Matthew R. Helmus
@mrhelmus.bsky.social
📤 439
📥 1073
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Ecology professor | Global citizen | Local agriculture supporter | Father to a prodigy | iecolab.org
Model tips 1️⃣ Models are stepping stones 2️⃣ Re-use others’ data 3️⃣ Design before you model 4️⃣ Re-using models = 👍 5️⃣ Plan data architecture & access 6️⃣ Share your code 7️⃣ Share more than the code 8️⃣ Use data ontologies 9️⃣ Define good enough 🔟 Know when to retire
journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol...
#Ecology
🌐
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Ten quick tips to build a Model Life Cycle
https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1012731
about 2 months ago
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Stop using MAXENT for invasive niche modeling. Instead embrace mechanisms. Check out this great review on mechanistic niche models for invasives from @erolafenollosa.bsky.social in @ecography.bsky.social 🌐
#ecology
#invasivespecies
nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
about 2 months ago
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reposted by
Matthew R. Helmus
Brittany Barker
2 months ago
The invasive spotted lanternfly (SLF) is a threat to multiple agricultural industries. In our new publication at
www.mdpi.com/3429276
, we present a
#model
that predicts the seasonal development (
#phenology
) of the
#SLF
in areas that are climatically suitable for
#establishment
.
#ipm
#invasivepest
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We should broaden models, not narrow them. Models are tools to explore uncertainty, communicate scenarios, and test policy. Managers seek robust strategies, not perfect forecasts. What a great paper from
@cboettig.bsky.social
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
#Forecasting
#Ecology
🌐
about 2 months ago
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reposted by
Matthew R. Helmus
Jeannine Cavender-Bares
3 months ago
www.forbes.com/sites/johndr...
"For every dollar spent [on science], the economy eventually produces an additional $1.71 in output. That return exceeds nearly every other form of public or private investment."
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Trump’s NIH And NSF Cuts Estimated To Cost The U.S. Economy $10 Billion Annually
Economists find public R&D drives U.S. productivity growth — and pays for itself
https://www.forbes.com/sites/johndrake/2025/05/19/trumps-nih-and-nsf-cuts-could-cost-the-us-economy-10-billion-annually/
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So I guess electric vehicles are good for the planet! See this comprehensive life-cycle analyses of gas vs. electric.
theicct.org/publication/...
study from
@a-niche-guy.bsky.social
#electricvehicles
#environment
#transportation
#climatechange
#greenenergy
3 months ago
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Measuring invasive spread requires distinguishing jump events from diffusion. Check out this
#Rstats
package that does it! For
#spottedlanternfly
, diffusive spread is constant, but jump spread is accelerating 🌐
neobiota.pensoft.net/article/1473...
@neobiota.pensoft.net
#invasivespecies
#ecology
3 months ago
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Managing invasive threats across complex landscapes with limited budgets is tough. Check out this is a cool new statistical method to balance ecological, spatial, and economic trade-offs. 🌐
@methodsinecoevol.bsky.social
#InvasiveSpecies
#Ecology
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
3 months ago
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For those who have taken sabbaticals: Did you set up an automatic email reply? I officially started sabbatical July 1, and have already received multiple emails I'd like an automatic response for. Any recommendations on wording?
#sabbatical
#academic
3 months ago
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Do this first!
add a skeleton here at some point
4 months ago
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It's a great feeling when your PhD student submits their first paper!
4 months ago
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Girls born only a few days apart, but on either side of the starting-primary-school cut off date, have drastically different math scores. Not so for boys.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
#education
#teaching
#stem
#math
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When do girls fall behind in maths? Gigantic study pinpoints the moment
Analysis of almost three million children captures when ‘mathematical gender gap’ first emerges and could help focus efforts to stop girls from falling behind.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-01831-4
4 months ago
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We all know that prairie dogs are keystone species, and they're super cute when they yell and all run away, but did you know that birds also hear their calls and fly away when predators are near. Check out this new paper
#ecology
🌐
add a skeleton here at some point
4 months ago
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Can I get a Teleconnection?
add a skeleton here at some point
4 months ago
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It's me, hi, I'm the problem, it's me...
add a skeleton here at some point
4 months ago
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One Health needs a decisive reboot
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
#onehealth
#ecology
🌐
4 months ago
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reposted by
Matthew R. Helmus
Prof. Vigdis Vandvik
4 months ago
And here’s a link to the project page - in
#ECOBUDGETS
we’ll work with the municipality of Bergen to develop approaches for
#climate
and
#nature
budgeting as a tool to halt and reverse nature loss
#cbd
#kmgbf
www.uib.no/en/cet/17331...
