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benflips.bsky.social
Ben Phillips
@benflips.bsky.social
1.6K followers 790 following 20 posts

Ecology | Evolution | Populations | Space | Models | Data | Things that make me laugh or cry.

Prof at Curtin University. Living on Whadjuk Noongar country.

Lab: popbiolgenomics.org/

Videos
Environmental science 42%
Biology 25%
Posts Replies Media Videos

Reposted by Ben L. Phillips

thejuicemedia.com
the Juice Media @thejuicemedia.com · Nov 15
BREAKING: Labor and Liberal may not agree on much but when it comes to introducing a new law to stop Clive Palmer, but which actually stops newcomers from competing with them in our elections, you can be sure they'll pass it and lock in the two-party system by Xmas www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3WT...
Honest Government Ad | How to rig elections
YouTube video by thejuicemedia
www.youtube.com

Reposted by Ben L. Phillips, Richard Denniss

australiainstitute.org.au
The Australia Institute @australiainstitute.org.au · Jul 3
The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme is a national treasure. It gets the best price from US pharmaceutical corps, protecting us from exorbitant prices that US citizens pay.

Congrats to PM Albanese for consistently defending the PBS from Big Pharma.

Read: australiainstitute.org.au/post/our-pbs...

benflips.bsky.social
Ben Phillips @benflips.bsky.social · Jun 29
We're hiring. 2.5 year statistical ecology postdoc in Perth, Western Australia. Closing 6 July. 🌏 #bioinvasions #biosecurity Check it out: www.seek.com.au/job/85070198...
Post Doctoral Research Associate in statistical ecology Job in Bentley, Perth WA - SEEK
The Population Biology and genomics Group is seeking to appoint a Post Doctoral Research Associate.
www.seek.com.au

Reposted by Ben L. Phillips

gretchenmiller.bsky.social
(Dr) Gretchen Miller @gretchenmiller.bsky.social · May 29
"Watt’s decision to give the long-awaited environmental approval for the North West Shelf project to be extended to 2070 was a bad decision — a craven, cowardly capitulation to corporate power and political expediency" - @beneltham.bsky.social www.crikey.com.au/2025/05/29/m...
Watt waves through Woodside, and Labor’s light on the hill becomes a gas flare
The newly minted environment minister faced a stark choice: protect the environment, or approve a massive fossil fuel development that will destroy the environment. He chose destruction.
www.crikey.com.au

Reposted by Ben L. Phillips

eatdrinkcycle.bsky.social
EatDrinkCycle @eatdrinkcycle.bsky.social · May 23
"NSW flooding: PM delivers climate crisis warning as flood-hit region braces for strong winds and fifth body found" as he approves a 50 yr extension to Woodside's gas operation in WA. Hypocrite. #voteGreen for real action on climate #auspol
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
NSW flooding: PM delivers climate crisis warning as flood-hit region braces for strong winds and fifth body found
Anthony Albanese acknowledges home insurance now a ‘real challenge’ as government announces disaster assistance for 19 local council areas in NSW
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Ben L. Phillips

patsimons.bsky.social
Pat Simons @patsimons.bsky.social · May 22
Regional NSW is being smashed by a '1-in-500-year' flood, one person has died, three are missing and 50,000 people are isolated by floodwaters.

Meanwhile, Albanese is considering the country's biggest new fossil fuel project, the proposed NW Shelf extension... www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
NSW floods: one dead and ‘grave fears’ held for three missing people as crisis worsens
With 48,000 already isolated, forecasters say ‘heavy, intense rainfall’ has spread north bringing life-threatening risk
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Ben L. Phillips, James Camac

biosecuritycommons.bsky.social
Biosecurity Commons @biosecuritycommons.bsky.social · May 21
Thanks to everyone who attended our Curtin University workshop last week. It was a great success and we really enjoyed showing what Biosecurity Commons can do!
@benflips.bsky.social

Reposted by Ben L. Phillips

georgetakei.bsky.social
George Takei @georgetakei.bsky.social · May 7
Shots fired, Neil.

benflips.bsky.social
Ben Phillips @benflips.bsky.social · May 7
The big five banks in Australia failing their community, their environment, and their own long term interests by investing in fracking the Beetaloo basin.

www.marketforces.org.au/campaigns/pr...
Beetaloo: Fracking the heart out of Australia - Market Forces
www.marketforces.org.au

Reposted by Ben L. Phillips

letterscentral.bsky.social
Letters for the Environment Central Australia @letterscentral.bsky.social · May 2
@lisacox.bsky.social @theconversation.com
@biodivcouncil.bsky.social @theguardian.com

