Trevor Caughlin

Hydrology Paper of the Day @trevorcaughlin.bsky.social on a geographical understanding of tree mortality in Panama: linking environmental variables to morality; probabilities, parcels and roads; landscape connectivity and cattle ranching; and conservation in the context of ecosystem services.

I’ve been re-reading LOOK TO WINDWARD and just hit this passage in which Iain M Banks, fully 26 years ago, absolutely nailed the point of human creativity in a world of machine superintelligence. (This is an accomplished composer speaking with the avatar of a godlike AI Mind)

Join us through the Presidential Postdoctoral Fellowship in EEB! Conduct your own research, mentored by 2+ EEB faculty. $65k salary + research/moving $. All areas of EEB welcome. Apply by 11/1 I co-chair this search and am happy to field questions Spread the word! eeb.msu.edu/initiatives/...

New paper! We used drones + ensemble models to map 18 plant species in threatened sagebrush steppe with >90% accuracy. Low-cost RGB cameras perform nearly as well as multispec: good news for monitoring biodiversity in these landscapes. read it here: doi.org/10.1016/j.ra... #drones #sagebrush #UAV

Interested in deep learning in ecology? Apply for a postdoc position at Boise State! We are accepting applications until August 15th. I am at ESA, if anyone would like to have an in-person conversation about the position. #ESA #drones #postdoc #jobs

My Spanish champion is Pontevedra Mayor Miguel Anxo Fernández Lores, who kicked cars out of city center: “It's not my duty as mayor to make sure you have a parking spot. It's the same as if you bought a cow, or fridge, and then ask me where you're going to put them.”

New job--please share! Looking for a postdoc to deep learning methods for identifying plant species from drone imagery. The two year position offers a salary of $78,000 and the option to be based in Boise, Idaho, or Burns, Oregon. For more info: caughlinlab.com/join-the-lab/ #postdoc #drones #ai

Collecting wild seed is one of the biggest challenges in restoration ecology. How do you identify reproductive plants across landscapes? We show how drones could provide a solution, predicting flower production of a native shrub: doi.org/10.1016/j.ra... #rangelands #sagebrush ​

New paper out led by Louis Jochems. We develop prediction models for a nasty invasive species, European Frogbit, in the Great Lakes. Dispersal-related variables were more important than establishment-related variables. Statistical models can help guide early detection! 🐸 ☘️ doi.org/10.1002/eap....

new PhD position available! The student will develop remote sensing tools to support land management in the western United States, contributing to ongoing USDA-funded research on monitoring and restoring mesic and riparian ecosystems. For more details, please see: caughlinlab.com/join-the-lab/

Confused writing is usually a symptom of confused thinking. As we struggle to clarify writing, we clarify our thoughts. AI writing aids rob us of that struggle, leaving clean-looking text and thoughts still confused for lack of inspection. Writing is not just a product; it is a diagnostic tool.

new paper, led by @nkolarik.bsky.social: monitoring outcomes of ecological restoration is challenging. Satellite imagery could help, but interpretation requires statistics that can identify breakpoints in messy time-series data. We provide a practical guide: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

after more than 15 years as a scientist, I just submitted my first preprint

Life is all about making choices, and stats is no exception. You can either select the best predictive model out of a big set OR you can look at p-values from a model. Not both! Good news is choosing between prediction vs inference often streamlines workflows and makes writing more logical.

🚨 New paper, led by Cristina Barber. We used high-resolution aerial imagery to study tree mortality in a tropical landscape. Large, isolated trees were most likely to die--alarming finding! @ecologicalsociety.bsky.social esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Given that a substantial number of people will likely read AI-based summaries of our scientific papers, how should we be adapting our writing style? Are there stylistic or structural choices that will make writing more palatable to our AI overlords?

