Biological modeling is organized inquiry, but how should we think about the process?
My new paper in #EcologyLetters argues that we should model like experimentalists: define treatments, measure responses, validate, perturb, repeat.
👉 doi.org/10.1111/ele....
Do you agree?
#IPAM (the institute for pure and applied mathematics) is facing a critical shortfall for operating expenses due to an unexpected suspension of NSF funding www.ipam.ucla.edu/news/nsf-fun... . Donations for emergency continuity of operations funding can be made at
giving.ucla.edu/Campaign/Donat
This is one of the reasons I am so passionate about the Caleb Scholars program. We give students funds to return home to learn from elders as they go to school, and we find undergrads though professional/PhD programs bc I know how hard it was to return home during grad school.
www.calebscholars.org
Picture of the SMB baseball cards available at the booth.
Photos of the SMB conference t-shirts
Photo of the SMB reusable water bottles
Check out the SMB Membership Booth near the coffee stayion. We are selling SMB water bottles, t-shirts, and the SMB baseball cards.
#SMB2025
Our article on the challenges and opportunities in studying host-microbe symbioses is now published in Cell Host & Microbe! @cp-cellhostmicrobe.bsky.social
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Seconding this call for support! BHL hosts the archive for the American Mosquito Control Association journals – key sources to inform my 🦟 work. I use it to find free PDFs of foundational research multiple times a week.
On a Nature news article reporting that NIH planned to suspend subawards for foreign collaborations: “No, that’s false. There’s going to be a policy on tracking subawards. The NIH and the government should be able to see where the money’s going.” “I’m really uncomfortable with this conversation, because you’re like, actually spreading rumors that you don’t know anything about. … Nature also is spreading rumors. Halt foreign collaborations, that’s not true.” “We’re working on the policy, Jocelyn. You shouldn’t be reporting rumors. I know there’s leaks all over here, but the leaks don’t actually reflect what’s happening. Don’t write about rumors. It actually makes the things that you and I care about worse. Like it spreads panic.” Later that day, NIH released a policy that halted future subawards to foreign scientists and said they will need to apply directly for money under a system still in development.
With NIH director Jayanta Bhattacharya dismissing my reporting as "false" and "spreading rumors" hours before releasing a policy that confirmed said "rumors," I feel compelled to respond.
Here's an inside look into how this story was reported. It was a weird one. 🧵
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
To whomever left the unsolicited note on the Herbaria door this morning stating that we shouldn't be proud of our flag, I say this:
Don't worry, I got a bigger one! 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
And it's endorsed by the administers of your collegiate, yet somewhat lacking, education. 🚂⬆️🔨⬇️
You're not a real mathematician if you don't celebrate 2s-day every week
What reward could come of this besides platforming people whose goal is dehumanization? How would that align with the stated goals of the AMS? I have higher expectations for the Notices than this.
I'm sorry you're having to deal with this but I'm also kind of happy it's you, because otherwise I could see the AMS actually moving forward on this.
In any case, none of my NSF-funded "broadening participation" activities violate the EOs because they don't involve DEIA principles and frameworks (which are not things that exist).
It's not clear to me that "executive priorities" can override the policies of the NSF -- which are supposed to be determined by the National Science Board. Congress mandated in the CHIPS and Science Act that the NSF fund programs to broaden participation in STEM.
We have been advised that if additional stipend payments are withdrawn beyond monthly payments and funding gets terminated, then those funds will have to be returned to the NSF. This is not for the PRFB but another NSF postdoc fellowship given directly to individuals
POs have been non-responsive. There are so many panels coming up that I don't think this is a priority for them
Another POs guidance was that as these are grants given to individuals, they are likely exempt from the recent EO. I don't want to risk violating the grant terms and give them another excuse to terminate my funding.
Are you sure this is correct? The solicitation says that the stipend is paid monthly.
Excited to share our latest paper with Kyle Dahlin and colleagues on temperature-dependent models of mosquito-borne transmission. We've updated the classic Ross-MacDonald model to address its limitations and uncovered significant findings:
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Oh no 😯 we're considering getting a condo. Buying a house on an academic salary seems impossible in Hawai‘i!
