Kelton Minor
@keltonminor
Postdoctoral Research Scientist @DataSciColumbia exploring human adaptation to planetary risks & climate stressors
There are days in life that shake you. I’m shattered 💔 to share that I just found out that the US Government terminated my 2024 NIH Director’s Early Independence Award (~$2 million), threatening my long-promised assistant professor job at @Columbia & academic career... 1/🧵
“It’s a bloodbath,” a source from the NIH told me today, regarding the sweeping cancellation of research grants.
Does prescribed burning reduce overall smoke from wildfire? We have 2 new papers that try to quantify this. Answer: each acre Rx burned generates at least 3x more reduction in future wildfire smoke than is emitted in the Rx burn. But can take years to realize benefits. 1/ 🧵
“A generation of scientific talent is at the brink of being lost to overseas competitors by the dismantling of the National Science Foundation, with unprecedented political interference at the agency jeopardizing the future of US industries and economic growth”
The proposed NOAA budget for 2026 contains the literal line: Total, Climate Research: $0 commerce.gov/sites/default/…
Extreme heat is worsening around the world and the stakes for heat safety are higher now than ever. Heat-related incidents at outdoor events are forcing the private and public sectors to confront the growing challenge of heat governance. Learn more: climate.gov/news-features/…
Conventional wisdom says interdisciplinary research is valuable but harder to get through peer review (need to please diverse reviewers, etc). In new @PNASNews paper, @SidneyXiang @DanielMRomero and I partnered with @IOPPublishing to test this wisdom and add nuance (1/3)
The meteorology community does not really understand how bad things are going to get. And frankly, neither do I. science.org/content/articl…
“The future of the U.S. scientific enterprise is at risk.” More than 1,900 members of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine are speaking out as the Trump admin’s actions dismantle the foundations of American science ⬇️
The massive changes in US research brought about by the new administration of President Donald Trump are causing many scientists in the country to rethink their lives and careers go.nature.com/4cbUXX0
Whenever I post about climate, skeptical folks inevitable respond with this graph. So I decided to do something radical: actually read the underling scientific paper and ask the authors. As it turns out, it actually says the opposite of what skeptics claim.
“We write as constitutional scholars—some liberal and some conservative—who seek to defend academic freedom and the First Amendment in the wake of the federal government’s recent treatment of Columbia University.” nybooks.com/online/2025/03…
Science cannot thrive without the next generation.
"The attack on Columbia is a radical threat to scholarly excellence and to America’s leadership in research. Universities and their leaders should speak up and litigate forcefully to protect their rights." — President Eisgruber writes in @theatlantic. bit.ly/4iDZ2Fx