iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Steve Voelker

Nick Smith @nickgregsmith.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I am hiring a full-time lab technician for my new lab at UNL. The full position description can be found at: employment.unl.edu/postings/102... The position is for 1 year, with renewal possible for up to 2 additional years. Pay is $23.50/hour. Please share!

employment.unl.edu

Research Technician-Plant Ecophysiology (Temporary)

The Lab of Dr. Nick Smith in the School of Biological Sciences at University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) is seeking a Temporary Research Technician. The lab examines the responses of plants and ecosyste...

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Steve Voelker @thetreecorener.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Here are some freshwater jellyfish we captured at the UP lake were we have a cabin. We put them in a big glass pitcher to have a closer look. The finger poking them is my 9yo daughter. Here is more about them: www.sciencefriday.com/segments/fre...

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Oregon 🕎🎲 @oregonthedm.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Most riveting thing I've seen all week

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Tim Osborn @timosbornclim.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

My 3-panel SOI graph inadvertently highlights multidecadal variations in ENSO activity. Relatively active in the top/bottom panels, more quiescent in the middle panel.

1866-present timeseries of Climatic Research Unit SOI with some major El Niño events marked.

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Steph likes native plants @dendromecon27.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

I am listening to The Daily on the Endangered Species Act. And it's good. But I need NYT to understand that the ESA isn't JUST FOR ANIMALS. And the ESA does not only protect plants when they form critical habitat for animals. It protects actual endangered plants. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/21/p...

nytimes.com

The Trump Administration Defangs the Endangered Species Act

A new interpretation of the law would mean that only the intentional killing of animals, not collateral harm, would be illegal.

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Steve Voelker @thetreecorener.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Ran an errand tonight and the local Classic Rock station DJ gave a stern warning to listeners not to use AI (ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, etc) for anything they would not feel comfortable sharing with employees where they work. Then he played Journey. Feels like an inflection point.

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Reposted by Steve Voelker

Joe Mason @moreorloess.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Part of a map, probably from 1846, showing the area covered by the Public Land Survey at that time in Wisconsin (two years before statehood). Someone sketched in what look like potential road or railroad routes, in red pencil. From the Library of Congress.

An old tan colored map showing the public land survey grid at the time it was made, with large areas in central and northern Wisconsin not surveyed yet. There are lines drawn on the map in red pencil.

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Steve Voelker @thetreecorener.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Went to the Lake Superior [Keweenaw] shoreline during the second day of a gale. There were a dozen or so surfers combined at two stops, which is about a dozen more than usual.

A mixed sandy/cobble beach with big frothy whitecaps coming in. The water is stirred up so the shallow water is brown mixed with aquamarine. The deeper water on the horizon is dark blue. There are two surfers in the lake in this picture but may be too small to see.

Typical cobble beach stones with many red/orange and blue/gray-hued stones and some that have patchy white or green mineral inclusions.

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Reposted by Steve Voelker

Antoine Cabon @acabon.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Great team effort based on the work of dozens of people through the years!

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Steve Voelker @thetreecorener.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Say you own 40 acres of conifer peatland in NE Wisconsin, what are you gonna do with it? I am betting it is not whatever this is. FYI I was actually doing research trying to re-locate white pine stands measured ~100 yrs ago before this distracted me for the past 15 mins.

Satellite imagery of a peatland conifer forest in 2008, bordered by some patches of hardwood forest. The trees are small little dots as seen from above.

Satellite imagery that looks like a grayscale image of the same peatland conifer forest in 2010 but with an X-shape with rounded edges clearcut into the forest, and with a circle of forest remaining at the center. The not-quite square boundaries are also cleared for roads as well as bisecting lines splitting the property into quadrants and a diamond shape connecting each of the bisecting lines where it intersects the property boundary.

The same image as before but shown in fall of 2013 so the hardwood patches at the boundaries are starting to turn yellow.

