Dr. Justin Baumann
@jbaumann3.bsky.social
Asst. Prof, Bates College Environmental Studies (Lewiston, ME) || Marine invertebrate ecology, ecophysiology, and biogeochemistry.
Website:
https://jbaumann3.wordpress.com/
R tutorials: https://jbaumann3.github.io/intro_r_for_bio_eco
Website:
https://jbaumann3.wordpress.com/
R tutorials: https://jbaumann3.github.io/intro_r_for_bio_eco
Reposted by Dr. Justin Baumann
Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.
June 19, 2025 at 11:21 AM
Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.
Reposted by Dr. Justin Baumann
Fisheries: Creating marine protected areas only displaces fisheries and does not benefit the ocean
Costello: No they don't and yes they do
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Costello: No they don't and yes they do
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Fully protected Marine Protected Areas do not displace fisheries | PNAS
Fully protected Marine Protected Areas do not displace fisheries
www.pnas.org
October 22, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Fisheries: Creating marine protected areas only displaces fisheries and does not benefit the ocean
Costello: No they don't and yes they do
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Costello: No they don't and yes they do
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Reposted by Dr. Justin Baumann
Hi folks! Is anyone recruiting masters students that pay a livable stipend? I have an excellent senior who is an incredible researcher and seeking a position. She is top notch and really interested in mechanistic questions- currently working on Aiptasia, Astrangia and Nematostella.
October 21, 2025 at 1:23 PM
Hi folks! Is anyone recruiting masters students that pay a livable stipend? I have an excellent senior who is an incredible researcher and seeking a position. She is top notch and really interested in mechanistic questions- currently working on Aiptasia, Astrangia and Nematostella.
Beginning of semester me: *sets aside Tuesday and Thursday for research*
Me now: Spends all of Tuesday and Thursday grading and writing emails.
:(
Me now: Spends all of Tuesday and Thursday grading and writing emails.
:(
October 2, 2025 at 8:07 PM
Beginning of semester me: *sets aside Tuesday and Thursday for research*
Me now: Spends all of Tuesday and Thursday grading and writing emails.
:(
Me now: Spends all of Tuesday and Thursday grading and writing emails.
:(
Reposted by Dr. Justin Baumann
NSF GRFP solicitation out.
App deadlines now in November.
As others noted, eligibility rules for current graduate students now exclude 2nd year grad students. See the solicitation - they’ve emphasized “first year” and “less than one academic year” in grad program.
www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...
App deadlines now in November.
As others noted, eligibility rules for current graduate students now exclude 2nd year grad students. See the solicitation - they’ve emphasized “first year” and “less than one academic year” in grad program.
www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...
NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP)
www.nsf.gov
September 26, 2025 at 4:29 PM
NSF GRFP solicitation out.
App deadlines now in November.
As others noted, eligibility rules for current graduate students now exclude 2nd year grad students. See the solicitation - they’ve emphasized “first year” and “less than one academic year” in grad program.
www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...
App deadlines now in November.
As others noted, eligibility rules for current graduate students now exclude 2nd year grad students. See the solicitation - they’ve emphasized “first year” and “less than one academic year” in grad program.
www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...
Reposted by Dr. Justin Baumann
Reason No. 324 why no-one should think that "AI" (artificial but certainly not intelligent) is an unmitigated Good Thing: it's mathematically inevitable that AI will hallucinate.
We need far more discussion of the risks of all this and less frantic hype. I mean, really, what's the hurry?
We need far more discussion of the risks of all this and less frantic hype. I mean, really, what's the hurry?
OpenAI admits AI hallucinations are mathematically inevitable, not just engineering flaws
In a landmark study, OpenAI researchers reveal that large language models will always produce plausible but false outputs, even with perfect data, due to fundamental statistical and computational limi...
www.computerworld.com
September 24, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Reason No. 324 why no-one should think that "AI" (artificial but certainly not intelligent) is an unmitigated Good Thing: it's mathematically inevitable that AI will hallucinate.
We need far more discussion of the risks of all this and less frantic hype. I mean, really, what's the hurry?
