Roy Averill-Murray
I am a herpetologist/wildlife biologist who worked primarily on desert tortoises for 32 years, the last 18 as Desert Tortoise Recovery Coordinator for the US Fish and Wildlife Service. I retired early and moved to Ecuador.
- Feliz Día de las Madres para todas las mamás de hijos de cuatro patas.
- www.nytimes.com/2025/05/03/c... "in the summer of 2020, Mr. Pike watched the sky turn orange as the Bush fire burned 193,000 acres, killing roughly 80,000 saguaros." Included was the study site where I worked for my Master's degree. I haven't had the chance to go back to see the damage. 🌎 #ecology
- Reposted by Roy Averill-MurrayThis aged like milk. Donald Trump's weaponization of the tax system is illegal and a threat to every person who works hard and plays by the rules. Why aren't Republicans in Congress speaking out now? Grow a spine.
- Reposted by Roy Averill-Murraywhen he sends citizens to foreign concentration camps, it’s no longer a slide to authoritarianism—it’s full blown fascism! 😔 this is not an administration, it’s a criminal regime in a hostile takeover of 🇺🇸 democracy. #FightFascism #TraitorTrump #DefendLiberty 🔔
- Thi is depressing. Producing Something This Stupid Is the Achievement of a Lifetime www.nytimes.com/2025/04/10/o...
- Reposted by Roy Averill-MurrayI spoke to a South Carolina woman today who is miscarrying - her fetus has no heartbeat - but the state's ban is preventing doctors from taking action. She has to walk around with a dead fetus for another week so she can get a FOURTH ultrasound. This is what bans do.
- From 1945, it’s shocking to see how closely this fits the current state of the U.S. The threat of fascism is not hypothetical, speculative, or an exaggeration; it’s here. archive.org/details/Army...
- 19) Be a patriot Set a good example of what America means for the generations to come. They will need it. (In contrast, “A nationalist encourages us to be our worst, and then tells us that we are the best.”) 20) Be as courageous as you can
- 18) Be calm when the unthinkable arrives Modern tyranny is terror management. When the terrorist attack comes, remember that authoritarians exploit such events in order to consolidate power. The sudden disaster that requires the end of checks and balances, the dissolution of opposition parties, …
- Everything I worked for during my entire federal career is going up in smoke. 'Irreversible damage': 400 Fish and Wildlife firings could lead to extinctions in Joshua Tree www.sfgate.com/national-par... #ecology 🌎
- Reposted by Roy Averill-MurrayI received a heartbreaking email today: A paper in a special issue I’m editing is being retracted because one of its authors is afraid of losing their job and their legal status in the U.S. if they publish a scientific study on evolution. Yes, on evolution, nature's engine of diversity.
- Nesvik’s record of wildlife failure in Wyoming shows he’s wrong for federal job - WyoFile wyofile.com/nesviks-reco... 🌎 #ecology
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- #17 Listen for dangerous words Be alert to the use of the words extremism and terrorism. Be alive to the fatal notions of emergency and exception. Be angry about the treacherous use of patriotic vocabulary.
- #16 Learn from peers in other countries Keep up your friendships abroad, or make new friends in other countries. The present difficulties in the United States are an element of a larger trend. And no country is going to find a solution by itself. Make sure you and your family have passports.
- #15 Contribute to good causes Be active in organizations, political or not, that express your own view of life. Pick a charity or two and set up autopay. Then you will have made a free choice that supports civil society and helps others to do good.
- This isn't good news: Rapid butterfly declines across the United States during the 21st century | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... #ecology 🌎 🧪
- #14 Establish a private life Nastier rulers will use what they know about you to push you around. Scrub your computer of malware on a regular basis. Remember that email is skywriting. Consider using alternative forms of the internet, or simply using it less. Have personal exchanges in person.
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- "Growth characteristics documented for this population differ from those reported elsewhere, which could affect demographic inferences and management attention to different populations across the range of this declining species." 🌎 #ecology meridian.allenpress.com/ccb/article/...
- #13 Practice corporeal politics Power wants your body softening in your chair and your emotions dissipating on the screen. Get outside. Put your body in unfamiliar places with unfamiliar people. Make new friends and march with them.
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- #12 Make eye contact and small talk This is not just polite. It is part of being a citizen and a responsible member of society. It is also a way to stay in touch with your surroundings, break down social barriers, and understand whom you should and should not trust.
- #11 Investigate Figure things out for yourself. Subsidize investigative journalism by subscribing to print media. Realize that some of what is on the internet is there to harm you. Learn about sites that investigate propaganda campaigns. Take responsibility for what you communicate with others.
- This is a cool 9-1/2-minute video about restoration efforts in the Chocó rainforest of Ecuador: youtu.be/EDpCLIgfHXo?... 🌎 #ecology
- #10 Believe in truth You submit to tyranny when you renounce the difference between what you want to hear and what is actually the case.
- #9 Be kind to our language Avoid pronouncing the phrases everyone else does. Think up your own way of speaking, even if only to convey that thing you think everyone is saying. When we repeat the same words and phrases that appear in the daily media, we accept the absence of a larger framework.
