Colin Sweeney, Ph.D.
@sciencecolin.bsky.social
Ecology and Remote Sensing | Former museum educator | Let's make the world a little bit better today... 🌈🌱🛰️🪿(he/him)
Protect trans rights 🏳️⚧️
Protect trans rights 🏳️⚧️
Reposted by Colin Sweeney, Ph.D.
I’m really concerned about early career scientists using generative AI in writing, because writing is how we think and reflect. There’s almost nothing *more* human than that, and to give that gift away to a machine is almost unconscionable to me
December 14, 2025 at 3:09 PM
I’m really concerned about early career scientists using generative AI in writing, because writing is how we think and reflect. There’s almost nothing *more* human than that, and to give that gift away to a machine is almost unconscionable to me
Reposted by Colin Sweeney, Ph.D.
If you wanna learn more about immune amnesia this is a good primer from the American Society for Microbiology.
Measles binds to your immune system’s memory cells and infects them, effectively erasing their database. It then produces all new memory cells - that contain info ONLY for measles.
Measles binds to your immune system’s memory cells and infects them, effectively erasing their database. It then produces all new memory cells - that contain info ONLY for measles.
Measles and Immune Amnesia | ASM.org
Measles is much more serious than a rash and fever: it also causes immune amnesia and leaves patients especially vulnerable to secondary infection.
asm.org
December 14, 2025 at 12:49 AM
If you wanna learn more about immune amnesia this is a good primer from the American Society for Microbiology.
Measles binds to your immune system’s memory cells and infects them, effectively erasing their database. It then produces all new memory cells - that contain info ONLY for measles.
Measles binds to your immune system’s memory cells and infects them, effectively erasing their database. It then produces all new memory cells - that contain info ONLY for measles.
Reposted by Colin Sweeney, Ph.D.
TIL about a memorial ceremony in Iceland in 2019 to mark the end of a glacier, changing the place name from Okjökull to Ok (jökull = glacier). Uncompromising wording on the bronze plaque:
"This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".
"This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".
December 7, 2025 at 5:17 PM
TIL about a memorial ceremony in Iceland in 2019 to mark the end of a glacier, changing the place name from Okjökull to Ok (jökull = glacier). Uncompromising wording on the bronze plaque:
"This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".
"This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".
Reposted by Colin Sweeney, Ph.D.
I’m recruiting a PhD and MSC student for fall 2026 working on the movement ecology and conservation of Mexican spotted owls in SW forests and rocky canyonlands. Exciting partnership with Los Alamos National Laboratory. Great vibrant lab group, high impact research! 🦉
gavinmjones.com/opportunities/
gavinmjones.com/opportunities/
Opportunities
***PhD and MSc openings – Movement ecology and conservation*** I will periodically support graduate students, postdocs, and other staff through the Biology Department at the University of New…
gavinmjones.com
December 5, 2025 at 7:30 PM
I’m recruiting a PhD and MSC student for fall 2026 working on the movement ecology and conservation of Mexican spotted owls in SW forests and rocky canyonlands. Exciting partnership with Los Alamos National Laboratory. Great vibrant lab group, high impact research! 🦉
gavinmjones.com/opportunities/
gavinmjones.com/opportunities/
Reposted by Colin Sweeney, Ph.D.
This World AIDS Day, we remember the hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers lost to HIV and AIDS, and those living with HIV today. We must remind ourselves and each other that the fight isn’t over until the epidemic is over for everyone.
December 2, 2025 at 12:55 AM
This World AIDS Day, we remember the hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers lost to HIV and AIDS, and those living with HIV today. We must remind ourselves and each other that the fight isn’t over until the epidemic is over for everyone.
Reposted by Colin Sweeney, Ph.D.
People do not use information to determine their social identities; they use their social identities to determine what counts as information. The climate fight is, and has always been, an identity fight. Gonna talk with @samuel-bagg.bsky.social about this soon.
