Rachel Germain
@gerlame.bsky.social
Asst. prof at UBC 🌿cat enthusiast, 🏳️🌈 in STEM - species coexistence x evolutionary ecology research
Our paper on how to use niche theory (MacArthur's minimization principle) to understand eco/evo limits to diversity got a shout out from Quarterly Review of Biology: www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
The paper is hard to access but a copy can be found here drive.google.com/file/d/14EGZ...
The paper is hard to access but a copy can be found here drive.google.com/file/d/14EGZ...
Speciation. Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology. Edited by Catherine L. Peichel, Åke Brännström, Daniel I. Bolnick, Ulf Dieckmann, and Rebecca J. Safran. Cold Spring Harbor (New York): Cold Spr...
www.journals.uchicago.edu
January 25, 2026 at 6:16 PM
Our paper on how to use niche theory (MacArthur's minimization principle) to understand eco/evo limits to diversity got a shout out from Quarterly Review of Biology: www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
The paper is hard to access but a copy can be found here drive.google.com/file/d/14EGZ...
The paper is hard to access but a copy can be found here drive.google.com/file/d/14EGZ...
Reposted by Rachel Germain
[8 Nov 2025] Another roundup of #ConservationJobs, mostly in 🇨🇦.
All postings include salary. I am not involved in these positions.
Please share to help others — working to conserve nature is rewarding and needed!
www.linkedin.com/posts/aerinj...
All postings include salary. I am not involved in these positions.
Please share to help others — working to conserve nature is rewarding and needed!
www.linkedin.com/posts/aerinj...
November 9, 2025 at 5:05 PM
[8 Nov 2025] Another roundup of #ConservationJobs, mostly in 🇨🇦.
All postings include salary. I am not involved in these positions.
Please share to help others — working to conserve nature is rewarding and needed!
www.linkedin.com/posts/aerinj...
All postings include salary. I am not involved in these positions.
Please share to help others — working to conserve nature is rewarding and needed!
www.linkedin.com/posts/aerinj...
This fellowship offers a great deal of research freedom + leadership experience. Salary = $77,000/year + benefits and $7,000/year in research funds - expertise in bioinformatics will be desirable for one of the two positions
November 3, 2025 at 5:25 PM
This fellowship offers a great deal of research freedom + leadership experience. Salary = $77,000/year + benefits and $7,000/year in research funds - expertise in bioinformatics will be desirable for one of the two positions
Applications are currently being accepted for UBC's ✨️ Biodiversity Postdoctoral Fellowship ✨️ (two positions!!), due Jan. 15
Please share far and wide 🚀
(See thread)
Please share far and wide 🚀
(See thread)
Postdoctoral Fellowship Opportunities
Biodiversity Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2-year (2026-2028) - 2 positions OPENAt UBC, we believe that attracting and sustaining a diverse workforce is key to the successful pursuit of excellence in resea...
biodiversity.ubc.ca
November 3, 2025 at 5:25 PM
Applications are currently being accepted for UBC's ✨️ Biodiversity Postdoctoral Fellowship ✨️ (two positions!!), due Jan. 15
Please share far and wide 🚀
(See thread)
Please share far and wide 🚀
(See thread)
Looking for a paper for lab meeting/a discussion group? Look no further!
New paper out today in Ecology Letters! In this synthesis we dive into the equilibrium assumption in ecology - why it's everywhere in ecological theory, the evidence for it in nature, when meeting the assumption is important, how to achieve it in empirical research, and more! tinyurl.com/yh6kyysm
November 3, 2025 at 1:35 PM
Looking for a paper for lab meeting/a discussion group? Look no further!
I wish there were more (any??) graduate fellowships that are based more on improvement or recent record of success, ignoring an initial rough start
October 1, 2025 at 2:43 PM
I wish there were more (any??) graduate fellowships that are based more on improvement or recent record of success, ignoring an initial rough start
We use annual plants, flour beetles, and duckweed in the lab, greenhouse, and field to test how processes of community assembly interact and how they feedback with evolution
Check out our website & lab instagram page
(email and website deliberately not posted here to prevent spam)
Check out our website & lab instagram page
(email and website deliberately not posted here to prevent spam)
August 17, 2025 at 5:15 PM
We use annual plants, flour beetles, and duckweed in the lab, greenhouse, and field to test how processes of community assembly interact and how they feedback with evolution
Check out our website & lab instagram page
(email and website deliberately not posted here to prevent spam)
Check out our website & lab instagram page
(email and website deliberately not posted here to prevent spam)
🚨postdoc opportunity at UBC🚨 applications are now open for the Killam Postdoctoral Fellowship, due internally Oct. 15 - www.postdocs.ubc.ca/award/killam...
I can nominate 1 person and give feedback on that nominee's materials - if interested plz email me by Sept. 10 - join us!
I can nominate 1 person and give feedback on that nominee's materials - if interested plz email me by Sept. 10 - join us!
August 17, 2025 at 5:15 PM
🚨postdoc opportunity at UBC🚨 applications are now open for the Killam Postdoctoral Fellowship, due internally Oct. 15 - www.postdocs.ubc.ca/award/killam...
I can nominate 1 person and give feedback on that nominee's materials - if interested plz email me by Sept. 10 - join us!
I can nominate 1 person and give feedback on that nominee's materials - if interested plz email me by Sept. 10 - join us!
I can't remember the last time I successfully logged into NSERC or the CCV portal without needing support to manually unlock my account, due to being unable to remember which childhood best friend I used as a security question when I made my account 15 years ago
July 27, 2025 at 6:05 PM
I can't remember the last time I successfully logged into NSERC or the CCV portal without needing support to manually unlock my account, due to being unable to remember which childhood best friend I used as a security question when I made my account 15 years ago
Closing in on @csee-sceemtgs.bsky.social !
