Matt Betts
@mattbetts42.bsky.social
Professor of ecology, forest biodiversity, Oregon State University, Lead PI HJ Andrews NSF Long-term Ecological Research Program @uslter, https://flel.forestry.oregonstate.edu
Pinned
Some solid Forest Landscape Lab time at our research site in the Oregon Cascades! Lucky to have all of these brilliant folks in our group.
October 22, 2025 at 12:53 AM
Some solid Forest Landscape Lab time at our research site in the Oregon Cascades! Lucky to have all of these brilliant folks in our group.
Long-term data result in more reliable species distribution models. Perhaps expected, but nice to see it quantified formally! Thanks @nico-anselmetto.bsky.social for leading this effort at the HJ Andrews LTER. @uslter.bsky.social 🧪
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Leveraging long‐term data to improve biodiversity monitoring with species distribution models
To our knowledge, this is the first empirical study to demonstrate the benefits of long-term dynamic SDMs with spatially matched predictor variables. If predicting the future of biodiversity under la...
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
October 1, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Long-term data result in more reliable species distribution models. Perhaps expected, but nice to see it quantified formally! Thanks @nico-anselmetto.bsky.social for leading this effort at the HJ Andrews LTER. @uslter.bsky.social 🧪
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Nice article by @jimrobbins.bsky.social in @nytimes.com on one of my favorites - marbled murrelet - and its potential fate given changes to our forests, oceans and the US Endangered Species Act. @coforegonstate.bsky.social 🧪
A Tiny Seabird Faces Growing Threats in the Forest
www.nytimes.com
September 23, 2025 at 8:52 PM
Nice article by @jimrobbins.bsky.social in @nytimes.com on one of my favorites - marbled murrelet - and its potential fate given changes to our forests, oceans and the US Endangered Species Act. @coforegonstate.bsky.social 🧪
Thanks to @natecoevo.nature.com for publishing this short essay on our Costa Rica hummingbird/heliconia work!
Species Spotlight 🚨
Heliconia tortuosa: What being outsmarted by a tropical plant taught Matthew Betts @mattbetts42.bsky.social about science. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Free to read: rdcu.be/eG4e0
Heliconia tortuosa: What being outsmarted by a tropical plant taught Matthew Betts @mattbetts42.bsky.social about science. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Free to read: rdcu.be/eG4e0
Heliconia tortuosa - Nature Ecology & Evolution
What being outsmarted by a tropical plant taught Matthew Betts about science.
www.nature.com
September 18, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Thanks to @natecoevo.nature.com for publishing this short essay on our Costa Rica hummingbird/heliconia work!
Old-growth Douglas-fir / western hemlock forest, Pyramids, Oregon
September 17, 2025 at 5:11 AM
Old-growth Douglas-fir / western hemlock forest, Pyramids, Oregon
Science is rarely a linear path from hypotheses to published papers. Here, I tell the story of our many ups and downs during the discovery of pollinator recognition. Hope you enjoy it! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
September 3, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Science is rarely a linear path from hypotheses to published papers. Here, I tell the story of our many ups and downs during the discovery of pollinator recognition. Hope you enjoy it! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Another excellent article by @lyndamapes @seattletimes-rss.bsky.social, this one focused on one of my favorite species - Swainson’s Thrush. So nice to see the HJ Andrews @uslter.bsky.social linked to wintering grounds in Costa Rica. www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
August 10, 2025 at 2:13 AM
Another excellent article by @lyndamapes @seattletimes-rss.bsky.social, this one focused on one of my favorite species - Swainson’s Thrush. So nice to see the HJ Andrews @uslter.bsky.social linked to wintering grounds in Costa Rica. www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
Reposted by Matt Betts
Always a pleasure to see others recognize the value of our network.
"[The LTER Network] has enabled scientists to get answers that have led to key policy decisions, from amending the Clean Air Act to prevent acid rain to preserving old-growth forests."
Lynda Mapes for the @seattletimes.com
"[The LTER Network] has enabled scientists to get answers that have led to key policy decisions, from amending the Clean Air Act to prevent acid rain to preserving old-growth forests."