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Steve Voelker @thetreecorener.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Doing some archive work and came across our smallest "sunken log" sample. It dates from 1514 to 1729. It had an avg ring-width of 0.42 mm. I am certain it is an old branch given the extensive compressionwood. The wood barely floats indicating it has a density approaching 1 gm/cm3.

A small ellipse or half-moon shaped wood cross-section with a clear plastic ruler overlaid showing the longest radii is about 9 cm. The rings are so narrow as to be barely discernible at this scale. The color of the wood is very orange to red with some bands that are more grey. A few internal spots of decay are present.

Same piece of wood in a plastic tub of water. One side sinks below the water surface while the other floats a few mm above the water surface.

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Steve Voelker @thetreecorener.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

After being proposed for closure by the Forest Service reorganization, the Houghton Forest Research Station (next door to our college) is officially staying open, which is great news for colleagus here and for the forests of this region.

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Reposted by Steve Voelker

GrumpyUncleSean🔥 @grumpyunclesean.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

1/5 New paper in PNAS led by Andreas Wion! 🔥🌍🧪 For centuries, dry-conifer forests in the western U.S. burned frequently, but mostly at low severity, meaning most trees were not killed by fire. Read on for details ...

doi.org

PNAS

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...

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Steve Voelker @thetreecorener.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Just found out that a prof here at MTU graduated from my high school of ~400 students one year ahead of me. We see each other all the time (for work, kids in the same grade) but have absolutely no recollection of each other in HS because he was a jock and I was a band nerd. Life is weird.

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Steve Voelker @thetreecorener.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

To make room in the lab this summer I brought home ~2 cubic yards of sunken white pine log "extra pieces" to burn this winter. These trees started growing, on average, around 1550, so it is a shame to release this carbon. But these were only small samples of the whole logs still in the lakes.

A pile of small chunks of log cross-sections in the corner of a basement woodshop with walls covered by oriented strand board.

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Steve Voelker @thetreecorener.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

No cheating. Share the past photo of the sky in your camera roll. This is the last pic of the sky that doesn't feature my daughter or family. A couple weeks ago in Sylvania Wilderness.

Blue sky above with puffy white clouds that is also partially reflected by a bog pond surrounded by spruce and fir and grading into northern hardwoods on the upland horizons.

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Reposted by Steve Voelker

Jacquelyn Gill @jacquelyngill.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Hey folks, this hasn’t gotten much attention, but remember those proposed OMB rule changes we all commented on recently? There’s a new attempt to sneak them just for NSF. We have three days to comment. Please don’t sleep on this!

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Nick Smith @nickgregsmith.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Today is my first day as Davison & Fuller Chair in Life Sciences and Associate Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln! I will be looking for graduate students, a postdoc, and a lab manager to join me at UNL (ads coming). Please reach out if interested!

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Steve Voelker @thetreecorener.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

This past year 80 acres was donated to our college. It is in one of the more remote areas of the UP and requires a steep 1.5 mile hike to get up to it. Initial visit exceeded expectations: Many old trees with no apparent history of logging -- and a beautiful pond rimmed by bedrock and bogs.

A large old hemlock with bedrock outcroppings and some younger hemlocks and white cedars. The understory is sun-dappled but sparse.

Another view of some large old hemlocks above the pond, with a sparse understory and a well developed mid-story of younger trees.

A small but old and twisted red pine tree hangs more or less horizontally over the pond on the top of a bedrock escarpment.

Shallow side of the a pond with floating bogs in the foreground and blue skies with puffy white to grey clouds overhead. In the background is the opposite shore, with a small bedrock peninsula with stunted trees in the center. The background also has some large white pine trees around the edge of the pond.

