Nick Barber 🌋
@volcannick.bsky.social
Asst Professor, geoscientist, volcanophile
magma, metals, and minerals 🌋🪨🛰️Philadelphian 🦅, father, husband. he/him. www.volcannick.com
Opinions my own
magma, metals, and minerals 🌋🪨🛰️Philadelphian 🦅, father, husband. he/him. www.volcannick.com
Opinions my own
Pinned
Nick Barber 🌋
@volcannick.bsky.social
· Jun 27
I know the world sucks right now, but for the next week I’m going to be exclusively posting about my trip to Geneva for #IAVCEI2025. I’m presenting a poster on Thursday, and looking forward to a week of fun and cutting edge volcano science.
Reposted by Nick Barber 🌋
Loosing the PRI would devastate US science. Any level donation, spreading the word helps. #FossilFriday #SaveScience
priweb.donorsupport.co/page/FUNWALK...
priweb.donorsupport.co/page/FUNWALK...
Save the Museum of the Earth – Secure Its Future!
In these challenging times, places like the Paleontological Research Institution (PRI) stand as beacons of hope, fostering understanding of the natural world and inspiring action for a sustainable fut...
priweb.donorsupport.co
October 29, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Loosing the PRI would devastate US science. Any level donation, spreading the word helps. #FossilFriday #SaveScience
priweb.donorsupport.co/page/FUNWALK...
priweb.donorsupport.co/page/FUNWALK...
Reposted by Nick Barber 🌋
You’ll be visited by 3 spirits
The three spirits
The three spirits
November 26, 2025 at 3:32 PM
You’ll be visited by 3 spirits
The three spirits
The three spirits
Reposted by Nick Barber 🌋
So happy to announce our new preprint, “A geothermal amoeba sets a new upper temperature limit for eukaryotes.” We cultured a novel amoeba from Lassen Volcanic NP (CA, USA) that divides at 63°C (145°F) 🔥 - a new record for euk growth!
#protistsonsky 🧵
#protistsonsky 🧵
November 25, 2025 at 8:41 PM
So happy to announce our new preprint, “A geothermal amoeba sets a new upper temperature limit for eukaryotes.” We cultured a novel amoeba from Lassen Volcanic NP (CA, USA) that divides at 63°C (145°F) 🔥 - a new record for euk growth!
#protistsonsky 🧵
#protistsonsky 🧵
Reposted by Nick Barber 🌋
So my pie take is there are no bad pies, but some pies have to be eaten a certain way:
1. Pecan: Always good
2. Fruit: Must be homemade. Otherwise bad.
3. Pumpkin: Best eaten cold at 7 am standing over a sink before everyone wakes up
1. Pecan: Always good
2. Fruit: Must be homemade. Otherwise bad.
3. Pumpkin: Best eaten cold at 7 am standing over a sink before everyone wakes up
Apple pie is bad. This is not really debatable. So is key lime pie, while we’re on the topic. Pecan pie is the 🐐 tho.
November 25, 2025 at 10:48 PM
So my pie take is there are no bad pies, but some pies have to be eaten a certain way:
1. Pecan: Always good
2. Fruit: Must be homemade. Otherwise bad.
3. Pumpkin: Best eaten cold at 7 am standing over a sink before everyone wakes up
1. Pecan: Always good
2. Fruit: Must be homemade. Otherwise bad.
3. Pumpkin: Best eaten cold at 7 am standing over a sink before everyone wakes up
Reposted by Nick Barber 🌋
Do they not understand observational science requires the ability to observe reality?
(Of course they don't...)
(Of course they don't...)
November 25, 2025 at 6:10 AM
Do they not understand observational science requires the ability to observe reality?
(Of course they don't...)
(Of course they don't...)
Reposted by Nick Barber 🌋
Did you know that UH Hilo participates in the National Student Exchange Program? We welcome students from all over the upper 49 states to our campus every year. We also have a robust international exchange program.
If you are interested in learning about volcanoes with a front row seat, reach out!
If you are interested in learning about volcanoes with a front row seat, reach out!
November 25, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Did you know that UH Hilo participates in the National Student Exchange Program? We welcome students from all over the upper 49 states to our campus every year. We also have a robust international exchange program.
If you are interested in learning about volcanoes with a front row seat, reach out!
If you are interested in learning about volcanoes with a front row seat, reach out!
