Dr. July Pilowsky
@pilowsky.me
I model infectious disease in wildlife using #RStats and #JuliaLang, and I design dance larps about intergenerational trauma. 🇺🇸 🇨🇱 🏳️🌈 they/she/he, eng/esp
Reposted by Dr. July Pilowsky
Academics, just use this simple LaTeX macro and you can avoid maintaining a separate CV just for 2026 federal grants.
January 16, 2026 at 4:04 PM
Academics, just use this simple LaTeX macro and you can avoid maintaining a separate CV just for 2026 federal grants.
Reposted by Dr. July Pilowsky
The red dot is a baby North Atlantic right whale trying to migrate up the east coast of the United states.
The blue streaks are fast moving shipping vessels entering and leaving New York City harbor.
One collision and the whale is dead.
We need *mandatory* speed limits for these vessels! 🧪🦑🌍
The blue streaks are fast moving shipping vessels entering and leaving New York City harbor.
One collision and the whale is dead.
We need *mandatory* speed limits for these vessels! 🧪🦑🌍
January 14, 2026 at 4:34 PM
The red dot is a baby North Atlantic right whale trying to migrate up the east coast of the United states.
The blue streaks are fast moving shipping vessels entering and leaving New York City harbor.
One collision and the whale is dead.
We need *mandatory* speed limits for these vessels! 🧪🦑🌍
The blue streaks are fast moving shipping vessels entering and leaving New York City harbor.
One collision and the whale is dead.
We need *mandatory* speed limits for these vessels! 🧪🦑🌍
From your mouth to God’s ears. It can be like pulling teeth getting disease researchers to deposit data in a proper open science repository.
January 7, 2026 at 7:58 PM
From your mouth to God’s ears. It can be like pulling teeth getting disease researchers to deposit data in a proper open science repository.
This is a serious issue in my field. I am a researcher studying avian influenza and even I am not allowed to access flu sequences in GISAID.
“[P]utting data into GISAID is like dropping it in a mail slot in an unmarked building,” says @colincarlson.bsky.social. “It’s wonderful that there’s so much cool stuff in that building. It would be great if we knew who owned it, or who paid for it, or what they plan to do with it.”
#IDsky 🧪
#IDsky 🧪
Fresh conflicts erupt around giant database for flu and COVID-19 sequences
Critics say “autocratic” behavior by GISAID could hamper response to a future pandemic
www.science.org
January 7, 2026 at 5:19 PM
This is a serious issue in my field. I am a researcher studying avian influenza and even I am not allowed to access flu sequences in GISAID.
Reposted by Dr. July Pilowsky
Love having “venture capital” reviewing my grants
The National Science Board, which oversees NSF, has published recommendations to update the foundation's merit review (which was just updated).
Below are the main points. www.nsf.gov/nsb/updates/...
Below are the main points. www.nsf.gov/nsb/updates/...
December 17, 2025 at 9:19 PM
Love having “venture capital” reviewing my grants
I use the NCAR supercomputers to simulate disease outbreaks in wildlife. The impact of this terrible move will spread well beyond climate change research.
Trump Administration Plans to Break Up Premier Weather and Climate Research Center www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/c...
Trump Administration Plans to Break Up Premier Weather and Climate Research Center
www.nytimes.com
December 17, 2025 at 9:03 PM
I use the NCAR supercomputers to simulate disease outbreaks in wildlife. The impact of this terrible move will spread well beyond climate change research.
Reposted by Dr. July Pilowsky
Wow. Grants might now be rejected/accepted based on a single outside review and no panel
NSF plans to streamline merit review to heal self-inflicted staffing wound www.science.org/content/arti...
NSF pares down grant-review process, reducing influence of outside scientists
Memo cites overburdened staff, but some say move also aims to elevate White House priorities
www.science.org
December 16, 2025 at 1:10 AM
Wow. Grants might now be rejected/accepted based on a single outside review and no panel
Reposted by Dr. July Pilowsky
My research on elephant conservation in the KAZA TFCA was featured by @mongabay.com in an article that argues for corridors, not culls, as a long term solution for Southern Africa‘s growing elephant population 🐘
news.mongabay.com/2025/12/corr...
news.mongabay.com/2025/12/corr...
