tomjwebb
@tomjwebb.bsky.social
Professional marine biodiversity data scientist and academic @sheffielduni.bsky.social. Amateur dad, musician, natural historian, cricketer, kayaker, gardener, cook, haver of opinions.
Reposted by tomjwebb
December 21, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Iain Banks anticipating deepfakes, in 1988
December 21, 2025 at 11:40 AM
Iain Banks anticipating deepfakes, in 1988
Do you know what? I think that'll probably do, work-wise, for this year.
December 19, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Do you know what? I think that'll probably do, work-wise, for this year.
Glad this is finally out, hopefully now the authors will stop following me around with their notebooks www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Recent discoveries on the acquisition of the highest levels of human performance
Scientists have long debated the origins of exceptional human achievements. This literature review summarizes recent evidence from multiple domains on the acquisition of world-class performance. We re...
www.science.org
December 19, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Glad this is finally out, hopefully now the authors will stop following me around with their notebooks www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by tomjwebb
Christmas, innit. How about we get some things for women and children with nothing who are escaping domestic violence? You can do that, as ever, via the brilliant Refuge. Check this out: donate.refuge.org.uk/page/180196/...
Buy a parcel and help give mums and their children in our refuges their first Christmas of freedom.
When a child arrives at a refuge in the countdown to Christmas, they’re withdrawn and in shock.
donate.refuge.org.uk
December 14, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Christmas, innit. How about we get some things for women and children with nothing who are escaping domestic violence? You can do that, as ever, via the brilliant Refuge. Check this out: donate.refuge.org.uk/page/180196/...
Anyone got a nice example of a figure illustrating a (moderately) complex workflow for combining spatial datasets to answer a specific ecological / biodiversity question? It's the kind of thing I always think I do well, but then can't find any actual examples in my own work…
December 18, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Anyone got a nice example of a figure illustrating a (moderately) complex workflow for combining spatial datasets to answer a specific ecological / biodiversity question? It's the kind of thing I always think I do well, but then can't find any actual examples in my own work…
Final bit of teaching for 2025 just completed. If you need me to do anything, there is now a brief window before I start drinking.
December 18, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Final bit of teaching for 2025 just completed. If you need me to do anything, there is now a brief window before I start drinking.
When a senior university leader gives a reading at a carol concert that starts 'I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us', it's hard to avoid the sense that you're being trolled…
December 18, 2025 at 12:57 PM
When a senior university leader gives a reading at a carol concert that starts 'I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us', it's hard to avoid the sense that you're being trolled…
Encountered a weird R issue this morning whereby my code fails when I feed a dataframe into the function, but works if I first select all rows of that dataframe using slice(1:n()) and then feed it into the function. Putting it down to a Christmas miracle…
December 18, 2025 at 11:22 AM
Encountered a weird R issue this morning whereby my code fails when I feed a dataframe into the function, but works if I first select all rows of that dataframe using slice(1:n()) and then feed it into the function. Putting it down to a Christmas miracle…
Possibly too late to be useful this year, but for bird-lovers - my brother in law produces lovely Xmas cards featuring more than your usual robins, e.g. this year we got this:
December 17, 2025 at 11:46 AM
Possibly too late to be useful this year, but for bird-lovers - my brother in law produces lovely Xmas cards featuring more than your usual robins, e.g. this year we got this:
This makes me happy. Exactly 30 years ago I was mid way through a brilliant year in the South of France thanks to Erasmus. So glad it’s back on the table for today’s kids. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...
UK to rejoin EU’s Erasmus student exchange programme
Exclusive: British students will be able to participate in EU-wide scheme from January 2027, sources say
www.theguardian.com
December 16, 2025 at 8:32 PM
This makes me happy. Exactly 30 years ago I was mid way through a brilliant year in the South of France thanks to Erasmus. So glad it’s back on the table for today’s kids. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...
Reposted by tomjwebb
An illustration of the 'commission-based' theory of evolution.
The Pilot Whale
www.worldofmoose.com/products/pil...
The Pilot Whale
www.worldofmoose.com/products/pil...
December 16, 2025 at 9:11 AM
An illustration of the 'commission-based' theory of evolution.
The Pilot Whale
www.worldofmoose.com/products/pil...
The Pilot Whale
www.worldofmoose.com/products/pil...
Set some code running before I left the office and it had failed before I even got my coat on. Patched it up when I got home so now it's running on my electricity instead, bah…
December 16, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Set some code running before I left the office and it had failed before I even got my coat on. Patched it up when I got home so now it's running on my electricity instead, bah…
Reposted by tomjwebb
Excited to launch the new improved Reproducible Code guide from @britishecologicalsociety.org @methodsinecoevol.bsky.social FREE online here! www.britishecologicalsociety.org//wp-content/... Amazing work by some very talented ECRs. We hope it’s useful!
December 16, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Excited to launch the new improved Reproducible Code guide from @britishecologicalsociety.org @methodsinecoevol.bsky.social FREE online here! www.britishecologicalsociety.org//wp-content/... Amazing work by some very talented ECRs. We hope it’s useful!
A nice present for book lovers who already have loads of books, is to make a donation to BookTrust on their behalf to get books to kids who don't www.booktrust.org.uk/support-us/b...
