Matthew Holden 🏳️🌈
@matthholden.bsky.social
Mathematician working in Ecology, Biodiversity Conservation, Fisheries, Natural Resource Management, Wildlife Trade, and Sustainability. Senior Lecturer at the University of Queensland. President of the Resource Modeling Association #LGBTQSTEM he/they
Pinned
When do you need to collect more data? ... surprisingly, more data often has little value for decisions. Our new paper unravels why "Value of Information Analyses" can yield surprising results in #ecology doi.org/10.1111/2041... w @katehelmstedt.bsky.social in @methodsinecoevol.bsky.social 🌍
It's baffling why the Go8 (a group of 8 leading universities in Australia) endorsed a position to weaken environmental laws. Not only do we, the researchers at these universities, disagree, but our research shows it is a bad idea. In just one day, 90 Go8 researchers documented our opposition.
We have no answers from our institutions as to why Go8 universities endorsed BCA's regressive EPBC recommendations
But 90 of us have signed an 'Independent statement on the Group of Eight’s position on EPBC Act reforms'
🙏 Prof Justine Bell-James for writing & coordinating the independent statement
But 90 of us have signed an 'Independent statement on the Group of Eight’s position on EPBC Act reforms'
🙏 Prof Justine Bell-James for writing & coordinating the independent statement
November 26, 2025 at 4:10 AM
It's baffling why the Go8 (a group of 8 leading universities in Australia) endorsed a position to weaken environmental laws. Not only do we, the researchers at these universities, disagree, but our research shows it is a bad idea. In just one day, 90 Go8 researchers documented our opposition.
Cute little spikey echidnas have massive poos! The size of a go card! The 💩 can also be detected by dogs. Let's turn 💩 into conservation solutions. Great talk by Kate Dutton-Regester at @uq-cbcs.bsky.social @brisbanetimes.bsky.social @qld.greens.org.au @hugepossum.bsky.social
November 25, 2025 at 1:35 AM
Cute little spikey echidnas have massive poos! The size of a go card! The 💩 can also be detected by dogs. Let's turn 💩 into conservation solutions. Great talk by Kate Dutton-Regester at @uq-cbcs.bsky.social @brisbanetimes.bsky.social @qld.greens.org.au @hugepossum.bsky.social
Don't post your preprint on SSRN (option at many journals). Google scholar often delists papers that have an SSRN preprint. Arxiv preprints are more prominent in scholar. @elsevierconnect.bsky.social @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social @academic-chatter.bsky.social eg. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Expand or better manage protected areas: A framework for minimizing extinction risk when threats are concentrated near edges
Several international agreements have called for the rapid expansion of protected areas to halt biodiversity declines. However, recent research has sh…
www.sciencedirect.com
November 19, 2025 at 9:55 PM
Don't post your preprint on SSRN (option at many journals). Google scholar often delists papers that have an SSRN preprint. Arxiv preprints are more prominent in scholar. @elsevierconnect.bsky.social @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social @academic-chatter.bsky.social eg. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Love this Nesbit lecture by prof Ben Andrews on using the diffusion equation as a tool to understand geometry.
November 19, 2025 at 9:06 AM
Love this Nesbit lecture by prof Ben Andrews on using the diffusion equation as a tool to understand geometry.
Our new paper: If you get a bit more conservation $ should you expand a protected area or improve management? Past work suggests management is often more cost effective but we show when threats are concentrated near edges we find expanding may be optimal doi.org/10.1016/j.bi... 🌍
Redirecting
doi.org
October 23, 2025 at 4:15 AM
Our new paper: If you get a bit more conservation $ should you expand a protected area or improve management? Past work suggests management is often more cost effective but we show when threats are concentrated near edges we find expanding may be optimal doi.org/10.1016/j.bi... 🌍
Reposted by Matthew Holden 🏳️🌈
This is excellent. I once reviewed a grant in a European scheme that had 12 while men on the team. I used similar framing to critique the issues, even though EDI was not included in the criteria. I also followed up with the scheme to ask why no EDI.
New blog: As a grant peer reviewer I consider Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) even if the scheme doesn't list EDI criteria. Key is to tie the selection criteria to EDI. This is how I do it mathemagicalconservation.wordpress.com/2025/09/23/a... @katehelmstedt.bsky.social @hugepossum.bsky.social
As a grant reviewer, how do you request Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, even if it isn’t an explicit selection criterion
Many funding schemes now include equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) as an explicit selection criterion. But what happens when it isn’t written into the rubric? Should applicants still consider …
mathemagicalconservation.wordpress.com
October 12, 2025 at 2:40 AM
This is excellent. I once reviewed a grant in a European scheme that had 12 while men on the team. I used similar framing to critique the issues, even though EDI was not included in the criteria. I also followed up with the scheme to ask why no EDI.
