Norm Douglas
@ringstem.bsky.social
Botanist and evolutionary biologist.
Reposted by Norm Douglas
This is probably a minor thing to fixate on in the whole mess of nonsense that was Jurassic World: Rebirth, but I can't get over the Dunkleosteus head pulled up by fisherman in the beginning. Where the hell did inGen or whoever get its DNA from? 🧵 1/
July 31, 2025 at 5:39 PM
This is probably a minor thing to fixate on in the whole mess of nonsense that was Jurassic World: Rebirth, but I can't get over the Dunkleosteus head pulled up by fisherman in the beginning. Where the hell did inGen or whoever get its DNA from? 🧵 1/
We must all hang together or we will all hang separately.
In which a Yale prof calls for jettisoning humanities to make way for science-only universities.
“scientists… are being punished for the sins of [humanities scholars] because we all live under one roof. I cannot see a compelling reason for our continued cohabitation.”
“scientists… are being punished for the sins of [humanities scholars] because we all live under one roof. I cannot see a compelling reason for our continued cohabitation.”
Unyoke the Sciences From the Humanities
Arts and sciences typically cohabitate. Should they?
thedispatch.com
August 14, 2025 at 2:03 AM
We must all hang together or we will all hang separately.
Thunderstorm got me trapped in my little greenhouse with two dogs and a beer.
July 16, 2025 at 11:18 PM
Thunderstorm got me trapped in my little greenhouse with two dogs and a beer.
Atala, Eumaeus atala, at Selby Botanical Garden in Sarasota. Larvae feed on cycads!
June 20, 2025 at 7:23 PM
Atala, Eumaeus atala, at Selby Botanical Garden in Sarasota. Larvae feed on cycads!
Reposted by Norm Douglas
"If you don't know anything, you don't have a problem."
Measuring biodiversity and ecosystem health is crucial to knowing how rapidly decline is taking place and if anything we are doing is helping to mitigate our impact. If this passes, we will be flying blindly into oblivion.
Measuring biodiversity and ecosystem health is crucial to knowing how rapidly decline is taking place and if anything we are doing is helping to mitigate our impact. If this passes, we will be flying blindly into oblivion.
The USGS Ecosystems Mission Area (EMA) leads federal research on species & ecosystems and houses the Climate Adaptation Science Centers.
OMB spokesperson to NPR: EMA is "obviously irrelevant to science and is exactly the kind of waste President Trump ran on rooting out of the federal government."
OMB spokesperson to NPR: EMA is "obviously irrelevant to science and is exactly the kind of waste President Trump ran on rooting out of the federal government."
This federal program helps track America's ecosystems. Trump's budget would gut it
Buried in the Trump administration's proposed 2026 budget is the near elimination of something called the Ecosystems Mission Area. It's a program that monitors living things and the health of the land...
www.npr.org
June 20, 2025 at 7:01 PM
"If you don't know anything, you don't have a problem."
Measuring biodiversity and ecosystem health is crucial to knowing how rapidly decline is taking place and if anything we are doing is helping to mitigate our impact. If this passes, we will be flying blindly into oblivion.
Measuring biodiversity and ecosystem health is crucial to knowing how rapidly decline is taking place and if anything we are doing is helping to mitigate our impact. If this passes, we will be flying blindly into oblivion.
As a Norm, this is officially the end of an era.
"It's a dog-eat-dog world, and I'm wearing Milk-Bone underwear."
RIP, George Wendt
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXED...
RIP, George Wendt
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXED...
Cheers | Every Time Norm Peterson Enters the Bar
YouTube video by Peacock
www.youtube.com
May 20, 2025 at 10:27 PM
As a Norm, this is officially the end of an era.
I love this account.
The crevalle jacks were really booking it today 🐟🐟🐟💨💨💨 #jackcrevalle #jack #school #bookingit #coral #coralhead #coralcitycamera #miami #portmiami #biscaynebay #bfi #noaa #aoml #coralcity #civicpridethroughbiodiversity #glennnevis #coralcityfoundation #ccf #kbcf #keybiscaynecommunityfoundation
May 19, 2025 at 11:36 PM
I love this account.
