Lisa S Gardiner

@lisasgardiner

Science writer, educator, curious human, friend of tiny marine life, author of REEFS OF TIME and TALES FROM AN UNCERTAIN WORLD Preorder Reefs of Time at

802 Folgt1.171 Follower364 Posts

Bluesky

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Lisa S Gardiner@lisasgardiner· 17d

Gnawed not sawed. There’s got to be a beaver around here.

A stump and a recently felled tree, gnawed, not sawed.

Lisa S Gardiner@lisasgardiner· 20d

I’d love to see a crochet version of ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings like these in Mesa Verde.

Lisa S Gardiner@lisasgardiner· 21d

Happy #OwlAwarenessDay to all WHOOOOO celebrate. Enjoy this cyanotype of a screech #owl I met in my neighborhood.

Screech owl, perched on a branch, who looked at me with such knowing eyes that I questioned everything I thought I knew

Lisa S Gardiner@lisasgardiner· 23d

Yet another invertebrate cyanotype…

A jumble of urchin tests from the Bahamas

Lisa S Gardiner@lisasgardiner· 23d

This is what happens when a marine paleoecologist dabbles in cyanotype prints. I love how shells and bones look in this art form. (See alt text for science-y description) #sciart #marinelife #invertebrates

Modern barnacle carapaces attached to glacial till on a Martha’s Vineyard beach.

Lisa S Gardiner@lisasgardiner· Jun 10

Happy birthday to Reefs of Time, which came out from @princetonupress.bsky.social a year ago today! It’s been an exciting year of reef resilience talks, hearing from readers, being an interviewee (instead of an interviewer), and signing my name many times. #booksky #scicomm #marinelife

The book Reefs of Time: What Fossils Reveal about Coral Survival sits open to the title page on a piece of driftwood on a beach as if someone (you, perhaps!) is about to give it a read while enjoying a day at the shore.

Lisa S Gardiner@lisasgardiner· Jun 8

Happy World Oceans Day! To celebrate, here's a three step method for making an atoll (from Reefs of Time, pub by @princetonupress.bsky.social). Darwin figured out the process. I make this somewhat IKEA-style infographic. #OceanDay #SciArt #WorldOceansDay #marinelife #nonfiction #science #booksky

The left pane shows a fringing reef around a volcanic island. The reef is growing on the flanks of the volcano. The middle pane shows a barrier reef and backreef around a volcanic island which is sinking underwater. The right pane shows an atoll, a circle of reef, which grew upward as the volcano subsided.

Lisa S Gardiner@lisasgardiner· Apr 5

Happy rabbit appreciation day to all who celebrate!

Lisa S Gardiner@lisasgardiner· Mar 15

Ecologist and geologist Lauren Toth analyzed cores from below the seafloor to explore Florida reef history. She and her team discovered reefs grew rapidly 7000 years ago and that growth slowed by 3000 years ago. Today nearly all Florida reefs are shrinking.

Lisa S Gardiner@lisasgardiner· Mar 15

Featuring the research of @lmcclenachan.bsky.social !

Historical ecologist Loren McClenachan led a study to compare today’s Florida reefs with reef indicated on a 240-year-old nautical. She found many reefs were lost long, long ago. (Picture of a chart with corals noted in the water)

Lisa S Gardiner@lisasgardiner· Mar 15

Featuring science research by @kt-cramer.bsky.social :)

Historical ecologist Katie Cramer and her team studied thousands of tiny fish teeth to learn that parrotfish numbers in Caribbean reefs started to drop in the 18th century as human population swelled after European colonization. (Picture of a brightly colored parrotfish in a coral reef)

Lisa S Gardiner@lisasgardiner· Mar 15

Geochemist Tara Clark dated old coral skeletons that Greer collected below the living reef using a U-Th dating method she developed. She found that, somehow, the coral persisted for more than a century.
Sadly, it would not persist forever. The coral died in 2023's extreme heat. (Picture of living corals at the top of the reef and dead skeletons below that accumulated during the reef's history.)

