@cameronmeyershorb
Executive Director of Wild Animal Initiative, a nonprofit dedicated to accelerating science that helps wild animals. @wildanimalinitv.bsky.social wildanimalinitiative.org 🔶 = I took the 10% Pledge
You’re right — fully animated nonhuman animals are probably where the offenses are most egregious. “Avatar” was filled with quadrupeds with a couple of useless legs and tentacles tacked on. 🙄
…but I still crave truly alien biota. For that, I’ve never seen anything come close to the masterpiece that is Scavengers Reign. Forever grateful to @harriorrihar.bsky.social, @vincenttsui.bsky.social, @lilywangart.bsky.social, et al.
I used to be furious about how unimaginative Star Wars’ aliens are. Really, ANOTHER planet gave rise to something that’s basically a human with extra skin flaps?!
But I just realized: it’s not convergence, it’s speciation!
The galaxy is the Galápagos, and primates in spaceships are its finches.
One of the bits is from when they interviewed me about #wildanimalwelfare and @wildanimalinitv.bsky.social. I listened to it, and I gotta admit: I loved it. Something about hearing myself calmly talking about how I don't have my shit together really makes me feel like I do have my shit together. 🦭
Cool 80K episode with lots of great angles on dealing with the particular mental health challenges that come up when you're trying really hard to do a lot of good.
80000hours.org/podcast/epis... @80000hours.bsky.social
We're looking for three new board members! 🐒🐒🐒
As boards go, I think this one gives pretty good bang (interestingness and impact) for your buck (time and administrivia). And if it doesn't, you can order me to change that!
EOIs due by Monday morning, but let us know if you'd like an extension.
This year, we're running two rounds of Movement Grants! Applications for the first round will open in February. To streamline the process and manage growing interest, we’re now asking people to submit an Expression of Interest form. Submit one at bit.ly/MG-apply 🙌
Thrilled to be hosting two acclaimed authors to discuss nonhuman minds! On Feb 7 at 4:30 ET, join us in person or online for a conversation with Peter Brown, author of The Wild Robot series, and @eliotschrefer.bsky.social, author of Queer Ducks (and Other Animals).
sites.google.com/nyu.edu/mind...
@nature.com is keen to find out how scientists are using @bsky.app and whether it has become their go-to social-media platform. Do you use Bluesky? Has it replaced Xitter? We want to hear from you.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
#eXit
Looking for something to listen to during your holiday travel? We've got 3.5 hours covered for you: https://buff.ly/4izFGlK
@cameronmeyershorb.bsky.social chats to @80000hours.bsky.social about why we think wild animal welfare is an important cause, and how we're accelerating the science behind it.
PhD opportunity in insect welfare: a fascinating, neglected, important topic!
Now recruiting: board members! If you have experience in nonprofit governance and financial management, and a strong commitment to reducing the suffering of wild animals, we’d love to hear from you. Apply by January 26: https://buff.ly/3P16i1l
💯. I feel like they're especially useful for illustrating what a mixed bag neurodivergence can be. It's not only a shortcoming or only a superpower. It's a different way of being that comes with major challenges and opportunities, sometimes even life-threatening risks or legacy-defining feats.
A sentiment I've heard a lot is that natural history is useful, but can be hard to publish. Maybe that's one kind of value that could come from a new journal dedicated to wild animal welfare: it could provide an unusually open platform for sharing observations.
Neat little paper documenting cases of a male Asian elephant "rescuing" a female who had recently been shot with a tranquilizer dart. doi.org/10.1111/btp....
A good reminder that lots of useful natural history observations remain undocumented. If you see animals doing something cool, write it up!
I’ve been hyperfocusing on polar exploration and a question that always comes up is “what drives these great men to do what nobody else has achieved?”
The answer for most of them is imo ✨neurodivergence✨
Imagine being a young nd person learning history with that lens. Can we do that please?
+1 to making this a thing
TIL: "Troll Time" is neither a cheeky Google Calendar Easter egg nor a logistical accommodation for mythical hominids. It is an actual time zone, named after an Antarctic research station so tiny it can only harbor six humans through the winter. Which is even more magical.
Bumblebee on anthers that form the yellow central spot of a large pink flower. Out of focus greenery in the background.
Job Alert! New postdoc position in our lab investigating cognitive biases in wild bumblebees. Thanks to Wild Animal Initiative for the funding.
Position for 31 months. Deadline: December 9th. Please apply/boost
#PostdocJob #AcademicJobs #Bees
jobs.ncl.ac.uk/job/Newcastl...
Rather than asking "Do animals have P?" philosophers have taken to analyzing P dimensionally, then comparing how different species exemplify P. The dimensional approach has been used to ask better questions about animal personhood, consciousness, social norms, inference, and concepts. 🔗👇
Big thanks to Luisa Rodriguez for spending 5+ hours exploring ideas with me, and to everyone on the @80000hours.bsky.social team who helped edit that down to a mere 3-hour episode. 😅
I had a lot of fun going deep into the weeds of wild animal welfare on the @80000hours.bsky.social podcast. 80000hours.org/podcast/epis...
It was a pleasure being at The University of Edinburgh today, introducing wild animal welfare science and the work @wildanimalinitv.bsky.social is doing to support the growth of the field!
ACE’s 2024 recommendation of WAI is based of their 2023 review, because they’ve moved to re-reviewing recommended charities only once every two years. This allows them to spend more time evaluating new potential top charities.
“ACE’s Recommended Charities work in ways that are most likely to produce the greatest gains for animals, actively evaluate and improve their programs, and have a demonstrated need for more funding. We promote them as excellent examples of effective advocacy.”
Honored that @animalcharityev.bsky.social has once again named @wildanimalinitv.bsky.social one of the top 11 animal charities to donate to.
animalcharityevaluators.org/charity-revi...
