iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Scott C Stark @starkfloresta.bsky.social · 14/11/2025

Leonardo Ziccardi’s excellent functional trait dissertation chapter out and highlighted in Funtional Ecology and MSU Ecology, Evolution and Behavior News! eeb.msu.edu/news/study-r...

eeb.msu.edu

Dispatches from the rainforest reveal how trees adapt as they climb

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Scott C Stark @starkfloresta.bsky.social · 18/06/2025

Highlighting my student Leonardo Ziccardi’s excellent new paper and the cool collaborations that made this in canopy leaf level quantum yield research in the Amazon possible!

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Scott C Stark @starkfloresta.bsky.social · 29/05/2025

First big paper from my lab to share on Bluesky :) “Seasonal and intracanopy shifts in the fates of absorbed photons in central Amazonian forests: implications for leaf fluorescence and photosynthesis” - Ziccardi - New Phytologist - Wiley Online Library nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Seasonal and intracanopy shifts in the fates of absorbed photons in central Amazonian forests: implications for leaf fluorescence and photosynthesis

Recent studies have shown a linear relationship between solar-induced Chl fluorescence (SIF) and gross primary productivity (GPP) at large scales. However, this relationship diverges at finer leaf s...

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Yonah Freemark @yonahfreemark.com · 10/04/2025

Not a single time in this article glorifying the need for sprawl to address the US's affordable housing crisis is there a mention of the vast transportation costs of sprawling living patterns. Nor is there mention of the fact that sprawl is directly linked to disinvestment in urban cores.

nytimes.com

America Needs More Sprawl to Fix Its Housing Crisis

The word has become an epithet for garish, reckless growth — but to fix the housing crisis, the country needs more of it.

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Scott C Stark @starkfloresta.bsky.social · 06/04/2025

How surprising is it that so many US institutions are seemingly open to an openly fascist authoritarian coup d'etat when the US has literally the highest incarceration rate on the planet? Land of the free, right.

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southpaw @nycsouthpaw.bsky.social · 03/04/2025

Big ups to the Columbia trustees and administrators who convinced these absolute cretins they had the recipe to destroy American higher education.

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Naomi Klein @naomiaklein.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

This is, in large part, pandemic revenge. As far as these oligarchs are concerned, all science does is tell them stuff they cannot do. They can't keep spewing carbon. They can't keep businesses open as usual when millions are dying. They have concluded that research is the enemy of profit.

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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

NEW: @motherjones.com reports that one of the men renditioned to El Salvador is Neri Alvarado, who was working in Dallas as a baker. An ICE agent told him they were questioning all men with tattoos. Neri has an AUTISM AWARENESS TATTOO in honor of his 15-year-old brother with autism.

A picture of Neri Alvarado, a young man, standing next to his brother, who is a young teenager. Both are smiling for the camera and wearing matching shirts. Neri has his arm around his brother.

A picture of Neri's tattoo, which is an autism ribbon in rainbow colors with his brother's name "Neryelson" written on it.

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Scott C Stark @starkfloresta.bsky.social · 27/03/2025

In the face of mostly deafening silence about political abductions happening on campuses, the fervor of opposition in Congress to the Signal leak is pretty rich. Having thought police disappearing people reported by collaborators is as bad a political situation as there is. We need to fight that.

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Scott C Stark @starkfloresta.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

That there’s a new quadrant of the ‘you’re fucked’ plane on the Trump event horizon is no comfort. However, that it’s as simple as a drunk guy who reads large text history books about Hitler’s greatest battles (allegedly) randomly texting people attack plans is a little relieving. I get that.

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Scott C Stark @starkfloresta.bsky.social · 24/03/2025

So a national security breach about bombing Yemen—a bad action btw—has the Democratic establishment livid when the arbitrary detention and pending deportation of green card students expressly for political beliefs exercised through legal 1st amendment speech—not even done after 9/11—was a ‘meh’?

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Senator Bernie Sanders @sanders.senate.gov · 23/03/2025

Unique to America, our health care system is designed not to make people well, but to make CEOs & wealthy stockholders incredibly rich. The result: We have the highest infant mortality rate of any wealthy country on earth. How cruel, how immoral is that? We need Medicare for All.

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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 21/03/2025

This flew under the radar, but Trump revoked a minimum wage hike for companies that contract with the government. An estimated 390,000 workers will now see significant pay cuts. It's not surprising that Trump's populism is fake, but it's hardly ever been more clear.

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Scott C Stark @starkfloresta.bsky.social · 19/03/2025

Perhaps share this with any normie ICE loving relatives or acquaintances to help them understand the bipartisan born bedlam that is the US immigration system in 2025 …? www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

theguardian.com

I’m the Canadian who was detained by Ice for two weeks. It felt like I had been kidnapped

I was stuck in a freezing cell without explanation despite eventually having lawyers and media attention. Yet, compared with others, I was lucky

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Scott C Stark @starkfloresta.bsky.social · 08/03/2025

Illegal and unconscionable. Places scholars working on critical research in perilous situations while disrupting the research and sends a strong message to international scholars that the US is no longer functioning and will no longer be a global leader. Self sabotaging lunacy in short

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Scott C Stark @starkfloresta.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

One of the examples of USAID funding cut’s costs with well known deadly consequences. Murder is at the top of my list of things that are bad. Elon Musk ordered this, which makes him what exactly?