Lisa S Gardiner@lisasgardiner· Mar 15

In honor of Women’s History Month, here’s a thread about women who discover Caribbean reef history. (All examples are in my book, Reefs of Time, published by @princetonupress.bsky.social) #WomensHistoryMonth #marinelife #coralreef #ocean #ecology #geoscience #scicomm #paleo #booksky

When staghorn coral died across the Caribbean in the mid to late 20th century, it somehow survived in a Belize reef. Geoscientist Lisa Greer led a team that explored the reef’s history. (Image of Lisa Greer scuba diving in the Belize reef that is home to multitudes of yellow branching staghorn corals.)

Lisa S Gardiner@lisasgardiner· Feb 12

If you'd like a brief escape from the global chaos, I recommend reading REEFS OF TIME, my latest book. It will take you to tropical islands to hunt for fossils and underwater to living reefs, which are somehow both fragile and resilient (as are we). #scicomm #nonfiction #coral #fossilfriday

Multiples copies of REEFS OF TIME: WHAT FOSSILS REVEAL ABOUT CORAL SURVIVAL in a box that arrived at the author's front stoop and made her smile.

Lisa S Gardiner@lisasgardiner· Jan 23

There’s nothing quite like spotting one’s book in the wild! Thanks, @heydebigale.bsky.social for this pic of REEFS OF TIME at Denver’s Tattered Cover bookstore where it’s a staff recommendation! 💙📚 🪸@princetonupress.bsky.social #marinelife #nonfiction #fossilfriday

The book Reefs of Time propped on a shelf at a bookstore with a recommended sign

Lisa S Gardiner@lisasgardiner· Dec 23

I had a wonderful chat with @howonearthradio.bsky.social about past, present, and future coral reefs and my new book, REEFS OF TIME. The episode is now available wherever you get your podcasts or at howonearthradio.org #marinelife #nature #scicomm #booksky @princetonupress.bsky.social

Graphic with text: New podcast episode!
How On Earth
Producer Beth Bennett speaks with Lisa S. Gardiner about her book Reefs of Time: What Fossils Reveal about Coral Survival

Lisa S Gardiner@lisasgardiner· Nov 29

It’s Small Business Saturday so buy REEFS OF TIME 🪸at Bookshop (which supports local bookstores and shipping is free this weekend)! 💙📚https://bookshop.org/p/books/reefs-of-time-what-fossils-reveal-about-coral-survival-lisa-s-gardiner/98798345f770c059 #nonfiction #scicomm #coral #reefs #booksky

A stack of copies of the book REEFS OF TIME: WHAT FOSSILS REVEAL ABOUT CORAL SURVIVAL, by Lisa S. Gardiner

Lisa S Gardiner@lisasgardiner· Nov 26

There I was on the stage of an NYC comedy club, talking about the perils facing coral reefs. This was a REEFS OF TIME book event last week, making use of the venue for non-comedic purposes, but the absurdity of the situation was very amusing. #writingcommunity #books #MarineLife #coral #scicomm

Author Lisa Gardiner stands at the mic on the stage of the Grisly Pear Comedy Club in Midtown Manhattan.

Lisa S Gardiner@lisasgardiner· Oct 18

It’s a multi-species #nokings in Denver ❤️

Big shaggy black and white dog wearing a “dogs not dictators” sign

Lisa S Gardiner@lisasgardiner· Aug 10

Denver, Colorado folks! Join me August 19 at the Tattered Cover on Colfax for readings from REEFS OF TIME that take us to living reefs underwater and fossil reefs on tropical islands. It will be a virtual field trip! Tickets at: www.eventbrite.com/e/lisa-gardi... #coralreefs #nonfiction

Cover of the book Reefs of Time, photo of author Lisa Gardiner, and event info: 2526 East Colfax Ave, Denver, CO, Tuesday August 19th, 2025, 6:00 pm, Ticket purchase required to attend

Lisa S Gardiner@lisasgardiner· Jul 28

Botanists/biologists of Bluesky: Can you explain how this happened?

Two corn cobs attached together. Not sure why of how.

