Michael Paul Nelson
@michaelpaulnelson.bsky.social
philosopher, writer, consultant, speaker, professor.
environmental and climate ethics, forests and wildlife, concepts, reason, arguments. undisciplined.
oregon state university 🦫
www.michaelpnelson.com
environmental and climate ethics, forests and wildlife, concepts, reason, arguments. undisciplined.
oregon state university 🦫
www.michaelpnelson.com
Reposted by Michael Paul Nelson
Best advice is to wear little bells, so the bears know you're coming, and carry bear spray. It also helps to be able to identify scat. Black bear scat has undigested bits of berries and twigs. Grizzly bear scat smells like bear spray and has little bells in it.
November 24, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Best advice is to wear little bells, so the bears know you're coming, and carry bear spray. It also helps to be able to identify scat. Black bear scat has undigested bits of berries and twigs. Grizzly bear scat smells like bear spray and has little bells in it.
“We are nearly out of time…but not out of choices. The whale asks for more space. The river asks for standing. The tern asks for habitat and room. We can give it.”
Lovely piece!
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
Lovely piece!
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
The last frontier of empathy: why we still struggle to see ourselves as animals | Megan Mayhew Bergman
Champions of exceptionalism say humans hold a unique moral status. Yet there’s only one species recklessly destroying the planet it needs to survive
www.theguardian.com
November 18, 2025 at 10:32 AM
“We are nearly out of time…but not out of choices. The whale asks for more space. The river asks for standing. The tern asks for habitat and room. We can give it.”
Lovely piece!
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
Lovely piece!
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
So glad, you and Johnny are definitely Number 1!
November 15, 2025 at 12:13 AM
So glad, you and Johnny are definitely Number 1!
Reposted by Michael Paul Nelson
What is the most profitable industry in the world, this side of the law? Not oil, not IT, not pharma.
It's *scientific publishing*.
We call this the Drain of Scientific Publishing.
Paper: arxiv.org/abs/2511.04820
Background: doi.org/10.1162/qss_...
Thread @markhanson.fediscience.org.ap.brid.gy 👇
It's *scientific publishing*.
We call this the Drain of Scientific Publishing.
Paper: arxiv.org/abs/2511.04820
Background: doi.org/10.1162/qss_...
Thread @markhanson.fediscience.org.ap.brid.gy 👇
November 12, 2025 at 10:31 AM
What is the most profitable industry in the world, this side of the law? Not oil, not IT, not pharma.
It's *scientific publishing*.
We call this the Drain of Scientific Publishing.
Paper: arxiv.org/abs/2511.04820
Background: doi.org/10.1162/qss_...
Thread @markhanson.fediscience.org.ap.brid.gy 👇
It's *scientific publishing*.
We call this the Drain of Scientific Publishing.
Paper: arxiv.org/abs/2511.04820
Background: doi.org/10.1162/qss_...
Thread @markhanson.fediscience.org.ap.brid.gy 👇
“It still feels like something is chasing me, but nowadays, I walk alone.”
@sarahkendzior.bsky.social
sarahkendzior.substack.com/p/election-d...
@sarahkendzior.bsky.social
sarahkendzior.substack.com/p/election-d...
Election Day, 1990
A tale of simpler times, and the poem I wrote about Trump when I was twelve.
sarahkendzior.substack.com
November 9, 2025 at 2:14 PM
“It still feels like something is chasing me, but nowadays, I walk alone.”
@sarahkendzior.bsky.social
sarahkendzior.substack.com/p/election-d...
@sarahkendzior.bsky.social
sarahkendzior.substack.com/p/election-d...
Some, I hear, might even spend 75% of their time thinking about this, or contacting colleagues at other places, or reading about emigration, etc.
Yup! 75% of us are considering leaving (/made plans to leave/already left) 😢 🧪
www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...
www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...
Top researchers consider leaving U.S. amid funding cuts: 'The science world is ending'
A poll from the journal Nature found that 75% of researchers in the U.S. are considering leaving the country. That includes a man who’s been dubbed the "Mozart of Math." Stephanie Sy examines what’s b...
www.pbs.org
November 2, 2025 at 9:33 PM
Some, I hear, might even spend 75% of their time thinking about this, or contacting colleagues at other places, or reading about emigration, etc.
"He took a hard look around
He saw people were starving all over the place
While others were painting the town"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FV9d...
He saw people were starving all over the place
While others were painting the town"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FV9d...
07 - Randy Newman - The World Isn't Fair
YouTube video by Eitoants P.
www.youtube.com
November 2, 2025 at 2:31 PM
"He took a hard look around
He saw people were starving all over the place
While others were painting the town"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FV9d...
He saw people were starving all over the place
While others were painting the town"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FV9d...
Professors in a lot of places in the US feel under siege.