We need far more discussion of the risks of all this and less frantic hype. I mean, really, what's the hurry?
Reposted by Dr. Justin Baumann
CH₄ has a lifetime of about a decade in the atmosphere, whereby it oxidizes to CO₂ and remains in the atmosphere for tens of thousands of years. More than 99% of the cumulative climate impact (i.e., the radiative forcing) is from its life as CO₂. In the end, it's still CO₂ that gets you. 🥲
My provocation: By 2035, methane - not carbon dioxide - will be the main driver of climate change. Absent significant policy intervention, fossil fuel infrastructure will continue to emit methane at high rates even if fossil fuel combustion, and associated carbon dioxide emissions, drop sharply.
Here are 10 provocations on climate and energy. Tell me if you agree, disagree or have a nuanced take. Drop your own provocations in reply or quote post.
Start:
1. By 2030, the use of air conditioning will lead to greater increase in electricity demand than data centers. And it's not even close!
Start:
1. By 2030, the use of air conditioning will lead to greater increase in electricity demand than data centers. And it's not even close!
September 10, 2025 at 2:32 PM
CH₄ has a lifetime of about a decade in the atmosphere, whereby it oxidizes to CO₂ and remains in the atmosphere for tens of thousands of years. More than 99% of the cumulative climate impact (i.e., the radiative forcing) is from its life as CO₂. In the end, it's still CO₂ that gets you. 🥲
New press from Bates on what my summer students were up to
www.bates.edu/news/2025/09...
Read all about our journey across the Maine intertidal :)
www.bates.edu/news/2025/09...
Read all about our journey across the Maine intertidal :)
Pulling mussels: Bates researchers spend the summer studying Maine’s disappearing shellfish
A research team from Bates spent the summer investigating Maine's disappearing shellfish, the blue mussel.
www.bates.edu
September 4, 2025 at 8:06 PM
New press from Bates on what my summer students were up to
www.bates.edu/news/2025/09...
Read all about our journey across the Maine intertidal :)
www.bates.edu/news/2025/09...
Read all about our journey across the Maine intertidal :)
I present to you- my lab as trees.
My students said we needed “more whimsy”, so we have it now. Great summer working in mussel physiology with these awesome students
My students said we needed “more whimsy”, so we have it now. Great summer working in mussel physiology with these awesome students
August 22, 2025 at 8:56 PM
I present to you- my lab as trees.
My students said we needed “more whimsy”, so we have it now. Great summer working in mussel physiology with these awesome students
My students said we needed “more whimsy”, so we have it now. Great summer working in mussel physiology with these awesome students
Reposted by Dr. Justin Baumann
We can’t even get everyone to read the syllabus 😭
This. These people assume kids do WAY more listening to professors than they do. It’s not the classes. It’s the chill AF Iranian girl with the good weed hookup and the hot queer boy who is nicer to you than any of your friends back home that change your brain chemistry. It’s the possibilities.
July 24, 2025 at 1:38 PM
We can’t even get everyone to read the syllabus 😭
Reposted by Dr. Justin Baumann
I used to tell biology/forestry/ecology graduate students that being a Federal Agency Research Scientist was a great career to shoot for, but they might not even exist next year.
But literally everything I’ve been able to tell a student for 15 years is now just…gone. Gone. I had the same issue with a family friend reaching out about scholarships to help bridge her son’s financial aid gap. I had to explain that everything I knew about is mostly gone and/or frozen.
July 12, 2025 at 6:38 PM
I used to tell biology/forestry/ecology graduate students that being a Federal Agency Research Scientist was a great career to shoot for, but they might not even exist next year.
Reposted by Dr. Justin Baumann
Everyone is acting like US scientists will just go get science jobs elsewhere and sure some will but there are not anywhere close to enough science jobs elsewhere.
The end result of this will be much, much, much less science, not science happening in different places.
The end result of this will be much, much, much less science, not science happening in different places.
People are talking about the imminent brain drain of US researchers to other countries but that’s not the only way it’s going to look. There is going to be a brain drain out of science and into other US sectors. There are a lot of non-science things you can do with a Ph.D.
