J. Chris Pires
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jchrispires.bsky.social
J. Chris Pires
@jchrispires.bsky.social
Professor passionate about student success & team science #firstgen #Brassica enthusiast walking Dogs of the Plant World
#Agriculture #Food #HigherEd #EduSky #Agsky #SciComm & more
#Soil #Crop #Science ; opinions mine
Pinned
Traveled to Columbia, Missouri, to celebrate the successful #PhD defenses of my last two esteemed graduate students at the University of Missouri-Columbia! Michael Pisias (PhD Plant Biology, advised by Bing Yang); & Shawn K. Thomas (PhD Biology, co-advised by Jacob Washburn). #Crop #Evolution #agsky
Reposted by J. Chris Pires
Get inspired for your academic website 💻

Check out the award winners in this year's Best Personal Academic Websites Contest 🏆🎉

Hosted by Jennifer van Alstyne @jenvanalstyne.bsky.social, Ian Li @owlstown.com, and Brittany Trinh #AcademicSky #ScienceSky

theacademicdesigner.com/2025/winners...
November 9, 2025 at 1:01 AM
Reposted by J. Chris Pires
#AcademicSky #SciComm 🧪 — word use matters
When climate scientists say an outcome is “unlikely,” do you hear “it probably won’t happen” or “scientists aren’t sure”?

A new study shows word choice can influence perception of scientific consensus

Does “a small probability” sound more confident to you?

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Negative verbal probabilities undermine communication of climate science - Nature Climate Change
Effective communication of uncertainty is vital for public accurate understanding of climate science. Here the authors find that projections using positive probability terms (for example, a small prob...
www.nature.com
November 9, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Reposted by J. Chris Pires
Did u know?This might look mundane, but leaving areas of grass to grow long & stay long is one of the best things you can do to help small souls in the chilly months.For e.g, many b'fly caterpillars feed on grass throughout the winter - Small Heaths,Meadow Browns & Ringlets,so leave it long. 🌿🌱🇬🇧🌱🌍🪲🐛
November 9, 2025 at 5:47 AM
Reposted by J. Chris Pires
Good Sunday morning. A misty blue sky to greet us Blueskyers in London and an 80% waxing gibbous Moon! #astronomy #astrophotography @stormhour.com @photohour.bsky.social
November 9, 2025 at 7:48 AM
Reposted by J. Chris Pires
#VenusExpress science highlights included:

🌀 the complexity of polar vortices
🌋 hints of current volcanic activity
🫧 first ever detection of atmospheric water loss

Read more 👉 https://f.mtr.cool/gfaumrkior 

3/ 🔭
Venus Express science highlights
A global investigation of the Venusian atmosphere
f.mtr.cool
November 9, 2025 at 8:01 AM
Reposted by J. Chris Pires
20 years ago today, our first mission to Venus was launched 🎉

#VenusExpress gave us a unique global picture of our nearest planetary neighbour and paved the way to #ESAEnvision. 

1/ 🔭🧪
#planetsci
November 9, 2025 at 8:01 AM
Reposted by J. Chris Pires
Trump's war on solar furloughs 1000

"it’s being penalized by Customs. The US government under Trump says it’s keen on boosting domestic manufacturing. Why would it work against a company that’s onshoring an entire solar supply chain, including recycling?"
electrek.co/2025/11/07/u... #energysky
US Customs delays force solar giant Qcells to furlough 1,000 workers
Solar panel giant Qcells is furloughing 1,000 workers in Georgia due to supply chain delays caused by US Customs.
electrek.co
November 9, 2025 at 11:52 AM
Reposted by J. Chris Pires
"Look again at that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives."