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ECOBUDGETS
ECOBUDGETS helps municipalities and regional authorities make more sustainable decisions, by integrating budgets for emissions reductions and land use change into financial and other forms of administ...
https://www.uib.no/en/cet/173312/ecobudgets
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Here's that awesome study everyone is talking about on how hummingbird beaks have evolved to better use hummingbird feeders 🕊️🐦🌐
#ecology
add a skeleton here at some point
4 months ago
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Yes, a few
#spottedlanternfly
have been spotted in Oregon, and if you want to help with the search for this highly invasive grape pest, check out this risk mapping apps we built
iecolab.org/slfDashboard...
#ecology
add a skeleton here at some point
4 months ago
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reposted by
Matthew R. Helmus
Stephen Heard
4 months ago
For scientific writers: Three things your Methods section shouldn't be - but three things Methods sections often end up being. You can avoid these mistakes!
scientistseessquirre...
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What your Methods section isn’t
If you’re a scientist like me, you read a lot of papers – and a lot of submitted manuscripts, drafts, and other larval stages of papers.* This is extremely helpful when it’s time to write your own …
https://scientistseessquirrel.wordpress.com/2025/06/03/what-your-methods-section-isnt/
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Is your student--or are you--looking for a PhD position? Check out this website that lists tons from across the globe.
www.findaphd.com/phds/
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PhD Search
FindAPhD. Search Funded PhD Projects, Programmes & Scholarships. Search for PhD funding, scholarships & studentships in the UK, Europe and around the world.
https://www.findaphd.com/phds/
4 months ago
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All environmental problems are social problems. A stepwise process for actionable environmental science research
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
#ecology
4 months ago
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reposted by
Matthew R. Helmus
Tatyana Deryugina
4 months ago
I've started a website with simple graphs tracking how the US economy is doing in terms of unemployment, economic sentiment, and inflation. It will be updated monthly as new data come in. Feedback is welcome!
#EconSky
usbarometer.com
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US Economy Barometer
http://usbarometer.com/
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reposted by
Matthew R. Helmus
Andy Revkin 🌎 ✍🏼 🪕 ☮️ revkin.substack.com
4 months ago
Jet lagged in Greece at 3:30 am, catching this: Under assault from Trump and MAGA, weather and climate scientists are livestreaming for 100 hours nonstop
www.youtube.com/live/CcWR6Cd...
#sciencematters
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One of my greatest joys during the day is to see how many random tasks can I finish during those 10 min gaps between meetings.
#academiclife
4 months ago
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Let's make conservation like personalized medicine and targeted advertising... The good not the bad.
add a skeleton here at some point
4 months ago
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Did you not sample enough or are you just dense? Use this bayesian sequential test while you're sampling your population. It is great for pest management and rare species detection.
@methodsinecoevol.bsky.social
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
#ecology
4 months ago
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Check out this great new set of tools for ecophylogenetics
#ecology
add a skeleton here at some point
4 months ago
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A global synthesis finds agroforestry boosts ecosystem services & biodiversity without hurting productivity. Most indicators go up. Almost none go down. Agroforestry is multifunctional farming for a changing world.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
#conservation
#ecology
#oilpalm
#forest
4 months ago
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Bluesky is like what academic Twitter used to be!
4 months ago
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reposted by
Matthew R. Helmus
Bookshelfie
4 months ago
#booksky
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reposted by
Matthew R. Helmus
Amanda Taylor 🇳🇿 🇳🇱
5 months ago
We are hiring 2 PhD candidates working on resilience of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning across landscapes. Daily supervision by myself,
@dominic-martin.bsky.social
@iris-hordijk.bsky.social
@lucianachr.bsky.social
and Merel Hofmeijer. Details & application here:
www.wur.nl/en/vacancy/p...
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PhD position - Resilience of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning across landscapes
https://www.wur.nl/en/vacancy/phd-position-resilience-of-biodiversity-and-ecosystem-functioning-across-landscapes.htm
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reposted by
Matthew R. Helmus
Sean A. S. Anderson 🍉
6 months ago
I'm hiring a postdoc! Searching for a candidate interested in the process of speciation to come join me at Georgia Tech in Atlanta -- an exciting place with a growing core of eco-evolutionary researchers. Various skill sets will be applicable. Please share!
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https://evol.mcmaster.ca/brian/evoldir/PostDocs//GeorgiaTech.Speciation
The Anderson Lab at Georgia Tech is seeking a postdoctoral researcher interested in the process of speciation. The expected focus of the successful candidate's work will be questions related to evolut...
https://evol.mcmaster.ca/brian/evoldir/PostDocs//GeorgiaTech.Speciation
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Postdoc at the intersection of biodiversity and at Cambridge!
add a skeleton here at some point
4 months ago
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Just had an inspiring time at the 2025 Ecological Forecasting Initiative Conference. So many great ideas and new ways of thinking. This pic is from outside the venue on the beautiful landscape of the Virginia Tech campus... and this is my first blue sky post!
@ecoforecast.bsky.social
4 months ago
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