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Nick Mason

@nick-mason.bsky.social

Ornithology, evolution, ecology. Assistant Professor and Curator of Birds at Louisiana State University. I also like rugby, house music, hip-hop, food, baking, and art. he/him/él

215 Followers  |  274 Following  |  5 Posts  |  Joined: 03.02.2025
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Posts by Nick Mason (@nick-mason.bsky.social)

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Come join me and other great colleagues at @ib_unam !! We’re searching for a new orno 🦅 🦢 🦉 systematics researcher/prof. for the largest bird collection in Mexico. See details herein www.ib.unam.mx/ibunam/Convo... Amigxs ornitólogxs! Habemus búsqueda de nuevx investigadorx! Apliquen!

23.02.2026 20:53 — 👍 6    🔁 15    💬 0    📌 0
Research Grants - American Ornithological Society AOS research grants include the Kessel Fellowships for post-docs, the Latin American/Caribbean Conservation Research Grant for student/early-career researchers, and a variety of Student Research Grant...

We have several ornithological research funding opportunities currently available to #AOSmembers. Application deadlines are approaching. See our website for more info:
americanornithology.org/awards-grant...

13.01.2026 19:22 — 👍 6    🔁 3    💬 1    📌 1
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Strong @lsu.bsky.social contingent at #ssb2026 - LSU alumni and current folks

11.01.2026 03:20 — 👍 36    🔁 5    💬 0    📌 1
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The great @jembrown.bsky.social closing out #ssb2026

It was a wonderful meeting thanks to the hardwork of Jeremy and funding from @lsu.bsky.social and other sources.

Systematic biology is alive and well. Especially proud of all the Global South who attended.

11.01.2026 23:04 — 👍 43    🔁 5    💬 0    📌 1
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Postdoctoral Researcher All Job Postings will close at 12:01a.m. CST (1:01a.m. EST) on the specified Closing Date (if designated). If you close the browser or exit your application prior to submitting, the application progre...

LSU Museum of Natural Sciences is hiring a postdoc! Come join our very active and supportive museum community. Applicants can work with any of the major divisions: 🐀🦜🦎🐸🐠

Review begins February 15th, please share!

lsu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/LSU/job/0119...

07.01.2026 15:19 — 👍 22    🔁 25    💬 0    📌 3
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Postdoctoral Associate - Predictive Modeler We are looking for a highly skilled postdoctoral scientist (postdoc) to lead the development of models for predicting wild bird strikes in and around an airport’s airspace in space and time. The objec...

Please share!

Folks at CSU and USDA-APHIS are looking for a #postdoc to predict avian-aircraft collisions around airports. Preferred skills include #avian movement modeling, Bayesian hierarchical modeling, machine learning, and radar #ecology.

Apply here: jobs.colostate.edu/postings/166...
#boost

31.10.2025 20:32 — 👍 9    🔁 15    💬 1    📌 0

Cuomo fell victim to one of the classic blunders:

The most famous of which is, "Don't sexually harass 13 women on your gubernatorial staff." But only slightly less well-known is "Never go in against a Democratic Socialist when affordability is on the line."

02.11.2025 21:00 — 👍 120    🔁 25    💬 6    📌 3
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Why are Procellariiform seabirds most diverse in the Southern Hemisphere?

Our study found that wind patterns and time since evolutionary origin best explain the extratropical peak in breeding species richness of these remarkable seabirds. 🐦💨

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

30.10.2025 23:17 — 👍 38    🔁 23    💬 1    📌 2
Applied Biostatistics

Proud of the latest edition of my free intro biostats book.

gitrepo: github.com/ybrandvain/b...
book: ybrandvain.github.io/biostats/

Not complete but at a good point to take a break, and I think its quite usable

dm me with comments , ideas etc

24.10.2025 14:33 — 👍 67    🔁 47    💬 1    📌 1
Why WOS?

“My favorite thing about being a WOS member is that I feel valued as an individual, and that this support from the WOS Council is extended to every student. As a Councilor, I have firsthand experience with how the WOS puts in the work to have hard conversations that: a) listen to and respond to student member needs, and b) prioritize inclusion and accessibility. I am a proud member of the WOS community!”

—Maggie MacPherson, WOS Elected Councilor

Why WOS? “My favorite thing about being a WOS member is that I feel valued as an individual, and that this support from the WOS Council is extended to every student. As a Councilor, I have firsthand experience with how the WOS puts in the work to have hard conversations that: a) listen to and respond to student member needs, and b) prioritize inclusion and accessibility. I am a proud member of the WOS community!” —Maggie MacPherson, WOS Elected Councilor

If you're already a WOS member, now is the time to renew for 2026—and if you're not, it's a great time to join! We strive to provide professional development and community for everyone involved in #ornithology. wilsonsociety.org/membershipbe...

