Sign in

Trevor A. Branch

@trevorabranch.bsky.social
12K followers 289 following 2.1K posts

Professor at Univ of Washington @uwsafs.bsky.social I run models and synthesize data, love R graphics, and do research on the status of marine fisheries, fishing quotas, and blue whales @bluewhalenews.bsky.social

PostsRepliesMedia
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
e.g. at Deyrolle in Paris it's a narwhal horn in the taxidermied unicorn! Pic: www.instagram.com/p/C9nAABqsH27/
000
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
Yeah but unicorns were only named after seeing the tusks of narwhals, so they should have been called narwhalhorses... ;)
100
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
Not as bad of a mood as the UW Huskies after 3 losses in a row...
010
Reposted by Trevor A. Branch
joeymaier 🌊 @joeymaier.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Local governments in #Greenland consider culling #Greenlandshark in an effort to prop up an ailing #halibut fishing industry Article quotes @nickdulvy.bsky.social To cull or not to cull: Greenland debates fate of world’s slowest shark | Sharks | The Guardian share.google/Uur9OMYHkqyB...
share.google
To cull or not to cull: Greenland debates fate of world’s slowest shark
As trawlers compete with Greenland sharks for halibut and cod, conservationists and fishers clash over what to do about misunderstood species
11010
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
www.nytimes.com/2026/10/10/s...
nytimes.com
Mathematician Who Waited 50 Years for Proper Credit for Her Work Has Died
At the Los Alamos National Laboratory, Mary Tsingou Menzel’s computer programming helped set the stage for chaos theory and other fields.
030
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
... the new estimates show three times more individuals for the key impacted dolphin species than previously estimated, which implies they were much less depleted by tuna fisheries than previously thought. Good news for dolphins!!! Jay Barlow et al. doi.org/10.1111/mms....
080
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
... but a new re-analysis of enormous ocean surveys (equivalent of circling the earth 7 times) during 1986-2006, now correcting for school size, and for Beaufort sea state (visibility due to waves), and using new modern methods of analyzing such data...
130
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
The tuna-dolphin problem was when 4.8 million dolphins were killed during tuna fishing, mostly in the 1960s and 1970s before a suite of regulations and changes reduced deaths to low levels. It has long been thought that some dolphin populations were very reduced by this. Now though...
1102
Reposted by Trevor A. Branch
Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them) @jfmclaughlin92.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
I use this example in classes as showing how DNA sampling is very good at answering "who touched this sample", but not necessarily "and who therefore committed this crime"
27018
Reposted by Trevor A. Branch
Holly Bik @hollybik.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
The more we sequence, the weirder it all gets…
1164
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
Ray Troll is a national treasure.
010
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
New plant species with leaves big enough to see from space... www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...
independent.co.uk
New species identified after expert spotted a picture of it on Instagram
Conservationists warn the species is already critically endangered, with an estimated 30 to 50 plants left in the wild
040
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
I like how you included a cabuGARet pun just for @solomonrdavid.bsky.social
161
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
This is brilliant: the acknowledgement section of PhD dissertations... "Thank you to the friends who simply knew not to ask." "I know I was the reason you bought that Roomba" science.anu.edu.au/news-events/...
science.anu.edu.au
The unexpected poetry of PhD acknowledgements
After reading hundreds and hundreds of PhD theses, we accidentally discovered how to write the perfect PhD acknowledgement: it's a kind of poetry.
2125
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Pumice www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts...
discoverwildlife.com
It incredibly floated, was twice the size of Manhattan and travelled a colossal 3,000km, transporting millions of animals on the way | Discover Wildlife
When an undersea volcano erupted in the Pacific Ocean, it created a vast raft of floating rock
031
Reposted by Trevor A. Branch
Rebecca R Helm @rebeccarhelm.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Blue button jellies float on the waters surface. They’re related to true jellies, but they’ve got a dry top that feels a bit like a fingernail, and is filled with air-trapping chambers to keep the jelly above the waves This float also means they slide on the water like hockey pucks 🏒
9367112
Reposted by Trevor A. Branch
Blue whale news @bluewhalenews.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Hey everyone, last chance to sign up as a member of the American Cetacean Society and get a hard copy of the upcoming Whalewatcher issue (136 pages of amazing blue whale goodness edited by yours truly) acs.memberclicks.net/membership
095
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Two papers accepted within minutes of each other after a long review process!!!! Must be a record for me.
0120
Reposted by Trevor A. Branch
Scott Doney @scottdoney.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
The record breaking magnitude of this year’s El Niño highlights the need to take action now to protect marine ecosystems and put in place resources for future events that will be supercharged by further ocean warming 🌊 www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
pnas.org
Marine ecosystems in peril: Time to prepare for super El Niño | PNAS
Marine ecosystems in peril: Time to prepare for super El Niño
084
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
It's always The Stranger doing the good reporting. Why the ferry outages from sick-outs? Because ferry engineers are routinely expected to work 7 day weeks and accrue 1500 hours of overtime a year (i.e. nearly 70-hour weeks). www.thestranger.com/news/twenty-...
thestranger.com
Twenty-Three Washington State Ferry Engineers Called in Sick Monday - The Stranger
On Monday morning, the Washington State Ferries (WSF) announced that 13 of its 18 ferries were out of service, after 23 engine room employees “called in sick.” Additionally, every qualified employee s...
020
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
octo-pie in your face? ;)
020
Reposted by Trevor A. Branch
Dr Dean Burnett @drdeanburnett.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
