Reposted by Rory GibbColin Carlson @colincarlson.bsky.social · 10/09/2025New preprint! 🥳🎉 We looked at viral coinfection patterns at the largest scale ever in wildlife. We found a strong association among CoVs, PMVs, and influenza A, and higher coinfection rates in wildlife trade; plus, evidence that bats accumulate persistent infections. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... 310050
Reposted by Rory GibbColin Carlson @colincarlson.bsky.social · 25/07/2025New workshop paper out today with 60 of our closest friends, providing guidance on how to design a study attributing health impacts to climate change. Hopefully this helps expand the field and start closing the representation gaps we discuss in our forthcoming work link.springer.com/article/10.1...link.springer.comThe attribution of human health outcomes to climate change: transdisciplinary practical guidance - Climatic ChangeFor over 30 years, detection and attribution (D&A) studies have informed key conclusions in international and national assessments of climate science, providing compelling evidence for the reality and... 25832
Reposted by Rory GibbTimothée Poisot @ctrlalttim.com · 30/06/2025🦠🌿🐦🧪 How can biodiversity monitoring help global efforts in disease surveillance? With ✨ fantastic ✨ colleagues from @viralemergence.org and the @geobon.org working group on One Health, we try to identify three key lessons for the future. 🧵 A short thread! academic.oup.com/bioscience/a...academic.oup.comBiodiversity science and biosurveillance are fellow travelersThe failure to meet the Aichi targets to alleviate global biodiversity decline (Nature 2020) was a wake-up call to the biodiversity monitoring community (T 13521
Rory Gibb @roryjgibb.bsky.social · 02/06/2025Please read and share, on the US budget cuts now imminently impacting Verena. bsky.app/profile/vira... 010
Reposted by Rory GibbTheBlindboyPodcast @blindboyboatclub.bsky.social · 28/05/2025New podcast. I chat with independent socialist politician Jeremy Corbyn about compassionate politics, the history of neoliberalism, kneecap, jenoside, and a United ireland. Dog Bless open.spotify.com/episode/3F7g...open.spotify.comJeremy CorbynThe Blindboy Podcast · Episode 1828947
Reposted by Rory GibbGregg Gonsalves @gregggonsalves.bsky.social · 26/05/2025I subscribe to the @newyorker.com, I was part of ACT UP, I knew Larry Kramer well and know Tony Fauci too. Daniel Immerwahr's piece on RFKJr, features this and other passages that need a reponse. 1/ 652229790
Reposted by Rory GibbOlúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 08/05/2025that said, at some point we will have to reckon with the political consequences of putting this scale of wealth at the personal, unilateral discretion of individual human beings (generations ago would've been nice, but I'll settle for now) 1150134
Rory Gibb @roryjgibb.bsky.social · 29/04/2025The next meeting of London Infection & Ecology Network is tomorrow! 2pm at RVC in Camden with excellent speakers on mosquitoes, viral evolution, climate and more, plus optional pub afterwards. It'd be fantastic to see you there. bsky.app/profile/jrag... 010
Reposted by Rory GibbEmily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 24/04/2025LLMs are nothing more than models of the distribution of the word forms in their training data, with weights modified by post-training to produce somewhat different distributions. Unless your use case requires a model of a distribution of word forms in text, indeed, they suck and aren't useful. 571643494
Reposted by Rory GibbAdam Kucharski @adamjkucharski.bsky.social · 18/03/2025Nice overview of mathematical approaches to analyse age-stratified serological data: www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1... 0113
Reposted by Rory Gibblastpositivist.bsky.social @lastpositivist.bsky.social · 17/03/2025Harding very much influenced how I think and understand the world, and I met her once and she was great. RIP to a real one. 011614
Reposted by Rory GibbTim Newbold @tnewbold31.bsky.social · 11/03/2025In the UCL Dept of Genetics, Evolution & Environment, we are advertising for people interested in applying for senior fellowship funding. I can say personally that it is a fantastic place to hold a fellowship. Apply at www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/... @ucllifesciences.bsky.social @uclcber.bsky.socialucl.ac.ukUCL – University College LondonUCL is consistently ranked as one of the top ten universities in the world (QS World University Rankings 2010-2022) and is No.2 in the UK for research power (Research Excellence Framework 2021). 037
Reposted by Rory GibbCarl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 05/03/2025Nothing to see here, just Nature advocating LLM peer review. “Feed your dictated notes into an offline large language model (LLM) to clarify and organize your feedback. A simple prompt such as “Write a critical reviewer letter based on the following notes. Maintain a professional tone throughout”nature.comThree AI-powered steps to faster, smarter peer reviewTired of spending countless hours on peer reviews? An AI-assisted workflow could help. 81709205