Reposted by Nick Barber 🌋
More Greenland photos, featuring some geology. Scoresbysund has some fantastic exposures of columnar basalts, which are ~55 million years old (young for Greenland rocks!) related to flood basalts when the Atlantic was opening up. Fantastical shapes and fall tundra colors
November 25, 2025 at 4:13 AM
More Greenland photos, featuring some geology. Scoresbysund has some fantastic exposures of columnar basalts, which are ~55 million years old (young for Greenland rocks!) related to flood basalts when the Atlantic was opening up. Fantastical shapes and fall tundra colors
Reposted by Nick Barber 🌋
Great view of the eruption of Hayli Gubbi Volcano from Aqua MODIS yesterday afternoon. Imagery from NASA WorldView: go.nasa.gov/4p0ivDW
🌋🛰️
🌋🛰️
November 24, 2025 at 7:24 PM
Great view of the eruption of Hayli Gubbi Volcano from Aqua MODIS yesterday afternoon. Imagery from NASA WorldView: go.nasa.gov/4p0ivDW
🌋🛰️
🌋🛰️
Reposted by Nick Barber 🌋
Thanks Tim. @planet.com imagery from Nov 24 show some subsidence in the southern half of the Erta Ale caldera after the #HayliGubbi eruption (plus widespread ash deposits).
November 24, 2025 at 5:29 PM
Thanks Tim. @planet.com imagery from Nov 24 show some subsidence in the southern half of the Erta Ale caldera after the #HayliGubbi eruption (plus widespread ash deposits).
Reposted by Nick Barber 🌋
That implies a fundamental change in the relationship of the Secretary of Health and Human Services and that should be analyzed, fought back against, and publicly condemned.
Assuming the actual leadership of American science wants to actually *protect* American science.
Assuming the actual leadership of American science wants to actually *protect* American science.
November 24, 2025 at 4:34 PM
That implies a fundamental change in the relationship of the Secretary of Health and Human Services and that should be analyzed, fought back against, and publicly condemned.
Assuming the actual leadership of American science wants to actually *protect* American science.
Assuming the actual leadership of American science wants to actually *protect* American science.
Reposted by Nick Barber 🌋
An eruption from the #HayliGubbi volcano in #Ethiopia resulted in a large ash cloud, visible here from space. 🌋
This impressive view was seen 36,000km above Earth by our Meteosat-12 satellite on 23 November at 13:40 UTC.
This impressive view was seen 36,000km above Earth by our Meteosat-12 satellite on 23 November at 13:40 UTC.
November 24, 2025 at 10:10 AM
An eruption from the #HayliGubbi volcano in #Ethiopia resulted in a large ash cloud, visible here from space. 🌋
This impressive view was seen 36,000km above Earth by our Meteosat-12 satellite on 23 November at 13:40 UTC.
This impressive view was seen 36,000km above Earth by our Meteosat-12 satellite on 23 November at 13:40 UTC.
Reposted by Nick Barber 🌋
An explosive #eruption of Hayli Gubbi #volcano, located SE of Erta'Ale in the Afar Rift (Ethiopia), began at ~08:30 UTC on Nov 23. Eruption onset was fortuitously captured by a @planet.com overpass at 08:31 UTC. Hayli Gubbi has no record of Holocene eruptions. Toulouse VAAC reporting ash to ~15 km.
November 23, 2025 at 5:23 PM
An explosive #eruption of Hayli Gubbi #volcano, located SE of Erta'Ale in the Afar Rift (Ethiopia), began at ~08:30 UTC on Nov 23. Eruption onset was fortuitously captured by a @planet.com overpass at 08:31 UTC. Hayli Gubbi has no record of Holocene eruptions. Toulouse VAAC reporting ash to ~15 km.
Reposted by Nick Barber 🌋
'Iran’s capital must be moved because the country “no longer has a choice,” President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Thursday in remarks carried by state media, warning that severe ecological strain has made Tehran impossible to sustain'
#Iran 🇮🇷
#Iran 🇮🇷
Iran president says capital move now a necessity as water crisis deepens
Iran’s capital must be moved because the country “no longer has a choice,” President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Thursday in remarks carried by state media, warning that severe ecological strain has mad...
www.iranintl.com
November 21, 2025 at 4:52 AM
'Iran’s capital must be moved because the country “no longer has a choice,” President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Thursday in remarks carried by state media, warning that severe ecological strain has made Tehran impossible to sustain'
#Iran 🇮🇷
#Iran 🇮🇷
Reposted by Nick Barber 🌋
Semeru, Indonesia is erupting. Communities are being evacuated.
