Kyle E. Coblentz

Rigorous validation of ecological models against empirical time series - Nature Ecology & Evolution Validating theoretical models against empirical data presents challenges. Here the authors present an assumption-light method to validate ecological models against time series data, along with a dedic...

Ecology faces an accumulation of models but not an accumulation of confidence. Our new paper w/ Jonathan Levine www.nature.com/articles/s41... in @natecoevo.nature.com introduces a rigorous test rooted in queueing theory to falsify inadequate models and build confidence in useful ones.

Fall break of my semester as a professor and my dinner was a double IPA and mozzarella sticks ...

That's right, folk! THREE TENURE TRACK JOBS IN BIOLOGY AT UMASS BOSTON! You might even be a good fit for more than one! Check 'em out! We'd love to have you!

Shaved Buster being a weirdo.

Buster got his biennial shave.

Buster is getting high.

We are hiring an immunologist in the Biology Department at Colby! apply.interfolio.com/173466

Please apply or share!

ecoevojobs.net 2025-26

New academic year, new ecoevojobs site. Already >200 faculty / permanent jobs!

ecoevojobs.net

Interested in theory and looking for a postdoc or grad school? Come talk to me at #ESA2025!
resiliencelab.github.io/join/

Just an upside down Buster apparently dreaming about food.

Thank you!

Cat in a crate moving to Maine.

The ocean at Hendrick's Head Beach.

Made it to Maine. Now to get finish preparing for the Fall semester!

YES! That's the kind of whelk density I'm talking about!

Looking forward to reinvesting now that I'm moving to Maine! By the way, I might email you soon about where to find whelks!

Yes! Agreed that it doesn't get much more classic.

Thank you! Some medically relevant/human examples are certainly useful!

Wonderful! Thank you. I definitely need some plant examples as well, as most of my own work/knowledge is about animals and protists.

I'm running a seminar in the fall for senior undergrads in Evolutionary Ecology. I'm hoping to curate a reading list mixing classic and new papers that illustrate how combining ecological and evolutionary perspectives can lead to new insights. Do you have a favorite I should consider?

Today was the last day of the Ecology and Evolution class I taught out at UNL's Cedar Point Biological Station. The students were so wonderful. Unfortunately, this will be my last time teaching the class, but hopefully not my last time out at this gem in western Nebraska.

Now that it is very real (I guess I'm on the website), I've got some news. I'm starting as an Assistant Professor this fall at Colby College!

I thought I saw a twig hanging on my car today. It was this caterpillar.

New preprint "Warming increases the strength of trophic Cascades" led by PhD student Francis Biagioli: www.authorea.com/users/925774...

Elakha Alliance Mourns the Loss of Jim Estes - Elakha Alliance The Elakha Alliance has lost a friend. Renowned ecologist Jim Estes succumbed on the morning of May 20, 2025, to injuries sustained as the result of a horrific hit-and-run event […]

I think I'll watch Serengeti Rules this evening and think about the impact Jim had on ecology: www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/...

Elakha Alliance Mourns the Loss of Jim Estes - Elakha Alliance The Elakha Alliance has lost a friend. Renowned ecologist Jim Estes succumbed on the morning of May 20, 2025, to injuries sustained as the result of a horrific hit-and-run event […]

Sad to hear that legendary ecologist Jim Estes passed (www.elakhaalliance.org/elakha-allia...). I met Jim when he visited Oregon State while I was a grad student. I remember being impressed by how warm, friendly, and humble he was despite being a world-famous ecologist.

Finally caught Buster yawning on camera.

There is something so satisfying about fitting ODE's to population dynamics data when it works ...

Thanks, Sara!

We're looking forward to testing this theory more explicitly in specific systems and extending the theory to generalist predators in the future.