Dongmin (Dennis) Kim
@eebdennis.bsky.social
movement ecology | quantitative ecology | postdoc @ UMN EEB & Harvard OEB | previously PhD @ UMN EEB 🇰🇷🇺🇸
https://kimx3725.github.io/
https://kimx3725.github.io/
Pinned
Detecting disease progression from animal movement using hidden Markov models
Understanding disease dynamics is crucial for managing wildlife populations and assessing spillover risk to domestic animals and humans, but infection data on free-ranging animals are difficult to obt...
arxiv.org
🚨 New preprint!
Have you ever wondered if we can detect disease in wildlife just by looking at their movement?
We show how hidden Markov models can link animal trajectories to infection states — tested on reintroduced scimitar-horned oryx and simulated data.
👉 arxiv.org/abs/2509.21132
Have you ever wondered if we can detect disease in wildlife just by looking at their movement?
We show how hidden Markov models can link animal trajectories to infection states — tested on reintroduced scimitar-horned oryx and simulated data.
👉 arxiv.org/abs/2509.21132
Reposted by Dongmin (Dennis) Kim
Our preprint is out! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Peter Skovorodnikov and I are excited to present FERAL: a new video-understanding toolkit that maps raw video directly to behavior, no pose estimation required.
It works across species, from lab to field, and even in collective systems. (🧵1/n)
Peter Skovorodnikov and I are excited to present FERAL: a new video-understanding toolkit that maps raw video directly to behavior, no pose estimation required.
It works across species, from lab to field, and even in collective systems. (🧵1/n)
FERAL: A Video-Understanding System for Direct Video-to-Behavior Mapping
Animal behavior unfolds continuously in time, yet quantitative analyses often require segmenting it into discrete, interpretable states. Although manual annotation can achieve this, it remains slow, s...
www.biorxiv.org
November 19, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Our preprint is out! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Peter Skovorodnikov and I are excited to present FERAL: a new video-understanding toolkit that maps raw video directly to behavior, no pose estimation required.
It works across species, from lab to field, and even in collective systems. (🧵1/n)
Peter Skovorodnikov and I are excited to present FERAL: a new video-understanding toolkit that maps raw video directly to behavior, no pose estimation required.
It works across species, from lab to field, and even in collective systems. (🧵1/n)
Reposted by Dongmin (Dennis) Kim
🦌 Deer migration, deer density, tick distribution and incidence of a tick-borne zoonosis
➡️ buff.ly/4wXYf5c
➡️ buff.ly/4wXYf5c
October 23, 2025 at 12:03 PM
🦌 Deer migration, deer density, tick distribution and incidence of a tick-borne zoonosis
➡️ buff.ly/4wXYf5c
➡️ buff.ly/4wXYf5c
Reposted by Dongmin (Dennis) Kim
The next International Statistical Ecology Conference (ISEC) will take place in Mérida, México, on January 8-15, 2027. Very exciting!
The organisers are inviting submissions for workshops and round table discussions: statisticalecology.org (Deadline: November 15th)
The organisers are inviting submissions for workshops and round table discussions: statisticalecology.org (Deadline: November 15th)
Home - ISEC 2027
Call for Workshop Submissions, Deadline Nov 15th -- Submit Workshop Proposal Call for Roundtable Submissions, Deadline Nov 15th -- Submit Roundtable Proposal The International Statistical Ecology Conf...
statisticalecology.org
October 15, 2025 at 11:38 AM
The next International Statistical Ecology Conference (ISEC) will take place in Mérida, México, on January 8-15, 2027. Very exciting!
The organisers are inviting submissions for workshops and round table discussions: statisticalecology.org (Deadline: November 15th)
The organisers are inviting submissions for workshops and round table discussions: statisticalecology.org (Deadline: November 15th)
Reposted by Dongmin (Dennis) Kim
🪶 If you are able, you donate here: birdpop.org/pages/do...
We lost roughly $1 million in funding without warning. Projects cancelled included all of our bird monitoring work for the National Park Service & projects w/ the Bureau of Land Management on Gunnison's Sage-Grouse, Pinyon Jays & more. 1/4
We lost roughly $1 million in funding without warning. Projects cancelled included all of our bird monitoring work for the National Park Service & projects w/ the Bureau of Land Management on Gunnison's Sage-Grouse, Pinyon Jays & more. 1/4
October 2, 2025 at 12:11 AM
🪶 If you are able, you donate here: birdpop.org/pages/do...
