Loren Albert
Plant physiological ecologist, tropical forest sleuth, and data wrangler; These are my personal views. Pronouns: she/her/hers.
- Folks, a chance to weigh in on the future of NCAR: eos.org/opinions/wha...
- A really nice summary of the current science funding situation for the USA www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
- Reposted by Loren AlbertAs we kick off 2026, we're resharing our guide to Handling Political Harassment & Legal Intimidation. Read about the legal risks scientists face from politically-motivated attacks, & how to defend against them: www.csldf.org/resource/poc...
- 🧪Calling all scientists, farmers, pilots, and everyone who benefits from weather and climate predictions: help save NCAR! Call your reps. abcnews.go.com/amp/Politics...
- Reposted by Loren AlbertHere we go again with another list of forbidden terms from the self-described "most transparent administration" in history... 🤦🏻♀️ climate.law.columbia.edu/content/doe-...
- Reposted by Loren AlbertPLEASE AMPLIFY 🔈 I hear that some staffers at Interior Department and NOAA are being called back to the office from furlough for "administration priorities." I'm on Signal if this includes you or you have more information: @clare.14
- Please help circulate this postdoc fellowship opportunity! (And shameless plug that here at OSU there would be opportunities to build intersections between forest biology, remote sensing, modeling, or creative uses of the impressive new OSU supercomputer.) www.simonsfoundation.org/grant/simons...
- I'm excited to share this work led by Lynn Riley investigating albedo impacts from afforestation, reforestation, and revegetation projects. We hope the findings will guide future projects in the fight against climate change. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
- Reposted by Loren AlbertThis week, we lost one of the world’s greatest advocates for people and nature. Even in her final days, Dr. Jane Goodall was urging us not to give up, and now her legacy lives on through the countless voices she inspired. Read on Mailchimp: shorturl.at/lDxXk Read on LinkedIn: shorturl.at/VOiPa
- Reposted by Loren AlbertI am fairly skeptical of many ways people use LLMs, but drafting a refutation of misleading statements that have regurgitated in variants many times over the last couple decades and therefore are well-represented, alongside refutations, in training data is not an obviously terrible application.
- That new usual suspects (Curry, Spencer, Christy, McKitrick, Koonin) Trump EPA climate denier report? (www.energy.gov/sites/defaul...)? I asked chatGPT to evaluate it. It had no trouble producing a succinct and convincing refutation:
- Reposted by Loren AlbertThis past week brought a landmark legal opinion for climate and set another series of staggering heat records: a powerful reminder of why we all have a role in accelerating climate solutions. Read the full edition of the newsletter here:
- Reposted by Loren AlbertSo what makes a climate assessment? In short: not this new Energy Dept report, which rehashes contrarian greatest hits with areas of known uncertainty -- that climate scientists talk about all the time. It's all a little grim. Who needs 721 authors when you have 5?
- Reposted by Loren AlbertThe EPA has eliminated its research division, which for decades has provided the science behind regulations on clean air, clean water, and toxic chemicals. The US can afford to monitor, research, and regulate the impacts of industries on human and environmental health. We are just choosing not to.
- Advocating for science www.agu.org/events/webin...
- Standards and measurements sound boring, but they are absolutely essential to science. Trump cuts threaten a measurement lab critical for advanced chips and medical devices www.npr.org/2025/03/26/n...
- Reposted by Loren AlbertThe FAQ on the COA form is a little vague on the criteria to use, but it is generally accepted that, if there was no communication among a subset of co-authors on a particular paper, then it doesn't rise to the level of a collaboration to list. (Streamlined COA forms help program officers.) (19)
- Reposted by Loren AlbertAlso, NSF takes conflicts of interest seriously. That said, when you're filling out your COA form, listing every single co-author might not be necessary. When papers have many co-authors (e.g., genetics papers), not everyone rises to the level of a collaborator. (18) www.nsf.gov/funding/seni...
- Reposted by Loren AlbertOh, one more thing. This website is probably the best resource for NSF's response to the executive orders: www.nsf.gov/executive-or... Please check there first before emailing the program officers (who have been coached to email you this link as a first response). (17)
- Reposted by Loren AlbertFinally, have confidence that the program officers and staff members working in NSF’s directorates are among the most committed and thoughtful people that you could ever hope to meet, doing their absolute best to uphold the agency’s mission as long as the time allows. (16)
- Reposted by Loren AlbertPerhaps now more than ever, cultivate curiosity in your students and reassure them that there are paths toward becoming a scientist in the future. Education and training remain a huge part of the NSF mission. (15)
- Reposted by Loren AlbertGreat ideas can come from anywhere, and congressional legislation (e.g., CHIPS and Science Act) has directed the NSF toward the goal of broadening participation in science. Researchers can organize and approach the legal counsel at their universities for clarifications on their activities. (14)
- Reposted by Loren AlbertIf you are invited to submit a draft of an abstract, recognize that abstracts are written for public audiences (i.e., taxpayers), not your academic peers. Make it clear why this study is worth doing. Avoid jargon. Think big picture. Minimize potential for misinterpretations. (9)
- Reposted by Loren AlbertUpon learning that yesterday would be my last day as a program officer at the National Science Foundation, I shared this parting message with my colleagues. The next few months will be frenetic and stressful for them. Here are some things that you can do to help them with the mission ahead. (1)
- Share the impacts on your research: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
- Reposted by Loren AlbertAn important read: www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol... See you in the streets 💪🏻
- Reposted by Loren AlbertTesla Owner Running Out of Room For Bumper Stickers Explaining Tesla Ownership: bit.ly/3X1tdOs
- Reposted by Loren AlbertSome people asked if I could list real impacts from some of the recent federal decisions. Here are SOME real impacts our team has faced already in 3 weeks: 1. Im quite certain 1 project (likely 2) I have that support low income high school students across the country, will be canceled. 🧪
- Just found Alt NIH on Bluesky. Hoping to find a good Alt NSF, Alt NASA, Alt USDA.... heck, how about an Alt universe I can join for at least 4 years...
- Reposted by Loren AlbertFAI is closely tied up with Koch-world. A majority of its employees and board members have Koch ties. FAI’s goal is as said here, to privatize government including NIH and NSF.
