Brian O'Meara
@omearabrian.bsky.social
I study diversification, species delimitation, trait evolution & similar questions, often using new methods. Also random coding projects. College prof living in Oak Ridge, TN, USA. Opinions my own. He/Him
Reboosting for weekday crowd: AI is creating incentives that’ll change how scientific papers are written (basically doing SEO [search engine option optimization] but for inclusion in AI training corpus: “AIO”?)
How the use of AI by colleagues to generate citations or overviews, even if we avoid these “tools” ourselves, may put new pressures on scientific publishing: brianomeara.info/posts/ai_opt...
#AcademicSky
#AcademicSky
November 11, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Reboosting for weekday crowd: AI is creating incentives that’ll change how scientific papers are written (basically doing SEO [search engine option optimization] but for inclusion in AI training corpus: “AIO”?)
Reposted by Brian O'Meara
Flagstaff’s Lowell Observatory plans to cut nearly all its research funding and reduce the number of paid science staff to just two positions next year.
Lowell Observatory slashes research funding in the midst of financial struggle
Flagstaff’s Lowell Observatory plans to cut nearly all its research funding and reduce the number of paid science staff to just two positions next year.
buff.ly
November 10, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Flagstaff’s Lowell Observatory plans to cut nearly all its research funding and reduce the number of paid science staff to just two positions next year.
Reposted by Brian O'Meara
My book 'The Tree of Life' is published in the USA and Canada today.
Available as book, on kindle and as audio.
I would be really grateful for reposts.
www.amazon.com/Tree-Life-So...
www.amazon.ca/Tree-Life-So...
Available as book, on kindle and as audio.
I would be really grateful for reposts.
www.amazon.com/Tree-Life-So...
www.amazon.ca/Tree-Life-So...
November 11, 2025 at 12:01 PM
My book 'The Tree of Life' is published in the USA and Canada today.
Available as book, on kindle and as audio.
I would be really grateful for reposts.
www.amazon.com/Tree-Life-So...
www.amazon.ca/Tree-Life-So...
Available as book, on kindle and as audio.
I would be really grateful for reposts.
www.amazon.com/Tree-Life-So...
www.amazon.ca/Tree-Life-So...
Reposted by Brian O'Meara
I embedded all the talks on one page here: doi.org/10.59350/xyj... #Rstats
posit::conf(2025) talks on YouTube
Over 100 recorded talks from posit::conf(2025) are now available on YouTube
blog.stephenturner.us
November 10, 2025 at 1:03 PM
I embedded all the talks on one page here: doi.org/10.59350/xyj... #Rstats
Reposted by Brian O'Meara
Saddened for all the students applying to the NSF GRFP who feel they can’t bring their full selves to their personal statements this year.
Science is better with you in it. I hope you get the funding and keep doing excellent work.
Science is better with you in it. I hope you get the funding and keep doing excellent work.
November 9, 2025 at 10:35 PM
Saddened for all the students applying to the NSF GRFP who feel they can’t bring their full selves to their personal statements this year.
Science is better with you in it. I hope you get the funding and keep doing excellent work.
Science is better with you in it. I hope you get the funding and keep doing excellent work.
Reposted by Brian O'Meara
#EntSoc25 Are you neurodivergent (ND), care about someone who is ND, and/or employ ND folks? If so, we invite you to our workshop "Diverg-Ent" on Tuesday from 2-6p! We have EntSoc member panelists of many neurotypes and want to hear from you, and hope to make Entomology a safe science for diversity!
November 9, 2025 at 11:57 PM
#EntSoc25 Are you neurodivergent (ND), care about someone who is ND, and/or employ ND folks? If so, we invite you to our workshop "Diverg-Ent" on Tuesday from 2-6p! We have EntSoc member panelists of many neurotypes and want to hear from you, and hope to make Entomology a safe science for diversity!
Saddened for all the students applying to the NSF GRFP who feel they can’t bring their full selves to their personal statements this year.
Science is better with you in it. I hope you get the funding and keep doing excellent work.
Science is better with you in it. I hope you get the funding and keep doing excellent work.
November 9, 2025 at 10:35 PM
Saddened for all the students applying to the NSF GRFP who feel they can’t bring their full selves to their personal statements this year.
Science is better with you in it. I hope you get the funding and keep doing excellent work.
Science is better with you in it. I hope you get the funding and keep doing excellent work.
