Chris Catano

A graph showing how prairie plant responses to seeding density treatments vary along a soil water holding capacity gradient

New paper led by former post-bac researcher Isabelle Turner, with @chriscatano.bsky.social:

Seeding density alters the role of soil moisture in structuring plant abundance during prairie restoration

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

These look great. Thank you for sharing!

If they took out the Oxford commas then Im not interrested 😜

Great suggestions all around, thanks!

Thanks, this looks really useful!

I dont think so. Students take stats and still dont know what an independent sample is, or a replicate, or how to choose the right models to answer different types of questions. This course will focus on these common issues/models to avoid stats pitfalls later. It's also a class + a workshop.

Agreed, Anna! I used this for a discussion last year (paired with Hurlbert's pseudoreplication paper) and the students really appreciated this one.

This is a great one! Something that still isn't done enough in my opinion

I'm developing a grad course on experimental design (study design generally) & data analysis in biology. What topics, papers, etc. do you think are most important? If you teach something similar, I would love to hear what/how you teach (if you are willing to share a syllabus that would amazing!).

🌱📚Excited to share my journey and experiences in academia, the ups, downs, and everything in between!
Hope it sparks good conversations!
@plantaeofficial.bsky.social @aspbofficial.bsky.social
@plantpostdocs.bsky.social @plantgrads.bsky.social

My department is searching for a new Microbiologist!!! Come join us at the University of South Alabama. We are broadly defining microbiologists, so microbial ecologists, human health, environmental microbiologists, etc encouraged to apply www.southalabama.edu/departments/...

But if i change the terminology... 🤫

Either that or elves are sneaking into my closet and shrinking all my clothes...

I know about the Freshamn 15, but no one told me about the Assistant Professor 15...

"Biologists often become alienated from mathematics at an early stage in their career under the misconception [...] that biology is not a mathematical science. The claim is also often made that mathematical theory is overly simplistic, ignoring the [...] complex nature of biological systems."

1/

Absolutely! I'm experiencing the same thing as AE for a few journals. Authors are getting frustrated with me (I feel awful), and often, the additional burden shifts to me to provide a second review. 😒

As an Associate Editor, this is what I'm going through. It can take *months* just to get 2 people to agree to do a review. Many don't respond to the invitation at all, prolonging the process further. People are busy, that's understandable. Please respond, and if "no", suggest alternative reviewers.

Confused writing is usually a symptom of confused thinking. As we struggle to clarify writing, we clarify our thoughts. AI writing aids rob us of that struggle, leaving clean-looking text and thoughts still confused for lack of inspection. Writing is not just a product; it is a diagnostic tool.

I made the mistake to open my email on a Friday evening. It's eight review requests... Eight!

We need a system that shows automated unavailability if you have two accepted requests. It's just not okay.

Oh yeah, I would be among those ignoring that invitation! Sorry...

What are the difficulties? For most journals I interact with, you can just click "decline" right from the email. If journals are making this more of a chore, then that's a problem.

Those are good points!

PLEASE respond to review requests! Saying "No" as soon as you can is helpful so we can move to the next invitation. Each ignored invitation can delay the process by around 2 weeks. Be considerate of your peers relying on this process!

Why I write this... ...and a directory of sorts. Start here!

After 18 months of writing on Substack, I put together a bit of a highlights post for new readers. It's a good place to start if you're interested in future focused writing on biodiversity, climate and water.
predirections.substack.com/p/why-i-writ...

I use your paper in a grad course on experimetal design and analysis. The students find it super helpful!

I had an editor ask me to make a paper longer once, and it was a report to begin with 😂

As always, Ted Chiang is great in this interview.
cdh.princeton.edu/blog/2025/08...

Yeah, I've reached out to authors when I've hit a snag with reviewers, and things are taking longer than usual. They've always been appreciative.

Absolutely! To be honest, I didn't even realize there were people not recommending reviewers...