Caren Irr

These surreal trees survived for centuries. Scientists worry for their future Increasingly severe cyclones, grazing by invasive goats, and persistent turmoil in Yemen have threatened the survival of the country's iconic dragon’s blood tree.

charismatic megaflora at risk.

ACH has confirmed reports that DOGE is at the NEH. Chair Shelly C. Lowe has been replaced by Acting Chair Michael McDonald. ACH remains committed to a diverse, inclusive, and supportive DH. To engage in advocacy efforts: secretary@ach.org. Read our statement of support for NEH: buff.ly/bQeRaGw

$75 million was awarded to plant trees in places that badly need them. In anti-DEI push, that's over The U.S. Forest Service has terminated $75 million awarded to the Arbor Day Foundation to help disadvantaged communities plant trees.

apnews.com/article/tree...

An Economist’s Dire Forecast About Just How Much Climate Change Will Impact GDP - Inside Climate News Modeling shows an estimated loss of global GDP of up to 50 percent in coming decades—unless we make changes now.

An oddly upbeat account emphasizing the need and effects of a transition to clean, renewable energy.

The Trump administration is expanding the affirmative action ban beyond college admissions - The Boston Globe The Department of Education moved on Saturday to expand the Supreme Court's order to all aspects of academic affairs.

www.bostonglobe.com/2025/02/15/m...

US Forest Service Hiring Freeze Could Have Long-Term Impacts - Inside Climate News Conservationists worry that the USFS’s inability to bring on more seasonal workers will hurt wildfire mitigation, watersheds, woodland species and climate resilience.

Smaller budget = bigger fires. insideclimatenews.org/news/2012202...

Harvard Study: Eating Dark Chocolate Could Reduce Your Risk of Diabetes by 21% Dark chocolate consumption may lower the risk of type 2 diabetes by 21%, while milk chocolate does not show similar benefits, according to a Harvard study. A new study from Harvard T.H. Chan School of...

Needed to hear this.

Scientists Discover a Hidden Weapon Against TB in Peat Bogs Fungi from peat bogs produce substances toxic to tuberculosis bacteria, potentially guiding new treatment development. Researchers identified three fungal compounds that disrupt thiol levels in bacter...

Today in cool bog news.

A Trump cabinet full of alleged sexual predators? Here’s why it makes perfect sense The incoming U.S. president and his potential cabinet share a track record of sexual abuse allegations and cover-ups. The characteristics that accompany such behaviour don’t bode well for the world.

Don't usually post explicitly political stuff, but seriously what is the deal? It really feels like grossness toward women is a political credential at present.

The great abandonment: what happens to the natural world when people disappear? The long read: Across the globe, vast swathes of land are being left to be reclaimed by nature. To see what could be coming, look to Bulgaria

Long read in the G from @tessairini.bsky.social . Set me thinking about forests (not just 'wild', but eg Amazon, tended for centuries) and rivers, as well as farmland and settlements we've abandoned.
@julianhoffman.bsky.social , @alexismarieadams.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/news/2024/no...

Off Mathison Field, Concord, MA.

"If you can't see the forest for the trees, then look at the trees." Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek.

"Nothing stands up more free from blame in this world
than a pine tree." (Thoreau, Dec 20, 1851)

Excited to read Orbital and interested to see that three of the finalists were--loosely speaking--ecofictions.

Educators, how do you AI-proof your syllabi?

Christmas trees planted this year are dying because of the drought in Massachusetts At Vandervalk Farm in Mendon, Massachusetts they planted 2,700 Christmas trees last spring. They've lost 500 in the drought.

Disturbing tree news.

Did an interview with a student about eco-anxiety today and what coping mechanisms (if any) I could recommend. Walking, stopping, looking. That's all I could come up with.