15.10.2025 22:01 — 👍 13    🔁 8    💬 0    📌 0
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⏰ DEADLINE APPROACHING ⏰

BOU Small Research Grants & Career Development Bursaries

Application deadline: 31 Oct 2025

Full details via links ⬇️

Grants: bou.org.uk/funding/s...

Bursaries: bou.org.uk/funding/c...

#ornithology 🪶

14.10.2025 11:00 — 👍 4    🔁 4    💬 0    📌 0
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My lab is hiring a 2-yr hummingbird evolution and genomics postdoc and a 1-yr salaried research and lab tech. Both with full U. Wyoming benefits. Please spread the word! Info below. Best consideration date Nov 1, start dates early Spring 2026.

14.10.2025 20:08 — 👍 96    🔁 85    💬 0    📌 5
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#AOSMembers: Join us at noon ET Monday (10/6) for a seminar: "The solar reflectance properties & structures of iridescence in Sturnidae & their potential biomimetic applications" w/ Samantha Rutledge, 2023 AOS Student research grant winner.
#AOS_SRGS
Register: americanornithology.org/professional...

03.10.2025 20:45 — 👍 7    🔁 2    💬 0    📌 0

Nice shout out for the LSUMNS!

03.10.2025 13:43 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
They are reported not by random, casual observers but typically by select enthusiasts deeply committed and emotionally attached to the idea of the ivory-billed woodpecker's survival against all odds. These individuals have often dedicated years to the hopeful pursuit of clues supporting the species' continuing existence. Therefore, as one of the former searchers admitted in hindsight, “many searchers may have been subconsciously biased and, as a result, not sufficiently cautious in their identifications under field conditions” (Sykes 2016).

They are reported not by random, casual observers but typically by select enthusiasts deeply committed and emotionally attached to the idea of the ivory-billed woodpecker's survival against all odds. These individuals have often dedicated years to the hopeful pursuit of clues supporting the species' continuing existence. Therefore, as one of the former searchers admitted in hindsight, “many searchers may have been subconsciously biased and, as a result, not sufficiently cautious in their identifications under field conditions” (Sykes 2016).

The purported sightings invariably occur in flooded southern swamp forests deemed by the dedicated enthusiasts as the ideal habitat for the species and less often, if at all, frequented by other observers (Hill 2007, Collins 2019). The vastness and inaccessibility in the descriptions tend to be exaggerated: “Alligators, wild boars, and venomous snakes are abundant, and there is a danger of heat stroke during the summer and hypothermia during the winter” (Collins 2019), being a description of an area of less than 100 km2, a mere 40 kilometers (km) away from New Orleans, the most populous city in Louisiana. The LSU Museum of Natural Science in Baton Rouge, historically one of the most vibrant ornithological centers in the Unites States, is about 145 km away. An area of 100 km2 would by no means be vast enough even for a single ivory-billed woodpecker, let alone a breeding population, to hide in for long. Meanwhile, there are abundant eBird reports of other bird species from the same area (Pearl River swamp), with the widest gap between adjacent observations of pileated woodpeckers, as an example, being less than 5 km (figure 3).

The purported sightings invariably occur in flooded southern swamp forests deemed by the dedicated enthusiasts as the ideal habitat for the species and less often, if at all, frequented by other observers (Hill 2007, Collins 2019). The vastness and inaccessibility in the descriptions tend to be exaggerated: “Alligators, wild boars, and venomous snakes are abundant, and there is a danger of heat stroke during the summer and hypothermia during the winter” (Collins 2019), being a description of an area of less than 100 km2, a mere 40 kilometers (km) away from New Orleans, the most populous city in Louisiana. The LSU Museum of Natural Science in Baton Rouge, historically one of the most vibrant ornithological centers in the Unites States, is about 145 km away. An area of 100 km2 would by no means be vast enough even for a single ivory-billed woodpecker, let alone a breeding population, to hide in for long. Meanwhile, there are abundant eBird reports of other bird species from the same area (Pearl River swamp), with the widest gap between adjacent observations of pileated woodpeckers, as an example, being less than 5 km (figure 3).

I had missed this well written rebuttal on the purported Ivory-billed Woodpecker rediscoveries; these passages in particular are gold:🪶
academic.oup.com/bioscience/a... #Ornithology

03.10.2025 06:52 — 👍 56    🔁 13    💬 2    📌 1
A job ad with multiple images, including the exterior of the museum, a view of collections (jars on shelves), and pictures of some cool, tropical fish but I don't know enough about fish to describe them other than to say they're pretty colors of yellow and blue/green

A job ad with multiple images, including the exterior of the museum, a view of collections (jars on shelves), and pictures of some cool, tropical fish but I don't know enough about fish to describe them other than to say they're pretty colors of yellow and blue/green

🚨We're hiring! The Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History is seeking a tenure-track split position as Assistant Curator of Ichthyology and Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences. Please retweet & share with colleagues! 🐟🐠🧪

Apply here: apply.interfolio.com/174674

02.10.2025 15:16 — 👍 64    🔁 54    💬 2    📌 2
Jason Weir's research page Jason Weir's research page

The Weir Lab at the University of Toronto seeks PhD students for Fall 2026 to study avian genomics and speciation. Competitive funding, diverse training, and a collaborative environment are offered. Apply: jason.weir@utoronto.ca. More info: https://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/~jweir/index.html #phd

02.10.2025 06:14 — 👍 10    🔁 14    💬 1    📌 0
Petition to NSF to Restore Eligibility for the 2026 Graduate Research Fellowship Program Competition

🧪 Were you one of the many thousands of STEM students (and mentors) impacted by the sudden change in #NSF #GRFP eligibility last week?

