chriscatano.bsky.social - Profile | ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

What’s the latest on the no net biodiversity change debate? Moving more towards attributions of change? Assigning papers for grad students! @jon-chase03.bsky.social @jebyrnes.bsky.social @oconnor-lab.bsky.social @bio-diverse.bsky.social 🧪🌐

submitted 19 hours ago • 5 comments

Two really important papers for anyone interested in causal inference in ecology came out recently in Ecology Letters. 1st up (by @lauradee.bsky.social & @katherinesiegel.bsky.social) is this over-view paper. Really useful for both experts and beginners. https://buff.ly/4gZgTWa

submitted 23 hours ago • 4 comments

Out today: excerpt from my @princetonupress.bsky.social book Doctors by Nature in @dailymail.co.uk showing how animals can help us discover drugs. Curiosity and basic science! www.dailymail.co.uk/health/artic...

submitted 22 hours ago • 0 comments

Is evolution predictable? Would the biosphere look the same if we re-played the tape of evolution, as conjectured by SJ Gould? Here's an excellent paper on this challenging problem by Michael Lässig, Ville Mustonen and Aleksandra M. Walczak www.phys.ens.psl.eu/~awalczak/PU...

submitted 4 days ago • 2 comments

So nice to be mentioned in the same Library Journal’s roundup of titles to watch this spring as my friend and inspiration @schilthuizen.bsky.social ‘s new book on urban naturalists!

submitted 12 days ago • 0 comments

I think the biggest lie being told right now is that one of the wealthiest countries in the world cannot afford to invest in science, education, and the environment.

submitted 6 days ago • 6 comments

Inaugural Southern California Conference on Ecological Change hosted at @ucriverside.bsky.social

submitted 11 days ago • 0 comments

Not sure this needs emphasis, but worried about overfitting in #data-driven models? #Theory-driven predictions based on principles offer transparent rationale. Assumptions, parameters & interconnections are easier to assess and refine - it's more about evaluating assumptions than fitting to data 🧪

submitted 18 days ago • 0 comments

The first many-analysts study in ecology is finally published! 🥳🙌 300+ coauthors and 5+ years, this was a massive effort by @elliotgould.bsky.social Hannah Fraser Tim Parker and co. Open access 👉 bmcbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....

submitted 19 days ago • 2 comments

Your nominations needed! We seek nominations (incl. self-nominations) for positions on our Governing Board, Board of Professional Certification & various committees. Nomination is easy; service is great for you and ESA -- be part of our future!

submitted 39 days ago • 0 comments

Why aren't more researchers publishing in society journals? Two potential reasons: 1) They're often unfamiliar to early-career researchers, and 2) they need better promotion, a task for all of us.

submitted 29 days ago • 7 comments

🚨 New paper from our group! 🚨 Using a realistic species loss scenario, we show only limited effects of #biodiversity loss on below-ground biomass & root #traits. 🌱 But short-term root production is strongly affected! 📄🔓 Read it here: doi.org/10.1111/1365... @journalofecology.bsky.social #Ecology 🌐

submitted 26 days ago • 1 comment

Are "simple" parasitic life cycles truly simple? Not according to @gabe-dubose.bsky.social, who just showed that parasites infecting metamorphic hosts undergo very strong and uncoupled gene expression differentiation across host life stages. Free access here: 🧪 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

submitted 26 days ago • 0 comments

Finland is teaching children the skills needed to spot online hoaxes and disinformation. They will become more media literate than many adults in other countries. This effort will likely enhance their science literacy as well. fortune.com/2025/01/29/f...

submitted 26 days ago • 3 comments

Hi all! I am hiring a molecular technician to join the Microbial Ecology and Soil Science lab at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies. Please apply and share widely :) www.caryinstitute.org/about/career...

submitted 28 days ago • 1 comment

A study on the community assembly of lichens on trees indicated that passive restoration of lichen communities is highly influenced by stochasticity at site level 🌲 Thus, comparison with reference areas should be at larger spatial scales 🌏 🧪 🔗 https://buff.ly/4hcjCMJ

submitted 27 days ago • 0 comments

My kids just called me at work to ask if I can come home to help them with a video game.

