Blas M. Benito
@blasbenito.com
🌍 Spatial Data Scientist | Team Lead | 🌱 AgTech | PhD in Computational Ecology + MSc in GIS
#rstats developer | geospatial engineering | soil microbiome and crop health mapping | product development
https://github.com/BlasBenito - www.blasbenito.com
#rstats developer | geospatial engineering | soil microbiome and crop health mapping | product development
https://github.com/BlasBenito - www.blasbenito.com
Pinned
Blas M. Benito
@blasbenito.com
· Dec 9
collinear: Automated Multicollinearity Management
Provides a comprehensive and automated workflow for managing multicollinearity in data frames with numeric and/or categorical variables. The package integrates five robust methods into a single functi...
blasbenito.github.io
{collinear} 3.0 is now on CRAN (yay! 🥳)
This #rstats package automates multicollinearity management to improve model robustness and interpretability.
You can learn more at blasbenito.github.io/collinear/, but here's a summary of the most exciting new features: 🧵 1/5
This #rstats package automates multicollinearity management to improve model robustness and interpretability.
You can learn more at blasbenito.github.io/collinear/, but here's a summary of the most exciting new features: 🧵 1/5
I've been outside of academia for more than 4 years, so I didn't expect this!
February 9, 2026 at 11:57 AM
I've been outside of academia for more than 4 years, so I didn't expect this!
Reposted by Blas M. Benito
I made a map of 3.4 million Bluesky users - see if you can find yourself!
bluesky-map.theo.io
I've seen some similar projects, but IMO this seems to better capture some of the fine-grained detail
bluesky-map.theo.io
I've seen some similar projects, but IMO this seems to better capture some of the fine-grained detail
Bluesky Map
Interactive map of 3.4 million Bluesky users, visualised by their follower pattern.
bluesky-map.theo.io
February 8, 2026 at 10:59 PM
I made a map of 3.4 million Bluesky users - see if you can find yourself!
bluesky-map.theo.io
I've seen some similar projects, but IMO this seems to better capture some of the fine-grained detail
bluesky-map.theo.io
I've seen some similar projects, but IMO this seems to better capture some of the fine-grained detail
Reposted by Blas M. Benito
chronometre: A new package (pair) demo for R and Python
Efficient yet simple object exchange between R and Python
dirk.eddelbuettel.com/blog/2026/02...
#rstats #rcpp #python #datascience
Efficient yet simple object exchange between R and Python
dirk.eddelbuettel.com/blog/2026/02...
#rstats #rcpp #python #datascience
February 8, 2026 at 6:16 PM
chronometre: A new package (pair) demo for R and Python
Efficient yet simple object exchange between R and Python
dirk.eddelbuettel.com/blog/2026/02...
#rstats #rcpp #python #datascience
Efficient yet simple object exchange between R and Python
dirk.eddelbuettel.com/blog/2026/02...
#rstats #rcpp #python #datascience
Reposted by Blas M. Benito
SHE’S FINISHED! My 5-foot-long Enterprise D oil painting is complete after nearly 100 hours of work!
I remember being 13 years old or so and trying to draw her and it was so hard, and all I wanted was to be able to do something like this. Truly a dream come true. 🥰🖖
I remember being 13 years old or so and trying to draw her and it was so hard, and all I wanted was to be able to do something like this. Truly a dream come true. 🥰🖖
February 7, 2026 at 11:37 PM
SHE’S FINISHED! My 5-foot-long Enterprise D oil painting is complete after nearly 100 hours of work!
I remember being 13 years old or so and trying to draw her and it was so hard, and all I wanted was to be able to do something like this. Truly a dream come true. 🥰🖖
I remember being 13 years old or so and trying to draw her and it was so hard, and all I wanted was to be able to do something like this. Truly a dream come true. 🥰🖖
Reposted by Blas M. Benito
Reposted by Blas M. Benito
Bit of love for #rstats 📦 {paint} today as I had to swap out a deprecated dependency.
The interactive scrolling ipaint() got a speed up, and some additional controls to advance pages, or to start / end. I find myself using this one a bit lately.
The interactive scrolling ipaint() got a speed up, and some additional controls to advance pages, or to start / end. I find myself using this one a bit lately.
February 8, 2026 at 6:39 AM
Bit of love for #rstats 📦 {paint} today as I had to swap out a deprecated dependency.
