Faith Kearns, Ph.D.
Scientist writing about humans, water, wildfire, climate, and disaster in Arizona and California | views=mine
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- Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.Maria is one of hundreds of children, who — like Liam Ramos — have been held at a Texas detention facility where parents say children languish as they’re served contaminated food, receive little education and struggle to obtain basic medical care. Here's our attempt at telling their stories. 2/
- “the chapter’s central argument is that the trust model, while valuable, is an insufficient and fragile foundation for democratic decision-making.” Interesting work on the concept of trust in science and scientists link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...
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- “Arizona is the bleeding edge of the water crisis. Their situation is the most dire.”
- At the same time, some of these kinds of efforts are already happening, though at a more "local" level. Great reporting here from Brett Walton on water deals across the western US www.circleofblue.org/2026/supply/...
- The largest desal plant in the world, in Saudi Arabia, reportedly cost about $7 billion to construct, and uses enough to power each day to power tens of thousands of homes. You’d need about 20 of those, a lot of energy, and extensive pumping and piping infrastructure to move the water to around.
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- Interesting: possibility of a "six state deal" in the Colorado River Basin, one that leaves Arizona out coloradosun.com/2026/02/03/c...
- Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.I have controversial thoughts about the state of higher ed & the ethics of keeping PhD programs so that research-active faculty can have cheap labor that enables their research programs (e.g., funding models that prioritize 'fit' w/ grant funded research rather then encourage research independence)
- Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.Breaking, from me: An executive order from Oklahoma's governor directs most of the state's public colleges to "phase out tenure." #AcademicSky #HigherEd @chronicle.com www.chronicle.com/article/tenu...
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- Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.A Dry, Warm January Leaves the West With the Worst Snowpack in Decades www.drought.gov/drought-stat...
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- Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.Iowa's HF2171, a bill to end all vaccine requirements for K-12 students, has passed a subcommittee & committee. It's now eligible for debate in the Iowa House. My friend Dr. Nathan Boonstra @pedsgeekmd.bsky.social is quoted in this piece on why vaccines are vital 🧪 www.thegazette.com/health-care-...
- Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.LOVE seeing the work on @nativebio.bsky.social and @joseph-yracheta.bsky.social highlighted in the NYT. More good news of Indigenous data champions! www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/s...
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- A related, very niche impact is the number of journalists who move into university communications roles. It very much defines acceptable institutional communications approaches and staffing.
- Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.Same thing happening to journalism as at universities following the massive federal budget cuts. You can't break institutions, cast off multiple age cohorts of journalists/scholars, & just flip switches later & expect go back to the ex ante SQ. The downstream systemic effects are huge & lasting.
- Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.I'm hiring! Come work with me as an Energy Policy Analyst at Gridworks, supporting our work to build a stronger, more equitable, more reliable energy grid in the Western U.S. This role is remote and open to folks living in MT, WY, ID, UT, AZ, or NV. Details below. gridworks.org/wp-content/u...
- Small peanuts in the face of everything else, but I am so glad I have saved most of my public writing to the Wayback Machine. A former employer recently deleted 5+ years of writing with no warning. Shouldn’t be this way, but it is.
- Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.The Wayback is now so load-bearing we should be protecting it with our actual lives
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- Sobering interview with Robert Kagan on Fresh Air. Models saying a lot of real, hard things in a very straightforward way www.npr.org/2026/02/04/n...
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- Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.The suburban observers, heavily women, say they share a personality type. “Many of us have encountered bullies our entire lives...I think that turns you into somebody that, even if that bully is wearing full tactical gear, I'm not interested in laying down for you.” www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...
- Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D."Nearly half the places that once hosted the Winter Olympics may not have the right climate conditions to ever do it again." www.cbc.ca/player/play/...
- I still use an iPod from 2007 or so. No updates etc but still an excellent music playing device.
- Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.Great interview with @mdelbosque.bsky.social One of the best, most knowledgable reporters on Border Patrol. www.kjzz.org/the-show/202...
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- Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.In fact I think a lot of these conspiracies are driven by a desire for Epstein to have done “worse” things, because sexual abuse of girls and young women is so normalized and prevalent that people don’t view it as bad or strange enough to care. So they hope it’s secretly about eating babies
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- Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.“You need only know this: Whatever is happening with your data, it is important enough to the most egregiously lawless administration in American history that it be collected and consolidated.” Always read @tressiemcphd.bsky.social (gift link)
- Uh
- Interesting “conceptualization of American climate politics as a form of status politics, where contestation around climate can be partly viewed as a struggle over the symbolic worth of educational credentials and academic knowledge in American society.”
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- Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.Last year, I was constantly worried about my TN work visa being revoked. I could also be rejected by a CBP officer any time I re-entered the US, so my immigration lawyer advised no travel. After I was laid off, I had only 60 days to find a new job or I had to physically leave the US by December 31.
- I was just saying that this summer is shaping up to be hot in the southwestern US and it will absolutely have an effect on “all this”
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- Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.Jodi Kantor in the NY Times reports that the Chief Justice requested Court employees sign nondisclosure agreements in November 2024 - moving to formal contracts requiring silence/confidentiality after Trump was reelected: www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/u...
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[This post could not be retrieved] - Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.Tens of thousands of people across Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana have gone a week without power or heat after a brutal ice storm. At least three dozen people have died in connection with the storm, officials have said.
- Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.nothing to see here
- How did people not receive transmission from their own family histories of how life saving vaccines are? My mom almost died from measles as a child and vividly remembers lining up for a polio vaccine. I grew up knowing elders who had polio before the vaccine. Plus…science.
- Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.A fun case study since there have been 72 million articles on the cold in the east and 4 on the warmth in the west
- It has been obvious for at least 2-3 decades the money pressure, and therefore pure slime creep weirdness, has been increasing in the research world, but the details are just extra disgusting.
- “Wow haven’t you had enough house arrest?” she wrote to Epstein in July 2010 www.thecrimson.com/article/2026...
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- Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.Part of what I’m saying is that university presidents and finance apparatuses knew and supported these relationships We can and should blame the individuals named in the files but they represent a larger structural phenomenon and it’s not just rape culture
- Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.This. It’s the baseline for our nation, even liberals. We must change it or we will end up here again (if we manage to stop fascism this time)
- Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.we need to take a moment to celebrate when a good thing happens. it is fuel for the work. feel the joy. take a big breath in. let yourself cry. we will win because we've got us.
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- Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.I’m not sure what we’re expecting to happen when we don’t provide financial support to what are effectively small businesses w 80% fixed costs which have lost much of their customer base, and don’t have other revenue sources.
- Small water companies in Altadena are struggling financially after the fire, which left costly damage and sharply cut the revenues they are collecting from customers. One utility plans a new "fire recovery fee" to stave off financial failure. www.latimes.com/environment/... @myungchun.bsky.social
- Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.Small water companies in Altadena are struggling financially after the fire, which left costly damage and sharply cut the revenues they are collecting from customers. One utility plans a new "fire recovery fee" to stave off financial failure. www.latimes.com/environment/... @myungchun.bsky.social
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- Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.for us Americans, that's 98°F at night and 120°F in the day
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- Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.Plans for a $10 billion data center are moving forward in the Imperial Valley. It could consume almost double the amount of electricity that the entirety of Imperial County used in 2024. @korisuzuki.com @kpbssandiego.bsky.social www.kpbs.org/news/environ... h/t @kypetzl.bsky.social
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