Reposted by Brian O'Meara
November 9, 2025 at 9:52 PM
Reposted by Brian O'Meara
Steven Hammer, one of our regular collection users, co-developed a new #insect pinning block, with staff and volunteers from the museum.
It’s 3D-printed and open source, so you can try it for yourself:
cults3d.com/en/3d-model/...
#ECN2025
It’s 3D-printed and open source, so you can try it for yourself:
cults3d.com/en/3d-model/...
#ECN2025
Entoblock step
An improved pinning block for entomological collections.
It has five steps at different heights for quick and accurate label setting. The steps are visible from both sides, making it suitable for lef...
cults3d.com
November 9, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Steven Hammer, one of our regular collection users, co-developed a new #insect pinning block, with staff and volunteers from the museum.
It’s 3D-printed and open source, so you can try it for yourself:
cults3d.com/en/3d-model/...
#ECN2025
It’s 3D-printed and open source, so you can try it for yourself:
cults3d.com/en/3d-model/...
#ECN2025
Reposted by Brian O'Meara
Prints and and posters are now available for sale!
They'll ship anywhere world-wide plastic-free and 5% of profits will go to bird rescue in NYC.
There's the big one, and then passerine, parrot & hummingbird editions.
www.jerthorp.me/category/of-...
🪶📊🎨🎁
They'll ship anywhere world-wide plastic-free and 5% of profits will go to bird rescue in NYC.
There's the big one, and then passerine, parrot & hummingbird editions.
www.jerthorp.me/category/of-...
🪶📊🎨🎁
November 4, 2025 at 6:48 PM
Prints and and posters are now available for sale!
They'll ship anywhere world-wide plastic-free and 5% of profits will go to bird rescue in NYC.
There's the big one, and then passerine, parrot & hummingbird editions.
www.jerthorp.me/category/of-...
🪶📊🎨🎁
They'll ship anywhere world-wide plastic-free and 5% of profits will go to bird rescue in NYC.
There's the big one, and then passerine, parrot & hummingbird editions.
www.jerthorp.me/category/of-...
🪶📊🎨🎁
Reposted by Brian O'Meara
Glad to have this one out! As some of you might remember, I'd kicked around the idea for some time, but the inestimable @wrightam.bsky.social got it all pulled together properly. It's a first step - we still need to include likelihoods of stasis between first & … www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Distinguishing punctuated and continuous-time models of character evolution for discrete characters and the implications for macroevolutionary theory | Paleobiology | Cambridge Core
Distinguishing punctuated and continuous-time models of character evolution for discrete characters and the implications for macroevolutionary theory
www.cambridge.org
November 8, 2025 at 6:07 AM
Glad to have this one out! As some of you might remember, I'd kicked around the idea for some time, but the inestimable @wrightam.bsky.social got it all pulled together properly. It's a first step - we still need to include likelihoods of stasis between first & … www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Reposted by Brian O'Meara
Amy Angert and I are recruiting a #postdoc to participate in a collaborative NSF-funded study of demographic responses to climate across the geographic range of the scarlet monkeyflower. Please repost! jobs.ncsu.edu/postings/224...
November 7, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Amy Angert and I are recruiting a #postdoc to participate in a collaborative NSF-funded study of demographic responses to climate across the geographic range of the scarlet monkeyflower. Please repost! jobs.ncsu.edu/postings/224...
Reposted by Brian O'Meara
I hinted at some possible answers near the end of the story, but I think the jury is very much still out.
Anyways, if you're curious, here's the story:
Anyways, if you're curious, here's the story:
Physicists Take the Imaginary Numbers Out of Quantum Mechanics | Quanta Magazine
Quantum mechanics has at last been formulated exclusively with real numbers, bringing a mathematical puzzle at the heart of the theory into a new era of inquiry.
www.quantamagazine.org
November 8, 2025 at 12:04 PM
I hinted at some possible answers near the end of the story, but I think the jury is very much still out.
Anyways, if you're curious, here's the story:
Anyways, if you're curious, here's the story:
Reposted by Brian O'Meara
Excellent thread. I'm 100% with Timothée here, and admiring his approach to grading.
A student wrote to me after the midterm, and they said they should have gotten a lower grade. I think this is important, because I fundamentally disagree with this student, and it took me a while to articulate why. This is my rough draft. 🧵
November 7, 2025 at 10:16 PM
Excellent thread. I'm 100% with Timothée here, and admiring his approach to grading.