July 6, 2025 at 12:16 AM
Closing in on @csee-sceemtgs.bsky.social !
Is @tessgrainger.bsky.social trying to tell me something 🤔
June 20, 2025 at 9:43 PM
Is @tessgrainger.bsky.social trying to tell me something 🤔
Today in lab meeting we are going to do a workshop for each student to develop an organizing conceptual schematic for their thesis (e.g., to be used for the thesis introduction or exit seminar). Anyone here willing to share theirs for inspiration? Here's mine as an example of what I mean 👻
April 30, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Today in lab meeting we are going to do a workshop for each student to develop an organizing conceptual schematic for their thesis (e.g., to be used for the thesis introduction or exit seminar). Anyone here willing to share theirs for inspiration? Here's mine as an example of what I mean 👻
Oo looks really cool! I'd definitely need a deeper read before being able to answer your question with any confidence - I'll check it out this week
April 26, 2025 at 11:10 PM
Oo looks really cool! I'd definitely need a deeper read before being able to answer your question with any confidence - I'll check it out this week
Ecologists are obsessed with linking process and pattern, but quantifying the core processes of community assembly (and their interactions) in a natural setting is extremely hard. But we've done it! Using a fun new method.
Very proud of this paper and of Emilie and Megan's leadership 🥳
Very proud of this paper and of Emilie and Megan's leadership 🥳
Our latest research in California's serpentine grasslands reveals that biodiversity patterns are shaped more by dispersal than environmental conditions alone esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....
Species occupancy is inflated by sink populations in productive environments but not unproductive environments
You have to enable JavaScript in your browser's settings in order to use the eReader.
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
April 25, 2025 at 7:29 PM
Ecologists are obsessed with linking process and pattern, but quantifying the core processes of community assembly (and their interactions) in a natural setting is extremely hard. But we've done it! Using a fun new method.
Very proud of this paper and of Emilie and Megan's leadership 🥳
Very proud of this paper and of Emilie and Megan's leadership 🥳
Reposted by Rachel Germain
Lots of excellent advice in this piece. The core message - only through writing do you really think and order your thoughts into logical sense. Makes a case for not using AI for 1st draft because you bypass the thinking step
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
@naturebiotech.bsky.social
#PlantScience
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
@naturebiotech.bsky.social
#PlantScience
An open letter to graduate students and other procrastinators: it’s time to write - Nature Biotechnology
Nature Biotechnology - An open letter to graduate students and other procrastinators: it’s time to write
www.nature.com
April 5, 2025 at 8:40 AM
Lots of excellent advice in this piece. The core message - only through writing do you really think and order your thoughts into logical sense. Makes a case for not using AI for 1st draft because you bypass the thinking step
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
@naturebiotech.bsky.social
#PlantScience
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
@naturebiotech.bsky.social
#PlantScience
Each day we creep closer to the handmaid's tale
April 2, 2025 at 2:37 AM
Each day we creep closer to the handmaid's tale
Reports of USA border officials demanding access to people's devices and denying entry due to evidence of political leanings...this post alone will probably get me banned 😆
April 2, 2025 at 2:35 AM
Reports of USA border officials demanding access to people's devices and denying entry due to evidence of political leanings...this post alone will probably get me banned 😆
I think this is the answer - I suspect people compare them often without realizing, but at least the two models yielded identical fits
March 27, 2025 at 2:20 PM
I think this is the answer - I suspect people compare them often without realizing, but at least the two models yielded identical fits
I simulated a fake dataset with a binomial distribution and used that fake data in a glmmTMB with A. a binomial error distribution and B. a beta error distribution (to test the consequences of my choice)
The beta distribution had a hugely lower AIC. Anyone know why??
The beta distribution had a hugely lower AIC. Anyone know why??
March 27, 2025 at 12:48 AM
I simulated a fake dataset with a binomial distribution and used that fake data in a glmmTMB with A. a binomial error distribution and B. a beta error distribution (to test the consequences of my choice)
The beta distribution had a hugely lower AIC. Anyone know why??
The beta distribution had a hugely lower AIC. Anyone know why??
Also one more thing, i think it's helpful when people give an idea of the time/leadership commitment of various activities (eg volunteer). Some people have massive lists and i can't tell if they're a bunch of one offs or if someone dedicated year to leading something
March 26, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Also one more thing, i think it's helpful when people give an idea of the time/leadership commitment of various activities (eg volunteer). Some people have massive lists and i can't tell if they're a bunch of one offs or if someone dedicated year to leading something
That includes time management, but also my time as a salad bar attendant means I can cut up a cantaloupe in ways you could only dream of
March 26, 2025 at 4:34 PM
That includes time management, but also my time as a salad bar attendant means I can cut up a cantaloupe in ways you could only dream of
Same is true for work experience. You might not think working at a grocery store is relevant but it can be both for assessing uncommitted time to research and also because a number of skills are practiced in formal work settings
March 26, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Same is true for work experience. You might not think working at a grocery store is relevant but it can be both for assessing uncommitted time to research and also because a number of skills are practiced in formal work settings
Hot tip for fellowship applications (imo): I see a lot of people being vague about their TAing load/other activities that take up time. Reviewers sometimes use this information to weight productivity. e.g., if two people have the same output but one person TAed way more
March 26, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Hot tip for fellowship applications (imo): I see a lot of people being vague about their TAing load/other activities that take up time. Reviewers sometimes use this information to weight productivity. e.g., if two people have the same output but one person TAed way more
$3400 cad to publish a paper with the currency conversion 😬 i.e., 10% of my nserc
March 22, 2025 at 7:24 PM
$3400 cad to publish a paper with the currency conversion 😬 i.e., 10% of my nserc