This true story
theconversation.com/the-buffel-k...
The buffel kerfuffle: how one species quietly destroys native wildlife and cultural sites in arid Australia
Buffel grass causes just as much damage to native wildlife as feral cats. But with the right control measures, biodiversity can bounce back.
theconversation.com

benflips.bsky.social
Ben Phillips @benflips.bsky.social · Apr 10
30% of the primary vote and falling; already doing preference deals to exclude independents: how long before we see a Labor-Liberal-National coalition in Australia? #auspol

Reposted by Ben L. Phillips

funecology.bsky.social
Functional Ecology @funecology.bsky.social · Apr 3
📰Published📰 Limited plasticity but increased variance in physiological rates across ectotherm populations under climate change🌡️

buff.ly/9jFq0Mu

🧪🌍
Limited plasticity but increased variance in physiological rates across ectotherm populations under climate change
Daniel W.A. Noble, Fonti Kar, Alex Bush, Frank Seebacher, & Shinichi Nakagawa. This is a plain language summary of a Functional Ecology article which can be found here. Climate change causes wa…
buff.ly

Reposted by Ben L. Phillips

biorxiv-evobio.bsky.social
bioRxiv Evolutionary Biology @biorxiv-evobio.bsky.social · Mar 31
Sex decreases the pleiotropic costs of local adaptation https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.03.28.646016v1

Reposted by Ben L. Phillips

ecoinvasions.bsky.social
Anthony Ricciardi @ecoinvasions.bsky.social · Apr 2
Historical invasion ecology #bioinvasions
www.historytoday.com/archive/hist...
Wool Aliens of the British Empire
www.historytoday.com

Reposted by Ben L. Phillips

waiterich.bsky.social
Richard Waite @waiterich.bsky.social · Apr 2
Which milks have the lowest environmental impact? My colleague Raychel Santo provides an overview of her recent paper here: www.wri.org/insights/mil... 🧪
Which Milk Leaves the Lightest Footprint? Key environmental and nutritional considerations per 1 cup milk (GHG emissions, water use, and protein content) Cow's milk has highest GHG emissions and water use but also highest protein content Soy milk and pea milk have high protein content and low GHG emissions and water use Oat milk and coconut milk have low GHG emissions and water use but low protein content Almond milk has low GHG emissions, high water use, and low protein content

Reposted by Ben L. Phillips

crikey.com.au
Crikey @crikey.com.au · Mar 28
Climate change discourse has gone backwards in Australia. We now have an opposition leader who wants to incentivise the burning of fossil fuels — and the incumbent government isn't much better.
Climate determined the date of the election, yet remains utterly absent from it
www.crikey.com.au

Reposted by Wolfgang Wüster

benflips.bsky.social
Ben Phillips @benflips.bsky.social · Mar 17
It actually exists! A few copies of my new book just arrived. Nice to see it in person, finally.

If you've ever wondered about the ecology or evolution of an invasive population, this one's for you. #evobio 🌏 #bioinvasions #ecoevo
A book, "the ecology and evolution of invasive populations", atop another identical book.

Reposted by Ben L. Phillips

conservbytes.bsky.social
Corey Bradshaw @conservbytes.bsky.social · Mar 14
Oh, how the tables have turned

Reposted by Ben L. Phillips, Lisa M. Given, Laura J. Shepherd , and 4 more

arc-tracker.bsky.social
ARC Tracker @arc-tracker.bsky.social · Feb 25
The ARC Board has proposed a major shake-up of the National Competitive Grants Program ▶️ www.arc.gov.au/engage-us/co...

I've only skimmed so far, but they propose reducing 13 grant schemes to 6, with intent & scope in the table👇

Submissions are being accepted in response until 13 April. Get to it!
Table from page 25 of the proposed restructure of ARC grants. Back text on white background, with the table delineated by a dark blue header row and alternating light and very light blue rows.

Reposted by Ben L. Phillips

carlbergstrom.com
Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · Mar 7
Is everyone huffing paint?

