Stephen Beckett

Yes, Halloween is the deadliest day of the year for child pedestrians—great advice from @mcbazacophd.bsky.social

(It’s also our kid’s birthday)

Louisiana officials waited months to warn public of whooping cough outbreak After a whooping cough outbreak killed two infants, Louisiana health officials waited months to officially alert physicians or do public outreach. That's not the typical public health response.

New from me: After a whooping cough outbreak killed two infants, Louisiana health officials waited months to officially alert physicians or do public outreach.

www.npr.org/sections/sho...

Before today, the strongest storm to make landfall in Jamaica was category 4 Hurricane Gilbert in 1988 with sustained winds of ~130mph.

Category 5 #HurricaneMelissa is sustaining winds at 175mph.

The wind is far from the only danger, but that difference is staggering. (1/2)

Amidst a government shutdown in which the White House has proposed slashing federal support of science by billions of dollars, our #SCIMaP team continues to assess the impact of research cuts on communities nationwide.

Learn more about our efforts: scienceimpacts.org

With more to come...

a 🧵

Wagging dog lying on a rug

Five years since this wonderful pup chose us!

MSc by Res opportunity - developing behavioural indicators to inform killer whale conservation with
@exeter.ac.uk @whaleresearch.bsky.social @seadocsociety.bsky.social

People from underrepresented groups in marine science encouraged to apply.

Deadline 19Dec

www.exeter.ac.uk/study/fundin...

Black and white ink illustration of a myovirus in a steampunk style

Happy World Phage Day! Tiny viruses have mighty roles, shaping our environment and life on Earth. Phages maintain microbial community stability, impact primary production, nutrient cycle and pathogen virulence. We can also use phages in phage therapy to combat bacterial infections. #PhageSky

📣We will be back soon for a new series! 🎉

Our first speaker will be Chris Klausmeier @chrisklausmeier.bsky.social on Tuesday 21 October:

⭐Microbial cross-feeding coexistence and collapse, spatial patterns and population cycles⭐

As ever, free for all to join!
Link+details: iite.info/seminar/

SCIMaP job opportunity - https://umd.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/UMCP/job/Research-Communications-and-Media-Outreach-Specialist_JR102577

Best consideration deadline, Friday Oct 10:

#SCIMaP (scienceimacts.org) seeks to hire a Research Communications and Media Outreach Specialist at U-Maryland to facilitate public engagement related to federal investment in science and health research.

umd.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/UMCP/j...

New job 🚨:

Our #SCIMaP (scienceimpacts.org) team is searching for a Research Communications and Media Outreach Specialist to facilitate public engagement related to federal investment in science and health research.

Application review starts Oct 10:
umd.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/UMCP/j...

We are excited to announce a special issue call on Open Source Software and Code in Mathematical Biology, open until 1st March 2026.
think.taylorandfrancis.com/special_issu...
Taylor and Francis are currently supporting a 100% waiver for all submissions.

📣We're Hiring!📣 Come join us as a marine micro lab tech in sunny Santa Barbara! A great position for a 2-year post-bacc or starting point for a long-term technician position. Apply by 9 October for full consideration, and please share widely! careerspub.universityofcalifornia.edu/psp/ucsb/EMP...

Maryland is losing federal jobs fast. When should we start worrying? Nearly 15,000 federal jobs in Maryland have been lost since the start of the year. Economists aren’t worried — yet.

Maryland is losing federal jobs faster than any other state. When should we start worrying?

When we build the greatest stereotype engine the world has ever seen we should not be surprised when it reproduces bias

Job Alert! Looking for a PhD student and a postdoc in quantitative ecology
Deets here: resiliencelab.github.io/join/

Meet The Banner Montgomery newsroom For the past two months, we have been putting together a team of journalists who can cover the issues that matter most to residents.

Meet The Banner Montgomery newsroom buff.ly/nDRBXpG

We are hiring! Oxford biology has three associate professorships available as we move to new state-of-the-art facilities

Three Associate Professor (or Professor) positions available at Oxford Biology. Come be my colleague! www.biology.ox.ac.uk/article/we-a...

Screenshot of the paper titled "Characterising non-household contact patterns relevant to respiratory transmission in the USA: analysis of a cross-sectional survey"

Our paper on US contact patterns is now published in The Lancet Digital Health!

doi.org/10.1016/j.la...

Thanks to my brilliant coauthors @zsusswein.bsky.social, @vcolizza.bsky.social, & @bansallab.bsky.social for their help with this project.

Read on for an overview of our findings... 🧵

A black and white photo of RFK

9 former directors of the CDC penned an op-ed stating that what Robert F. Kennedy has done to the nation's public health system is "unlike anything we have ever seen at the agency, and unlike anything our country has ever experienced"

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/01/o...

Very cool!

Hey are you looking for a postdoc focusing on microbial
ecology/bioinformatics? Hit me up - it’s not my lab but trying to help someone else staff their lab. If you have a student about to defend, this could be a great chance to get a ton of papers.

Electron micrograph of two phage infecting a host cell side-by-side, with hearts between them

Do you love phage? I have an opening for a postdoc in my lab at the University of South Florida College of Marine Science (@cmarinescience.bsky.social) looking at interactions between marine phage and iron, which is an important limiting trace metal in the oceans (1/5) 🧵#phagesky 🦠🌊

Full or Associate Professor in Infectious Disease Modeling APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS: CURRENT PENN STATE EMPLOYEE (faculty, staff, technical service, or student), please login to Workday to complete the internal application process. Please do not apply here, a...

Excited to announce a search for an Associate or Full Professor in Infectious Disease Modeling at Penn State's Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics. Details at link and below.

psu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/PSU_Ac...

An exemplar of data-driven journalism meeting the moment.

👇

Cancelling mRNA studies is the highest irresponsibility The rest of the world is not following the US government’s dangerous path, and will stick with the technology that helped the world out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A technology that played a key part in saving millions of lives during the pandemic should be celebrated. Yet in the US, research into mRNA vaccines is being cut. While sadly not unexpected, it’s irresponsible as we argue in our editorial this week 🧪

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

What's the projected impact of the White House's proposed NIH cuts for FY2026 in your community?

Ask the @scienceimpacts.org bot 🤖

As see in the few examples in this thread, the #SCIMaP team has released an interactive bluesky bot. You can ask for scorecards in a variety of ways:

Just send a zip (98105)

or

state (South Carolina)

or

district (MD-04)

Opinion | America Is Abandoning One of the Greatest Medical Breakthroughs

mRNA is about much more than #COVID. It's the frontline of America’s defense against #pandemics and #biothreats. Turning away now would leave us unprepared and vulnerable.
My essay in the NYT: www.nytimes.com/2025/08/18/o...

Opinion | A Dangerous Escalation of the Science Wars

Catching up on this important & personal piece by @celinegounder.com responding to attacks on science:

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/11/o...

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.