iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Wally Smith @wsmith1.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Super excited to share this new paper we have out today on the very cool & very understudied Plethodon pauleyi. This was an undergrad-led project (yes, undergrads!) that nearly doubled the no. of known localities for this species on Earth. (Link: virginianaturalhistorysociety.com/wp-content/u...) 🧵

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Wally Smith @wsmith1.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Cosigned. It's insane to see how often we'll post on FB about an event - including a photo of the event flyer that clearly shows the date/time/place - & the comments will fill up with "LOL it'd be nice if you'd tell us when this is" from people who didn't even bother to look at a simple image.

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Wally Smith @wsmith1.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

I’ve got a newfangled, “official” website now that I’ll be doing press for my upcoming book. You’ll find a one-stop shop at the link for my nonfiction texts & nearly 20 yrs (😬👴) of creative work that’s free online. This will also be home to info on my poetry collection, so stay tuned for details.

wally-smith.com

Wally Smith

Wally Smith is a conservation biologist and poet at The University of Virginia's College at Wise

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Wally Smith @wsmith1.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Honored to be among this year’s selections! Higher and Better Uses is a journey through Appalachia’s extractive landscapes, from the coalfields to the Piedmont suburbs, examining how those places shape & are shaped by their natural & human residents. Stay tuned for info on how you can pick up a copy

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American Rivers @americanrivers.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

#DYK? 🤔 When rivers are allowed to overflow into their natural floodplains, they absorb and slow floodwaters, reducing destruction downstream. 🌾 Learn more: www.americanrivers.org/threats-solu…

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Wally Smith @wsmith1.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

Our county here in SW Virginia announced yesterday plans to build a gas-fired power plant to serve data centers. It will be built feet from a primary school’s playground & less than 1mi from a nursing home, four-year college, & high-density neighborhoods. County officials are heralding it as a win.

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Wally Smith @wsmith1.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

Excited to have our hellbender restoration white paper out w/ the USDA! Our multiyear work to restore ecological & hydrologic function to a degraded reach of the Holston River provides a roadmap for building climate/flood resilience into habitat projects www.landscapepartnership.org/networks/wor...

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Dead McCoy 💀🖖 @tedmccoy.bsky.social · 29/12/2025

working at a university

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Wally Smith @wsmith1.bsky.social · 29/11/2025

Several local communities and their (now terminated) projects in #SWVA are featured in this piece.

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Joe Fore @joefore.bsky.social · 14/11/2025

Former UVA president Jim Ryan, who resigned over the summer due to pressure from the Trump Administration, just shared this 12-page letter with the Faculty Senate, detailing his experience with the Board of Visitors and DOJ. It's a surreal--and troubling--read. drive.google.com/file/d/1Is6x...

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Wally Smith @wsmith1.bsky.social · 03/11/2025

Lab member Hunter Hill and I are on Virginia NPR stations this morning to break up the depressing news cycle with some wholesome Spotted Salamander content. Big thanks to Roxy Todd for the coverage of our latest research study. www.wvtf.org/news/2025-11...

wvtf.org

Spotted salamanders are finding their way onto former strip mines in Southwest Virginia

A former strip mine may not seem to be the most likely place to find wildlife. But a new study from biologists at UVA Wise finds salamanders are breeding on some mine sites.

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Wally Smith @wsmith1.bsky.social · 15/10/2025

Beautiful fall day on the mountain above campus for some geoecology work as part of our USFWS-funded project on Plethodon pauleyi. Easy to forget how spoiled we are having field sites like this just a 15 min drive from the classroom door. One of many reasons why I love working in “far” SWVA.

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Wally Smith @wsmith1.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

The official USFS website right now is...something. Can't recall ever seeing the use of official govt resources for openly partisan objectives like I'm seeing today.

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Wally Smith @wsmith1.bsky.social · 23/09/2025

We've also translated our work into BMPs for mineland mgmt & reuse projects. These are critical as everyone - from conservative politicians to green groups - (inaccurately) sells old mines in #Appalachia as zero-cost sites for solar, data centers, nuke plants, & more. See: bit/ly/GrowingSm...

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Wally Smith @wsmith1.bsky.social · 23/09/2025

Our lab's latest paper reports some good news from the Virginia coalfields: Spotted #Salamanders love colonizing incidental wetlands formed on old coal mines, & now we know a little more about how & why (& which wetlands matter most). Full-text available here: digitalcommons.odu.edu/vjs/vol76/is...

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Appalshop @appalshop.bsky.social · 16/09/2025

📣We're hiring for our radio station WMMT! 📣 We're searching for a General Manager who will help carry forward WMMT's mission and keep the station thriving as a voice and resource for mountain people. Details and how to apply: appalshop.org/wmmtgm

A green graphic promoting that Appalshop is hiring.