Incredible footage of pyroclastic density currents in the news.
youtube.com/watch?v=ducv...
Incredible footage of pyroclastic density currents in the news.
youtube.com/watch?v=ducv...
Indonesia's Mount Semeru erupts and covers villages with falling ash
YouTube video by Associated Press
youtube.com
November 20, 2025 at 10:26 PM
Semeru, Indonesia is erupting. Communities are being evacuated.
Incredible footage of pyroclastic density currents in the news.
youtube.com/watch?v=ducv...
Incredible footage of pyroclastic density currents in the news.
youtube.com/watch?v=ducv...
Reposted by Nick Barber 🌋
The organisers of the world's biggest planetary science conference are outlawing any DEI-related submissions because their lawyers are afraid they'll lose federal support.
They're losing the support of the planetary science community fucking fast.
www.science.org/content/arti...
They're losing the support of the planetary science community fucking fast.
www.science.org/content/arti...
‘This is censorship.’ Conference requires abstracts to comply with Trump anti-DEI order
NASA-funded planetary science institute previously scrubbed hundreds of records from its archive
www.science.org
November 21, 2025 at 12:30 AM
The organisers of the world's biggest planetary science conference are outlawing any DEI-related submissions because their lawyers are afraid they'll lose federal support.
They're losing the support of the planetary science community fucking fast.
www.science.org/content/arti...
They're losing the support of the planetary science community fucking fast.
www.science.org/content/arti...
Reposted by Nick Barber 🌋
What’s the most significant advice you received from a teacher?
I had a Geology prof who always said “have strong opinions, loosely held”
Be passionate, assess alternatives with conviction, take sides. But don’t fall so in love with your opinions that you can’t change them with better data.
I had a Geology prof who always said “have strong opinions, loosely held”
Be passionate, assess alternatives with conviction, take sides. But don’t fall so in love with your opinions that you can’t change them with better data.
November 21, 2025 at 12:54 AM
What’s the most significant advice you received from a teacher?
I had a Geology prof who always said “have strong opinions, loosely held”
Be passionate, assess alternatives with conviction, take sides. But don’t fall so in love with your opinions that you can’t change them with better data.
I had a Geology prof who always said “have strong opinions, loosely held”
Be passionate, assess alternatives with conviction, take sides. But don’t fall so in love with your opinions that you can’t change them with better data.
Reposted by Nick Barber 🌋
i don't agree with the attitude of some faculty that their job is to train people who can run the code, even if they don't understand the underlying physics
i want a society of people who are trained to be curious about the code they're being asked to run and capable of understanding it, actually
i want a society of people who are trained to be curious about the code they're being asked to run and capable of understanding it, actually
November 20, 2025 at 6:00 PM
i don't agree with the attitude of some faculty that their job is to train people who can run the code, even if they don't understand the underlying physics
i want a society of people who are trained to be curious about the code they're being asked to run and capable of understanding it, actually
i want a society of people who are trained to be curious about the code they're being asked to run and capable of understanding it, actually
Reposted by Nick Barber 🌋
A very interesting seismology and philosophy of science paper on natural hazard, with seismology side done by @rlacassin.bsky.social
The crisis of a paradigm. A methodological interpretation of Tohoku and Fukushima catastrophe
The 2011 Japanese disaster often presented as a ‘new Chernobyl’ accumulated the effects of earthquake, tsunami and of the subsequent nuclear accident …
www.sciencedirect.com
November 20, 2025 at 4:51 PM
A very interesting seismology and philosophy of science paper on natural hazard, with seismology side done by @rlacassin.bsky.social
Reposted by Nick Barber 🌋
A magnesium-rich basalt retrieved by the Apollo 12 mission from the Moon. brightly coloured pyroxene and olivine surround grey plagioclase in cross-polars.
This photo was taken in 2003 from a travelling collection of thin sections sponsored by NASA […]
[Original post on fosstodon.org]
This photo was taken in 2003 from a travelling collection of thin sections sponsored by NASA […]
[Original post on fosstodon.org]
November 20, 2025 at 4:14 PM
A magnesium-rich basalt retrieved by the Apollo 12 mission from the Moon. brightly coloured pyroxene and olivine surround grey plagioclase in cross-polars.
