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@jimrobbins19.bsky.social

66 followers 42 following 43 posts

Journalist based in Montana who writes about the human relationship to the natural world, for the New York Times and elsewhere. Author of The Wonder of Birds, The Man Who Planted Trees and other books. Intellectual pessimist, glandular optimist.

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jimrobbins19.bsky.social @jimrobbins19.bsky.social · Nov 22

Posting my story on the incredible migration of the godwit, eight days and nights without pause.
www.smithsonianmag.com/science-natu...

This Wonder Bird Flies Thousands of Miles, Non-Stop, as Part of an Epic Migration

The more scientists learn about the Hudsonian godwit, the more they’re amazed—and worried

www.smithsonianmag.com

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jimrobbins19.bsky.social @jimrobbins19.bsky.social · 22d

A quirky little seabird that lives in the crowns of redwood trees in in trouble. My latest in today's Science Times. Gift article free to read. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/23/s...

A Tiny Seabird Faces Growing Threats in the Forest

www.nytimes.com

jimrobbins19.bsky.social @jimrobbins19.bsky.social · Sep 3

One of the funnest story assignments I have had in a while. Aero-ecology, aka the ecology of the sky, is science about a forgotten and mysterious ecosystem above us. It is teeming with life. My latest in the September issue of Smithsonian.
www.smithsonianmag.com/science-natu...

jimrobbins19.bsky.social @jimrobbins19.bsky.social · Aug 5

Humans are driving rapid evolution in more ways than one. Fishing Induced Evolution may be the most rapid of all. My latest in Yale's E360.
e360.yale.edu/features/hum...

Shrinking Cod: How Humans Are Impacting the Evolution of Species

Biologists once thought that humans did little to affect the course of evolution in the short term. But a recent study of cod in the Baltic Sea reveals how overfishing and selective harvest of the lar...

e360.yale.edu

jimrobbins19.bsky.social @jimrobbins19.bsky.social · Aug 4

You can read this article for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/04/s...

A Zoo in Denmark Wants to Feed Your Pets to Its Predators

www.nytimes.com

jimrobbins19.bsky.social @jimrobbins19.bsky.social · Aug 4

Mystery solved?
www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...

Scientists say they’ve solved the mystery of starfish that turn to goo

Sea star wasting disease has killed billions of starfish and destroyed kelp ecosystems. In a study published Monday, researchers say they found the culprit.

www.washingtonpost.com

Reposted

The Wall Street Journal @wsj.com · Jul 27

Sawmills have been closing across the Pacific Northwest over the past 30 years. The region's lumber industry is hoping for a Trump bump.

The Pacific Northwest Lumber Industry Hopes for a Trump Bump

The president is calling for increased logging in national forests and raising trade protections against Canadian exports.

on.wsj.com

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jimrobbins19.bsky.social @jimrobbins19.bsky.social · Jul 27

Fascinating story on secret a geoengineering project off the coast of California.
www.politico.com/news/2025/07...

Researchers quietly planned a test to dim sunlight. They wanted to ‘avoid scaring’ the public.

Hundreds of documents show how researchers failed to notify officials in California about a test of technology to block the sun’s rays — while they planned a much huger sequel.

www.politico.com

jimrobbins19.bsky.social @jimrobbins19.bsky.social · Jul 15

A well deserved prison sentence.
Gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/15/w...

Men Who Felled Sycamore Gap Tree Are Given Prison Sentences in U.K.

www.nytimes.com

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jimrobbins19.bsky.social @jimrobbins19.bsky.social · Jul 7

The chemistry of the oceans is rapidly becoming more acidic and it's affecting everything from coral reefs to crabs and oysters. My latest, from tomorrow's New York Times.
(This is a gift article and you can read it for free without a subscription.) www.nytimes.com/2025/07/07/s...

Increasingly Acidic Seas Threaten Oyster Farming

www.nytimes.com

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jimrobbins19.bsky.social @jimrobbins19.bsky.social · Jul 7

The chemistry of the oceans is rapidly become more acidic and its affecting everything from oysters to crabs to coral, which all use minerals to build their shells. My latest, from tomorrow's New York Times.
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/07/s...

Increasingly Acidic Seas Threaten Oyster Farming

www.nytimes.com

jimrobbins19.bsky.social @jimrobbins19.bsky.social · Jun 29

That's the Dunning Kruger effect. www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/du...

Dunning-Kruger Effect

The Dunning-Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which people wrongly overestimate their knowledge or ability in a specific area. This tends to occur because a lack of self-awareness prevents them fro...

www.psychologytoday.com

jimrobbins19.bsky.social @jimrobbins19.bsky.social · Jun 25

Yikes!
cowboystatedaily.com/2025/06/23/y...