Bring the magic of reading to children this Christmas
A gift from you could mean a child finally has a book to call their own.
www.booktrust.org.uk
December 16, 2025 at 12:51 PM
A nice present for book lovers who already have loads of books, is to make a donation to BookTrust on their behalf to get books to kids who don't www.booktrust.org.uk/support-us/b...
Reposted by tomjwebb
We are hiring!
If you like the #sea and its #fish and are motivated to apply #eDNA methods to make #fisheries more sustainable, then this #postdoc position might be perfect for you:
jobs.ljmu.ac.uk/vacancy/post...
@thefsbi.bsky.social
@bes-aquaticgroup.bsky.social
If you like the #sea and its #fish and are motivated to apply #eDNA methods to make #fisheries more sustainable, then this #postdoc position might be perfect for you:
jobs.ljmu.ac.uk/vacancy/post...
@thefsbi.bsky.social
@bes-aquaticgroup.bsky.social
Post-doctoral Research Associate in Marine Environmental DNA (Fixed term) (5297)
jobs.ljmu.ac.uk
December 16, 2025 at 11:03 AM
We are hiring!
If you like the #sea and its #fish and are motivated to apply #eDNA methods to make #fisheries more sustainable, then this #postdoc position might be perfect for you:
jobs.ljmu.ac.uk/vacancy/post...
@thefsbi.bsky.social
@bes-aquaticgroup.bsky.social
If you like the #sea and its #fish and are motivated to apply #eDNA methods to make #fisheries more sustainable, then this #postdoc position might be perfect for you:
jobs.ljmu.ac.uk/vacancy/post...
@thefsbi.bsky.social
@bes-aquaticgroup.bsky.social
Actual phrase sent out by a real company. My preferred preferences, you say?
December 15, 2025 at 10:12 PM
Actual phrase sent out by a real company. My preferred preferences, you say?
Figured out that this code that's struggling is trying to produce an output with >1.2bn rows…
December 15, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Figured out that this code that's struggling is trying to produce an output with >1.2bn rows…
Just overheard my son, on the computer with his mates, using ‘you absolute AI’ as an insult.
December 13, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Just overheard my son, on the computer with his mates, using ‘you absolute AI’ as an insult.
Reposted by tomjwebb
Join the BES Macro committee!
We're recruiting a vice chair and 1-2 ordinary members to help us make macroecology & macroevolution a better place.
More information on how to apply in the link, and come chat at #BES2025 if you happen to be around!
www.britishecologicalsociety.org//wp-content/...
We're recruiting a vice chair and 1-2 ordinary members to help us make macroecology & macroevolution a better place.
More information on how to apply in the link, and come chat at #BES2025 if you happen to be around!
www.britishecologicalsociety.org//wp-content/...
December 12, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Join the BES Macro committee!
We're recruiting a vice chair and 1-2 ordinary members to help us make macroecology & macroevolution a better place.
More information on how to apply in the link, and come chat at #BES2025 if you happen to be around!
www.britishecologicalsociety.org//wp-content/...
We're recruiting a vice chair and 1-2 ordinary members to help us make macroecology & macroevolution a better place.
More information on how to apply in the link, and come chat at #BES2025 if you happen to be around!
www.britishecologicalsociety.org//wp-content/...
Reposted by tomjwebb
More than a year ago researchers from @hifmb.de and @icbm-uol.bsky.social started to write about different perspectives on marine biodiversity change from natural and social science perspectives. This morphed into a review paper that was published online today link.springer.com/article/10.1... 🧪
Towards a broader perspective on marine biodiversity change - Marine Biodiversity
Biodiversity decline jeopardizes the foundation of natural ecosystems and human well-being, a concern that prompted major global agreements aiming to bend the curve towards a net positive biodiversity...
link.springer.com
December 12, 2025 at 3:19 PM
More than a year ago researchers from @hifmb.de and @icbm-uol.bsky.social started to write about different perspectives on marine biodiversity change from natural and social science perspectives. This morphed into a review paper that was published online today link.springer.com/article/10.1... 🧪
Absolutely delighted for Dina - she did such a great job of this PhD!
Dr Dina in the house! 🧬 🌊 🦀 Massively proud to share I passed my PhD viva yesterday. I even got two thesis themed cakes thanks to my amazing colleagues. Although it felt like climbing Everest, I know the PhD is just the start. Onwards!
December 12, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Absolutely delighted for Dina - she did such a great job of this PhD!
Just had an email saying 'File didn't upload properly. I resent it' and took me a moment to parse that as the past tense of 'resend'. (Both senses work tbf.)
December 12, 2025 at 11:29 AM
Just had an email saying 'File didn't upload properly. I resent it' and took me a moment to parse that as the past tense of 'resend'. (Both senses work tbf.)
PhD programmes sending reference requests on a Friday with a deadline of Sunday, at this point in December, is not super friendly to the referee…
December 12, 2025 at 11:21 AM
PhD programmes sending reference requests on a Friday with a deadline of Sunday, at this point in December, is not super friendly to the referee…
Anyone know of an architecture / design / digital company in #Sheffield that might have capacity to take on a 15 year old for a couple of weeks' work experience in the new year? @helpsheffield.co.uk
December 12, 2025 at 10:56 AM
Anyone know of an architecture / design / digital company in #Sheffield that might have capacity to take on a 15 year old for a couple of weeks' work experience in the new year? @helpsheffield.co.uk