Paul Taillie
banner
ptails.bsky.social
Paul Taillie
@ptails.bsky.social

Assistant Prof @UNC Chapel Hill. Spatial Ecology, Global Change, Wildlife Conservation. I like looking for animals.

Environmental science 72%
Geography 20%

I actually rake leaves FROM garden beds to control any grass that pops up. Lawns are a waste of time and should be small as possible.

Excellent advice on how to kill your lawn. Do it today for free!
Did I ever tell you about how I almost killed my lawn trying to save the insects? Maybe you’ve heard of “Leave the Leaves” — don’t rake your leaves; create critical overwintering habitat for lots of insects. Sounds easy, no? (And way better than raking…)

Reposted by Paul J. Taillie

Did I ever tell you about how I almost killed my lawn trying to save the insects? Maybe you’ve heard of “Leave the Leaves” — don’t rake your leaves; create critical overwintering habitat for lots of insects. Sounds easy, no? (And way better than raking…)

Reposted by Paul J. Taillie

This came across my feed this morning and I instantly thought "@thebirdist.bsky.social is going to love this." As a birder Bills fan, I'm totally here for it...but also confused
It’s truly baffling to me that so many of these stories focus on “wow big fish” and not “this is an IUCN Red List Critically Endangered species that is extremely physiologically fragile and often does not survive fishing practices like this”

www.mysanantonio.com/news/south-t... 🦑🧪🌎🦈🐠
Giant hammerhead shark reeled in at Corpus Christi beach
It was the third-largest hammerhead shark the Texas fishing guide caught this year.
www.mysanantonio.com
🚨 We're about to start reviewing applications, but there's still time to reach out for our postdoc position on climate change impact attribution! If you have experience with attribution science or climate epidemiology, and want to help us launch the Global Burden of Climate Change Study, reach out!

I'm a regular iNaturalist user and this is all very helpful. We could probably all do more identifying
I just passed my 50,000th identification on @inaturalist.bsky.social! Identifying is a huge but often ignored part of the #iNaturalist community and dataset so I wanted to share why and how I identify. 1/14

🧪 #ecology #taxonomy #botany #CommunityScience

Reposted by Paul J. Taillie

Hey NC friends, I've recently gotten involved in a new project called the Triangle Central Kitchen, a social enterprise fighting hunger and food waste, and we are launching on Sept 24 at Namu in Durham. Want a great dinner for a greater cause, check it out! trianglecentralkitchen.org/tck-launch-p...

Reposted by Paul J. Taillie

I just passed my 50,000th identification on @inaturalist.bsky.social! Identifying is a huge but often ignored part of the #iNaturalist community and dataset so I wanted to share why and how I identify. 1/14

🧪 #ecology #taxonomy #botany #CommunityScience

I've been trying to make #ThisIsBirding a thing forever, but these two lived it and shared it with the world

"This is the birding of gas stations, ponds behind a women’s prison, and “the bird’s right there on the mud next to the whiffleball and the tire.”"
I wrote about the Reiser brothers and their hilarious, disgusting Listers documentary for Slate:

slate.com/culture/2025...
One of the Funniest Documentaries of the Year Is Streaming for Free on YouTube
Listers is a journey into the dark and cringy heart of one of the world’s most peculiar hobbies.
slate.com

" Later, pigeons and balloons — said to number 80,000 each — were released into the air."

Seriously? fuck ^that shit

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/02/w...
Xi Parades Firepower to Signal That China Won’t Be Bullied Again
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Paul J. Taillie

🧪🌊🐚 We are hiring: Biology MS in #MarineEcosystems in #CapeVerde 🌍🪸 Spring 2026 start, at Bridgewater State Uni in #coastalEcology, #biodiversity
💸 Funding includes: GA + tuition waiver

📅 App: Oct 15, 2025

www.bridgew.edu/center/case/...

