Ben Ashby
@bnashby.bsky.social
Professor in Math @ SFU, British Columbia | Scientific Director of PIPPS | Research: Eco-evolutionary theory ecoevotheory.com | Fun: hiking, biking, running, hockey...
Reposted by Ben Ashby
A super handy database to help support academic society journals and other ethical publishing. academic.oup.com/jeb/article/...
Time to publish responsibly: DAFNEE, a database of academia-friendly journals in ecology and evolutionary biology
Abstract. The current economics of scientific publishing reveal a profound imbalance: academia pays prices far exceeding the actual costs of publication. R
academic.oup.com
February 9, 2026 at 9:53 AM
A super handy database to help support academic society journals and other ethical publishing. academic.oup.com/jeb/article/...
I've been thinking a lot about quality vs quantity of publications recently. Like many, I've felt the pressure to publish for various reasons. At times this felt like a conveyor belt, so I've been trying the slow science approach to hopefully enjoy doing science more.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
I’m going to halve my publication output. You should consider slow science, too
If we don’t slow down, the research enterprise is going to crash, argues Adrian Barnett.
www.nature.com
January 21, 2026 at 5:38 PM
I've been thinking a lot about quality vs quantity of publications recently. Like many, I've felt the pressure to publish for various reasons. At times this felt like a conveyor belt, so I've been trying the slow science approach to hopefully enjoy doing science more.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Ben Ashby
We've got ISSUES. Literally.
We scraped >100k special issues & over 1 million articles to bring you a PISS-poor paper. We quantify just how many excess papers are published by guest editors abusing special issues to boost their CVs. How bad is it & what can we do?
arxiv.org/abs/2601.07563
A 🧵 1/n
We scraped >100k special issues & over 1 million articles to bring you a PISS-poor paper. We quantify just how many excess papers are published by guest editors abusing special issues to boost their CVs. How bad is it & what can we do?
arxiv.org/abs/2601.07563
A 🧵 1/n
January 13, 2026 at 8:27 AM
We've got ISSUES. Literally.
We scraped >100k special issues & over 1 million articles to bring you a PISS-poor paper. We quantify just how many excess papers are published by guest editors abusing special issues to boost their CVs. How bad is it & what can we do?
arxiv.org/abs/2601.07563
A 🧵 1/n
We scraped >100k special issues & over 1 million articles to bring you a PISS-poor paper. We quantify just how many excess papers are published by guest editors abusing special issues to boost their CVs. How bad is it & what can we do?
arxiv.org/abs/2601.07563
A 🧵 1/n
Reposted by Ben Ashby
🚨Call for papers🚨
Microbial Evolution: Impacts on Human Health
in the society journal Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health
Guest Editors: Bob Woods, Silvie Huijben & Camilo Barbosa
EIC: me
This will be great, please submit and share!
academic.oup.com/emph/pages/m...
Microbial Evolution: Impacts on Human Health
in the society journal Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health
Guest Editors: Bob Woods, Silvie Huijben & Camilo Barbosa
EIC: me
This will be great, please submit and share!
academic.oup.com/emph/pages/m...
January 9, 2026 at 4:49 PM
🚨Call for papers🚨
Microbial Evolution: Impacts on Human Health
in the society journal Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health
Guest Editors: Bob Woods, Silvie Huijben & Camilo Barbosa
EIC: me
This will be great, please submit and share!
academic.oup.com/emph/pages/m...
Microbial Evolution: Impacts on Human Health
in the society journal Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health
Guest Editors: Bob Woods, Silvie Huijben & Camilo Barbosa
EIC: me
This will be great, please submit and share!
academic.oup.com/emph/pages/m...
Reposted by Ben Ashby
Recently had the chance to hear @carlbergstrom.com on information foraging in the current space of LLMs.
He and @jevinwest.bsky.social have crafted a course that touches various facets of LLMs. Just finished reading through its 18 modules. Absolutely loved it!
thebullshitmachines.com
He and @jevinwest.bsky.social have crafted a course that touches various facets of LLMs. Just finished reading through its 18 modules. Absolutely loved it!
thebullshitmachines.com
Modern-Day Oracles or Bullshit Machines: Introduction
A free online humanities course about how to learn and work and thrive in an AI world.
thebullshitmachines.com
December 6, 2025 at 5:36 AM
Recently had the chance to hear @carlbergstrom.com on information foraging in the current space of LLMs.
He and @jevinwest.bsky.social have crafted a course that touches various facets of LLMs. Just finished reading through its 18 modules. Absolutely loved it!
thebullshitmachines.com
He and @jevinwest.bsky.social have crafted a course that touches various facets of LLMs. Just finished reading through its 18 modules. Absolutely loved it!
thebullshitmachines.com
The deadline for applications is Nov 15 - please repost!
