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Jess Hightower

@jesshightower.bsky.social

Wildlife conservation | Landscape ecology |Tropical ecology | Habitat loss and fragmentation | Community ecology | Climate Change | fan of ๐Ÿฆs | she/her

3,527 Followers  |  838 Following  |  146 Posts  |  Joined: 09.09.2023  |  2.0401

Latest posts by jesshightower.bsky.social on Bluesky


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Youโ€™d almost never know they were in the forest, but Siamese Fireback really did seem to love the camera (cam trap)๐Ÿคฃ#Cambodia

31.01.2026 05:04 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 11    ๐Ÿ” 2    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Alex Pretti, the man killed by federal agents today in Minneapolis, appears to have been a registered nurse, an athlete, a son and a brother, with ties to Colorado and Wisconsin.

Here is a photo he used for several accounts.

24.01.2026 19:07 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 14953    ๐Ÿ” 6808    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 431    ๐Ÿ“Œ 548

๐Ÿ˜ฎ

19.01.2026 05:09 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Job Opportunities | .

The Wyoming Game & Fish Dept. is hiring two Black Rosy-Finch technicians to conduct alpine surveys in Wyoming's high elevation mountains during June 1st to Aug 31st 2026: www.governmentjobs.com/careers/wyom.... Spread the word!

16.01.2026 04:38 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 13    ๐Ÿ” 16    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Multitaxa functional diversity increases the resilience of biological natural capital in the Amazon This study presents a trait-based framework integrating functional diversity into biological natural capital accounting, capturing both ecosystem resilience and species uniqueness across multiple tax...

Very happy to share this new paper is out! ๐Ÿš€

Using multitaxa trait-based data, we introduce new indicators that capture ecosystem resilience and the critical role of functionally unique species for sustaining ecosystem functioning.

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

14.01.2026 11:25 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 27    ๐Ÿ” 11    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
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We are recruiting several PhD students. If you are interested in conservation conflicts, population ecology, quantitative ecology, or biodiversity, check these projects out (links in the thread, feel free to reach out):

28.12.2025 23:35 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 47    ๐Ÿ” 50    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2    ๐Ÿ“Œ 3
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Florida Strategic Initiatives Director The Florida Strategic Initiatives Director is an exciting new role that will coordinate PERCโ€™s market-based conservation work in Florida to advance meaningful conservation outcomes through improvement...

We are expanding into Florida, and we are hiring! www.perc.org/careers/flor...

22.12.2025 23:19 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 3    ๐Ÿ” 2    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Oooh, I need to get one as well!

08.12.2025 20:10 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 3    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Spatial Ecology and Conservation Modeling This textbook provides a foundation for modern applied ecology. It follows a rapidly changing field with updates of concepts, methods, and code.

Really happy to share that the Second Edition of our book, "Spatial Ecology and Conservation Modeling", is now out and available online!

We provide a foundation for applied spatial ecology with a focus on learning-by-doing.

@camzoology.bsky.social @conservation.cam.ac.uk

08.12.2025 09:23 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 41    ๐Ÿ” 12    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 4    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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๐Ÿ“ฃPlease share: We are looking for a field assistant to join our team in studying #ruffs on coastal meadows at Botnian Bay in Finland. The job will provide fantastic insights into lekking behaviour and provide essential skills in field ornithology. Details here www.bi.mpg.de/2790786/2512...

08.12.2025 16:25 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 87    ๐Ÿ” 79    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 3    ๐Ÿ“Œ 3
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And maybe some mouse deer? ๐Ÿ˜„

20.11.2025 02:08 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 3    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Thinking I need to submit a mouse deer photo for cover now.

20.11.2025 01:16 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

No one told the bat the robin was suppose to be their sidekick, not side dish.

18.11.2025 20:17 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 6    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Bat vs. Robinโ€”Scientists Capture Real-Life Audio of Midair Hunt Scientists suspected that Europeโ€™s largest bats snack on migrating songbirds when they can, but a stunning newly published observation proves it

๐Ÿคฏ Wild shit here. They put biologgers on greater noctule bats and found them pursuing, capturing, and eating birds in-flight. The recording of a European Robin getting blasted and snacked on is nuts.

Sci Am story: www.scientificamerican.com/article/this...

Paper: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

18.11.2025 19:15 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 53    ๐Ÿ” 18    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 5    ๐Ÿ“Œ 6
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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....

12.11.2025 16:21 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 115    ๐Ÿ” 35    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 5    ๐Ÿ“Œ 3

Thanks, it seems like a pretty relevant conference.