Corridors, not culls, offer solution to Southern Africa’s growing elephant population
Since being collared in Zambia two years ago, a young bull elephant known to researchers as Z16 has walked nearly 12,000 kilometers, or 7,500 miles — three times the distance between New York and Los ...
news.mongabay.com
December 11, 2025 at 3:25 PM
My research on elephant conservation in the KAZA TFCA was featured by @mongabay.com in an article that argues for corridors, not culls, as a long term solution for Southern Africa‘s growing elephant population 🐘
news.mongabay.com/2025/12/corr...
news.mongabay.com/2025/12/corr...
Reposted by Dr. July Pilowsky
Tired: Publishing a ton of papers by breaking stories into small pieces and always shooting too high and working the way down the journal cascade
Wired: Publishing complete stories in more substantial papers and submitting them to society journals, and not exploiting the peer review system.
Wired: Publishing complete stories in more substantial papers and submitting them to society journals, and not exploiting the peer review system.
December 12, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Tired: Publishing a ton of papers by breaking stories into small pieces and always shooting too high and working the way down the journal cascade
Wired: Publishing complete stories in more substantial papers and submitting them to society journals, and not exploiting the peer review system.
Wired: Publishing complete stories in more substantial papers and submitting them to society journals, and not exploiting the peer review system.
Reposted by Dr. July Pilowsky
Big new blogpost!
My guide to data visualization, which includes a very long table of contents, tons of charts, and more.
--> Why data visualization matters and how to make charts more effective, clear, transparent, and sometimes, beautiful.
www.scientificdiscovery.dev/p/salonis-gu...
My guide to data visualization, which includes a very long table of contents, tons of charts, and more.
--> Why data visualization matters and how to make charts more effective, clear, transparent, and sometimes, beautiful.
www.scientificdiscovery.dev/p/salonis-gu...
December 9, 2025 at 8:28 PM
Big new blogpost!
My guide to data visualization, which includes a very long table of contents, tons of charts, and more.
--> Why data visualization matters and how to make charts more effective, clear, transparent, and sometimes, beautiful.
www.scientificdiscovery.dev/p/salonis-gu...
My guide to data visualization, which includes a very long table of contents, tons of charts, and more.
--> Why data visualization matters and how to make charts more effective, clear, transparent, and sometimes, beautiful.
www.scientificdiscovery.dev/p/salonis-gu...
"Participatory science" is similarly inclusive of non-citizens and would make my Web of Science search results cleaner. I think I'll use that term in my own scientific writing.
December 2, 2025 at 7:11 PM
"Participatory science" is similarly inclusive of non-citizens and would make my Web of Science search results cleaner. I think I'll use that term in my own scientific writing.
I do prefer the term "community science" to "citizen science" but man does it make it hard to search for papers about monitoring communities as in ecological communities.
December 2, 2025 at 6:59 PM
I do prefer the term "community science" to "citizen science" but man does it make it hard to search for papers about monitoring communities as in ecological communities.
Reposted by Dr. July Pilowsky
Applied to COVID-19 in California, the approach yields more accurate and more stable short-term forecasts than RNNs, LSTMs, GRUs, Transformers, and naïve baselines.
🔗 royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
🔗 royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
December 1, 2025 at 12:31 PM
Applied to COVID-19 in California, the approach yields more accurate and more stable short-term forecasts than RNNs, LSTMs, GRUs, Transformers, and naïve baselines.
🔗 royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
🔗 royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
In times like these, the trans community relies on its community organizers, who bring people together for activism and mutual support. June Lewis is one of these trans community organizers, and she needs help. I just donated; please stand up for us, too.
www.gofundme.com/f/stand-with...
www.gofundme.com/f/stand-with...
Donate to Stand with June: Legal and Housing Support Needed, organized by Kassandra Tomaras
June L. is a dear friend, a committed community-builder, a proud J… Kassandra Tomaras needs your support for Stand with June: Legal and Housing Support Needed
www.gofundme.com
November 30, 2025 at 4:01 PM
In times like these, the trans community relies on its community organizers, who bring people together for activism and mutual support. June Lewis is one of these trans community organizers, and she needs help. I just donated; please stand up for us, too.
www.gofundme.com/f/stand-with...
www.gofundme.com/f/stand-with...
