michael catchen

It's sort of generally accepted within ecology that Michael is a rare triple threat (brilliant, makes the best figures I've ever seen, and a poster at heart), but this is really some of the coolest work I've seen people share on here in a while. Check it out 👇

the most interesting thing i worked on during my phd is now out as a preprint. ecoevorxiv.org/repository/v...

Very forceful statement by Terry Tao about AI and math. terrytao.wordpress.com/2026/09/11/a... Note, he is not claiming the models aren't real and powerful. He's talking about how that power should be used. This, I believe, is what all AI discussions should center.

🚨 NEW: Biodiversity monitoring can guide surveillance for emerging pathogens. In a new PLOS Ecosystems study led by @mdcatchen.bsky.social, we present computational algorithms to select surveillance sites that capture the most actionable data. Out now: dx.plos.org/10.1371/jour...

Now out in PLOS Ecosystems! doi.org/10.1371/jour...

Now out in PLOS Ecosystems! doi.org/10.1371/jour...

Mathematician Levent Alpöge found a counterexample to the Jacobi conjecture using Claude Fable! This conjecture claims that if F: ℂⁿ→ℂⁿ is a polynomial map whose Jacobian is invertible at each point, F has a polynomial inverse. Open since 1939. But no more! (1/n)

Spent the last two years developing a new Intro to Physics course for undergrad biology majors. It features tons of examples from biology (especially Ecology & Evolution!) and requires only middle school-level math. Lecture note here shorturl.at/0PiVp Any comments or feedback are highly welcome!

new diamond open-access Journal of Statistical Ecology launched 🎉🎉🎉 jse.centre-mersenne.org @fredbarraquand.bsky.social @oaggimenez.bsky.social @marieaugermethe.bsky.social @vianeylb.bsky.social (apologies to any Bsky editors I missed)

Are interacting species showing more similar responses to environmental predictors than expected by chance? Is this similarity protecting species pairs from interaction disruption under climate change? If you want to find out, join us for a fully funded Ph.D. with @epic-biodiversity.org 🌎🧪

Information about species interactions is very scarce! In a new preprint, @gabdans.bsky.social shows that the methodology that enables biodiversity monitoring and reporting also supports the detection of species interactions, leading to multi-use monitoring. epic-biodiversity.org/blog/2026/05...

nolanlawson.com/2026/02/07/w...

The alleys are the footnotes of the avenues

This is, not a joke, one of my favourite papers in a long time. Absolutely stellar co-authors, but also a straight line from "nitpicky little nerds obsessing over sampling" to "translational research with clear implications for management". Go read all about it here: ecoevorxiv.org/repository/v...

🧪 New @mdcatchen.bsky.social preprint! Here's how we can decide where to look for wildlife disease, based on combinations of biodiversity, uncertainty, and prevalence data. This is a really cool paper, that is pushing the boundaries of what we can do with sampling and monitoring techniques.

I'm just worried. Even pre-AI, it was really pulling teeth to get some (not all) PhD students to take the time to look up the formula the R package used, make sure its what they actually want to calculate, and validate what R spits out (note: I don't take students like this anymore)

Noteworthy because it was my first time adding a polygon provider using the interface @mdcatchen.bsky.social built for one of our component packages 🎉

One week left to apply to the UVA Biology PhD program! If you or someone you know are interested in contagion from a complex systems perspective, please reach out! I'm looking for a grad student! bio.as.virginia.edu/how-apply-gr...

sometimes you write interesting sentences in ecology

And like a brown bird nesting in a Texaco sign I got a point of view

Hi all! I am seeking an ecology or applied math PhD student interested in quantitative ecology, specifically ecological theory, food web modeling, or population dynamics. If you are interested, have a look at our lab website below and reach out to me. resiliencelab.github.io/join/

My friends, don’t you know that I never want this minute to end? And then it ends.

Our software paper on SpeciesDistributionToolkit.jl is now published in @peercomjournal.bsky.social - peercommunityjournal.org/articles/10....

What kind of animal Needs to smoke a cigarette? Grass in the pasture Is sharper than a bayonette Sometimes a pony Sometimes a pony Sometimes a pony gets depressed

When I go downtown, I always wear a corduroy suit, ’cause it’s made of a hundred gutters, that the rain can run right through.

A beautiful visualization of the state space of puzzles, 11 min of joy, h/t @danlarremore.bsky.social

you have been visited by "Le Boulanger Quebecois" repost to receive his blessing

🦠🌿🐦🧪 How can biodiversity monitoring help global efforts in disease surveillance? With ✨ fantastic ✨ colleagues from @viralemergence.org and the @geobon.org working group on One Health, we try to identify three key lessons for the future. 🧵 A short thread! academic.oup.com/bioscience/a...

Poor as a mouse every morning Rich as a cat every night

An update from the team on the uncertain future of our program and the impact of NSF budget cuts. Please share and reach out 🦠

One week until Blitz the Gap (www.blitzthegap.org) starts - a Canada-wide event to fill biodiversity data gaps with iNaturalist! @laura-pollock.bsky.social

There were no new ways to understand the world, only new days to set our understanding against.

🐾 #CSEE2025 Workshop Highlight 🐾 "Interpretable machine learning for species distribution modelling" 💻 Discover how to use reproducible ML tools to tackle diverse ecological questions! 🔗 Register here: event.fourwaves.com/scee2025/reg...

What kind of animal Needs to smoke a cigarette? Grass in the pasture Is sharper than a bayonette Sometimes a pony Sometimes a pony Sometimes a pony gets depressed

Boy wants a car from his dad Dad says, "First, you got to cut that hair" Boy says, "Hey, Dad, Jesus had long hair" And Dad says, "That's right, son, Jesus walked everywhere"

People gotta synchronize to animal time

learning interesting things on LinkedIn

All our hardships were just yardsticks then, you know

Bartender says, "Hey, we don't serve robots" And the robot says, "Oh, but someday you will"

really feel like domain researchers have latched on to the concept of "AI" right as the bubble starts to pop

New paper! (arxiv.org/abs/2503.14093) I haven’t been this excited about one in a while, and I think the theory @mhab.bsky.social develops here will be a big step forward for the field. Why? Let me explain 🧵...

New preprint: a toolkit for species distribution modelling, in #JuliaLang. The result of many years of work with fantastic people including @gabdans.bsky.social and @mdcatchen.bsky.social - a quick thread 🧪🌏 ecoevorxiv.org/repository/v...