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antarcticabella.bsky.social
Bella Duncan
@antarcticabella.bsky.social
1.3K followers 600 following 140 posts
Climate scientist in Aotearoa NZ. Ancient Antarctica, paleoclimate, biomarkers, geology and the implications of it all for climate change!
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Reposted by Bella Duncan
helenczerski.bsky.social
TIL about a memorial ceremony in Iceland in 2019 to mark the end of a glacier, changing the place name from Okjökull to Ok (jökull = glacier). Uncompromising wording on the bronze plaque:
"This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".
Bronze plaque saying "A Letter to the Future. Ok is the first Icelandic glacier to lose its status as a glacier. In the next 200 years all our glaciers are expected to follow the same path. This monument is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it. August 2019. 415ppm CO2"
December 7, 2025 at 5:17 PM
antarcticabella.bsky.social
So many!! And I can't choose one so here's three.

First, the end of 'No ordinary sun' by Hone Tuwhare. Written under the threat of nuclear war, and carved into the mind of a teenage me first becoming aware of the threat of climate change.
'...for this  is no ordinary sun. O tree  in the shadowless mountains the white plains and the drab sea floor your end at last is written.'
December 7, 2025 at 6:59 AM
Reposted by Bella Duncan
marcdaalder.bsky.social
Analysis: Finance Minister Nicola Willis effectively confirmed Tuesday that New Zealand will not meet its 2030 climate target under the Paris Agreement under the current Government’s policies.
newsroom.co.nz/2025/12/03/g...
Govt accused of breaching Paris climate deal after Willis rules out buying credits
Analysis: Finance Minister Nicola Willis effectively confirmed New Zealand will not meet its 2030 climate target under the current Govt's policies.
newsroom.co.nz
December 2, 2025 at 9:19 PM
Reposted by Bella Duncan
paleolipidrr.bsky.social
Our new preprint review on archaeal lipids (GDGTs) led by @lipidorama.bsky.social and @climategordon.bsky.social are live! Fresh updates on these amazing lipids and their environmental applications, from the 2nd int'l GDGT workshop (led by @cindydejonge.bsky.social, Francien Peterse & David Naafs).
November 29, 2025 at 10:56 PM
Reposted by Bella Duncan
veronikameduna.bsky.social
Happy Antarctica Day! On December 1 in 1959, 12 nations signed the Antarctic Treaty, which established #Antarctica as a "natural reserve, devoted to peace and science".
Images from my season with @swais2c.bsky.social - good luck for this season!
A Scott polar tent in Antarctica Antarctic landscape A old-fashioned sled in Antarctica
December 1, 2025 at 9:07 AM
antarcticabella.bsky.social
Hey Bluesky, I need a Christmas idea for a tricky to buy for relative. What's a popular science book out recently that you've enjoyed? 🧪⚒🥼🌊
November 28, 2025 at 8:01 AM
Reposted by Bella Duncan
subfossilguy.bsky.social
Franz Josef Glacier - Kā Roimata o Hine Hukatere
ca 1867 | 2022

Impressive comparison between the first known photograph taken of one of the most iconic NZ glaciers and current situation! 🧊🔥

The rock on the right is Sentinel Rock, one of the roches moutonnées in the glacier forefield
1/
November 23, 2025 at 6:07 PM
Reposted by Bella Duncan
swais2c.bsky.social
They’ve made it across the Ross Ice Shelf! Huge congrats to the Antarctica NZ traverse crew, for completing a 13-day journey to our drilling site at Crary Ice Rise. They towed sleds with fuel, equipment and supplies, to keep our deep-field camp cranking. Now it's time to set up camp!
November 22, 2025 at 5:41 AM
antarcticabella.bsky.social
We have two very fluffy pets, grand Dame of the house Tonka, and excitable fluff ball Olly, alongside secondary Olly i.e. the mass of fur that comes off him at the start of his summer moult 😅 #SecretSantaAoNZ
November 20, 2025 at 11:11 PM
antarcticabella.bsky.social
Also re-upping my incredibly beautiful mid winter Secret Santa gift because it's so amazing it needs another showing! #SecretSantaAoNZ
antarcticabella.bsky.social Bella Duncan @antarcticabella.bsky.social · Jun 7
And it's a PENGUIN FASCINATOR!! A bloody penguin fascinator, how cool is this!!!! Thank you sooooo much Santa, this is the most perfect, on brand gift for me!! I absolutely LOVE it! Now I need an occasion to wear it to stat, science themed ball anyone?? #MWSecretSantaAoNZ
A girl with dark hair and glasses wearing a blue fascinator with a penguin on it! Close up of a beautiful blue and white penguin on a fascinator, sitting on blue and black fabric. An incredible penguin fascinator! Blue netting and flowers with a blue and white penguin sitting on blue and black fabric. A cute drawing of a girl wearing a fascinator is on the box beside.
November 17, 2025 at 11:52 PM
antarcticabella.bsky.social
Reupping my hints list from mid winter, super excited for #SecretSantaAoNZ! Also don't feel like you have to spend money, I love homemade/crafty/found/op-shopped stuff and if you think it's special then I'm sure I will too 🥰
antarcticabella.bsky.social Bella Duncan @antarcticabella.bsky.social · Apr 22
Excited for #MWSecretSantaAoNZ! Hints for me: I love rocks and fossils, Antarctica, the ocean, eclectic kitchenware. Live a happily chaotic life with 3 kids, equally fluffy dog and cat and a herd of chickens. To relax I cook, bake, garden, crochet, read cookbooks/food mags. Drink tea, love choc ❤
November 17, 2025 at 11:50 PM
Reposted by Bella Duncan
cathywilcox.bsky.social
The cost.
My @smh @theage cartoon.
Single frame. Title: “It’s simple” Sussan Let at podium flanked by David Littleproud and Angus Taylor. She says, “Net zero is not worth the cost*” Below podium is text: “*not counting the cost of: extreme weather events; mass displacement of people from low-lying areas; increased insurance premiums; habitat loss and species extinction; loss of certainty for business; worsened air quality; lack of investment in low-emission technologies; continued subsidisation of fossil fuel industries; loss of food security; (trailing beyond frame) increase in heat related deaths and infectious…”
November 17, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Reposted by Bella Duncan
acgeddis.bsky.social
This, from OUSA's President, is very good and warrants reading:

