timnit kefela, phd

🌎This week, a newly established environmental panel is meeting for the first time in Geneva, and it could shape how the world responds to chemical pollution.

Agents of Change fellow @timisneat.bsky.social is currently attending this conference—stay tuned for some on-the-ground updates soon!

COP30 is over — but the real climate leadership is happening far from the negotiating rooms.

Here’s who to follow now (with help from senior fellows @robbieparks.bsky.social, @timisneat.bsky.social, Kevin Patterson and Denise Moreno Ramírez) — and why it matters. 🧵👇

True dat king

As Plastic Treaty negotiations reach an end, we invite you to read fellow in residence @timisneat.bsky.social's essay on centering the voices of communitises in plastic legislation. it is as relevant as ever. Read it here: www.ehn.org/communities-...

Opinion | It’s Time to Name Heat Waves Like We Do Hurricanes

Excellent article by fellow sociologist @ericklinenberg.bsky.social.

"Heat is a silent and invisible killer. It usually fails to generate the kind of spectacular imagery that lands weather on prime-time television or a newspaper’s front page."

Gift link:
www.nytimes.com/2024/09/07/o...

🚨Big news from AoC! 🚨
We’re moving our newsletter to Substack! You'll still get all the latest from our fellows and alumni—new publications, upcoming events, and fellow spotlights—but now it’s easier to read, share, and engage. Sign up here:
agentsofchangeprogram.substack.com?r=5kst1t&utm...

Agents of Change launches the Fellows in Residence program Meet the senior fellows that will hone their communication and public engagement skills.

We are excited to announce the Agents of Change Fellows in Residence Program! Our reimagined fellowship is an effort to deepen our impact on decision-making and provide additional support to six senior fellows in their path towards creating more impactful research. www.ehn.org/agents-of-ch...

Trump Has Cut Science Funding to Its Lowest Level in Decades (Gift Article) The lag in funding extends far beyond D.E.I. initiatives, affecting almost every area of science: chemistry, computing, engineering, materials and more.

NSF Physics was cut by 85%, basically wiping out most of its capacity for supporting research.

NSF Astronomy was cut by 53%

Undergrad education was cut by 71% and research on learning by 79%

Graduate education was cut by 100% to ZERO.

#GiftLink ⚛️🔭

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Towards a ‘theory of change’ for ocean plastics: a socio-oceanography approach to the global challenge of plastic pollution - Microplastics and Nanoplastics Socio-oceanography is an emerging field which mobilises insights from natural and social sciences to explore the inter-connectedness of societal relationships with the ocean and to adopt a holistic approach to solving key oceanographic and societal challenges. It is within this specific context that we explore and reflect upon diverse communities in relation to engaging with plastic pollution in the ocean, one of the foremost socio-environmental challenges of our time. We establish definitions of ‘community’, arguing that communities are not ‘out there’ waiting to be engaged with but are dynamic and (re)constituted in four key contexts - geographical, practical, virtual, and circumstantial. We outline some ‘rules of engagement’ and draw upon several international case studies in the context of plastic pollution to evidence and emphasise the value of working with members of diverse communities to better address socio-oceanographic challenges. In the context of plastic pollution, communities have a vital role to play in terms of co-creating knowledge, lived experience, diverse expertise, and agency to bring about social change. Given the ubiquity of plastics in our day-to-day lives, and subsequently as an environmental pollutant, no community is unaffected by this issue. Relating to socio-oceanography, we argue that structural power imbalances in terms of how diverse communities and natural scientists are traditionally positioned within academic research mean that ‘formal’ scientific knowledge is frequently privileged, and members of communities risk being positioned as ’empty vessels’. Moving away from this ‘deficit’ model where knowledge is simply transferred or alternatively extracted from communities allows us to progress towards an inclusive ‘socio-oceanography in society’ approach, where members of communities are valued as vital in prioritising and addressing socio-oceanography issues which affect everyday life. Accessibility, openness, ethics and fairness in data are also essential in ensuring that research outcomes can be applied widely outside the academic community. Graphical Abstract

📢 Towards a ‘theory of change’ for ocean plastics: a socio-oceanography approach

🤝 Working with diverse communities is vital to understand & address global #plasticpollution
And for inclusive, unbiased, representative, accessible research

microplastics.springeropen.com/articles/10....