Reposted by Matthew Holden 🏳️🌈
the answer to the trolley problem is not to pick who to sacrifice, it’s to dismantle the system that led to an unsafe trolley crossing.
if any part of your morality strategy involves picking a group to let die on a hill, throw the entire strategy out. it’s wrong.
if any part of your morality strategy involves picking a group to let die on a hill, throw the entire strategy out. it’s wrong.
October 8, 2025 at 6:03 PM
the answer to the trolley problem is not to pick who to sacrifice, it’s to dismantle the system that led to an unsafe trolley crossing.
if any part of your morality strategy involves picking a group to let die on a hill, throw the entire strategy out. it’s wrong.
if any part of your morality strategy involves picking a group to let die on a hill, throw the entire strategy out. it’s wrong.
New blog: As a grant peer reviewer I consider Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) even if the scheme doesn't list EDI criteria. Key is to tie the selection criteria to EDI. This is how I do it mathemagicalconservation.wordpress.com/2025/09/23/a... @katehelmstedt.bsky.social @hugepossum.bsky.social
As a grant reviewer, how do you request Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, even if it isn’t an explicit selection criterion
Many funding schemes now include equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) as an explicit selection criterion. But what happens when it isn’t written into the rubric? Should applicants still consider …
mathemagicalconservation.wordpress.com
September 25, 2025 at 1:39 AM
New blog: As a grant peer reviewer I consider Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) even if the scheme doesn't list EDI criteria. Key is to tie the selection criteria to EDI. This is how I do it mathemagicalconservation.wordpress.com/2025/09/23/a... @katehelmstedt.bsky.social @hugepossum.bsky.social
Happy 4^ / 3^2 / 5^2 day!!! (3^2/ 4^2 / 5^2 for us weird Americans) Not too many days satisfy the Pythagorean thm. @amermathsoc.bsky.social @austms.bsky.social @stevenstrogatz.com @monsoon0.bsky.social ht Peter Baxter for noticing. Looking forward to coming back to the US for joint maths in Jan.
September 16, 2025 at 8:48 AM
Happy 4^ / 3^2 / 5^2 day!!! (3^2/ 4^2 / 5^2 for us weird Americans) Not too many days satisfy the Pythagorean thm. @amermathsoc.bsky.social @austms.bsky.social @stevenstrogatz.com @monsoon0.bsky.social ht Peter Baxter for noticing. Looking forward to coming back to the US for joint maths in Jan.
Reposted by Matthew Holden 🏳️🌈
Ooh arXiv paper from @matthholden.bsky.social @katehelmstedt.bsky.social about embedding sustainability in undergraduate maths with case studies 👀 Looks very actionable!
arxiv.org/abs/2508.07594
arxiv.org/abs/2508.07594
Embedding Sustainability in Undergraduate Mathematics with Actionable Case Studies
There is a growing need to integrate sustainability into tertiary mathematics education given the urgency of addressing global environmental challenges. This paper presents four case studies from Aust...
arxiv.org
August 12, 2025 at 10:09 AM
Ooh arXiv paper from @matthholden.bsky.social @katehelmstedt.bsky.social about embedding sustainability in undergraduate maths with case studies 👀 Looks very actionable!
arxiv.org/abs/2508.07594
arxiv.org/abs/2508.07594
Excited for our annual conference on modeling for ecology, biodiversity, sustainability, environment, water, energy, climate, fisheries, forestry, & ag. Love all the cool #math & stats used to save the world. Join us in Stellenbosch 2026. 🌍#MathSky @hugepossum.bsky.social @katehelmstedt.bsky.social
Announcement: The World Conference on Natural Resource Modeling 2026 will be in Stellenbosch, South Africa, set in the heart of Africa’s Cape Winelands (30 min uber from Cape Town Int. Airport) June 30 – July 3. Propose a special session & bring your friends here resourcemodeling.org/wcnrm2026-st...