"By using AI, tasks like essays that used to take hours can be completed in minutes!" Sure, like how if I arrive at the gym and immediately go for a shower, my workout is done in record time. And if I throw my sandwiches straight in the bin, I can finish my lunch in under 10 seconds.
7070221921
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
How fisheries issues in Alaska may decide the fate of the US Senate, and the current administration's plans for the next two years [gift article link] www.nytimes.com/2026/10/06/u...
nytimes.com
How Alaska’s Fish Became a Defining Issue for the Midterms (Gift Article)
In the battle for an Alaska Senate seat and the governor’s mansion, the oil-dependent state’s declining fisheries loom large, but no one wants to look at the biggest culprit, climate change.
082
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Staggering how many of the top 100 unanswered science questions are in fields that received little and declining funding: many in biology! www.nytimes.com/2026/10/05/s...
nytimes.com
What Are the Biggest Questions in Science Today? 100 Scientists Weigh In.
We asked 100 scientists about unsolved problems in their fields. They sent back provocations — on the origins of life, the possibilities for human progress and much more.
050
Reposted by Trevor A. Branch
Elizabeth Anne, PhD @lacksauthority.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
never the wrong time for this classic
Screenshot of a tweet by @RobbtKraft reading “scientist: "does everyone here know what Watson and Crick discovered?" 
me from back of room: "Rosalind Franklin's notes"”
56120193574
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
I have a serious legal and moral issue in studying blue whales!
040
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Thanks so much for the explanation! I'll be adding it to my R graphics class!
000
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Interesting ideas, though I prefer to create a pdf of a known width and height, rather than using ggview and saving it. pdf seems more reliable on all machines.
100
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
What's there to debate? !!!!
010
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Here, BS = bootstrap (a statistical resampling method for estimating uncertainty)
010
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Why acronyms are problematic.
150
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Admittedly, we're also cyberattacking our own government and various other entities...
120
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Good luck! It's a mammoth process for sure, best advice I got was to compile lists of everything as you go along to make it easier when the time comes.
110
Reposted by Trevor A. Branch
Prosanta Chakrabarty @prosanta.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Exciting news! We here at the LSU Museum of Natural Science @lsumns.bsky.social and Dept. of Biological Sciences are looking for Curator and Assistant Professor of Vertebrate Paleobiology! Come work with us! We are fun, supportive and active! lsu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/LSU/jo...
lsu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com
Assistant Professor
All 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...
03052
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
A sign of a truly cultured education!
000
Reposted by Trevor A. Branch
Massimo (mirror) @rainmaker1973-m.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
A deep-sea fish with a transparent head and rotating eyes, the Barreleye is one of the ocean’s strangest creatures. Original post
13541130
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
When you are convinced it's AI generated and then discover it is not and now you doubt everything
062
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Seriously! Wow, that's amazing!
010
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
The classic exploding whale news segment from 1970 www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6CL...
youtube.com
The Exploding Whale: An infamous moment in Oregon history creates a strangely beloved icon
YouTube video by KATU News
2110
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Me too! Same reaction!
010
Reposted by Trevor A. Branch
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Pleased to announce our blue whale stranding compilation is now published! With a Shiny app to explore! doi.org/10.1111/mms.... krandrup.shinyapps.io/blue_whale_g...
0259
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Unintended consequence: all publishers ban submissions from federally funded research.
100
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Now if there was just a magical open pot of government money for all publications, that would work great. Not what the situation is now. And won't be in the future after NSF removes page charges from allowable grant costs.
100
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Great in theory, complicated in practice. For example, a student on a fellowship with money for open-access publication costs. What if they are more prolific than expected and publish 5 papers instead of 3? And most papers published after graduation (after end of the fellowship).
110
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Sure, though I'm not sure how many people actually download not-final versions of papers.
100
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
I'm not uninterested but they are probably about 10,000th on my list of interesting animals. It's a long list to be sure.
020
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Concern that executive action on recreational fishing and shark fishing may threaten the status of US fisheries as being well-managed, sustainable and science-based www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
theguardian.com
Trump’s executive order on recreational fishing is a ‘giveaway of fish and ocean ecosystem’, advocates warn
Federal agencies told to prioritize recreational fishing and to reconsider scientific standards as well as regulations
0107
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
I wandered over to Twitter for the first time in months to advertise a new paper and discovered that my notification feed there consists of random posts by people I never followed on topics I'm not interested in
140
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Pleased to announce our blue whale stranding compilation is now published! With a Shiny app to explore! doi.org/10.1111/mms.... krandrup.shinyapps.io/blue_whale_g...
0259
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
All those Cope papers are available for free at BHL since they are out of copyright. Though he might still not respond... and yeah, what the hell was he thinking???? www.biodiversitylibrary.org/creator/1437...
biodiversitylibrary.org
010