New pub in @aguadvances.bsky.social: "A Soil Scientist Goes to Washington: Navigating the Path to National #ScienceLeadership" #STEM
Sharing my journey as DOE Office of Science Director, the challenges faced, and why inclusive excellence in STEM matters now more than ever.
Read: tinyurl.com/ms2nhr4f

Today is the day! After eight long years, They Poisoned the World, is out. The book interweaves the moving story of a small town on the frontlines of an epic global crisis with a deep investigation of one the most brazen cover-ups in corporate history. 1/

I'm grateful to have been awarded the Institute for the Study of Societal Issues Thomas I. Yamashita Prize! They award a "person whose work transforms the existing social landscape - often in subtle and previously unappreciated ways - and serves as a bridge between the academy and the community.”

Congratulations, Laura! Incredibly well deserved!

This is the funnest piece I've ever written. It's a choose-your-own-lab-adventure w/ multiple endings based on contamination training in our lab- based on true stories.
There's also some theory about purity and fragility. ;)
Thanks to editors @jrmdns.bsky.social Fernando Rubio & David Pontille

Why is less than 10% of the world’s plastic being recycled? Cutting down on the production of virgin plastics is essential, campaigners say, in the face of such low reuse rates.

Fossil fuels in another form’: Plastic recycling rate stagnates at under 10%, report finds
www.euronews.com/green/2025/0...

Trump seeks to end climate research at premier U.S. climate agency White House aims to end NOAA’s research office; NASA also targeted

BREAKING from @science.org: The Trump admin is seeking to kill nearly all climate research at NOAA, its climate science agency.

Its near-final budget proposal would end all NOAA research labs, academic institutes, and regional climate centers. And it wants to fully end the NOAA Research division.

Indigenous Peoples fight to be heard at plastics treaty talks Though disproportionately affected by plastic pollution, Indigenous Peoples are struggling to shape a global treaty on it

The UN Human Rights Council has just officially recognised plastic pollution as a threat to human rights. Here's a look at how plastic disproportionately affects Indigenous Peoples - and how they're fighting back dialogue.earth/en/pollution... @dialogueearth.bsky.social

New Environmental Justice Grants Map Highlights Impacts of EPA Fund Cancellations – Environmental Data and Governance Initiative FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 20, 2025 CONTACT: EDGI’s experts are available to answer media questions. For media inquiries, please email Shannan Lenke […]

1/ Earlier this month, the Trump EPA announced it would cancel 100s of grants already authorized by congress. EDGI & @publicenvirodata.bsky.social have released a map highlighting the impacts of cancellations on #EnvironmentalJustice communities. Learn more here: envirodatagov.org/new-environm...

An open letter from EPA staff to the American public "This is not about defending our paychecks. This is about protecting the health of our communities."

NEW: An open letter from EPA staff to the American public.

“We cannot stand by and allow this to happen. We need to hold this administration accountable.”

www.ehn.org/epa-environm...

Trump Administration Aims to Eliminate E.P.A.’s Scientific Research Arm More than 1,000 chemists, biologists and other scientists could be laid off under a plan to dismantle the Office of Research and Development.

The EPA plans to fire as many as 1,155 chemists, biologists, toxicologists and other scientists, ultimately eliminating its scientific research arm. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/17/c...

It was always and continues to always be about eugenics. RFK Jr does not say he wants to cure chronic diseases, he says he wants people who don't have chronic diseases. That's different.