Lisa S Gardiner@lisasgardiner· Jun 30

Join me on Monday July 21 for a Harvard Science Book Talk about Reefs of Time. Get your free tickets at: www.eventbrite.com/e/lisa-s-gar... 💙📚#booksky🪸🧪

Image of Cover of Reefs of Time: What Fossils Reveal about Coral Survival and photo of author. Harvard Book Store, Harvard Science Book Talks, Long Now Boston, and Cambridge Public Library presents a discussion featuring Lisa S. Gardiner Monday July 21, 6pm at the Cambridge Public Library. RSVP Harvard.com

Lisa S Gardiner@lisasgardiner· Jun 13

I shared about REEFS OF TIME and how the book came together on this week's Emerging Form! 💙📚Thanks for having me on the podcast, @cragcrest.bsky.social! Listen where you get your podcasts or at: emergingform.substack.com/p/episode-14... @princetonupress.bsky.social

Lisa S Gardiner@lisasgardiner· Jun 6

This week I shared my new book, Reefs of Time 📚💙🪸, with a wonderful audience at the @denvermuseumns.bsky.social. If you are in/near Boulder, Colorado, join me for the next event on June 10: calendar.boulderlibrary.org/event/14183239

Lisa Gardiner at a podium on stage in front of a slide showing a coral reef with myriad fish

Lisa S Gardiner@lisasgardiner· May 30

Today for #fossilfriday, I'm sharing what the illustrious @restingdinoface.bsky.social had to say about REEFS OF TIME, published by @princetonupress.bsky.social Learn more about the book at: lisagardiner.com/reefs-of-tim...

Image of the cover of the book, Reefs of Time: What Fossils Reveal about Coral Survival, and quote: "A deep dive into tiny lives that can build communities large enough to see from space, Gardiner's coral odyssey is a delight. She deftly weaves together science, history, and poetic description into an enthusiastic life story of coral and its reverberating influence on life through the ages." - Riley Black, author of When the Earth Was Green and The Last Days of the Dinosaurs. Published by Princeton University Press June 10 (US) and August 5 (UK)

Lisa S Gardiner@lisasgardiner· May 25

While Reefs of Time’s pub date is June 10, the book entered the world early! See links to order at lisagardiner.com/reefs-of-tim...

Lisa S Gardiner@lisasgardiner· May 24

Mabel is thinking inside the box (as usual). #caturday

Lisa S Gardiner@lisasgardiner· May 23

Today for #fossilfriday, I'm sharing what the wonderful @ichnologist.bsky.social had to say about my new book, REEFS OF TIME, published by @princetonupress.bsky.social. Links to order at: lisagardiner.com/reefs-of-tim...

"Filled with compelling stories and marvelous imagery, Reefs of Time shows how reefs of the past can help us better ensure the recovery of reefs today and gives us hope that these precious environments will persist well into the future." - Anthony Martin, author of The Evolution Underground and Dinosaurs Without Bones
Published by Princeton University Press June 10 (US) and August 5 (UK)

Lisa S Gardiner@lisasgardiner· May 20

Hey, Colorado! Join me at the Boulder Public Library’s Canyon Theater on June 10 - the official pub date of my new book, REEFS OF TIME. Event info: calendar.boulderlibrary.org/event/14183239 #booksky #books #nonfiction #geology #fossils #coral #coralreef

Book event! Reefs of Time at the Boulder Public Library, Tuesday June 10 at 5:30 pm. Author Lisa S Gardiner discusses coral reefs, fossils, and her new book at this free library event. Books available for purchase from the Boulder Bookstore. Canyon Theater at Boulder Public Library, 1000 Canyon Blvd, Boulder CO 80302. Free. No tickets required

Lisa S Gardiner@lisasgardiner· May 7

Hey, Colorado! Join me June 4 at @denvermuseumns.bsky.social where I’ll be talking about fossil coral reefs and my new book. There will be drinks, fossils, book signing, and the Jurassic Oceans exhibit too! Info and tickets: www.dmns.org/purchase/tic...