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Reposted by Steve Voelker

Jeffrey Ross-Ibarra @jrossibarra.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

I am excited to announce a job for an Asst Prof in Plant Evolution in the dept. of Evolution and Ecology at @ucdavis.bsky.social. We're looking broadly, from macro (speciation, comparative genomics, evo-devo) to micro (pop biology, adaptive evolution, evo-eco). recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF07777

recruit.ucdavis.edu

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Reposted by Steve Voelker

Jeff Atkins @atkinsjeff.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

A very excellent postdoc opportunity at NC State working with some of the best folks around focused on synthesizing ecohydrological data to assess forest water balances: jobs.ncsu.edu/postings/233...

jobs.ncsu.edu

Postdoctoral Research Scholar

The Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources has a wide variety of strengths in forestry and natural resources management, policy and economics, environmental science and technology, wildlif...

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Steve Voelker @thetreecorener.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

This cedar 1×12 with ~300 rings caught my eye on this #Tree-ringTuesday. I'm in the middle of replacing rotten railings and adding a roof to this back deck & soon to be clubhouse for the 9yo.

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Reposted by Steve Voelker

Tim Osborn @timosbornclim.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

As part of the State of the Climate 2025 just published in BAMS (www.ametsoc.org/ams/publicat...) we updated the CRU sdPDSI global drought analysis to December 2025.

ametsoc.org

State of the Climate

An international, peer-reviewed publication released each summer, the State of the Climate is the authoritative annual summary of the global climate published as a supplement to the Bulletin of the Am...

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Reposted by Steve Voelker

Jeff Dukes @dukesjeff.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

I'm looking for a postdoctoral researcher to join my group at Carnegie Science, now based at Caltech in Pasadena. If you're interested in land-atmosphere interactions and how they're influenced on small scales by microclimates, please take a look at the ad! apply.interfolio.com/190703

Jeff Dukes, on his hands and knees under a thick canopy of chamise chaparral at Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve, smiles down at a camera on the ground below him after installing a microclimate sensor.

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Steve Voelker @thetreecorener.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

Today I walked around an old dune and swale complex near Lake Superior. These are fairly common along the south shore, but this is a REALLY long one, stretching out in arcs that span 2 miles. There were no bugs and the blueberries were ripe and in endless supply on the old dunes. A fine day.

Looking down a swale between two dunes; bog vegetation, maybe 30 m wide extends into the distance and only seems to disappear because of the dune complex arcs to the right. On the sides are open forests of red pine and jack pine on the old dunes which are <1 m higher than the bog at their peak.

A typical nice cluster of ripe wild blueberries. It was difficult to not just eat blueberries all day long.

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𝐑𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐭 𝐌𝐨𝐨𝐫 @robertmoor.com · 04/08/2026

In my book I talk about how one of Trump’s most surprising traits is that he loves trees. Specifically, he loves driving around in a limo, buying old trees from people’s yards, and them transplanting them on his golf courses. (Which is *the* most Trumpy way to love a tree, if you think about it…)

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Dr. Nora Mitchell @noraflora10.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire Biology is searching for a tenure track assistant professor in Aquatic Ecology to start August 2027! Application deadline September 28 2026. I am searching chair, please reach out with any questions!! wisconsin.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/UW_Comprehen...

wisconsin.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com

Biology: Assistant Professor in Aquatic Ecology

Current Employees: If you are currently employed at any of the Universities of Wisconsin, log in to Workday to apply through the internal application process. Position Title: Biology: Assistant Profes...

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Steve Voelker @thetreecorener.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

A former grad student, Rachel Keen (not on Bluesky), is starting a tenure track position at Kansas State and is recruiting grad students to study the ecohydrology of grassland, shrubland and woodland transition ecosystems. She would be great to work for! rleasey.wixsite.com/keenecohydro...

rleasey.wixsite.com

Keen Ecohydrology Lab | Rachel Keen

Our research in the Ecohydrology Lab focuses on interactions between ecological and hydrological systems in open ecosystems, including grasslands, savannas, and shrublands. Open ecosystems around the ...

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Reposted by Steve Voelker

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 23/07/2026

So I read the entire New Golden Age of Science report from Kratsios to Trump. If you want to skip my various stream-of-consciousness thoughts and exclamations and get right to a summary, here it's the relevant part of the thread.

whitehouse.gov

Science: A New Golden Age

President Trump seeks to lay the foundations for a new Golden Age of American Innovation. The Trump administration is working to revitalize the national science enterprise, to secure U.S. leadership i...