Huffman, Lawmakers Demand Answers on NOAA Office Closures Congressman Jared Huffman and a group of House Democrats are pressing the Department of Commerce for details on the Trump administration’s plan to shut down 34 NOAA offices nationwide…

DOGE is aiming to close 34 NOAA offices across the US, including in Santa Barbara, CA. Call your reps now!

kymkemp.com/2025/03/14/h...

A global estimate of multiecosystem photosynthesis losses under microplastic pollution | PNAS Understanding how ecosystems respond to ubiquitous microplastic (MP) pollution is crucial for ensuring global food security. Here, we conduct a mul...

Microplastics hinder plant photosynthesis 🧪 www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Report finds synthetic hair marketed to Black women contains carcinogens and lead YouTube video by NBC News

📸Our very own @amizota.bsky.social sat down earlier this week with @nbcnews.com to discuss the latest Consumer Reports findings on chemicals in hair extensions. Don't miss this important conversation—watch the full interview here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9Fpj65Mj7M

Synthetic hair marketed to Black women contains carcinogens and lead, report finds Ingredients that can cause cancer were found in 10 synthetic hair products marketed to Black women, according to Consumer Reports. Nine of the products also contained lead.

Black women are dying because we've been told that wearing our hair as it comes out of our head is ugly and unprofessional.
www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/...

Households are burning plastic waste as fuel for cooking and heating in slums the world over Burning plastic as fuel for cooking and heating releases toxic chemicals into the air and contaminates food. Yet this is common in many parts of the world.

In many urban areas across Africa, Asia, and Latin America, households are increasingly resorting to burning plastic waste for cooking and heating due to the scarcity and high cost of traditional fuels.
theconversation.com/households-a...

Asbestos: a public health catastrophe In the UK, thousands of people are still dying every year from exposure to the asbestos fibres in our homes, schools and workplaces. My dad was one of...

Mesothelioma victims are increasingly teachers, nurses, young people who worked or went to school in crumbling, asbestos-filled buildings. @charlottehelen.bsky.social's moving piece on the people whose lives are lost in a labyrinth of secrets & deception.

www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/pol...

Scientists react to NOAA firings: ‘It’s just utter cluelessness, malevolence’ A former climate scientist called layoffs ‘malevolence’ and ‘utter cluelessness’

“Cuts at NOAA/NWS are spectacularly short-sighted and ultimately will deal a major self-inflicted wound to the public safety of Americans and the resiliency of the American economy to weather and climate-related disasters” www.independent.co.uk/news/science...

Photoaging of Terrestrial Plastic Pollution: A Process Affected by Precipitation Rainwater is the primary water source with which terrestrial plastic pollutants interact. Not only could active substances in rainwater generate additional reactive oxygen species but water could also react with the photoaging intermediates of plastic. Precipitation and evaporation lead to repeated shifts between the solid–liquid and solid–gas interfaces during photoaging. To investigate the impact of these interfaces on photoaging, polyvinyl chloride, polypropylene, polystyrene, and polyethylene microplastics were exposed to UVA, UVB, or UVC radiation in common rainwater (CR), rainwater residue (RR), or rainwater-free (RF) treatments. Seasonal field exposure to the corresponding commercial plastics was also conducted. FT-IR spectroscopy was utilized to analyze the chemical changes in both microplastics and commercial plastics. Compared with RF and RR, CR exposure advanced the relative time of carbonyl production in the photoaging process. A model based on local precipitation and radiation data successfully predicted the carbonyl index of field-exposed commercial plastics and highlighted the importance of alternating interface transitions. The increase in the carbonyl index due to each wet–dry cycle was 1.013–5.460 times greater than that of plastics not exposed to rainwater. These findings indicate that plastics undergo different photochemical reactions on different interfaces, and alternating interface transitions can accelerate the photoaging of plastic.

Photoaging of Terrestrial #PlasticPollution: A Process Affected by Precipitation

pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...