July 10, 2025 at 8:25 PM
Everyone is acting like US scientists will just go get science jobs elsewhere and sure some will but there are not anywhere close to enough science jobs elsewhere.
The end result of this will be much, much, much less science, not science happening in different places.
The end result of this will be much, much, much less science, not science happening in different places.
Reposted by Dr. Justin Baumann
I wrote about chemtrails, Lee Zeldin, and how his EPA routinely brags about its participation in a conspiracy to let corporations poison us
newrepublic.com/article/1978...
newrepublic.com/article/1978...
July 11, 2025 at 2:35 PM
I wrote about chemtrails, Lee Zeldin, and how his EPA routinely brags about its participation in a conspiracy to let corporations poison us
newrepublic.com/article/1978...
newrepublic.com/article/1978...
Reposted by Dr. Justin Baumann
Read news, op-eds, and analysis, not AI summaries. Create your own art (even if it's messy) or hire an artist to do it. Do your own homework. Talk to people, not chatbots. Keep your thinking and skills sharp and cherish our messy humanity. That's the new punk rock.
July 7, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Read news, op-eds, and analysis, not AI summaries. Create your own art (even if it's messy) or hire an artist to do it. Do your own homework. Talk to people, not chatbots. Keep your thinking and skills sharp and cherish our messy humanity. That's the new punk rock.
Reposted by Dr. Justin Baumann
Listen: this is obscenely important. There is a growing complacency that over-achieving solar can make up for under-achieving wind, and it is *not true*.
Wind and solar generate in a complementary way. Solar might max out. Wind needs much more support!!
ember-climate.org/insights/res...
Wind and solar generate in a complementary way. Solar might max out. Wind needs much more support!!
ember-climate.org/insights/res...
August 9, 2024 at 11:57 AM
Listen: this is obscenely important. There is a growing complacency that over-achieving solar can make up for under-achieving wind, and it is *not true*.
Wind and solar generate in a complementary way. Solar might max out. Wind needs much more support!!
ember-climate.org/insights/res...
Wind and solar generate in a complementary way. Solar might max out. Wind needs much more support!!
ember-climate.org/insights/res...
Reposted by Dr. Justin Baumann
New @sashamtl.bsky.social et al paper - assessing whether machine learning model developers disclose basic environmental / energy information with their models. They mostly do not!!
Grim results for most of the big companies:
arxiv.org/abs/2506.15572
huggingface.co/spaces/sasha...
Grim results for most of the big companies:
arxiv.org/abs/2506.15572
huggingface.co/spaces/sasha...
June 20, 2025 at 6:10 PM
New @sashamtl.bsky.social et al paper - assessing whether machine learning model developers disclose basic environmental / energy information with their models. They mostly do not!!
Grim results for most of the big companies:
arxiv.org/abs/2506.15572
huggingface.co/spaces/sasha...
Grim results for most of the big companies:
arxiv.org/abs/2506.15572
huggingface.co/spaces/sasha...
Reposted by Dr. Justin Baumann
Yes. I am right. I am seeing how Chat GPT is ruining students critical thinking and writing skills in real time. It is not the future. It is a tool designed to render the populace helpless, to make people doubt their innate intelligence, and to foster overreliance on technology.
@roxanegay.bsky.social maybe you’re right.
A new study from MIT’s Media Lab (not yet peer-reviewed & small sample size): ChatGPT May Be Eroding Critical Thinking Skills. [time.com]
June 19, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Yes. I am right. I am seeing how Chat GPT is ruining students critical thinking and writing skills in real time. It is not the future. It is a tool designed to render the populace helpless, to make people doubt their innate intelligence, and to foster overreliance on technology.
Reposted by Dr. Justin Baumann
Today on Juneteenth, I am amplifying #BlackInTheIvory anecdotes that were shared by Black scientists 🧪 in summer 2020.
Screenshots from Twitter presented in anonymized format 2025 is the era of the "anti-DEI crusade".
Screenshots from Twitter presented in anonymized format 2025 is the era of the "anti-DEI crusade".