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Chris Murphy @chrismurphyct.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

We are barreling toward a full blown constitutional crisis. Trump's announcement that he's ending thousands of aid contracts FUNDED BY CONGRESS is unconstitutional and illegal - and horrible for our security. 1/ A quick🧵on what's going on. apnews.com/article/trum...

apnews.com

Trump administration says it's cutting 90% of USAID foreign aid contracts

The Supreme Court on Wednesday temporarily blocked a judge’s order giving the Trump administration a midnight deadline to release billions of dollars in U.S. foreign aid.

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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 25/02/2025

I miss DEI

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Matthew Herron @matthewherron.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

"Undermining the NSF is not just a threat to universities and researchers — it is a threat to the well-being of every American." www.chronicle.com/article/the-...

chronicle.com

The Rise (and Fall?) of the National Science Foundation

In the ’50s, America declared science an “endless frontier.” We may be reaching the end of it.

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David Lowry @davidlowry.bsky.social · 24/02/2025

I cannot express how frustrated and hurt I am by mentoring/training a lab member for five years, only to have them take an important job in government that was abruptly deleted a month after they took it.

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Joseph D. Ortiz @earthsciinfo.bsky.social · 22/02/2025

This is what obeying in advance looks like. The NSF fires 10% of its total staff in a move that went beyond what was requested by the current regime. The NSF is the flagship of US basic research infrastructure. 🧪🔌💡☀️💨🔋 www.politico.com/news/2025/02...

politico.com

‘Cowardliness at the top’: Science agency staff revolt over cuts

At an emotional meeting, foundation officials announced layoffs for about 10 percent of their workforce and warned of more firings to come.

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Scott C Stark @starkfloresta.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

What is wrong with these people. This was such an obvious and easy anti-Trump home run that would have saved lives. Instead, it’s another big L.

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Lawrence Vulis @lvulis.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

From NSF EAR program director Raleigh Martin on LinkedIn #climatesky #greensky

Yesterday, my federal agency (NSF) experienced a sudden and mass firing of over 10% of our workforce. My own Division lost 20% of its staff. In the blink of an eye, we lost many brilliant scientists, dedicated civil servants, and parents/spouses/caregivers who no longer have a paycheck. The firing was completely arbitrary, with no actual plan to achieve "efficiency" but instead just picking off anyone with the fewest job protections. I grieve for my former colleagues and extend my hand to be of help however I can.

I still have a job - not based on my abilities but simply because my status makes me harder to fire. But who knows what comes next. I'm hoping this assault on science and government is just a passing storm, but even then the damage has already been devastating - careers broken, research disrupted, and resources wasted.

Science is the goose that lays golden eggs - unleashing human ingenuity and systematic thinking toward discoveries that transform our society for the better. Public science funding creates space for research that may not have immediate applications but will yield dividends down the road. Unfortunately, right now the science goose is being strangled and those golden eggs are being lost. Our society will be poorer, sicker, and weaker as a result.

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Scott C Stark @starkfloresta.bsky.social · 19/02/2025

Good article and a good example from my PhD mentors and others for getting in the public sphere locally about the economic and social impacts of gutting publicly funded research tucson.com/opinion/colu...

tucson.com

Local opinion: Cutting funding for science in Arizona hurts our economy and our future

The cuts are leading us down a path that will cede the United States' world leadership in science, medicine and health.

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David Green, PhD @ecologistgreen.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

This is incredibly frustrating and sad.

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Scott C Stark @starkfloresta.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

This will negatively affect me and all the other researchers. I am also frustrated and upset for our federal colleagues at the NSF, both those let go and those left to deal. Holding the mission & impact of the NSF in the highest esteem, this is yet another flush pushing US leadership down the drain.

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Democracy Now! @democracynow.org · 18/02/2025

BREAKING: Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier released from prison after nearly 50 years

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Scott C Stark @starkfloresta.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

Anyone know of good articles contextualizing the attack on ‘DEI’ and providing a description of DEI that makes it clear it’s not racism against white peoples or whatever it’s being labeled that could be shared in an academic setting?

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Scott C Stark @starkfloresta.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

Man, if you live in NY call the Governor’s office to demand she exercise those constitutional powers for the first time; Adams has got to go. A lot of people’s lives are on the line with his level of compromise (not to mention baseline corruption and incompetence).. He’ll be rolling out red carpets.