The interactive scrolling ipaint() got a speed up, and some additional controls to advance pages, or to start / end. I find myself using this one a bit lately.
The interactive scrolling ipaint() got a speed up, and some additional controls to advance pages, or to start / end. I find myself using this one a bit lately.
Reposted by Blas M. Benito
I'm in the Highlands' newspaper @northerntimes.co.uk, this time with an update on my latest cancer scans from a few weeks ago - still no evidence of disease, exactly 2 years since I finished being on immunotherapy. Yay! ht @ahenderson96.bsky.social #cansky
www.northern-times.co.uk/news/ultra-r...
www.northern-times.co.uk/news/ultra-r...
Ultra-runner now cancer-free after terminal diagnosis
The retired UCL professor is one of very few to have made it through a full two years of an innovative cancer treatment, to wondrous results.
www.northern-times.co.uk
February 6, 2026 at 6:12 AM
I'm in the Highlands' newspaper @northerntimes.co.uk, this time with an update on my latest cancer scans from a few weeks ago - still no evidence of disease, exactly 2 years since I finished being on immunotherapy. Yay! ht @ahenderson96.bsky.social #cansky
www.northern-times.co.uk/news/ultra-r...
www.northern-times.co.uk/news/ultra-r...
Today is my son's 6th birthday.
Kinda bittersweet day though: it is a tough remembrance of our hardest day ever and a milestone nobody though he would reach.
But here he is, living the worst possible life one can imagine with the unwavering resolve of someone that doesn't know better.
💔
Kinda bittersweet day though: it is a tough remembrance of our hardest day ever and a milestone nobody though he would reach.
But here he is, living the worst possible life one can imagine with the unwavering resolve of someone that doesn't know better.
💔
February 5, 2026 at 10:52 PM
Today is my son's 6th birthday.
Kinda bittersweet day though: it is a tough remembrance of our hardest day ever and a milestone nobody though he would reach.
But here he is, living the worst possible life one can imagine with the unwavering resolve of someone that doesn't know better.
💔
Kinda bittersweet day though: it is a tough remembrance of our hardest day ever and a milestone nobody though he would reach.
But here he is, living the worst possible life one can imagine with the unwavering resolve of someone that doesn't know better.
💔
Reposted by Blas M. Benito
#rstats I'm very happy to announce Jarl 0.4.0!
Jarl is a very fast R linter, written in Rust. This release brings lots of improvements and fixes.
See the blog post: www.etiennebacher.com/posts/2026-0...
And the full changelog: jarl.etiennebacher.com/changelog
🧵 to highlight some features below
Jarl is a very fast R linter, written in Rust. This release brings lots of improvements and fixes.
See the blog post: www.etiennebacher.com/posts/2026-0...
And the full changelog: jarl.etiennebacher.com/changelog
🧵 to highlight some features below
Etienne Bacher: Jarl 0.4.0
Find unreachable code, ignore diagnostics, show summary statistics of diagnostics,
and more.
www.etiennebacher.com
February 5, 2026 at 1:30 PM
#rstats I'm very happy to announce Jarl 0.4.0!
Jarl is a very fast R linter, written in Rust. This release brings lots of improvements and fixes.
See the blog post: www.etiennebacher.com/posts/2026-0...
And the full changelog: jarl.etiennebacher.com/changelog
🧵 to highlight some features below
Jarl is a very fast R linter, written in Rust. This release brings lots of improvements and fixes.
See the blog post: www.etiennebacher.com/posts/2026-0...
And the full changelog: jarl.etiennebacher.com/changelog
🧵 to highlight some features below
4. Queen
No matter the breed, every dog has one of three default dispositions:
1. Dipshit
2. Has a Job
3. Trying to Pick a Fight with God
1. Dipshit
2. Has a Job
3. Trying to Pick a Fight with God
February 4, 2026 at 8:09 PM
4. Queen
Me: I need to lose some weight...
Nutella: not today, honey 😘
Nutella: not today, honey 😘
February 4, 2026 at 1:08 PM
Me: I need to lose some weight...
Nutella: not today, honey 😘
Nutella: not today, honey 😘
Reposted by Blas M. Benito
Until we as a species can settle on which modifier key we should use to switch between "newline" and "submit" when hitting ↩ I see no future for us
February 3, 2026 at 9:04 AM
Until we as a species can settle on which modifier key we should use to switch between "newline" and "submit" when hitting ↩ I see no future for us
Reposted by Blas M. Benito
🚨 GAMs have moved on—so it’s time for an update.
