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Benjamin Gill

@sedgeochem.bsky.social
989 followers 545 following 278 posts

Biogeochemist. Dad. Earth Historian. Gardener. Professor in the Department of Geosciences at Virginia Tech. He/him.

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Benjamin Gill @sedgeochem.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Rare earth fever is a helluva drug.
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Benjamin Gill @sedgeochem.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Seems like some of the budget issues is because of the loss of international student enrollment... "The university has relied for decades on revenue from higher education programs in China, but restrictions by the state could jeopardize as much as $6 million in funding."
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Stable Isotope Ecology (CER, Kyoto Univ.) @stableisotopeecol.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Re‐Evaluating the Thermogenic Decarbonation During Large Igneous Provinces Emplacement Using Temperature‐Dependent Thermal Properties Wang, Yang, Deng et al. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi… #stableisotopes
agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Re‐Evaluating the Thermogenic Decarbonation During Large Igneous Provinces Emplacement Using Temperature‐Dependent Thermal Properties
Abstract Large Igneous Provinces emplacement drives mass extinctions through rapid carbon release, but the relative contributions of magmatic degassing versus thermogenic decarbonation remain debated. Here, we incorporate temperature‐dependent thermal parameters into models of contact metamorphism a
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Mara Freilich @maratimes.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
We're hiring a tenure-track faculty member in geochemistry & climate at Brown! apply.interfolio.com/193121
apply.interfolio.com
Apply - Interfolio {{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio
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Erin Hotchkiss @fluvialbenthos.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
We (Biological Sciences at Virginia Tech) are #hiring TWO tenure-track Molecular Microbiology professors! Review of applications starts 1 Nov. I'm happy to answer questions about the department, VT, life in Blacksburg, etc.! More info / to apply: jobs.apply.vt.edu/jobs/assista... 🧪👩‍🔬🦠 #academicjobs
jobs.apply.vt.edu
Assistant/Associate Professor - Blacksburg, Virginia, United States
Job Description The Department of Biological Sciences in the College of Science at Virginia Tech seeks applicants for two (2) tenure-track research and teaching positions at the Assistant/Associate ...
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Brandon Bishop @brandontbishop.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
"Keivan Stassun, a member of the board that oversaw NSF before Trump ousted all its members in April, told Inside Higher Ed that 'fundamentally, what’s going on is the agency has been decapitated.'"
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Matthew R Francis @bowlerhatscience.org · 17/09/2026
having to read scientific articles in your field is not a problem that needs solving, and I don't understand why some people seem to think that it is
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Cody Mason @cosynomad.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Hello Geoscience folks ⚒️ We are advertising again for a new colleague at the TT level in structural geology. Start date of August 2027. www.geosociety.org/jobs (FYI, the last search resulted few applicants, so please encourage colleagues and students to apply this round)
geosociety.org
Geoscience Job Board
Explore open positions on GSA's geoscience job board, or post your organization's jobs.
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Gareth Funning @gfun.earth · 15/09/2026
NSF GEO webinar summary: we have reduced programs from 15 down to 3, we have no deadlines, we have no guidelines on project size, duration or budget, we have no money
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Jonathan Lambert @jonlambert.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
"For many U.S. scientists funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the agency they know and loved died on 10 September."
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Benjamin Gill @sedgeochem.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
How the path down to the beach? Last time I went there, a rope was needed to lower yourself down because the path was washed out.
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Stand Up for Science! @standupforscience.net · 14/09/2026
There's A LOT of ways the Trump admin is currently attacking & decimating American science. Here's a breakdown of what they are doing, and what you can do about it. 🧵
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Benjamin Gill @sedgeochem.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
I also worry about my proposals being used as training data for these LLMs as well.
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Costa Samaras @costasamaras.com · 13/09/2026
This will be bad for: - the students - the research progress - the universities - the towns the universities are in - the companies hiring students - the states the universities are in - the national economy - national security - the country - the world
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Kai Ryssdal @kairyssdal.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
So very stupid
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Benjamin Gill @sedgeochem.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
True, but I wanted to call out those specifically.
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Benjamin Gill @sedgeochem.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Another thing you can add to the pile of reasons not to watch it is the fact that geologists are the butt of many of the jokes.
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Dave Rodland @daverodland.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Hmm, okay, I guess I'm supposed to have opinions or something? #MinCup26 #calcite In the negligent absence of a good photomicrograph of an echinoid spine under crossed polars, I guess I've gotts go mollusk.
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Alex Spahn 🌋🌪️☄️ @spahn711.bsky.social · 04/09/2025
#TeamCalcite always and forever. Here's a small taste of calcite's beauty with a look at my personal calcite collection.
