Benji Jones

@vox.com correspondent @benjij.bsky.social looks for a new species of insect in Central Park (and listeners try to help him name it). Listen: wnyc.org/browse/shows...

Benji Jones (@benjij.bsky.social) is determined to discover a new species in NYC. @vox.com's senior environmental correspondent gave our Science Friday producers a house tour of his Malaise trap in Prospect Park. This tent will hopefully catch an unknown insect hiding right in our own backyard.

A billionaire philanthropist recently donated an ~$18m drawing to support wildlife conservation. His fortune comes from the mining industry. I asked him if he sees his source of wealth and the causes he cares about as at odds. That's where our conversation took a turn. www.vox.com/climate/4894...

What a treat to be able to guest edit today's @thesundaylongread.bsky.social. . Checks it out! @charlesbethea.bsky.social, @nathanielpopper.bsky.social, @mariepastora.bsky.social, @benjij.bsky.social, @davidjroth.bsky.social, and many others. mailchi.mp/sundaylongre...

the only moments of my adult life that i am not on the cusp of falling asleep / fighting an everpresent pull towards the unconscious is when i’m trying to sleep on a f*ing plane man behind me is talking loudly and my mind has decided to filter out the white noise and latch itself to every word. why

Here’s a weird fact: Every time someone buys an assault weapon (or any gun) in the US, such as an AR-15, they’re inadvertently funding wildlife conservation. I wrote about an obscure law that makes state wildlife agencies deeply dependent on gun sales. www.vox.com/climate/4871...

I wrote about how logging is not the environmental boogeyman many people make it out to be with one big caveat: Logging in a way that doesn't destroy ecosystems requires expertise, research, and resources — things Trump officials have axed from the Forest Service. www.vox.com/climate/4849...

FYI: The $1.5 trillion in defense spending is enough to give every American living in poverty (~36 million) roughly $42,000 each — more than twice their annual income.

I was told today my Washington Post job is being eliminated It's just a job, but it's one that I was proud to do for 8+ yrs alongside the best in the business I'm here for opportunities to tell stories about the natural world and how we impact it dino.grandoni@gmail.com

BREAKING Greg Bovino has been removed as Border Patrol "commander at large" and will return to El Centro Calif, where he is expected to retire soon. A stunning turnaround after Pretti killing. Bovino's traveling blue city crackdown is over www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

"Spawning on the Great Barrier Reef has been called the largest reproductive event on Earth, and, in more colorful terms, 'the world’s largest orgasm.'" @benjij.bsky.social for @vox.com: www.vox.com/climate/4754...

once again reminded that i can temporarily vanquish my thoughts of despair by caffeinating myself into oblivion. it’s wonderful

I know this is probably obvious but one of the most frustrating realizations for me as an adult/writer is that you simply can’t produce good work without putting in the time, no matter how skilled your are or how many shortcuts/AI tools are thrown in your face. Success requires work! It’s annoying!

A fact that blew my mind (but maybe shouldn't): Private creditors like hedge funds hold about *60 percent* of the debt of poor countries. Basically firms on Wall Street effectively control certain nations. The debt crisis is so OOC. A must-read from Sara Herschander. www.vox.com/future-perfe...

Thank you, @benjij.bsky.social, for making me newly obsessed with this fierce little falcon 💙 Fascinating piece about the link between tenacious predators and how they not only benefit the landscape — but our food, too. Well worth a read: www.vox.com/climate/4711... @vox.com

Colorado brought wolves back for the first time in 80 years, but now a few years into the historic reintroduction, many of them are dead. Restoring predators is never simple and the real test is just beginning. @benjij.bsky.social for @vox.com: www.vox.com/climate/4700...

Every time I ride a stationary bike I think of how dumb it is that I am literally using my body to turn a wheel and yet the bike USES energy and generates nothing. Meanwhile, using stuff (wind, coal, etc) to rotate wheels is literally how electricity is made. Dumb! Anyone??

Insect people! Does anyone know what this is? (Seen in Madagascar.)

"It’s a complicated situation: The health and well-being of people along the coast depends on fishing, yet too much fishing is a key reason why the reef, and the fishery it supports, is in decline." @benjij.bsky.social for @vox.com: www.vox.com/climate/4650...

🚨Just launched: @vox.com's most ambitious biodviersity reporting project of the year. @benjij.bsky.social went to Madagascar to find out what it takes to save one of the world’s most unique ecosystems — and learned that the answer begins with putting people first. www.vox.com/climate/4649...

