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Matthew Holden 🏳️‍🌈

@matthholden.bsky.social
2.3K followers 875 following 106 posts

Mathematician working in Ecology, Biodiversity Conservation, Fisheries, Natural Resource Management, and Sustainability. Senior Lecturer at the University of Queensland. President of the Resource Modeling Association #LGBTQSTEM he/they

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Matthew Holden 🏳️‍🌈 @matthholden.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
For #TSBakeOff2026, I made a critically endangered Regent Honeyeater from banana chips, crunchie bar, dried fruits, & liquorice, perched on a Flake branch. 1/11 threatened species @uq-cbcs.bsky.social baked to highlight Woogaroo Forest & what we stand to lose if it is cleared @cnzdenek.bsky.social 🌍
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Matthew Holden 🏳️‍🌈 @matthholden.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Hope to see lots of award applications from ECR modelers in biodiversity conservation, ecology, and fisheries (my fav fields :). Looking forward to seeing who’ll give the keynote at WCNRM in France, 24–26 May 2027! 🌍 @hugepossum.bsky.social @katehelmstedt.bsky.social @sebastianschreiber.bsky.social
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Matthew Holden 🏳️‍🌈 @matthholden.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
New job alert: ongoing (tenure-track) research & teaching position in mathematics or statistics at The University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. Open to all areas of mathematics or statistics (especially applied/computational maths and stats). uq.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/en-GB/uqcare...
uq.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com
Lecturer or Senior Lecturer in Mathematics or Statistics
School of Mathematics and Physics Full-time, permanent position Academic Level B / Level C Diverse, supportive, and family-friendly work environment Based at our St Lucia location About This Opportuni...
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Matthew Holden 🏳️‍🌈 @matthholden.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
1,000+ species in our inner-city house! 🕷️🌿🌏🦎 In this talk: house or rainforest ... can you tell? Play along 👇 www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-CH... @uq-cbcs.bsky.social @hugepossum.bsky.social
youtube.com
BrisScience (April 2026): The house of a thousand species
YouTube video by UQ Science
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Matthew Holden 🏳️‍🌈 @matthholden.bsky.social · 15/02/2026
This isn’t just strategic, it’s responsible science: • Full model first ⇒ scrutiny & feedback • Applied results later + confidence it’s right • Two citable papers • Science people actually read Full models belong in modelling journals (bonus points for society journals like NRM)
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Matthew Holden 🏳️‍🌈 @matthholden.bsky.social · 18/01/2026
Prof Ben Burton’s public lecture “Some Very Queer #Mathematics” is now online, marking 75 years of the Turing Test and celebrating Alan Turing’s & LGBTQIA+ contributions to maths. @amermathsoc.bsky.social @chadtopaz.bsky.social @lgbtqstem.bsky.social #MathSky #ITeachMath #AcademicSky
youtube.com
UQ Turing Test Public Lecture: Some Very Queer Mathematics
YouTube video by UQ Science
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Matthew Holden 🏳️‍🌈 @matthholden.bsky.social · 13/01/2026
My new paper on the #math of #wildlife friendly #agriculture. Reduce pesticides by using attractive "trap" plants to divert pests. But how many traps maximize yield? onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... #MathSky #MathsToday #iteachmath 🌍 Accessible to undergrads @smbmathbiology.bsky.social
Figure of how the optimal trap plant proportion of the field varies with the attractiveness of the trap plant and how much yield is at risk by the pests
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Matthew Holden 🏳️‍🌈 @matthholden.bsky.social · 05/01/2026
Beautiful math predicts lingering periods of equilibrium dynamics when stochastically knocked close to the stable manifold of a saddle. Wonderful talk by shandelle Henson at #JMM2026 @jointmath.bsky.social on recognising saddles and cycles in ecological data.
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Matthew Holden 🏳️‍🌈 @matthholden.bsky.social · 05/01/2026
Are you presenting on your students work at #jmm2026? remember to properly credit it and promote your student! Yun Kang did this really well in her awesome talk on the math of social insects! @jointmath.bsky.social
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Matthew Holden 🏳️‍🌈 @matthholden.bsky.social · 05/01/2026
How do we achieve a better life while reducing emissions and energy consumption? Math! By Alexander Vaninski at #JMM2026 @jointmath.bsky.social. come join us 8am-5pm today in room 149 A for more math ecology, econ, disease and environmental talks.
