Stephen Beckett
@beckettstephen.bsky.social
Computational ecology. Viruses and microbes. Oceans. Bipartite networks. Dad. Scientist @UofMaryland in the Weitz group, Dept. Biology, and Institute for Health Computing. Searching learning & coffee converting. More about me: https://sjbeckett.github.io
Reposted by Stephen Beckett
It’s widely known (and, I think, pretty uncontroversial) that learning requires effort — specifically, if you don’t have to work at getting the knowledge, it won’t stick.
Even if an LLM could be trusted to give you correct information 100% of the time, it would be an inferior method of learning it.
Even if an LLM could be trusted to give you correct information 100% of the time, it would be an inferior method of learning it.
Relying on ChatGPT to teach you about a topic leaves you with shallower knowledge than Googling and reading about it, according to new research that compared what more than 10,000 people knew after using one method or the other.
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
November 21, 2025 at 12:49 PM
It’s widely known (and, I think, pretty uncontroversial) that learning requires effort — specifically, if you don’t have to work at getting the knowledge, it won’t stick.
Even if an LLM could be trusted to give you correct information 100% of the time, it would be an inferior method of learning it.
Even if an LLM could be trusted to give you correct information 100% of the time, it would be an inferior method of learning it.
Reposted by Stephen Beckett
Thanks to all who came out to discuss impacts of federal cuts to science, our work via scienceimpacts.org, and how to constructively speak out with grassroots initiatives:
@standupforscience.bsky.social, @sciencehomecoming.bsky.social
@snapcoalition.bsky.social
Impact Project
+ more
a 🧵
@standupforscience.bsky.social, @sciencehomecoming.bsky.social
@snapcoalition.bsky.social
Impact Project
+ more
a 🧵
For those in/around College Park, MD come on over to Ledo Pizza, 4509 Knox Rd, next Tuesday 11/18, 6pm+ for Science on Tap, where I will share a talk and dialogue on:
"Science Matters: Confronting the Impacts of Federal Cuts to Research on Communities Nationwide"
science.umd.edu/events/scien...
"Science Matters: Confronting the Impacts of Federal Cuts to Research on Communities Nationwide"
science.umd.edu/events/scien...
November 19, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Thanks to all who came out to discuss impacts of federal cuts to science, our work via scienceimpacts.org, and how to constructively speak out with grassroots initiatives:
@standupforscience.bsky.social, @sciencehomecoming.bsky.social
@snapcoalition.bsky.social
Impact Project
+ more
a 🧵
@standupforscience.bsky.social, @sciencehomecoming.bsky.social
@snapcoalition.bsky.social
Impact Project
+ more
a 🧵
Reposted by Stephen Beckett
🚨#PhD studentship opportunity! Plasmids provide bacteria with antimicrobial resistance, but do they have more fundamental effects on behaviour? 🧫🦠💫🧟♂️
Apply for a 4y funded MRC DiMeN position with me and Jamie Wheeler @livuni-ives.bsky.social www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
Apply for a 4y funded MRC DiMeN position with me and Jamie Wheeler @livuni-ives.bsky.social www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
MRC DiMeN Doctoral Training Partnership: Resistant zombies: how drug-resistance plasmids manipulate the behaviour of the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa at University of Liverpool on Fin...
PhD Project - MRC DiMeN Doctoral Training Partnership: Resistant zombies: how drug-resistance plasmids manipulate the behaviour of the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa at University of Li...
www.findaphd.com
November 18, 2025 at 9:38 AM
🚨#PhD studentship opportunity! Plasmids provide bacteria with antimicrobial resistance, but do they have more fundamental effects on behaviour? 🧫🦠💫🧟♂️
Apply for a 4y funded MRC DiMeN position with me and Jamie Wheeler @livuni-ives.bsky.social www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
Apply for a 4y funded MRC DiMeN position with me and Jamie Wheeler @livuni-ives.bsky.social www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
Reposted by Stephen Beckett
If you'd like to celebrate the biology of viruses - or the fight against viral diseases - this winter, try out our free and updated #VirusSnowflake designs.
Please share, and if you have any photos of Virus Snowflakes in your area it would be lovely to see them!
cvr-engagement.co.uk/virus-snowfl...
Please share, and if you have any photos of Virus Snowflakes in your area it would be lovely to see them!
cvr-engagement.co.uk/virus-snowfl...
November 17, 2025 at 5:39 PM
If you'd like to celebrate the biology of viruses - or the fight against viral diseases - this winter, try out our free and updated #VirusSnowflake designs.
Please share, and if you have any photos of Virus Snowflakes in your area it would be lovely to see them!
cvr-engagement.co.uk/virus-snowfl...
Please share, and if you have any photos of Virus Snowflakes in your area it would be lovely to see them!
cvr-engagement.co.uk/virus-snowfl...
Reposted by Stephen Beckett
See our (@peterhotezmdphd.bsky.social & my) #ScienceUnderSiege book event last month at the legendary DC bookstore @politicsprose.bsky.social courtesy of #CSPAN #BookTV: www.c-span.org/program/book...
November 2, 2025 at 5:42 PM
See our (@peterhotezmdphd.bsky.social & my) #ScienceUnderSiege book event last month at the legendary DC bookstore @politicsprose.bsky.social courtesy of #CSPAN #BookTV: www.c-span.org/program/book...
