Ben Bolker
@bbolker.bsky.social
Ecology, evolution, epidemiology, statistics (mixed models). McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario https://math.mcmaster.ca/bolker
Reposted by Ben Bolker
Help me Hive Mind!
This Haydn sonata has a riff, first presented in the very first measure, that was borrowed by Beethoven (a Haydn fan and pupil) in one of B’s great piano works.
Which, of course, I can’t place. And which, of course, is driving me crazy.
Any help?
youtu.be/jfsSFGDpFbw?...
This Haydn sonata has a riff, first presented in the very first measure, that was borrowed by Beethoven (a Haydn fan and pupil) in one of B’s great piano works.
Which, of course, I can’t place. And which, of course, is driving me crazy.
Any help?
youtu.be/jfsSFGDpFbw?...
Haydn Sonata in C Major, Hob XVI 48 – Alfred Brendel
YouTube video by Zhanna Gumenyuk
youtu.be
December 24, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Help me Hive Mind!
This Haydn sonata has a riff, first presented in the very first measure, that was borrowed by Beethoven (a Haydn fan and pupil) in one of B’s great piano works.
Which, of course, I can’t place. And which, of course, is driving me crazy.
Any help?
youtu.be/jfsSFGDpFbw?...
This Haydn sonata has a riff, first presented in the very first measure, that was borrowed by Beethoven (a Haydn fan and pupil) in one of B’s great piano works.
Which, of course, I can’t place. And which, of course, is driving me crazy.
Any help?
youtu.be/jfsSFGDpFbw?...
Reposted by Ben Bolker
Hear ye! Hear ye! 🇨🇦 Canada’s universities have new money to recruit international scholars.
Here is McMaster’s call for applications: research.mcmaster.ca/home/support...
Here is McMaster’s call for applications: research.mcmaster.ca/home/support...
Canada Impact+ Research Chairs Nominees - Research & Innovation
[...]Read More...
research.mcmaster.ca
December 23, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Hear ye! Hear ye! 🇨🇦 Canada’s universities have new money to recruit international scholars.
Here is McMaster’s call for applications: research.mcmaster.ca/home/support...
Here is McMaster’s call for applications: research.mcmaster.ca/home/support...
Reposted by Ben Bolker
is there a good citation discussing recent Gelman/Vehtari/etc style choices of prior? like what's on the Stan wiki but in the form of an academic paper? github.com/stan-dev/sta...
Prior Choice Recommendations
Stan development repository. The master branch contains the current release. The develop branch contains the latest stable development. See the Developer Process Wiki for details. - stan-dev/stan
github.com
December 22, 2025 at 12:22 AM
is there a good citation discussing recent Gelman/Vehtari/etc style choices of prior? like what's on the Stan wiki but in the form of an academic paper? github.com/stan-dev/sta...
God damn them all, I was told ...
December 21, 2025 at 12:06 AM
God damn them all, I was told ...
Reposted by Ben Bolker
This is a really cool project, I was lucky to have the opportunity to participate.
news.mcmaster.ca/mcmaster-res...
news.mcmaster.ca/mcmaster-res...
McMaster research team digitizes more than 100 years of Canadian infectious disease data
The new, publicly accessible database contains more than a million infectious disease incidence counts dating back to 1903.
news.mcmaster.ca
December 18, 2025 at 5:41 PM
This is a really cool project, I was lucky to have the opportunity to participate.
news.mcmaster.ca/mcmaster-res...
news.mcmaster.ca/mcmaster-res...
Reposted by Ben Bolker
Since I can’t get it out of my head, I wrote up my thoughts on @kevinbaker.bsky.social's critique of AI-automated science and the logical end of processes that can't self-correct.
December 15, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Since I can’t get it out of my head, I wrote up my thoughts on @kevinbaker.bsky.social's critique of AI-automated science and the logical end of processes that can't self-correct.
Reposted by Ben Bolker
Looking for a postdoc in 2026? The Ewel fellowship at UF provides $70K salary and $20K research support for 2 yrs. I'm happy to sponsor a postdoc interested in microbial ecology of Florida coastal ecosystems (seagrass, coral, mangroves, springs). 🦠 Due 1/11/26
postdoc.aa.ufl.edu/current-post...
postdoc.aa.ufl.edu/current-post...
postdoc.aa.ufl.edu
December 13, 2025 at 12:16 PM
Looking for a postdoc in 2026? The Ewel fellowship at UF provides $70K salary and $20K research support for 2 yrs. I'm happy to sponsor a postdoc interested in microbial ecology of Florida coastal ecosystems (seagrass, coral, mangroves, springs). 🦠 Due 1/11/26
postdoc.aa.ufl.edu/current-post...
postdoc.aa.ufl.edu/current-post...