Reposted by Rory GibbPhilip Ball @philipcball.bsky.social · 04/03/2025I wholeheartedly agree with this piece from @kityates.bsky.social. The Royal Society has to take may things into consideration, including what its US members feel - but even so, I think the right course in this instance is very clear, and they ducked it. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...theguardian.comElon Musk is a proven danger to good science, but the Royal Society won’t say so. That’s why I resigned | Kit YatesIt is vital to act, and I urge colleagues to do so. How can we stand by and laud this man while he undermines scientific integrity? asks academic and author Kit Yates 412723
Reposted by Rory GibbSteph N. Seifert, PhD @stephseifertphd.bsky.social · 03/03/2025🚨Excited to share our latest research published in @commsbio.bsky.social , where we've developed a predictive model that integrates both host ecological traits and viral genomic features to identify potential reservoir hosts for Orthopoxviruses, including mpox virus. www.nature.com/articles/s42... 11712
Reposted by Rory GibbTaal Levi @taaltree.bsky.social · 24/02/2025The Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases NSF program has been archived. Huge loss. Does anyone know if the current proposals in the queue for funding will not be reviewed or are panels still happening? 25434
Reposted by Rory GibbJulia PG Jones @juliajones.bsky.social · 25/02/2025Two really important papers for anyone interested in causal inference in ecology came out recently in Ecology Letters. 1st up (by @lauradee.bsky.social & @katherinesiegel.bsky.social) is this over-view paper. Really useful for both experts and beginners. buff.ly/4gZgTWa 44420
Reposted by Rory GibbBoze Herrington, Library Owl @sketchesbyboze.bsky.social · 23/02/2025Ursula le Guin, on the accusation that fantasy is an escape from reality 53120334309
Reposted by Rory GibbMoritz Kraemer @mugkraemer.bsky.social · 20/02/2025AI is poised to accelerate understanding in infectious diseases, but its value needs to be demonstrated through close collaboration between research, industry, society, and policy. Paper free to read: rdcu.be/eaxEw Summary here: www.ox.ac.uk/news/2025-02...rdcu.beArtificial intelligence for modelling infectious disease epidemicsNature - This Perspective considers the application to infectious disease modelling of AI systems that combine machine learning, computational statistics, information retrieval and data science. 36931
Reposted by Rory GibbStephen Curry @scurry.bsky.social · 13/02/2025Thanks to the more than *1100* members of the scientific community who have signed the letter to insist that the Royal Society remains true to values that we all hold dear but that Musk FRS has ridden roughshod over. Please keep signing & sharing. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...docs.google.comOpen letter to the President of the Royal Society – time to stand up for your valuesIf you wish to show your support for the letter below regarding apparent inaction by the Royal Society in the face of breaches of its code of conduct by Elon Musk FRS, please sign below. I invite anyo... 6190106
Reposted by Rory GibbSimon Cauchemez @scauchemez.bsky.social · 11/02/2025Serological data provide key insights on pathogen circulation. We introduce a new R package, Rsero, which is a pipeline to store and analyze age-stratified sero data, estimate the history of pathogen circulation and compare different transmission models. journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol...journals.plos.orgRSero: A user-friendly R package to reconstruct pathogen circulation history from seroprevalence studiesAuthor summary Antibodies are immune markers of past infections. Seroprevalence studies that characterize the seropositivity status in the population have been used for decades in epidemiological stud... 24916
Reposted by Rory GibbRafa Lopes @rafalpx.bsky.social · 11/02/2025This a summary of last part o my Ph.D. We investigated how temperature can affect the outcome of dengue infection. The study covers a 10y period in all five regions of Brasil and all sub-climates of the country We conclude that higher temperature makes risk of hospitalizations due dengue bigger! 11912
Reposted by Rory GibbThe Ferrari Lab @theferrarilab.bsky.social · 10/02/2025I can't begin to convey how horrible this would be. The US and UK, collectively, have supported 15-20% of Gavi's budget in the last several funding cycles. To understand the impact here you have to know that Gavi does much more that just buy vaccines 1/ (disclosure - I receive funding from Gavi)theguardian.comDismay as UK poised to cut funding for global vaccination group GaviExclusive: Aid charities alarmed as decision would come in wake of Donald Trump’s decision to freeze USAid activities 2145