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Matthew Holden 🏳️‍🌈 @matthholden.bsky.social · 05/01/2026
Awesome talk on modeling illegal smuggling of wildlife and plant products at #JMM2026 @jointmath.bsky.social by Becky Epanchin Niell
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Matthew Holden 🏳️‍🌈 @matthholden.bsky.social · 05/01/2026
Great talk by Suzanne Robertson on competition of mosquito disease vectors #JMM2026 @jointmath.bsky.social at the special session on modeling natural resources.
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Matthew Holden 🏳️‍🌈 @matthholden.bsky.social · 05/01/2026
Come to our special session on modeling natural resources (ecology, diseases, environment, econ) at #JMM2026 room 149A today 8am-5pm @resourcemodeling.bsky.social @jointmath.bsky.social @amermathsoc.bsky.social first up climate + mosquitos + disease + ODEs by Michael Robert
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Matthew Holden 🏳️‍🌈 @matthholden.bsky.social · 05/01/2026
Looking for food at #JMM2026. I recommend Family Ethiopian Restaurant, I visited last night. 5 min walk from convention centre. Vegetarian entrees start at $12! Fish Dulet, pictured, was excellently garlicky maps.app.goo.gl/B1bj2BGHCTop... @amermathsoc.bsky.social @jointmath.bsky.social
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Matthew Holden 🏳️‍🌈 @matthholden.bsky.social · 05/01/2026
Goals for day 1 at #JMM2026 1) eat good Ethiopian food 2) learn new #math 3) see cool math & street art 4) get over jetlag from Australia 5) acclimate to subzero temps. Accomplished 3/5 @jointmath.bsky.social @amermathsoc.bsky.social
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Matthew Holden 🏳️‍🌈 @matthholden.bsky.social · 05/01/2026
You might be surprised how much impact an in person conversation with your representative can have. Take advantage of being in DC and do this!
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Reposted by Matthew Holden 🏳️‍🌈
Dr. Courtney Gibbons (she/her/xlookup) @courtneygibbons.phd · 04/01/2026
Hey if you're in DC, you can just stop by your reps' offices. If you're leaving before the Hill Day after #JMM26 but want to go to the Capitol anyway, grab a few pals and go! Take green/yellow to L'Enfant Plaza then blue/orange to Capitol Hill South.
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Matthew Holden 🏳️‍🌈 @matthholden.bsky.social · 26/11/2025
It's baffling why the Go8 (a group of 8 leading universities in Australia) endorsed a position to weaken environmental laws. Not only do we, the researchers at these universities, disagree, but our research shows it is a bad idea. In just one day, 90 Go8 researchers documented our opposition.
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Matthew Holden 🏳️‍🌈 @matthholden.bsky.social · 25/11/2025
Cute little spikey echidnas have massive poos! The size of a go card! The 💩 can also be detected by dogs. Let's turn 💩 into conservation solutions. Great talk by Kate Dutton-Regester at @uq-cbcs.bsky.social @brisbanetimes.bsky.social @qld.greens.org.au @hugepossum.bsky.social
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Matthew Holden 🏳️‍🌈 @matthholden.bsky.social · 19/11/2025
Don't post your preprint on SSRN (option at many journals). Google scholar often delists papers that have an SSRN preprint. Arxiv preprints are more prominent in scholar. @elsevierconnect.bsky.social @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social @academic-chatter.bsky.social eg. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
sciencedirect.com
Expand or better manage protected areas: A framework for minimizing extinction risk when threats are concentrated near edges
Several international agreements have called for the rapid expansion of protected areas to halt biodiversity declines. However, recent research has sh…
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Matthew Holden 🏳️‍🌈 @matthholden.bsky.social · 19/11/2025
Love this Nesbit lecture by prof Ben Andrews on using the diffusion equation as a tool to understand geometry.
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Matthew Holden 🏳️‍🌈 @matthholden.bsky.social · 23/10/2025
Our new paper: If you get a bit more conservation $ should you expand a protected area or improve management? Past work suggests management is often more cost effective but we show when threats are concentrated near edges we find expanding may be optimal doi.org/10.1016/j.bi... 🌍
doi.org
Redirecting
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Cate Macinnis-Ng @loraxcate.bsky.social · 12/10/2025
This is excellent. I once reviewed a grant in a European scheme that had 12 while men on the team. I used similar framing to critique the issues, even though EDI was not included in the criteria. I also followed up with the scheme to ask why no EDI.
