Energy & Environment Reporter @dcexaminer | Red Sox fan | Dr. Pepper enthusiast | she/her | signal: calliepatteson.83
Washington, DC
Joined July 2013
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Callie Patteson retweeted
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to:
Johns Hopkins Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center Fund
alzresearch.org/giving/
Alzheimer’s Foundation of America Caregiver Resources
alzfdn.org/donate/
Photo Credit: Tommy Garcia
Callie Patteson retweeted
Meet Annautaq, an orphaned Pacific walrus calf whose unexpected discovery during USGS research in Alaska saved his life.
Last month, USGS biologist Tony Fischbach and Violet Anniskett, an Illisavik College intern, were surveying a beach after a storm moved a walrus herd from the area. While sampling carcasses for a study on harmful algal toxin levels in Pacific walruses, Violet discovered a live, orphaned calf hiding between two adult carcasses.
With approval from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the local Iñupiaq community, the pair cared for the calf for nearly four days. They dispersed the gulls scavenging him, walked a half mile to the nearest shelter (an abandoned building open to the elements), and protected him from polar bears until the storm passed and a local rescue team could boat him across the lagoon. From there, Alaska Sea Life Center (ASLC) vet techs crated him onto a small plane to rehabilitation. Violet joined the journey to ease his transition.
Violet grew up near walrus herds and first joined USGS surveys on a high school class field trip. This September, she joined the USGS team to gain professional experience working with the wildlife central to Iñupiaq culture. Her community agreed to have the orphan saved with the condition that they name him to preserve their connection to him. Violet chose Annautaq, an Iñupiaq word meaning axe, in honor of her father’s Iñupiaq name.
USGS scientists monitor Pacific walrus populations in support of Marine Mammal Protection Act reporting and management requirements. This work depends on partnerships with Alaska Native communities, whose generational knowledge shapes how we understand and protect these animals.
After rehabilitation at the ASFC, Annautaq has moved to his long-term home, where he will serve as a species ambassador, helping people learn about walruses and their connection to Alaska's people and changing marine environments.
All work was conducted under USFWS permit MA3376D.
📷1: Violet and Annautaq.
📷2: Annautaq gazes out the shelter window.
📷3: Tony and Annautaq.
📷4: Violet resting with Annautaq.
Credit: Tony Fischbach, USGS
ALT Young woman smiling next to a close-up of a large walrus with textured skin indoors.
ALT A large walrus sitting indoors, gazing out of a window with natural light illuminating its wrinkled skin.
ALT Person gently holding a young walrus near a window overlooking a grassy coastal landscape under a cloudy sky.
ALT A person in a hooked puffy jacket laying face down on a thin mat on the floor next to a walrus calf.
Callie Patteson retweeted
Find today's edition of Daily on Energy below. If you enjoy @MaydeenMerino's and my newsletter, you can also sign up for free to receive it each weekday afternoon!
washingtonexaminer.com/daily…
Resources For the Future has released its modeling on the Senate permitting bill.
Top findings:
- Increase transmission capacity by 30% by 2041
- Would facilitate 60GW of clean energy in 2028
- Reduce carbon emissions by 1.8 gigatonnes through 2041
rff.org/publications/issue-b…
Divisions over permitting appears to be evidence of a broader shift in how the U.S. tackles climate change. @JaneAFlegal told me it raises the question of what's the right path to decarbonization?
You can read some of what she had to say in today's Daily on Energy. (Link below)
Find today's edition of Daily on Energy below. If you enjoy @MaydeenMerino's and my newsletter, you can also sign up for free to receive it each weekday afternoon!
washingtonexaminer.com/daily…
Callie Patteson retweeted
Key paragraph: "Oil industry leaders have urged the Trump administration against a wholesale repeal of methane mandates in favor of more modest recalibrations, arguing the Biden-era requirements at times were technologically infeasible, inefficient and costly." Industry associations mostly wanted targeted fixes, as reflected in their public comments.
SCOOP: President Trump is set to unveil a plan to dial back methane mandates on oil & gas operations during a Texas rally Tuesday. He's expected to cast the proposal as a way to encourage more domestic energy production & lower costs. bloomberg.com/news/articles/… w/ @Zhirji28
Received a lot of love on this. My mom passed away in early 2025 after a years-long battle with Alzheimer’s.
Until her last day, my dad was her primary caretaker and truly exemplified their “in sickness and in health” vows.
They set the bar high, and I’m so grateful for it.
My parents would have been married for 35 years today. Grief never disappears but it does get easier to manage.
Miss you Mom ❤️
It’s a great day to run for Jim.
This year’s Foley 5K looped around Hains Point in East Potomac Park. Tomorrow’s Marine Corps Marathon follows the same route.
Would hurt a lot of people to close this park for over a year.
Federal regulators are making it easier for nuclear startups developing SMRs and microreactors with the Department of Energy/Pentagon to apply for commerical licenses.
This doesn't automatically rubberstamp designs developed in pilot programs, but should streamline applications.
“The Administration has done EVERTHING it has promised to do. If this deal does not pass, it is ENTIRELY on the Democrats own internal fights and finger-pointing,” a White House official also told me today.
Callie Patteson retweeted
A cosmic butterfly 🦋
In this shimmering view captured by @NASAHubble, the complexities of the Twin Jet Nebula are seen in striking detail, with lobes of material stretching outward while jets of gas stream from a central star system.
ALT The shimmering colors visible in this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image show off the remarkable complexity of the Twin Jet Nebula. Lobes of material, in teal, orange and blue hues, stretch outward like elongated orbs from a central star system that shines bright white. Streams of gas jet outward from the center. Stars are visible in the background, dotting the black of space in yellow and white. Credit: NASA/ESA/Judy Schmidt
Callie Patteson retweeted
The United Kingdom is allowing a proposed gas drilling project in the North Sea to move forward, a major reversal in the country’s climate change policy, which previously banned new fossil fuel drilling in the region. trib.al/MBvUqDg
On the filings threatening the offshore wind farm permits, an admin official told me: "We have been very transparent about the need for permitting reform and have also been transparent with Senator Whitehouse’s and Senator Heinrich’s teams on all these legal filings.”
Who will tank the deal first?
Environmental groups or the administration?
