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Benjamin Hlina, PhD

@benjaminhlina.bsky.social

190 followers 300 following 31 posts

Postdoctoral Fellow @UWindsor working on spatial ecology and food web dynamics on Lake Ontario | 🇺🇸🇨🇦 | benjaminhlina.com

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Benjamin Hlina, PhD @benjaminhlina.bsky.social · Feb 9

I don’t use social media much, so here is a bit about me:
 I love fish, nature, R, outdoor recreation, music, and books. If you want to know more about me checkout my website and blog at benjaminhlina.com and blog.benjaminhlina.com get outside!

Benjamin L. Hlina, PhD

Welcome to my site! I am a fisheries scientist and programmer currently based at the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research working with Drs. Aaron Fisk (University of Windsor) and Tim Johns...

benjaminhlina.com

Benjamin Hlina, PhD @benjaminhlina.bsky.social · 7d

Reach out to Great Lakes scientists please

Reposted by Benjamin Hlina, PhD

Bethany Brookshire @beebrookshire.bsky.social · 9d

Some good advice in here but one critical piece I always give is this:

Get a hobby. Preferably a mildly social one. One that has NOTHING TO DO WITH SCIENCE. NOTHING.

You need friends. Not colleagues. FRIENDS. Friends who will love you no matter your research prospects...

Nature @nature.com · 9d

What's one piece of advice you'd give to someone considering a PhD?

We asked 3785 doctoral candidates across 107 countries for their hard-won wisdom
go.nature.com/4nDjJ7t

27 things we wish we’d known when we started our PhDs

Nature’s survey of PhD candidates reveals hard-won wisdom on choosing supervisors, managing mental health and surviving academic culture.

go.nature.com

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Reposted by Benjamin Hlina, PhD

European Tracking Network @aquatictracking.bsky.social · Sep 4

FINALLY! 🥳

A Baltic Sea Tracking Network is on the way!! Thanks in part to a receiver loan from @oceantracking.bsky.social members of ETN based at SLU & LUKE (Finland) have deployed what we hope is just the beginning 💪

You can find out more about the project here: tinyurl.com/yc5nhxr5

The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences launches large-scale fish tracking – aiming to provide new insights about fish in the Baltic Sea

SLU has deployed 80 acoustic receivers along two lines in the Baltic Sea. By listening for signals from tagged fish, the receivers will reveal migration routes and uncover new insights on life beneath...

tinyurl.com

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Reposted by Benjamin Hlina, PhD

Dr Di Cook @visnut.bsky.social · 27d

This package has data that can be used instead of nycflights13 to teach joins, and also to look at temporal trends and draw maps. It has to coolest hexsticker vahdatjavad.github.io/ecotourism/ and cute creatures: mantarays, gouldian finches, glow worms and orchids

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Reposted by Benjamin Hlina, PhD

Solomon Kurz @solomonkurz.bsky.social · Sep 13

I haven't used {DeclareDesign} before, but I have been using {marginaleffects} in my simulation-based power analyses for the past year or so, and I recommend you do too.

Vincent Arel-Bundock @vincentab.bsky.social · Sep 13

The new {marginaleffects} release for #RStats (0.30.0) comes with two new vignettes:

1. Speed up computation with automatic differentiation (often 10x gains) marginaleffects.com/bonus/perfor...

2. Power analyses with {marginaleffects} and {DeclareDesign}. marginaleffects.com/bonus/power....

37 Performance – Model to Meaning

marginaleffects.com

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Reposted by Benjamin Hlina, PhD

Ellen George Karboski @ellenski.bsky.social · Sep 11

30 seconds of Lake Ontario 🌊

📍Deer Creek Wildlife Management Area

#lakeontario #greatlakes #beach

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Reposted by Benjamin Hlina, PhD

Steven J Cooke @sjcfishy.bsky.social · Aug 27

An Op Ed in the @theglobeandmail.com on World Lake Day. www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...

Opinion: Let’s both celebrate – and worry about – our Great Lakes on World Lake Day

Canada’s freshwater benefits us greatly - and we need to return the favour

www.theglobeandmail.com

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Reposted by Benjamin Hlina, PhD

Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · Aug 26

Obviously, and laughably wrong. Whales do not in fact fly into windmill blades. Entanglement in fishing gear, and getting hit by ships is the main cause of right whale deaths. And the other whale species are doing just fine in the Atlantic.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · Aug 26

RFK Jr claims that windmills are "wiping out the whale population" in the Atlantic

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Benjamin Hlina, PhD @benjaminhlina.bsky.social · Aug 22

For those that want a free version of the article here is the npr link,

www.npr.org/2025/08/21/n....

African Union backs campaign to replace Mercator map that distorts Africa's size

Organizers behind the Correct The Map campaign say the Mercator map's shrinking of Africa minimizes the continent's global influence — and is just plain inaccurate.

www.npr.org

Benjamin Hlina, PhD @benjaminhlina.bsky.social · Aug 14

We’ve been able to successfully tag alewife with v7 and v6 Innovasea tags in Lake Ontario and Huron. We have also have also early detections indicating they survived and have been moving around.

Benjamin Hlina, PhD @benjaminhlina.bsky.social · Aug 5

Thank you for clarification, given the four points you bring up I can see its usefulness, especially using with native pipes and type sensitivity.

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Benjamin Hlina, PhD @benjaminhlina.bsky.social · Aug 5

I get that it’s type safe but overall replace_when() seems redundant to me.