Reposted by Dr. July Pilowsky
I'd guess that 85-90% of American scientists would be ineligible for future funding under this law, maybe close to 100% in the R1 universities. So much for funding proposals based on scientific merit.
Apart from being sinophobes, the people pushing this have no clue how science or higher ed works.
Apart from being sinophobes, the people pushing this have no clue how science or higher ed works.
“The prohibited activities would include joint research, co-authorship on papers, and advising a foreign graduate student or postdoctoral fellow. The language is retroactive, meaning any interactions during the previous 5 years could make a scientist ineligible for future federal funding.”
U.S. Congress considers sweeping ban on Chinese collaborations
Researchers speak out against proposal that would bar funding for U.S. scientists working with Chinese partners or training Chinese students
www.science.org
November 14, 2025 at 11:31 AM
I'd guess that 85-90% of American scientists would be ineligible for future funding under this law, maybe close to 100% in the R1 universities. So much for funding proposals based on scientific merit.
Apart from being sinophobes, the people pushing this have no clue how science or higher ed works.
Apart from being sinophobes, the people pushing this have no clue how science or higher ed works.
Reposted by Dr. July Pilowsky
The Queer & Trans Field Safety Assessment: a tool for protecting minoritized field scientists
doi.org/10.32942/X2W...
doi.org/10.32942/X2W...
November 12, 2025 at 3:00 PM
The Queer & Trans Field Safety Assessment: a tool for protecting minoritized field scientists
doi.org/10.32942/X2W...
doi.org/10.32942/X2W...
Reposted by Dr. July Pilowsky
am reminded of the old joke: what did James Watson discover?
Rosalind Franklin’s notes.
Rosalind Franklin’s notes.
November 7, 2025 at 9:15 PM
am reminded of the old joke: what did James Watson discover?
Rosalind Franklin’s notes.
Rosalind Franklin’s notes.
Reposted by Dr. July Pilowsky
Today we publish a new paper at The British Medical Journal on the links between biodiversity, climate and health in relation to the hashtag#COP30 in Brazil
Here we argue that climate resilience depends on nature—and both are vital for the health of people.
www.bmj.com/content/391/...
Here we argue that climate resilience depends on nature—and both are vital for the health of people.
www.bmj.com/content/391/...
The Amazon is one of Earth’s major climate stabilisers—we must protect the rainforest and its biodiversity
The twin crises of biodiversity loss and climate change have clear implications for human health and must be central to discussions at COP30, argue David Nogués-Bravo and Helena Alves-Pinto
The acce...
www.bmj.com
November 6, 2025 at 1:24 PM
Today we publish a new paper at The British Medical Journal on the links between biodiversity, climate and health in relation to the hashtag#COP30 in Brazil
Here we argue that climate resilience depends on nature—and both are vital for the health of people.
www.bmj.com/content/391/...
Here we argue that climate resilience depends on nature—and both are vital for the health of people.
www.bmj.com/content/391/...
Reposted by Dr. July Pilowsky
It's important for Europeans, and others from visa-waiver countries, to understand they don't have freedom of speech rights when visiting the United States.
The Trump regime is still deporting visitors for critical comments made online, because they can.
The Trump regime is still deporting visitors for critical comments made online, because they can.
How My Reporting on the Columbia Protests Led to My Deportation
As an Australian who wrote about the demonstrations while on campus, I gave my phone a superficial clean before flying to the U.S. I underestimated what I was up against.
www.newyorker.com
November 5, 2025 at 8:05 AM
It's important for Europeans, and others from visa-waiver countries, to understand they don't have freedom of speech rights when visiting the United States.
The Trump regime is still deporting visitors for critical comments made online, because they can.
The Trump regime is still deporting visitors for critical comments made online, because they can.
Reposted by Dr. July Pilowsky
Wow. I did not know that Alfred Russell Wallace (co-discoverer of evolution by natural selection) wrote a book in 1904 about the biological potential for life on other planets, and I've just found this extraordinary paragraph setting out the insanity of atmospheric pollution [1/3]. In 1904!