Crypto guy claims to have built an LLM-based tool to detect errors in research papers; funded using its own cryptocurrency; will let coin holders choose what papers to go after; it's unvetted and a total black box—and Nature reports it as if it's a new protein structure.
AI tools are spotting errors in research papers: inside a growing movement
Study that hyped the toxicity of black plastic utensils inspires projects that use large language models to check papers.
www.nature.com

benflips.bsky.social
Ben Phillips @benflips.bsky.social · Feb 23
Tim Winton makes visceral the reality of inaction on climate. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Labor hasn’t delivered on more effective nature laws. It’s not just embarrassing, it’s calamitous | Tim Winton
As Ningaloo reef bleaches and an election looms, we must look to those who stand in the way of our safety – the small cohort of people profiting from fossil fuels, and the politicians who protect them
www.theguardian.com

benflips.bsky.social
Ben Phillips @benflips.bsky.social · Feb 14
…and ask your independent about this ^ while you’re at it.

benflips.bsky.social
Ben Phillips @benflips.bsky.social · Feb 13
There has never been a better time to support an independent focussed on integrity and climate. If you agree, consider volunteering for them. #auspol
thejuicemedia.com the Juice Media @thejuicemedia.com · Nov 15
BREAKING: Labor and Liberal may not agree on much but when it comes to introducing a new law to stop Clive Palmer, but which actually stops newcomers from competing with them in our elections, you can be sure they'll pass it and lock in the two-party system by Xmas www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3WT...
Honest Government Ad | How to rig elections
YouTube video by thejuicemedia
www.youtube.com

Reposted by Ben L. Phillips

mrdenmore.bsky.social
Mr Denmore @mrdenmore.bsky.social · Feb 13
What Elon Musk is doing to the US government Australia’s cosy political duopoly is doing to what’s left of our democracy. Time to boost the number of independents in parliament live.australiainstitute.org.au
Australia Institute Live: Major parties making a 'mockery' of democracy warns crossbench
live.australiainstitute.org.au

Reposted by Ben L. Phillips

simonrosenberg.bsky.social
Simon Rosenberg @simonrosenberg.bsky.social · Feb 13
"The biggest changes to election laws in 40 years should have faced proper scrutiny by a multi-party parliamentary inquiry" @browne90.bsky.social.

This Labor/LNP stitch-up is another reason why a progressive cross-bench must hold balance of power. #auspol
australiainstitute.org.au/post/stich-u...
"Stitch up" Labor and Coalition Deal on Electoral Reform
Last night, Liberal Senator Jane Hume announced they’d done a deal with the Albanese Labor Government on electoral laws – and some twelve hours later, it
australiainstitute.org.au

Reposted by Ben L. Phillips

reddishraven.bsky.social
Ben Peake @reddishraven.bsky.social · Feb 11
Fuck, this is good from @birmo.bsky.social . Gets its teeth down on the surprisingly brittle bones of the Most Alpha Males Ever.

aliensideboob.substack.com/p/delusions-...
Delusions of Adequacy
I’m a bit over this new masculinity.
aliensideboob.substack.com

Reposted by Ben L. Phillips

mmayfieldecology.bsky.social
Margie Mayfield @mmayfieldecology.bsky.social · Feb 7
doi.org/10.1111/ele.... a great new study about importance of within and between trophic level interactions by my PhD student Lisa Buche!
A Continuum From Positive to Negative Interactions Drives Plant Species' Performance in a Diverse Community
We explored the patterns of species performance in a real-world community, dependent on pairwise and higher-order interactions with species belonging to the same and other trophic levels (plant, herb...
doi.org

Reposted by Ben L. Phillips

sdhamiltonvic.bsky.social
Scott Hamilton @sdhamiltonvic.bsky.social · Feb 3
“Peter Dutton, he has a plan that will double power bills for ordinary Australians. We think that that is outrageous. We’re here today to call it out,” said John Grimes CEO @SmartEnergyCouncil @reneweconomy.com.au

#nuclear v #solar #auspol #AusVotes25
reneweconomy.com.au/lies-damned-...
Lies, damned lies and Coalition energy economics: Dutton’s latest nuclear claim slammed
Dutton’s latest claim that the Coalition’s nuclear policy will cut electricity bills by 44% has been slammed as “either dangerously ill-informed” or a lie – and new modellin…
reneweconomy.com.au

benflips.bsky.social
Ben Phillips @benflips.bsky.social · Jan 17
Excited to see the cover art for my new book, which is due out in February. One for the invasion nerds!

This book project is hard evidence that I am a time optimist: I thought it would take me a year; it took five. 🌏 #bioinvasions
A book cover for "The ecology and evolution of invasive populations" featuring a gecko and an agar plate with various bacteria and fungi colonies growing on it.

Reposted by Ben L. Phillips

nathankhensley.bsky.social
Nathan K. Hensley @nathankhensley.bsky.social · Jan 12
A diverting game is to plot your own lifetime alongside the geophysical breakdown of the earth
1976-2025 in temperature averages, i.e. my own lifetime