WCNRM#2026 Stellenbosch, South Africa - Resource Modeling Association
resourcemodeling.org
July 17, 2025 at 12:19 AM
Excited for our annual conference on modeling for ecology, biodiversity, sustainability, environment, water, energy, climate, fisheries, forestry, & ag. Love all the cool #math & stats used to save the world. Join us in Stellenbosch 2026. 🌍#MathSky @hugepossum.bsky.social @katehelmstedt.bsky.social
Job alert: 2.75 -3 yr postdoc in Mathematical ecology/epidemiology or Decision Sci at the University of Queensland on the value of information for decisions with @hugepossum.bsky.social @katehelmstedt.bsky.social Katriona Shea & myself #MathSky 🌍 uq.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/uqcareers/jo... please share
Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Mathematical Ecology and Environmental Decision Science
School of Mathematics and Physics Full-time, fixed-term position for up to 2 years and 9 months with the possibility up to 3 years, depending on funding availability. Base salary will be in the range ...
uq.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com
July 16, 2025 at 11:30 PM
Job alert: 2.75 -3 yr postdoc in Mathematical ecology/epidemiology or Decision Sci at the University of Queensland on the value of information for decisions with @hugepossum.bsky.social @katehelmstedt.bsky.social Katriona Shea & myself #MathSky 🌍 uq.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/uqcareers/jo... please share
Reposted by Matthew Holden 🏳️🌈
getting in an arms race with LLMs over em-dashes by using dashes so long ——— so very long ——— that they have never appeared in training data
July 7, 2025 at 3:21 AM
getting in an arms race with LLMs over em-dashes by using dashes so long ——— so very long ——— that they have never appeared in training data
Please share: PhD scholarship opportunity in mathematical ecology on the value of information for improving ecological management, open to international students, with a great team @hugepossum.bsky.social, Katriona Shea, Kate Helmstedt, & me at UQ, Australia 🌍 🧮, study.uq.edu.au/study-option...
The value of information for ecological management
study.uq.edu.au
July 4, 2025 at 5:54 AM
Please share: PhD scholarship opportunity in mathematical ecology on the value of information for improving ecological management, open to international students, with a great team @hugepossum.bsky.social, Katriona Shea, Kate Helmstedt, & me at UQ, Australia 🌍 🧮, study.uq.edu.au/study-option...
Great work classifying ecosystems around the world to create an IUCN red list of ecosystems presented by Prof Emily Nicholson. Shows a small global decline in ecosystems but with extreme variation with some declining rapidly. 🌍
@aciucn.bsky.social @uq-cbcs.bsky.social
@aciucn.bsky.social @uq-cbcs.bsky.social
July 1, 2025 at 1:30 AM
Great work classifying ecosystems around the world to create an IUCN red list of ecosystems presented by Prof Emily Nicholson. Shows a small global decline in ecosystems but with extreme variation with some declining rapidly. 🌍
@aciucn.bsky.social @uq-cbcs.bsky.social
@aciucn.bsky.social @uq-cbcs.bsky.social
Just saw this amazing science article - Beetle grows replica ‘termite’ on back to steal food www.science.org/content/arti.... Despite it being in Australia it wasn't one of the 1,168 species in our Brisbane home but we did find 6 species of rove beetle doi.org/10.1002/ecy....
Beetle grows ‘termite’ on back to steal food
Puppet helps insect trick real termites into feeding it
www.science.org
June 29, 2025 at 9:54 PM
Just saw this amazing science article - Beetle grows replica ‘termite’ on back to steal food www.science.org/content/arti.... Despite it being in Australia it wasn't one of the 1,168 species in our Brisbane home but we did find 6 species of rove beetle doi.org/10.1002/ecy....
Bycatch reduction interventions are effective for improving marine species populations but very few studies report the impacts on fisher safety, and other fisher objectives. This is a major barrier to adoption. Great talk by Cindy Vargas @arizonastateuni.bsky.social at #iccb2025.
June 16, 2025 at 5:56 AM
Bycatch reduction interventions are effective for improving marine species populations but very few studies report the impacts on fisher safety, and other fisher objectives. This is a major barrier to adoption. Great talk by Cindy Vargas @arizonastateuni.bsky.social at #iccb2025.
