Advertisement

You are browsing the archive for science policy Archives - Magma Cum Laude.

4 March 2019

California is volcano country

One of the big projects I’ve been working on for the past couple of years has been assisting my SIC (Scientist-In-Charge) at the California Volcano Observatory in writing a report about California’s exposure to volcanic hazards. And (not) coincidentally, that’s the title of a new report that the USGS just released last week!

Read More >>

1 Comment/Trackback >>


24 February 2017

(Geo)science Matters: Snow surveys aren’t just for TV

Everyone (in California, at least) has seen those clips that get run every winter of the snow surveys: people walking out into a white-blanketed meadow to shove a pole into the snow and record the depth. Or, in the case of the 2015 broadcast, walking out onto muddy grass and gesturing sadly at a lack of snow in which to do this. It’s a good photo op, but the broadcasts rarely follow up with much of the science behind the survey.

Read More >>

No Comments/Trackbacks >>


23 December 2016

Everybody look what’s goin’ down

There’s an important reason why I’m borrowing a lyric for a protest song for a blog post, and that reason is the very real fears that a lot of scientists are dealing with concerning the current political climate. I am writing this post mostly as a resource for my fellow scientists, but also for all those of you out there who understand the value of our work – and can help us.

Read More >>

No Comments/Trackbacks >>


7 October 2015

Science on a budget

One thing that’s been taking up an inordinate amount of my time lately is the suspense about whether I’ll be allowed to do my job (aka the Congressional budget process). As a postdoc on a limited-term position at the USGS, I lose valuable time if the government shuts down, and I don’t get it back. The same is true of any employee, but it’s especially rough on the ones who are working on fixed-duration projects or term hires.

Read More >>

No Comments/Trackbacks >>


4 January 2015

Punctuated equilibrium of the career

Happy New Year! 2014 was full of big, rapid changes for me, which is what prompted me to think about the punctuated equilibrium concept.

Read More >>

2 Comments/Trackbacks >>


21 December 2014

AGU Fall Meeting: Day 4

Thursday was a really exciting day. In the morning I sat in on a session about the hydrology of landslides, and especially how water storage in pore space affects landslide dynamics and discharge.

Read More >>

No Comments/Trackbacks >>


19 June 2014

“Scientists…speak up!”

If any of you were following all the Twitter chatter from the AGU Science Policy Conference in DC this week, you might recognize Representative Donna Edwards’ exhortation to scientists who are worried about the legislative threats to the NSF’s merit review process (and funding). Rep. Edwards was invited along with Rep. Jim Moran and Rep. Scott Peters about the future of science in Congress, and all three panelists made some very strong points about scientists’ role in the legislative process. But this was the most important one, because, as Rep. Peters pointed out, we are speaking up “less than you would expect”.

Read More >>

5 Comments/Trackbacks >>


2 June 2014

Where are the broader impacts?

After my post from last week about sharing the broader impacts of geoscience research, I was really encouraged by all the retweeting and favoriting I saw on Twitter. However, retweeting does not a submission make. In fact, I’ve only received one real submission in the comments or the Tumblr blog, and that one needs some work to refocus it before I can post it. One submission, folks. That’s pretty sad. So …

Read More >>

9 Comments/Trackbacks >>