Latest Blog Posts

See categories and tags in the blog archive


  • Ooh, Shiny!

    I finally returned to The Cnidae Gritty because I found a groove with Shiny app development again!

    Since my postdoc in France, I’ve been wanting to improve a barebones photo annotation script that I created there.

    ...read more


  • Trust Science!

    Trust the science?

    Trust the scientists?

    Trust {the |}scien{ce|tists}!

    Ahh. That’s safe.

    Wait, what science? Or which scientists?

    ...read more


  • Pseudoquasivegetarianism

    2016 was a pivotal year for me.

    For the past four years, I had been traveling the world and studying coral reefs from every region. I was becoming an expert on their evolution and their interactions with various microbes. I knew these ecosystems had been in decline for decades, that climate change was a major threat, and that some people had claimed that eating meat and flying in airplanes were major contributors to climate change.

    ...read more


  • Big guys shout 'merde!' louder

    New preprint!

    Bacterial sepsis triggers stronger transcriptomic responses in larger primates

    I am happy to report that a paper I’ve been working on for a long time is finally available

    ...read more


  • Maybe it doesn't Matern

    Calling all bored and crazy Stan coders. I need a long term coding partner.

    I’ve been doing a lot of completely solo work for a couple years now, and you can guess the result. I have a couple of really awesome models that I am proud of, and yet they’re (1) not quite what I want, (2) probably way more complicated and messy than necessary, and (3) sitting there, waiting for me to figure out how to be a real modeler and justify them.

    ...read more


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iNaturalist

Ryan's most recent taxonomic discoveries

(observations of taxa that he'd never before uploaded)

Calystegia silvatica

large bindweed

2025-04-22

Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Jaumea carnosa

Marsh Jaumea

2025-04-22

Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Triglochin maritima

common arrowgrass

2025-04-22

Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Brassica rapa

field mustard

2025-04-22

Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Cyanobacteria

cyanobacteria

2025-04-22

Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Cerastium glomeratum

Sticky mouse-ear chickweed

2025-04-21

Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Geranium purpureum

Little-Robin

2025-04-21

ID confirmed

Oncorhynchus mykiss

Rainbow Trout

2025-04-19

ID confirmed

Ampedus balteatus

belted click beetle

2025-04-19

Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Hyacinthoides hispanica

Spanish Bluebell

2025-04-18

Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Dictyoptera simplicipes

Red Net-winged Beetle

2025-04-18

ID confirmed

Vinca major

greater periwinkle

2025-04-16

Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Lupinus polyphyllus

Large-leaved lupine

2025-04-16

Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Halictus rubicundus

Orange-legged Furrow Bee

2025-04-16

Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Anthrenus verbasci

Varied Carpet Beetle

2025-04-09

ID confirmed

Symphytum officinale

common comfrey

2025-04-04

ID confirmed

Veronica officinalis

heath speedwell

2025-04-04

Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Dicranum scoparium

Broom Forkmoss

2025-04-04

Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Polytrichum commune

Common Haircap Moss

2025-04-04

Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Poecile rufescens

Chestnut-backed Chickadee

2025-04-04

ID confirmed


Bookwyrm.social

Ryan recently finished reading:

Le lion, la sorcière blanche et l'armoire magique

C. S. Lewis

Finished March 28, 2025

No rating

Logging in Grays Harbor

Gene Woodwick

Finished March 12, 2025

4 stars

Treaty Justice

Charles Wilkinson

Finished Jan. 25, 2025

5 stars

The Once and Future King

T. H. White

Finished Dec. 29, 2024

5 stars

The Last Resort

Sarah Stodola

Finished Dec. 5, 2024

4 stars

Coral Whisperers

Irus Braverman

Finished Nov. 23, 2024

4 stars

Parent Effectiveness Training

Gordon Staff

Finished July 11, 2024

4 stars

Dutch

Pimsleur

Finished July 11, 2024

4 stars

El león, la bruja y el ropero

C. S. Lewis

Finished March 2, 2024

4 stars

Exhalation

Ted Chiang

Finished June 26, 2023

5 stars

...and is currently reading:

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee

Dee Alexander Brown

The Behavior and Ecology of Pacific Salmon and Trout

Thomas P. Quinn

The Divine Comedy

Dante Alighieri

Blood Struggle

Charles F. Wilkinson

Asimov's Guide to the Bible

Isaac Asimov