The Problem is Epistemic. The Solution is Not. | Blog of the APA
Doubts about the wisdom of the masses are as old as philosophy itself. Yet interest in democracy’s “epistemic” merits has surged in the last decade—and it is no mystery why. Democracy is collapsing ar...
blog.apaonline.org
November 30, 2025 at 8:24 PM
People do not use information to determine their social identities; they use their social identities to determine what counts as information. The climate fight is, and has always been, an identity fight. Gonna talk with @samuel-bagg.bsky.social about this soon.
Reposted by Colin Sweeney, Ph.D.
November 24, 2025 at 11:46 PM
Reposted by Colin Sweeney, Ph.D.
I was part of this program in 2023 and would highly recommend it for anyone interested in remote sensing and ecology. Happy to chat about it too if you want more info!
Applications are open for the Spectral Ecology Summer School (www.specschool.org) a program introducing graduate students and postdocs to hyperspectral and lidar remote sensing using NEON data. This year's application and info is here: forms.gle/ohkeGYvmGQ9C... Applications close December 23, 2025.
SPEC School
spectral ecology summer school
www.specschool.org
November 20, 2025 at 4:14 AM
I was part of this program in 2023 and would highly recommend it for anyone interested in remote sensing and ecology. Happy to chat about it too if you want more info!
I was part of this program in 2023 and would highly recommend it for anyone interested in remote sensing and ecology. Happy to chat about it too if you want more info!
Applications are open for the Spectral Ecology Summer School (www.specschool.org) a program introducing graduate students and postdocs to hyperspectral and lidar remote sensing using NEON data. This year's application and info is here: forms.gle/ohkeGYvmGQ9C... Applications close December 23, 2025.
SPEC School
spectral ecology summer school
www.specschool.org
November 20, 2025 at 4:14 AM
I was part of this program in 2023 and would highly recommend it for anyone interested in remote sensing and ecology. Happy to chat about it too if you want more info!
Reposted by Colin Sweeney, Ph.D.
New paper alert! We just published a massive meta-analysis in @EcologyLetters asking: How does crowding affect survival in reef fish populations?
The answer? It's way more complicated than we thought.
🧵 Thread on what 147 studies taught us (1/8) onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
The answer? It's way more complicated than we thought.
🧵 Thread on what 147 studies taught us (1/8) onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
November 18, 2025 at 8:38 PM
New paper alert! We just published a massive meta-analysis in @EcologyLetters asking: How does crowding affect survival in reef fish populations?
The answer? It's way more complicated than we thought.
🧵 Thread on what 147 studies taught us (1/8) onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
The answer? It's way more complicated than we thought.
🧵 Thread on what 147 studies taught us (1/8) onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Reposted by Colin Sweeney, Ph.D.
"Prohibited activities would include joint research, co-authorship & advising a foreign graduate student or postdoc. The language is retroactive, meaning any interactions during the previous 5 years could make a scientist ineligible for future federal funding."
Dictators despise science.
Dictators despise science.
U.S. Congress considers sweeping ban on Chinese collaborations
Researchers speak out against proposal that would bar funding for U.S. scientists working with Chinese partners or training Chinese students
www.science.org
November 14, 2025 at 3:58 PM
"Prohibited activities would include joint research, co-authorship & advising a foreign graduate student or postdoc. The language is retroactive, meaning any interactions during the previous 5 years could make a scientist ineligible for future federal funding."
Dictators despise science.
Dictators despise science.
Reposted by Colin Sweeney, Ph.D.
Have you heard about this?
"As the govt shutdown drags on, buildings at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (HQ for the Webb telescope among other missions) are being emptied without notice. Highly specialized equipment is at risk of being thrown away like trash."
h/t @climatebrad.hillheat.com
"As the govt shutdown drags on, buildings at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (HQ for the Webb telescope among other missions) are being emptied without notice. Highly specialized equipment is at risk of being thrown away like trash."
h/t @climatebrad.hillheat.com
NASA may be quietly gutting an iconic campus with what it calls strategic closures, workers fear | CNN
Buildings at Goddard’s Maryland campus are being emptied and padlocked, sources say. NASA leadership has pushed back against the concerns.
www.cnn.com
November 9, 2025 at 9:45 PM
Have you heard about this?
