Trevor A. Branch
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trevorabranch.bsky.social
Trevor A. Branch
@trevorabranch.bsky.social
11K followers 250 following 1.4K posts

Professor at Univ of Washington @uwsafs.bsky.social I run models and synthesize data, love R graphics, and do research on the status of marine fisheries, fishing quotas, and blue whales @bluewhalenews.bsky.social

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Environmental science 66%
Geography 18%
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trevorabranch.bsky.social
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · Mar 19
Sorting out the history of whaling pressure on five populations of blue whales in the Indian Ocean and SW Pacific. So many years of work went into this monumental collaboration with many many coauthors. So pleased to see this paper finally published.
doi.org/10.1111/mms....
bluewhalenews.bsky.social Blue whale news @bluewhalenews.bsky.social · Mar 19
Published! Our huge effort to obtain catch series for each of five overlapping populations of pygmy blue whales. Big collaboration with 30+ coauthors using spatial patterns of blue whale song (unique to each population) to figure out where each resides 1/n

trevorabranch.bsky.social
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 9h
The kid that made an enormous difference: gone with the measles.
www.sfgate.com/bayarea/arti...
Meet the kid who helped turn the anti-vaccine tide in California
The Krawitt family fought the anti-vaccine movement long before the rise of MAHA.
www.sfgate.com

trevorabranch.bsky.social
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 10h
A custom theme is your friend! See ggsidekick and theme_sleek() from Sean Anderson for starting code.
github.com/seananderson...
GitHub - seananderson/ggsidekick: Helper function(s) for ggplot2. [Only theme_sleek() for now.]
Helper function(s) for ggplot2. [Only theme_sleek() for now.] - seananderson/ggsidekick
github.com

trevorabranch.bsky.social
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 11h
Must be earlier access to the nutrients, at the end of the nurse log.

trevorabranch.bsky.social
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 11h
My biggest pet peeve with R is the inclusion of a space between 0 and the x-axis. It makes zeros look like non-zeros.
Fix this in ggplot by adding:
scale_y_continuous(expand = expansion(mult = c(0, 0.05)))

trevorabranch.bsky.social
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 12h
Imagine how good Australia will be at sports in 5-10 years time. They are already way ahead of all other nations on a per capita basis
www.nbcnews.com/world/asia/a...
Australia launches youth social media ban it says will be the world's 'first domino'
More than 1 million social media accounts held by users under 16 are set to be deactivated in Australia in a divisive world-first ban that is being closely watched elsewhere.
www.nbcnews.com

trevorabranch.bsky.social
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 12h
It's the best place to grow: excellent source of nutrients! Or the long line of new trees in a row growing out of fallen dead trees: "nursery logs" seen in old growth forests

trevorabranch.bsky.social
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 12h
Alcaraz wins Edberg Sportmanship Award, here is one example why
www.atptour.com/en/news/alca...
Carlos Alcaraz calls foul on himself, gives point to Ben Shelton at Roland Garros | ATP Tour | Tennis
Carlos Alcaraz offered a standout moment of sportsmanship on Sunday during his fourth-round match against Ben Shelton at Roland Garros, where he called a foul on himself.
www.atptour.com

Reposted by Bruce D. Baker, Alan Richardson, Trevor A. Branch

anthonymoser.com
Anthony Moser @anthonymoser.com · 14h
this is similar to what I've come to think of as the "reverse turing test"

when people find synthetic text is "good enough" to complete a task (homework, business report, email) it doesn't mean the machine is smart. it means they were asked to produce something that didn't matter

it's diagnostic
emilymbender.bsky.social Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 15h
So similarly, when we see people who prefer ChatGPT or a similar synthetic text extruding machine as a source of medical information, that means those are people who are under-served in the current system.

Reposted by Trevor A. Branch

emilymbender.bsky.social
Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 15h
So similarly, when we see people who prefer ChatGPT or a similar synthetic text extruding machine as a source of medical information, that means those are people who are under-served in the current system.