2-3 days to "analemma day", earliest northern-hemisphere sunset of the year ... gist.github.com/bbolker/1bb9... (I could have vibe-coded this into a Shiny app with reverse geocoding for the user's choice of location, etc etc but couldn't be bothered ...) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analemm...
December 5, 2025 at 10:14 PM
2-3 days to "analemma day", earliest northern-hemisphere sunset of the year ... gist.github.com/bbolker/1bb9... (I could have vibe-coded this into a Shiny app with reverse geocoding for the user's choice of location, etc etc but couldn't be bothered ...) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analemm...
This just popped up in my feed; I read it quickly, but it seems thoughtful and clear.
link 📈🤖
What the Jeffreys-Lindley Paradox Really Is: Correcting a Persistent Misconception (Lovric) The Jeffreys-Lindley paradox stands as the most profound divergence between frequentist and Bayesian approaches to hypothesis testing. Yet despite more than six decades of discussion, this paradox
What the Jeffreys-Lindley Paradox Really Is: Correcting a Persistent Misconception (Lovric) The Jeffreys-Lindley paradox stands as the most profound divergence between frequentist and Bayesian approaches to hypothesis testing. Yet despite more than six decades of discussion, this paradox
December 1, 2025 at 7:11 PM
This just popped up in my feed; I read it quickly, but it seems thoughtful and clear.
Reposted by Ben Bolker
#rstats
It is with profound sadness I heard that my long-time friend and colleague, John Fox passed away this week.
He was the author of {car}, {effects}, {Rcmdr}, ... and numerous influential books. I will miss him greatly.
www.john-fox.ca
It is with profound sadness I heard that my long-time friend and colleague, John Fox passed away this week.
He was the author of {car}, {effects}, {Rcmdr}, ... and numerous influential books. I will miss him greatly.
www.john-fox.ca
John Fox: Books and Software
www.john-fox.ca
November 28, 2025 at 3:26 PM
#rstats
It is with profound sadness I heard that my long-time friend and colleague, John Fox passed away this week.
He was the author of {car}, {effects}, {Rcmdr}, ... and numerous influential books. I will miss him greatly.
www.john-fox.ca
It is with profound sadness I heard that my long-time friend and colleague, John Fox passed away this week.
He was the author of {car}, {effects}, {Rcmdr}, ... and numerous influential books. I will miss him greatly.
www.john-fox.ca
A colleague is looking for an open-source/online (pref. peer-reviewed) reference for properties of probability distributions. Any ideas? (NIST gives *very* basic properties e.g. www.itl.nist.gov/div898/handb... but I think they're looking for something more complete ...)
November 25, 2025 at 3:17 PM
A colleague is looking for an open-source/online (pref. peer-reviewed) reference for properties of probability distributions. Any ideas? (NIST gives *very* basic properties e.g. www.itl.nist.gov/div898/handb... but I think they're looking for something more complete ...)
CANSSI postdoc w/ Alex Stringer (Waterloo) www.alexstringer.ca and me (McMaster): implementing/exploring Gauss-Hermite quadrature methods in lme4/glmmTMB canssi.ca/wp-content/u... (Alex has shown that Laplace approx is sometimes awful, we'd like to provide alternatives!) canssi.ca/program/dist...
Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellowships – CANSSI
canssi.ca
November 24, 2025 at 10:04 PM
CANSSI postdoc w/ Alex Stringer (Waterloo) www.alexstringer.ca and me (McMaster): implementing/exploring Gauss-Hermite quadrature methods in lme4/glmmTMB canssi.ca/wp-content/u... (Alex has shown that Laplace approx is sometimes awful, we'd like to provide alternatives!) canssi.ca/program/dist...
👀 Eco/evo tweeps teaching undergraduate courses ...
Can interactive web apps help biology students become better modellers? Stephan Peischl's group is running an ethics-approved study. Learn more at: peischllab.github.io/MEEW.html Contact ana-hermina.ghenu@unibe.ch to receive the survey link.
Can interactive web apps help biology students become better modellers? Stephan Peischl's group is running an ethics-approved study. Learn more at: peischllab.github.io/MEEW.html Contact ana-hermina.ghenu@unibe.ch to receive the survey link.
MEEW
peischllab.github.io
November 24, 2025 at 9:51 PM
👀 Eco/evo tweeps teaching undergraduate courses ...
Can interactive web apps help biology students become better modellers? Stephan Peischl's group is running an ethics-approved study. Learn more at: peischllab.github.io/MEEW.html Contact ana-hermina.ghenu@unibe.ch to receive the survey link.
Can interactive web apps help biology students become better modellers? Stephan Peischl's group is running an ethics-approved study. Learn more at: peischllab.github.io/MEEW.html Contact ana-hermina.ghenu@unibe.ch to receive the survey link.