On March 3, 2026 (17:00–19:00 CET) I’ll be livestreaming an updated introduction to Generalized Additive Models in R
📺 YouTube livestream link: youtube.com/live/A9U8e1K...
#RStats #mgcv #GAMs #gratia #statistics 🧪
On March 3, 2026 (17:00–19:00 CET) I’ll be livestreaming an updated introduction to Generalized Additive Models in R
📺 YouTube livestream link: youtube.com/live/A9U8e1K...
#RStats #mgcv #GAMs #gratia #statistics 🧪
What's new in the world of Generalized Additive Models
YouTube video by Bottom of the Heap
youtube.com
February 3, 2026 at 12:57 PM
🚨 GAMs have moved on—so it’s time for an update.
On March 3, 2026 (17:00–19:00 CET) I’ll be livestreaming an updated introduction to Generalized Additive Models in R
📺 YouTube livestream link: youtube.com/live/A9U8e1K...
#RStats #mgcv #GAMs #gratia #statistics 🧪
On March 3, 2026 (17:00–19:00 CET) I’ll be livestreaming an updated introduction to Generalized Additive Models in R
📺 YouTube livestream link: youtube.com/live/A9U8e1K...
#RStats #mgcv #GAMs #gratia #statistics 🧪
Reposted by Blas M. Benito
I am thrilled to co‑organise Visualising Climate with colleagues from Copernicus/ECMWF, BSC, BC3 and the University of Miami—the first global conference at the intersection of climate change and data visualisation, at a moment when clear, actionable communication is essential.
#dataviz #datavis
#dataviz #datavis
Join us in Bologna, Italy, 4–6 Nov 2026 for Visualising Climate — the first global conference fully dedicated to climate data visualization and its power to transform public understanding of a changing planet. Come see the data.
visualisingclimate.org
#VisualisingClimate2026 #DataVis #ClimateCrisis
visualisingclimate.org
#VisualisingClimate2026 #DataVis #ClimateCrisis
January 28, 2026 at 11:11 AM
TIL _ can be used as a placeholder (like . in dplyr) when working with the base pipe.
I've been using |> for ages now and I still get caught out sometimes when placing _ inside a nested pipeline 😅
In case you ever wondered about the differences between magrittr pipe and base pipe 🤔
This table is taken from a great stackoverflow answer by @GeorgKindermann
stackoverflow.com/questions/67...
#rstats #dataviz #phd
This table is taken from a great stackoverflow answer by @GeorgKindermann
stackoverflow.com/questions/67...
#rstats #dataviz #phd
January 31, 2026 at 12:20 PM
TIL _ can be used as a placeholder (like . in dplyr) when working with the base pipe.
I just watched the game, and Marina "Crash-Out Queen" Mabrey was ABSOLUTE CINEMA
Her ball handling is eclipsed by her shooting, but pay attention, it is incredibly tight!
Her ball handling is eclipsed by her shooting, but pay attention, it is incredibly tight!
Unrivaled record in less than 3 quarters!
43 pts and 10 3s and counting for Marina Mabrey!
43 pts and 10 3s and counting for Marina Mabrey!
January 31, 2026 at 11:55 AM
I just watched the game, and Marina "Crash-Out Queen" Mabrey was ABSOLUTE CINEMA
Her ball handling is eclipsed by her shooting, but pay attention, it is incredibly tight!
Her ball handling is eclipsed by her shooting, but pay attention, it is incredibly tight!
"How AI Impacts Skill Formation", by Judy Hanwen Shen and Alex Tamkin, both working at Anthropic: arxiv.org/abs/2601.20245
January 30, 2026 at 8:25 AM
"How AI Impacts Skill Formation", by Judy Hanwen Shen and Alex Tamkin, both working at Anthropic: arxiv.org/abs/2601.20245
Reposted by Blas M. Benito
Dear colleagues, we are searching for candidates to fill a Full W3 Professorship for Plant #Ecology at the University of Regensburg, Germany. For details, see www.nature.com/naturecareer... 🌐 🌎 #AcademicJobs
Professorship W3 for Plant Ecology - Regensburg (Stadt), Bayern (DE) job with Universität Regensburg | 12851147
UNIVERSITÄT REGENSBURG The Faculty of Biology and Pre-Clinical Medicine invites applications for a Full Professorship W3 for Plant Ecology Th...
www.nature.com
January 29, 2026 at 3:00 PM
Dear colleagues, we are searching for candidates to fill a Full W3 Professorship for Plant #Ecology at the University of Regensburg, Germany. For details, see www.nature.com/naturecareer... 🌐 🌎 #AcademicJobs
Reposted by Blas M. Benito
One reason I especially like arrow is how easy it is to use a storage system (like your local filesystem or even S3!) like it's a database. Hive-partitions + parquet (optional) + arrow::open_dataset(), and you are absolutely cooking without a ton of setup overhead.