Yellowstone Visitors Watch Bison Die In 160-Degree Grand Prismatic Spring

Dozens of Yellowstone visitors were shocked to witness the death of a bison as it stepped into the water at the shallow edge of Grand Prismatic Spring on…

cowboystatedaily.com

jimrobbins19.bsky.social @jimrobbins19.bsky.social · Jun 25

Here's another toxic rubber story I wrote. @gdrosser.bsky.social
e360.yale.edu/features/tir...

Road Hazard: Evidence Mounts on Toxic Pollution from Tires

Researchers are only beginning to uncover the toxic cocktail of chemicals, microplastics, and heavy metals hidden in car and truck tires. But experts say these tire emissions are a significant source ...

e360.yale.edu

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jimrobbins19.bsky.social @jimrobbins19.bsky.social · Jun 25

Posting the gift version of this article...
Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2025/06/17/c...

Is Fake Grass Safe? A Manufacturer Sues to Stop a Discussion.

www.nytimes.com

jimrobbins19.bsky.social @jimrobbins19.bsky.social · Jun 18

There are serious questions about this material that shouldn't be swept under the rug.
Is Fake Grass Safe? A Manufacturer Sues to Stop a Discussion. www.nytimes.com/2025/06/17/c...

Is Fake Grass Safe? A Manufacturer Sues to Stop a Discussion.

www.nytimes.com

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jimrobbins19.bsky.social @jimrobbins19.bsky.social · May 20

Artificial Intelligence is rapidly and dramatically changing conservation for good and bad. My latest. e360.yale.edu/features/art...

Out of the Wild: How A.I. Is Transforming Conservation Science

Artificial intelligence is being called a game changer for enabling scientists and conservationists to process vast troves of data collected remotely. But some warn its use could keep biologists from ...

e360.yale.edu

jimrobbins19.bsky.social @jimrobbins19.bsky.social · May 13

There's rare earths in them there toxic pits. My latest in today's New York Times. It's a gift article and you can read it for free. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/13/s...

A Toxic Pit Could Be a Gold Mine for Rare-Earth Elements

www.nytimes.com

jimrobbins19.bsky.social @jimrobbins19.bsky.social · May 9

Don't underestimate people's love for trees.
You can read this article free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/09/w...

2 Men Found Guilty of Felling Britain’s Sycamore Gap Tree

www.nytimes.com

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jimrobbins19.bsky.social @jimrobbins19.bsky.social · May 5

ICYMI: the extreme biodiversity crisis almost no one knows about. e360.yale.edu/features/fre...

With the Great Mussel Die-Off, Scientists Scramble for Answers

One of the most endangered animals in the world, freshwater mussels are threatened by pollution, climate change, habitat loss, and invasive species. But in the epicenter of their diversity — the South...

e360.yale.edu

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jimrobbins19.bsky.social @jimrobbins19.bsky.social · Apr 23

A Coastal New England Town’s ‘Ornery’ Vandal: A Woodpecker www.nytimes.com/2025/04/23/u...

A Coastal New England Town’s ‘Ornery’ Vandal: A Woodpecker

More than 20 vehicles in a town on Cape Ann, Mass., have been damaged by a woodpecker in mating season. “You still see him out here,” one resident said. “Peck, peck, peck, peck.”

www.nytimes.com

jimrobbins19.bsky.social @jimrobbins19.bsky.social · Apr 23

www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2025/...

The ‘owl man’ is busy at Boston Logan airport

Boston’s airport has the highest known concentration of snowy owls in New England. Raptor researcher Norman Smith has removed more than 900 of the Arctic birds.

www.washingtonpost.com

jimrobbins19.bsky.social @jimrobbins19.bsky.social · Apr 21

I am visiting the Stratosphere Giant, a redwood tree that was at one time the tales tree in the world. It has since been surpassed. But it sure is glorious.

jimrobbins19.bsky.social @jimrobbins19.bsky.social · Apr 7

The world's first de-extinction?
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/07/s...

Scientists Revive the Dire Wolf, or Something Close (Gift Article)

Dire wolves, made famous by “Game of Thrones,” went extinct some 13,000 years ago. Now, researchers have bred gray-wolf pups that carry genes of their ancient cousins.

www.nytimes.com

jimrobbins19.bsky.social @jimrobbins19.bsky.social · Apr 7

A return to the past of resource extraction.
apnews.com/article/trum...

Trump administration rolls back forest protections in bid to ramp up logging

President Donald Trump's administration has rolled back environmental protections around future logging projects on more than half of U.S. national forests under an emergency designation issued Friday...

apnews.com

jimrobbins19.bsky.social @jimrobbins19.bsky.social · Apr 7

Missoula and other towns in Montana are using this model. I wrote about it last year for the NY Times.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

‘We made everything bear-proof’: the Italian village that learned to love its bears

By learning to live with its ursine neighbours, mountainous Pettorano sul Gizio has drawn tourists and new residents, bucking a trend of rural decline