IMPORTANT: The Dutch invested €595 million annually on urban biking, resulting in €19 BILLION saved in public health care costs alone. That’s how smart governments do the math on investing in better mobility. Let’s be clear— it wastes public money to NOT do it. #CityMakingMath HT @modacitylife.com

I am so heartened to this seriously AWESOME #SaveNSF website go up today!!!! Has a take action toolkit with: 1. Press outreach templates 2. Social media toolkit 3. Elected official outreach 4. Talking points Check it out and share widely!!!! Likely more to come. www.savensf.com

Was going to post something pithy about how the takeover of New College relates to state of higher ed...but I can't. This place was my alma mater. Its quirks nourished me and I am heartbroken to see it destroyed www.chronicle.com/article/the-...

A bumper year for bitterbrush flowers in Boise foothills

enjoyed this book on accessory dwelling units in American cities. Zoning for single family homes is not working for many of us; ADUs are emerging as a solution. Author convincingly makes the case that policy solutions, including formalizing "illegal" ADU setups, can help alleviate housing scarcity

Proud of my hometown, Boise Idaho, for serving as a global leader in geothermal energy www.nytimes.com/2025/03/25/c...

Tenure clock extensions are a scam! Don't fall for it!

We’re making it happen… but the need and timing seems to be accelerating, EO data is an incredible value, and the barriers to entry have been lowering for a while now. The time is now!

Love the idea of a humanitarian satellite constellation

please share: I am recruiting for a PhD student to join my lab for fall 2025. I am interested in finding someone who is passionate about applying models to study plant ecology. Potential study systems include urban environments, sagebrush steppe, and tropical forest. caughlinlab.com/join-the-lab/

Having worked in Latin American cities like Buenos Aires, Santiago, Bogotá and especially Medellín, I’ll keep on saying this — global cities have a lot to learn from Latin American cities. Especially around applying the equity lens to infrastructure, and doing smart, creative things REALLY FAST.

A reminder that government is fundamentally different from business: the Landsat program created more than $30 Billion in value by giving away free data. www.usgs.gov/landsat-miss...

Heartbreaking to see so many brilliant young scientists, who chose a career with the federal government to make a positive difference for our country, suddenly cut loose. I am sad and angry.

It's here and ahead-of-print at @asn-amnat.bsky.social ! 🎉 Our 22-page polyploid coexistence model is now available: doi.org/10.1086/734411 This work wouldn’t be possible without NSF support—including funding from an NSF GRFP, an NSF PRFB, and NSF DMS & DBI grants. @soltislab.bsky.social l

Thinking about my US Forest Service partners and research collaborators. You are all so fantastic.

International research that supports humans and nature is more important than ever. Proud of @boisestate.bsky.social and the Peregrine Fund for supporting tropical research, led by scientists from tropical countries! www.boisestate.edu/news/2025/02...

Great presentation by @nkolarik.bsky.social! Nick uses satellite observations to monitor changes in desert streams, including impacts of beavers and humans. This is part of @boisestate.bsky.social's Science On Tap event, where scientists talk about their research at local breweries #scicomm

Just in case you thought that removing DEI criteria would mean that everyone is competing equally: NIH is removing grad students from underrepresented backgrounds from the applicant pool altogether. Their applications will not be considered. Other students, not from these backgrounds, will be.

Raise your hand if you recognize ecosystems are millions if not trillions of interactions, connections, cause-and-effect, etc, across just innumerable species and vagaries of landscape and microclimates such that we still haven't identified every species that lives on this marvelously complex Earth.

I'm so excited to share that my first dissertation chapter on SF coyotes is out in the #OpenAccess journal Ecosphere @ecologicalsociety.bsky.social. We DNA metabarcoded and genotyped hundreds of scats to explore dietary variation across the city 🧬💩 🧪 doi.org/10.1002/ecs2...

I really can’t wrap my head around congressional Democrats’ response to the past 12 days of crises. It reeks of pathetic capitulation. Trump is asserting dictatorial powers of absolute control over the entire government and the reaction is “we don’t swing at every pitch”? An appalling abdication.