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👻madeline bOoOoOoOodent👻 @oldenoughtosay.com · 08/10/2025
the answer to the trolley problem is not to pick who to sacrifice, it’s to dismantle the system that led to an unsafe trolley crossing. if any part of your morality strategy involves picking a group to let die on a hill, throw the entire strategy out. it’s wrong.
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Matthew Holden 🏳️‍🌈 @matthholden.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
New blog: As a grant peer reviewer I consider Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) even if the scheme doesn't list EDI criteria. Key is to tie the selection criteria to EDI. This is how I do it mathemagicalconservation.wordpress.com/2025/09/23/a... @katehelmstedt.bsky.social @hugepossum.bsky.social
mathemagicalconservation.wordpress.com
As a grant reviewer, how do you request Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, even if it isn’t an explicit selection criterion
Many funding schemes now include equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) as an explicit selection criterion. But what happens when it isn’t written into the rubric? Should applicants still consider …
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Matthew Holden 🏳️‍🌈 @matthholden.bsky.social · 16/09/2025
Happy 4^ / 3^2 / 5^2 day!!! (3^2/ 4^2 / 5^2 for us weird Americans) Not too many days satisfy the Pythagorean thm. @amermathsoc.bsky.social @austms.bsky.social @stevenstrogatz.com @monsoon0.bsky.social ht Peter Baxter for noticing. Looking forward to coming back to the US for joint maths in Jan.
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Matt Mack @matthras.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
Ooh arXiv paper from @matthholden.bsky.social @katehelmstedt.bsky.social about embedding sustainability in undergraduate maths with case studies 👀 Looks very actionable! arxiv.org/abs/2508.07594
arxiv.org
Embedding Sustainability in Undergraduate Mathematics with Actionable Case Studies
There is a growing need to integrate sustainability into tertiary mathematics education given the urgency of addressing global environmental challenges. This paper presents four case studies from Aust...
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Matthew Holden 🏳️‍🌈 @matthholden.bsky.social · 17/07/2025
Excited for our annual conference on modeling for ecology, biodiversity, sustainability, environment, water, energy, climate, fisheries, forestry, & ag. Love all the cool #math & stats used to save the world. Join us in Stellenbosch 2026. 🌍#MathSky @hugepossum.bsky.social @katehelmstedt.bsky.social
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Matthew Holden 🏳️‍🌈 @matthholden.bsky.social · 17/07/2025
Job alert: 2.75 -3 yr postdoc in Mathematical ecology/epidemiology or Decision Sci at the University of Queensland on the value of information for decisions with @hugepossum.bsky.social @katehelmstedt.bsky.social Katriona Shea & myself #MathSky 🌍 uq.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/uqcareers/jo... please share
uq.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com
Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Mathematical Ecology and Environmental Decision Science
School of Mathematics and Physics Full-time, fixed-term position for up to 2 years and 9 months with the possibility up to 3 years, depending on funding availability. Base salary will be in the range ...
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Benjamin Pope @benjaminpope.bsky.social · 07/07/2025
getting in an arms race with LLMs over em-dashes by using dashes so long ——— so very long ——— that they have never appeared in training data
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Matthew Holden 🏳️‍🌈 @matthholden.bsky.social · 04/07/2025
Please share: PhD scholarship opportunity in mathematical ecology on the value of information for improving ecological management, open to international students, with a great team @hugepossum.bsky.social, Katriona Shea, Kate Helmstedt, & me at UQ, Australia 🌍 🧮, study.uq.edu.au/study-option...
study.uq.edu.au
The value of information for ecological management
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Matthew Holden 🏳️‍🌈 @matthholden.bsky.social · 01/07/2025
Great work classifying ecosystems around the world to create an IUCN red list of ecosystems presented by Prof Emily Nicholson. Shows a small global decline in ecosystems but with extreme variation with some declining rapidly. 🌍 @aciucn.bsky.social @uq-cbcs.bsky.social
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Matthew Holden 🏳️‍🌈 @matthholden.bsky.social · 29/06/2025
Just saw this amazing science article - Beetle grows replica ‘termite’ on back to steal food www.science.org/content/arti.... Despite it being in Australia it wasn't one of the 1,168 species in our Brisbane home but we did find 6 species of rove beetle doi.org/10.1002/ecy....
science.org
Beetle grows ‘termite’ on back to steal food
Puppet helps insect trick real termites into feeding it
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Matthew Holden 🏳️‍🌈 @matthholden.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
Bycatch reduction interventions are effective for improving marine species populations but very few studies report the impacts on fisher safety, and other fisher objectives. This is a major barrier to adoption. Great talk by Cindy Vargas @arizonastateuni.bsky.social at #iccb2025.
