Matt Stephenson, PhD's Avatar

Matt Stephenson, PhD

@mattdstep.bsky.social

Data manager and landscape ecologist at Iowa State University's Bioeconomy Institute. Interested in agroecology, grassland birds, prairie restoration, regenerative agriculture, statistics, data viz, and spaceflight. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

309 Followers  |  145 Following  |  40 Posts  |  Joined: 17.11.2024  |  1.7986

Latest posts by mattdstep.bsky.social on Bluesky

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Tonight’s #prairie restoration view.

03.08.2025 02:00 β€” πŸ‘ 10    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Meet Mark Mba-Wright, professor of mechanical engineering. His work at Iowa State's Bioeconomy Institute exemplifies the integration of visionary ideas with practical applications, driving forward the boundaries of what is possible. research.iastate.edu/faces-of-dis...

15.07.2025 18:04 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
(Animated) visualisation of generation and flows 9 types of (meta) data (full text, abstract, license,affiliations, funding, references, PR status, deposits, retractions) across 9 'actors' in the system (manuscript. publishers, crossref, search engine (e.g. crossref), search engine(e.g. openalex), ORCID, CRIS, repository, (search engine, e.g. openaire)

(Animated) visualisation of generation and flows 9 types of (meta) data (full text, abstract, license,affiliations, funding, references, PR status, deposits, retractions) across 9 'actors' in the system (manuscript. publishers, crossref, search engine (e.g. crossref), search engine(e.g. openalex), ORCID, CRIS, repository, (search engine, e.g. openaire)

For publication metadata nerds: viz of the generation of various metadata and their flow through the scholarly publishing system. The link goes to the online version that is fully animated, and has additional versions. Wonder if you think this is useful. docs.google.com/presentation...

07.07.2025 17:58 β€” πŸ‘ 27    πŸ” 12    πŸ’¬ 4    πŸ“Œ 0
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2025 Publications Awards Winners announced - The Wildlife Society Awards include best authored and edited books as well as journal articles

These 2025 TWS Publication Awards celebrate the best in new books and journal publications on wildlife biology and conservation. Professionals and students alike have brought new and exciting insights to the field.

03.07.2025 15:42 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Tonight’s #prairie restoration view selection: a bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa). Someday, this oak will tower over this former corn field. I can’t wait.

04.07.2025 02:34 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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BeeBox: A novel artificial nestbox for bumblebee research, conservation and engagement Pollinators, particularly bumblebees, play a vital role in global food production, yet their populations face severe declines due to habitat loss. While conservation efforts have focused on food p...

Super excited to share that our beebox methods paper is available online at @methodsinecoevol.bsky.social, anyone looking to do some cool bumble science, get in touch! besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

02.07.2025 15:55 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

If you're a scientist who's had to cut or cancel your field season because of US budget cuts, DM me here for an oped I'm working on. 🌏πŸ§ͺ

30.06.2025 02:08 β€” πŸ‘ 37    πŸ” 50    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1
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Showy milkweed (Asclepias speciosa) popping up on the edge of a gravel road.

26.06.2025 19:44 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Please share!
Our lab at LSU @lsuscience.bsky.social is looking for a student to join us in Spring or Fall 2026.
If you are interested in mountain birds and GENOMICS, and want to work on a project in Bolivian cloud forests, send me an email montanolab.com/join-us/

26.06.2025 18:25 β€” πŸ‘ 7    πŸ” 9    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1
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Tonight’s #prairie restoration view selection: Hairy false goldenaster (Heterotheca villosa).

27.06.2025 01:53 β€” πŸ‘ 28    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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In Alabama, a Social Media Influencer Really Gets Wild

This inspirational story of how a β€œdeer hunter, forester, Southern man posting about flowers” became an effective steward and advocate for the protection of grassland remnants in Alabama is absolutely worth a read.

www.nytimes.com/2025/06/24/c...

25.06.2025 11:50 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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5 things we learned in EarthCARE’s impressive first year - Earth Online Clouds and aerosols, and their contribution to Earth's energy balance, are already less mysterious after the Earth Cloud, Aerosol and Radiation Explorer's first year in orbit.

Just heard that the EarthCARE (Earth Cloud, Aerosol, and Radiation Explorer) satellite, which was developed to study clouds and precipitation, can actually also detect swarms of insects from space! #LPS25 🌎 πŸ›°οΈ πŸ§ͺ πŸ¦— earth.esa.int/eogateway/su...

25.06.2025 14:13 β€” πŸ‘ 17    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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About 0.16% of the old growth prairie hangs on in our county of 600k people. Honored to plant an extra 1,000 new acres over the last few years.

25.06.2025 15:29 β€” πŸ‘ 25    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Show us the weird slime in your home! The Extremophile Campaign wants photos of weird microbial growth in your home. They're studying slime, crust, or stringy growthβ€”life that grows on your showerhead, sink, water tank, or other places.

Is your bathroom harboring a weird slime? Is there a strange crust underneath your sink? Scientists studying the microbes in our homes want your picturesβ€”and we'd like to see them too! Fill out our quick form for a chance to be featured on our site and social media. 🦠 πŸ“Έ

23.06.2025 21:17 β€” πŸ‘ 42    πŸ” 11    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 3
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I talked about our research, basic coyote behavior and life history, how living in urban communities impacts coyote behavior, and what works to reduce conflict between humans and coyotes. It was good to take questions from the council members and have a thoughtful discussion about urban wildlife.

24.06.2025 15:04 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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RDM Weekly - Issue 001 A weekly roundup of Research Data Management resources.