Join us at SFU for a 2-year Mekler Postdoctoral Fellowship in mathematical biology to work with me and Ailene MacPherson. Apply at www.mathjobs.org/jobs/list/27... by Nov 15.
MathJobs from the the American Mathematical Society
Mathjobs is an automated job application system sponsored by the AMS.
www.mathjobs.org
November 3, 2025 at 8:01 PM
The deadline for applications is Nov 15 - please repost!
Super proud of Daniel Kim, whose paper on coevolutionary cycling and the evolution of virulence has just been published in @journal-evo.bsky.social. Daniel was in high school when he did this research and has just started his undergraduate degree @kebleoxford.bsky.social.
doi.org/10.1093/evol...
doi.org/10.1093/evol...
Coevolutionary cycling in allele frequencies and the evolution of virulence
Abstract. Coevolutionary cycling in allele frequencies due to negative frequency-dependent selection—sometimes referred to as Red Queen Dynamics—is a key p
doi.org
October 31, 2025 at 9:10 PM
Super proud of Daniel Kim, whose paper on coevolutionary cycling and the evolution of virulence has just been published in @journal-evo.bsky.social. Daniel was in high school when he did this research and has just started his undergraduate degree @kebleoxford.bsky.social.
doi.org/10.1093/evol...
doi.org/10.1093/evol...
Reposted by Ben Ashby
So this came online over the weekend: My dive into the "definition" of coevolution is online ahead of publication in @journal-evo.bsky.social!
Don’t ask "when is it coevolution?" — ask "how?"
doi.org/10.1093/evol...
Don’t ask "when is it coevolution?" — ask "how?"
doi.org/10.1093/evol...
Don’t ask “when is it coevolution?” — ask “how?”
Abstract. Coevolution has come to be widely understood as specific, simultaneous, reciprocal adaptation by pairs of interacting species. This strict-sense
doi.org
September 30, 2025 at 3:30 PM
So this came online over the weekend: My dive into the "definition" of coevolution is online ahead of publication in @journal-evo.bsky.social!
Don’t ask "when is it coevolution?" — ask "how?"
doi.org/10.1093/evol...
Don’t ask "when is it coevolution?" — ask "how?"
doi.org/10.1093/evol...
Reposted by Ben Ashby
Please spread widely and quickly - the more signatures we get the better chances we have of cajoling NSF into changing course on this small but very impactful item
NSF unexpectedly changed (at the last minute) who is eligible to apply for the Grad Research Fellowship, dropping 2nd year students. We started a petition to reverse this unfair change, Sign here:
laurenkuehne.github.io/grfpChanges/
and please spread the word!!!!
laurenkuehne.github.io/grfpChanges/
and please spread the word!!!!
Petition to NSF to Restore Eligibility for the 2026 Graduate Research Fellowship Program Competition
laurenkuehne.github.io
September 29, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Please spread widely and quickly - the more signatures we get the better chances we have of cajoling NSF into changing course on this small but very impactful item
Reposted by Ben Ashby
Interested in #virulence? Not sure what it is - or how to explain it? Just curious? 🧐🦠🧬🦋
@kayla-king.bsky.social and I just wrote a Primer for @currentbiology.bsky.social on the ecology and evolution of virulence!
Check it below and share :)
#MicroSky #EvoSky #pathogens
@kayla-king.bsky.social and I just wrote a Primer for @currentbiology.bsky.social on the ecology and evolution of virulence!
Check it below and share :)
#MicroSky #EvoSky #pathogens
Ecology and evolution of virulence
Silva and King discuss the concept of virulence and the ecological and evolutionary
factors that shape it.
www.cell.com
September 22, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Interested in #virulence? Not sure what it is - or how to explain it? Just curious? 🧐🦠🧬🦋
@kayla-king.bsky.social and I just wrote a Primer for @currentbiology.bsky.social on the ecology and evolution of virulence!
Check it below and share :)
#MicroSky #EvoSky #pathogens
@kayla-king.bsky.social and I just wrote a Primer for @currentbiology.bsky.social on the ecology and evolution of virulence!
Check it below and share :)
#MicroSky #EvoSky #pathogens
Join us at SFU for a 2-year Mekler Postdoctoral Fellowship in mathematical biology to work with me and Ailene MacPherson. Apply at www.mathjobs.org/jobs/list/27... by Nov 15.
MathJobs from the the American Mathematical Society
Mathjobs is an automated job application system sponsored by the AMS.
www.mathjobs.org
September 19, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Join us at SFU for a 2-year Mekler Postdoctoral Fellowship in mathematical biology to work with me and Ailene MacPherson. Apply at www.mathjobs.org/jobs/list/27... by Nov 15.