Andrea Kirkwood (she/her)

Northern communities are losing lake ice as winter get warmer — and weirder More than a thousand people recently gathered on frozen Lake Mendota in Madison, Wisc., for a celebration of winter. But a changing climate is affecting life above the ice.

So fun to hear my #limnology colleagues talking about changing lake ice conditions and impacts on our winter well-being. 🧪

Northern communities are losing lake ice as winter get warmer — and weirder

www.npr.org/2026/03/05/n...

Friends, we need to set the bar higher than this.

I did so as well! Support your faculty! Help us negotiate a fair deal now!

Send your letter here: actionnetwork.org/letters/act-...

Act Now: Stand Up for a Fair Deal for Faculty at Ontario Tech Join me in calling on the Ontario Tech Board of Governors to bargain a fair deal and bargain in good faith with the UOITFA.

I just emailed Ontario Tech’s Board of Governors telling them to negotiate a fair deal for faculty. Send your letter here: actionnetwork.org/letters/act-... cc @uoitfa.bsky.social

Don’t deprioritize curiosity-driven research Around the world, governments are demanding that research funding follow broader political priorities. They should be careful what they wish for.

Reading recommendation

...governments that have not interfered in the process through which researchers work out how specific pots of money will be spent have seen rich rewards in discovery, invention and innovation.

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Photo of a parking lot with a sun dog in the background. The sun dog is a halo around the sun. The halo looks a bit like a rainbow.

A rare sundog sighting in southern Ontario. Yes, it’s cold out! cc @ontariotechu.bsky.social

There is No Scientific Justification to Revoke the Endangerment Finding The U.S. EPA's decision to repeal the Endangerment Finding will limit the government's ability to regulate emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act.

As I say here, there is no scientific justification to revoke the engagement finding. In fact, over the last 15+ yrs, the evidence of how climate change affects our health has only grown. Higher risk of allergies, dementia, fertility, heart disease, and death: that’s what’s on the line. @nature.org

Amazing that people who "now regret their association" with him eagerly sought associations with him in the years following 2008, when he was a convicted sex offender who had raped 14-year olds. IT WASN'T A SECRET, IT WAS IN THE NEWS.

Deploy Insect Farming for Food and Feed This solution involves industrially farming insects, such as crickets, mealworms, and black soldier fly larvae, to produce protein for human consumption, livestock feed, or pet food that is less resou...

Many people think that eating insects could be a good solution to climate change.

Nope. Not really.

Read more here, and see why Project Drawdown says this is "Not Recommended" as a climate solution.

drawdown.org/explorer/dep...

Faculty and students at LU have been through a lot already, and have made huge sacrifices because of financial mismanagement. I don’t understand this stance by the LU administration. It may be a power game for them, but creates long lasting hardship and animosity for the uni community.

Gladys Mae West obituary: mathematician who pioneered GPS technology She made key contributions to US cold-war science despite facing huge barriers as a Black woman.

No joke: I got angry hate mail today for writing an obituary of a Black woman scientist—because the person felt she did didn’t deserve the recognition.

Which just makes me want to share it again: www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Many of us have been pushing for interdisciplinary programs in universities for as long as I can remember, but getting dedicated resources for these efforts, especially by the tricouncil, has been fraught with obstacles including limited strategic funding. A new idea it is not.

An important thread.

We say "rape culture" because it's never about individual abusers working alone in the shadows. There is so much complicity, yes, but there is also so much reward. Celebrities, athletes, politicians, etc. who think fame should give them judgement-free access to victims.

Gutted.

💯

#silverlinings

We are dealing with bad faith bargaining right now:(. May be on the picket line in March based on a recent strike mandate vote.

Feds target hundreds of Environment and Climate Change Canada workers putting 'public safety and the environment at risk' Hundreds of workers responsible for pollution prevention, weather forecasting, conservation and environmental disaster response are being at Environment and Climate Change Canada received workforce ad...

At ECCC: “staff reductions will target scientists, engineers and policy experts whose work supports weather forecasting, pollution prevention, marine conservation, habitat restoration, environmental disaster response and safety of dangerous goods” www.nationalobserver.com/2026/01/23/n...

Here is the latest on possible job cuts in the federal public service Hundreds of public servants have already received layoff notices in Ottawa and across Canada, as the federal government begins to issue notices of potential job cuts in departments. CTVNewsOttawa.ca l...

Thousands of workers cut from the federal public service, including scientists, researchers, and entire programs across environmental, wildlife, and health fields. This is a devastating blow to science and monitoring across Canada, and will have far-reaching impacts. www.ctvnews.ca/ottawa/artic...

Join The Ecohydrology Research Group for the 14th Annual #WorldWetlandsDay at the University of Waterloo 🌿

📅 Feb 2, 2026 | 4–7 pm EST

📍 EIT Building
Poster session, reception + a distinguished lecture by Dr. Sarah Finkelstein.
🔗 Register now: uwaterloo.ca/ecohydrology...

Scientists must be free to learn, to speak and to challenge "You do not mess with something so fundamental, so precious, as science," says Kirsty Duncan, Canada's first Minister of Science. In a heartfelt, inspiring talk about pushing boundaries, she makes the...

To see how Kirsty Duncan advocated for science, watch her TED talk or read her book, "The Exclusion Effect: How the sciences discourage women & girls and what to do about it"

Scientists must be free to learn, to speak, and to challenge, she said -- an even more vital argument now than then.

23% of Americans want their State to separate from the USA. Alberta is polling at 19% wanting to separate. It's less separatist than: Alaska, Hawaii, Washington Montana, Idaho, California, Nevada, Colorado, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, Illinois, Louisiana, Arkansas, Indiana, New York.......

Worth reading in full.

Solidarity ✊

Federal government loses Emergencies Act appeal | CBC News The Liberal government unreasonably invoked the Emergencies Act to clear the convoy protests that gridlocked the capital city and border points nearly four years ago, the Federal Court of Appeal said.

As someone who lives downtown Ottawa and who was living dead centre of the "Red Zone" where I had to literally show ID at a police checkpoint in order to get to my apartment, a huge middle finger to this and what it's about to enable.

Community conservatism is widespread across microbial phyla and environments - Nature Ecology & Evolution This study reveals that closely related microorganisms tend to inhabit similar communities across all major environments and phyla. The authors term this phenomenon ‘community conservatism’, extending...

Community conservatism is widespread across microbial phyla and environments www.nature.com/articles/s41... #jcampubs

Benefit from reduced conference rates, exclusive webinar access, and many other member perks. Join or renew your CSEE membership today! 🙌 csee-scee.ca/signup/

Sorry to miss CSEE in Toronto this year. I will be attending the joint meeting of @sil-limnology.bsky.social and @aslo.org because its in Canada this year (I think for the first time), but unfortunately its happening over the same dates as CSEE.

JOB (Associate or Full Professor): Seeking Internationally renowned researchers in neuroscience & AI or bioinformatics for Canada Impact+ Research Chair @ontariotechu.bsky.social. Just east of Toronto, Ontario Tech is a vibrant research-intensive institution. ontariotechu.csod.com/ux/ats/caree...

A hex sticker with a text that reads Hello Data Science with green, yellow and pink scatterplot points in the background. There is a web address www.hellodata.science

📖 Big news! We just released the first five chapters of our new book, Hello Data Science. It is a fully open-access resource written for beginners. Please help us spread the word! A few points about the book are below 👇

🔗 www.hellodata.science

#rstats #datascience #tidyverse