iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Mike Bell

Jessica McKenzie @jessimckenzi.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

My big takeaway from reporting this story is that it's not JUST about the Forest Service. The closure of these stations threatens to upend a delicate system of mutually beneficial collaboration and resource sharing, and the impacts will ripple out far beyond the Forest Service itself.

thebulletin.org

‘It’s just madness’: Trump administration to close three-quarters of Forest Service research stations

Between funding cuts, facility closures, and the inevitable resignations that will follow, there’s virtually no way for the Forest Service to continue to do research at its current level or quality, w...

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Mike Bell @m-kebell.bsky.social · 09/09/2025

I 2 I from A Goofy Movie. Stand Out slaps too.

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Reposted by Mike Bell

Paul Behrens @profpaulbehrens.bsky.social · 27/08/2025

New data paper out: Ammonia doesn't often make the headlines – but it’s one of the major drivers of biodiversity loss and air pollution in Europe, harming ecosystems and our health. > 90% of it in Europe comes from one source: agricultural fertiliser and manure 🧵 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A series of maps of emissions across Europe for different livestock

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Reposted by Mike Bell

David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

Air pollution from oil and gas kills over 90,000 people in the US every year and makes hundreds of thousands more sick, disproportionately affecting Black and brown communities. But Republicans want to drill baby drill and kill more people because they're racist af.

theguardian.com

Air pollution from oil and gas causes 90,000 premature US deaths each year, says new study

Study analyzed health impacts of fossil fuels from exploration to end use, and found communities of color bear brunt of harm

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Mike Bell @m-kebell.bsky.social · 09/08/2025

Thanks for recommending this recently. Listened and loved!

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Mike Bell @m-kebell.bsky.social · 22/07/2025

Excellent hire! Steve is the best!

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Dr. Asmeret Asefaw Berhe @aaberhe.com · 19/07/2025

Gutting scientific research at EPA means less protection for our air, water, and health. The consequences of this decision will be felt for generations. Deeply concerning. Unreal! www.nytimes.com/2025/07/18/c...

nytimes.com

E.P.A. Says It Will Eliminate Its Scientific Research Arm

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Mike Bell @m-kebell.bsky.social · 03/07/2025

It’s great as a single player. It takes a little while to learn how to interact as a team, but a lot of fun being thrown into matches with randoms. My experience is that lost people play that way.

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Reposted by Mike Bell

Ann Marie Carlton @amgcarlton.bsky.social · 27/06/2025

The Clean Air Act is VERY successful. Rolling back #EPA rules & regs is a mistake and will cost lives. The #ParisAgreement is not enough to solve the #climate emergency & also saves lives. Simon Rosanka & I take a stab at quantifying how many. Republicans attack their own best legacy 🤷🏻‍♀️

nature.com

The legacy of the U.S. Clean Air Act at a crossroads - npj Clean Air

Chronic and acute exposure to elevated concentrations of ambient fine particulate matter represents a significant health risk. Here, we evaluate the avoided air pollution due to the U.S. Clean Air Act...

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A.R. Moxon @juliusgoat.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

at a time when destroying the planet for profit is normal, we should all be radical

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Reposted by Mike Bell

AGU (American Geophysical Union) @agu.org · 10/05/2025

A victory for the federal scientific workforce! We could not stand by while this irreparable harm continues at NSF, NOAA and all our scientific agencies. TODAY the judge granted our request to temporarily HALT the mass firings at federal agencies under Trump’s Executive Order.

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Reposted by Mike Bell

Dana R. Fisher (aka the Apocalyptic Optimist) @fisherdanar.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

My new piece in @rollingstone.com : “Our democracy is made up of reciprocal ties between and among all of us, and AmeriCorps strengthens these ties. We will all feel the loss of AmeriCorps...and our democracy will pay the price.” www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

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Mike Bell @m-kebell.bsky.social · 18/04/2025

I’m so sorry that you had to go through this yesterday. Sending love your way.

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Mike Bell @m-kebell.bsky.social · 11/04/2025

The good news was that in this analysis we didn’t see deposition levels likely exceeding the critical loads and were able to use 15N isotopes to identify that agricultural emissions are likely the main source of pollution impacting both parks.