Reposted by Ben Bolker
I’ve been in Toronto at the #astmh meeting these past few days and last night some very good news was presented here: A new malaria drug has proven efficacious in a large trial and could soon be approved.🧪
My story in @science.org (and 🧵on why it's important to come):
www.science.org/content/arti...
My story in @science.org (and 🧵on why it's important to come):
www.science.org/content/arti...
‘A sigh of relief’: New malaria drug succeeds in large clinical trial
As existing drugs falter because of resistance, the world gets a backup—but hard choices loom on how to use it
www.science.org
November 13, 2025 at 1:27 PM
I’ve been in Toronto at the #astmh meeting these past few days and last night some very good news was presented here: A new malaria drug has proven efficacious in a large trial and could soon be approved.🧪
My story in @science.org (and 🧵on why it's important to come):
www.science.org/content/arti...
My story in @science.org (and 🧵on why it's important to come):
www.science.org/content/arti...
Reposted by Ben Bolker
New blog post: open-source software packages have surprising problems with the way they calculate weighted medians and other quantiles.
www.practicalsignificance.com/posts/weight...
#rstats #julialang
www.practicalsignificance.com/posts/weight...
#rstats #julialang
Weighted Quantile Weirdness and Bugs – Practical Significance
Computing quantiles is surprisingly complicated. It gets much weirder when you use weights, and popular software behaves in surprising ways that might trouble you.
www.practicalsignificance.com
November 5, 2025 at 4:30 PM
New blog post: open-source software packages have surprising problems with the way they calculate weighted medians and other quantiles.
www.practicalsignificance.com/posts/weight...
#rstats #julialang
www.practicalsignificance.com/posts/weight...
#rstats #julialang
Reposted by Ben Bolker
Now I'm also looking for a research software engineer to implement a pile of research results to R packages loo, posterior, bayesplot, projpred, priorsense, brms or/and Python packages ArviZ, Bambi and Kulprit. Apply by email with no specific deadline (see contact info at users.aalto.fi/~ave/)
I'm now also looking for a postdoc with strong Bayesian background and interest in developing Bayesian cross-validation theory, methods and software. Apply by email with no specific deadline (see contact information at users.aalto.fi/~ave/).
Others, please share
Others, please share
I'm looking for a doctoral student with Bayesian background to work on Bayesian workflow and cross-validation (see my publication list users.aalto.fi/~ave/publica... for my recent work) at Aalto University.
Apply through the ELLIS PhD program (dl October 31) ellis.eu/news/ellis-p...
Apply through the ELLIS PhD program (dl October 31) ellis.eu/news/ellis-p...
November 3, 2025 at 11:13 AM
Now I'm also looking for a research software engineer to implement a pile of research results to R packages loo, posterior, bayesplot, projpred, priorsense, brms or/and Python packages ArviZ, Bambi and Kulprit. Apply by email with no specific deadline (see contact info at users.aalto.fi/~ave/)
I've a vague memory of seeing recently (in the last week? month?) that due to changes in ggplot2_+/or plotly, ggplotly might not be viable/supported long-term. ('twould be a terrible shame, although I guess I could learn `ggiraph::plot_labels` ?) Can anyone confirm/deny/point me to a source? #rstats
November 2, 2025 at 12:20 AM
I've a vague memory of seeing recently (in the last week? month?) that due to changes in ggplot2_+/or plotly, ggplotly might not be viable/supported long-term. ('twould be a terrible shame, although I guess I could learn `ggiraph::plot_labels` ?) Can anyone confirm/deny/point me to a source? #rstats
Reposted by Ben Bolker
Version 2.0.0 of emmeans is out! Notable changes: new look to the plots, qdrg() now an S3 method, and new maintainer (me, Russ still highly involved). cran.r-project.org/package=emme...
emmeans: Estimated Marginal Means, aka Least-Squares Means
Obtain estimated marginal means (EMMs) for many linear, generalized linear, and mixed models. Compute contrasts or linear functions of EMMs, trends, and comparisons of slopes. Plots and other displays...
cran.r-project.org
October 29, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Version 2.0.0 of emmeans is out! Notable changes: new look to the plots, qdrg() now an S3 method, and new maintainer (me, Russ still highly involved). cran.r-project.org/package=emme...
Reposted by Ben Bolker
Editor's Choice article in our latest issue:
"The genetic basis of natural variation in sociability " by Arteen Torabi-Marashi, Dania Daanish, Andrew M Scott, Reuven Dukas, & Ian Dworkin.
academic.oup.com/evolut/artic...