That’s neat.
Adult Lego has taken the world by storm, from Vincent van Gogh’s The Starry Night to Harry Potter sets and the increasingly popular Lego botanical collections. There seems to be a Lego set for everyone. Now there may be a special Cape Floral Kingdom set joining the collection.
FYNBOS INSPIRATION: Bricks nation — Cape Floral Kingdom reimagined in Lego by local designer
www.dailymaverick.co.za
May 19, 2025 at 11:35 PM
That’s neat.
this is the way
I've used tenbluelinks.org to great success
How to Turn Off Google AI Overview and Set "Web" as Default
tenbluelinks.org
May 8, 2025 at 11:39 PM
this is the way
iNat says this is Ammophila pictipennis. How does this waist make any sense?
May 5, 2025 at 9:52 PM
iNat says this is Ammophila pictipennis. How does this waist make any sense?
On Friday, my son stayed home from school because he had a sore throat and wasn’t feeling well. He went with my husband to his office for the morning while I handled our daughter. When he came back at lunch, he was not interested in eating, saying his throat hurt too much. 1/n
May 5, 2025 at 9:06 PM
Reposted by Norm Douglas
NEW: DeSantis directed the University of Florida to cancel a nearly-complete search for its next dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences — because the governor believed the finalists were not in alignment with the state's opposition to DEI
U. of Florida Calls Off Dean Search After DeSantis Intervenes
A spokesperson said the governor’s office stepped in after a right-wing group posted videos of the finalists on social media and claimed they were “radical progressives with disdain for Florida’s DEI ...
www.chronicle.com
April 25, 2025 at 10:58 PM
NEW: DeSantis directed the University of Florida to cancel a nearly-complete search for its next dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences — because the governor believed the finalists were not in alignment with the state's opposition to DEI
Merch for UF’s national championship, which was played in San Antonio, Texas. Whoever chose the background was absolutely trolling this botanist.
Saguaro-itis strikes again.
Saguaro-itis strikes again.
April 23, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Merch for UF’s national championship, which was played in San Antonio, Texas. Whoever chose the background was absolutely trolling this botanist.
Saguaro-itis strikes again.
Saguaro-itis strikes again.
Reposted by Norm Douglas
You can’t sell timber if no one is buying. This is like opening up drilling in the arctic. No one is bidding. Sure they’ll sell a little timber, but it will be taxpayer subsidized timber.
President Trump has directed federal agencies to examine ways to bypass endangered species protections and other environmental regulations to ramp up logging across 280 million acres of national forests and other public lands.
Trump Moves to Increase Logging in National Forests
The president wants to circumvent environmental regulations to expand timber production, something sought by homebuilders and the construction industry.
www.nytimes.com
March 3, 2025 at 2:02 AM
You can’t sell timber if no one is buying. This is like opening up drilling in the arctic. No one is bidding. Sure they’ll sell a little timber, but it will be taxpayer subsidized timber.
Reposted by Norm Douglas
This is a bigger issue than people realize. Not just jobs lost. But their families losing benefits. Landlords losing tenants. Cities and towns losing revenue. This is how recessions start
Ready Fire Aim is no way to govern.
Ready Fire Aim is no way to govern.
More accurate, fewer words;
"There are plenty of contractors going under".
A friend furloughed 75% of staff (furlough w/paying for health insurance for three months), 50% exec pay cut, 25% rest of staff to keep as many people w/salary.
PS: Wasn't 18F a government office, not a contractor.
"There are plenty of contractors going under".
A friend furloughed 75% of staff (furlough w/paying for health insurance for three months), 50% exec pay cut, 25% rest of staff to keep as many people w/salary.
PS: Wasn't 18F a government office, not a contractor.