Welcome to the first issue of RDM Weekly, a weekly roundup of Research Data Management resources!

To kick off this newsletter, I will be doing a drawing for 1 free @rfortherestofus.com course for anyone who subscribes by Friday! Winner will be notified via email.

open.substack.com/pub/rdmweekl...

24.06.2025 16:43 β€” πŸ‘ 39    πŸ” 17    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 4

"blood" πŸ˜…

23.06.2025 20:07 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Fuzzy lil jellybeans

(Bobolinks)

21.06.2025 18:39 β€” πŸ‘ 312    πŸ” 10    πŸ’¬ 4    πŸ“Œ 2
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A watercolor lizard is getting ready for his role in a complex research figure design.

#sciart #ecology

20.06.2025 10:02 β€” πŸ‘ 59    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0
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A checklist for designing and improving the visualization of scientific data Nature Cell Biology - Creating clear and engaging scientific figures is crucial to communicate complex data. In this Comment, I condense principles from design, visual perception and data...

I gave in! After students asking for it, I now made a simple figure design checklist.
To help all scientists w/o graphic skills create clear, accessible, and truthful charts!
-> Out in @nature Cell Biology: rdcu.be/erwl4

#DataVisualization #PhD #SciComm

Thx for review @bethcimini.bsky.social + 2

18.06.2025 08:33 β€” πŸ‘ 295    πŸ” 117    πŸ’¬ 15    πŸ“Œ 3
Red-winged blackbird nest parasitized by a Sora in June 2009 in south-central North Dakota. Photo: L.D. Igl.

Red-winged blackbird nest parasitized by a Sora in June 2009 in south-central North Dakota. Photo: L.D. Igl.

TIL that Sora will parasitize Red-winged blackbird nests πŸ€―πŸ¦‰
doi.org/10.22621/cfn...

20.06.2025 14:36 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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AvianLexiconAtlas: A database of descriptive categories of English-language bird names around the world Common names of species are important for communicating with the general public. In principle, these names should provide an accessible way to engage with and identify species. The common names of spe...

ooooh new paper out today. a couple of years ago a big group of us were like "hey let's spend a few weeks painstakingly looking up the sources of every official bird common name" and as of today, you too can join us in our ornitholetymological (yes i made that up) rabbit-hole:

11.06.2025 18:38 β€” πŸ‘ 63    πŸ” 23    πŸ’¬ 7    πŸ“Œ 6
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Iowa State ecologist studying water treatment wetlands to optimize benefits Do wetlands engineered for water quality treatment function in ways that provide benefits for biodiversity, similar to Iowa’s natural wetlands?

Research takes time - it's worth it! Slowly, as data is gathered, we learn more and can implement what we've learned. Check out this project by Charlie Loewen @loewen-ecology.bsky.social‬ on water treatment wetlands designed to improve Iowa's water quality, ecosystems, and sustainable agriculture.

12.06.2025 15:05 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Sniffin' around for a learning opportunity? Join us THIS Friday, June 13th, at 11 a.m. ET to learn more about using detection dogs in conservation! πŸ•

Learn more and register here: https://wildlife.org/events/event/ethical-and-effective-best-practices-for-detection-dog-use-in-conservation/

11.06.2025 21:02 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Honored to become a @aaas.org fellow with @lisaschultemoore.bsky.social and Amy Toth. Prairie strip scientists well represented today! @kbslter.bsky.social

07.06.2025 21:35 β€” πŸ‘ 31    πŸ” 7    πŸ’¬ 4    πŸ“Œ 0
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Modeling of Managed PrairieΒ Systems β€œWhat comes to mind when you hear the word prairie?”. That was the question posed by graduate research assistant Marissa Osterloh in our most recent webinar, β€œA Modeling approach for Quantifying the Ecosystem Services of Managed Prairie Systems”. Having once made up 98% of the landscape, prairie plays a critical role for biodiversity and water quality. By mimicking natural prairies, prairie agro-ecosystems can improve soil health, reduce nitrate leaching, increase biodiversity, and boost carbon sequestration.Β Β 

Modeling of Managed PrairieΒ Systems

β€œWhat comes to mind when you hear the word prairie?”. That was the question posed by graduate research assistant Marissa Osterloh in our most recent webinar, β€œA Modeling approach for Quantifying the Ecosystem Services of Managed Prairie Systems”. Having once…

02.06.2025 15:45 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Drove across central Illinois yesterday and saw row crops that occupy every square inch of land. This is not how people used to farm.

Prairie strips boost the ecological value of farms while also proving benefits like erosion control to farmers.

www.nrem.iastate.edu/research/STR...

01.06.2025 12:01 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

I got to be on SciFri again today!

31.05.2025 01:04 β€” πŸ‘ 123    πŸ” 10    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 1
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Strategies to Identify and Approach Potential New ConservationΒ Farmers Please join us for the Iowa Learning Farms webinar at noon CDT, Wednesday, May 14, featuring Jenny Seifert, watershed outreach specialist, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Amy Skoczlas Cole, president, Trust In Food. Seifert’s professional focus includes behavior change, peer learning, communications and conservation. Skoczlas Cole leads Trust In Foodβ„’, Farm Journal’s mission-driven division focused on accelerating the adoption of conservation agriculture and Farm Journal Inc.’s Intelligence and Influence Center of Excellence.

Strategies to Identify and Approach Potential New ConservationΒ Farmers

Please join us for the Iowa Learning Farms webinar at noon CDT, Wednesday, May 14, featuring Jenny Seifert, watershed outreach specialist, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Amy Skoczlas Cole, president, Trust In Food.…

13.05.2025 16:01 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

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