"For decades, governments of every stripe have treated universities as businesses to be managed rather than institutions of learning and curiosity. ... Students are rebranded as customers, research, degrees and graduates as outputs."
November 9, 2025 at 11:01 PM
antarcticabella.bsky.social
Super happy to have this published! This is a big team effort to create a 'cookbook' of best practices for marine GDGT paleothermometry. As GDGT work becomes ever more widely applied this is a really important step to future proof data and create more consistency within the field!
ninadavtian.bsky.social Dr. Nina Davtian (she/her/hers) @ninadavtian.bsky.social · Nov 6
My co-authored marine GDGT « cookbook » review paper led by Peter Bijl 👨‍🔬 and @kasiasliwinska.bsky.social 👩‍🔬 is now published in @egubg.bsky.social!
doi.org/10.5194/bg-2...
Again, I am so happy to be the @cerege.bsky.social @climatecerege.bsky.social expert on #GDGTs!
@egu.eu
🧪 ⚒️ 🌊
#PaleoSky
(1/3)
November 7, 2025 at 4:51 AM
Reposted by Bella Duncan
lcsnz.bsky.social
I'm sure it's totally coincidental that the AoNZ government's changes to the Marsden Fund have been followed by successful applications led by female investigators dropping from 55% to 33%, and successful applications led by Māori investigators dropping from 13% to 5%. 🫠 🧪
Information on the 2025 Marsden Fund round
Information about the number of funded proposals in the 2025 Marsden Fund round broken down by research area and institution, also including gender and ethnicity data
www.royalsociety.org.nz
November 5, 2025 at 9:16 PM
Reposted by Bella Duncan
marcdaalder.bsky.social
Asked whether he’s sure technology will allow the Government to meet its climate goals, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts replies: ‘Can we be sure about anything in life?’
newsroom.co.nz/2025/11/06/g...
Gutting of Zero Carbon Act crashes bipartisan climate consensus
It took more than a year of painstaking cross-partisan negotiation to land the Zero Carbon Act. Now, the Govt is gutting it unilaterally, Marc Daalder reports
newsroom.co.nz
November 5, 2025 at 9:53 PM
Reposted by Bella Duncan
mehr.nz
I appear to have spoken to a reporter who took seriously the gravity of NZ's science crisis

does anybody have a newsroom pro subscription so that I can learn what other choice phrases I used on the record?