Reposted by Rory GibbI-Ting Tu @itingtu.bsky.social · 10/02/2025Our new paper on bat influenza transmission dynamics is out. Check it out 👀🦇🦠 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...science.orgDynamics of influenza transmission in vampire bats revealed by longitudinal monitoring and a large-scale anthropogenic perturbationCommon vampire bats maintain bat-associated influenza virus H18N11 across Peru. 084
Reposted by Rory GibbCarl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 04/02/2025Modern-Day Oracles or Bullshit Machines? Jevin West (@jevinwest.bsky.social) and I have spent the last eight months developing the course on large language models (LLMs) that we think every college freshman needs to take. thebullshitmachines.comthebullshitmachines.comINTRODUCTION 17528051006
Reposted by Rory GibbDr Abeba Birhane @abeba.blacksky.app · 04/02/2025what a disaster. if this decision is not reversed immediately, its damage on science & society will be unravelling in infinite nuanced ways for decades to come 311626
Reposted by Rory GibbTheBlindboyPodcast @blindboyboatclub.bsky.social · 29/01/2025New podcast, I loved making this. It's 51 minutes of me deciding wether or not to lick a window, which delves into transactional analysis psychology and stories of fish landing in forests during the great storm of 1839 open.spotify.com/episode/2XuJ...open.spotify.comIn defence of licking dirt off a windowThe Blindboy Podcast · Episode 1927220
Reposted by Rory GibbJayna Raghwani @jraghwani.bsky.social · 31/01/2025Just over week until the deadline👇 045
Reposted by Rory GibbOllie Wearn @olliewearn.bsky.social · 27/01/2025Interesting updates from Ben Bolker on modelling approaches (see paper) In sum: - Doing hypothesis testing or measuring the strength of effects? Then you can use your fullest, maximal model w/ all covariates* ✅ - Doing prediction? Then carry on w/ AIC model selection & averaging ✅ *wisely chosen! 164
Reposted by Rory GibbLaura Dee @lauradee.bsky.social · 13/12/2024Foundations and future directions for causal inference in ecological research, forthcoming w/ @katherinesiegel.bsky.social: tinyurl.com/4mm57zzd. We wrote it based on our experience teaching causal inference to ecologists w/ some stuff we wish other papers had reviewed to share w/ the students 1/n 610847
Reposted by Rory GibbDr Liam Brierley @liambrierley.bsky.social · 20/01/2025Just as there is "no such thing as a fish", there is no such thing as a "human pathogen" if you set put your evolutionary timescale goggles on. Supplementary Note 1 does a nice job of articulating and framing the ancient history of virus host jumps! static-content.springer.com/esm/art%3A10...static-content.springer.com 061
Reposted by Rory GibbUCL Faculty of Life Sciences @ucllifesciences.bsky.social · 17/01/2025Special edition of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society published, which includes UCL research highlighting the threat to biodiversity from global warming and arguing for a better understanding of the effects of biodiversity loss on infectious diseases. www.ucl.ac.uk/biosciences/...ucl.ac.ukGeorgina Mace remembered in special edition of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal SocietyA special edition of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society (Biological Sciences) dedicated to the life’s work and memory of Professor Dame Georgina Mace, founding Director of UCL's Centr... 012
Reposted by Rory GibbKate Jones 🦇 @profkatej.bsky.social · 14/01/2025Job Alert! Lecturer/Assoc Prof in Biodiversity, Climate Change & Health Deadline 18th Feb 2025 Join us at UCL People & Nature Lab to lead innovative ‘One Health’ research & teaching to tackle ecological & public health challenges. tinyurl.com/4s2j7fyjucl.ac.ukUCL – University College LondonUCL is consistently ranked as one of the top ten universities in the world (QS World University Rankings 2010-2022) and is No.2 in the UK for research power (Research Excellence Framework 2021). 31620
Reposted by Rory GibbTimothée Poisot @ctrlalttim.com · 16/01/2025Pandemics, global change, and biodiversity loss? In a new paper published in the first issue of @natrevbiodiv.bsky.social, we argue that these are three facets of an ongoing polycrisis, with common roots, and hopefully common solution. A short thread. 🧪😷 www.nature.com/articles/s44...nature.comPathogens and planetary change - Nature Reviews BiodiversityThis Review explores the relationship between emerging infectious diseases and biodiversity loss, and how both are connected to global environmental changes in the Anthropocene. 611737
Rory Gibb @roryjgibb.bsky.social · 16/01/2025Great thread by @colincarlson.bsky.social summarising our new paper in @natrevbiodiv.bsky.social 🦠🦟🧪😷 bsky.app/profile/coli... 2201
Reposted by Rory GibbTorre Lavelle @torrelavelle.bsky.social · 15/01/2025🚨New paper out @natrevbiodiv.bsky.social on how pathogens and parasites are responding to global change, and implications for pandemic prevention and biodiversity conservation. Check it out below! 0115
