Dr. Jessica Ball 🍪
Volcanologist, scicomm-er, Magma PI, Field Fiddler. She/her. Tweets, likes, retweets do not speak for or represent past/present employers.
- If you made a Venn diagram of every weird person I knew in Silicon Valley during the first dot-com boom, centrifuged it, extracted the pellet, and re-suspended it in high-proof eugenics with a splash of AI, you'd end up with something like this. It'll take a strong stomach to read this "gift" link.
- This is why, as a single lady who lives in Silicon Valley but isn't in tech, I spend so much time screaming into my screaming pillow. These are the same types who shilled "raw water" and were convinced we all wanted to exist as virtual reality avatars.
- I received a noise blocking screaming pillow for Christmas and I have used it several times today already
- Good riddance. Let's spend 2026 not actively destroying the world, mkay?
- Not on Bluesky because we weren’t allowed to join, but people get mad because we posted updates reminding them that California's volcanoes are NOT erupting.
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- It is entirely too warm in Virginia today and I object.
- Seriously considering asking for one of those noise-blocking screaming pillows for Christmas. Anyone have a favorite brand? (Small business artisinal screaming pillows preferred...)
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- Well, Congress passed a law about it after the last marathon shutdown, but laws seem to be pretty optional these days so 🤷♀️
- Wait until the feds get paychecks, we all gotta do our holiday shopping real fast...😂
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- Red Sonja?
- Sad news about a colleague of mine at the USGS and a legend in the volcanology field: www.usgs.gov/observatorie...
- Trewly.
- Not seeing nearly enough coverage of this.
- A very important doggo from one of today's #NoKings protests. (The other side of his signs says "No tariffs on treats") @weratedogs.com
- If anyone wants to hear me and my observatory's monitoring chief talk California volcanoes, this week's NSPR Blue Dot podcast is out! 🧪⚒️🌋 Blue Dot: The Golden State's volcanic legacy: The USGS California Volcano Observatory | NSPR share.google/mko4KMElJXsU...
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- Pls elaborate on Shia LaBeouf, I implore you
- Imagine this thread, with added volcanoes, and you've got a decent idea of what my job feels like nowadays. I'm either depressed or angry, unable to plan, constantly on edge. Utterly maddening when all I want to do is help people.
- Well, that's the presidential proposed USGS budget for FY26. It’s not just NSF and NASA that would be taking earth science research hits if it's enacted.
- Holy mackerel! Check out today's Kilauea eruption www.youtube.com/live/BqmpkUd...
- Not even in frame. That's gotta be over 400 meters
- Okay, probably closer to 300. But yowie!
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- There's a great paper by Dave Hill (former USGS seismologist) about the Mammoth crisis at link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...) He spent much of his career running the Long Valley Observatory (now CalVO) and working to repair trust in the USGS in Mammoth.
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- Making hazard maps is HARD, too. So many questions to answer before drawing lines! Do you show where hazards have been or where they might go in the future? Will the volcano behave the same way it did in the past or throw you a curveball? Do you show the worst case or the most likely scenario?
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- I should point out that the USGS is not the agency that makes decisions about exclusion zones. Recommendations, yes, which do err on the conservative side, but it is the emergency managers' call where to draw the lines.
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- You can also get different plume colors depending on how the light is scattered by sulfate aerosols! www.usgs.gov/observatorie...
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- We could say Childless Third Sex, or, and hear me out,
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- I've been knitting those too! The mini version. They're so satisfying.
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- Seconding this. The USGS Volcanoes social media accounts and websites (www.usgs.gov/observatorie...) also have info, but VNS is the fastest source.
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- That's so cool! I studied hydrothermal alteration minerals in my PhD and Mammoth Mtn is one of the volcanoes I help monitor now - so put me first on the purchase list when these pieces hit your shop 😁
- The closest active volcano to Anchorage — Mount Spurr — is now expected to erupt within the next few weeks. Would be a great time to have a fully-staffed NOAA to help navigate the impacts of this likely disaster. www.adn.com/alaska-news/...
- Just FYI - NOAA is responsible for Volcanic Ash Advisory Centers, but the U.S. Geological Survey monitors, alerts to, and heads the scientific response to volcanic eruptions.
- I live in Silicon Valley and the obliviousness and waste when they could be doing some real good for the world is MADDENING.
- Glad I have this elegant lady in my life. #geokitties 🐾
- Also this cute little goober. She's "helping". #geokitties 🐾
- I want to be outside getting exercise in nature, but instead I have a headache and cramps and I'm clutching a pillow wrapped in a heating pad and trying not to eat an entire bag of Oreos out of self-pity. Do lemon laws apply to bodies? If so, I want to return this one for a refund.
- Post the amazing science things you have done with federal funding.
- I've modelled how hydrothermal systems in volcanoes make them more susceptible to flank collapse and dated the most recent explosive eruptions for a hazard assessment in a major wine-growing region. Oh yeah, and helped keep people safe and informed during two major volcanic eruptions. 🌋
- This includes the USGS Hawaiian and Alaska Volcano Observatories. HVO's Ironworks is a temporary space while a new facility is built to replace the Observatory critically damaged in 2018. Both groups are near their volcanoes. Neither has anywhere to go and both have been forbidden from telework.
- Congress has just released a list of federal DOI offices to be closed under the ongoing massacre of our natural resource agencies -- it's extensive and includes many important NPS, BLM, USGS and USFWS facilities across the country. Truly horrific. democrats-naturalresources.house.gov/imo/media/do...
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- "I am going to die on this hill which was formed as the Earth's crust contracted due to internal cooling"
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- Try looking up her district office! When members go home for the weekend or breaks, they work out of their district offices. Often easier to send things there than a Capitol Hill office.
- Dear manager, last week I: 1. Got up early 2. Stayed up late 3. Exhibited uninterrupted prosperity 4. Used a machete to cut through red tape 5. Toured the facility and picked up slack 🎵👩🏼🔬👗🧥🎵
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- Dude, how else are you going to support yourself when civilization collapses and we have to go back to the barter system?
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- Don't give them space in your head. They have no impact on your life and they don't deserve to have a platform in your digital space, either. Delete, report, block, and keep speaking.
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- Thanks, Brian. I hope we'll be able to keep working with you, in whatever form we can.
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- At this point, I'm okay with becoming a Danish citizen.
- Optimist: The cup is half full. Pessimist: The cup is half empty. Volcanologist: I used the cup for sampling and now it's half full of lava and the water has boiled off. Also, it's on fire. 🌋
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- I've decided to learn to swear in Icelandic because then I can say "I hope the trolls take your friends" grapevine.is/mag/articles...
- #themoreyouknow: All USGS published data is either available on our Publications site (www.pubs.usgs.gov) or Sciencebase (www.sciencebase.gov), in case you're worried about access or want to archive something. ⚒️🧪
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- My babies!
- Heads up, y'all: I finally deleted my account on the bird app, and I'm only posting here. Ping me if you see anyone trying to impersonate me!
- Seems appropriate for today. youtu.be/8G_L9tXEwmc?...
- Also appropriate for today: youtu.be/cE4lpSFNFUE?...