Reposted by 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)
(It’s also our kid’s birthday)
October 31, 2025 at 11:41 AM
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)
(It’s also our kid’s birthday)
Reposted by Stephen Beckett
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...
www.npr.org/sections/sho...
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.
www.npr.org
October 28, 2025 at 12:50 PM
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...
www.npr.org/sections/sho...
Reposted by Stephen Beckett
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)
Category 5 #HurricaneMelissa is sustaining winds at 175mph.
The wind is far from the only danger, but that difference is staggering. (1/2)
Writing is my coping mechanism when I am worried about a weather situation. As an unprecedented storm like #HurricaneMelissa approaches Jamaica, I feel helpless, so I write. My Tuesday morning thoughts on the storm.
www.forbes.com/sites/marsha...
--
www.forbes.com/sites/marsha...
--
Hurricane Melissa Is The Strongest Storm On Earth In 2025
The strongest storm on Earth in 2025 is about to hit Jamaica. Here's what you need to know about Hurricane Melissa before its first landfall.
www.forbes.com
October 28, 2025 at 12:47 PM
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)
Category 5 #HurricaneMelissa is sustaining winds at 175mph.
The wind is far from the only danger, but that difference is staggering. (1/2)
Reposted by Stephen Beckett
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 🧵
Learn more about our efforts: scienceimpacts.org
With more to come...
a 🧵
October 24, 2025 at 7:12 PM
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 🧵
Learn more about our efforts: scienceimpacts.org
With more to come...
a 🧵
Five years since this wonderful pup chose us!
October 24, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Five years since this wonderful pup chose us!
Reposted by Stephen Beckett
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...
@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...
October 22, 2025 at 10:44 AM
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...
@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...
Reposted by Stephen Beckett
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
October 22, 2025 at 10:24 AM
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
Reposted by Stephen Beckett
📣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/
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/
October 9, 2025 at 9:27 AM
📣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/
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/
Reposted by Stephen Beckett
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...
#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...
October 8, 2025 at 7:03 PM
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...
#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...
Reposted by Stephen Beckett
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...
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...
Research Communications and Media Outreach Specialist
Job Description Summary Organization's Summary Statement: The Science & Community Impacts Mapping Project (SCIMaP: https://scienceimpacts.org/) is committed to visualizing and communicating the lo...
umd.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com
October 3, 2025 at 4:28 PM
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...
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...
Reposted by Stephen Beckett
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.
think.taylorandfrancis.com/special_issu...
Taylor and Francis are currently supporting a 100% waiver for all submissions.
Open Source Software and Code in Mathematical Biology
think.taylorandfrancis.com
October 3, 2025 at 1:57 PM
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.
think.taylorandfrancis.com/special_issu...
Taylor and Francis are currently supporting a 100% waiver for all submissions.
Reposted by Stephen Beckett
📣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...
An error has occurred.
careerspub.universityofcalifornia.edu
October 1, 2025 at 7:29 PM
📣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...
Reposted by Stephen Beckett
Maryland is losing federal jobs faster than any other state. When should we start worrying?
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.
buff.ly
September 28, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Maryland is losing federal jobs faster than any other state. When should we start worrying?
Reposted by Stephen Beckett
When we build the greatest stereotype engine the world has ever seen we should not be surprised when it reproduces bias
Yet again, machine learning — even gussied up via the transformer architecture — encodes and reinforces societal biases.
This study reveals that LLM-based peer review relies heavily on author institution in its decisions.
arxiv.org/abs/2509.15122
This study reveals that LLM-based peer review relies heavily on author institution in its decisions.
arxiv.org/abs/2509.15122
Prestige over merit: An adapted audit of LLM bias in peer review
Large language models (LLMs) are playing an increasingly integral, though largely informal, role in scholarly peer review. Yet it remains unclear whether LLMs reproduce the biases observed in human de...
arxiv.org
September 22, 2025 at 6:24 AM
When we build the greatest stereotype engine the world has ever seen we should not be surprised when it reproduces bias
Reposted by Stephen Beckett
Job Alert! Looking for a PhD student and a postdoc in quantitative ecology
Deets here: resiliencelab.github.io/join/
Deets here: resiliencelab.github.io/join/
Join Us
resiliencelab.github.io
September 17, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Job Alert! Looking for a PhD student and a postdoc in quantitative ecology
Deets here: resiliencelab.github.io/join/
Deets here: resiliencelab.github.io/join/
Reposted by Stephen Beckett
Meet The Banner Montgomery newsroom buff.ly/nDRBXpG
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.
www.thebanner.com
September 16, 2025 at 11:27 AM
Meet The Banner Montgomery newsroom buff.ly/nDRBXpG
Reposted by Stephen Beckett
Three Associate Professor (or Professor) positions available at Oxford Biology. Come be my colleague! www.biology.ox.ac.uk/article/we-a...
We are hiring! Oxford biology has three associate professorships available as we move to new state-of-the-art facilities
www.biology.ox.ac.uk
September 15, 2025 at 11:22 AM
Three Associate Professor (or Professor) positions available at Oxford Biology. Come be my colleague! www.biology.ox.ac.uk/article/we-a...
Reposted by Stephen Beckett
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... 🧵
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... 🧵
September 12, 2025 at 4:36 PM
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... 🧵
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... 🧵
Reposted by Stephen Beckett
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...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/01/o...
September 1, 2025 at 5:22 PM
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...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/01/o...
Reposted by Stephen Beckett
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.
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.
August 27, 2025 at 8:19 PM
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.
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.