Reposted by Trevor A. Branch

drkatfish.bsky.social
Katie O'Reilly @drkatfish.bsky.social · 15h
Not exactly a looker - and I’m not just talking about their appearance. Widemouth blindcat is adapted for life in total darkness - it has a translucent body (no pigment needed to protect from UV exposure) with no eyes + no swim bladder (because of the immense pressure it lives at) #25DaysofFishmas
A widemouth blindcat fish

trevorabranch.bsky.social
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 22h
I heard the horror stories and got my singles shots as soon as they would let me after 50.

Reposted by Dorothy Bishop, Lesley A. Hall, Trevor A. Branch

kellybarnhill.bsky.social
Kelly Barnhill @kellybarnhill.bsky.social · 1d
PSA: if anyone in your life is trying to dissuade you from getting the shingles shot, you should probably assume that person hates you, and wants you to suffer. There is literally no other explanation.

Shingles hurts worse than childbirth. Worse than knee surgery. Worst pain of my life.
naomikritzer.bsky.social Naomi Kritzer @naomikritzer.bsky.social · 1d
I am baffled by this because I have had so many friends with shingles and NONE of them made it sound fun. Not one. A vaccine that made me absolutely miserable for 48 hours would still be a huge improvement over the mildest case of shingles I've heard of. (Also it made me tired for 1 day.)
levin.bsky.social Elana Levin @levin.bsky.social · 1d
All over my FB people talking about their bad experiences with shingles vax and dissuading each other from getting it! We need to give people real info on how to mitigate the symtoms caused by vaccines because vaccines are always better than meeting a virus unprepared. Yet drs aren't coaching ppl

Reposted by Trevor A. Branch, Zen Faulkes

alexwild.bsky.social
Alex Wild @alexwild.bsky.social · 1d
We are discovering new species at the fastest rate ever.

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Figure with two graphs, "A" labelled "Cumulative number of species" showing a gradual but slighly accelerating rise to near 2 million, and "B", labelled "Number of newly described species" showing 1750 to the present, with peaks around 1920 and 2020, and a giant trough in the second world war.

trevorabranch.bsky.social
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 1d
Really cool to see how extensive the beaver dams are at Carkeek, not shy to gnaw away at 5 ft diameter tree trunks either.

trevorabranch.bsky.social
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 1d
A tree fell just 100 ft from us on the weekend at Karkeek park, clear evidence of beaver gnawing it at the base before it fell. We'd have been under where it fell about 3 minutes later.

trevorabranch.bsky.social
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 1d
Not a good sign!

mynorthwest.com/seattles-mor...
'Hurricane Hunter' plane deploys to Pacific Northwest as major atmospheric river takes aim at Seattle
NOAA is sending its famed reconnaissance aircraft into a powerful storm system that threatens widespread flooding and damaging winds for Western Washington.
mynorthwest.com

trevorabranch.bsky.social
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 1d
For fans of Tufte, this is the best-designed book I've seen that shows off science
pubs.usgs.gov/publication/...
USGS Publications Warehouse
A puzzling tsunami entered Japanese history in January 1700. Samurai, merchants, and villagers wrote of minor flooding and damage. Some noted that no parent earthquake had been felt; they were wonderi...
pubs.usgs.gov

trevorabranch.bsky.social
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 1d
Having gone through this process, the money, the time, the endless forms, the endless administrative requirements... this is just utter cruelty.

Reposted by Trevor A. Branch

jenlucpiquant.bsky.social
Jennifer Ouellette @jenlucpiquant.bsky.social · 1d
Immigrants "plucked out" of U.S. citizenship line moments before oath ceremony boingboing.net/2025/12/08/i...
Immigrants "plucked out" of U.S. citizenship line moments before oath ceremony
Immigration officers pulled approved applicants from Boston citizenship ceremony based on country of origin lists.
boingboing.net