submitted 27 days ago • 2 comments

NSF PRFB POSTDOCS: Pull the remainder of this funding cycle’s stipend, all remaining research funds, and all remaining travel funds (if you have them). Do it before 5PM today. Per instructions from multiple NSF POs. If you’re not already on the PRFB slack, DM me and I’ll send you an invite

submitted 28 days ago • 13 comments

NSF PRFB fellows: talk to your POs and transfer the remaining year’s balance of salary and research funds by 5pm today!! Dm me if you want to join the prfb slack where fellows are sharing info with each other #nsf #nsfprfb

submitted 28 days ago • 9 comments

These funding freezes are scary but can we PLEASE be thoughtful/not fear-mongering, about how we discuss them, especially with our funded trainees? Sincerely, someone that calmed a panicking UG who was told by a professor that her university-funded position could be immediately dissolved.

submitted 28 days ago • 1 comment

The Missouri Botanical Garden (MBG) is seeking a Scientist to join our Latin America Program! The successful candidate will establish a collaborative research program, with a focus on the Tropical Andes or other regions where MBG is engaged. Apply here: jobs.dayforcehcm.com/en-US/mbg/CA...

submitted 75 days ago • 1 comment

Very excited this paper is now out in Ecology Letters onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.... #causalsky

submitted 36 days ago • 2 comments

Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships in Ecology! Applications are open for the #TysonResearchCenter Undergraduate Fellows Program at WashU’s field station, including opportunities to join our summer forest #biodiversity & #fireecology team 🌳 🔥 Applications due Feb. 15 Reposts appreciated!

submitted 43 days ago • 0 comments

Delighted to see the final version of my paper for @asn-amnat.bsky.social appear online. In it, I analyze stochastic matrix models to partition the effects of spatial and temporal variation in demography and dispersal on metapopulation growth rates www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/... 1/n

submitted 37 days ago • 4 comments

Burros on UCR campus searching for fresh grass. it’s dry in the hills.

submitted 40 days ago • 2 comments

Re-reading Grubb's 1977 classic The maintenance of species‐richness in plant communities: the importance of the regeneration niche A paper overflowing with ideas, most of which remain highly relevant to this day; really one of my favorites biomar.fciencias.unam.mx/Sobretiros/S...

submitted 48 days ago • 2 comments

As a new professor, it's wild how students just assume I know what I am doing

submitted 48 days ago • 1 comment

"Diversity is important. It’s important for the provision of functions like storing carbon or filtering water. It’s important for productivity. However, particularly relevant to the theme of this newsletter, it’s important for promoting resilience to shocks."

submitted 51 days ago • 0 comments

Excited to share our new paper - plant metabolomics provide an additional trait dimension in community assembly to better understand how niche selection changes along environmental gradients. esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... A collaborative project led by @hennhouse.bsky.social

submitted 54 days ago • 2 comments

After a semester of sustained (and unsustainable) overwork, successfully managed to not open my computer even once this past week. Hoping that sets the trend for a healthier 2025!

submitted 57 days ago • 1 comment

I've got distal bicep tendinitis from pounding rebar and setting up a new experiment. As the wise Danny Glover once said, "I'm getting too old for this shit." And totally unrelated, stay alert for an upcoming lab manager/field technician position in my lab.

submitted 60 days ago • 0 comments

"Ants solving a geometric problem and it's amazing." This is a great example of 'emergent phenomenon': - None of the ants understand the problem they're solving. - None of them can see the whole shape. - A series of small decisions or rules add up to something with a new layer of complexity.

submitted 62 days ago • 33 comments

For those who just submitted a manuscript before the break, congratulations! Well done! Go celebrate & relax during the break! Just keep in mind that editors (the unsung altruistic heroes of scientific publishing) would like to do the same, so just give them some more time to respond. 🙏

submitted 64 days ago • 4 comments

Finished my 1st quarter as an assistant professor. It was a whirlwind, but I loved every second of it. I have the most amazing colleagues! Special thanks to @loraleelarios.bsky.social for taking me under her wing!

submitted 65 days ago • 0 comments

As a person who excels at writing "on the bubble" grants, I definitely am below net zero cost for grant writing. The arbitrary process highlighted in this paper means you can walk away with zero support after writing an "excellent", "high priority" grant. Ask me how I know.

submitted 65 days ago • 1 comment