- Reposted by Roy Averill-MurrayThis is Marco Rubio explaining how the USA promised to defend Ukraine forever if they got rid of their nuclear arsenal left after the Soviet Union fell. This is why lil marco was sinking into the couch. He was hoping we wouldn’t find it…so don’t RT right now this very second.
- The first volume of The Encyclopedia of the Amphibians of Ecuador is now available. It was cool attending the launch party at Wikiri Sapoparque. #ecology 🌎 🇪🇨
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- Reposted by Roy Averill-MurrayI miss DEI
- #7 Be reflective if you must be armed #8 Stand out Influential Americans such as Charles Lindbergh opposed war with the Nazis under the slogan “America First.”
- #6 Be wary of paramilitaries “For violence to transform not just the atmosphere but also the system, the emotions of rallies and insurrections and the ideology of exclusion have to be incorporated into the training of armed guards.”
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- #5 Remember professional ethics “If members of professions think of themselves as groups with… norms & rules that oblige them at all times, then they can gain confidence & indeed a certain kind of power. Professional ethics must guide us precisely when we are told that the situation is exceptional.”
- #4 Take responsibility for the face of the world “You might one day be offered the opportunity to display symbols of loyalty. Make sure that such symbols include your fellow citizens rather than exclude them.”
- ~While peers can provide interpersonal support and connection for ecological grieving, it is essential that organizations employing envtl professionals enact practices to enable envtl professionals to effectively support ourselves and each other. >Today in the US, we must help each other. #ecology 🌎
- Reposted by Roy Averill-MurrayHe nails it.
- Reposted by Roy Averill-MurrayWe are arms dealers to terrorists.
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- Reposted by Roy Averill-MurrayWYOMING: “Thank you, Madam chairman.” “I prefer ‘Mister’ chairman.” “Well you all voted preferred pronouns cannot be compelled speech.”
- #3 Beware the one-party state “We believe that we have checks and balances, but have rarely faced a situation like the present: when the less popular of the two parties suppresses voting, claims fraud when it loses elections, and controls the majority of statehouses.”
- Reposted by Roy Averill-MurrayPeace plan.
- 2) Defend institutions “The mistake is to assume that rulers who came to power through institutions cannot change or destroy those very institutions—even when that is exactly what they have announced that they will do.”
- Reposted by Roy Averill-MurrayThe National Park Service fired many of its park rangers as part of a reduction in the federal work force. Some rangers decided it was worth the risk to speak out online about the cuts and share their love of the Park Service. “It’s scary, but it was the right thing to do.”
- #1 Do not obey in advance.
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- Available in English. Let’s not be deceived: there is no gain for individual freedom or collective rights. The dismantling of the framework for protection and equity serves only to guarantee free rein for certain entities to push forward socioeconomically impactful policies without oversight.
- Reposted by Roy Averill-MurrayI’m George Takei and I approve of this message.
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- Republicans prevented a pregnant woman’s emergency medical evacuation.
- JUST IN: Another medical horror story in an affidavit from a USAID employee stationed overseas. Says his pregnant wife was not medevac-ed for emergency health care because of directives from DC. Took intervention of a U.S. senator to reverse — but was too late. s3.documentcloud.org/documents/25...
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- 🧪 Trump Tracker: Firings, lawsuits, and U.S. science in chaos | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...
- Reposted by Roy Averill-MurrayI hope America is as lucky as the delta jet - everyone survives but the right wing explodes
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- This is only Laurie's second drawing (in progress), but I think she's doing really well. Her first one is hanging in our living room.
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- No Kings on Presidents Day Deport Musk Dethrone Trump www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco...
- Reposted by Roy Averill-MurrayIf you wanted to cut waste, fraud, and abuse, you would empower the inspectors general. If you wanted more waste, fraud, and abuse, you would fire them.
- Reposted by Roy Averill-MurrayThe flying public needs answers. How many FAA personnel were just fired? What positions? And why?
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- Here's more optimistic news. 🌎 #ecology www.yahoo.com/news/scienti...
- "Gila monsters weren’t the only species that had inspired human drugs. There were antibiotics derived from fungi, anticancer drugs from plants and painkillers from animal venom." --All examples of research that would be lost by indiscriminate funding cuts. 🧪 www.nytimes.com/2025/02/16/s...
- Reposted by Roy Averill-Murray“I’ll seduce your anger, and I’ll massage your pride You’ll feel so good at first when I take you for a ride…” “All That I Require” is a chilling reflection on power, manipulation, and the cost of blind allegiance. youtu.be/rgAs9sZA-XQ?...
- This seems even more relevant now than it did when it was published last year.🌎 #ecology Many people are feeling ecological grief. How can we help those whose work puts them at risk? theconversation.com/many-people-...
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- It's difficult to enjoy the evening while at the same time hearing from friends and former colleagues how much wanton destruction and pain trump is causing that will be felt by the entire country for years to come, but we did have an amazing dinner at CATS in Cumbayá.
