Emily May
@emtomology.bsky.social
Agricultural conservation scientist @xercessociety. Pollinators, pesticide toxicology, IPM, habitat restoration, resilient food systems. Views are my own.📍Vermont | she/her
Pinned
Emily May
@emtomology.bsky.social
· Nov 17
Hello new followers! I am a
🐝 conservation scientist
🐝 ecologist & entomologist
🐝 Vermonter
🐝 native plant & veggie gardener
🐝 pinball champ
🐝 lover of hiking, biking, baking, poetry, and crafts/creative pursuits of all kinds.
Glad to join you here.
🐝 conservation scientist
🐝 ecologist & entomologist
🐝 Vermonter
🐝 native plant & veggie gardener
🐝 pinball champ
🐝 lover of hiking, biking, baking, poetry, and crafts/creative pursuits of all kinds.
Glad to join you here.
Reposted by Emily May
See the influential paper and @undark.org commentary on Monsanto's ghostwriting by Alexander Kaurov & @naomioreskes.bsky.social: undark.org/2025/08/15/o... #pesticides #agtwitter
December 3, 2025 at 3:58 PM
See the influential paper and @undark.org commentary on Monsanto's ghostwriting by Alexander Kaurov & @naomioreskes.bsky.social: undark.org/2025/08/15/o... #pesticides #agtwitter
Reposted by Emily May
Boy, retraction is the thing these days. After years of critique, a foundational 25-year old paper on the safety of glyphosate herbicide has been pulled. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... 1/2
December 3, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Boy, retraction is the thing these days. After years of critique, a foundational 25-year old paper on the safety of glyphosate herbicide has been pulled. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... 1/2
Great listen! Wondering how to improve kids’ health and educational experience? Cleaner indoor air might be part of the solution.
Today on Volts: for years, I've wanted to do a podcast on indoor air quality, and I finally found the perfect guest! Dr. Lagoudas & I discuss indoor air pollutants, the policies and technologies that can control them, and the growing need to frame indoor air quality as a basic human right.
What's the deal with indoor air quality?
From CO2 monitors to better building codes, Dr. Georgia Lagoudas outlines how to clean up the spaces where we spend 90% of our lives.
www.volts.wtf
November 28, 2025 at 1:19 AM
Great listen! Wondering how to improve kids’ health and educational experience? Cleaner indoor air might be part of the solution.
Reposted by Emily May
6/ EPA says it's committed to reducing PFAS pollution.
So why does it keep advancing new PFAS pesticides? Especially ones like isocycloseram, a chemical that exceeded levels of concern for bees and aquatic life for most proposed uses?
#PFAS #Pesticides #ForeverChemicals #PublicHealth #EPA
So why does it keep advancing new PFAS pesticides? Especially ones like isocycloseram, a chemical that exceeded levels of concern for bees and aquatic life for most proposed uses?
#PFAS #Pesticides #ForeverChemicals #PublicHealth #EPA
June 6, 2025 at 2:25 PM
6/ EPA says it's committed to reducing PFAS pollution.
So why does it keep advancing new PFAS pesticides? Especially ones like isocycloseram, a chemical that exceeded levels of concern for bees and aquatic life for most proposed uses?
#PFAS #Pesticides #ForeverChemicals #PublicHealth #EPA
So why does it keep advancing new PFAS pesticides? Especially ones like isocycloseram, a chemical that exceeded levels of concern for bees and aquatic life for most proposed uses?
#PFAS #Pesticides #ForeverChemicals #PublicHealth #EPA
Reposted by Emily May
4/ 🐝 Isocycloseram: Proposed broad spectrum insecticide with very high toxicity to aquatic invertebrates and honey bees. Risk quotients exceeded levels of concern for both, in some cases by orders of magnitude. Yet no full field studies for bees were required.
📄 www.regulations.gov/docket/EPA-H...
📄 www.regulations.gov/docket/EPA-H...