January 28, 2026 at 8:34 PM
One reason I especially like arrow is how easy it is to use a storage system (like your local filesystem or even S3!) like it's a database. Hive-partitions + parquet (optional) + arrow::open_dataset(), and you are absolutely cooking without a ton of setup overhead.
Reposted by Blas M. Benito
We're excited to announce the release of {arrow} 23.0.0 🏹📦
Here's a roundup of the new features and changes in a 🧵
Full details can be found at arrow.apache.org/docs/r/news/
#rstats #apachearrow
Here's a roundup of the new features and changes in a 🧵
Full details can be found at arrow.apache.org/docs/r/news/
#rstats #apachearrow
Changelog
arrow.apache.org
January 28, 2026 at 4:55 PM
We're excited to announce the release of {arrow} 23.0.0 🏹📦
Here's a roundup of the new features and changes in a 🧵
Full details can be found at arrow.apache.org/docs/r/news/
#rstats #apachearrow
Here's a roundup of the new features and changes in a 🧵
Full details can be found at arrow.apache.org/docs/r/news/
#rstats #apachearrow
Reposted by Blas M. Benito
❓ Do you want to level up your #SDM skills?
Learn Bayesian Additive Regression Trees (BART) for SDMs in R. A hands-on course with @jbyoder.org on predictor selection, model training, interpretation & spatial projections using embarcadero and dbarts 🚀
www.physalia-courses.org/courses-work...
#Rstats
Learn Bayesian Additive Regression Trees (BART) for SDMs in R. A hands-on course with @jbyoder.org on predictor selection, model training, interpretation & spatial projections using embarcadero and dbarts 🚀
www.physalia-courses.org/courses-work...
#Rstats
Species distribution modeling with Bayesian additive regression tree (BART) methods
Dates 1-3 July 2026
www.physalia-courses.org
January 27, 2026 at 1:29 PM
❓ Do you want to level up your #SDM skills?
Learn Bayesian Additive Regression Trees (BART) for SDMs in R. A hands-on course with @jbyoder.org on predictor selection, model training, interpretation & spatial projections using embarcadero and dbarts 🚀
www.physalia-courses.org/courses-work...
#Rstats
Learn Bayesian Additive Regression Trees (BART) for SDMs in R. A hands-on course with @jbyoder.org on predictor selection, model training, interpretation & spatial projections using embarcadero and dbarts 🚀
www.physalia-courses.org/courses-work...
#Rstats
Reposted by Blas M. Benito
Heck, in ND your dog can escape your property and you can watch it run away for a solid three days before it disappears beyond the horizon.
January 21, 2026 at 7:15 PM
Heck, in ND your dog can escape your property and you can watch it run away for a solid three days before it disappears beyond the horizon.
Call me silly, but hosting Copernicus Data Space (s3://EODATA) in AWS us-east-1 rather undermines the whole idea of "European data sovereignty", whatever that means.
#geospatial #eo
#geospatial #eo
January 22, 2026 at 1:00 PM
Call me silly, but hosting Copernicus Data Space (s3://EODATA) in AWS us-east-1 rather undermines the whole idea of "European data sovereignty", whatever that means.
#geospatial #eo
#geospatial #eo
Reposted by Blas M. Benito
The more I have AI agents write all my code, the more I feel that us devs will be alright (and possibly more in-demand for important stuff)
Hard for me to imagine anyone building *reliable* software without an understanding of how to do this (either via experience or study)
Hard for me to imagine anyone building *reliable* software without an understanding of how to do this (either via experience or study)
January 22, 2026 at 9:49 AM
The more I have AI agents write all my code, the more I feel that us devs will be alright (and possibly more in-demand for important stuff)
Hard for me to imagine anyone building *reliable* software without an understanding of how to do this (either via experience or study)
Hard for me to imagine anyone building *reliable* software without an understanding of how to do this (either via experience or study)