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
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🧪
Reposted by Dr. July Pilowsky
We are pleased to announce that throughout Open Access Week, from 20 – 26 October, all Royal Society journal content is freely available. Explore our journals here: royalsociety.org/Journals/ #OAWeek #OAWeek25
October 20, 2025 at 9:15 AM
We are pleased to announce that throughout Open Access Week, from 20 – 26 October, all Royal Society journal content is freely available. Explore our journals here: royalsociety.org/Journals/ #OAWeek #OAWeek25
Reposted by Dr. July Pilowsky
Very grateful to @nsaphra.bsky.social for making their (successful) job market materials publicly available: nsaphra.net/post/jobmark.... It's very handy to be able see what these things are supposed to look like!
Faculty Market Portfolio | Naomi Saphra
Statements from my faculty applications.
nsaphra.net
October 17, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Very grateful to @nsaphra.bsky.social for making their (successful) job market materials publicly available: nsaphra.net/post/jobmark.... It's very handy to be able see what these things are supposed to look like!
Reposted by Dr. July Pilowsky
I'm working on a story about this policy change regarding X gender markers on passports. If you have an X gender marker and want to discuss, please DM me!
papersplease.org/wp/2025/10/1...
papersplease.org/wp/2025/10/1...
CBP changes procedures for airline passengers with “X” passports – Papers, Please!
CBP regulations require would-be airline passengers to identify as “M” or F”. These regulations were never changed, even when CBP was accepting “X” gender markers.
papersplease.org
October 15, 2025 at 10:25 PM
I'm working on a story about this policy change regarding X gender markers on passports. If you have an X gender marker and want to discuss, please DM me!
papersplease.org/wp/2025/10/1...
papersplease.org/wp/2025/10/1...
Due to this policy, I have just applied for a visa waiver to a country of which I am a citizen. Why? Because my American passport has an X on it, and now I can only safely enter the country using my Chilean passport with a binary sex marker.
www.visaverge.com/passport/cbp...
www.visaverge.com/passport/cbp...
CBP Enforces Binary Sex Codes and Strengthens APIS Passport Validation
CBP has implemented two APIS enforcement measures affecting flights to and from the United States. Effective October 14, 2025, APIS sex fields must contain only binary codes “M” or “F”; any other valu...
www.visaverge.com
October 15, 2025 at 1:52 PM
Due to this policy, I have just applied for a visa waiver to a country of which I am a citizen. Why? Because my American passport has an X on it, and now I can only safely enter the country using my Chilean passport with a binary sex marker.
www.visaverge.com/passport/cbp...
www.visaverge.com/passport/cbp...
Reposted by Dr. July Pilowsky
Bird species with specialized diets and migratory habits tend to show higher fear of novelty, a stable trait that may influence their adaptability to environmental change. doi.org/g96v62
Chickening out: Why some birds fear novelty
The largest-ever study on neophobia, or fear of novelty, has discovered the key reasons why some bird species are more fearful of new things than others.
phys.org
October 14, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Bird species with specialized diets and migratory habits tend to show higher fear of novelty, a stable trait that may influence their adaptability to environmental change. doi.org/g96v62
Convex hull range estimation
In honor of spooky month, share a 4 word horror story that only someone in your profession would understand
I'll go first: Six page commercial lease.
I'll go first: Six page commercial lease.
October 14, 2025 at 9:28 AM
Convex hull range estimation
Reposted by Dr. July Pilowsky
Missing Values were dropped;
Mean Imputation was applied;
Data available on request;
Code available on request;
#rstats
Mean Imputation was applied;
Data available on request;
Code available on request;
#rstats
In honor of spooky month, share a 4 word horror story that only someone in your profession would understand
I'll go first: Six page commercial lease.
I'll go first: Six page commercial lease.
October 13, 2025 at 6:34 AM
Missing Values were dropped;
Mean Imputation was applied;
Data available on request;
Code available on request;
#rstats
Mean Imputation was applied;
Data available on request;
Code available on request;
#rstats
Decorating my apartment with signed posters of the larps I’ve written for @makeascenemn.bsky.social
October 13, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Decorating my apartment with signed posters of the larps I’ve written for @makeascenemn.bsky.social
Reposted by Dr. July Pilowsky
EXTREMELY COOL BAT STUFF: A study out in Science today found that the greater noctule bat, Europe's largest, hunts and catches *migrating birds* while in flight. In at least one case, a bat climbed to more than 1200 feet, then chased a robin downward FAST until it caught it near the ground.
Greater noctule bats prey on and consume passerines in flight
Despite billions of passerines seasonally migrating during the night at high altitudes, only three bat species have been found to consistently tap into this rich prey resource. However, it remains unk...
www.science.org
October 9, 2025 at 8:02 PM
EXTREMELY COOL BAT STUFF: A study out in Science today found that the greater noctule bat, Europe's largest, hunts and catches *migrating birds* while in flight. In at least one case, a bat climbed to more than 1200 feet, then chased a robin downward FAST until it caught it near the ground.
