Bedrock type can strongly influence vegetation, as in this picture from Crete, Greece. Here, thin soil, low nutrient- and water availability in the limestone only allow small shrubs to grow. This effect can even be observed on a global scale! doi.org/10.1029/2020GL…

Looking forward to a deep dive!

I'm recruiting a MSc student to work on an NSF project focusing on morphological disparity in crinoids from Anticosti Island. My lab at Paleobiology Research Group at OU uses fossils, fieldwork, & phylogenetic modeling to study macroevolution in extinct invertebrates. Feel free to reach out & please RT!

BOOM! First arrow of the year, found on the ice at Lendbreen. Looks to be around 1300 years old, based on the shape of the iron arrowhead. More pictures soon🙂

Grrr. There are too many 'holidays' on Mondays in the fall (Labour Day, Thanksgiving, Truth and Reconciliation, Remembrance). Any course scheduled w/ a Monday gets seriously short-changed. Any lab w/ a Monday section—even if *other* sections fall on other days—maxes out at 10.

Why did mammals and birds both evolve huge brains? Mathias Osvath, Pavel Nemec WitmerLab & me propose a new theory, centered on endothermy. Warm bloodedness requires more food, which requires more smarts to find it. In other words: thought for food! sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

This research paper details the corruption of higher education in Canada - and elsewhere - by the fossil fuel industry. Imagine my surprise to find that Alberta universities feature prominently. wires.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/wc… #HigherEd

This may be fairer way of collecting $, but calculations in article use assessments well above values of my/friends' homes. I'll be paying much more... and most of my water use is for my veggie garden, which has zero impact on waste water. nsullivan saltwire.com/atlantic-canad…

A classic indeed. The multi-coloured rock stop.

After ten years of splitting and replitting ever smaller mineral sample, some much needed (and very satisfying!) refreshing of our 1st year kits. (With kind assistance from Herbert Fournier!)

#GEOL1205

Guess what was just highlighted in Atlas Obscura!

If you don't follow Secrets Of The Ice, you need to! Posts of recent discoveries of archeological material preserved for hundreds or thousands of years in Norwegian glaciers. Special bonus: The background *geology* is breathtaking! (E.g., the gneiss here.)

The Miners Museum has been on edge of bankruptcy since I've lived here, despite heroic leadership by Mary Pat Mombourquette. It offers perhaps best museum experience in prov & *absolutely* should be brought into Nova Scotia Museum family. cbc.ca/player/play/vi…

Glad sessions have finally returned post-COVID, but lack of demographic diversity is even more obvious than before. Avg age is prob 60. My partner is only non-white person. Population is (finally!) growing via immigration, but we've failed at leveraging growth to renew culture.

Would love, love, love to find a slow worm!

This explainer from Our World in Data regarding trends in disaster frequency and impacts is a must read. Despite teaching an intro course for years, I was not aware of how problematic some of the inferences about trends are. ourworldindata.org/disaster-datab…

Good, short Vox explainer on Haiti vs. The Dominican Republic, and the histories that have led to such different outcomes for ppl born on one side or the other of the imaginary line dividing Hispaniola. youtube.com/watch?v=4WvKeY…