iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Joe Weaver @joeeweaver.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

I ended up at my office w/out the USB bit for my wireless mouse/kb. I am also reading The Martian. Figured out a very complicated workaround of 'recalling I had an old kb/mouse still in my desk from when I upgraded'. In short, I'm essentially as resourceful and determined as Mark Watney.

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Joe Weaver @joeeweaver.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Seen on Reddit and though I believe in academia "I saw this paper and thought of you" is part of our love language, I am feeling this in my bones.

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Joe Weaver @joeeweaver.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

One thing I really like about Durham Engineering is that all the engineering disciplines are under one roof. Need to chat with a mechanical, civil or electrical engineer? They're usually just down the corridor.

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Joe Weaver @joeeweaver.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Fighting the devil on my shoulder encouraging me to put this in 'Acknowledgements': "The authors note access to several relevant technical standards was limited by DRM incompatible with the Linux operating system. This represents an avoidable barrier to accessibility and reproducibility."

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Joe Weaver @joeeweaver.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

They went ahead and made a worse chart than exploded 3D pie chart. :(. [The content and context is enraging enough.]

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Reposted by Joe Weaver

FEMS @femsmicro.org · 22/04/2026

Soil isn't just "dirt." It is one of the most complex and essential living systems on Earth. To recognize #EarthDay2026, Ramos & Timmis explain why soil health is not just an environmental issue but a global priority tied to the future of our society in our #FEMSmicroBlog: buff.ly/MVTsa5y

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Joe Weaver @joeeweaver.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

Imagining a scenario where remote sensing infers potential tool use by groups of northern cod. It'd be a really neat example of arctic fish shoal intelligence. 🥁

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Joe Weaver @joeeweaver.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

First rule of High Achiever Club: You must secretly doubt you belong in High Achiever Club.

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Joe Weaver @joeeweaver.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

I recently attended the 3rd meeting of the #Biofilm Regulatory Toolbox EU Cost Action & they let me ramble for 30 minutes about how we can use sandboxes to develop intuition to complement data driven decisions. The idea has held me, ended up writing to think: joeweaver.github.io/blog/play-as...

joeweaver.github.io

Play as an Intuition Engine

Anyone who has had a kitten or puppy knows just how energetic and playful they can be. Although this play can be endearingly cute, that is not its purpose. In fact, for their undomesticated cousins, i...

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Joe Weaver @joeeweaver.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

"Eating my frogs" LIKE A BOSS this morning. I've had a build up of tasks I am tempted to continually put off in lieu of more attractive work. This has nearly lead to at least one issue, so taking Mark Twain's advice "If it's your job to eat a frog, it's best to do it first thing in the morning."

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Joe Weaver @joeeweaver.bsky.social · 23/12/2025

Wrapping up a bit of analysis I don't want hanging over my head during the holidays. I had to go back and verify that some data entry I did was correct. Literally making my list and checking it twice!

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Joe Weaver @joeeweaver.bsky.social · 05/12/2025

Conveying research goals clearly is important; there are common writing 'moves', exemplified here by Girlfriend (Lavigne, 2007). I don't like your girlfriend: clearly state the problem I think you need a new one: propose solution I could be your girlfriend: describe your specific contribution

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Joe Weaver @joeeweaver.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

@rorylcooper.bsky.social gave a very nice talk (with gorgeous art) on crocodilian head scale patterns. Fav finding was a potential simple explaination mechanisms driving scale diversity between species.

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Joe Weaver @joeeweaver.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

One sad consequence of mobile and cordless phones: much harder to explain DNA supercoiling these days.

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Joe Weaver @joeeweaver.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

Holy cow, a completely 3D printed microscope, including lenses! (and that nearly a ‘ oh, by the way’ part of @gailmcconnell.bsky.social‘s opening talk on all sorts of advances in microscopy) onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

A 3D‐printed optical microscope for low‐cost histological imaging

3D printing has become a useful tool for fast, reproducible and accessible manufacturing of optical components and microscope hardware, but often is only used to part-build imaging setups or specimen...

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Joe Weaver @joeeweaver.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

Settling into Durham University and attending the Biophysical Sciences Institute Winter ECR symposium. Had a peek at the posters, there is some amazing work going on at field intersections.

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Joe Weaver @joeeweaver.bsky.social · 02/12/2025

An ORCID battle I choose to fight. ORC-ID, not "Orchid"

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Joe Weaver @joeeweaver.bsky.social · 27/11/2025

Reading some old notes from a project report, "tools need X implemented to fix this problem. Probably about a half a day of coding". Oh the lies we tell ourselves.

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Joe Weaver @joeeweaver.bsky.social · 26/11/2025

It's not *the* key to success, but on bit on that key is learning to consistently say to yourself "OK, I'll just work on <thing I've been avoiding but which should be my priority> for 5 minutes before I get tea." 2 hours later...

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Joe Weaver @joeeweaver.bsky.social · 25/11/2025

What if I told you you're allowed to place your figures inline in your preprints?

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Joe Weaver @joeeweaver.bsky.social · 21/11/2025

Question for the meta-analysis and systemic lit review colleagues out there. How do you handle bodies of work coming from problematic publishers - straight up exclusion, evidence weighting?

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Joe Weaver @joeeweaver.bsky.social · 21/08/2025

My test cases pass. Time for a coffee. My test cases don't pass. Time for a coffee.

