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
Reposted by Brian O'Meara
NSF is open again!
A few comments:
*Please be patient.
During a shutdown NSF employees cannot open computers or respond to emails.
*Merit review will continue. However panels won’t resume until after Dec 8th.
*POs remain excited and committed to advancing science and the scientific workforce.
A few comments:
*Please be patient.
During a shutdown NSF employees cannot open computers or respond to emails.
*Merit review will continue. However panels won’t resume until after Dec 8th.
*POs remain excited and committed to advancing science and the scientific workforce.
November 13, 2025 at 5:58 PM
NSF is open again!
A few comments:
*Please be patient.
During a shutdown NSF employees cannot open computers or respond to emails.
*Merit review will continue. However panels won’t resume until after Dec 8th.
*POs remain excited and committed to advancing science and the scientific workforce.
A few comments:
*Please be patient.
During a shutdown NSF employees cannot open computers or respond to emails.
*Merit review will continue. However panels won’t resume until after Dec 8th.
*POs remain excited and committed to advancing science and the scientific workforce.
Great example of how ecology is done, including how open questions about effects of climate change are fairly examined (tl;dr: many birds doing ok, but not all)
How are Pacific NW mountain birds responding to climate change?
I got up at 4:00 am for a month to find out.
but first the backstory, or "how I spent seven years telling everyone this project wasn't possible"
new paper here:
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
I got up at 4:00 am for a month to find out.
but first the backstory, or "how I spent seven years telling everyone this project wasn't possible"
new paper here:
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
November 13, 2025 at 12:17 PM
Great example of how ecology is done, including how open questions about effects of climate change are fairly examined (tl;dr: many birds doing ok, but not all)
Reposted by Brian O'Meara
LGBTQ+ Journal Club is turning 1! 🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈To celebrate, here's a bit about what we've been up to over the past year: a thread of interesting papers in queer biology (1/n) ⬇️🧵
November 11, 2025 at 11:54 AM
LGBTQ+ Journal Club is turning 1! 🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈To celebrate, here's a bit about what we've been up to over the past year: a thread of interesting papers in queer biology (1/n) ⬇️🧵
There's a lot going on in the world. But a positive thing is that when our local fusion reactor shoots something that could fry our electronics:
1) Earth still manages to shield us
2) We go outside, take pictures of the pretty lights, and show them to our friends.
1) Earth still manages to shield us
2) We go outside, take pictures of the pretty lights, and show them to our friends.
The Sun just produced an X5.1 class #SolarFlare. This is the largest flare of 2025 so far, and 6th largest of the past two years. It triggered a strong ‘Radio Blackout’ and moderate ‘Solar Radiation Storm’ at Earth, and released what is most likely an Earth-directed coronal mass ejection!
November 12, 2025 at 1:54 PM
There's a lot going on in the world. But a positive thing is that when our local fusion reactor shoots something that could fry our electronics:
1) Earth still manages to shield us
2) We go outside, take pictures of the pretty lights, and show them to our friends.
1) Earth still manages to shield us
2) We go outside, take pictures of the pretty lights, and show them to our friends.
Reposted by Brian O'Meara
Are you an early-stage graduate student (2nd or 3rd year) or early-stage postdoc based in the US or Canada, working primarily in Drosophila? Would you like to help improve the experience of all trainees working in Drosophila research? If so, read on.
(Please repost to reach a broad audience.)
(Please repost to reach a broad audience.)
November 12, 2025 at 4:49 AM
Are you an early-stage graduate student (2nd or 3rd year) or early-stage postdoc based in the US or Canada, working primarily in Drosophila? Would you like to help improve the experience of all trainees working in Drosophila research? If so, read on.
(Please repost to reach a broad audience.)
(Please repost to reach a broad audience.)
Reposted by Brian O'Meara
We wrote the Strain on scientific publishing to highlight the problems of time & trust. With a fantastic group of co-authors, we present The Drain of Scientific Publishing:
a 🧵 1/n
Drain: arxiv.org/abs/2511.04820
Strain: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...
Oligopoly: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...
a 🧵 1/n
Drain: arxiv.org/abs/2511.04820
Strain: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...
Oligopoly: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...
November 11, 2025 at 11:52 AM
We wrote the Strain on scientific publishing to highlight the problems of time & trust. With a fantastic group of co-authors, we present The Drain of Scientific Publishing:
a 🧵 1/n
Drain: arxiv.org/abs/2511.04820
Strain: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...
Oligopoly: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...
a 🧵 1/n
Drain: arxiv.org/abs/2511.04820
Strain: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...
Oligopoly: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...
“Welcome to my public talk. I have prepared slides and a speech for you, my friends, frenemies, and randos to understand this cool ring that shows writing when heated. Keep it secret; keep it safe. First slide: 🔥💍🔥.”
Aka embargoed talks at a scientific conference. They just seem a weird choice.
Aka embargoed talks at a scientific conference. They just seem a weird choice.
November 12, 2025 at 12:17 PM
“Welcome to my public talk. I have prepared slides and a speech for you, my friends, frenemies, and randos to understand this cool ring that shows writing when heated. Keep it secret; keep it safe. First slide: 🔥💍🔥.”
Aka embargoed talks at a scientific conference. They just seem a weird choice.
Aka embargoed talks at a scientific conference. They just seem a weird choice.
Reposted by Brian O'Meara
Submit them to Aurorasaurus!!! They're an NSF funded project out of University of New Mexico that takes crowdsourced aurora observations for research purposes:
www.aurorasaurus.org
www.aurorasaurus.org
Aurorasaurus - Reporting Auroras from the Ground Up
Friends, see my real-time #aurora report on the aurorasaurus.org map! Follow us on www.facebook.com/aurorasaurus.org. Reporting #northernlights and #citizenscience from the ground up since 2012!
www.aurorasaurus.org
November 12, 2025 at 3:25 AM
Submit them to Aurorasaurus!!! They're an NSF funded project out of University of New Mexico that takes crowdsourced aurora observations for research purposes:
www.aurorasaurus.org
www.aurorasaurus.org
Reposted by Brian O'Meara
Michael Foote's Models of Morphological Diversification (1996) should be required reading for folks researching disparity.
"Assessing changes in the size of morphological transitions requires reliable evolutionary trees, preferably trees reflecting ancestor-descendant pairs, not merely sister taxa"
"Assessing changes in the size of morphological transitions requires reliable evolutionary trees, preferably trees reflecting ancestor-descendant pairs, not merely sister taxa"
November 11, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Michael Foote's Models of Morphological Diversification (1996) should be required reading for folks researching disparity.
"Assessing changes in the size of morphological transitions requires reliable evolutionary trees, preferably trees reflecting ancestor-descendant pairs, not merely sister taxa"
"Assessing changes in the size of morphological transitions requires reliable evolutionary trees, preferably trees reflecting ancestor-descendant pairs, not merely sister taxa"
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...