Lynda Mapes for the @seattletimes.com
Trump wants to cut research centers like the one in this PNW forest
Congress will take up Trump's proposed budget cuts, which target 26 long-term ecological research centers like the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest in Oregon.
www.seattletimes.com
July 10, 2025 at 9:39 PM
Always a pleasure to see others recognize the value of our network.
"[The LTER Network] has enabled scientists to get answers that have led to key policy decisions, from amending the Clean Air Act to prevent acid rain to preserving old-growth forests."
Lynda Mapes for the @seattletimes.com
"[The LTER Network] has enabled scientists to get answers that have led to key policy decisions, from amending the Clean Air Act to prevent acid rain to preserving old-growth forests."
Lynda Mapes for the @seattletimes.com
Great to see this @seattletimes-rss.bsky.social by Lynda Mapes on post-fire "reorganization" at the HJ Andrews Experimental Forest and LTER! @uslter.bsky.social
July 10, 2025 at 7:54 PM
Great to see this @seattletimes-rss.bsky.social by Lynda Mapes on post-fire "reorganization" at the HJ Andrews Experimental Forest and LTER! @uslter.bsky.social
Today’s @seattletimes-rss.bsky.social features an excellent article by Lynda Mapes on how our research forest HJ Andrews Experimental Forest @uslter has changed following fire www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
A fire charred this research forest. What happened next dazzled
The 2023 Lookout Fire burned most of a forest in Oregon. What's unfolding in the aftermath could inform the future of other forests burned as wildfire becomes fiercer and more frequent.
www.seattletimes.com
July 10, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Today’s @seattletimes-rss.bsky.social features an excellent article by Lynda Mapes on how our research forest HJ Andrews Experimental Forest @uslter has changed following fire www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
Collecting bioacoustics data but terrified of the time required to train auto-ID models? A solution from @mattweldy.bsky.social out today in @methodsinecoevol.bsky.social in the form of transfer learning which minimizes the need for training data. besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....
June 26, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Collecting bioacoustics data but terrified of the time required to train auto-ID models? A solution from @mattweldy.bsky.social out today in @methodsinecoevol.bsky.social in the form of transfer learning which minimizes the need for training data. besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....
Fledgling black-backed woodpecker @ the HJ Andrews LTER yesterday. Fascinating to see this long-studied ecosystem reorganizing after the 2023 Lookout Fire.
June 25, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Fledgling black-backed woodpecker @ the HJ Andrews LTER yesterday. Fascinating to see this long-studied ecosystem reorganizing after the 2023 Lookout Fire.
Clearcutting doesn't mimic fire when it comes to biodiversity conservation - in the early stages of forest development at least. Congrats to Graham Frank on the publication of his PhD chapter! esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
June 25, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Clearcutting doesn't mimic fire when it comes to biodiversity conservation - in the early stages of forest development at least. Congrats to Graham Frank on the publication of his PhD chapter! esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Rough skinned newt, Oregon Coast Range
June 22, 2025 at 3:53 AM
Rough skinned newt, Oregon Coast Range
For what it's worth, I largely owe my career to NSF. Happy 75th! www.science.org/content/arti...
Is a photo subversive? NSF staff overcome obstacles to 75th anniversary portrait
Management tried to quash outpouring of support for beleaguered agency
www.science.org
May 27, 2025 at 6:46 PM
For what it's worth, I largely owe my career to NSF. Happy 75th! www.science.org/content/arti...
Some well articulated arguments for science funding here: theconversation.com/unprecedente...
Unprecedented cuts to the National Science Foundation endanger research that improves economic growth, national security and your life
The Trump administration has terminated hundreds of federal grants that support engineering, biology, geology, computer science, STEM education and much more.
theconversation.com
May 15, 2025 at 11:01 PM
Some well articulated arguments for science funding here: theconversation.com/unprecedente...
This article came out officially yesterday focused on supporting federal science to inform forest management: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... Thanks to @gcerullo.bsky.social for his efforts on this.