13.11.2025 20:12 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Call for Abstracts Call for oral and poster abstracts for WBF2026 More than 90 sessions, in 10 thematic tracks will bring together international researchers, artists, practitioners, companies and policy makers from a va...

I know this is a newer conference, but has anyone been to an earlier one or planning to go next year? worldbiodiversityforum.org/call-for-abs...

13.11.2025 19:33 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Genomic demography predicts community dynamics in a temperate montane forest Species population sizes fluctuate over time, and these temporal dynamics play a key role in governing the maintenance of biodiversity. Although modeling approaches have been developed to characterize...

This looks to be a fundamental theoretical advance by @jpodwyer.bsky.social et al. Using linkage disequlibrium-based Ne to back out ฯƒยฒ and then predict fluctuation sizes from a single temporal snapshot is a real advance for broad application ๐Ÿงช๐ŸŒhttps://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adu6396

07.10.2025 19:14 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 30    ๐Ÿ” 11    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Using automated acoustic monitoring, citizen science, and centuries of ornithological research and understanding to quantify ecological integrity at scale.

The BirdsPlus Index, a novel method for assessing site-level conservation values.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

16.10.2025 16:16 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 45    ๐Ÿ” 18    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 4    ๐Ÿ“Œ 2
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Our Global Wildfire Collective Spatial Data Gateway is here! Intended for sharing wildfire-related data, maps, models, tools, and publications.

Explore now!
globalwildfirecollective.databasin.org

#GlobalWildfireCollective #ConsBio #DataBasin #FireData #WildfireData #Wildfire #Fire #FireResearch

15.10.2025 20:00 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 9    ๐Ÿ” 10    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Does this count? ๐Ÿ˜…

13.10.2025 18:42 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Ranchers are using โ€˜virtual fencingโ€™ to move their cattle โ€” and help save prairies Virtual fencing uses GPS collars, sounds and electrical cues to move cattle across a landscape. Along with saving ranchers time, researchers say this new technology can help protect, and create, wildl...

I've been laying low, getting started at @westernu.ca but time to emerge from under the rock...
Here is a nice article about virtual fencing for cattle that includes our efforts to find conservation solutions for grassland birds on private lands.
www.kcur.org/environment-...

13.10.2025 16:29 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 6    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Do we have a word yet for โ€œfear of closing tabsโ€?

14.09.2025 05:56 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 5    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Indigenous Territories can safeguard human health depending on the landscape structure and legal status - Communications Earth & Environment Indigenous territory extent in the Amazon biome can reduce the incidence of fire-related and zoonotic/vector-borne diseases, but only in certain contexts, according to an analysis of disease incidence...

๐ŸŒณ๐ŸฆŸIndigenous territory extent in the Amazon biome can reduce the incidence of fire-related and zoonotic/vector-borne diseases in humans.

๐Ÿ‘‰Read more here: www.nature.com/articles/s43...

12.09.2025 12:28 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 5    ๐Ÿ” 3    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

A very cool story!

07.09.2025 18:59 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 3    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

NYT coverage of Gaza was the last straw for me. I canceled my subscription. Infuriating that this is their normal approach to covering any news out of Gaza.

25.08.2025 22:18 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 2    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Conceptual overview of the deepSSF neural network used to predict animal movement.

Conceptual overview of the deepSSF neural network used to predict animal movement.

๐Ÿ“–Published๐Ÿ“–

Forrest et al. present deepSSF, an approach to fit and predict animal movement data using deep learning ๐Ÿƒ ๐ŸŒ ๐Ÿงช Read the full article here ๐Ÿ‘‡

buff.ly/BWQ3Oni

22.08.2025 11:02 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 15    ๐Ÿ” 8    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Ok I like it, Picasso.

19.08.2025 21:01 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Need a brand name? Pick a word and remove a vowel (or two). So should I call my pretend business Ecolgy, Eclogy, Eclgy, Wld, Brds, Natr, Envro, BDvy?

19.08.2025 20:34 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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2025 - Hypoxia PhD job ad The Moore lab at the University of Colorado Denver is searching for 1 Ph.D. student to study the elevational limits of dragonflies in Colorado (http://moore-evo-eco.weebly.com). This position is fully...

Are you looking for a PhD position and want to spend your summers in the Rocky Mountains?

My lab @cudenverclas.bsky.social is looking for 1 PhD student to work on a NSF-funded project to study elevational range shifts in Colorado! ๐Ÿงช๐ŸŒ๐Ÿ™

Apply by Nov 1!

Details here docs.google.com/document/d/1...

18.08.2025 13:02 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 34    ๐Ÿ” 35    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 3    ๐Ÿ“Œ 3

@jesshightower is following 20 prominent accounts