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Wally Smith @wsmith1.bsky.social · 04/09/2025

Our lab appears in this piece on coalfield solar farms. In brief: VA stripped regs requiring enviro assessments for mineland solar ➡️TNC announced, w/o such assessments, plans to build solar on mines home to at-risk wildlife ➡️we've been trying to undo the damage since. www.whro.org/virginia-cen...

whro.org

In Virginia’s Coalfields, Renewable Projects Hit A New Roadblock – Trump

Renewable energy developers planned dozens of projects on property owned by The Nature Conservancy. Then President Donald Trump signed H.R. 1, upending an unprecedented effort to revitalize Appalachia...

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Paul Higgins @phiggins.bsky.social · 28/08/2025

AMS released a statement on climate change today that points out five foundational flaws with the Department of Energy's 2025 climate report: www.ametsoc.org/ams/about-am...

ametsoc.org

The Practice and Assessment of Science: Five Foundational Flaws in the Department of Energy's 2025 Climate Report

Adopted by the Executive Committee of the AMS Council on 27 August 2025

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Wally Smith @wsmith1.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

Found this momma ’mander & baby ’manders on land wrecked by past surface mining & logging above Dante, VA today. A reminder that the phrase ”Who cares? It’s just an old surface mine” minimizes natural treasures like these that deserve our respect (& more thoughtful planning for post-mining land use)

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Wally Smith @wsmith1.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

Really enjoyed this excellent feature from back in April on our lab’s hellbender habitat restoration work…& what we learned when Helene dropped a generational flood on top of it. Check it out at the link, and look for a white paper on the project later this year.

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Wally Smith @wsmith1.bsky.social · 23/07/2025

Depressing but informative piece on the “we need to clean out the streams” craze gripping #Appalachia in the wake of recent floods. Similar story to what we’ve seen with state-run ATV trail development digging out streams here in VA: regulatory agencies will turn tail & run when politics are at play

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Wally Smith @wsmith1.bsky.social · 23/07/2025

Seeing this w/ a (highly-politicized) push to develop nuclear facilities in rural coalfield towns here in #Appalachia. Feasibility studies so far have omitted any analysis or consideration of waste storage/risks, & officials punt to “don’t worry; they’ll just recycle it” when Qs come up from locals.

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Ben Rosen @benrosen.bsky.social · 09/07/2025

1977: why would the bartender in star wars even care if some robots with artificial intelligence came into his bar 2025: ohhh ok

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Lee Hedgepeth @leehedgepeth.bsky.social · 17/06/2025

"This would nuke this creek," a Yale biologist said of a proposed data center in Alabama. The data center is projected to use more water than every home in the state and 90x the electricity of homes in Bessemer, where it's to be located. Full story: insideclimatenews.org/news/1606202...

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Wally Smith @wsmith1.bsky.social · 10/06/2025

Because you probably need a timeline cleanse right now, here’s some good news: we surpassed 5 new Virginia populations of Plethodon pauleyi this week for our lab’s new USFWS-funded project. It’s beginning to look like this ESA-petitioned species is (thankfully) much more common than we’d assumed.

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Wally Smith @wsmith1.bsky.social · 01/06/2025

I’ve heard the same argument - that dredging is a quick fix to stop flooding in #Appalachia - from local govt officials in recent meetings here in SW Virginia, just across the border from eastern KY. In reality, stream dredging makes flooding worse (see: www.kymitigation.org/wp-content/u...).

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Wally Smith @wsmith1.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

Setting aside the obvious ethical & 1st Amendment issues with this, one of the ongoing federally-funded research projects in my lab has now spanned 3 different presidential administrations. Our work, which is apolitical, happens on vastly different timescales from partisan politics.

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Wally Smith @wsmith1.bsky.social · 18/05/2025

Is it a perfect system without flaws or controversy? Hardly. But to claim that no one knows how policy decisions are made at higher ed institutions is inaccurate to the point of being bizarre.

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Wally Smith @wsmith1.bsky.social · 12/05/2025

Here comes Brood XIV of Periodical Cicadas, which are emerging from the soil in huge numbers here at the house this evening after 17 yrs belowground. Ready for the squealin’ to commence.

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Wally Smith @wsmith1.bsky.social · 11/05/2025

Gorgeous spring hike in the Jefferson NF here in Wise County today. Visible in the background (L side of image) is Brumley Mtn, with Holston Mtn and the Iron Mtns near Damascus, VA & the NC line visible on the far horizon.

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Wally Smith @wsmith1.bsky.social · 09/05/2025

Excited to launch a new State Wildlife Grant on the newly-described Plethodon pauleyi. An impressive undergrad team’s habitat analysis from last fall is helping us locate new pops of this enigmatic species, w/ almost 20% of all of Virginia’s known individuals of the species recorded in the last week

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Wally Smith @wsmith1.bsky.social · 27/04/2025

A moment of zen as spring comes to the highcountry at one of our wetland field sites this afternoon.

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Dr. Becca @docbecca.bsky.social · 26/04/2025

Catching up with colleagues and I feel like "have any of your grants been terminated yet" is the new "have you had COVID yet" from 2022 and I hate it.

