@rmcminds
Quantitative Ecologist focused on salmon habitat at the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission | Former Assistant Professor studying Microbial Ecology / Evolutionary Biology / Bioinformatics | merdemicrobes.org | thecnidaegritty.org/iNatle/
Personally I think both these phrases still set up the misunderstanding that evolution is deterministic. Not sure what the solution is, but even the ‘fittest’ or those that on average should be ‘good enough’ often get weeded out before others thanks to the randomness of it all.
I would also say that the definition of ‘the fittest’ or ‘the weakest’ is context dependent, and evolution works on a noisy path where the target is constantly changing. There is really no such thing as ‘THE fittest’; a single ideal genotype or phenotype - thus the importance of diversity.
Gotta address the fact that the way it works in nature isn’t a template for how we set up our society. Nature’s mechanisms have no bearing on how we should treat people. Eugenics keeps rearing its ugly head, and it needs to be made clear that we still have morals and can make better choices!
I would have put a list of corals but I don’t know the common names, haha
Introduce yourself with 5 animals you’ve seen in the wild:
Galapagos penguin
Kagu
Red Sea anemonefish
Florida cottonmouth
Water ouzel
So it turns out... the US air travel system was incredibly, deeply dependent on federal funding to just run day-to-day all this time, to the benefit of private airline shareholders, when everyone thinks that state-run trains are leeching off the government. Weird!
NWIFC is seeking internal candidates for the open role of Biometrician III with the focus on Shellfish Population Dynamics and Modeling. This role is integral to the Fisheries Services team and will be responsible for assisting in the development and application of harvest management and population…
NWIFC is seeking candidates for the role of Oceanographer. This position is integral to the Environmental Protection team and will focus primarily on changing ocean conditions and associated impacts to species of interest, specifically as they relate to tribal ocean fishery resources.
Ever wonder what role corals play in tropical reef ecology? Find out by taking up the mantle of Team Coral 🪸! Cover the reef with colonies clad in sturdy calcium carbonate 🧪 and fend off dastardly, quick-growing algae!
What is your favorite #reef creature you’d love to see in #benthosgame?
A blue damselfly perched on the tip of a lodgepole pine branch with bokeh blending the light green and blues of the meadow, hills, and sky behind it
Not entirely sure about the nuances of photos via link, so here’s a copy with alt txt. Apparently this particular damselfly is a ‘bluet’ – azulilla, portecoupe, watersnuffel! Comparing common names across languages is a great window into how different cultures view organisms. #ArtAdventCalendar
22 days ‘til Christmas! Damselflies – caballitos del Diablo, demoiselles, juffers – are not a group I’m super familiar with taxonomically. But I do like to be pedantic when certain close family members call them dragonflies. “Actually, …”
23 days ‘til Christmas! A tree frog – rana arborícola, rainette, boomkikker – another favorite! I’m not entirely sure why I didn’t pursue some kind of tree frog science. They are the best. Ok and those French and Dutch names are also pretty great.
Sketchy drawing of a cat, curled up and sleeping peacefully
It’s a late night, but I had to jump on the “art advent calendar” bandwagon as an excuse to carve out more drawing time ;) Thanks for modeling sweet Pika! #artadventcalendar #digitalillustration
24 days til Christmas! A fern –helecho, fougère, varen – one of my favorite things. I love being surrounded by green, and nothing does that better than a pteridophyte! I hope to visit Opal Creek (Oregon) again soon, and see how it has recovered from a wildfire that occurred while I was away.
I don’t know if something similar is already a thing, but, inspired by #ArtAdventCalendar, I figured it’d be fun to do an #iNatAdventCalendar with some of my favorite iNaturalist observations.
This year I’ll use a theme to celebrate my imminent return to the PNW!
Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)
#birds #nature #wildlife #photography #bluejay
'The secret lives of trees: the theory collapses'.
Common mycorrhizal networks exist but we are far away from making conclusions on its function. It's great to see so many people interviewed in this article and challenge a story ahead of the science.
www.epsiloon.com/tous-les-num...
I wrote (ranted) on experimental design as I was frustrated as an editor at how little guidance students were getting. I underestimated the interest in the issue: it has been downloaded 10,000+ times! Clearly it’s something we need to be talking about more. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
It was actually another Cousteau book; The Human, the Orchid, and the Octopus – which I read in college – that really moved the needle further for me in seeing the importance of using science to help people directly, rather than an abstract love for nature itself.
The Panda’s Thumb. I loved ‘science’ before I read that, probably in early high school, but it was Gould’s books that really got me excited about science as a process and a career; an ongoing debate about theory and concepts and meaning and relevance, rather than a collection of immutable facts.
Hi on here and hi soon-to-be-neighbor (ish)!
Ahh I bought this and haven’t gotten to it yet - thanks for the reminder!
🌊 GOOD NEWS: The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians have reacquired a 27-acre section of Cape Foulweather on the Oregon Coast, between Newport and Lincoln City. #Oregon #Oregoncoast #Indigenous #SiletzTribe #Ocean #PNW #GoodNews #LandBack #KelpForest #Kelp #Conservation
Super fun survey for a research to understand what people find beautiful in plants and why. I learned about my own preferences too while answering it:) 🪻🌾🌼🌸🪷🌷
www.biodiful.org#/plantiful_en
I haven’t used Seek too much, myself. I usually just take photos during outings, and then upload and ID later. But I’ve had much better luck getting family members (the older ones!) to use Seek rather than the raw iNat app.
I suppose it feels odd not to have mentioned coral reefs anywhere in my bio or intro post - they have been a massive part of my life and research for the past ~15 years! But I am very happy to be shifting my focus to ecosystems closer to home, soon.
Bluesky academics, lets get to know each other! Quote this & tell me: 1) a project you are working on & 2) an odd idea/theory you aren’t working on but keep thinking about
1) about to move across the country with a baby and dog
2) has anyone thrown those echinoderm-killing ciliates at a coral yet