@idworkin.bsky.social
"The genetic basis of natural variation in sociability " by Arteen Torabi-Marashi, Dania Daanish, Andrew M Scott, Reuven Dukas, & Ian Dworkin.
academic.oup.com/evolut/artic...
@idworkin.bsky.social
The genetic basis of natural variation in sociability
Abstract. Sociability, defined as individuals’ tendencies to affiliate with conspecifics, is widespread among animals, including species not traditionally
academic.oup.com
October 20, 2025 at 10:36 AM
Editor's Choice article in our latest issue:
"The genetic basis of natural variation in sociability " by Arteen Torabi-Marashi, Dania Daanish, Andrew M Scott, Reuven Dukas, & Ian Dworkin.
academic.oup.com/evolut/artic...
@idworkin.bsky.social
"The genetic basis of natural variation in sociability " by Arteen Torabi-Marashi, Dania Daanish, Andrew M Scott, Reuven Dukas, & Ian Dworkin.
academic.oup.com/evolut/artic...
@idworkin.bsky.social
Reposted by Ben Bolker
When the Hapsburgs find out corn does inbreeding better they’re really gonna take it on the chin.
October 18, 2025 at 6:56 AM
When the Hapsburgs find out corn does inbreeding better they’re really gonna take it on the chin.
Reposted by Ben Bolker
PhD position (Any of 5 cities in Canada)
ACCDMi's members at 5 universities are soliciting expressions of interest.
with @amyhurford.bsky.social
at Memorial U., U. of New Brunswick, Dalhousie U., U. of Prince Edward Island, or Mount...
More details: http://iddjobs.org/jobs/2374
ACCDMi's members at 5 universities are soliciting expressions of interest.
with @amyhurford.bsky.social
at Memorial U., U. of New Brunswick, Dalhousie U., U. of Prince Edward Island, or Mount...
More details: http://iddjobs.org/jobs/2374
October 17, 2025 at 4:14 PM
PhD position (Any of 5 cities in Canada)
ACCDMi's members at 5 universities are soliciting expressions of interest.
with @amyhurford.bsky.social
at Memorial U., U. of New Brunswick, Dalhousie U., U. of Prince Edward Island, or Mount...
More details: http://iddjobs.org/jobs/2374
ACCDMi's members at 5 universities are soliciting expressions of interest.
with @amyhurford.bsky.social
at Memorial U., U. of New Brunswick, Dalhousie U., U. of Prince Edward Island, or Mount...
More details: http://iddjobs.org/jobs/2374
Reposted by Ben Bolker
Very proud of this paper in BioScience :
« Too cute to be wild: what teddy bears reveal about our disconnection from nature »
🧸 are more than toys, they shape among our first emotional connections to nature. But their design may also distort how we see wildlife !
👉 doi.org/10.1093/bios...
🧪🦤
« Too cute to be wild: what teddy bears reveal about our disconnection from nature »
🧸 are more than toys, they shape among our first emotional connections to nature. But their design may also distort how we see wildlife !
👉 doi.org/10.1093/bios...
🧪🦤
September 24, 2025 at 2:19 PM
Very proud of this paper in BioScience :
« Too cute to be wild: what teddy bears reveal about our disconnection from nature »
🧸 are more than toys, they shape among our first emotional connections to nature. But their design may also distort how we see wildlife !
👉 doi.org/10.1093/bios...
🧪🦤
« Too cute to be wild: what teddy bears reveal about our disconnection from nature »
🧸 are more than toys, they shape among our first emotional connections to nature. But their design may also distort how we see wildlife !
👉 doi.org/10.1093/bios...
🧪🦤
Reposted by Ben Bolker
Like to develop spatio-temporal models? Interested in Arctic marine mammals 🦭🐳 and their susceptibility to oil spills? You may be the postdoctoral fellow Dr. Mariane Marcoux and I are looking for! See the details in the job ad: tinyurl.com/spatiostatamm
September 5, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Like to develop spatio-temporal models? Interested in Arctic marine mammals 🦭🐳 and their susceptibility to oil spills? You may be the postdoctoral fellow Dr. Mariane Marcoux and I are looking for! See the details in the job ad: tinyurl.com/spatiostatamm
Recently attended a workshop using allisonhorst.github.io/palmerpengui... for examples but it's hard to use for mixed models (3 species/3 islands isn't enough for MMs). With a little help from Claude → Tobias et al doi.org/10.1111/ele.... and extracted the penguins: github.com/bbolker/bbmi...
September 3, 2025 at 12:28 AM
Recently attended a workshop using allisonhorst.github.io/palmerpengui... for examples but it's hard to use for mixed models (3 species/3 islands isn't enough for MMs). With a little help from Claude → Tobias et al doi.org/10.1111/ele.... and extracted the penguins: github.com/bbolker/bbmi...