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Steve Voelker @thetreecorener.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Yesterday I stopped by a remote reservoir. It is 1200 acres and does not have a single dwelling on the entire shore. There were many intact white pine stumps with 3-5' diameters along the shore. Here is just one primary root that someone cut off for a bonfire years ago. It has about 300 rings.

A picture of my hand (for scale) with a sun-bleached cross-section of a 10 to 12 inch diameter root from a large, tipped-over white pine stump. The surface of the cross section shows a bit of decay and a thin layer of lichen growth indicating it was cut off maybe 20 years ago. There are also shadows on the cross-section from some adjacent willow shrubs.

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Steve Voelker @thetreecorener.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

It was a day Parking ticket at 8 AM for not moving field vehicle for line repainting while rain started at 8 AM Proposal reviews say high priority but not funded Safety officer dislikes our research group sanding wood 2.5 hours of childcare Bird stuck in garage for hours causing distress

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Steve Voelker @thetreecorener.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Went down a rabbit hole on FB marketplace. I searched "Barn Beams" and made a list of >100 unique locations in WI and another 40 in MI trying to sell beams from mostly 1800's dismantled barns. It seems this could be interesting sociological info and also represent untapped dendro resources...

Example image from FB Marketplace showing large beams from a dismantled barn in Wisconsin.

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Steve Voelker @thetreecorener.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

It was >95 degrees today but I had some time to check out a red pine site along a historic travel corridor I have wanted to stop at for the past year. It did not disappoint; pictured below is another culturally modified tree -- used for resin harvesting. Only the 4th we have found in the UP.

An old red pine stump that was cut off high (about 3-4 ft height) by loggers with an axe, probably during the late 1800s or early 1900s. There were at least a dozen such stumps within a small area on a terrace above a lake. Sometime beforehand indigenous harvesting of resin took place by blazing the lower portion of the stem as seen clearly here.

A close up of the blaze mark on the stump with two fire scars around the edge that occurred fairly soon after resin harvesting. Then some decades later settlers cut the tree down.

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Karolina Heyduk @kheyduk.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

We're not done friends. See thread. Comment on the NSF proposal, contact your reps!

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Steve Voelker @thetreecorener.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

That one NW of Lake Nipigon really blew up. Looks like it will be a smoky day tomorrow in the UP, which is not fun during a heatwave. It is after midnight and 85 degrees outside at 87 degrees in the upper level of our house containing the bedrooms (no AC).

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Trevor Caughlin @trevorcaughlin.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

New job--please share! Looking for a postdoc to deep learning methods for identifying plant species from drone imagery. The two year position offers a salary of $78,000 and the option to be based in Boise, Idaho, or Burns, Oregon. For more info: caughlinlab.com/join-the-lab/ #postdoc #drones #ai

caughlinlab.com

Join the lab! – Caughlin lab

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gavin jones @ecologyofgavin.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

I’m looking to recruit a postdoc to join my research group at University of Iowa to work on disturbance ecology and biodiversity! Start date flexible, lots of opportunity for skill development, collaboration, and mentorship. Will review applicants in mid-August! Link: gavinmjones.com/opportunities/

gavinmjones.com

Opportunities

BIG NEWS! The Jones Lab will be relocating to the School of Earth, Environment, and Sustainability (SEES) at the University of Iowa in Fall 2026. Our work on disturbance ecology and conservation sc…

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Amy Elizabeth @amyelizabeth.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

I need y'all to understand that I teach high school and there are teenagers already planning to leave the U.S. to because they will be studying science or medicine. They are SO serious about it - saving money, learning extra languages, and looking to see if there are familial connections abroad.

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Steve Voelker @thetreecorener.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Two ash trees below our house tonight offer a lesson in resistance. Almost all ash died in this area from emerald ash borer but these survived. One is survives only via epicormic sprouts while the other has a fully intact canopy. Hoping they can confer a bit of resistance to the next generation.