We created a petition to NSF leadership and Congress to reverse the changes - please sign and share your stories here!!

laurenkuehne.github.io/grfpChanges/

29.09.2025 17:02 — 👍 17    🔁 12    💬 0    📌 15

Early career researcher in systematics?

Make sure to apply for early career travel funds to attend #ssb2026

👇
www.systbio.org/early-career...

19.08.2025 12:35 — 👍 7    🔁 9    💬 0    📌 3
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1 week left to get your image in for Evolution 2026 logo contest! www.evolutionmeetings.org/2026-logo-co...

22.09.2025 18:55 — 👍 25    🔁 20    💬 1    📌 0
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NEW IBIS ISSUE

Past research and future directions in understanding how birds use their sense of smell | onlinelibrary.wiley....

Darcy Creece, Rafael Freire, Melanie Massaro | #ornithology

23.09.2025 06:59 — 👍 8    🔁 4    💬 0    📌 1
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🥳New paper out in the Journal of #ornithology

Assignment of wintering Barnacle Geese (Branta leucopsis) to breeding populations using genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphisms
link.springer.com/article/10.1...

A nice collaboration between Wageningen University and NIOO-KNAW. 🤝

23.09.2025 07:02 — 👍 10    🔁 7    💬 1    📌 0
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Call for Review, Perspective, or Methods Papers—Open Access Fees Waived The Editors-in-Chief of The Wilson Journal of Ornithology invite prospective authors to submit presubmission inquiries for Review, Perspective, or Methods papers that we can publish Free Open Acces…

Reminder: We continue to seek presubmission inquiries for Review, Perspective, and Methods papers for The Wilson Journal of #Ornithology! We can offer a limited number of Open Access fee waivers each year for these types of papers.

19.09.2025 13:03 — 👍 8    🔁 5    💬 0    📌 0
the graphic includes the same text provided in the post and includes cover images for Ornithology and Ornithological Applications.

the graphic includes the same text provided in the post and includes cover images for Ornithology and Ornithological Applications.

The AOS journals are piloting a new Peer Editing Program to provide English-language editing assistance for AOS members whose primary language is not English to assist authors before their articles are sent out for peer review. Learn more!
americanornithology.org/aos-editoria...

16.09.2025 18:26 — 👍 11    🔁 5    💬 1    📌 1
Photo showing the inside atrium of the new Life and Mind Building

Photo showing the inside atrium of the new Life and Mind Building

Oxford Biology is growing 📢

We’re appointing 3 Associate Professors in:
🌱 Plant Sciences
🦉 Animal Behaviour
🔬 Molecular Cell Biology

3 fields. 3 opportunities. One new home for Oxford Biology.

Learn more 👉 bit.ly/41S2Tc7
Apply now 👉 bit.ly/488CNW3

15.09.2025 08:20 — 👍 72    🔁 89    💬 0    📌 5
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#AOSMEMBERS: Join us at noon ET on Mondays through mid-December for our Fall 2025 Student Research Grant Seminar Series. Our lunchtime series highlights cutting-edge student research funded by the AOS! See the full lineup: americanornithology.org/professional...
#AOS_SRGS

11.09.2025 15:53 — 👍 6    🔁 2    💬 0    📌 1
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Melodies of the Amazon Trailer 2 This is "Melodies of the Amazon Trailer 2" by Cabala Producciones on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

This summer in Brazil we partnered with the talented team at Cabala Producciones, who captured our fieldwork and the magic of Amazonian biodiversity on film. 🎥 Here’s the trailer—hope you enjoy it as much as I did! vimeo.com/1115821170/b...

04.09.2025 21:58 — 👍 3    🔁 1    💬 1    📌 0

Wow!! Can’t wait to see the whole thing!! Very cool

05.09.2025 04:23 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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Employment | New York Botanical Garden Find out what employment opportunities are available at The New York Botanical Garden.

I am recruiting a postdoc to work for 2-3 yrs on our NSF-funded project aiming to investigate plant migration and river connectivity with the closure of the Isthmus of Panama. Leading publications, fieldwork in CR & Panama, applying and expanding phylo. & pop.gen tools👇

www.nybg.org/about/work-w...

29.08.2025 20:00 — 👍 28    🔁 16    💬 1    📌 2