Matt Kerr

I rely heavily on Untitled1 through Untitled30 for support! I should acknowledge them more.

Untitled1 is the one true way

JOBS JOBS JOBS! Stony Brook are advertising two assistant professorships in vertebrate palaeo/evolution, one focused on (in the words of the SVP programme) NOT DINOSAURS and the other on evolutionary neurology:
apply.interfolio.com/172502
apply.interfolio.com/172517

Forgotten Victorian hobby: seaweed herbariums bound in scallop shells
www.sturgisantiques.com/items/victor...

If you know anyone interested in starting a Master's project working on ammonoid phylogenetics (or the phylogenetics of a mollusc group spanning the OAE2 event in the Late Cretaceous), then ask them to get in touch with me.

The situation is a little tricky, as it would be funded by the remainder…

🚨 New paper in PLOS Biology!

📉 Women publish up to 45% fewer papers than men
📉 Non-native English speakers: –35%
📉 Triple barrier (woman + non-native English + low-income): –70%

🌍 Language & equity matter in science!
👉 doi.org/10.1371/jour...

#EquityInScience #LanguageMatters #OpenScience

We have a lab slack channel called Bad Plots. I added this beauty today (boxplots always give me problems), but at least my lab is extremely supportive.

With this methodology, you'd also find that native herbivores generally "harm" plants and native carnivores generally "harm" their prey & competition - unsurprisingly, intuitively & given the huge literature on herbivory, competition, predation etc 🌿

Early registration (and the best possible rates) still open for the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology annual meeting 2025 in Birmingham, but it closes on Thursday. Register now if you haven't already! #SVP2025 #2025SVP

vertpaleo.org/2025-registr...

Causal evidence of racial and institutional biases in accessing paywalled articles and scientific data Scientific progress fundamentally depends on researchers' ability to access and build upon the work of others. Yet, a majority of published work remains behind expensive paywalls, limiting access to u...

arxiv.org/abs/2509.08299

A diagram titled "Ecological Network Optimisation" with attractive landscapes and networks and very clear AI-generation artifacts.

Check out the graphical abstract for a paper recently published in Ecological Modelling.

I have papers published in Ecological Modelling. Never again, I guess.

Three painted miniatures of foot soldiers from the game "Warhammer: The Old World". One carries a banner with a dragon face motif, one is carrying a drum, and one a large sword with his hair in a knot. The minis are largely painted in silver armour with jade green cloth. They are from the Grand Cathay faction, which is inspired by medieval China.

Don't share too many mini photos since the move to blue sky - but I've been really enjoying painting models from the Grand Cathay range! Still some work to do, but I think these may get a spot on the shelf. Really beautiful sculpts.

I’m very happy to share our new paper “Intensive feeding modifies nutrient patterns in a strictly protected area” (doi.org/10.1016/j.je...), just out in Journal of Environmental Management. We explore underestimated consequences of a common management practice: supplementary feeding of deer. (1/5)

Do you love alpine plants, ancient DNA, and/or population genetics? My lab will be hiring a postdoc soon to be based at the University of Maine! We’re looking for someone who uses genetic tools and thinks like a community ecologist. Happy to chat at #ESA2025 if you’re interested.

The giant oyster lays on a size 44 (European size) wellington boot.

It’s time to show oysters some love because it’s World Oyster Day! 🦪🦪🦪🦪🦪🦪

Did you know that the largest oyster ever found was a Pacific oyster that was 35.5 cm long?

To put that in perspective, normally, Pacific oysters reach 15-20 centimetres.

📷 Wadden Sea Center
1/3

digitized color book plate in portrait orientation, natural history art, scientific illustration of an oyster specimen, outer and inner shell views

Today is also #WorldOysterDay 🦪 - on a #MolluscMonday !
“Denticulated Oyster” (Striostrea denticulata)
illustration by R. P. Nodder in George Shaw’s _The naturalist's miscellany_ Vol. 16, London, 1804-5
Via Biodiversity Heritage Library : www.flickr.com/photos/biodi...

Shannon's H, Simpson's D, and Pielou's J are useless in ecology. Fitting data with a compound abundance distribution based on the geometric series is a better way to quantify variation – and to estimate species richness. New paper in Ecology Letters.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Please repost. For those who might have missed it, our School has three ongoing positions advertised. The work environment here at Monash is top notch: supportive, collegiate and inclusive. And Melbourne is an awesome city to live in. Deadline fast approaching. Get cracking on those applications!

Welcome to our 2025 Annual Meeting - British Ecological Society Join ecologists from around the world for Europe’s largest and most welcoming conference dedicated to ecology.

Registration and abstract submission are now open for BES2025.

Learn more 👉

Student Conference on Conservation Science - Welcome SCCS helps young conservation scientists gain experience, learn new ideas and make contacts that will be valuable for their future careers.

25th Student Conference in Conservation Science, Cambridge, 31 March – 2 April 2026. Looking for postgraduate students and early-career conservation scientists, in a broad range of fields, to apply to present talks or posters on their work.
www.sccs-cam.org

5 papers all computational biologists should read 🧵

1. A Quick Guide to Organizing Computational Biology Projects
journals.plos.org/ploscompbio...

Best practices for LGBTQ+ inclusion during ecological fieldwork: Considering safety, cis/heteronormativity and structural barriers We recommend that mentors and institutions take action on the safety, financial, medical and administrative support needed by field researchers who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer or other m...

Just became aware of this paper - lots of great ideas for how to make sure field trips support LGBTQ+ ecologists besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Aarhus postdocs past and present representing well at #BESMacro2025

🐠🦈 Just out: In this paper we ask "How has reef trophic structure changed since humans started removing predatory fishes from Caribbean coral reefs?".

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Illustrations @cookedillustrations.com

The Journal of Animal Ecology's 5th Sidnie Manton award is now open to proposals!🚨
Read more about the award here: buff.ly/BV6OT1P
...and submit your proposal here: buff.ly/YsnYe29
The deadline for proposals will be 1 September 2025.

Lunes.

New preprint: we advertise DAFNEE, a database of academia-friendly eco-evo-archaeo journals. 1/6
#AcademicPublishing #ecoevo #archaeology #EthicalPublishing #SocietyJournals #DiamondOpenAccess
doi.org/10.32942/X24...

Screenshot of the full text PDF of Nature Ecology & Evolution's June 2025 Editorial entitled "Accessibility for all"

Accessibility for all www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Our June Editorial discusses the many barriers and challenges scientists with disabilities face during their careers, and highlights actions journals can take to improve accessibility

Springer Nature Discovers MDPI – The Strain on Scientific Publishing Home page for the paper ‘The Strain on Scientific Publishing’ by Mark A Hanson, Dan Brockington, Paolo Crosetto and Pablo Gomez Barreiro

Springer-Nature launched a series of "Discover" journals that closely mimic MDPI titles -- sharing *identical* journal names, and likely similar business model.

What is going on, and why researcher will - as always - fall for it?

A 🧵

the-strain-on-scientific-publishing.github.io/website/post...

Have you developed a computational method or tool which would be useful to palaeobiologists? 🧰 If you might be interested in presenting in our Lecture Series later in the year, please get in touch with us! 🗓️ #FossilFriday