This photo was taken in 2003 from a travelling collection of thin sections sponsored by NASA […]
[Original post on fosstodon.org]
This photo was taken in 2003 from a travelling collection of thin sections sponsored by NASA […]
[Original post on fosstodon.org]
Reposted by Nick Barber 🌋
The nhdplusTools R package from USGS can generate simple interactive Leaflet maps of river basins and networks with one line of code. Here is the North Platte above the WY-NE state line, which I've used for almost two decades as a case study of mountain snowmelt and stream discharge.
November 19, 2025 at 11:28 PM
The nhdplusTools R package from USGS can generate simple interactive Leaflet maps of river basins and networks with one line of code. Here is the North Platte above the WY-NE state line, which I've used for almost two decades as a case study of mountain snowmelt and stream discharge.
Reposted by Nick Barber 🌋
Breaking news: A panel appointed by President Trump to review whether to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency has instead concluded that the agency should be more powerful and autonomous.
Noem at odds with Trump-appointed panel over future of FEMA
Instead of further shrinking and dismantling FEMA, the FEMA Review Council wants to make it more independent.
wapo.st
November 19, 2025 at 10:25 PM
Breaking news: A panel appointed by President Trump to review whether to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency has instead concluded that the agency should be more powerful and autonomous.
Reposted by Nick Barber 🌋
Understanding of Earth Sciences is fundamental to society's sustainability and development. Please support the department at the University of Leicester which is under threat. ⚒️🧪
c.org/jzkHKh9byy
c.org/jzkHKh9byy
Sign the Petition
Save Geology at the University of Leicester
c.org
November 19, 2025 at 12:39 PM
Understanding of Earth Sciences is fundamental to society's sustainability and development. Please support the department at the University of Leicester which is under threat. ⚒️🧪
c.org/jzkHKh9byy
c.org/jzkHKh9byy
Reposted by Nick Barber 🌋
#Semeru #volcano (East Java, Indonesia): massive block and ash flow created billowing ash plume - A strong eruption occurred at the volcano a couple of hours ago.
At about 04:00 PM local time today, a massive pyroclastic flow descended over the southern slope. The block-and-ash flow has been lik...
At about 04:00 PM local time today, a massive pyroclastic flow descended over the southern slope. The block-and-ash flow has been lik...
Semeru volcano (East Java, Indonesia): massive block and ash flow created billowing ash plume
www.volcanodiscovery.com
November 19, 2025 at 11:43 AM
Reposted by Nick Barber 🌋
I think it's a lot easier to think of #nuclear as "clean energy" if you are willing to ignore the people who mined the fuel, the communities they live in, and what happens after the mines close.
Turns out there are a lot of Native Americans in those two categories.
Turns out there are a lot of Native Americans in those two categories.
From me: ‘EPA begins uranium cleanup at Lukachukai Superfund site on the Navajo Nation’
EPA begins uranium mine cleanup at Lukachukai Superfund site on the Navajo Nation
The U.S. EPA has started the long-awaited cleanup of Cold War-era uranium mine sites at a Superfund site on the Navajo Nation.
www.azcentral.com
November 17, 2025 at 6:32 PM
I think it's a lot easier to think of #nuclear as "clean energy" if you are willing to ignore the people who mined the fuel, the communities they live in, and what happens after the mines close.
Turns out there are a lot of Native Americans in those two categories.
Turns out there are a lot of Native Americans in those two categories.
Reposted by Nick Barber 🌋
Our @iavcei.bsky.social #VIPS Commission committee is looking for someone to take over my #EDI officer role.
Do you want to help diversify our community and make us more inclusive? Apply before 12th December!
vipscommission.org/vips-is-look...
@egu.eu @agu.org @vmsg.bsky.social
Do you want to help diversify our community and make us more inclusive? Apply before 12th December!
vipscommission.org/vips-is-look...
@egu.eu @agu.org @vmsg.bsky.social
VIPS is looking for new committee members! - VIPS Commission
The IAVCEI commission for Volcanic and Igneous Plumbing Systems is currently seeking members to fill the following three roles: Commission vice-president, EDI officer, and Focus on VIPS Blog Editor. I...
vipscommission.org
November 17, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Our @iavcei.bsky.social #VIPS Commission committee is looking for someone to take over my #EDI officer role.
Do you want to help diversify our community and make us more inclusive? Apply before 12th December!
vipscommission.org/vips-is-look...
@egu.eu @agu.org @vmsg.bsky.social
Do you want to help diversify our community and make us more inclusive? Apply before 12th December!
vipscommission.org/vips-is-look...
@egu.eu @agu.org @vmsg.bsky.social