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KC Cushman

@cushmankc

Ecologist studying forests with remote sensing — books, running, my cat, reality TV — views my own

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08.09.2023
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Latest posts by KC Cushman @cushmankc

It's so hard out there right now, especially for early career scientists. Publishing expectations have never been higher, and it's taking a year or more for papers to go through peer review, largely because of these delays. I know things are hard, but if you're publishing, you should be reviewing.

21.02.2025 14:36 👍 154 🔁 21 💬 5 📌 3
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50 wonderful things from 2025 Each year, critic Linda Holmes looks back on the year and compiles a list of the things that brought her joy.

I love making this list every year, and I never have any trouble coming up with 50 things I think were genuinely wonderful.

31.12.2025 21:29 👍 313 🔁 54 💬 10 📌 5

I know this place, my roommate and I would go when we needed a little treat! So cozy and delicious.

23.12.2025 20:12 👍 3 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

A new thing that I’ve noticed in the last few weeks is review requests including something like: “In your previous review, you asked to see the revised version”, even though I never previously reviewed it (I keep my a spreadsheet of MSs I review).

Anyone else seeing this tactic?!

16.12.2025 14:15 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
My quote from an Axios interview, stating that: People often think of climate change as a separate bucket at the end of a long row of other buckets of problems we're trying to fix that are wrong in the world," Hayhoe told Axios.
This includes poverty, disease and access to clean water.
"Climate change is not a separate bucket," Hayhoe said. "The reason we care about climate change is that it's the hole in every bucket."

My quote from an Axios interview, stating that: People often think of climate change as a separate bucket at the end of a long row of other buckets of problems we're trying to fix that are wrong in the world," Hayhoe told Axios. This includes poverty, disease and access to clean water. "Climate change is not a separate bucket," Hayhoe said. "The reason we care about climate change is that it's the hole in every bucket."

If you take the time to read the whole Gates memo (which I did), the bulk of the content was mostly solid and encouraging. Really!

It was the FRAME that was off--very off, from the first line.

And when your framing is off, then how you make decisions and set priorities is off. THAT'S the problem.

30.10.2025 13:52 👍 703 🔁 169 💬 32 📌 17
Hazy sunrise over a lake, with flowers in the foreground and forested ridges surrounding.

Hazy sunrise over a lake, with flowers in the foreground and forested ridges surrounding.

#seenonmyrun

04.06.2025 13:40 👍 4 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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Bugs That Rule the World A four-part investigation into insect declines, exploring their diversity and ecological importance.

BRB, going to binge four hours of Bugs that Rule the World, featuring bug enthusiast, researcher, and science communicator @the-bug-hut.bsky.social.
www.pbs.org/show/bugs-th... @pbs.org

31.05.2025 16:37 👍 7 🔁 4 💬 0 📌 0

It’s hard to see how international field research continues under an 89.6% cut to NSF DEB.

31.05.2025 13:05 👍 8 🔁 2 💬 1 📌 0
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Relationship between topographic variables and live aboveground tree biomass on a large temperate forest plot Understanding local variation in forest biomass allows for a better evaluation of broad-scale patterns and interpretation of forest ecosystems’ role i…

Very excited to read this Paint Rock ForestGEO paper! 🌳
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

22.05.2025 14:14 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Delighted to finally watch the first episode with my parents while we had Mother’s Day dessert!

Bugs That Rule The World is beautiful and @the-bug-hut.bsky.social is the best ambassador for the bugs. 10/10

12.05.2025 00:27 👍 5 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0
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This Tree Wants to Be Struck by Lightning Before a discovery in a Panamanian rainforest, “it seemed impossible that lightning could be a good thing for the trees,” a scientist said.

These trees are into getting shocked.

Dipteryx oleifera towers above the rest of Panama’s rainforest — arboreal lightning rods. They’re more likely to survive ⚡ than their neighbors, giving them a competitive edge.
Read more at: @nytscience.bsky.social:
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/01/s...

02.04.2025 14:50 👍 16 🔁 6 💬 1 📌 0
A list of the latest cosponsors of House Resolution 70

A list of the latest cosponsors of House Resolution 70

NEW: Ten voting House Republicans have now signed on to a resolution that says Congress "should take all appropriate measures" to make sure USPS remains an independent government agency and "not subject to privatization,” including Reps. Sam Graves and Thomas Kean
www.congress.gov/bill/119th-c...

28.03.2025 12:55 👍 475 🔁 114 💬 8 📌 23

When lightning strikes D. oleifera trees - and apparently trees of several other taxa - it kills nearby trees that compete for resources and the woody vines that infest their crowns without causing meaningful damage to the directly struck tree. (2/5)

28.03.2025 01:04 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 1 📌 0
How some trees benefit from being struck by lightning
How some trees benefit from being struck by lightning YouTube video by Evan Gora

⚡⚡Did you know that some trees WANT to be struck by lightning?⚡⚡ Well, trees don't "want" anything, but if they did, then Dipteryx oleifera trees would want to be struck by lightning. Just published yesterday (tinyurl.com/ltbnft) and described in this video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwX_... (1/5)

28.03.2025 01:04 👍 27 🔁 7 💬 3 📌 2
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Under Trump, the Justice Department is stepping away from some voting rights cases Under the Trump administration, the Justice Department has stepped away from some voting rights lawsuits, leaving behind a gap in enforcement of protections against racial discrimination in elections.