We can achieve 100% renewable energy in Australia & also protect threatened species impacted by wind and solar developments with only 2-3% increase in electricity bills compared to if we didn't consider threatened species. #iccb2025 great talk by A Rogers
June 16, 2025 at 5:21 AM
We can achieve 100% renewable energy in Australia & also protect threatened species impacted by wind and solar developments with only 2-3% increase in electricity bills compared to if we didn't consider threatened species. #iccb2025 great talk by A Rogers
Love the Guidelines on how to give linguistically friendly presentations in English at #iccb2025 for more accessible and diverse conferences @tatsuya-amano.bsky.social
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
ICCB 2025_Guidelines on how to give linguistically friendly presentations in English.docx
Guidelines on how to give linguistically friendly presentations in English ICCB Language Accessibility Subcommittee The philosophy of ICCB 2025 is grounded in inclusivity and accessibility, prioritizi...
docs.google.com
June 15, 2025 at 7:39 AM
Love the Guidelines on how to give linguistically friendly presentations in English at #iccb2025 for more accessible and diverse conferences @tatsuya-amano.bsky.social
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
Reposted by Matthew Holden 🏳️🌈
I really dislike this sentiment re: AI impacts on education: If an assignment can be completed by AI then it is clearly just busy work; educators need to create better assignments.
Absolutely not true. Just because AI can do something too doesn't mean that doing it doesn't have pedagogical value.
Absolutely not true. Just because AI can do something too doesn't mean that doing it doesn't have pedagogical value.
June 2, 2025 at 8:04 PM
I really dislike this sentiment re: AI impacts on education: If an assignment can be completed by AI then it is clearly just busy work; educators need to create better assignments.
Absolutely not true. Just because AI can do something too doesn't mean that doing it doesn't have pedagogical value.
Absolutely not true. Just because AI can do something too doesn't mean that doing it doesn't have pedagogical value.
Reposted by Matthew Holden 🏳️🌈
Every proof in every undergrad math class can be pooped out by the random sentence machine. The point is exactly to engage in the process of generating a proof.
I really dislike this sentiment re: AI impacts on education: If an assignment can be completed by AI then it is clearly just busy work; educators need to create better assignments.
Absolutely not true. Just because AI can do something too doesn't mean that doing it doesn't have pedagogical value.
Absolutely not true. Just because AI can do something too doesn't mean that doing it doesn't have pedagogical value.
June 2, 2025 at 9:35 PM
Every proof in every undergrad math class can be pooped out by the random sentence machine. The point is exactly to engage in the process of generating a proof.
Reposted by Matthew Holden 🏳️🌈
💯
The push for AI makes this even worse because we could very quickly end up in a situation where there are few or no early-career roles. Having computers do the easy stuff is all well and good until you realise *people* have to do the easy stuff to learn how to do the complex stuff.
May 23, 2025 at 8:47 AM
💯
Please share. 2 tenure-track T&R math/stat jobs at the University of Queensland, Australia. Amazing weather, gorgeous campus & lifestyle. 17% employer retirement contribution, lots of leave. Strong global reputation. Supports diversity @stevenstrogatz.com uq.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/uqcare...
May 16, 2025 at 1:26 AM
Please share. 2 tenure-track T&R math/stat jobs at the University of Queensland, Australia. Amazing weather, gorgeous campus & lifestyle. 17% employer retirement contribution, lots of leave. Strong global reputation. Supports diversity @stevenstrogatz.com uq.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/uqcare...
Reposted by Matthew Holden 🏳️🌈
🧪🧬🦠🌎🐍🐸🦅🐠🐡🐙
hi guys ik i don’t get political often, but this is super important and incredibly messed up. please like, repost, and fill out a comment
www.regulations.gov/commenton/FW...
#wildlife #ecology #conservation #biology #usa #habitatdisruption #preservation #development #earthday #government
www.regulations.gov/commenton/FW...
#wildlife #ecology #conservation #biology #usa #habitatdisruption #preservation #development #earthday #government
May 13, 2025 at 3:10 AM
🧪🧬🦠🌎🐍🐸🦅🐠🐡🐙
My top tips for conferences 1) have fun, Skip some talks 2) go to the poster session 3) focus your talk/poster around one main message w email address on last slide 4) see who's attending in the program before you arrive and schedule meetings. @iccb2025.bsky.social
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www.instagram.com/reel/DJQd0_h...
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May 7, 2025 at 5:49 AM
My top tips for conferences 1) have fun, Skip some talks 2) go to the poster session 3) focus your talk/poster around one main message w email address on last slide 4) see who's attending in the program before you arrive and schedule meetings. @iccb2025.bsky.social
www.instagram.com/reel/DJQd0_h...
www.instagram.com/reel/DJQd0_h...