Politics trumps salary as the main reason academics are looking for jobs in other states
go.nature.com/4nNxMql
go.nature.com/4nNxMql
Policed and censored: professors in the southern US feel under siege
Politics trumps salary as the main reason academics are looking for jobs in other states, a survey of university educators shows.
go.nature.com
October 30, 2025 at 12:48 PM
Professors in a lot of places in the US feel under siege.
Reposted by Michael Paul Nelson
“If we know something irrevocable has been set into motion — if we already know where the story begins and where it ends — what, then, do we do with the middle? With that space of possibility in between?”
Yes! In this space there’s a lot of work to do!
www.hcn.org/issues/57-10...
Yes! In this space there’s a lot of work to do!
www.hcn.org/issues/57-10...
Watching the Oregon ash vanish - High Country News
The emerald ash borer is killing the native tree. How do we make the most of the time while it’s still here?
www.hcn.org
October 28, 2025 at 5:27 PM
“If we know something irrevocable has been set into motion — if we already know where the story begins and where it ends — what, then, do we do with the middle? With that space of possibility in between?”
Yes! In this space there’s a lot of work to do!
www.hcn.org/issues/57-10...
Yes! In this space there’s a lot of work to do!
www.hcn.org/issues/57-10...
“But as long as we are alive, as long as we are resolved, as long as we are taking action to stop the worst of this, as long as we are trying to make America and the world even a bit better — have no doubt: We will triumph.”
I believe future generations will look back on this scourge and see not just what was destroyed but also what was born. Some thoughts for your Sunday... https://robertreich.substack.com/p/sunday-thought-were-winning
October 26, 2025 at 6:24 PM
“But as long as we are alive, as long as we are resolved, as long as we are taking action to stop the worst of this, as long as we are trying to make America and the world even a bit better — have no doubt: We will triumph.”
Reposted by Michael Paul Nelson
There is no current writer whose wisdom and insight I respect more than @mollymckew.bsky.social’s. This piece beautifully sums up where we are, what we face, and how we shall prevail, and it has left me in tears:
The sacred American spaces desecrated by the American president
The American faithful must find their voice if the divine American idea is to survive
open.substack.com
October 26, 2025 at 2:11 PM
There is no current writer whose wisdom and insight I respect more than @mollymckew.bsky.social’s. This piece beautifully sums up where we are, what we face, and how we shall prevail, and it has left me in tears:
Reposted by Michael Paul Nelson
Writer milestone!
I have a poem in a biology textbook!
I’m really delighted by this.
(Thanks to Margaret Riley and Princeton University Press for reaching out.)
I have a poem in a biology textbook!
I’m really delighted by this.
(Thanks to Margaret Riley and Princeton University Press for reaching out.)
October 24, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Writer milestone!
I have a poem in a biology textbook!
I’m really delighted by this.
(Thanks to Margaret Riley and Princeton University Press for reaching out.)
I have a poem in a biology textbook!
I’m really delighted by this.
(Thanks to Margaret Riley and Princeton University Press for reaching out.)
“The higher-education sector remains disorganized,” the "administration will continue to use that to their advantage.”
www.chronicle.com/article/many...
www.chronicle.com/article/many...
Many Colleges Have Turned Down Trump’s Compact. Now Some Are Willing to Talk.
The openness to talking to the White House points to the continued division in the sector about how best to interact with the Trump administration.
www.chronicle.com
October 22, 2025 at 3:42 PM
“The higher-education sector remains disorganized,” the "administration will continue to use that to their advantage.”
www.chronicle.com/article/many...
www.chronicle.com/article/many...
October 18, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Reposted by Michael Paul Nelson
For no reason at all: I suggest you take time & watch footage from the Hong Kong democracy protests — specifically 2019-2020 protests. Get a sense of what tech-enabled anti-protest policing looks like. Those kids came up with wild stuff to withstand/neutralize “non-lethal” crowd control techniques.
October 17, 2025 at 4:53 PM
For no reason at all: I suggest you take time & watch footage from the Hong Kong democracy protests — specifically 2019-2020 protests. Get a sense of what tech-enabled anti-protest policing looks like. Those kids came up with wild stuff to withstand/neutralize “non-lethal” crowd control techniques.
Reposted by Michael Paul Nelson
Highly recommend this book!
October 12, 2025 at 10:42 PM
Highly recommend this book!
The Kings - This Beat Goes On/Switchin' to Glide
YouTube video by thekingsarehere
youtu.be
October 11, 2025 at 4:00 AM
Last installment of short films from the Arachne Project. What a nice series!
www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...
www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...
The Arachne Project - YouTube
A changing world and a changing vision of the role of humans in the world invite a radical reimagining of conservation. What emerging visions and values shou...
www.youtube.com
September 30, 2025 at 1:09 PM
Last installment of short films from the Arachne Project. What a nice series!
www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...
www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...