Brian O'Meara @omearabrian.bsky.social · 4h“no review panels are scheduled, although about 600 proposals are still pending with SBE” So 600 teams of scientists got preliminary data, did analyses, wrote up proposals, got budgets approved, etc, based on NSF saying there were funds in this area. And now their work is just sitting there 057
Reposted by Brian O'MearaJoshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 9hThe Predictive Biology Hub based within the University of Maryland - College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences is welcoming applications from postdoctoral scientists across UMD interested in joining the inaugural Impact Fellowship cohort. Apply by 10/23sites.google.comPredictive Biology Hub: Impact FellowshipMission 188
Brian O'Meara @omearabrian.bsky.social · 5hGenerally my approach, too. But I was looking at a repository of info today with a code of conduct that said "Discuss with the data owners [...] the research question, and involve them in the analysis, writing, and co-authorship of results". I'm going to respect their code by not using their data 010
Brian O'Meara @omearabrian.bsky.social · 5hSnarky asides? "Most people are careful to do analyses well (but see Beaulieu et al., 2026, for a counterexample)" 140
Brian O'Meara @omearabrian.bsky.social · 5hNot that I know of; sometimes EvolDir will post PhD positions but not always. A lot of programs just have something like a dozen available GTA lines a year and pick the "best" potential new students to fill them, but they don't necessarily advertise these as jobs per se. 010
Brian O'Meara @omearabrian.bsky.social · 6hAs someone who spent years gathering DNA data (check genbank) I see the need to reward/encourage those putting in this essential work; I also see the benefits of freely sharing data, esp after publication (with limited exceptions: poaching?). But I don't see that a hybrid approach is justifiable. 240
Brian O'Meara @omearabrian.bsky.social · 6hI'm always curious if people who require co-authorship to use their published data (so they get a veto on later use) extend the same policies to hard-earned discoveries they use themselves. Are the taxonomists who described their species, the software developers, DNA sequencers, etc. also coauthors? 2151
Reposted by Brian O'MearaShelly Gaynor @shellygaynor.bsky.social · 8hRecruiting students to your Ecology and Evolutionary Biology PhD program? Make sure your stipend information is up-to-date in the Biology PhD Stipend database: mlgaynor.com/BiologyPhDSt...mlgaynor.comBiology PhD StipendsBiology Ph.D. stipend database with live summaries from the shared Google Sheet. 01219
Reposted by Brian O'MearaAchim Zeileis @zeileis.org · 20h🚨 After 20 years of service, the R-Forge code-sharing platform will be retired. #rstats Timeline: - Until end of 2026: Normal operations. - Jan 2027: Switch to read-only, but SVN continues to work. - Jan 2028: SVN also read-only. Reason: The underlying FusionForge software is no longer maintained. 1129
Reposted by Brian O'MearaAchim Zeileis @zeileis.org · 06/10/2026🚨 New CRAN Task View: Package Development and Maintenance #rstats #cran By Lluís Revilla and Heather Turner @heathrturnr.fosstodon.org.ap.brid.gy URL: cran.r-project.org/view=Package... 24419
Reposted by Brian O'MearaEthan Linck @elinck.bsky.social · 06/10/2026fun fact: @cjbattey.bsky.social wrote this (translating Joe Felsenstein's popG from Java) while a TA for Lorenz Hauser's popgen class in grad school 281
Reposted by Brian O'MearaJhan C. Salazar, PhD @jhancsalazar.bsky.social · 06/10/2026Happy to share that the last chapter of my dissertation is finally out in Evolution! 🦎⛰️ I'll share a longer thread soon about what we did and found. Huge thanks to all my coauthors: @jblosos.bsky.social, @juvelas.bsky.social, Steven Poe and Adam Algar doi.org/10.1093/evol...doi.orgRepeated evolution of high-elevation occupation in tropical lizardsAbstract. Since Darwin and Humboldt, researchers have sought to understand how species adapt to elevation. Although tropical reptiles are typically most di 16229
Reposted by Brian O'MearaCarl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 07/10/2026For over a decade, the National Science Foundation’s SBE has funded my work, leading to discoveries that have improved how we do science, including mechanisms for efficient grant proposal contests that are now used worldwide. 015433
Brian O'Meara @omearabrian.bsky.social · 07/10/2026You have time to make and wear the costume. #BeMemorable 020