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Mike Bell @m-kebell.bsky.social · 11/04/2025

Within the chaos I’m excited for our new publication in Oecologia. With funding being cut to a lot of air pollution monitoring it is going to be important to take advantage of biomonitors like lichen. Here we used nitrogen content and isotopes to infer deposition patterns and sources in the PNW.

link.springer.com

Assessing nitrogen deposition and chemistry in mountainous regions of Olympic National Park and North Cascades National Park Service Complex, Pacific Northwest, USA - Oecologia

Anthropogenic nitrogen (N) deposition (Ndep) can disrupt ecosystem dynamics, yet its spatial distribution and chemical composition in mountainous regions remains poorly understood. Accurate measuremen...

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Mike Bell @m-kebell.bsky.social · 10/04/2025

I’m sad about all the expertise that the public is losing through this round of DRP. So much knowledge and service disappearing without the replacement. But I’m excited for the creative solutions that will be necessary to move forward. Will it be taxing. Yes. Will we fight for you. Also yes.

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Phoebe Cohen @phoebefossil.bsky.social · 19/03/2025

My colleague Rohit Bhattacharya and I wrote an op-ed in our campus paper to call attention to the impact on federal cuts to science and academia and encourage our students to keep paying attention: williamsrecord.com/469399/opini...

williamsrecord.com

Cuts to federal science funding are a problem for all of us

In an op-ed, professors Rohit Bhattacharya and Phoebe Cohen explain how cuts to federal research funding will have devastating consequences beyond academic circles.

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Mike Bell @m-kebell.bsky.social · 18/03/2025

I’ve got one plant in my garden with buds and all the bulbs are starting to send leaves up. I think we had about an average winter in Colorado so it should be a nice spring once it gets going. 😊

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Mike Bell @m-kebell.bsky.social · 18/03/2025

What a lovely read. I felt lke it was ode to paying attention, an ode to passion, a love letter to spring, a fascinating look at the interconnectedness of life, and a warning of it all falling apart. It also got me more excited for spring in the front range. Bring on the Pasque flowers.

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Mike Bell @m-kebell.bsky.social · 18/03/2025

The goal will be to use these results to both highlight the areas in alignment to prioritize management where ecosystems are harmed, but also use the areas of misalignment to prioritize future model research and updates.

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Mike Bell @m-kebell.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

Thanks for the reminder. Done.

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Mike Bell @m-kebell.bsky.social · 10/03/2025

I love seeing more attention being paid to air pollutants and their impacts. As long as funding doesn’t get cut with the new budget, the National Atmospheric Deposition Program should be launching a national monitoring network for PFAS at the end of the year.

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Mike Bell @m-kebell.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

I’m excited to be using these results with @inaturalist.bsky.social data and some internal survey data to highlight additional species at risk in our upcoming conditions and trends update.

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Mike Bell @m-kebell.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

Our new published paper developed convex hulls for 198 herbaceous species critical loads to expand their application to parks and forests. This uses the soil pH, temp, precip, and deposition data to highlight additional areas where our CL models can be applied.

esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Developing spatially explicit critical loads for herbaceous species across the United States using convex hulls

Atmospheric deposition of nitrogen and sulfur, after land use change, is one of the most impactful stressors to terrestrial biodiversity. Deposition effects on ecosystems are pervasive, impacting spe...

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Theresa Crimmins @theresacrimmins.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

Things are so chaotic and stomach-churning in our world right now. I find a lot of solace out in nature. I want to share a tiny slice of that with you. My book, #Phenology is available today! You can purchase it for 30% off *today only* with code MITP30 through penguinrandomhouse.com

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Mike Bell @m-kebell.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

Check out this great @westword.com article on my friend Lucy’s art show opening tonight that engaged youth in asking questions of what a world beyond fossil fuels looks like and highlights the air quality issues the Denver currently faces.

westword.com

New PlatteForum Exhibit Asks What Suncor Could Be Instead of an Oil Refinery

"There's lots to despair about, but I would love to spend some time imagining what a different future could look like.”

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Mike Bell @m-kebell.bsky.social · 24/02/2025

This is one of my favorite flowers 😍. I miss the SoCal deserts.

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Mike Bell @m-kebell.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

It's great seeing love for the NADP! And it's important to know that their funding is at risk with potential cuts to government programs so this won't be possible with "new" pollutants like PFAS, ammonia, and mercury...

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Reposted by Mike Bell

Dr. Lucky Tran @luckytran.com · 23/02/2025

Statement by Yosemite NPS workers: “These losses, while deeply personal and impactful, may also be invisible to visitors and members of the public — we are shining a spotlight on them by putting a distress flag on El Capitan in view of Firefall. Think of it as your public lands on strike.”