Regulations.gov
www.regulations.gov
June 6, 2025 at 2:25 PM
4/ 🐝 Isocycloseram: Proposed broad spectrum insecticide with very high toxicity to aquatic invertebrates and honey bees. Risk quotients exceeded levels of concern for both, in some cases by orders of magnitude. Yet no full field studies for bees were required.
📄 www.regulations.gov/docket/EPA-H...
📄 www.regulations.gov/docket/EPA-H...
Now that EPA has approved several of these, it’s time to bump this thread on PFAS pesticides:
1/ Did you know some pesticides are PFAS (forever chemicals)?
A recent study found 30% of pesticides approved by EPA in the past decade meet the OECD definition of PFAS.
📄 Donley et al. 2024: ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/10.1289/...
A recent study found 30% of pesticides approved by EPA in the past decade meet the OECD definition of PFAS.
📄 Donley et al. 2024: ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/10.1289/...
Forever Pesticides: A Growing Source of PFAS Contamination in the Environment | Environmental Health Perspectives | Vol. 132, No. 7
Background: Environmental contamination by fluorinated chemicals, in particular chemicals from
the per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) class, has raised concerns around the
globe because of doc...
ehp.niehs.nih.gov
November 26, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Now that EPA has approved several of these, it’s time to bump this thread on PFAS pesticides:
Excited to share our new video, Growing Pollinator-Safe Plants: What Nurseries Can Do (and How You Can Help)! 🐝🌸🌎 This project has been 3 years in the making, featuring interviews with nursery managers on steps they take to reduce pesticide risks.
Watch here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcdv...
Watch here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcdv...
Growing Pollinator-Safe Plants: What Nurseries Can Do (and How You Can Help)
YouTube video by The Xerces Society
www.youtube.com
September 26, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Excited to share our new video, Growing Pollinator-Safe Plants: What Nurseries Can Do (and How You Can Help)! 🐝🌸🌎 This project has been 3 years in the making, featuring interviews with nursery managers on steps they take to reduce pesticide risks.
Watch here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcdv...
Watch here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcdv...
Reposted by Emily May
Time for the world to install a gigawatt of solar power capacity
2004: A year
2010: ~ a month
2015: ~ a week
Now: < A day
ourworldindata.org/data-insight... 🧪
2004: A year
2010: ~ a month
2015: ~ a week
Now: < A day
ourworldindata.org/data-insight... 🧪
September 21, 2025 at 9:44 PM
Time for the world to install a gigawatt of solar power capacity
2004: A year
2010: ~ a month
2015: ~ a week
Now: < A day
ourworldindata.org/data-insight... 🧪
2004: A year
2010: ~ a month
2015: ~ a week
Now: < A day
ourworldindata.org/data-insight... 🧪
Exciting new meta-analysis: compared to calendar spraying, threshold-based management cuts insecticide use by 44% and costs by 40% without reducing yields, and supports more beneficial insects. www.nature.com/articles/s43...
Threshold-based management reduces insecticide use by 44% without compromising pest control or crop yield - Communications Earth & Environment
Pest control programs using pest density thresholds cut insecticide uses by 44% and costs by 40%, while maintaining yield and pest suppression, and enhancing beneficial insect populations, as revealed...
www.nature.com
September 12, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Exciting new meta-analysis: compared to calendar spraying, threshold-based management cuts insecticide use by 44% and costs by 40% without reducing yields, and supports more beneficial insects. www.nature.com/articles/s43...
Newly registered or re-registered insecticides and herbicides will be rolling out with labels that may require drift/runoff mitigations to protect ESA-listed species. Learn more about how to navigate the menu of mitigations in a 90 min webinar next Tuesday from EPA: www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/...