📫HERITOR@bridgew.edu, tsurasinghe@bridgew.edu
Graduate Mentors
Discover the HERITOR Project: An International Mentoring and Research Opportunity!
www.bridgew.edu

Cool new #biogeography research from UNC Biology colleague Xiao Feng and colleagues. Keys to the global treeline formation: Thermal limit for its position and moisture for the taxon-specific variation | PNAS #tree www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
PNAS
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...
www.pnas.org

For the people in the back, the biggest risk is never alligators.

Reposted by Paul J. Taillie

At ‘Alligator Alcatraz,’ the Biggest Risk Isn’t Alligators

w/ Hiroko Tabuchi
🎁🔗: www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Environmental Concerns at ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Include Storms and Flooding (Gift Article)
The area around the immigrant detention center, deep in the Everglades, is threatened by hurricanes, extreme heat and even wildfires.
www.nytimes.com

Citizen Scientists Are Accelerating Ecology Research, Study Suggests www.nytimes.com/2025/07/28/s...
Citizen Scientists Are Accelerating Ecology Research, Study Suggests
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Paul J. Taillie

tl;dr: "The Keeling Curve is a significant and symbolic achievement for an advanced nation, and the measurements should continue until humanity has no reason to monitor atmospheric carbon in such an intensive way. We, as a society, should be proud to fund it collectively."

Reposted by Paul J. Taillie

On average, 86% of all named tropical systems in the Atlantic occur after August 2, and the first hurricane doesn't form until August 11.
We have a long season to go. Prepare now – Learn how at weather.gov/safety/hurricane

Every time I go to that plaza I want to go to all the restaurants. Definitely been to that Himalayan place and it was wonderful.

Reposted by Paul J. Taillie

Diademed Sandpiper-plover is one of my favorites. Specialist of high elevation Andean bogs. Granted, it doesn't really migrate, which is arguably the most impressive characteristic of shorebirds.

Reposted by Paul J. Taillie

Orange County, in collaboration with Carrboro, Chapel Hill and Hillsborough, has established a community giving fund to support recovery efforts for Tropical Storm Chantal.

ℹ️ https://monkeylink.co/fbc4bb
.
.
.
#CarrboroNC #Chantal #NCWX

My local bike shop has been selling stickers with this message for years.

@lindseytaillie.bsky.social we need you here. Daily hot dogs: good or bad?

Reposted by Paul J. Taillie

You can’t understand bird declines without also understanding insect declines.

Grateful our work on insect-bird interactions was highlighted by Smithsonian Mag. If you love birds, think about whether your actions are helping the insects they need to survive.

www.smithsonianmag.com/science-natu...
Scientists Are Tracking Worrying Declines in Insects—and the Birds That Feast on Them. Here's What's Being Done to Save Them Both
In Vermont, researchers have investigated the types of creepy, crawly bugs that their avian predators consume and may have found the answers to keeping them both alive
www.smithsonianmag.com

Reposted by Paul J. Taillie

One of our local science partners recently used AGU’s op-ed toolkit to help shape their message — and it paid off big time: their op-ed was published in the @latimes.com. 📰

👏 Read David L. Valentine’s important piece on research funding: 🔗 www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
Contributor: Those cuts to 'overhead' costs in research? They do real damage
Indirect costs are fat targets for budget slashers, but beware: They make science possible. They don’t pay for the chromatograph I use in my experiments, but they do pay for the electricity to run it.
www.latimes.com

Additionally, my wife has been running a lot and was concerned that with few roads, it might be hard to find safe places to run in the dark (days are very short right now). But she was pleasantly surprised by the abundance of pedestrian infrastructure in tiny towns, especially compared to rural US

One thing I noticed in New Zealand the past few weeks is that in Auckland and even in the tiniest towns, homes are packed in tightly. In addition to reducing the footprint of developed areas, this approach increased access to green space, shorelines, fishing/recreation opportunities, etc.
Sprawl Is Still Not the Answer: "Instead of promoting sprawl, increasing housing density in existing urban areas through infill development and upzoning can help address the housing shortage while minimizing environmental impacts." www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Sprawl Is Still Not the Answer
A chorus of critics insist that building on undeveloped land is the only way out of the US housing crisis. But the environmental costs of unrestrained growth are overwhelming.
www.bloomberg.com