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Benjamin Gill @sedgeochem.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
It's hard watching an organization that did a lot of good, inspired and supported generations of scientists, and made the United States a global destination for science be dismantled and twisted. Was it perfect, no, but NSF and we don't deserve whatever this is.
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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Benjamin Gill @sedgeochem.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Got to go with #calcite. Its utility for understanding past environments where it forms has kept me enthralled since I first started working in a lab. #MinCup26
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Benjamin Gill @sedgeochem.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Its pretty clear that this framework is just using the facade of funding science to funnel public money toward private entities owned by benefactors of politicians. 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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Alexandra Witze @alexwitze.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
The National Science Foundation has not had a director since April 2025, but is undertaking very significant structural changes in how it funds US science. No permanent leadership appears anywhere in sight.
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Melissa Berke @melissaberke.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Let your elected officials hear from you. Push back. It’s the option right now.
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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 10/09/2026
I started translating the announcement into plain English, but got too depressed to continue before I even reached the most pernicious parts in the "full letter" linked.
Dear Colleagues,
The U.S. National Science Foundation was established in 1950 to keep American discovery at the frontier. That mission has not changed. But the political landscape has. So it all ends. Now.
We've heard this message clearly from researchers across disciplines and settings. Science today is no longer a straight line from laboratory to application. We aim to cause maximal harm to universities by diverting funds elsewhere. Rather than investing public funding to generate massive positive externalities, we prefer allowing billionaires to set the scientific rese agenda . Someone—you’ll never guess who—convinced us to pour what money we do spend into AI.
To meet this moment, NSF is embracing a portfolio approach, where much more of our funding can be diverted to industry. We are expanding who carries out NSF-supported work and how, to enable ambitious, multidisciplinary inquiry at the scientific frontier, where frontier is defined as what we want to fund. We will find and support exceptional students and early-career researchers, at the stage when research creativity is high, so long as they US citizens of the right kind. Our new Office of Metascience will implement unproven methods to make a show of assessing the effectiveness of new initiatives, and more importantly will leverage that Gold Standard Science bullshit to eliminate programs in geosciences, basic biology, all aspects of social science, and anything else that makes the Christian right uncomfortable.  
We’e already pretty much gutted the entire agency. Funding is at a near stand-still, and the agency has become unresponsive to researchers to a degree that was unimaginable only two years ago. We know none of this succeeds without you, NSF's staff, reviewers, awardees, students, and partners across academia and industry. NSF's role is to create conditions for exceptional science to happen more often and more frequently. We are redoubling our commitment to do so through these efforts.
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Leighton Pritchard @widdowquinn.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
I've been grateful to receive NSF funding in the past. I don't think this announcement has anything to do with science. "Our new Office of Metascience will rigorously assess the effectiveness of new initiatives" is a red flag. 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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Alex Wild @alexwild.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Ultimately, this letter from NSF is an announcement that universities will be funded a lot less and politically-connected industry will be funded a lot more. Fancy words around old-fashioned corruption.
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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Benjamin Gill @sedgeochem.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
This is closing the pipeline of trained scientists in the United States and this is only one of the long-term consequences of these short sighted actions.
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Benjamin Gill @sedgeochem.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
I know there is a lot going on (that's likely the point) and just to echo what is already been passed around here, but in 2026, National Science Foundation research awards will be at a 40 year low. grantwitness.org/nsf/analyses...
grantwitness.org
Agency Pulse: Grantmaking at NSF
An independent, up-to-date, grant-level record of federal science funding disruptions in the United States.
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Dan Garisto @dangaristo.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Grantmaking has leveled off, so it looks like NSF will make around 6,200 new grants—down from an average of ~11,000. That's a historic low, not seen since the 1980s, when NSF was a far smaller organization. Left was our projection three weeks ago, right is the current data.
Previous plot of NSF new grants projected FY26 would be ~6100Current data for total new grants at NSF
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Benjamin Gill @sedgeochem.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
I like that Missouri (MO), does not contain Missouri.
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Benjamin Gill @sedgeochem.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
You also need to consider where the energy is coming from to to quarry, transport, then crush/grind all that rock when sorting out the actually carbon mass balance.
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Liz Hearn @liz-hearn.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
If you care about Earth science in the US, please sign up for the NSF GEO virtual office hour Sept 15 with GEO directorate head Joydip Kundu! NSF leadership needs to hear directly that people care and are concerned about GEO. Maxxing out their Zoom tier sends a message. www.nsf.gov/events/nsf-g...
nsf.gov
NSF GEO Virtual Office Hour: Updates from the NSF Directorate for Geosciences
Join directorate leadership for updates and information.
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Jacquelyn Gill @jacquelyngill.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Please let your reps know how you feel about Russ Vogt's leadership, which includes an ongoing pillaging of Congressionally appropriate funds to support public science. And this is as much an attack on higher education as it is public science funding.