Mitigation Math: Webinar Offers Tips to Tally Points for Pesticide Use
In 2026, more pesticide labels are likely to require measures to protect endangered species. EPA is offering a webinar next week to help farmers navigate these requirements.
www.dtnpf.com
September 12, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Newly registered or re-registered insecticides and herbicides will be rolling out with labels that may require drift/runoff mitigations to protect ESA-listed species. Learn more about how to navigate the menu of mitigations in a 90 min webinar next Tuesday from EPA: www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/...
Reposted by Emily May
"Places that are used to fire, to relying and thriving on it, are now encountering fire regimes that are staggeringly different from those with which they evolved...The complex ecologies that thrived alongside their milder predecessors will be pushed beyond the point of recovery." 🌏
August 26, 2025 at 11:41 PM
"Places that are used to fire, to relying and thriving on it, are now encountering fire regimes that are staggeringly different from those with which they evolved...The complex ecologies that thrived alongside their milder predecessors will be pushed beyond the point of recovery." 🌏
Reposted by Emily May
“As classroom temperatures rise over time ... students tend to show declines in attention, memory and test performance,” said @edithdeguzman.bsky.social @ucanr.edu @luskininnovation.bsky.social www.latimes.com/environment/...
Rising heat is causing students to underperform across the globe
A new study, which reviewed dozens of published articles from around the world, found that cumulative heat exposure has negative consequences for students' cognitive outcomes.
www.latimes.com
August 5, 2025 at 7:07 PM
“As classroom temperatures rise over time ... students tend to show declines in attention, memory and test performance,” said @edithdeguzman.bsky.social @ucanr.edu @luskininnovation.bsky.social www.latimes.com/environment/...
Vermont is a soccer state! What an incredible season and undefeated run to the national #USL2 championship @vermontgreenfc.bsky.social
August 3, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Vermont is a soccer state! What an incredible season and undefeated run to the national #USL2 championship @vermontgreenfc.bsky.social
Reposted by Emily May
UNDEFEATED NATIONAL CHAMPIONS! 🏆
THE INVINCIBLES! ✨
YOUR VERMONT GREEN FOOTBALL CLUB! 💚
THE INVINCIBLES! ✨
YOUR VERMONT GREEN FOOTBALL CLUB! 💚
August 3, 2025 at 1:25 AM
UNDEFEATED NATIONAL CHAMPIONS! 🏆
THE INVINCIBLES! ✨
YOUR VERMONT GREEN FOOTBALL CLUB! 💚
THE INVINCIBLES! ✨
YOUR VERMONT GREEN FOOTBALL CLUB! 💚
Reposted by Emily May
Hundreds of monarch butterflies died in a winter 2024 event. Investigation implicated multiple pyrethroid insecticides:
tinyurl.com/3h3y7wuf
From The Guardian:
"Combinations of pesticides can have a synergistic effect that makes them even more toxic.
The solution...less pesticides."
🧪🌍🦋
tinyurl.com/3h3y7wuf
From The Guardian:
"Combinations of pesticides can have a synergistic effect that makes them even more toxic.
The solution...less pesticides."
🧪🌍🦋
Monarch butterflies’ mass die-off in 2024 caused by pesticide exposure – study
New peer-reviewed research found an average of seven pesticides in each of 10 butterflies tested
www.theguardian.com
August 2, 2025 at 4:32 AM
Hundreds of monarch butterflies died in a winter 2024 event. Investigation implicated multiple pyrethroid insecticides:
tinyurl.com/3h3y7wuf
From The Guardian:
"Combinations of pesticides can have a synergistic effect that makes them even more toxic.
The solution...less pesticides."
🧪🌍🦋
tinyurl.com/3h3y7wuf
From The Guardian:
"Combinations of pesticides can have a synergistic effect that makes them even more toxic.
The solution...less pesticides."
