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)

Plutella xylostella

Diamondback Moth

2026-03-28

✓ ID confirmed

Plutella xylostella

Viola nuttallii

Nuttall's Violet

2026-03-28

✓ ID confirmed

Viola nuttallii

Cynoglossum officinale

hound's-tongue

2026-03-28

⚠ Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Cynoglossum officinale

Helianthus pumilus

Little Sunflower

2026-03-28

⚠ Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Helianthus pumilus

Podalonia

Cutworm Wasps

2026-03-28

⚠ Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Podalonia

Leucocrinum montanum

common starlily

2026-03-28

✓ ID confirmed

Leucocrinum montanum

Artemisia frigida

fringed sagebrush

2026-03-28

✓ ID confirmed

Artemisia frigida

Lomatium orientale

Oriental Desert-parsley

2026-03-28

✓ ID confirmed

Lomatium orientale

Linaria dalmatica

Balkan toadflax

2026-03-28

✓ ID confirmed

Linaria dalmatica

Yucca glauca

Great Plains yucca

2026-03-28

✓ ID confirmed

Yucca glauca

Cylindropuntia imbricata imbricata

Northern Tree Cholla

2026-03-28

✓ ID confirmed

Cylindropuntia imbricata imbricata

Prunus americana

American plum

2026-03-28

✓ ID confirmed

Prunus americana

Opuntia macrorhiza

prairie pricklypear

2026-03-28

✓ ID confirmed

Opuntia macrorhiza

Juniperus scopulorum

Rocky Mountain Juniper

2026-03-28

✓ ID confirmed

Juniperus scopulorum

Agrocybe praecox

Spring Fieldcap

2026-03-27

⚠ Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Agrocybe praecox

Calliphora vicina

Blue Blowfly

2026-03-21

⚠ Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Calliphora vicina

Lepas anatifera

Pelagic Gooseneck Barnacle

2026-03-12

⚠ Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Lepas anatifera

Aquarius remigis

North American Common Water Strider

2026-03-08

⚠ Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Aquarius remigis

Draba verna

Common Whitlowgrass

2026-03-08

⚠ Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Draba verna

Narcissus

daffodils

2026-03-08

⚠ Help me confirm this ID or suggest another!

Narcissus

Bookwyrm.social

Ryan 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 is 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