Ben Walther

Did you know Benjamin Franklin discovered the Gulf Stream? In 1769, Franklin’s Gulf Stream chart was printed—the first map of the oceanic current ever published. Two more editions followed, but the original map disappeared for nearly 200 years. Learn how it was found: go.whoi.edu/Franklin

If you're new junior faculty within 7 years of setting up your first lab in experimental biology, you can apply for one of JEB's Kickstart Travel Grants or ECR Visiting Fellowships to help build your career The next deadline is 5 June Find out more at www.biologists.com/grants/#jeb

A shocking new poll result: Many Americans somehow don't have a favorite dinosaur. And only 6% give the correct answer (triceratops). Check out YouGov's new polling on Americans and dinosaurs: yougovamerica.substack.com/p/whats-your...

"We consider three folklore-motivated deterrents against monsters: reduced organosulfur gases as antihematophage repellents, argentiferous reflective aerosols as anti-lycanthropic countermeasures, and haline aerosols as a counting problem for specters."

If you liked the eel life cycle map I posted the other day, and you want to know more about how/why I drew it, I've written about it over on my patreon. It's free & public, so give it (and my other posts!) a read if you're curious about what goes into making maps. www.patreon.com/posts/slip-s...

Is this thing on?

Dewey Mears took this moody, atmospheric photo of Austin's Congress Avenue in 1947. It's almost film-noirish, isn't it? I wonder what it was like to walk down the sidewalk when Austin was a normal, quiet town. 😉 From the Austin History Center, a great place to visit if you're in downtown Austin.

Climate variations over the last 2000 years provide valuable context and help answer questions about how unusual the recent changes are. Now with added global sea level rise: climatelabbook.substack.com/p/climate-ch... Graphics: ed-hawkins.github.io/climate-visu...

#octopusday #worldoctopusday

Tomorrow morning! Come hear about hypoxia and fishes! Register at bit.ly/4oTTo5V

#Eels and isotopes, oh my! New paper out from my lab led by the amazing @mikecurtis.bsky.social! What kind of variation is found in #stableisotopes in American eel in the understudied subtropical part of its range? Find out now! link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Are you interested in #hypoxia and #oceans? Come attend this webinar on 23 September! I'll be presenting some work from our #otolith methods to reconstruct hypoxia histories in fish, and talking with some wonderful colleagues about global change! Register at bit.ly/4oTTo5V

Excited to be a part of this new and fantastic paper!

Larry Richardson appeared to be an early-career mathematician with potential, racking up more than 130 citations in 4 years. It would all be rather remarkable—if the studies weren’t complete gibberish. And if Larry wasn’t a cat. #InternationalCatDay scim.ag/4lg3wTp

Fun news: I'm hiring a postdoc in ichthyology! Please spread the word #TeamFish, and message me if you have questions. (Job requisition id is R00107333 if LSU link below takes you elsewhere.) lsu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/LSU/de...

I'm pleased to be participating in a @cerfscience.bsky.social webinar on Communicating with Policy Makers on 28 September. Free to CERF members. Check it out. www.cerf.science/index.php?op...

Atlantic Mackerel (Scomber scombrus) and their beautifully patterned backs. County Clare, Ireland.

Meet the CERF 2025–2027 Governing Board Officers! Join us in congratulating CERF’s new President-Elect, Secretary, and Treasurer 🎉 Learn more about the incoming Board and Affiliate Society Representatives at ow.ly/EjMR50Wublt

Meet the 2025–2027 CERF Governing Board Members at Large! Join us in congratulating our new Members at Large and Student Member at Large 🎉Learn more about the incoming Board and Affiliate Society Representatives at ow.ly/bOfc50Wublr

Academia: "Dear Dr. Gleick, write 10,000 words for us and we won't charge you for it."

We will be hosting another student feedback session on Thursday, July 31 at 7pm CT. Students can receive feedback on how to improve their #fishscicomm ahead of their big days at the @amfisheriessoc.bsky.social Annual Meeting in the Lonestar State.

Kicked off #SharkWeek with a student research panel at the Mary and Jeff Bell Library! Jaz, Katie, and Kyle presented lightning talks on their shark-related work here at the Island University. 🦈 #TAMUCC

What's marine functional connectivity? And where is the research going next? I'm excited to be a part of this new major review of the field along with some amazing colleagues! Check it out! doi.org/10.3354/meps...

What it took to get tenure in the Batman Studies Department in the 1960s, and what it takes to get tenure in Batman Studies today...

Some thoughts on the performance of current AI models in a research setting. open.substack.com/pub/clauswil...

Ideal professional headshot

A mammoth effort from all involved. Great to see this published. bg.copernicus.org/articles/22/...

www.nature.com/articles/s41... Loving this paper on recent collaboration between Cefas and partners, including @universityofexeter.bsky.social ...in essence, tagging of a tuna that got eaten by a whale 🍣

Uncertain United States seafood sustainability in a manufactured crisis By @dochfroehlich.bsky.social @jagephart.bsky.social www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

The impact of invasive fishes lasts a lifetime - we found lifetime trophic shifts in native species using fish eye lens stable isotope analysis coupled with otolith growth measurements 🐟 👁️ 📈 Check out the new pub with @oldenfish.bsky.social esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

And of course, it's a tarpon...

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...