“The purpose of this exercise of free speech is to disrupt without violence and draw attention to the fact that public lands in the United States are under attack,” it reads. “The Department of the Interior issued a series of secretarial orders that position drilling and mining interests as the favored uses of America’s public lands and threaten to scrap existing land protections and conservation measures. Firing 1,000s of staff regardless of position or performance across the nation is the first step in destabilizing the protections in place for these great places.”
“These losses, while deeply personal and impactful, may also be invisible to visitors and members of the public — we are shining a spotlight on them by putting a distress flag on El Capitan in view of Firefall. Think of it as your public lands on strike.”

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Mike Bell @m-kebell.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

"The future where we’re headed is not enough for me, or you, or anyone we know, or even anyone we don’t. It will serve the few and the powerful; the rest of us, and the natural world that surrounds it, will be little more than fuel, subjugated by our own fear and enduring precarity. "

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Mike Bell @m-kebell.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

Lovely article by @annehelen.bsky.social helping elucidate what is lost through the current purge of funding for services across the US. The attack on science, art, and service has been heartbreaking and I have been grieving the loss of the unseen connective tissue of society.

open.substack.com

This is How We Fall Out of Love with the World

The Twilight of the American Passion Job

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Reposted by Mike Bell

McKenzie Prillaman @meprillaman.bsky.social · 21/02/2025

Six fired federal employees told me and @alexviveros.bsky.social about their science-related jobs — and what the public could lose without them. We talked to people from NIH, FDA, FAA, NPS, the Forest Service, and Fish & Wildlife for @sciencenews.bsky.social. www.sciencenews.org/article/fire...

sciencenews.org

Fired federal workers share the crucial jobs no longer being done

Thousands of probationary federal employees received termination notices. Many were doing crucial work at science-related agencies.

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Mike Bell @m-kebell.bsky.social · 19/02/2025

It's kind of frustrating to start every conversation about a future project with "if our division exists later this year..." or "if there is any funding for science...".

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Mike Bell @m-kebell.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

To recover I spent the weekend volunteering at Running Up For Air - Staunton Rocks supporting runners who were on course for 24, 12, or 6 hours by making pierogi, refilling water, and providing hype. I was inspired by so many choosing to do hard things and smiling through it.

Candy hearts with “Suffer Better” and “RUFA” stamped on them.

A table full of pastries and candies for ultra runners.

Runners with headlamps on lined up ready to race as the RD gives once last encouraging speech.

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Mike Bell @m-kebell.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

Still absolutely gutted to start the week after losing multiple coworkers and collaborators to last Fridays purge, but keeping the work moving towards protecting our air quality is giving me life.

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Mike Bell @m-kebell.bsky.social · 20/01/2025

We’re reading this for book club now 😍

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Mike Bell @m-kebell.bsky.social · 07/01/2025

I love seeing more work looking at the how climate is altering the recovery path that we were on from reducing air pollution deposition; especially at the watershed level.

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Mike Bell @m-kebell.bsky.social · 21/12/2024

Streets should always be for people, not just on three Saturdays in December for 3 hours at a time. But when streets are for people, I am in the street.

People walking down the middle of the street n Golden, CO with a gingerbread man and snowman mixed into the crowd.

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Mike Bell @m-kebell.bsky.social · 21/12/2024

Happy Winter Solstice! I hope you all embrace the natural cycles of rest and recovery. For those in the southern hemisphere, live for us!

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Mike Bell @m-kebell.bsky.social · 20/12/2024

Cool research coming out of my alma mater. I always appreciated how many undergrads participated in research at @ucriverside.bsky.social!

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Mike Bell @m-kebell.bsky.social · 19/12/2024

In studying critical loads of ecosystems, I think it is going to be important for us to consider developing CLs for different levels of disturbance. Maybe we'll need "healthy ecosystem critical loads", "post-fire critical loads", and "+2° warming critical loads"...

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Mike Bell @m-kebell.bsky.social · 19/12/2024

Here they evaluate annual plant communities shift after a large wildfire along a nitrogen deposition gradient. They found that N addition reduced native forb cover in the second year post-fire while increasing the abundance of nonnative forbs. N also enhanced loss of species richness.

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Mike Bell @m-kebell.bsky.social · 19/12/2024

Science Advent 17 | This came from another friend from my grad school who I am super excited is still in the nitrogen game. Looking at overlapping impacts of disturbances is going to be crucial for understanding our near future. Especially recovery after large fires.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Nitrogen deposition suppresses ephemeral post‐fire plant diversity

In a field study in recently burned shrublands of southern California, we found that nitrogen addition suppresses ephemeral post-fire wildflower events by favoring invasive plant species over natives...

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