🧪🌍🦋
Reposted by Emily May
Starlink's connection speeds drop below the federal definition of "broadband" at a density of ~7 customers per square mile, according to recent research. The more the customers in an area, the slower everybody's connections get. Data shows that 83% of US Starlink customers get sub-broadband speeds.
thexlab.org
July 21, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Starlink's connection speeds drop below the federal definition of "broadband" at a density of ~7 customers per square mile, according to recent research. The more the customers in an area, the slower everybody's connections get. Data shows that 83% of US Starlink customers get sub-broadband speeds.
Reposted by Emily May
US scientists describe the effects of Trump's cuts.
“If you cut the funding to the people who are doing the work right now, you don’t know what they would have innovated in 10 years or 15 years or 32 years like Rosalind Yalow. We don’t know what we’re losing.”
🧪
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
“If you cut the funding to the people who are doing the work right now, you don’t know what they would have innovated in 10 years or 15 years or 32 years like Rosalind Yalow. We don’t know what we’re losing.”
🧪
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
‘A disaster for all of us’: US scientists describe impact of Trump cuts
President’s assault on science –particularly climate science – has led to unprecedented funding cuts and staff layoffs
www.theguardian.com
July 21, 2025 at 8:28 AM
US scientists describe the effects of Trump's cuts.
“If you cut the funding to the people who are doing the work right now, you don’t know what they would have innovated in 10 years or 15 years or 32 years like Rosalind Yalow. We don’t know what we’re losing.”
🧪
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
“If you cut the funding to the people who are doing the work right now, you don’t know what they would have innovated in 10 years or 15 years or 32 years like Rosalind Yalow. We don’t know what we’re losing.”
🧪
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
USDA rescinded more than $1 billion in regional conservation grants. These local partnerships help make federal dollars go further. Without RCPP investment, tens of thousands of acres of land and water conservation projects won’t happen. www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/...
Groups Weigh Options After USDA Rescinds $1 Billion in Regional Conservation Grants
In June, USDA canceled more than $1 billion in conservation grants to nearly 70 groups under the Regional Conservation Partnership Program. Some groups are appealing USDA's decision. Meanwhile, other ...
www.dtnpf.com
July 12, 2025 at 4:10 PM
USDA rescinded more than $1 billion in regional conservation grants. These local partnerships help make federal dollars go further. Without RCPP investment, tens of thousands of acres of land and water conservation projects won’t happen. www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/...
USDA disaster assistance is now open for farmers hit by 2023–24 storms or weather events! If you had crop insurance or NAP, check your mail for a pre-filled form and apply at your local USDA office. A separate sign-up for uninsured losses is coming this fall. www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/...
USDA Opens up Natural Disaster Aid for Crop Farmers Who Faced 2023, 2024 Losses
USDA has opened up enrollment for the Supplemental Disaster Relief Program (SDRP), which will provide aid to crop farmers who suffered losses in 2023 and 2024 due to natural disasters. The first stage...
www.dtnpf.com
July 12, 2025 at 4:02 PM
USDA disaster assistance is now open for farmers hit by 2023–24 storms or weather events! If you had crop insurance or NAP, check your mail for a pre-filled form and apply at your local USDA office. A separate sign-up for uninsured losses is coming this fall. www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/...
Third year of flooding on July 10th in Vermont - the impacts are being felt, and the urgency is real.
"With the data now showing faster warming than anticipated, a lot of policies now need to be urgently updated with a matching acceleration of ambition.
Acceleration means net-zero by 2050 is simply not good enough to avoid the disastrous impacts of rapid climate change..."
Acceleration means net-zero by 2050 is simply not good enough to avoid the disastrous impacts of rapid climate change..."
The widely acknowledged acceleration of global warming has deep policy implications, not just for climate policy, but everything from migration to insurance, from food security to building codes.
drtomharris.substack.com/p/what-accel...
#climatechange #acceleration #policy #migration #finance
drtomharris.substack.com/p/what-accel...
#climatechange #acceleration #policy #migration #finance
July 11, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Third year of flooding on July 10th in Vermont - the impacts are being felt, and the urgency is real.