Coming out of silence to share a story that's very meaningful to me — a look at what's going on in southwest Madagascar. Coral reefs that sustain entire communities are failing, despite decades of conservation. It highlights the need to rethink how conservation works. www.vox.com/climate/4650...

We’ve climbed Everest, mapped the oceans, and trekked to the poles. Yet 90% of Earth’s species remain unknown. The golden age of discovery is happening now — as scientists race to catalogue our planet's "dark taxa" @benjij.bsky.social w/ this fascinating story @vox.com: www.vox.com/down-to-eart...

I wrote about the search for "dark taxa" — groups of animals, like certain flies and wasps, in which the bulk of species remains unknown to science. Among the facts that blew my mind while reporting this: Around 90 percent of all life is still undescribed. Like, what!? www.vox.com/down-to-eart...

This is not the year of positive wildlife stories, but I've got one. And it's about jaguars. I spent a week in Sonora, Mexico last month looking for cats and learning about a creative project to save them — involving the very people that once hunted these animals down. www.vox.com/down-to-eart...

We kick off with @benjij.bsky.social who joins us to talk about the Department of the Interior's move to strip endangered species status from the lesser prairie chicken, and other science news of the week. www.sciencefriday.com/segments/les...

The Trump administration is trying to remove protections for a very odd bird on a technicality and maybe that doesn't sound like a big deal but it's actually a very big deal and signals something scary for all other species near the brink www.vox.com/down-to-eart...

having my annual “oh yeah i guess i like new york” moment cherishing it before it vanishes in 30

Hi. I wrote about America’s most beloved insect: the monarch butterfly. They’re not doing well. USFWS finally proposed federal protections for them late last year. Trump is already moving to dismantle regs to protect wildlife. What will happen to monarchs? www.vox.com/down-to-eart...

just a normal reader email

In research published yesterday, scientists monitored what anti-anxiety drugs did to salmon as they migrated from a river out to the Baltic Sea. The results are fascinating. @benjij.bsky.social for @vox.com: www.vox.com/down-to-eart...

Talked to a scientist who collects SEA TURTLE TEARS for her research. If that's not strange enough: She's looking for signs that those tears contain a kind of *magnetic* bacteria because that might help turtles navigate??? Science is cooooool. www.vox.com/down-to-eart...

Need a palette cleanser from all of the news this week? @benjij.bsky.social has this adorable and fun story about one marine scientist's unexpected discovery: www.vox.com/down-to-eart... @vox.com

Can anyone point me to an octopus expert in the Caribbean/Florida region? I need help with an ID!

well i’m officially that person who takes their dog to water aerobics

The US and Europe largely solved the acid rain problem. Hooray! But now our rain is full of something a lot scarier — microplastics, PFAS, and other modern chemicals. And these pollutants are much harder to clean up. www.vox.com/climate/4016...

soy milk rules unsurprisingly love this @mbolotnikova.bsky.social piece www.vox.com/future-perfe...

One thing bringing me joy right now: my plants are THRIVING!! in an nyc apt. this orchid is blooming for like the sixth time. i’ve had it for years!! even my succulent is blooming!!! i didn’t think this was possible the secret? i think neglect and sunlight

This is a big deal — corals in Florida and throughout much of the Caribbean are not producing babies anymore. Sexual reproduction is failing. That means coral reefs will start failing too. www.vox.com/down-to-eart...

The black-footed ferret has been coming back from the brink of extinction thanks to the work of US government scientists. They just got fired. www.vox.com/down-to-eart...

Staff cuts and funding freezes have upended one of the country’s highest profile conservation projects — a nationwide effort to breed, clone, and release endangered black-footed ferrets, among the rarest animals in the world. www.vox.com/down-to-eart...

Florida’s iconic corals aren’t having babies anymore. Scientists are alarmed. @benjij.bsky.social explains how a baby bust threatens the future of an already struggling reef: www.vox.com/down-to-eart... @vox.com

Are you an employee with the USFWS or another environmental agency that's been impact by recent government action? We'd love to hear from you. Reach out to @benjij.bsky.social and help inform more @vox.com reporting on this developing story.

Our national parks are not OK, in two charts. And this was BEFORE last week's layoff. Cool cool cool cool cool

Scooplet: The US Fish and Wildlife Service has issued stop work orders, frozen funding, and ceased communication for all of its international grants, jeopardizing critical conservation overseas. Much of this money is appropriated for Interior, not foreign aid. www.vox.com/down-to-eart...

A tiny endangered lizard is set to test the Trump administration's "drill, baby, drill" agenda — and what it means for the nation's most imperiled species. Meet the dunes sagebrush lizard of Texas. www.vox.com/down-to-eart...