Bernie Lohr

The pond is now ice free, and with the rain last night the wood frogs have emerged.

Dozens of them. There is much calling. The world is a little better today.

Letter to the editor concerning the paper “Attraction points: A new sampling design method to quantify common finches' populations” published by Marazuela Pinela et al. in Ecological Indicators, 171, ...

Wow.

Letter to the editor concerning the paper “Attraction points: A new sampling design method to quantify common finches' populations” published by Marazuela Pinela et al. in Ecological Indicators, 171, 113155 (2025)

But the right one for me... so, I'm going to keep my mouth shut.

Impostor syndrome is nearly universal among graduate students who have yet to take their qualifying exams.

The relief I felt upon finally getting a faculty position pales in comparison to the relief I felt after passing those exams.

Bluesky badly needs a groan icon.

Trump’s New Wall Will Destroy Irreplaceable Border Treasures—Unless Congress Acts The "One Big Beautiful Bill" did not include the provision that spared the La Lomita chapel, the Santa Ana refuge, or any other sensitive location, and a map posted by CBP indicates that Trump’s…

"If border walls destroy La Lomita, Santa Ana, Bentsen State Park, and the National Butterfly Center, they will not be magically resurrected when the White House has a less malignant occupant." www.texasobserver.org/trump-new-wa...

And if anyone happens to have their companion mag Cinemagic, numbers 10 and 11, I'm in there! :-)

I would get each issue, read it, then tell everyone in school the next day what was coming in SF books and movies, and the reply I invariably got was "How do you know all this!?"

Congratulations to Dr. Rümeysa Öztürk for earning her PhD despite being unlawfully targeted by ICE for protected political speech.

Our victory in AAUP v. Rubio will enshrine rights for non-citizen students and faculty like Dr. Öztürk. Everyone deserves to learn and speak freely on our campuses.

WATCH: Trump, EPA's Zeldin announce end of scientific basis for U.S. action on climate change The Trump administration on Thursday revoked a scientific finding that long has been the central basis for U.S. action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change, the most aggressiv...

The end of Trump can't come soon enough.

There's a sweet little film dealing with this issue (i.e. never idolizing others, even if they're good at what they do, and you enjoy what they do).

Breaking Away.

Of course it's one of the breakout roles for Dennis Quaid (though he's not the main character), so watch it with a grain of salt.

US science after a year of Trump: what has been lost and what remains A series of graphics reveals how the Trump administration has sought historic cuts to science and the research workforce.

A year into Trump’s second presidential term, Nature presents a series of graphics that reveal the impact of his administration on science. 🧪

HOW IT WORKS IN MOVIES:

1. Government lies

2. Brave heroes release video showing the truth

3. Press says “the government is lying!”

HOW IT APPARENTLY WORKS IN REAL LIFE

1. Brave heroes release video showing the truth

2. Government lies

3. Press says “Oh no, what now? So confusing! So hard!”

I just spoke with the White House after another horrific shooting by federal agents this morning. Minnesota has had it. This is sickening.

The President must end this operation. Pull the thousands of violent, untrained officers out of Minnesota. Now.

I have a student who just passed her quals and another taking her quals next November. And I think it's a great plan! :-)

(And if you fail to get that all in on certain weeks, don't sweat it - sounds like you're starting in plenty of time given when students usually get going with these things)

Image of Greenland flag with "Release the Epstein files" written in its colors.

Hellman's mayonnaise used to advertise that there was a "whole egg in every jar." Guess what a former acquaintance who worked at a grocery store once admitted to doing?

Not to mention a textbook example of taking words out of context.

Machado presents Trump her Nobel Prize as uncertainty surrounds Venezuela’s leadership Maria Corina Machado met with President Trump and said she presented him with her Nobel Peace Prize. It came a day after Trump spoke with Venezuela’s acting president, a woman who in the past disparag...

I guess she was the wrong choice, Norway...

Members of Congress should be openly stating right now that military action against Greenland will result in impeachment and removal of the President and the Vice President.

As a biologist I applaud the reduction in birth rate. It is badly needed. Aside from cattle we are by far the largest mammalian biomass, and the impact on natural habitats around the world has been pernicious.

There’s a GoFundMe for Jonathan Ross’s legal expenses for murdering Renee Good.

This violates GoFundMe’s Terms of Service. Everyone must report it.

A thread on how to do that 🧵

We'll figure out a way to make you regret it.

Texas A&M professor's response to order prohibiting him from teaching Plato involves replacement course module on censorship that includes NYT article on Texas A&M ordering him not to teach Plato.

Don't mess with professors.

Fortune 500 companies that have contracts with ICE:

-Amazon
-AT&T
-Booz Allen Hamilton
-Caci
-Charter Communications
-Comcast
-Dell
-Ecolab
-FedEx
-General Dynamics
-L3Harris
-Motorola
-Thermo Fisher
-UPS

Know who profits from Trump's cruelty.

The Atlantic’s January Cover: Michael Scherer Profiles Robert F. Kennedy Jr., ‘The Most Powerful Man in Science’ None

Getting tired of seeing the "RFK Jr is the most powerful man in science" posts?

I am.

Will he hinder our ability to get science done?
Sure, to an extent.

Will he change the direction of research? The areas and subjects we pursue?
Not a chance.

We all see him for the ignorant shill he is.

ICE must be *completely* abolished in its current form. Everyone fired. De-armed.

A new immigration service will have to be built from the ground up under the next administration, with all former ICE employees prohibited from being hired there.

My representatives will know that I feel this way.

Texas A&M Bans Plato - Daily Nous Drop the race and gender material from your course and the Plato readings, or teach a different course. You have a day to decide. That's a paraphrase of what Martin Peterson, professor of philosophy a...

"I’m going to pause here just to review: an institution that purports to be a university has told a philosophy professor he is forbidden from teaching Plato."

surreal times

dailynous.com/2026/01/06/t...

Listened to all 3 Mossa and Pleiti books on audio - great for driving to and from field sites!

Just when I think maybe (possibly??) the NYT is on the upswing again, I get reliably disappointed that it isn't in the cards for the near future.