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Max Kozlov @maxkozlov.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
🚨 The NIH is moving to transfer hundreds of millions of dollars in infectious-disease research projects to the DOD under a secret 10-year pact. Here’s what’s happening inside “Operation Prevailing Edge” 🧵👇 www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Revealed: inside the US military's plan to tap huge sums from the NIH
An agreement paves the way for hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of projects to be transferred from the NIH’s institute for infectious diseases to the Department of Defense.
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Benjamin Gill @sedgeochem.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Meme of actor David Mitchell in an SS officer's uniform asking "Are we the baddies".
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Mineral Cup & Ore Cup @mineralcup.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
#MinCup26 Round 1 Match 5 It's a fiery match of vibrant red #Cuprite and just as saturated orange #Orpiment battle for your votes! VOTE: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re... RESULTS: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re...
Split photo of deep red, chunky cuprite crystals, clear and vibrant and shiny like pomegranate seeds and orpiment forming many round puffs of intensely orange spikes radiating out like sea urchin spines.
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Andrej Spiridonov @andrejpaleo.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Wonderful world of cephalopod evolution in deep time... " Here we provide an overview of some exciting fields in cephalopod research, where (in our biased opinion) the most impressive advances have been made." 🧪⚒️ #Geology #Paleobio #EvoBio www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Morphological changes during the evolution from bactritids (top) to the first and slightly derived Devonian ammonoids and changes in ecology.
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Ben Miller @extinctmonsters.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Was slumming it on fb and ig to see reactions to the Academy of Natural Sciences closing. It’s heartening that people are pissed. But it’s astonishing/enlightening how little understanding there is of what *any* museum is, who runs them, and how they’re funded. 🧵with dinosaur pics for attention
Museum display corral with cast skeleton of Tenontosaurus being attached by Deinonychus. Three baby Tenontosaurus following.
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Elizabeth V @geolizzy.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
New article on the Hermosa zinc mine with a seriously problematic quote: ““USDA and the Forest Service are committed to permitting projects on businesses’ timelines, not government’s,” USDA Deputy Secretary Stephen Alexander Vaden said.” www.mining.com/us-forest-se...
mining.com
US Forest Service signs off on South32 Hermosa’s mine plan in Arizona
Hermosa hosts one of the world’s largest undeveloped zinc deposits, a battery-grade manganese deposit and the emerging Peak copper discovery.
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Benjamin Gill @sedgeochem.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
As director of our graduate program, I got tasked with developing department guidelines for the use of AI in writing dissertation and theses. I polled the faculty about acceptable AI use and I expected it was going to be a snake pit of opinions... but man was it ever A SNAKE PIT OF OPINIONS.
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Dr. Wendy Bohon @drwendyrocks.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Have you seen the @sfchronicle.com article “New calculations raise the odds of a major Bay Area earthquake”? Here’s my hot take. 🔥 Article 👉 www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/arti...
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Benjamin Gill @sedgeochem.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Yeah I deleted google maps off of my phone after this recent bullshit.
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Benjamin Gill @sedgeochem.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
I've campaigned to have #Skutterudite in the cup for several years. Now is the time. Lets go! ⚒️ 🧪
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Mineral Cup & Ore Cup @mineralcup.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
#MinCup26 Round 1 Match 2: Flowery pink #Erythrite is against shiny silver #Skutterudite in this match of cobalt minerals. Will you pick the weathering product or the mineral it comes from? VOTE: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re... RESULTS www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re...
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Benjamin Gill @sedgeochem.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
For the first match of #MinCup26, I give to you this lovely, old school display that show how staining carbonate minerals with different chemicals can be used to ID them. #Smithsonite makes an appearance here, but #Azurite is missing because its easy to ID... no stain required
Hanging display with carbonate minerals glued to it. The display shows how different chemicals will stain carbonate minerals different colors, allowing you to identify them.
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Colette Delawalla, PhD @cdelawalla.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
BREAKING: OMB PROPOSED RULE IS PAUSED UNTIL DEC 11th. This is a direct result of OUR ACTIVISM! It's a critical step in the right direction AND the fight continues. NOW, it's time to revoke the rule. Email here: fight2win.standupforscience.net/campaign/rev... www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
theguardian.com
House passes funding bill to avoid shutdown before midterms
Continuing resolution to approve government spending until 11 December passes 370-48 and will now go to Trump
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Dan Garisto @dangaristo.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
The House has now passed (370–48) the Senate's version of the continuing resolution, so the government will remain funded until Dec. 11 and the OMB rule will remain on ice until then as well.
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Benjamin Gill @sedgeochem.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
I don't condone carbonate-on-carbonate violence. ⚒️ 🧪#MinCup26
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