Reposted by Emily May
🚨 New paper published in @nature.com today by L. Monclús, H. P. H. Arp, K. J. Groh, A. Faltynkova, M. E. Løseth, J Muncke, Z. Wang, R. Wolf, L. Zimmermann & M. Wagner 👇
Mapping the #chemical complexity of #plastics
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Mapping the #chemical complexity of #plastics
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Mapping the chemical complexity of plastics - Nature
An inventory of 16,325 known plastic chemicals, including >4,200 hazardous compounds, supports the development of safer plastics.
www.nature.com
July 9, 2025 at 6:10 PM
🚨 New paper published in @nature.com today by L. Monclús, H. P. H. Arp, K. J. Groh, A. Faltynkova, M. E. Løseth, J Muncke, Z. Wang, R. Wolf, L. Zimmermann & M. Wagner 👇
Mapping the #chemical complexity of #plastics
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Mapping the #chemical complexity of #plastics
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Emily May
On Aug 1, tariff rates are scheduled to rise to historic highs. average tariffs on women’s clothing will rise to 48 percent, wine to 20 percent, and toys to nearly 50 percent.
taxpolicycenter.org/taxvox/too-m...
taxpolicycenter.org/taxvox/too-m...
July 9, 2025 at 12:10 PM
On Aug 1, tariff rates are scheduled to rise to historic highs. average tariffs on women’s clothing will rise to 48 percent, wine to 20 percent, and toys to nearly 50 percent.
taxpolicycenter.org/taxvox/too-m...
taxpolicycenter.org/taxvox/too-m...
So sad to hear about Sheila’s passing. She was a brilliant native bee scientist, advocate, and mom, gone far too soon. The world feels smaller today.
Rest in power, Sheila. We’ll keep fighting for the wild things and for justice, as you did fiercely and with so much heart. 🐝🌻💛
Rest in power, Sheila. We’ll keep fighting for the wild things and for justice, as you did fiercely and with so much heart. 🐝🌻💛
If you can, please donate to help with funeral costs and supporting her family. RIP Sheila Colla. www.gofundme.com/f/support-sh...
Donate to Support Sheila Colla Through Cancer Treatment, organized by Anna Penner
There is a good chance that you already know Sheila Colla: she is a brillian… Anna Penner needs your support for Support Sheila Colla Through Cancer Treatment
www.gofundme.com
July 9, 2025 at 11:07 AM
So sad to hear about Sheila’s passing. She was a brilliant native bee scientist, advocate, and mom, gone far too soon. The world feels smaller today.
Rest in power, Sheila. We’ll keep fighting for the wild things and for justice, as you did fiercely and with so much heart. 🐝🌻💛
Rest in power, Sheila. We’ll keep fighting for the wild things and for justice, as you did fiercely and with so much heart. 🐝🌻💛
Reposted by Emily May
BREAKING: Scientists are staging a “science fair” in the lobby of a Congressional building to tell elected officials about the critical knowledge the US will lose because their research grants have been canceled.
July 8, 2025 at 3:31 PM
BREAKING: Scientists are staging a “science fair” in the lobby of a Congressional building to tell elected officials about the critical knowledge the US will lose because their research grants have been canceled.
In January 2024, 200 monarchs were found dead or dying on the ground at a CA overwintering site. The likely culprit? Nearby residential/commercial pesticide use. 1/ academic.oup.com/etc/advance-...
Pyrethroid insecticides implicated in mass mortality of monarch butterflies at an overwintering site in California
Abstract. Since the 1980s, monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus plexippus) populations across North America have declined by 80–95%. Although several studie
academic.oup.com
July 2, 2025 at 1:22 PM
In January 2024, 200 monarchs were found dead or dying on the ground at a CA overwintering site. The likely culprit? Nearby residential/commercial pesticide use. 1/ academic.oup.com/etc/advance-...