How the use of AI by colleagues to generate citations or overviews, even if we avoid these “tools” ourselves, may put new pressures on scientific publishing: brianomeara.info/posts/ai_opt...
#AcademicSky
#AcademicSky
November 7, 2025 at 10:16 PM
How the use of AI by colleagues to generate citations or overviews, even if we avoid these “tools” ourselves, may put new pressures on scientific publishing: brianomeara.info/posts/ai_opt...
#AcademicSky
#AcademicSky
Reposted by Brian O'Meara
New paper!
I'm particularly excited about it
We know very little about mycorrhizal fungi invasions, and our idea was that the few that could do free living, would be better at invading
As often happens in science, we were wrong & learned a lot:)
I❤️Science
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
I'm particularly excited about it
We know very little about mycorrhizal fungi invasions, and our idea was that the few that could do free living, would be better at invading
As often happens in science, we were wrong & learned a lot:)
I❤️Science
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Invasive ectomycorrhizal fungi species do not grow better in culture than non-invasive species without their hosts - Symbiosis
Progress has been made in describing invasion patterns of invasive ectomycorrhizal fungi (EMF), yet their ecological characteristics and implications remain poorly understood. Invasive EMF are able to...
link.springer.com
November 7, 2025 at 12:03 PM
New paper!
I'm particularly excited about it
We know very little about mycorrhizal fungi invasions, and our idea was that the few that could do free living, would be better at invading
As often happens in science, we were wrong & learned a lot:)
I❤️Science
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
I'm particularly excited about it
We know very little about mycorrhizal fungi invasions, and our idea was that the few that could do free living, would be better at invading
As often happens in science, we were wrong & learned a lot:)
I❤️Science
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Reposted by Brian O'Meara
If you know an undergrad that would like to spend the summer doing research in my philosophy of biology lab, encourage them to apply to the U’s SPUR program. Includes a $5,000 stipend and subsidized housing to work in my lab.
Details and how to apply here:
tinyurl.com/SPUR-PhilBio...
Details and how to apply here:
tinyurl.com/SPUR-PhilBio...
The Philosophy of Biology Lab: Entangled Lineages, Classification, and Individuality - Office of Undergraduate Research
tinyurl.com
November 6, 2025 at 8:13 PM
If you know an undergrad that would like to spend the summer doing research in my philosophy of biology lab, encourage them to apply to the U’s SPUR program. Includes a $5,000 stipend and subsidized housing to work in my lab.
Details and how to apply here:
tinyurl.com/SPUR-PhilBio...
Details and how to apply here:
tinyurl.com/SPUR-PhilBio...
Reposted by Brian O'Meara
academic.oup.com/evlett/advan...
So exciting to see a new method to model the evolution of G (and P) matrices on phylogenies. Another step in the direction of trying to bridge micro and macroevolution
So exciting to see a new method to model the evolution of G (and P) matrices on phylogenies. Another step in the direction of trying to bridge micro and macroevolution
Multivariate trait evolution: models for the evolution of the quantitative genetic G-matrix on phylogenies
Abstract. Genetic covariance matrices (G-matrices) are a key focus for research and predictions from quantitative genetic evolutionary models of multiple t
academic.oup.com
November 7, 2025 at 8:58 AM
academic.oup.com/evlett/advan...
So exciting to see a new method to model the evolution of G (and P) matrices on phylogenies. Another step in the direction of trying to bridge micro and macroevolution
So exciting to see a new method to model the evolution of G (and P) matrices on phylogenies. Another step in the direction of trying to bridge micro and macroevolution
Reposted by Brian O'Meara
"RevSyntax enables an efficient workflow for RevBayes analysis in VS Code"
doi.org/10.32942/X2V...
doi.org/10.32942/X2V...
November 7, 2025 at 8:15 AM
"RevSyntax enables an efficient workflow for RevBayes analysis in VS Code"
doi.org/10.32942/X2V...
doi.org/10.32942/X2V...