We lost roughly $1 million in funding without warning. Projects cancelled included all of our bird monitoring work for the National Park Service & projects w/ the Bureau of Land Management on Gunnison's Sage-Grouse, Pinyon Jays & more. 1/4
We lost roughly $1 million in funding without warning. Projects cancelled included all of our bird monitoring work for the National Park Service & projects w/ the Bureau of Land Management on Gunnison's Sage-Grouse, Pinyon Jays & more. 1/4
🚨 New preprint!
Have you ever wondered if we can detect disease in wildlife just by looking at their movement?
We show how hidden Markov models can link animal trajectories to infection states — tested on reintroduced scimitar-horned oryx and simulated data.
👉 arxiv.org/abs/2509.21132
Have you ever wondered if we can detect disease in wildlife just by looking at their movement?
We show how hidden Markov models can link animal trajectories to infection states — tested on reintroduced scimitar-horned oryx and simulated data.
👉 arxiv.org/abs/2509.21132
Detecting disease progression from animal movement using hidden Markov models
Understanding disease dynamics is crucial for managing wildlife populations and assessing spillover risk to domestic animals and humans, but infection data on free-ranging animals are difficult to obt...
arxiv.org
September 26, 2025 at 1:49 AM
🚨 New preprint!
Have you ever wondered if we can detect disease in wildlife just by looking at their movement?
We show how hidden Markov models can link animal trajectories to infection states — tested on reintroduced scimitar-horned oryx and simulated data.
👉 arxiv.org/abs/2509.21132
Have you ever wondered if we can detect disease in wildlife just by looking at their movement?
We show how hidden Markov models can link animal trajectories to infection states — tested on reintroduced scimitar-horned oryx and simulated data.
👉 arxiv.org/abs/2509.21132
Reposted by Dongmin (Dennis) Kim
The hmmTMB paper is finally out in the Journal of Statistical Software!
An R package for hidden Markov models with random effects, flexible spline-based covariate effects, and fast inference using TMB or Stan.
Check out the GIthub repository for more examples.
doi.org/10.18637/jss...
An R package for hidden Markov models with random effects, flexible spline-based covariate effects, and fast inference using TMB or Stan.
Check out the GIthub repository for more examples.
doi.org/10.18637/jss...
hmmTMB: Hidden Markov Models with Flexible Covariate Effects in R by Théo Michelot
<p>Hidden Markov models (HMMs) are widely applied in studies where a discrete-valued process of interest is observed indirectly. They have for example been used to model behavior from human and animal...
doi.org
September 12, 2025 at 11:37 AM
The hmmTMB paper is finally out in the Journal of Statistical Software!
An R package for hidden Markov models with random effects, flexible spline-based covariate effects, and fast inference using TMB or Stan.
Check out the GIthub repository for more examples.
doi.org/10.18637/jss...
An R package for hidden Markov models with random effects, flexible spline-based covariate effects, and fast inference using TMB or Stan.
Check out the GIthub repository for more examples.
doi.org/10.18637/jss...
Reposted by Dongmin (Dennis) Kim
Perceived and observed biases within scientific communities: a case study in movement ecology
New paper out in @royalsocietypublishing.org, originally conceived at a Gordon Research Conference
👉 royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
New paper out in @royalsocietypublishing.org, originally conceived at a Gordon Research Conference
👉 royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
July 25, 2025 at 11:51 AM
Perceived and observed biases within scientific communities: a case study in movement ecology
New paper out in @royalsocietypublishing.org, originally conceived at a Gordon Research Conference
👉 royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
New paper out in @royalsocietypublishing.org, originally conceived at a Gordon Research Conference
👉 royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
Reposted by Dongmin (Dennis) Kim
If there is an optimal behavior, why is there so much variation in the world? We found that, for white storks, context is everything. @anflack.bsky.social @mpi-animalbehav.bsky.social
New paper! @cellpress.bsky.social doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2025.06.044
🧵1/5
New paper! @cellpress.bsky.social doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2025.06.044
🧵1/5
July 11, 2025 at 3:03 PM
If there is an optimal behavior, why is there so much variation in the world? We found that, for white storks, context is everything. @anflack.bsky.social @mpi-animalbehav.bsky.social
New paper! @cellpress.bsky.social doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2025.06.044
🧵1/5
New paper! @cellpress.bsky.social doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2025.06.044
🧵1/5
Reposted by Dongmin (Dennis) Kim
We're #hiring a Statistical Wildlife Ecologist! This position analyzes large, complex datasets to support landscape management throughout Canada.