"As the govt shutdown drags on, buildings at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (HQ for the Webb telescope among other missions) are being emptied without notice. Highly specialized equipment is at risk of being thrown away like trash."
h/t @climatebrad.hillheat.com
"As the govt shutdown drags on, buildings at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (HQ for the Webb telescope among other missions) are being emptied without notice. Highly specialized equipment is at risk of being thrown away like trash."
h/t @climatebrad.hillheat.com
Reposted by Colin Sweeney, Ph.D.
🚨 NASA scientists warn: critical equipment at Goddard Space Flight Center could be discarded during the shutdown, jeopardizing decades of Earth & space science missions.
📢 Act now: agu.quorum.us/campaign/146...
#sciencepolicy #saveNASA
📢 Act now: agu.quorum.us/campaign/146...
#sciencepolicy #saveNASA
November 7, 2025 at 12:45 AM
🚨 NASA scientists warn: critical equipment at Goddard Space Flight Center could be discarded during the shutdown, jeopardizing decades of Earth & space science missions.
📢 Act now: agu.quorum.us/campaign/146...
#sciencepolicy #saveNASA
📢 Act now: agu.quorum.us/campaign/146...
#sciencepolicy #saveNASA
Reposted by Colin Sweeney, Ph.D.
Most of the Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt Campus is planned to be demolished by March 2026, if not sooner.
www.space.com/space-explor...
www.space.com/space-explor...
November 4, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Most of the Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt Campus is planned to be demolished by March 2026, if not sooner.
www.space.com/space-explor...
www.space.com/space-explor...
Reposted by Colin Sweeney, Ph.D.
5. There is a 60-day public comment period ahead of any formal implementation.
www.federalregister.gov/documents/20...
www.federalregister.gov/documents/20...
Collection and Use of Biometrics by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) proposes to amend its regulations governing biometrics use and collection. DHS proposes to require submission of biometrics by any individual, regardless...
www.federalregister.gov
November 5, 2025 at 7:48 PM
5. There is a 60-day public comment period ahead of any formal implementation.
www.federalregister.gov/documents/20...
www.federalregister.gov/documents/20...
Reposted by Colin Sweeney, Ph.D.
Job alert!! Project Drawdown is hiring for 3 roles:
🌐 Program Manager, Global Strategic Partnerships (deadline: Nov 7)
🔬 Research Fellow (deadline: Nov 2)
💹 Senior Analyst, Climate Philanthropy & Investing (deadline: Nov 19)
🔗 View the position descriptions here: drawdown.org/careers
#ClimateJobs
🌐 Program Manager, Global Strategic Partnerships (deadline: Nov 7)
🔬 Research Fellow (deadline: Nov 2)
💹 Senior Analyst, Climate Philanthropy & Investing (deadline: Nov 19)
🔗 View the position descriptions here: drawdown.org/careers
#ClimateJobs
https://drawdown.org/caree…
November 5, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Reposted by Colin Sweeney, Ph.D.
Zohran at the rally for trans youth on february 8 ❣️ he was polling single digits.
June 25, 2025 at 4:51 AM
Zohran at the rally for trans youth on february 8 ❣️ he was polling single digits.
Reposted by Colin Sweeney, Ph.D.
Annual plug for the fabulous phylopic.org website with tens of thousands of easily searchable silhouette images for almost every life form imaginable. They make nice additions to your biology plots!
November 3, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Annual plug for the fabulous phylopic.org website with tens of thousands of easily searchable silhouette images for almost every life form imaginable. They make nice additions to your biology plots!
This is a great institution that deserves saving. Donate if you can support it
Update on the Paleontological Research Institution and their remaining need for donations to pay off their mortgage and avoid foreclosure
#savePRI please share; tag anyone you think might help🧪⚒️🦑
@lastweektonight.com @colbertlateshow.bsky.social @pbseons.bsky.social
www.ithaca.com/news/regiona...
#savePRI please share; tag anyone you think might help🧪⚒️🦑
@lastweektonight.com @colbertlateshow.bsky.social @pbseons.bsky.social
www.ithaca.com/news/regiona...