Reposted by Dr. July Pilowsky
One of the risks of bowerbirds sharing space with a university - sometimes scientific equipment (and samples) get pinched! Soy sauce containers also seem to be popular
October 9, 2025 at 5:33 AM
One of the risks of bowerbirds sharing space with a university - sometimes scientific equipment (and samples) get pinched! Soy sauce containers also seem to be popular
Reposted by Dr. July Pilowsky
"Cosplaying" and "larping" are real activities done by real people, and using these terms as slang for "pretending to be someone you're not, for political purposes" does indeed alienate those of us who take part in these activities.
October 8, 2025 at 12:58 PM
"Cosplaying" and "larping" are real activities done by real people, and using these terms as slang for "pretending to be someone you're not, for political purposes" does indeed alienate those of us who take part in these activities.
I’m just going to start calling out people who do this.
All support to AAUP, but this petition does not mention the fact that the loyalty oath requires universities to discriminate against trans students and students of color.
All support to AAUP, but this petition does not mention the fact that the loyalty oath requires universities to discriminate against trans students and students of color.
NO LOYALTY OATHS IN HIGHER ED!
Trump's attacks on our universities are an attempt to consolidate power. This loyalty oath directly undermines our right to academic freedom & goes against every democratic principle our country should uphold.
Please click below, sign, & share.
#DefendHigherEd
Trump's attacks on our universities are an attempt to consolidate power. This loyalty oath directly undermines our right to academic freedom & goes against every democratic principle our country should uphold.
Please click below, sign, & share.
#DefendHigherEd
University Administrations: Reject Trump's "Loyalty Oath" Compacts
The Trump administration is trying to blackmail schools to let him and his unqualified bureaucrats run our schools. They want to dictate what schools teach, who they admit and hire, what researchers s...
actionnetwork.org
October 8, 2025 at 7:55 AM
I’m just going to start calling out people who do this.
All support to AAUP, but this petition does not mention the fact that the loyalty oath requires universities to discriminate against trans students and students of color.
All support to AAUP, but this petition does not mention the fact that the loyalty oath requires universities to discriminate against trans students and students of color.
Reposted by Dr. July Pilowsky
The 2021–2025 North American #H5N1 outbreak evolved through successive lineage replacements and each new reassortant virus outcompeted its ancestor (😯😯😯), and the Prairie Pothole Region (Minnesota and Dakota area) is the hub for spreading.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Spatiotemporal reconstruction of the North American A(H5N1) outbreak reveals successive lineage replacements by descendant reassortants
Phylodynamics show the reassortant progeny of Eurasian H5 clade 2.3.4.4b and American LPAI viruses outcompeted their ancestors.
www.science.org
October 7, 2025 at 2:11 PM
The 2021–2025 North American #H5N1 outbreak evolved through successive lineage replacements and each new reassortant virus outcompeted its ancestor (😯😯😯), and the Prairie Pothole Region (Minnesota and Dakota area) is the hub for spreading.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Dr. July Pilowsky
One of the amazing things about science is we will never run out of mysteries.
Take "Naturwissenschaften (2003) 90:495–500", which performed a survey of 10,000 dinosaur fossils for evidence of tumors in the bone.
I was prepared for yes, no, but what I wasn't prepared for was:
"only in hadrosaurs."
Take "Naturwissenschaften (2003) 90:495–500", which performed a survey of 10,000 dinosaur fossils for evidence of tumors in the bone.
I was prepared for yes, no, but what I wasn't prepared for was:
"only in hadrosaurs."
March 15, 2025 at 11:48 PM
One of the amazing things about science is we will never run out of mysteries.
Take "Naturwissenschaften (2003) 90:495–500", which performed a survey of 10,000 dinosaur fossils for evidence of tumors in the bone.
I was prepared for yes, no, but what I wasn't prepared for was:
"only in hadrosaurs."
Take "Naturwissenschaften (2003) 90:495–500", which performed a survey of 10,000 dinosaur fossils for evidence of tumors in the bone.
I was prepared for yes, no, but what I wasn't prepared for was:
"only in hadrosaurs."
Really wish that all the academics rightfully denouncing Trump’s coercive “compact” for universities would mention the fact that it would require universities to viciously discriminate against trans students and students of color. Academic freedom is important, but it’s not the only value at stake.
October 7, 2025 at 1:51 PM
Really wish that all the academics rightfully denouncing Trump’s coercive “compact” for universities would mention the fact that it would require universities to viciously discriminate against trans students and students of color. Academic freedom is important, but it’s not the only value at stake.
I don’t rubber duck my code, I goldfinch my code
October 6, 2025 at 9:52 AM
I don’t rubber duck my code, I goldfinch my code
Reposted by Dr. July Pilowsky
September 30, 2025 at 5:24 PM