Benefits of onshoring forestry rely on science
www.science.org
May 2, 2025 at 6:25 PM
This article came out officially yesterday focused on supporting federal science to inform forest management: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... Thanks to @gcerullo.bsky.social for his efforts on this.
Here’s our attempt to emphasize the importance of maintaining strong federal research capacity in the face of new executive orders to increase timber production in the US: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Benefits of onshoring forestry rely on science
US Executive Orders to reduce wood imports (1) and ramp up domestic production (2) signal a transformation in forest policy. Portrayed as addressing supply chain and national security concerns, these ...
www.science.org
April 17, 2025 at 8:07 PM
Here’s our attempt to emphasize the importance of maintaining strong federal research capacity in the face of new executive orders to increase timber production in the US: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Defunding the research agency that uncovered forever chemicals, measures impacts of air particulate on human health, researches playground safety…what could go wrong? www.nytimes.com/2025/03/17/c...
Trump Administration Aims to Eliminate E.P.A.’s Scientific Research Arm
More than 1,000 chemists, biologists and other scientists could be laid off under a plan to dismantle the Office of Research and Development.
www.nytimes.com
March 18, 2025 at 3:25 AM
Defunding the research agency that uncovered forever chemicals, measures impacts of air particulate on human health, researches playground safety…what could go wrong? www.nytimes.com/2025/03/17/c...
Some scenes from the Corvallis stand up for science protest today. So nice to see this much positivity out there.
March 8, 2025 at 12:25 AM
Some scenes from the Corvallis stand up for science protest today. So nice to see this much positivity out there.
Reposted by Matt Betts
Today, a broad coalition of scientific professional societies who represent over 92,000 scientists are speaking out against the politicization and demonization of Federally funded science and government scientist jobs.
It was an honor to help the Union of Concerned Scientists with this! 🧪🌎
It was an honor to help the Union of Concerned Scientists with this! 🧪🌎
48 Scientific Societies Representing Almost 100,000 Scientists Ask Congress to Protect the Future of Science
48 scientific societies representing almost 100,000 scientists signed on to a letter asking Congress to protect the future of science
www.ucsusa.org
March 3, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Today, a broad coalition of scientific professional societies who represent over 92,000 scientists are speaking out against the politicization and demonization of Federally funded science and government scientist jobs.
It was an honor to help the Union of Concerned Scientists with this! 🧪🌎
It was an honor to help the Union of Concerned Scientists with this! 🧪🌎
Beautiful piece given to me after my talk @uoftmississauga.bsky.social. Drawn by Mark Nadijiwan of the Anishnabek, to show the turtle as a communicator of wisdom to humans.
February 28, 2025 at 3:21 AM
Beautiful piece given to me after my talk @uoftmississauga.bsky.social. Drawn by Mark Nadijiwan of the Anishnabek, to show the turtle as a communicator of wisdom to humans.
Don't look up!
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Outcry as Trump withdraws support for research that mentions ‘climate’
US government stripping funds from domestic and overseas research amid warnings for health and public safety
www.theguardian.com
February 23, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Don't look up!
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
I've always been quite impressed with the US for its investments in science, and use of science in (some) decision making. That era seems to be coming to an end, unless we can do all that we can to stop it. So sorry for my friends and colleagues at NSF: www.politico.com/news/2025/02...
‘You screwed people’: Inside the National Science Foundation’s firing of 168 workers
At an emotional meeting, foundation officials announced layoffs for about 10 percent of their workforce and warned of more firings to come.
www.politico.com
February 20, 2025 at 6:35 PM
I've always been quite impressed with the US for its investments in science, and use of science in (some) decision making. That era seems to be coming to an end, unless we can do all that we can to stop it. So sorry for my friends and colleagues at NSF: www.politico.com/news/2025/02...
A reminder to stop doom scrolling for a bit, listen to Mozart piano concerto 20 in D minor, then call your representatives.
February 14, 2025 at 3:52 AM
A reminder to stop doom scrolling for a bit, listen to Mozart piano concerto 20 in D minor, then call your representatives.