Saving the Museum
After years of financial troubles and millions of funds raised in support, the Museum of the Earth is still struggling to bridge its multi-million dollar budgetary gap. It needs to
www.ithaca.com
October 23, 2025 at 11:58 PM
This is a great institution that deserves saving. Donate if you can support it
Dr. Jane Goodall is the main reason I became an ecologist. She has inspired me ever since I first learned about her in sixth grade. I had the privilege of seeing her speak for the first time only a few weeks ago. We’re going to miss her voice in the world, but her legacy will last for generations 💚
October 1, 2025 at 11:26 PM
Dr. Jane Goodall is the main reason I became an ecologist. She has inspired me ever since I first learned about her in sixth grade. I had the privilege of seeing her speak for the first time only a few weeks ago. We’re going to miss her voice in the world, but her legacy will last for generations 💚
Reposted by Colin Sweeney, Ph.D.
I am filled with so much love and gratitude that I cannot grieve. Dr. Goodall worked tirelessly in her gentle, hopeful way for a better world for all life on Earth. She has laid down her field notebook for the last time; now it is for us to fill with wonder, joy, and connection, into infinity.
Jane Goodall's work insisting, with evidence from her brilliant and tenacious fieldwork, that we were not so separate from animals, and they were much more like us than the Eurocentric theorists asserted, was so important.
October 1, 2025 at 7:59 PM
I am filled with so much love and gratitude that I cannot grieve. Dr. Goodall worked tirelessly in her gentle, hopeful way for a better world for all life on Earth. She has laid down her field notebook for the last time; now it is for us to fill with wonder, joy, and connection, into infinity.
Reposted by Colin Sweeney, Ph.D.
"You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you.
What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.”
Rest in power, Dr. Jane Goodall
What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.”
Rest in power, Dr. Jane Goodall
October 1, 2025 at 6:38 PM
"You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you.
What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.”
Rest in power, Dr. Jane Goodall
What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.”
Rest in power, Dr. Jane Goodall
Reposted by Colin Sweeney, Ph.D.
🚨 EMERGENCY CATURDAY IS DECLARED 🚨
if you call your reps & show me a screenshot of your call history with the call, i will reply with one (1) never-before-seen picture of my cats!
capitol switchboard ☎️: 202-224-3121
if you call your reps & show me a screenshot of your call history with the call, i will reply with one (1) never-before-seen picture of my cats!
capitol switchboard ☎️: 202-224-3121
Kennedy “has to go,” said @colincarlson.bsky.social. “Seeing Patty Murray and APHA come to the same conclusion – that RFK has to go – gives me a lot of hope. Let’s fight. I think we can win.”
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
RFK Jr faces calls to quit as CDC chief fired and senior staff resign: ‘an embarrassment’
Susan Monarez’s ousting and four top resignations follow vaccine confusion, leaving US health agencies in turmoil
www.theguardian.com
August 28, 2025 at 11:16 PM
🚨 EMERGENCY CATURDAY IS DECLARED 🚨
if you call your reps & show me a screenshot of your call history with the call, i will reply with one (1) never-before-seen picture of my cats!
capitol switchboard ☎️: 202-224-3121
if you call your reps & show me a screenshot of your call history with the call, i will reply with one (1) never-before-seen picture of my cats!
capitol switchboard ☎️: 202-224-3121
Reposted by Colin Sweeney, Ph.D.
"This could be the difference whether your child gets cancer. Are you willing for them to die because the therapy for them is delayed?"
Powerful video with voices from top US scientists on the very real and devastating impacts of the funding cuts.
Powerful video with voices from top US scientists on the very real and devastating impacts of the funding cuts.
August 24, 2025 at 7:25 PM
"This could be the difference whether your child gets cancer. Are you willing for them to die because the therapy for them is delayed?"
Powerful video with voices from top US scientists on the very real and devastating impacts of the funding cuts.
Powerful video with voices from top US scientists on the very real and devastating impacts of the funding cuts.
Reposted by Colin Sweeney, Ph.D.
Good people, don't outsource anything you're not willing to lose....
August 20, 2025 at 9:06 PM
Good people, don't outsource anything you're not willing to lose....