Reposted by Brian O'MearaDan Garisto @dangaristo.bsky.social · 06/10/2026NEW: In March the White House released an FY27 budget request that zeroed out the National Science Foundation's directorate of Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE). For months it was unclear what would happen. Now, with FY26 over, the damage to SBE is coming to light. My reporting:science.org‘Complete devastation’: How NSF gutted its social sciences researchAgency body that funds sociology, linguistics, and archaeology studies in U.S. gave 90% fewer new grants this year 8634488
Reposted by Brian O'MearaDan Garisto @dangaristo.bsky.social · 06/10/2026How did this happen? Officially, proposals went through the same process as before: peer review, program officer recommendation, section head approval. Unofficially, the choice was taken out of SBE's hands, going above the directorate head, Christina Freyman and to NSF leadership. 213341
Reposted by Brian O'MearaDan Garisto @dangaristo.bsky.social · 06/10/2026In addition to spending less money and making fewer new grants, SBE also dramatically narrowed where it made those new grants. Areas such as economics, sociology, and archaeology received few to no grants. 315953
Reposted by Brian O'MearaJacquelyn Gill @jacquelyngill.bsky.social · 05/10/2026In the last couple of years, we've seen multiple critical collections (museums, herbaria) close. The IUCN--the global authority on the status of biodiversity--recently published on how important these kinds of facilities are in conservation. Every day, the dead are working to protect the living.iucn.orgFrom collections to conservation: the indispensable role of natural history museumsThe IUCN Species Survival Commission has published a Position Statement on the vital role of biological collections in biodiversity conservation: a formal acknowledgement that natural history museums,... 117299
Brian O'Meara @omearabrian.bsky.social · 05/10/2026I’m not a fan of how open publishing has largely become “pay many thousands of dollars to companies with huge profit margins to host a pdf while expert volunteers review” but that’s a different fight. And as April says, AI companies just license traditional papers, too 020
Brian O'Meara @omearabrian.bsky.social · 05/10/2026They get closed content, too: for example, buying, scanning, and shredding books. The additional cost isn’t going to slow them down given the tremendous amount of money flowing through these companies for now. But paywalls and hidden code do slow down actual people. 120
Reposted by Brian O'MearaScience Magazine @science.org · 05/10/2026A recent analysis in Science of more than 116,000 bird songs has revealed that the astonishing variety of passerine birdsong is built from just eight basic acoustic motifs, like trills, whistles, and harmonic notes. Learn more on #WorldAnimalDay: scim.ag/3SziyeL 120870
Reposted by Brian O'MearaGwênlyn Glusman (she/her) ☸️ @gwenlyn.bsky.social · 04/10/2026I have modernized and enhanced the NSF COA generator tool. Results now update dynamically • Published under more than one name? Covered! • Other people share your name? No problem! • You prefer searching by ORCID? Go ahead! Give it a try. Feedback, bug reports, feature requests are MOST welcome! 🧪 05327
Brian O'Meara @omearabrian.bsky.social · 05/10/2026Dr. Who intro theme song on PBS. Didn't actually watch the show until I was an adult, but just the music alone got me as a kid. I would very quickly change the station or turn it off. 030
Brian O'Meara @omearabrian.bsky.social · 05/10/2026"So how did the US finally adopt the metric system?" "Well, there was a brief craze for 'Artificial Intelligence' so a lot of things got named 'AI <something>'. Then it became 'Super Intelligence' and they all changed to 'SI'. When the bubble popped, they pivoted to Système international d'unités. 030
Reposted by Brian O'MearaJessica Budke 🌱🥼🔬 @mossplants.bsky.social · 04/10/2026Just listened to this great piece on @scifri.bsky.social about the importance of collections. www.sciencefriday.com/segments/are... Consider making a donation at any level to support your local natural history collection. Support @utkherbarium.bsky.social here herbarium.utk.edu/give/sciencefriday.comAre natural history museums in trouble?The country’s oldest natural history museum, in Philadelphia, has closed its doors to visitors. Will other museums follow? 03221