Reposted by Trevor A. Branch

ubcoceans.bsky.social
UBC Oceans @ubcoceans.bsky.social · 1d
DEADLINE: Dec. 15! Only a few days left to nominate (or self-nominate) for the 2026 Peter A. Larkin Award and Lecture — an honour celebrating outstanding fisheries researchers.
oceans.ubc.ca/news-and-eve...
@science.ubc.ca @seaaroundus.org @projectseahorse.bsky.social
DEADLINE: Dec. 15! Only a few days left to nominate (or self-nominate) for the 2026 Peter A. Larkin Award and Lecture — an honour celebrating outstanding fisheries researchers. https://oceans.ubc.ca/news-and-events/iof-seminars/larkin-lectures/ @science.ubc.ca @seaaroundus.org @projectseahorse.bsky.social

trevorabranch.bsky.social
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 1d
Death ball sponges and zombie worms.

www.earth.com/news/killer-...
Killer sea sponge, unlike anything seen to date, traps and devours live animals
A spherical sea sponge discovered in Antarctica, Carnivorous cladorhizid, is a carnivore, trapping and devouring live animals.
www.earth.com

trevorabranch.bsky.social
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 1d
Given that I know multiple other scientists have received identical emails... I am a bit skeptical.

trevorabranch.bsky.social
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 3d
I still vividly remember the first time I saw this (or something closely related), such a weird fungus.

trevorabranch.bsky.social
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 3d
Ah the beautiful five-side symmetry seen in all echinoderms! Wait, what?

trevorabranch.bsky.social
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 3d
Tom Lake on audiobook, narrated by Meryl Streep is another good one for a long car trip

trevorabranch.bsky.social
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 3d
Colloquially, it's the National LOTR (Lord of the Rings!)
volts.wtf David Roberts @volts.wtf · 6d
You know the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)? Venerable research institution, respected worldwide?

Trump has put an oil executive in charge of it & changed its name to the "National Laboratory of the Rockies."

It's so embarrassing being American these days.
News Release: Energy Department Renames NREL 'National Laboratory of the Rockies' | NREL
www.nrel.gov

trevorabranch.bsky.social
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 3d
Ha ha!

trevorabranch.bsky.social
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 3d
That made me laugh out loud!

Reposted by Trevor A. Branch

stevieparsons.bsky.social
Stevie P @stevieparsons.bsky.social · 3d
I can’t resist posting another photo of Aseroe rubra (Anemone Stinkhorn). This was the largest specimen I found and nicely shows the remains of the ‘egg’ it emerged from. Surrey 4/12/25 #fungi #FungiFriends

trevorabranch.bsky.social
Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 4d
Super disappointed that this scholgarship is not based on applicant's quantity and quality of gar puns.
solomonrdavid.bsky.social Dr. Solomon David @solomonrdavid.bsky.social · 4d
SCHOLARSHIP ALERT!!!
Now accepting submissions for the Alligator Gar Technical Committee Scholarship!

The cash scholarship is being provided by @alligatorgar-afs.bsky.social a student to help cover cost for attending the 2026 Southern Division @amfisheriessoc.bsky.social meeting in New Orleans🐟
A $500 cash scholarship is being provided by the Alligator Gar Technical Committee to one undergrad or graduate student. This award is intended to help cover cost for registration and travel to the 2026 SDAFS meeting in New Orleans, LA (March 5-8), annual AFS membership dues, registration and other travel-related expenses. This $500 scholarship will be awarded directly to the student and not to the student’s educational institution. A winner will be selected based on the quality of a submission containing the following items: • Cover letter highlighting research interests • Letter of recommendation • Professional biography (CV) This award is not just for those working on Alligator Gar, but also for those who are interested in research on any gar species. The scholarship recipient is expected to attend the 2026 SDAFS Alligator Gar Technical Committee meeting in New Orleans, where they will have the opportunity to meet and present their gar-related work to the committee. Think $500 isn’t enough? Stretch your dollars farther by volunteering at the SDAFS meeting to get your hotel room and registration fees waived. Please contact the Alligator Gar Committee for more details. Deadline: December 30, 2025 To apply or if you have questions, please contact: Matt Wegener (Chair-Alligator Gar Technical Committee) Email: matt.wegener@myfwc.com