newsroom.co.nz/2025/10/29/w...
Winner of top science prize blames ‘batshit’ Budget for brain drain
Dr Samuel Mehr says the Government values science, but their ‘idiotic’ approach to funding it will cost them their best and brightest.
newsroom.co.nz
October 28, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Reposted by Bella Duncan
mehr.nz
I'm not 100% sure but I think Newsroom may have omitted a 'f*cking' from my phrase "Do these people read the news?"
The Marsden Grant, New Zealand’s flagship discovery science fund, was recently restructured to focus on research with economic potential, and its total was set to decrease by $15m over three years. The Strategic Science Investment Fund decreased by $24m in Budget 2025, the Health Research Fund by $17m and the Catalyst Fund, for international collaboration, by $12m. Money was reallocated towards the new Invest New Zealand agency, aimed at attracting overseas innovation and investment. Since then, the 2025 Nobel Prize in Economics was awarded to a team of researchers who investigated the link between increased technology funding and sustained societal growth, which Mehr said underscored his point. “Do these people read the news? Like, a Nobel Prize was just awarded to people who proved that investing in science is a better mechanism for economic growth – which Luxon ostensibly cares about – than these other kinds of short-term investments,” Mehr said. “We’ve got $55 million, roughly, per year to spend on basic science. And if you open up the news, what you hear about is Chris Luxon spending 320 times that on a single road. It’s just kind of pathetic. “You could change the colour of the signs on that road, and you would spend more than this entire country spends on basic science. That is batshit. It’s just completely insane.” (The road in question was the Northland Corridor, the low end estimate of which was recently revised to $18.2b.)
October 28, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Reposted by Bella Duncan
mehr.nz
i think this is the thing I find so frustrating / depressing about how our govt works. there's a complete dissociation between what they say "we love science its great" and what they spend on basic science
In 2023, Mehr was awarded the Prime Minister’s MacDiarmid Emerging Scientist Prize – a top honour for New Zealand researchers – for his work on how humans perceive and create music. Mehr told Newsroom his interaction with Luxon at the awards ceremony was brief, but engaging. “I remember he was so excited to talk to scientists about what we were up to. He told me that he had been looking forward to this event for several weeks. He said it was one of the most fun things he gets to do.” But this enthusiasm did not square with the budget for research set under Luxon’s Government – or the governments that preceded it. “So either he’s totally insincere, and he was bullshitting me, or he’s incompetent and doesn’t realise that he, himself – and his own Government, the people he’s put in power – have signed off on pennies on the dollar for scientific funding in this country, rather than serious investment in research that can change the world. “I don’t think they’re lying about being excited about science; I think they’re just being totally disingenuous about the connection between their own decisions about the Budget and the scientific outcomes that the country can produce.”
October 28, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Reposted by Bella Duncan
bmcnoldy.bsky.social
#Melissa has made landfall in #Jamaica, and has preliminarily tied the record for the lowest pressure of any landfalling hurricane in Atlantic history: 892 mb. That was last observed 90 years ago with the 1935 Labor Day hurricane.
The storm does not look like it even notices Jamaica being there.
October 28, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Reposted by Bella Duncan
mehr.nz
our govt wants to spend 327 times more on a single road ($18b) than they are currently spending yearly on all of basic science in new zealand ($55m) #nzpol
publicaddress.bsky.social Russell Brown @publicaddress.bsky.social · Oct 26
The Northern Expressway we were told would cost $10 billion is now priced at $18 billion, or six times the Cook Strait crossing we were told was unaffordable. This is fantasy stuff. www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-adv...
Game-changer: New $18b expressway endorsed to boost jobs and road safety
The Northland Expressway from Te Hana to Whangārei is expected to boost Northland.
www.nzherald.co.nz
October 26, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Reposted by Bella Duncan
metaomicsnerd.bsky.social
that abstract
Abstract: Recent self-reported and cross-sectional survey evidence documents high levels of mental health problems among PhD students. We study the relationship between PhD studies and mental health care utilization using Swedish administrative records of prescriptions for psychiatric medication for the full population of PhD students. We find that prior to starting their PhD studies, prospective students use psychiatric medication at a rate similar to a matched sample of individuals with a master’s degree. However, following the start of their PhD studies, psychiatric medication use among PhD students increases substantially. This upward trend continues throughout the course of PhD studies, and by the fifth year medication use has increased by 40 percent compared to pre-PhD levels. After the fifth year, when most students in our sample graduate, the psychiatric medication use declines notably. Heterogeneity analyses indicate that the increase in medication use occurs broadly across different student subgroups and academic disciplines, with the exception of students in the medical and health sciences.
October 16, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Reposted by Bella Duncan
organiccarbon.bsky.social
The global average concentration of the CO2 surged by 3.5 parts per million to 424ppm in 2024, the largest increase since modern measurements started in 1957. We might be switching from negative to positive carbon cycle feedbacks - a horrific disaster, if so.

www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Record leap in CO2 fuels fears of accelerating global heating
CO2 in air hit new high last year, with scientists concerned natural land and ocean carbon sinks are weakening
www.theguardian.com
October 15, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Reposted by Bella Duncan
paullecomtephoto.nz
Could you pls do an old ex-Art History teacher a solid, sign this petition to save the subject in our schools, and pass it on.

These philistines need to hear from you all.

Thank you

petitions.parliament.nz/a1acf19a-72f...
Edvard Munch's 'Scream' but with the text 'I can't believe they're cancelling Art History' in a speech bubble
October 14, 2025 at 2:41 AM
Reposted by Bella Duncan
mehr.nz
NZ's govt has announced reforms to science funding

just one line about basic science in there: "Discovery-led science & research will continue to be funded. This will sit outside the pillars & is essential for maintaining vibrant curiosity-driven science system"

yea mate seems like a real priority
A new strategy for the science system | Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment
The Government is changing how science, innovation and technology are funded and supported in New Zealand. The goal is a simpler and more strategic system that helps researchers turn ideas into solutions that benefit New Zealand.
www.mbie.govt.nz
October 14, 2025 at 2:55 AM