are potentially transformative for conservation, but these technologies can also contribute to a decline in ecological fieldwork and the context-specific knowledge and relationships that come with it. www.butlernature.com/2026/09/27/s...
butlernature.com
Satellites can see a disappearing forest. Someone still has to protect it.
At the Conservation X Labs event hosted at the Doris Duke Foundation’s Tree House during New York Climate Week, I was asked to provide a “provocation” ahead of a discussion about how conservation can ...
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Christopher Webb @cwebbonline.com · 26/09/2026
A MORATORIUM ON DATA CENTERS SHOULDN’T EVEN BE IN QUESTION AT THIS POINT And we definitely need more reporting on this issue: HEAT Data centers devour electricity and water, dump heat into communities, and Big Tech is building them faster than lawmakers are dealing with the consequences.
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phillip crymble @phillipcrymble.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
you hear the word loaded / and a sensory constellation / is lit The Thomas Lux poem I keep coming back to
THE VOICE YOU HEAR WHEN YOU READ SILENTLY

is not silent, it is a speaking-
out-loud voice in your head: it is spoken,
a voice is saying it
as you read. It's the writer's words,
of course, in a literary sense
his or her "voice" but the sound
of that voice is the sound of your voice. 
Not the sound your friends know
or the sound of a tape played back 
but your voice
caught in the dark cathedral
of your skull, your voice heard.
by an internal ear informed by internal abstracts 
and what you know by feeling,
having felt. It is your voice.
saying, for example, the word "barn"
that the writer wrote
but the "barn" you say
is a barn you know or knew. The voice 
in your head, speaking as you read, 
never says anything neutrally--some people 
hated the barn they knew,
some people love the barn they know 
so you hear the word loaded
and a sensory constellation 
is lit: horse-gnawed stalls, 
hayloft, black heat tape wrapping 
a water pipe, a slippery
spilled chirrr of oats from a split sack, 
the bony, filthy haunches of cows... 
And "barn" is only a noun--no verb
or subject has entered into the sentence yet! 
The voice you hear when you read to yourself 
is the clearest voice: you speak it
speaking to you.

                                                  --THOMAS LUX
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Massimo (mirror) @rainmaker1973-m.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Swans might have one of the most underrated landing techniques in the animal kingdom. Original post
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Dr. Merritt Rae Turetsky @queenofpeat.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Happy Sundew Sunday! Want to learn 5 super cool facts about miniature-yet-so-complex sundew plants? Follow along to learn some unusual botany. 🧵 1/
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Massimo (mirror) @rainmaker1973-m.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Anthony Howe is a kinetic sculptor who creates wind-driven sculptures resembling pulsing, alien creatures and vortices. This one is in downtown Montreal. Original post
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Amy Fried @asfried.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
From Wendell Berry, and may his memory be a blessing. "The Peace of Wild Things"
Poem by Wendell Berry, title "The Peace of Wild Things"