Brian O'Meara @omearabrian.bsky.social · 04/10/2026I modified my rnsf #rstats package so now it's easy to install (piggyback package helps with the large cache). Has public info on all NSF grants since 1960. remotes::install_github("bomeara/rnsf") bomeara.github.io/rnsf/index.html Bergograms by region, grant change by state, subject changes, etc 1159
Reposted by Brian O'MearaJames Balamuta @coatless.bsky.social · 04/10/2026No compute server sits behind the site. A static host hands out the files and the reader's browser does the computing, so GitHub Pages, Netlify, Cloudflare Pages or your own web server can publish it. 191
Reposted by Brian O'MearaLisa Fazio @lkfazio.bsky.social · 03/10/2026Devistating. And against Congress's directive. SBE was included in the 26 budget and the NSF section states that "no directorate shall receive more than a 5 percent reduction relative to the fiscal year 2024 enacted level." 010751
Reposted by Brian O'MearaMike Wiser @drmikewiser.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Remember: Darwin's note of "I am very poorly today & very stupid & hate everybody & everything" was written on Oct 1 (1861). Thus we are free to celebrate Very Poorly And Very Stupid Hatred Day today. 2283126
Brian O'Meara @omearabrian.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Also it keeps score on a global ranking list. So people are going to deliberately make stagnant pools to raise huge numbers of mosquitos and position this nearby so they can “win” 130
Reposted by Brian O'MearaGBIF @gbif.org · 01/10/2026📣 Remote contractor wanted! We're on the hunt for an expert on molecular OTU clustering and target-gene classification services as part of the GBIF SPLICE project🧬 📍 Application deadline: 30 October 2026 ⌚ 12 month contract 🔗 gbif.link/SPLICE-con... 047
Reposted by Brian O'MearaKatie Mack @astrokatie.com · 30/09/2026One of the most harrowing things about academia, when you're a grad student, is how vulnerable you are to how you're perceived by more senior researchers. Your career advancement depends on confidential letters of reference & private discussions amongst faculty. You have no information or control. 14892147
Reposted by Brian O'MearaAlejandro Ordonez @anordonez1.bsky.social · 01/10/2026"🌿 We're hiring at @econovoau.bsky.social! Postdoc position forecasting how land-use change, climate shifts & rewilding will reshape European plant diversity. Biodiversa+ REDESIGN project, Aarhus Uni. 2 years. Closes 1 Nov 2026. 🔗 www.au.dk/om/stillinge... #ecology #postdocau.dkPostdoctoral researcher in biodiversity forecasting, vegetation dynamics and rewilding - Ledig stilling på Aarhus UniversitetLedig stilling ved Institut for Biologi - Økoinformatik og biodiversitet, Aarhus Universitet 01322
Reposted by Brian O'MearaJoe Brennan @biologyjoe87.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Currently in two book clubs for Otto & Day’s math modeling for biology book (one with pop bio people and one with early career researchers from the recent ecology GRC). First time revisiting it since I initially read it 6 years ago! Been so much fun rederiving and analyzing the classic models 🧮 🧬 🤔 1192
Reposted by Brian O'MearaEthan Linck @elinck.bsky.social · 30/09/2026I'm hiring a postdoc to help build tools for inferring complex speciation histories with genomic data. strong computational skills are a must, but this is a training opportunity. 60K$+ salary, 2 years, details flexible. please reach out! (and repost) ad here: jobs.montana.edu/postings/53150jobs.montana.eduPostdoctoral ResearcherThe Department of Ecology at Montana State University is seeking a Postdoctoral Research Scholar as part of NSF-funded research on speciation under alternating cycles of gene flow and isolation (fundi... 16078
Reposted by Brian O'MearaMatt Friedman @friedmanlab.bsky.social · 30/09/2026Faculty curator position in vertebrate paleontology! Great opportunity to work with outstanding colleagues at LSUMNS: lsu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/LSU/jo...lsu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.comAssistant ProfessorAll Job Postings will close at 12:01a.m. CST (1:01a.m. EST) on the specified Closing Date (if designated). If you close the browser or exit your application prior to submitting, the application progre... 02226
Reposted by Brian O'MearaChris Smith @chriscrsmith.bsky.social · 30/09/2026I'm hiring a postdoc in population and evolutionary genetics at Indiana University Bloomington! We're a computational lab working on spatial demographic inference using genomic data and machine learning. You can apply here: indiana.peopleadmin.com/postings/34508indiana.peopleadmin.comIndiana University Academic Positions 14670