Learn more and apply through the University of Alberta by May 27, 2025:
wildlifescience.ca/hiring-stati...
#biodiversity #mammals #wildlife
Learn more and apply through the University of Alberta by May 27, 2025:
wildlifescience.ca/hiring-stati...
#biodiversity #mammals #wildlife
May 9, 2025 at 3:34 PM
We're #hiring a Statistical Wildlife Ecologist! This position analyzes large, complex datasets to support landscape management throughout Canada.
Learn more and apply through the University of Alberta by May 27, 2025:
wildlifescience.ca/hiring-stati...
#biodiversity #mammals #wildlife
Learn more and apply through the University of Alberta by May 27, 2025:
wildlifescience.ca/hiring-stati...
#biodiversity #mammals #wildlife
Reposted by Dongmin (Dennis) Kim
Animal telemetry postdoctoral fellow at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, applications due 20 May: trustcareers.si.edu/postings/cd7...
Animal Telemetry Postdoctoral Fellow
Job Opening: Animal Telemetry Postdoctoral Fellow at Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Edgewater, MD.
trustcareers.si.edu
April 25, 2025 at 9:40 AM
Animal telemetry postdoctoral fellow at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, applications due 20 May: trustcareers.si.edu/postings/cd7...
Reposted by Dongmin (Dennis) Kim
Post-doctoral research fellow for the Urban Exploration Project at the University of St Andrews, applications due 9 May: www.vacancies.st-andrews.ac.uk/Vacancies/I/...
Post-doctoral Research Fellow - AR3119LS
Post-doctoral Research Fellow - AR3119LS,
School of Biology
Salary: £38,249 - £45,413 per annum
Start Date: As soon as possible
Fixed Term for 2 Years with a possibility to extend,
<p style="text-ali...
www.vacancies.st-andrews.ac.uk
April 25, 2025 at 9:40 AM
Post-doctoral research fellow for the Urban Exploration Project at the University of St Andrews, applications due 9 May: www.vacancies.st-andrews.ac.uk/Vacancies/I/...
Reposted by Dongmin (Dennis) Kim
I am currently looking for an MSc student to join my research group for September 2025 to investigate moose habitat selection in the context of apparent competition in Ontario's Far North. Please share and contact me for further details!
March 27, 2025 at 11:01 PM
I am currently looking for an MSc student to join my research group for September 2025 to investigate moose habitat selection in the context of apparent competition in Ontario's Far North. Please share and contact me for further details!
Reposted by Dongmin (Dennis) Kim
Come study these most adorable - and tough - #Arctic ungulates with us! 🦌 Fully funded 4-year PhD position in Svalbard Reindeer Movement Ecology at The University Centre in #Svalbard: shorturl.at/DaHpw Application deadline is the 25th of April 2025!
March 28, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Come study these most adorable - and tough - #Arctic ungulates with us! 🦌 Fully funded 4-year PhD position in Svalbard Reindeer Movement Ecology at The University Centre in #Svalbard: shorturl.at/DaHpw Application deadline is the 25th of April 2025!
Reposted by Dongmin (Dennis) Kim
In case you need more depressing news this week. (Remember how thriving duck populations were supposed to be a bright spot amid general North American bird declines? Yeah, not anymore.) www.audubon.org/magazine/swe...
A Sweeping New Report Shows U.S. Birds Declining Sharply Across a Range of Habitats
Scientists checked in on species all over the country for the latest State of the Birds report. Nearly everywhere they looked, birds were struggling—including some that have been resilient in the...
www.audubon.org
March 20, 2025 at 4:38 PM
In case you need more depressing news this week. (Remember how thriving duck populations were supposed to be a bright spot amid general North American bird declines? Yeah, not anymore.) www.audubon.org/magazine/swe...
Reposted by Dongmin (Dennis) Kim
I have created a Movement Ecology feed here on Bluesky! 🌍🐾 bsky.app/profile/did:...
Currently, it tracks posts with the #movementecology, #animalmovement, #animalmigration, and #wildlifetracking tags from contributors.
🔹 Want to be added? Message me or reply here!
#Ecology #WildlifeResearch
Currently, it tracks posts with the #movementecology, #animalmovement, #animalmigration, and #wildlifetracking tags from contributors.
🔹 Want to be added? Message me or reply here!
#Ecology #WildlifeResearch
March 18, 2025 at 8:24 AM
I have created a Movement Ecology feed here on Bluesky! 🌍🐾 bsky.app/profile/did:...
Currently, it tracks posts with the #movementecology, #animalmovement, #animalmigration, and #wildlifetracking tags from contributors.