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
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🇨🇦JOY 🇨🇦 @joycomes.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Indigo Bunting 13cm Summer breeding Eastern Central N America Migrate: S Florida, Mexico, Central America, Caribbean Islands Summer diet insects Winter diet seeds and berries The male molts twice a year, changing their appearance from bright blue to brown. The female Is always light brown.
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Scott Edelman @scottedelman.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Farewell to the great Wendell Berry. Remember — though you have done nothing shameful, they will want you to be ashamed.
DO NOT BE ASHAMED
You will be walking some night in the comfortable dark of your yard and suddenly a great light will shine round about you, and behind you will be a wall you never saw before.
It will be clear to you suddenly that you were about to escape, and that you are guilty: you misread the complex instructions, you are not a member, you lost your card or never had one. And you will know that they have been there all along, their eyes on your letters and books, their hands in your pockets, their ears wired to your bed.
Though you have done nothing shameful, they will want you to be ashamed.
They will want you to kneel and weep and say you should have been like them.
And once you say you are ashamed, reading the page they hold out to you, then such light as you have made in your history will leave you.
They will no longer need to pursue you.
You will pursue them, begging forgiveness, and they will not forgive you.
There is no power against them.
It is only candor that is aloof from them, only an inward clarity, unashamed, that they cannot reach. Be ready.
When their light has picked you out and their questions are asked, say to them:
"I am not ashamed." A sure horizon will come around you. The heron will rise in his evening flight from the hilltop.
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Scientific American @sciam.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Breaking: We have lift off! NASA’s Roman Telescope is on its way to deep space, embarking on a mission that could solve some of the universe’s greatest and most enduring mysteries and discover new, alien worlds.
scientificamerican.com
NASA’s Roman Telescope lifts off, starting a mission to explore the universe’s biggest mysteries
The Nancy Grace Roman Telescope will probe dark matter and dark energy, discover exoplanets and study stars
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Laurel Anderson @laurelscipoet.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Thanks for everything, Dolly!
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Plant Science Spotlight @plant-sci.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
🌱🧬Saxifraga candelabrum is a newly confirmed carnivorous plant. Glandular hairs attract, capture, and digest prey; ¹⁵N labelling confirms nitrogen transfer. Genomic convergence with other carnivores. Carnivory may be more widespread than thought. #plantscience www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Identification of carnivory in the flowering plant Saxifraga via multidisciplinary evidence - Nature Communications
Carnivorous plants capture and digest insects for nutrients, an adaptive strategy typically found in wetlands. This study identifies carnivory in the alpine Saxifraga plant lineage, supporting Darwin's hypothesis of carnivory in this genus.
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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
“Scientists should stop trying to be neutral and instead embrace their values,”says a group of top climate scientists, including @katharinehayhoe.com. The neutrality myth is harming the reputation of science right when we need it most.” #ClimateCrisis Science isn’t neutral. It’s science.
cbc.ca
Prominent climate scientist argues it's time to ditch the 'myth of neutrality' | CBC Radio
Climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe talks to Bob McDonald about the polarization of science and why she thinks scientists should stop pretending to be neutral when it's our planet at risk.
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Massimo (mirror) @rainmaker1973-m.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
An eclipse in a tree's shade. The tiny gaps between leaves act as pinhole lenses, projecting crescent shaped images of the eclipsed sun onto the world below. Original post
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Dr. Merritt Rae Turetsky @queenofpeat.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Bog lovers! Please share your favorite peaty image or a photo of your favorite peatland. Not only are bogs a global carbon powerhouse, but they are incredibly beautiful and other-worldly. Let’s show them off.
Image of a sundewImage of a tropical pitcher plant. Image of moss sporophytesImage of an Alaskan bog.
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Runs with scissors in the dark @tevistickles.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
The magical river sprinting Capybara of awesomeness has graced your day. 💖
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Paul Marvin @paulmarvin.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
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Monica Byrne @monicabyrne13.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
I love this passage from Annie Dillard’s The Writing Life. I read it early in my career and really internalized it. Throw everything in as it comes up, and trust that your well will refill.
One of the few things I know about writing is this: Spend it all, shoot it, play it, lose it, all, right away, every time. Don't hoard what seems good for a later place in the book, or for another book; give it, give it all, give it now. The very impulse to save something good for a better place later is the signal to spend it now. Something more will arise for later, something better.
These things fill from behind, from beneath, like well water.
Similarly, the impulse to keep to yourself what you have learned is not only shameful; it is destructive. Anything you do not give freely and abundantly becomes lost to you. You open your safe and find ashes.
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Science Magazine @science.org · 08/08/2026
The U.S. Senate has approved a temporary spending bill that blocks the White House Office of Management and Budget from implementing proposed changes in the rules affecting trillions of dollars of federal spending. scim.ag/4gjAh2O
scim.ag
Senate votes to block rule giving White House more control over research
Language is part of bill to fund government until mid-December
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Guy Thomas 〓〓 @guywrites.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
I was reading one of my Mary Oliver books at breakfast and the book fell open at this page. It is just perfect for right now. May your day be peaceful, my friends. 😊 August ~ Mary Oliver #poetry #summer #life
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🇨🇦JOY 🇨🇦 @joycomes.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
Red Capped Manakin tiny 10 cm high energy bird Tropical forests of C and NW South America famous for its "moon walk" dance to to attract a female Diet mostly all fruits, on occasion eat tiny insects during the breeding seasons.
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UN Environment Programme @unep.org · 29/07/2026
Healthy corals are lifelines for many coastal communities, providing critical ecosystem services related to food, storm barriers, medicines, and livelihoods from tourism and fishing. Get the science here: www.unep.org/interactives/status-wo…
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Dr. Jeroen W.P. Wijnendaele @drdragases.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Good grief, this hits home.
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Aaron Sojourner @aaronsojourner.org · 25/07/2026
Admirable clarity @science.org
The Trump administration hates academic science funding, full stop. They hate where that money goes, and they hate who it goes to. They want to keep all that money for themselves, to hand out to favored cronies who can help them get elected and to steer yet more money and more power back into their hands.

