Randy Kramer

environment | biodiversity | global health | poverty | economics @DukeEnvironment @DukeGHI Please follow me at @rakramer.bsky.social

[Randy Kramer @randall_kramer]

I generally avoid this platform , but I want to share our team’s new research on climate change challenges facing smallholder farmers in northeast Madagascar.

https://t.co/5ZR09Sbrxi

[Randy Kramer @randall_kramer]

@keithmartinmd @CUGHnews @nancyrreynolds @CUGH_TAC Hope to see you on Bluesky soon. Exiting Twitter for obvious reasons.

[Randy Kramer @randall_kramer]

@UNCCoalition Hope to see you on Bluesky soon. Exiting Twitter for obvious reasons.

[Randy Kramer @randall_kramer]

@caitleg I have enjoyed your great posts, but like many, I am exiting the toxic Twitter world for Bluesky. I hope to see you there soon

[Randy Kramer @randall_kramer]

@AVengosh @geosociety @DukeEnvironment @bengurionu Congratulations!

[Randy Kramer @randall_kramer]

@SarobidyRakoto @ESSAForets Unfair and unjust indeed!

[Randy Kramer @randall_kramer]

https://t.co/wa99tH5cw2 via @NYTimes

[maybe: k*rk @a_dose_of_wx]

Some thoughts and observations to the state and federal response to historic flooding in Western NC from Hurricane Helene

Its not sinking in to outsiders, or it’s just so hard to comprehend that the countless roads in Western N.C. , simply no longer exist.

The state and federal response has been ongoing, with over 1,000 personnel, including National Guard assets, deployed according to FEMA. Disaster Declaration for NC have been expedited, approved, but…

Those crews cannot traverse over collapsed bridges, 100+ foot ravinesthat weren’t there before.

Main interstates I-40 and I-26 have collapsed.

Primary state routes are scoured.

The secondary roads into neighborhoods are effectively eviscerated, for miles. Survivors *can’t* get out, help *can’t* get in.

It’s hard enough to get into Asheville. 30 minutes drives take 8-12 hours with the roads not existing, the remaining gas stations swamped. To get into the towns in villages in the mountains is a days journey if possible at all. National Guard trucks with food and water have to stop and collapses. The tools and supplies for SAR aren’t getting in via road.

Similar to Hurricane Katrina, where boats and helicopters were the only viable means of aid delivery in the first days, air support is currently the most effective way to connect Western NC to the outside world. There’s a limited amount of helicopters operating. Although the water has receded, the roads are still impassable.

This is still very much an active search and rescue mission not a recovery. There is a high number of missing (in the thousands per state media) because people can’t get in touch with loved ones. We saw this after Hurricane Ian as well, that number will drop significantly when phone service/internet returns. For death toll and recovery, the final number will not be known for at least a month in the region.

The lack of media presence on the ground isn’t due to neglect—reporters can't get into many areas, for the same reason help can’t. Even if they could, there is phone and internet do not exist.

This is not going to be a quick recovery for anyone. Some rural parts of Western NC may not be rebuilt.

[The Art Newspaper @TheArtNewspaper]

Netherlands to return 288 looted items to Indonesia, including artefacts taken from Bali after the 1906 war

https://t.co/Z4Je7Z9FYK

[Justin Wolfers @JustinWolfers]

Summer's not a break, it's a time to prep for next year's classes. And if you're not thinking hard about how AI requires changes in teaching (and assessment!) you're not thinking.

In case it's helpful, here's a deck from a talk I gave a while ago to econ instructors. #TeachEcon

[Melinda French Gates @melindagates]

Sociologist @JessicaCalarco hit the nail on the head when she said: “Other countries have social safety nets. The U.S. has women.”

That, she argues, is a policy choice—and it's "leaving our whole society sicker, sadder, and more stressed." https://t.co/XswYC6spEc

[MeidasTouch @MeidasTouch]

Yale School of Management Senior Associate Dean for Leadership Jeffrey Sonnenfeld: There are no Fortune 500 CEOs who are supporting Trump...The Trump economic package frightens them. It's extremely inflationary...They'll be reluctant Biden voters. They don't want the fabric of society pulled apart.

[Randy Kramer @randall_kramer]

Congrats to former Duke undergraduate & masters student Paul Ferraro @pauljferraro on his selection as a Fellow of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists in recognition of his scholarly impact across several environmental fields @DukeEnvironment @DukeTrinity

[AERE @AereOrg]

And now, for the 2024 AERE Fellows:

🏆 Congratulations to Paul Ferraro (@pauljferraro)!

Colleagues note the depth and breadth of Paul’s research, vast knowledge across various fields, always inquisitive nature, and valuable mentorship.

[allAfrica.com @allafrica]

.@allafrica co-founders Reed Kramer @reedkramer & Tami Hultman @tamihultman were each honored with Lifetime Achievement Awards at the just concluded @allAfricamedia Leaders Summit in Nairobi, Kenya. Their Lifetime Achievement Awards were in recognition of their exceptional contributions to media development in Africa & for their pioneering role in helping shape the evolution of the landscape of online African media & journalism. @allafrica CTO & @AllAfricafrench director were in Nairobi to receive the awards on their behalf

[Julia Jones @juliapgjones]

Sarobidy's awesome research group has a website. Check out their fab work.

[U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service @USFWS]

BARKING NEWS and BREAKING NEWS

The Red Wolf Recovery Program recently announced the birth of a wild litter of red wolf pups!

[Robert Komaniecki @Komaniecki_R]

With another semester ending, here's your annual reminder that teaching evaluations systemically disadvantage women. Even when controlling for grades and other factors, students (esp. males) consistently give female professors lower scores. This can have serious ramifications.🧵

[Randy Kramer @randall_kramer]

“climate and health scientists and advocates have no strategy to trigger political change. We do not understand how power is distributed and manipulated.”

[richard horton @richardhorton1]

It's about more than a climate emergency. https://t.co/6TRExyFVri

[Randy Kramer @randall_kramer]

“Much of the €100m revenue generated by Kariba has been carved off along the way by the project developers in fees and expenses: ….In the end, only a maximum of €14m went to Kariba’s communities through cash transfers and infrastructure improvements.”

[Phoebe Weston @phoeb0]

‘We don’t know where the money is going’: the ‘carbon cowboys’ making millions from credit schemes.

@pgreenfielduk's latest brilliant piece on offsetting https://t.co/GJztJuhZwx

[Randy Kramer @randall_kramer]

@caitleg Please do tell us where it was filmed.