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Scott C Stark @starkfloresta.bsky.social · 17/02/2025

Of all the stupid corrupt sh*t somehow this one really sits on top like a big red ribbon on the whole destroy to privatize (put in the hands of Musk) package. Flying has a terrible climate footprint anyway; time to keep the travel near home, and/or fly in and out of Toronto for international travel

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Katy Montgomerie 🦗 @katymontgomerie.com · 15/02/2025

Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention gives a red flag alert for the Trump administration www.lemkininstitute.com/red-flag-ale...

lemkininstitute.com

Red Flag Alert for the Anti-Trans Agenda of the Trump Administration in the United States | Lemkin Institute

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Scott C Stark @starkfloresta.bsky.social · 15/02/2025

Why was I thinking about this classic Simpsons moment recently 🤔

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Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 12/02/2025

I have work to do but I'm distracted by watching US scientific progress & leadership being irreversibly undermined because a few unelected malcontents are penalizing researchers for following legal requirements set out by congressional orders to augment basic research with benefits to society.

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Ben Collins @bencollins.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

www.inquirer.com/columnists/a...

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Zack Furness @punkademic.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

As of 2020 there were 74,313 vacant properties in Detroit. These children froze to death homeless in a van.

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Scott C Stark @starkfloresta.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

www.regulations.gov/document/FWS... Save the majestic (and gigantic and amazingly slimy) Eastern Hellbender salamander!! Deadline tomorrow for comments. Not my greatest missive but getting the ideas across..

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The Serfs (youtube.com/theserfstv) @theserfstv.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

The great Trump famine is upon the world

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Scott C Stark @starkfloresta.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

As awkward-handsome as the day he was adopted ~15 years ago, one of my lovely sibs providing a local and morally defensible perspective on ignorance as bliss

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Scott C Stark @starkfloresta.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

One piece of good news in 2025, there is a bran-new BaianaSystem album and it slaps! open.spotify.com/album/4pzQgS...

open.spotify.com

O Mundo Dá Voltas

BaianaSystem · Album · 2025 · 13 songs

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Scott C Stark @starkfloresta.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

So which dystopian sci-fi future do you think we’re heading for? (1) Mad Max (absolute ecocide with motorcycles) (2) The Terminator (AI nuclear war + robot killers wading through skulls) or (3) Butlerian Jihad from Dune backstory (great destruction of thinking machines)? I dunno but rooting for 3.?

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Joey Politano🏳️‍🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 05/02/2025

USAID’s website has been deleted, all that is left is a note saying all personnel are now on administrative leave and personnel outside the US are to be brought home. Completely illegal, no act of congress or even executive order was signed to dismantle the agency

“On Friday, February 7, 2025, at 11:59 pm (EST) all USAID direct hire personnel will be placed on administrative leave globally, with the exception of designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership and specially designated programs. Essential personnel expected to continue working will be informed by Agency leadership by Thursday, February 6, at 3:00pm (EST).

For USAID personnel currently posted outside the United States, the Agency, in coordination with missions and the Department of State, is currently preparing a plan, in accordance with all applicable requirements and laws, under which the Agency would arrange and pay for return travel to the United States within 30 days and provide for the termination of PSC and ISC contracts that are not determined to be essential. The Agency will consider case-by-case exceptions and return travel extensions based on personal or family hardship, mobility or safety concerns, or other reasons. For example, the Agency will consider exceptions based on the timing of dependents’ school term, personal or familial medical needs, pregnancy, and other reasons. Further guidance on how to request an exception will be forthcoming.

Thank you for your service”

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Scott C Stark @starkfloresta.bsky.social · 05/02/2025

No sh*t. I’d say ‘stress, fear frustration, dread, the deepest of sorrow…’ Not hyperbole. When you study the natural world, going in the wrong direction looks like utter calamity since we’re so close to cascading run away warming feedbacks and biodiversity loss. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

theguardian.com

US scientists feeling ‘stress and fear’ as sweeping Trump orders hit funding

Work and payments at universities, businesses and non-profits disrupted nationwide after executive orders

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Scott C Stark @starkfloresta.bsky.social · 05/02/2025

Why is the NYTimes not doing podcasts called ‘the plutocratic coup d'état in Washington mugging America”? There is no door for legitimacy in any of this. Same paper that brought you the Iraq war I guess… ultimately not so surprising if incredibly disheartening

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Dr. Aaron Thierry @thierryaaron.bsky.social · 05/02/2025

"The American Association of University Professors, the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education &other groups argue in a lawsuit filed Mon that the orders exceed executive legal authority, violate both the 1st & 5th Amendments, &threaten academic freedom &access to HE for all"

insidehighered.com

Higher ed organizations sue against Trump’s DEI orders

The American Association of University Professors and others argue in a new lawsuit that the executive orders violate the Constitution.

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Hakeem Jefferson @hakeemjefferson.bsky.social · 31/01/2025

It is simply not enough for universities to say, “Our grants & research offices are looking into how research will be affected by the latest directive.” University leaders must actively and very publicly make the case for the kind of work many of us do. The silence on this front is deafening.

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