🔹 Want to be added? Message me or reply here!
#Ecology #WildlifeResearch
Currently, it tracks posts with the #movementecology, #animalmovement, #animalmigration, and #wildlifetracking tags from contributors.
🔹 Want to be added? Message me or reply here!
#Ecology #WildlifeResearch
Reposted by Dongmin (Dennis) Kim
🚨 Shrew paper alert! 🚨
Our latest study found that brain size changes stayed on track, but behavior? 🤔 Not so much❗
Captivity makes shrews hyperactive and less motivated to learn, hinting at chronic stress.
🐾 Curious? Full paper here: doi.org/10.1098/rsos...
#Shrews
@mpi-animalbehav.bsky.social
Our latest study found that brain size changes stayed on track, but behavior? 🤔 Not so much❗
Captivity makes shrews hyperactive and less motivated to learn, hinting at chronic stress.
🐾 Curious? Full paper here: doi.org/10.1098/rsos...
#Shrews
@mpi-animalbehav.bsky.social
March 6, 2025 at 10:08 AM
🚨 Shrew paper alert! 🚨
Our latest study found that brain size changes stayed on track, but behavior? 🤔 Not so much❗
Captivity makes shrews hyperactive and less motivated to learn, hinting at chronic stress.
🐾 Curious? Full paper here: doi.org/10.1098/rsos...
#Shrews
@mpi-animalbehav.bsky.social
Our latest study found that brain size changes stayed on track, but behavior? 🤔 Not so much❗
Captivity makes shrews hyperactive and less motivated to learn, hinting at chronic stress.
🐾 Curious? Full paper here: doi.org/10.1098/rsos...
#Shrews
@mpi-animalbehav.bsky.social
Reposted by Dongmin (Dennis) Kim
We have a cool new job that just opened up at the museum.
Head of Conservation ($50-$88K)
Be the champion for the conservation activities and the related messaging for the NC Museum of Natural Sciences.
www.governmentjobs.com/careers/%7B0...
Head of Conservation ($50-$88K)
Be the champion for the conservation activities and the related messaging for the NC Museum of Natural Sciences.
www.governmentjobs.com/careers/%7B0...
Job Bulletin
www.governmentjobs.com
February 21, 2025 at 2:01 PM
We have a cool new job that just opened up at the museum.
Head of Conservation ($50-$88K)
Be the champion for the conservation activities and the related messaging for the NC Museum of Natural Sciences.
www.governmentjobs.com/careers/%7B0...
Head of Conservation ($50-$88K)
Be the champion for the conservation activities and the related messaging for the NC Museum of Natural Sciences.
www.governmentjobs.com/careers/%7B0...
Reposted by Dongmin (Dennis) Kim
To all Animovers out there: Our next workshop will take place from the 30th of November until the 13th of December 2025. More information about location, price and how to apply will follow soon....🤗🐒🦥🌎🐸🐊🕷️🪱
February 19, 2025 at 9:21 AM
To all Animovers out there: Our next workshop will take place from the 30th of November until the 13th of December 2025. More information about location, price and how to apply will follow soon....🤗🐒🦥🌎🐸🐊🕷️🪱
Reposted by Dongmin (Dennis) Kim
This Registered Report masterpiece just dropped at BMC Biology, brilliantly led by a great team with the help of 300+ analysts & reviewers
Same question, same data: go figure!
tl;dr: Substantial heterogeneity among results comes from differences among analytical choices
🔗 doi.org/10.1186/s129...
Same question, same data: go figure!
tl;dr: Substantial heterogeneity among results comes from differences among analytical choices
🔗 doi.org/10.1186/s129...
February 7, 2025 at 4:00 AM
This Registered Report masterpiece just dropped at BMC Biology, brilliantly led by a great team with the help of 300+ analysts & reviewers
Same question, same data: go figure!
tl;dr: Substantial heterogeneity among results comes from differences among analytical choices
🔗 doi.org/10.1186/s129...
Same question, same data: go figure!
tl;dr: Substantial heterogeneity among results comes from differences among analytical choices
🔗 doi.org/10.1186/s129...
Reposted by Dongmin (Dennis) Kim
The first many-analysts study in ecology is finally published! 🥳🙌
300+ coauthors and 5+ years, this was a massive effort by @elliotgould.bsky.social Hannah Fraser Tim Parker and co.
Open access 👉 bmcbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....
300+ coauthors and 5+ years, this was a massive effort by @elliotgould.bsky.social Hannah Fraser Tim Parker and co.
