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)

Austrosciapus connexus

2025-05-14

Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Lepidium heterophyllum

Smith's Cress

2025-05-12

Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Phlomis russeliana

Turkish Sage

2025-05-12

Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Trifolium dubium

Lesser hop trefoil

2025-05-11

Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Anthriscus caucalis

Bur Parsley

2025-05-10

Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Eriosoma lanigerum

Woolly Apple Aphid

2025-05-10

Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Philaenus spumarius

Meadow Spittlebug

2025-05-10

Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Anthoxanthum odoratum

sweet vernal grass

2025-05-10

Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Collinsia grandiflora

Giant Blue-eyed Mary

2025-05-10

Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Hosackia rosea

Rosy Bird's-foot Trefoil

2025-05-10

Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Solidago simplex

Sticky Goldenrod

2025-05-10

Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Potentilla gracilis

slender cinquefoil

2025-05-10

ID confirmed

Ranunculus occidentalis

Western Buttercup

2025-05-10

Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Viola adunca

hookedspur violet

2025-05-10

Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Camassia quamash

small camas

2025-05-10

ID confirmed

Bombus melanopygus

Black-tailed Bumble Bee

2025-05-05

ID confirmed

Spinus pinus

Pine Siskin

2025-05-05

ID confirmed

Lupinus bicolor

Miniature Lupine

2025-05-05

Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Hordeum murinum

wall barley

2025-05-04

Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Cotoneaster coriaceus

Late cotoneaster

2025-05-03

Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!


Bookwyrm.social

Ryan recently finished reading:

These were the Sioux

Mari Sandoz

Finished May 11, 2025

No rating

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee

Dee Alexander Brown

Finished May 1, 2025

5 stars

The Behavior and Ecology of Pacific Salmon and Trout

Thomas P. Quinn

Finished April 18, 2025

5 stars

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

...and is currently reading:

The Divine Comedy

Dante Alighieri

Blood Struggle

Charles F. Wilkinson

Asimov's Guide to the Bible

Isaac Asimov