My latest @npr.org story: Under President Trump, the Justice Department is starting to step away from legal actions that had begun during the Biden administration to combat racial discrimination in elections — including voting rights cases in Louisiana, Texas and Georgia’s Houston County

27.03.2025 10:40 👍 388 🔁 141 💬 12 📌 7

Update: it turns out Arden was the first member of our family to notice a bluebird finally using our box!

23.03.2025 15:44 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Fluffy grey and white cat sitting on the back of a chair with her paw on the windowsill, looking out into the sunny woods

Fluffy grey and white cat sitting on the back of a chair with her paw on the windowsill, looking out into the sunny woods

Three trilliums emerging beside a decomposing fallen log

Three trilliums emerging beside a decomposing fallen log

Recharging during the first weekend of spring 🌼

23.03.2025 15:03 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 1
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I'll be presenting my work on tree growth in an everwet forest in Puerto Rico at the ForestGEO seminar next week!

Mar 19, 2025 09:00 AM, EST time. Register here for the link:

smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

11.03.2025 20:45 👍 13 🔁 7 💬 0 📌 0
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Fascism is here. Name it. This is not what we are supposed to be about. 🇺🇸

04.03.2025 14:28 👍 3844 🔁 1239 💬 174 📌 89
Creative Nonfiction in Conversation: Roxane Gay and Saeed Jones
Creative Nonfiction in Conversation: Roxane Gay and Saeed Jones YouTube video by HMS: Global Health and Social Medicine

My mentor and dear friend @roxanegay.bsky.social recently joined me here at Harvard Medical School for an incredible event. We both read new work and then had a wide-ranging discussion about the creative life, politics and culture.

I’m delighted to be able to share the video now:

28.02.2025 18:05 👍 880 🔁 128 💬 39 📌 22
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News The PANGEA White Paper is out! See below for the draft white paper Final white paper PANGEA White Paper (English)Download PANGEA White Paper (French)Download PANGEA White Paper (Spanish)Download PA…

I'm delighted to share the final #PANGEA White Paper: tropicalforestscoping.com/news-2/

(English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, & Indonesian)

Thank you to the 800+(!) ppl who contributed their ideas, input, time, & energy. Truly a community concept for a #NASA Terrestrial Ecology Field Campaign

08.12.2024 20:35 👍 25 🔁 8 💬 0 📌 0
Remote Sensing of Forest Structure and Dynamics in the Barro Colorado Nature Monument The structure of tropical forests provides globally important information about carbon storage and dynamics, but ground measurements remain relatively sparse. Remote sensing instruments have the abili...

Happy to contribute this review of remote sensing research in the Barro Colorado Nature Monument to the BCI 100 book!

Check out the SI for a table listing all the refs, data they used, and links to available remote sensing datasets over BCNM 🛩️

dx.doi.org/10.5479/si.2...

12.01.2025 21:59 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
A few inches of snow on fallen logs in front of woods going down a slope, another ridge somewhat visible in the distance.

A few inches of snow on fallen logs in front of woods going down a slope, another ridge somewhat visible in the distance.

Fluffy grey and white cat looking cutely at camera, sitting on a window mounted cat bed, snowy trees visible outside.

Fluffy grey and white cat looking cutely at camera, sitting on a window mounted cat bed, snowy trees visible outside.

Love our cozy backyard view on a snowy weekend ❄️

12.01.2025 21:49 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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Books We Love Here are 350+ great reads from 2024 hand-picked just for you by NPR staff and trusted critics.

I don’t always have good news to share first thing in the morning BUT…

IT’S BOOKS WE LOVE DAY!!!!!

apps.npr.org/best-books/#...

25.11.2024 12:25 👍 2668 🔁 612 💬 103 📌 173

Great to see this out, I love the gorgeous cover art!

Check out page 706 for picture of my parents next to Big Tree (RIP Big Tree) in my ode to the mega flora of BCI 🥹🌳

23.11.2024 00:36 👍 4 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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The BCI book is out! Almost 100 chapters of science about Barro Colorado Island plant and ecosystem science. scholarlypress.si.edu/store/all/th...
Edited by STRI colleagues Helene Muller-Landau and Joe Wright.
When I get my hardcopy, I'll want to read this cover to cover (1/2)

22.11.2024 15:55 👍 74 🔁 19 💬 3 📌 3

Here’s something joyful that happened to me—I’ve had a pair of corduroy pants for a year that I love except they don’t have pockets 🙄

Today I realized that they DO have pockets, they’re just camouflaged 🥳

15.11.2024 15:20 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Thanks @katharinehayhoe.com , just added!

12.11.2024 13:12 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Fluffy grey and white cat reclined on a chair with a pumpkin in between her back paws in the foreground

Fluffy grey and white cat reclined on a chair with a pumpkin in between her back paws in the foreground

12 trick-or-treaters this year, up from 2 or 3 last year…happy Halloween 👻

01.11.2024 01:10 👍 4 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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Voters are advised to return their ballots early because of mail delay concerns Election officials are raising concerns about the U.S. Postal Service's ability to handle this fall’s expected influx of election mail. But USPS say it’s ready to deliver the country’s ballots.

Dear mail-in voters,

If your state's return deadline is Election Day (Nov. 5), the U.S. Postal Service recommends that you mail your ballot by Tuesday (Oct. 29).

Sincerely,
The reporter who wrote this:
www.npr.org/2024/09/20/n...

28.10.2024 12:40 👍 1568 🔁 1468 💬 32 📌 76