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Matthew Holden 🏳️‍🌈 @matthholden.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
We can achieve 100% renewable energy in Australia & also protect threatened species impacted by wind and solar developments with only 2-3% increase in electricity bills compared to if we didn't consider threatened species. #iccb2025 great talk by A Rogers
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Matthew Holden 🏳️‍🌈 @matthholden.bsky.social · 15/06/2025
Love the Guidelines on how to give linguistically friendly presentations in English at #iccb2025 for more accessible and diverse conferences @tatsuya-amano.bsky.social docs.google.com/document/d/1...
docs.google.com
ICCB 2025_Guidelines on how to give linguistically friendly presentations in English.docx
Guidelines on how to give linguistically friendly presentations in English ICCB Language Accessibility Subcommittee The philosophy of ICCB 2025 is grounded in inclusivity and accessibility, prioritizi...
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Dr. Casey Fiesler @cfiesler.bsky.social · 02/06/2025
I really dislike this sentiment re: AI impacts on education: If an assignment can be completed by AI then it is clearly just busy work; educators need to create better assignments. Absolutely not true. Just because AI can do something too doesn't mean that doing it doesn't have pedagogical value.
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Spencer Bagley @sbagley.bsky.social · 02/06/2025
Every proof in every undergrad math class can be pooped out by the random sentence machine. The point is exactly to engage in the process of generating a proof.
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Michael Plank @michaelplanknz.bsky.social · 23/05/2025
💯
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Matthew Holden 🏳️‍🌈 @matthholden.bsky.social · 16/05/2025
Please share. 2 tenure-track T&R math/stat jobs at the University of Queensland, Australia. Amazing weather, gorgeous campus & lifestyle. 17% employer retirement contribution, lots of leave. Strong global reputation. Supports diversity @stevenstrogatz.com uq.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/uqcare...
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DrArchivalGenomics @ehekkala.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
🧪🧬🦠🌎🐍🐸🦅🐠🐡🐙
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Matthew Holden 🏳️‍🌈 @matthholden.bsky.social · 07/05/2025
My top tips for conferences 1) have fun, Skip some talks 2) go to the poster session 3) focus your talk/poster around one main message w email address on last slide 4) see who's attending in the program before you arrive and schedule meetings. @iccb2025.bsky.social www.instagram.com/reel/DJQd0_h...
instagram.com
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Matthew Holden 🏳️‍🌈 @matthholden.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
Amazing talk by Dr Helen Mayfield on building models to manage ecosystems by consulting experts in a systematic way (expert elicitation) ... and most importantly an evaluation of whether it worked. @uq-cbcs.bsky.social @martinemaron.bsky.social
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ARC Tracker @arc-tracker.bsky.social · 20/03/2025
The total Australian Research Council budget is $1bn.
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Matthew Holden 🏳️‍🌈 @matthholden.bsky.social · 08/04/2025
Great talk by @alicetwomey.bsky.social on solving the barriers for transdisciplinary research in conservation at the @uq-cbcs.bsky.social seminar. The methods exist we just need to use them. doi.org/10.1016/j.pe...
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Matthew Holden 🏳️‍🌈 @matthholden.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
Job alert: 3 Aotearoa New Zealand Postdoctoral fellowships in complex systems www.tepunahamatatini.ac.nz/2025/03/07/p...
tepunahamatatini.ac.nz
Postdoctoral fellowships in complex systems
We're looking for three postdoctoral fellows to join our newly created Modelling for Impact Hub.
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Kate Helmstedt @katehelmstedt.bsky.social · 06/03/2025
We introduce a method to quantify how extreme events affect ecosystem function and services. Paper out today in @natureecoevo.bsky.social - very fitting on a day that Cyclone Alfred is looming off the coast of my city!
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Sebastian Schreiber @sebastianschreiber.bsky.social · 27/12/2024
Started a Theoretical Ecology starter pack. For from complete. Respond if you want to be added or removed. go.bsky.app/PwpvZLb
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Sebastian Schreiber @sebastianschreiber.bsky.social · 20/01/2025
Delighted to see the final version of my paper for @asn-amnat.bsky.social appear online. In it, I analyze stochastic matrix models to partition the effects of spatial and temporal variation in demography and dispersal on metapopulation growth rates www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/... 1/n
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Matthew Holden 🏳️‍🌈 @matthholden.bsky.social · 22/02/2025
Wow what a planthopper! very cool. Fulgora sp. are such amazing bugs.
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