Open access 👉 bmcbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....
February 6, 2025 at 5:57 PM
The first many-analysts study in ecology is finally published! 🥳🙌
300+ coauthors and 5+ years, this was a massive effort by @elliotgould.bsky.social Hannah Fraser Tim Parker and co.
Open access 👉 bmcbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....
300+ coauthors and 5+ years, this was a massive effort by @elliotgould.bsky.social Hannah Fraser Tim Parker and co.
Open access 👉 bmcbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....
Reposted by Dongmin (Dennis) Kim
Like birds and models? Dr. Erin Bayne and I are currently recruiting a 2 year postdoc to come work with us at the Boreal Avian Modelling project on boreal bird models and applications of those models. Full details are here tinyurl.com/4yxju63k. Feel free to get in touch with qs!
February 10, 2025 at 11:14 PM
Like birds and models? Dr. Erin Bayne and I are currently recruiting a 2 year postdoc to come work with us at the Boreal Avian Modelling project on boreal bird models and applications of those models. Full details are here tinyurl.com/4yxju63k. Feel free to get in touch with qs!
Reposted by Dongmin (Dennis) Kim
We are hiring! We look for a person with programming skills in R and/or Python. Application deadline is March 14th 2025. All details here: www.ab.mpg.de/654153/job_f...
Technical Assistant (m/f/d) | Moveapps
Help maintain and improve existing apps, create new apps, help maintaining the user manual up to date, support other developers if they encounter issues when developing their apps
www.ab.mpg.de
February 3, 2025 at 11:42 AM
We are hiring! We look for a person with programming skills in R and/or Python. Application deadline is March 14th 2025. All details here: www.ab.mpg.de/654153/job_f...
Reposted by Dongmin (Dennis) Kim
Updated vignette on Bayesian inference for hidden Markov models with hmmTMB: specifying priors, extracting posterior samples, visualising posterior uncertainty for estimated distributions and covariate-parameter relationships, etc.
Based on Stan, so it's pretty fast too!
github.com/TheoMichelot...
Based on Stan, so it's pretty fast too!
github.com/TheoMichelot...
December 9, 2024 at 6:31 PM
Updated vignette on Bayesian inference for hidden Markov models with hmmTMB: specifying priors, extracting posterior samples, visualising posterior uncertainty for estimated distributions and covariate-parameter relationships, etc.
Based on Stan, so it's pretty fast too!
github.com/TheoMichelot...
Based on Stan, so it's pretty fast too!
github.com/TheoMichelot...
Reposted by Dongmin (Dennis) Kim
3-year Postdoc Position
Join our team @mpi-animalbehav.bsky.social and investigate the dynamics of seasonal songbird migration using biologging technologies
See details here: bit.ly/3ZojW38
Please get in touch if interested & share with anyone else who might be!
Join our team @mpi-animalbehav.bsky.social and investigate the dynamics of seasonal songbird migration using biologging technologies
See details here: bit.ly/3ZojW38
Please get in touch if interested & share with anyone else who might be!
December 9, 2024 at 12:30 PM
3-year Postdoc Position
Join our team @mpi-animalbehav.bsky.social and investigate the dynamics of seasonal songbird migration using biologging technologies
See details here: bit.ly/3ZojW38
Please get in touch if interested & share with anyone else who might be!
Join our team @mpi-animalbehav.bsky.social and investigate the dynamics of seasonal songbird migration using biologging technologies
See details here: bit.ly/3ZojW38
Please get in touch if interested & share with anyone else who might be!
Reposted by Dongmin (Dennis) Kim
Are you passionate about California’s unique biodiversity and conservation?
Mongabay is hiring a California-based Staff Writer to cover biodiversity corridors, wildlife ecology in the context of climate change, and Indigenous conservation practices etc.
Apply now: mongabay.org/opportunity/...!
Mongabay is hiring a California-based Staff Writer to cover biodiversity corridors, wildlife ecology in the context of climate change, and Indigenous conservation practices etc.
Apply now: mongabay.org/opportunity/...!
December 5, 2024 at 1:31 PM
Are you passionate about California’s unique biodiversity and conservation?
Mongabay is hiring a California-based Staff Writer to cover biodiversity corridors, wildlife ecology in the context of climate change, and Indigenous conservation practices etc.
Apply now: mongabay.org/opportunity/...!
Mongabay is hiring a California-based Staff Writer to cover biodiversity corridors, wildlife ecology in the context of climate change, and Indigenous conservation practices etc.
Apply now: mongabay.org/opportunity/...!