― Carl Sagan, born 9 November 1934

Video Credit: @planetarysociety.bsky.social

#PaleBlueDot 🔭 🧪 #CarlSagan
November 9, 2025 at 6:21 PM
Reposted by J. Chris Pires
James 2:15-17
"Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead."
November 9, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Reposted by J. Chris Pires
Also if you're like, what what the heck is going on? I got you. I helped put together this timeline of the two dozen stories I've done about the work Trump has done to block funding to SNAP. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/u...
A Timeline of the Legal Saga Surrounding SNAP Payments
www.nytimes.com
November 9, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Reposted by J. Chris Pires
NEW: The Trump admin told states it must immediately "undo" the work to provide full food stamp benefits, or face penalties. The feds sent this in a late-night memo, only adding to the chaos and confusion around SNAP. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/09/b...
Trump Administration Demands States ‘Undo’ Work to Send Full Food Stamps
www.nytimes.com
November 9, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Reposted by J. Chris Pires
🚨 Trump is following Project 2025 to starve Americans, kids:

Project 2025: "the White House must strongly support these reforms... there would be opposition from left-of-center groups who do not want to reform SNAP and would expand welfare and dependency—such as through universal free school meals"
NEW: The Trump admin told states it must immediately "undo" the work to provide full food stamp benefits, or face penalties. The feds sent this in a late-night memo, only adding to the chaos and confusion around SNAP. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/09/b...
Trump Administration Demands States ‘Undo’ Work to Send Full Food Stamps
www.nytimes.com
November 9, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Reposted by J. Chris Pires
Hakeem Jeffries: “It’s not reasonable for Donald Trump to withhold intentionally SNAP benefits from 42 million Americans. It’s not reasonable for Republicans to devastate the healthcare of the American people to find $40 billion to bail out their right-wing dictator friend in Argentina.“
November 9, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Reposted by J. Chris Pires
This is the food-distribution line at Nellis Air Force Base. Active-duty U.S.
service members waiting for basic assistance because Trump gutted
SNAP support for military families.
Trump's predatory regime refuse to offer these military families the financial relief they deserve.
(🎥hatteri621)
November 9, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Reposted by J. Chris Pires
Scaling back DEI isn’t just a moral setback—it’s a loss of innovation.

Bhalla, Trejo & @marymunson4.bsky.social in Nature Cell Biology: limiting who can participate in science “weakens research capacity and stifles discovery.”

doi.org/10.1038/s415...
November 3, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Reposted by J. Chris Pires
Love the idea of the "deletion test" posed by @needhibhalla.bsky.social & coauthors in their commentary about costs of cutting DEI efforts in science.

What if that student were "deleted?" What will the costs be?

Screenshots attached to enhance access. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
November 5, 2025 at 8:49 PM
Reposted by J. Chris Pires
🚨 NASA scientists warn: critical equipment at Goddard Space Flight Center could be discarded during the shutdown, jeopardizing decades of Earth & space science missions.

📢 Act now: agu.quorum.us/campaign/146...

#sciencepolicy #saveNASA
November 7, 2025 at 12:45 AM
Reposted by J. Chris Pires
🧪 Two of my favorite sci-things!

Already run q.e.d on my latest bioRxiv submissions :)
November 7, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Reposted by J. Chris Pires
Remember: There is nothing natural or inevitable about extreme inequality; it’s the result of an economic system that values wealth and power over human dignity and justice.

It doesn't have to be this way.
November 8, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Reposted by J. Chris Pires
Senate Dems, do not cave. Ensuring healthcare premiums don’t surge is an 80-20 issue. They want to gut the ACA because their disdain for Obama far outweighs their concern for anyone’s health.
November 8, 2025 at 7:36 PM
Reposted by J. Chris Pires
ICE is inflicting a lifetime of trauma on families. And it’s being carried out in the name of the United States of America.
November 8, 2025 at 7:53 PM
Reposted by J. Chris Pires
Republicans waged a relentless, decades-long campaign to privatize Medicare and Medicaid

They fought even mild efforts to expand public insurance

Now they are objecting to extending extra ACA subsidies, supposedly because money flows to private insurers

We are supposed to take this seriously?
November 8, 2025 at 7:56 PM
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We will not let Minnesotans go hungry.
November 8, 2025 at 8:13 PM
Reposted by J. Chris Pires
His "concept" of a Healthcare Plan is finally revealed. It involves eliminating the Insurance Industry & people purchasing their OWN, MUCH BETTER, HEALTHCARE. Unrelated, note his obsessive envy of Obama, historically rated 1 of our finest presidents, who he still believes was born in Kenya.

#sad 🤣
November 8, 2025 at 8:28 PM