![But the sketch I have here attempted to give of its varied functions shows us that it is really a most complex structure, a wonderful piece of machinery, as[ 259] it were, which in its various component gases, its actions and reactions upon the water and the land, its production of electrical discharges, and its furnishing the elements from which the whole fabric of organic life is composed and perpetually renewed, may be truly considered to be the very source and foundation of life itself. This is seen, not only in the fact of our absolute dependence upon it every minute of our lives, but in the terrible effects produced by even a slight degree of impurity in this vital element. Yet it is among those nations that claim to be the most civilised, those that profess to be guided by a knowledge of the laws of nature, those that most glory in the advance of science, that we find the greatest apathy, the greatest recklessness, in continually rendering impure this all-important necessary of life, to such a degree that the health of the larger portion of their populations is injured and their vitality lowered, by conditions which compel them to breathe more or less foul and impure air for the greater part of their lives. The huge and ever-increasing cities, the vast manufacturing towns belching forth smoke and poisonous gases, with the crowded dwellings, where millions are forced to live under the most terrible insanitary conditions, are the witnesses to this criminal apathy, this incredible recklessness and inhumanity.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2g72wvrmzdfakrjq56d3lddj/bafkreidgfp3g5erh7m3rdhzqvar2th65nqj72arwtpxrzak4yvtepmshba@jpeg)
October 31, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Wow. I did not know that Alfred Russell Wallace (co-discoverer of evolution by natural selection) wrote a book in 1904 about the biological potential for life on other planets, and I've just found this extraordinary paragraph setting out the insanity of atmospheric pollution [1/3]. In 1904!
Reposted by Dr. July Pilowsky
A paper for the #eDNA crowd, in particular those using flies for terrestrial biomonitoring. We show that massive pooling works well, reducing costs + time, bringing us a step closer to scalable terrestrial eDNA biomonitoring. doi.org/10.1002/edn3...
An Exploration of DNA Extraction Methods of Fly iDNA for Scalable Biodiversity Monitoring
Metabarcoding of invertebrate-derived DNA (iDNA) is an excellent tool for assessing terrestrial mammal diversity, but the time and costs associated with sample processing constrain its wider adoption....
doi.org
October 30, 2025 at 11:47 AM
A paper for the #eDNA crowd, in particular those using flies for terrestrial biomonitoring. We show that massive pooling works well, reducing costs + time, bringing us a step closer to scalable terrestrial eDNA biomonitoring. doi.org/10.1002/edn3...
Reposted by Dr. July Pilowsky
I'm v excited to be recruiting a PhD student to work on badger behaviour and ecology! Starting date is March 2026; see the ad here, or message me for more details: www.gregalbery.me/s/March-2026...
October 3, 2025 at 2:05 PM
I'm v excited to be recruiting a PhD student to work on badger behaviour and ecology! Starting date is March 2026; see the ad here, or message me for more details: www.gregalbery.me/s/March-2026...
Reposted by Dr. July Pilowsky
Sadly, the conservation outlook for #BiałowieżaForest World Heritage Site is now "critical" largely on account of state border barriers, #militarization and breakdown in #transboundary cooperation. The IUCN released the assessment some days ago: worldheritageoutlook.iucn.org/explore-site...
Białowieża Forest | World Heritage Outlook
Situated on the watershed of the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea, this immense forest range, consisting of evergreens and broad-leaved trees, is home to some remarkable animal life, including rare mammal...
worldheritageoutlook.iucn.org
October 26, 2025 at 9:23 AM
Sadly, the conservation outlook for #BiałowieżaForest World Heritage Site is now "critical" largely on account of state border barriers, #militarization and breakdown in #transboundary cooperation. The IUCN released the assessment some days ago: worldheritageoutlook.iucn.org/explore-site...
Reposted by Dr. July Pilowsky
Recently came across Lisa Taylor's amazing work on coloration in jumping spiders, including using eyeliner to give them teenytiny makeovers to see whether these colors helped them attract mates/avoid sexual cannibalism. Sometimes in science, there aren't standard tools for the thing you want to do🧪
October 23, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Recently came across Lisa Taylor's amazing work on coloration in jumping spiders, including using eyeliner to give them teenytiny makeovers to see whether these colors helped them attract mates/avoid sexual cannibalism. Sometimes in science, there aren't standard tools for the thing you want to do🧪