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Maddie Oatman @moatmanjourno.bsky.social · 22/04/2025

On Earth Day, don't miss @jackiefmogensen.bsky.social 's story about a rare salamander at threat of extinction from climate chaos, sprawl, and Trump—and the passionate biologists determined not to let us turn our backs on it www.motherjones.com/environment/...

motherjones.com

Legend has it this salamander came from hell. We’re about to send it back.

Climate disasters, human sprawl, and now Trump: This is how extinctions happen.

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Wally Smith @wsmith1.bsky.social · 21/04/2025

Really enjoyed speaking with @jackiefmogensen.bsky.social at @motherjones.com for this piece on Helene's impacts on #Appalachia. The story discusses our long-term river restoration work & how ongoing attacks on science by the Trump admin might impact regional conservation efforts.

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Wally Smith @wsmith1.bsky.social · 16/04/2025

NCCC was a vital program that has helped with both storm cleanup & economic development work in rural #Appalachia. The development of most of our local parks in SWVA, which are a key component of economic diversification efforts, relied heavily on the program.

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Wally Smith @wsmith1.bsky.social · 16/04/2025

Some of the ESA’s biggest wins have come from partnerships between conservationists & industry that allow economic activity to continue while protecting the habitat of listed wildlife. Policy anrguments aside, the Trump admin’s assertion that the ESA is an anti-industry law is flatly untrue.

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Wally Smith @wsmith1.bsky.social · 16/04/2025

Great overview of the complexities of salvage logging operations. I was in a meeting just last night where local govt officials were indignant that the USFS follows environmental rules when logging. This piece does a good job explaining what those rules do & why they’re important for #conservation.

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Wally Smith @wsmith1.bsky.social · 12/04/2025

The original plans for my annual Nat Hist of the Appalachians course fieldtrip got scuttled by 12 degree wind chills at Grayson Highlands this morning, so we stayed local for work on our project on climate resilience in D. ochrophaeus instead. Hiking thru a rime forest on the way out was a bonus.

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Janel Comeau 🍁 @verybadllama.bsky.social · 03/04/2025

I have tariffed the penguins that are on Heard Island and which you were probably assuming did not export goods forgive me they were taking advantage of us so cunning and so cold

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Wally Smith @wsmith1.bsky.social · 31/03/2025

Thought-provoking piece on issues w/ elite institutions’ “tours” of #Appalachia: substack.com/home/post/p-... Case in point: I’m at UVA’s own rural SWVA campus. Our faculty, which work closely w/ local ppl & communities, can’t tell you much about this program because it bypasses us during visits.

substack.com

The $80,000 Field Trip: How Impact Investing Creates New Frontiers for Capital in Appalachia

When students who dream of becoming financiers learn to 'do good while doing well,' local communities become laboratories for a new kind of extraction.

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Wally Smith @wsmith1.bsky.social · 23/03/2025

Sure, you think you’re hot stuff. But you’ll never be ravine-salamander-posing-for-a-glam-session levels of fabulous, no matter how hard you try.

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Wally Smith @wsmith1.bsky.social · 23/03/2025

And a few more views here, including a shot of the head of the Buffalo Valley along I-26 in Erwin, which saw catastrophic flooding during Helene. That area sticks out like a sore thumb now, even from 2000+ feet up.

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Wally Smith @wsmith1.bsky.social · 23/03/2025

Much-needed solo seven-miler on the AT today in the Unaka Mtn Wilderness. Equal parts fascinating & awful to see both the wind damage from Helene & scars of flooding along the Nolichucky in Poplar, NC from way up on the ridge.

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Wally Smith @wsmith1.bsky.social · 02/03/2025

Fieldwork in the Jefferson Natl Forest took 3x as long as normal today since it involved some borderline unsafe scrambles over trails/roads still blocked by debris from Helene. So grateful the govt is mass firing USFS staff tasked w/ storm recovery (in case it’s not obvious, this is sarcasm).

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Emma Kelly @evkelly.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

The federal funding freezes continue to hammer at the most vulnerable folks in our mountains. Appalachian Sustainable Development, a wonderful local organization who helps lead in healthy, homegrown food distro, is having to stop their weekly food box service

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Trevor Wiley @mearcsteppende.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

Proud to see @evkelly.bsky.social speaking the truth in Time today!

A screenshot of an article segment from Time Magazine reading: "In Pennington Gap, Virginia, which is located in a county where 86% of voters supported Trump in 2024, the future of a grant to demolish an asbestos-filled grocery store, issued through the EPA’s Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem-Solving Cooperative Agreement Program, is now in question. The nonprofit environmental group Appalachian Voices, which received the grant, can’t get in touch with its EPA program lead and can’t send out any more information to community members without EPA approval, says Emma Kelly, New Economy program coordinator for Appalachian Voices.

Other federal funding to Appalachian Voices that has been frozen includes money to close up abandoned mines, support communities battered by flooding, and monitor air quality, says Kelly. “These freezes, even if they are eventually overturned, are already having incredibly detrimental impacts,” she adds."

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