That’s it. That’s the story
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UN Environment Programme @unep.org · 21/07/2026
Climate change is undermining not just the health of our planet, but the health of people everywhere –through toxic air pollution, food insecurity, extreme heat, drought, floods and more. UN explains how taking climate action provides immediate health benefits: www.un.org/en/climatech...
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UN Environment Programme @unep.org · 19/07/2026
A driving force in protecting the Amazon, Imazon is using cutting-edge science and AI-powered tools to track and predict deforestation, turning data into action to safeguard one of the world’s most vital ecosystems. More about this #EarthChamps: ow.ly/HCfT50ZoPql
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Perugia Press @perugiapress.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
You’ve got this! Perugia’s annual prize opens in two weeks - on August 1. Open to women poets, inclusive of gender-expansive identities, who have not published more than one full-length collection. Guidelines & info in bio & at link. We look forward to reading your work! perugiapress.org/contest/
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🇨🇦JOY 🇨🇦 @joycomes.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
Anhinga lack waterproof oils on their feathers, allowing them to submerge and swim efficiently. After diving, they must perch in the sun spread their wings and the drying process usually takes 30 minutes to an hour, depending on sun, temperature and wind.
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UN Environment Programme @unep.org · 05/07/2026
Protecting mangroves is a crucial step to lower planet-warming carbon emissions. These ecosystems store up to 1,000 tonnes of carbon per hectare in their biomass and soils. More info on the many benefits of mangroves: bit.ly/3KMibE0
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🇨🇦JOY 🇨🇦 @joycomes.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
This is the beautiful Jambu Fruit dove Native to Southeast Asia They are Frugivores (fruit) swallowing meals hole spending most of their time in dense forest canopy They are shy and difficult to find from the ground. both parents incubate the eggs, male during they day the female over the night.
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Digital Brain @yourdigitalbrain.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
This caterpillar from Ecuador's cloud forests evolved to look exactly like a fallen feather, tricking predators into ignoring it as worthless debris.
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🇨🇦JOY 🇨🇦 @joycomes.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
Potoo birds are among the strangest birds on Earth, famous for their cartoonish, Muppet-like faces and bizarre survival tactics. Native to Central and South America, they are strictly nocturnal and use masterful camouflage to masquerade as broken tree branches while completely freezing in place.
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Amy Bennett @amybenno.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
I was interviewed by @science.org for this piece on giant trees and drought resilience. An impressive study, but it doesn't overturn previous work: drought responses depend on the forest, the type of drought, and tree traits www.science.org/content/arti...
science.org
Being a taller tree doesn’t doom you to drought after all
New study challenges idea that tall trees’ hydraulics make them more vulnerable to dry conditions
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Dave 'Him Over There' Proudlove 🏴‍☠️ @daveproudlove.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
And the same for authors and books
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Runs with scissors in the dark @tevistickles.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
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Mark Hamill @markhamillofficial.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Happy Father's Day 🖤
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phillip crymble @phillipcrymble.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Father's Day Urtext
ROBERT HAYDEN

Those Winter Sundays

Sundays too my father got up early and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold, then with cracked hands that ached
from labor in the weekday weather made banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him.
I'd wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking. When the rooms were warm, he'd call, and slowly I would rise and dress, fearing the chronic angers of that house,
Speaking indifferently to him,
who had driven out the cold
and polished my good shoes as well. What did I know, what did I know
of love's austere and lonely offices?
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💙🪄 Keep Rising 🪄💙 @keeprising.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
🪹🌿🧡 nature is amazing 💚 🌿💛💛💛🤎🧡💛💛💛🍀🪹
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Mr RobertBob @mrrobertbob.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
Can I introduce you to a Leaf Sheep…a type of sea slug about the size of a grain of rice. 🙂
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🇨🇦JOY 🇨🇦 @joycomes.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
Our oceans. Magnificent video narrated by David Attenborough
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Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Good news: The Trump administration is abandoning its plan to dismantle a $368 million ocean monitoring system critical to understanding climate change and marine ecosystems, bowing to a bipartisan backlash on Capitol Hill. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/18/c...
nytimes.com
Trump Administration Backs Off Plan to End Ocean Monitoring
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James Talarico @jamestalarico.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
When we win, the first bill I’m filing is a comprehensive anti-corruption package: Overturn Citizens United Ban corporate PACs and super PACs Ban members of Congress from trading stocks Once we defeat the most corrupt politician in America, we can defeat this entire corrupt system.
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David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
These assholes back down when we push back. We should push back more often. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/18/c...
nytimes.com
Trump Administration Backs Off Plan to End Ocean Monitoring
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Massimo (mirror) @rainmaker1973-m.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
Garden eels get their name from their practice of poking their heads from their burrows with part of the body hidden. Since they tend to live in groups, the many eel heads "growing" from the sea floor resemble the plants in a garden. Original post
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poemakontsa @poemakontsa.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
Trying to pray with James Wright. One of my dearest poems. There is this cave In the air behind my body That nobody is going to touch
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ContempraInn 🌹 @contemprainn.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Yearly Murmuration of Starlings in Rome are incredibly adaptable songbirds known for their mesmerizing, synchronized aerial acrobatics, exceptional vocal mimicry, and shifting, shimmering plumage
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Wonder of Science @wonderofscience.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
A stunningly beautiful jellyfish (Crossota sp.) spotted by an ROV at a depth of 2.3 miles near the Mariana Trench. 📽️: NOAA OER
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David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
Arctic Ocean passed a tipping point and scientists say it may never recover
sciencedaily.com
Arctic Ocean passed a tipping point and scientists say it may never recover
The Arctic Ocean may have crossed a dangerous tipping point. Scientists say the rapid disappearance of sea ice is triggering a hidden chemical shift that is stripping the ocean of nitrate — a…
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