Reposted by Brian O'MearaMaggie Astor @maggieastor.bsky.social · 30/09/2026The 988 suicide prevention hotline's Press 3 option — which provides specialized services to LGBTQ callers — has been restored more than a year after the Trump administration shut it down. Confirmed by HHS and the office of Senator Tammy Baldwin, who led on legislation that forced its restoration 3433581066
Reposted by Brian O'MearaLars Brudvig @lars-brudvig.bsky.social · 03/08/2026Join 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/...eeb.msu.eduPostdoctoral Fellowship - Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior 178116
Reposted by Brian O'MearaCatherine Sheard @sheardcat.bsky.social · 29/09/2026I absolutely love this paper -- Menezes & Podos in Evolution demonstrate that loudness is linked to body size and gap width, but apparently not to habitat or mating system, across 123 Brazilian & US species. academic.oup.com/evolut/advan...academic.oup.comEvolutionary drivers of vocal amplitude in birdsBirds can surpass all other terrestrial vertebrates in vocal amplitude, yet why some birds sing louder than others remains unclear. Using calibrated field 1217
Reposted by Brian O'MearaSeth Finnegan @sethf.bsky.social · 30/09/2026The UC President's Postdoctoral Fellowship program is accepting applications until November 1. If you're a finishing Ph.D student or recent grad interested in coming to Berkeley to work on a project in paleobiology/paleoecology/geobiology please feel free to reach out! ppfp.ucop.edu/info/ppfp.ucop.edu University of California | President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program 02334
Reposted by Brian O'MearaJeremy Van Cleve @vancleve.theoretical.bio · 29/09/2026My group is recruiting a Ph.D student for Fall 2027! We're a friendly group of mathematically-minded and computationally-inspired biologists studying topics including social evolution, host-pathogen interactions, genetics, and demography. See vancleve.theoretical.bio for more info!vancleve.theoretical.biovan cleve research groupVan Cleve Research Group – theoretical evolution & ecology at the University of Kentucky 05370
Reposted by Brian O'MearaNate Upham @n8upham.bsky.social · 29/09/2026Excited to be at the @caryinstitute.bsky.social this week! Register and you can also watch my talk on Zoom (nice logo @bahanbug.bsky.social ! I take no credit there...) 0104
Reposted by Brian O'MearaAnita Devineni @anitadevineni.bsky.social · 29/09/2026The Emory Biology department is hiring a tenure-track ecologist at any rank. Deadline is Nov 1, link below! As I've said many times before, I couldn't ask for a more supportive department. Our faculty colleagues, dept chair, and admin staff are truly awesome ❤️ apply.interfolio.com/191783 2115145
Reposted by Brian O'MearaGGBN @ggbnoutreach.bsky.social · 28/09/2026Congrats to the NEON Biorepository at Arizona State University for receiving funding from NSF to co-lead a project aimed at creating a national resource for sequencing and analysing the DNA of important species! news.asu.edu/20260924-env...news.asu.eduDecoding important wildlife DNA | ASU NewsThere is a wealth of knowledge to be found in the DNA of our nation’s spectacular wildlife. A team of researchers co-led by Arizona State University will create a national resource to sequence and ana... 1189
Reposted by Brian O'MearaSociety for the Study of Evolution @sse-evolution.bsky.social · 28/09/2026The application to join the SSE Access, Inclusion, and Community Committee has been extended to September 30! Joining a committee is a great way to get more involved with SSE and make a positive impact on the community. www.evolutionsociety.org/news/display... 043
Brian O'Meara @omearabrian.bsky.social · 28/09/2026They allow artisanal AI: Noonien Soong handmade a few and that’s (often) fine, but mass uniform production (synths on Mars in Picard) is bad. Similar with food and music: lots of small scale work by amateurs or single establishment owners. The only exception is ship classes bc CGI/models are $$$ 120
Reposted by Brian O'MearaJosef Uyeda @pseudacris.bsky.social · 28/09/2026If you're submitting a reference letter for a PRFB, I was surprised to not see any option for deleting and reuploading, which contradicts the info provided in the email requesting it. In fact, as soon as you select the file it is uploaded and you can't change it. Was fine for me, but beware. 01216
Reposted by Brian O'MearaDr. Davey F. Wright ⛏️🦕🧬 @daveyfwright.bsky.social · 28/09/2026And so it begins 2201