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Benjamin Hlina, PhD @benjaminhlina.bsky.social · Aug 5

Are these not just a wrapper around case_when()?

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Benjamin Hlina, PhD @benjaminhlina.bsky.social · Jul 25

This is the way

Reposted by Benjamin Hlina, PhD

Duluth News Tribune @duluthnewstribune.com · Jun 13

By sequencing DNA from a bloom near Barker’s Island in Superior last fall, researchers linked the toxins to Microcystis aeruginosa. The Minnesota Sea Grant called it a “breakthrough discovery.”

Researchers ID organisms behind algae blooms near Barker's Island

By sequencing DNA from a bloom near Barker’s Island in Superior last fall, researchers linked the toxins to Microcystis aeruginosa. The Minnesota Sea Grant called it a “breakthrough discovery.”

www.duluthnewstribune.com

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Reposted by Benjamin Hlina, PhD

Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences @cjfas.bsky.social · May 21

Fish telemetry is helping researchers uncover critical data to guide conservation decisions. Submit your research or review on telemetry applications for managing #aquaticspecies for this collection. Submissions open until Sept 30, 2025 ▶️ buff.ly/Y2FTYRL @icft2025.bsky.social

Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences social card to promote call for papers on new collection 'Fish telemetry to address management and conservation' with image of boat and fish underwater.

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Reposted by Benjamin Hlina, PhD

Mike O'Brien @obrien.page · Jun 3

NASA-funded 2.5-3y position at St. Mary's College of Maryland using #acoustictelemetry and observing system data to create real-time forecasts of Atlantic sturgeon:
www.smcm.edu/hr/smcm-job/...

#trackingnotslacking 🦑🐟🧪🌎

Marine Science Research Fellow

The Department of Marine Science at St. Mary’s College of Maryland is accepting applications for a temporary appointment as Marine Science Research Fellow, beginning Fall 2025. This appointment wil…

www.smcm.edu

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Reposted by Benjamin Hlina, PhD

Katie O'Reilly @drkatfish.bsky.social · May 30

Sea Grant work helps coastal communities become more resilient to disasters, promotes sustainable fisheries and aquaculture, and contributes to healthier coastal ecosystems for all. In 2023 alone, a federal investment in Sea Grant of $94 million resulted in $828.3 million economic benefit.

An infographic about the National Sea Grant College Program's economic impact. The major figure is that a federal investment in Sea Grant of $94 million resulted in $828.3 million economic benefit.

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Reposted by Benjamin Hlina, PhD

Titus Seilheimer @drfishsg.bsky.social · May 28

This year's Jack Christie/Ken H. Loftus Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions toward Understanding Healthy #GreatLakes Ecosystems from the Great Lakes Fishery Commission to @margaretdocker.bsky.social!

Dr. Docker receives the award from Drs. Hecky and Muir. Everyone is well dressed and Andrew has a great tie.

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Reposted by Benjamin Hlina, PhD

Mike O'Brien @obrien.page · May 27

New #AcousticTelemetry mooring design recs backed by decades of experience from @oceantracking.bsky.social and @imos-aus.bsky.social:
repository.oceanbestpractices.org/handle/11329...

Complete with a repo to further community development!
github.com/ocean-tracki...

🌎🧪🐟🦑 #trackingnotslacking

Cover of "Towards a best practice in acoustic telemetry mooring design" featuring a submerged, large, yellow buoy in clear water.

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Reposted by Benjamin Hlina, PhD

Real-time Aquatic Ecosystem Observation Network @raeon-uw.bsky.social · Apr 29

We had an amazing time on Sunday at Earth Day at Malden Park. Thanks to everyone who stopped by our booth to chat and learn about water monitoring, and the work we are doing with RAEON. We are looking forward to seeing you again at our community science events starting this month! shorturl.at/FJN6L

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Reposted by Benjamin Hlina, PhD

ProfColinBean @profcolinbean.bsky.social · Apr 20

mort: An R package to conservatively identify mortalities and shed tags in passive telemetry arrays. Journal of Animal Ecology, 00, 1–13. doi.org/10.1111/1365...

mort: An R package to conservatively identify mortalities and shed tags in passive telemetry arrays

Neglecting to consider mortalities can generate bias in telemetry studies. The R package mort identifies potential mortalities or expelled tags in passive telemetry arrays. Thresholds are derived fro...

doi.org

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Benjamin Hlina, PhD @benjaminhlina.bsky.social · Apr 15

That’s fair…I didn’t know that pkgdown could render qmd, figured it was restricted to rmd…you learn something every day. Not sure if you’ve seen this GH issue on pkgdown. It’s resolved but maybe this has popped back up.

github.com/r-lib/pkgdow...

Quarto articles, in the `vignettes/articles/*` sense, don't seem to work · Issue #2821 · r-lib/pkgdown

I'm working on making usethis::use_vignette() and usethis::use_article() work for .qmd. In that PR (r-lib/usethis#2085), I feel like I've got the right files going in the right places, etc., and .q...

github.com

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Benjamin Hlina, PhD @benjaminhlina.bsky.social · Apr 15

Is there a specific reason for using quarto here versus rmarkdown?

Benjamin Hlina, PhD @benjaminhlina.bsky.social · Apr 9

Same here I just learned st_nearest_point() and st_within(). I used the combination of the 2 to snap points that fell outside a polygon. It’s such a great tool!