Reposted by Brian O'Meara
🚨New paper out in Palaeontology! Check it out if you're interested morphological evolution, fossil phylogenetics, and macroevolution 🧪
"Assessing the impact of character evolution models on phylogenetic and macroevolutionary inferences from fossil data"
"Assessing the impact of character evolution models on phylogenetic and macroevolutionary inferences from fossil data"
Assessing the impact of character evolution models on phylogenetic and macroevolutionary inferences from fossil data
Understanding the evolution and phylogenetic distribution of morphologic traits is fundamental to macroevolutionary research. Despite decades of major advances and key insights from molecular systema...
dx.doi.org
October 27, 2025 at 2:17 PM
🚨New paper out in Palaeontology! Check it out if you're interested morphological evolution, fossil phylogenetics, and macroevolution 🧪
"Assessing the impact of character evolution models on phylogenetic and macroevolutionary inferences from fossil data"
"Assessing the impact of character evolution models on phylogenetic and macroevolutionary inferences from fossil data"
Interaction between authors and reviewers regarding a manuscript about an “explosive adaptive radiation”
The defense team presses Lairmore on whether the sandwich really 'exploded.' They return to the photo of the sandwich and wrapper on the ground.
"That sandwich hasn't exploded at all, has it?" defense asks.
"It looks like a little bit is coming out towards the bottom," Lairmore replies.
"That sandwich hasn't exploded at all, has it?" defense asks.
"It looks like a little bit is coming out towards the bottom," Lairmore replies.
November 6, 2025 at 12:11 PM
Interaction between authors and reviewers regarding a manuscript about an “explosive adaptive radiation”
Reposted by Brian O'Meara
🤩🤩
On the cover of our #LatestIssue: Photo of a Joshua #tree (Yucca jaegeriana) at dawn in the Mojave #Desert. Image courtesy of Karolina Heyduk.
📖 See Heyduk et al. nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
📖 See Heyduk et al. nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
November 6, 2025 at 11:47 AM
🤩🤩
Reposted by Brian O'Meara
I reviewed The Tree of Life by @maxjtelford.bsky.social for @natecoevo.nature.com 🌳
You can access my review for free here: rdcu.be/eOcYY
You can access my review for free here: rdcu.be/eOcYY
November 6, 2025 at 8:05 AM
I reviewed The Tree of Life by @maxjtelford.bsky.social for @natecoevo.nature.com 🌳
You can access my review for free here: rdcu.be/eOcYY
You can access my review for free here: rdcu.be/eOcYY
Reposted by Brian O'Meara
The 5th of 6 faculty positions in UNC Biology is posted. We're working with the @ncbg.bsky.social to fill a joint position as Director of the UNC Herbarium at @ncbg.bsky.social and as Associate Professor within the Department of Biology (BIOL). Please share 1/n
unc.peopleadmin.com/postings/308...
unc.peopleadmin.com/postings/308...
Associate Professor & Director of NCBG Herbarium
This is a research, teaching, and public service position at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, serving jointly as Herbarium Director at the North Carolina Botanical Garden (NCBG) and as...
unc.peopleadmin.com
November 6, 2025 at 11:36 AM
The 5th of 6 faculty positions in UNC Biology is posted. We're working with the @ncbg.bsky.social to fill a joint position as Director of the UNC Herbarium at @ncbg.bsky.social and as Associate Professor within the Department of Biology (BIOL). Please share 1/n
unc.peopleadmin.com/postings/308...
unc.peopleadmin.com/postings/308...
Reposted by Brian O'Meara
The detectCores() apocalypse is creeping up on us 👻🐛
As more people are getting access to 128+ CPU cores, code spinning up parallel cluster with detectCores() workers fails - not enough #RStats connections available
Friends, do *not* default to detectCores(), bc www.jottr.org/2022/12/05/a...
As more people are getting access to 128+ CPU cores, code spinning up parallel cluster with detectCores() workers fails - not enough #RStats connections available
Friends, do *not* default to detectCores(), bc www.jottr.org/2022/12/05/a...
Please Avoid detectCores() in your R Packages
The detectCores() function of the parallel package is probably one of the most used functions when it comes to setting the number of parallel workers to use in R. In this blog post, I’ll try to explai...
www.jottr.org
November 5, 2025 at 11:55 PM
The detectCores() apocalypse is creeping up on us 👻🐛
As more people are getting access to 128+ CPU cores, code spinning up parallel cluster with detectCores() workers fails - not enough #RStats connections available
Friends, do *not* default to detectCores(), bc www.jottr.org/2022/12/05/a...
As more people are getting access to 128+ CPU cores, code spinning up parallel cluster with detectCores() workers fails - not enough #RStats connections available
Friends, do *not* default to detectCores(), bc www.jottr.org/2022/12/05/a...