A white ash tree with a dead top but a lush new canopy from epicormic sprouts along the main stem about halfway up the tree. The area has been cleared of invasive Norway maple so these native trees have a chance to thrive.

A white ash tree with a normal looking canopy after being attacked by EAB. The area has been cleared of invasive Norway maple so these native trees have a chance to thrive.

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Steve Voelker @thetreecorener.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

Some MTU students in action collecting fire history data in the UP from our most recent data collection trip.

A person in safety gear facing away from the camera using a chainsaw to cut a weathered cat-face red pine stump within a dense forest of red pine, paper birch, and maple.

A second picture of a person in safety gear facing away from the camera using a chainsaw to cut a weathered cat-face red pine stump within a dense forest of red pine, paper birch, and maple. Now there is a cloud of sawdust as he cuts through the stump.

In the foreground is a pink lady slipper orchid. In the background is a student in safety gear holding a chainsaw and getting ready to cut a red pine stump that is low to the ground and cannot be seen because the ground slopes steeply downward into the background.

A student, with safety equipment uses a chainsaw to cut a large and very decayed red pine stump with a chainsaw for a second time to gain a cross-section of the wood. The decayed wood produces a lot of dust all around the student. The ground slopes steeply downward behind the student into a hemlock-dominated ravine.

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Steve Voelker @thetreecorener.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

If only gravity affects tensionwood (TW) formation, not mechanical strain, I am curious how lignin biosynthesis downregulated by up to 40% caused a 3-fold increase in TW formation (5 to 15% of cells) in poplar stems? doi.org/10.1111/j.14... Perhaps both mechanisms can induce TW formation.

doi.org

Reduced wood stiffness and strength, and altered stem form, in young antisense 4CL transgenic poplars with reduced lignin contents

• Reduced lignin content in perennial crops has been sought as a means to improve biomass processability for paper and biofuels production, but it is unclear how this could affect wood properties ...

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Steve Voelker @thetreecorener.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

The field sites for coastal pine research in the UP are up there with the best of possible research locations.

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Steve Voelker @thetreecorener.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

Stopped by our cabin for an evening and got some kayak fishing time in. Lots of takers of all species and sizes on just one spinner buzzed over the emerging large-leafed pondweed (Potamogeton amplexifolius). Here are just two largemouth bass. The bass were not spawning yet but will be soon.

A 3-inch long largemouth mass hooked on a rooster tail spinner that is orange/yellow/green with a gold blade. In the background is a blue sky with puffy white clouds that is reflected in the lake and an undeveloped forested shoreline with emergent pine canopies.

My hand holding a bass by the mouth held out in front of me. It is good sized fish, maybe 15-16 inches long. The inside of a red kayak are shown as are a spinning reel resting on my legs and sandaled feet. The lake and forested shoreline are visible in the background. The bas has an injury on the top of it's gill plate. It is unclear how the injury may have occurred.

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Steve Voelker @thetreecorener.bsky.social · 07/06/2026

Went for a walk along a really rugged part of the UP woods last week and found some cool trees and plants. I also found yet another an unmarked vertical mineshaft that I managed not to fall down. Those things are all over the rocky parts of the UP.

A very old red pine on a rocky outcrop that was fire scarred and fell over when it's stem failed from decay at the top of the fire scar but then it just kept growing with it's remaining lateral branches taking over as leaders.

A nice cluster of fringed polygala or "gaywings". Which are small statured flowering plants in open forested settings with bright pink/white flowers that look somewhat like orchids.

A closer view of the flower structure of fringed polygala that is not entirely in focus, but the best I could do with my phone.

A selfie with me in a bug net and a camo Harris Walz ballcap posing in front of a giant old white pine snag that probably fell down about 20 years ago because most of the bark has sloughed off. The tree rises upslope behind me like with a giant sun-bleached white trunk (Thar she blows!). This is a rocky, low productivity site so I expect this tree was well over 300 years old when it died to get this big.

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