Latest Blog Posts

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  • 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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Recent iNaturalist discoveries

Euonymus occidentalis

western burning bush

2026-08-01

⚠ Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Euonymus occidentalis

Aculus tetanothrix

Willow Bead Gall Mite

2026-08-01

⚠ Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Aculus tetanothrix

Potamogeton perfoliatus

Perfoliate Pondweed

2026-08-01

⚠ Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Potamogeton perfoliatus

Clinopodium vulgare

Wild Basil

2026-08-01

⚠ Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Clinopodium vulgare

Pristiphora rufipes

columbine sawfly

2026-08-01

⚠ Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Pristiphora rufipes

Amblyptilia pica

Geranium Plume Moth

2026-08-01

⚠ Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Amblyptilia pica

Trifolium arvense

rabbitfoot clover

2026-07-31

⚠ Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Trifolium arvense

Silvius gigantulus

Golden Deer Fly

2026-07-31

⚠ Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Silvius gigantulus

Castilleja miniata

giant red paintbrush

2026-07-31

⚠ Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Castilleja miniata

Chara globularis

fragile stonewort

2026-07-31

⚠ Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Chara globularis

Centaurium erythraea

Common centaury

2026-07-31

⚠ Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Centaurium erythraea

Stellaria borealis

Boreal starwort

2026-07-31

⚠ Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Stellaria borealis

Penstemon serrulatus

Cascade Beardtongue

2026-07-31

⚠ Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Penstemon serrulatus

Nothochelone nemorosa

Woodland Beardtongue

2026-07-31

⚠ Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Nothochelone nemorosa

Harnischia group

Harnischia Group

2026-07-31

⚠ Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Harnischia group

Claassenia sabulosa

Shortwing Stonefly

2026-07-31

⚠ Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Claassenia sabulosa

Boyeria irene

Western Spectre

2026-07-31

⚠ Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Boyeria irene

Dianthus armeria

Deptford pink

2026-07-31

⚠ Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Dianthus armeria

Camponotus modoc

Western Black Carpenter Ant

2026-07-31

⚠ Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Camponotus modoc

Udea profundalis

False Celery Leaftier

2026-07-31

⚠ Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Udea profundalis

Books I recently finished reading:

Seattle's Commercial Aviation

Steve Ellis

Finished Oct. 13, 2025

★★★☆☆

Seattle's Commercial Aviation cover

The journals of William Fraser Tolmie, physician and fur trader

William Fraser Tolmie

Finished Oct. 13, 2025

★★★★☆

The journals of William Fraser Tolmie, physician and fur trader cover

Unfamiliar Fishes

Sarah Vowell

Finished Oct. 2, 2025

★★★☆☆

Unfamiliar Fishes cover

Quichotte

Salman Rushdie

Finished Sept. 16, 2025

★★☆☆☆

Quichotte cover

Abaddon's Gate

James S. A. Corey

Finished July 20, 2025

★★★☆☆

Abaddon's Gate cover

Caliban's War

James S. A. Corey

Finished June 27, 2025

★★★★☆

Caliban's War cover

Leviathan Wakes

James S. A. Corey

Finished June 15, 2025

★★★★☆

Leviathan Wakes cover

These were the Sioux

Mari Sandoz

Finished May 11, 2025

No rating

These were the Sioux cover

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee

Dee Alexander Brown

Finished May 1, 2025

★★★★★

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee cover

The Behavior and Ecology of Pacific Salmon and Trout

Thomas P. Quinn

Finished April 18, 2025

★★★★★

The Behavior and Ecology of Pacific Salmon and Trout cover

...and some that I'm currently reading:

Natural Rivals

John Clayton

Natural Rivals cover

Tell the Truth

Billy Frank

Tell the Truth cover

I Sing the Salmon Home

Rena Priest

I Sing the Salmon Home cover

Blood Struggle

Charles F. Wilkinson

Blood Struggle cover

Asimov's Guide to the Bible

Isaac Asimov

Asimov's Guide to the Bible cover