June 19, 2025 at 3:41 PM
Today on Juneteenth, I am amplifying #BlackInTheIvory anecdotes that were shared by Black scientists 🧪 in summer 2020.
Screenshots from Twitter presented in anonymized format 2025 is the era of the "anti-DEI crusade".
Screenshots from Twitter presented in anonymized format 2025 is the era of the "anti-DEI crusade".
Reposted by Dr. Justin Baumann
If a human told you things that were correct 80% of the time but claimed, flat out, with absolute confidence, that they were correct 100% of the time, you would dislike them & never trust a word they say. All I'm really suggesting is for people to treat chatbots with that same distrust & antagonism.
June 19, 2025 at 4:05 PM
If a human told you things that were correct 80% of the time but claimed, flat out, with absolute confidence, that they were correct 100% of the time, you would dislike them & never trust a word they say. All I'm really suggesting is for people to treat chatbots with that same distrust & antagonism.
Reposted by Dr. Justin Baumann
June 16, 2025 at 8:06 PM
Super important point here-- privatizing GRFP or really anything funding science makes folks doing the work beholden or at least feel beholden to whatever special interest is funding. This drastically impact messaging, results, and even the questions that are asked.
And remember, they are talking about privatizing the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships, making instruments of government dependent on the largesse of the billionaire military-tech complex www.aip.org/fyi/nsf-seek...
NSF Seeks Partnerships to Fund Graduate Fellows
The initiative was announced at an NSF board meeting that sidestepped discussion of looming cuts to the agency.
www.aip.org
May 22, 2025 at 7:34 PM
Super important point here-- privatizing GRFP or really anything funding science makes folks doing the work beholden or at least feel beholden to whatever special interest is funding. This drastically impact messaging, results, and even the questions that are asked.
Reposted by Dr. Justin Baumann
The Invertebrate Paleontology department at the AMNH is seeking a full-time Museum Specialist.
www.indeed.com/viewjob?from...
www.indeed.com/viewjob?from...
Museum Specialist - New York, NY 10024 - Indeed.com
American Museum of Natural History
www.indeed.com
May 22, 2025 at 5:38 PM
The Invertebrate Paleontology department at the AMNH is seeking a full-time Museum Specialist.
www.indeed.com/viewjob?from...
www.indeed.com/viewjob?from...
A list of 1753 terminated awards from the NSF.
See previous post re: overall funding lost.
This is a brain drain and an attack on science and knowledge. It's also NOT strategic at all and places the US at a significant international disadvantage. AND so much more...
See previous post re: overall funding lost.
This is a brain drain and an attack on science and knowledge. It's also NOT strategic at all and places the US at a significant international disadvantage. AND so much more...
NSF just released a public list of terminated awards. It’s linked on the bottom of the FAQ page at: nsf.gov/updates-on-priorities#termination-list
Updates on NSF Priorities
nsf.gov
May 22, 2025 at 7:25 PM
A list of 1753 terminated awards from the NSF.
See previous post re: overall funding lost.
This is a brain drain and an attack on science and knowledge. It's also NOT strategic at all and places the US at a significant international disadvantage. AND so much more...
See previous post re: overall funding lost.
This is a brain drain and an attack on science and knowledge. It's also NOT strategic at all and places the US at a significant international disadvantage. AND so much more...
Reposted by Dr. Justin Baumann
As a conservation scientist, I am perhaps more used to the idea of “wow, a neat visualization of some fucking horrible disaster” than some of the scientists on my feed seem to be.
But yeah this is a great visual
But yeah this is a great visual
🧪 Detailed data viz NYT article, out today, on the extent of funding cuts at the National Science Foundation.
This "broken pie chart" is neat & new to me: Powerfully shows the slowdown in new NSF awards across areas.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
This "broken pie chart" is neat & new to me: Powerfully shows the slowdown in new NSF awards across areas.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
May 22, 2025 at 7:05 PM
As a conservation scientist, I am perhaps more used to the idea of “wow, a neat visualization of some fucking horrible disaster” than some of the scientists on my feed seem to be.
But yeah this is a great visual
But yeah this is a great visual