March 2, 2025 at 2:14 PM
This is a bigger issue than people realize. Not just jobs lost. But their families losing benefits. Landlords losing tenants. Cities and towns losing revenue. This is how recessions start
Ready Fire Aim is no way to govern.
Ready Fire Aim is no way to govern.
Quote post with a picture you took in a National Park.
Some UF Biology students who journeyed from Florida to study the biodiversity of the desert southwest- here completing an incredible hike of Arch Canyon, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. This class doesn’t happen w/o our public lands!
Some UF Biology students who journeyed from Florida to study the biodiversity of the desert southwest- here completing an incredible hike of Arch Canyon, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. This class doesn’t happen w/o our public lands!
February 25, 2025 at 10:33 PM
Quote post with a picture you took in a National Park.
Some UF Biology students who journeyed from Florida to study the biodiversity of the desert southwest- here completing an incredible hike of Arch Canyon, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. This class doesn’t happen w/o our public lands!
Some UF Biology students who journeyed from Florida to study the biodiversity of the desert southwest- here completing an incredible hike of Arch Canyon, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. This class doesn’t happen w/o our public lands!
Reposted by Norm Douglas
Reposted by Norm Douglas
The point is this:
Scientists are accused of being partisan. I say embrace it.
We're not lying for political reasons. We are defending science as a way of knowing, and as a humanitarian endeavor to help even those groups that are disenfranchised by people in power. If that's partisan so be it.
Scientists are accused of being partisan. I say embrace it.
We're not lying for political reasons. We are defending science as a way of knowing, and as a humanitarian endeavor to help even those groups that are disenfranchised by people in power. If that's partisan so be it.
February 2, 2025 at 6:22 AM
The point is this:
Scientists are accused of being partisan. I say embrace it.
We're not lying for political reasons. We are defending science as a way of knowing, and as a humanitarian endeavor to help even those groups that are disenfranchised by people in power. If that's partisan so be it.
Scientists are accused of being partisan. I say embrace it.
We're not lying for political reasons. We are defending science as a way of knowing, and as a humanitarian endeavor to help even those groups that are disenfranchised by people in power. If that's partisan so be it.
Reposted by Norm Douglas
So it turns out that compared to centralized distribution of digital information on the web, printed material in libraries provided a kind of distributed defense against the casual whims of an authoritarian government aiming to rewrite history.
February 3, 2025 at 6:56 PM
So it turns out that compared to centralized distribution of digital information on the web, printed material in libraries provided a kind of distributed defense against the casual whims of an authoritarian government aiming to rewrite history.
Reposted by Norm Douglas
Imagine if you're a graduate student who knows they are funded on a federal grant, but doesn't understand the distinction between disbursed and undisbursed funds. You might reasonably think you won't get paid next week even if there is a year or more of your support in a university account already.
If you run a university research lab please reach out to your folks today to explain any impacts the OMB grant pause memo will have on them, both short-term (will they get paid next week) and medium-term. Communication with your folks is important even if you're still figuring out the details.
January 28, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Imagine if you're a graduate student who knows they are funded on a federal grant, but doesn't understand the distinction between disbursed and undisbursed funds. You might reasonably think you won't get paid next week even if there is a year or more of your support in a university account already.
Reposted by Norm Douglas
Phyllochrysa may have also been mimicking Selaginella, which was later identified from the Myanmar amber by Schmidt et al, 2022. This is a diagram I made for a blog in 2019, so it needs updating.
Also, just a note: Myanmar amber is ethically horrible, and studies on it should no longer be supported.
Also, just a note: Myanmar amber is ethically horrible, and studies on it should no longer be supported.
January 28, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Phyllochrysa may have also been mimicking Selaginella, which was later identified from the Myanmar amber by Schmidt et al, 2022. This is a diagram I made for a blog in 2019, so it needs updating.
Also, just a note: Myanmar amber is ethically horrible, and studies on it should no longer be supported.
Also, just a note: Myanmar amber is ethically horrible, and studies on it should no longer be supported.