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Joe Weaver @joeeweaver.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

May the typographers who make fonts with I and 1 indistinguishable and the people who select those fonts as appropriate for a journal have an unpleasant night. Those who make ρ and p too similar, consider yourself on notice.

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Joe Weaver @joeeweaver.bsky.social · 31/07/2025

I get to do the "I'm pleased to announce" thing! Durham University has offered me the the position of Assistant Professor in Theoretical Biological (Microbiome) Modelling with the SMART soils lab to help create healthier soils across many environments and spanning multiple disciplines!

durham.ac.uk

Soil - Durham University

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Joe Weaver @joeeweaver.bsky.social · 24/07/2025

Even if your code is "messy". Even if it doesn't run fully. Making it easily available helps understanding the nitty gritty details that don't even get put into SI.

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Joe Weaver @joeeweaver.bsky.social · 21/07/2025

Gettin' REAL tired of bubble charts using diameter to indicate p-value when the chart ends up being panel Q of a 3x3 inch figure.

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Joe Weaver @joeeweaver.bsky.social · 17/06/2025

In my current project, I'm tracking my lower and upper task estimates and qualitative 'uncertainty'. I've been tackling the uncertain tasks as soon as possible and updating the upper/lower bounds. It's very fun watching the overall project upper/lower ETA converge. Did I just become a Bayesian?

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Joe Weaver @joeeweaver.bsky.social · 02/06/2025

Kind of blown away that *98%* of U.S. deaths from waterborne illness are specifically from biofilm associated pathogens. #MEWE11

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Joe Weaver @joeeweaver.bsky.social · 02/06/2025

Every time I fly west. "Gosh is this what being a morning person is like? I hate* morning people." * Am deeply envious of. #MEWE11

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Joe Weaver @joeeweaver.bsky.social · 02/06/2025

Decades of flying and probably dozens of times through ATL. I think this may be the first time I've ever seen the outside of the airport. #MEWE11

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Joe Weaver @joeeweaver.bsky.social · 31/05/2025

The reality is setting in, getting bags packed for #MEWE11

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Joe Weaver @joeeweaver.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

Just me rewriting to remove em dashes in my proposal to avoid the latest generative AI witch hunt. Keeping my 'moreovers' though.

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Joe Weaver @joeeweaver.bsky.social · 22/05/2025

Lots of writers I admire have advice which boils down to 'be consistent, don't wait until the mood hits you'. I have had great success using the 'task inertia' of my personality. Not in the mood to write? OK, just set a timer and make an honest effort for 15 mins. An hour later...still writing.

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Joe Weaver @joeeweaver.bsky.social · 08/05/2025

Did you ever want to use your research to hook secondary school students on microbes and poo water? I'm running a workshop at the upcoming #MeWe11 conference on finding relevant curriculum standards, combine them with your research to create learning objectives, and develop content around all that.

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Joe Weaver @joeeweaver.bsky.social · 14/04/2025

Yet again, the email I'd been putting off all day took about 5 mins and had zero negative consequences.

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Joe Weaver @joeeweaver.bsky.social · 03/04/2025

One of those cool little conference things. I was chatting with Marcel during my poster session, but hadn’t caught his name. Now I know why he seemed to get excited when I mentioned I was getting interested in bacterial Interactions with AMF! #Microbio25

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Joe Weaver @joeeweaver.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

Emily Radford, "Model strains are not always the best [at the trait you want to use]", music to my enviro. micro. Ears! #Microbio25

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Joe Weaver @joeeweaver.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

Almost Impossible urge to cluster rising... #Microbio25

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Joe Weaver @joeeweaver.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

I will not post spoilers Emily Stevenson’s results, but I will applaud her use of animations to lead the audience through interpreting a full-screen heat map instead of just showing us a giant tapestry “as you can see…” #Microbio25

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Joe Weaver @joeeweaver.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

@drgvank.bsky.social Much of the current work on biofilms arose from outside interests (a passion for swimming) - “don’t ignore your hobbies.” #Microbio25

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Joe Weaver @joeeweaver.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

Major theme throughout the Beyond the Bench: Uncertainty in regulations, driven by (inherent?) differing speeds of research vs. regulation. Ameliorate a bit via working closely together (e.g. visiting researchers) and 'sandboxes' which reduce restrictions while still managing risk. #Microbio25

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Joe Weaver @joeeweaver.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

I have the pleasure of being Xiaoqi’s advisor and watching her untangle a very neat dataset showing how urban and green infrastructure can both contribute to and ameliorate faecal contamination in our local waterways. See her poster B094 today! #Microbio25

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Joe Weaver @joeeweaver.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

Andrew Spicer has some unsettling stats on commercially available Chlorella vulgaris products. Hint, 0 is technically a percent. #Microbio25

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Joe Weaver @joeeweaver.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

Poster day for me, so this was literally the first protocol I googled this morning. I decline to answer on the number of attempts. Still time to see me at A303 in the second session- learn how to make your research accessible to secondary school students (I guarantee it's possible!) #Microbio25

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Joe Weaver @joeeweaver.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

Alessia Buscaino is giving a great talk on edible fungal protein from food biowaste. As a benefit, you get to work closely with distillers, ciders, and cake makers! #Microbio25

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Joe Weaver @joeeweaver.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

@mgostic.bsky.social identifying pain points in traditional MSc programs and pilotibg alternatives to address them: pool resources, create teams with complementary skills, find and use seasonally underused assets, mixed & team supervision with rotation thru process.

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