Reposted by Rory GibbColin Carlson @colincarlson.bsky.social · 15/01/2025If you take one thing away from our paper, I hope it's this: there's no safe path through the Pandemicene without action on environmental protection, sustainable development, and health system strengthening. Single-issue advocacy and siloed solutions put the world at greater risk from pandemics. 25723
Reposted by Rory GibbNature Reviews Biodiversity @natrevbiodiv.nature.com · 15/01/2025Here we go! The first issue of Nature Reviews Biodiversity is now live🥳🎉🥂. Thank you to our authors, reviewers, and community for the support! We hope you enjoy the reading. www.nature.com/nrbd/volumes... 214557
Reposted by Rory GibbColin Carlson @colincarlson.bsky.social · 15/01/2025Second: We need more evidence on causal relationships between human activities, ecosystem function, and infectious disease risk - especially for pandemic threats, but also for other priorities like neglected tropical diseases. We also need observational studies on which interventions work, and why. 1162
Reposted by Rory GibbBenny Borremans 🇧🇪🇺🇸 @bennyborremans.wildlifehero.org · 15/01/2025Lucid insights on where we’re at on actually understanding pandemics, and where we’re not (yet) at: 056
Rory Gibb @roryjgibb.bsky.social · 15/01/2025How are pathogens and parasites responding to planetary change, what does this mean for people and biodiversity, and what is to be done? New @viralemergence.org synthesis out today in Nature Rev Biodiversity (@natrevbiodiv.bsky.social) with a fantastic author team🧪😷 www.nature.com/articles/s44...nature.comPathogens and planetary change - Nature Reviews BiodiversityThis Review explores the relationship between emerging infectious diseases and biodiversity loss, and how both are connected to global environmental changes in the Anthropocene. 18647
Reposted by Rory GibbSamantha M. Wisely @profwisely.bsky.social · 14/01/2025doi.org/10.1098/rstb... This new paper asks us to alter the paradigm of disease ecology to integrate ecological with socio-economic data. Humans are not separate from the ecosystem, yet most research treats humans as the endpoint. This perspective shift can create more equitable outcomes. 👩🏻🔬🧪🌎doi.orgTowards a ‘people and nature’ paradigm for biodiversity and infectious disease | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological SciencesZoonotic and vector-borne infectious diseases are among the most direct human health consequences of biodiversity change. The COVID-19 pandemic increased health policymakers’ attention on the links be... 1357
Reposted by Rory GibbHeather Ferguson @drheatherferg.bsky.social · 13/01/2025New paper from #MosquitoScotland project led by Dr Georgia Kirby @uofgsbohvm.bsky.social - a review of Ecological risk factors for the establishment of West Nile virus in Britain. Article reviews the ecology of British mosquitoes to assess risk of WNV establishment. ⏬ doi.org/10.1016/j.pt... 0165
Reposted by Rory GibbErwan Rivault @erwanrivault.com · 10/01/2025NEW: 2024 has just been confirmed as the warmest year on record, and the first to breach the 1.5C threshold. We used a ridgeline (Joy Division inspired) chart to visualise daily temperature anomalies since 1940. 2024 clearly stands out with 100% of its days above 1.3C and 75% above 1.5C. 20958802764
Reposted by Rory GibbColin Carlson @colincarlson.bsky.social · 10/01/2025We’re on the cusp of the next pandemic starting in the USA, and journalists are still cherry-picking data to tell this tired, racist story about spillover being a problem of the Global South (because scientists keep telling them that story) www.ft.com/content/a714... 25720
Reposted by Rory GibbSagan Friant @saganfriant.bsky.social · 09/01/2025Thank @roryjgibb.bsky.social for the opportunity to contribute toward building a 'people and nature' paradigm for biodiversity-disease research and action as part of this new special issue. 065
Reposted by Rory GibbColin Carlson @colincarlson.bsky.social · 09/01/2025This is a really fantastic read - a great tour of modern views on conservation, and how they can help us move beyond 'longstanding scientific narratives of human involvement in zoonotic disease systems, which have largely framed people as ecological disruptors' and look to solutions. 🌸🤝🦠 01710
Reposted by Rory GibbJoseph Williamson @josephwilliamson.bsky.social · 09/01/2025🚨New paper 🚨We argue that abrupt biodiversity losses can be driven by populations sharing similar tolerances to warming 🦋🌎🥵. Out now in @royalsocietypublishing.org. Summary thread below 🧵 royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/epdf/10.... 16332
Reposted by Rory GibbAndy Purvis @andypurvisnhm.bsky.social · 09/01/2025‘Bending the curve towards nature recovery: building on Georgina Mace's legacy for a biodiverse future’ - a special issue of Phil Trans R Soc B in honour of a very special biodiversity scientist - is published today by @royalsociety.org. royalsocietypublishing.org/toc/rstb/202...royalsocietypublishing.orgPhilosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences: Vol 380, No 1917 14134