Daniel Becker
@danjbecker.bsky.social
assistant professor of biology at university of oklahoma, focusing on disease ecology, ecoimmunology, zoonotic pathogens of bats and birds, and anthropogenic change | dad | he/him
https://beckerlab.weebly.com/
https://beckerlab.weebly.com/
Pinned
Daniel Becker
@danjbecker.bsky.social
· Feb 3
Diverse hosts, diverse immune systems: evolutionary variation in bat immunology
ecoevorxiv.org
bats are immunologically "special", but bat species also differ in their immune response. we gather evidence for interspecific variation in bat immunity, propose hypotheses, and outline future comparative directions. i've really enjoyed working with this ECR team.
ecoevorxiv.org/repository/v...
ecoevorxiv.org/repository/v...
Reposted by Daniel Becker
NEW! 🦠🦧 We revisited a perplexing paradox: do wildlife really pose less of a risk to human health as they become more endangered? Turns out, it's sampling bias all the way down: conservation risks correlate with disease surveillance blindspots. 🔓 esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Viral diversity and zoonotic risk in endangered species
A growing body of evidence links zoonotic disease risk, including pandemic threats, to biodiversity loss and other upstream anthropogenic impacts on ecosystem health. However, there is little current...
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
November 25, 2025 at 1:25 PM
NEW! 🦠🦧 We revisited a perplexing paradox: do wildlife really pose less of a risk to human health as they become more endangered? Turns out, it's sampling bias all the way down: conservation risks correlate with disease surveillance blindspots. 🔓 esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Daniel Becker
My journal article with @danjbecker.bsky.social , @colincarlson.bsky.social and @viralemergence.org is featured on the @commsbio.nature.com homepage this week!! www.nature.com/commsbio/ check it out to see a cool bat picture by Brock Fenton!! 🦇💗🦇💗
Communications Biology
Communications Biology is an open access journal from Nature Portfolio publishing high-quality research, reviews and commentary in all areas of the biological ...
www.nature.com
November 6, 2025 at 5:41 PM
My journal article with @danjbecker.bsky.social , @colincarlson.bsky.social and @viralemergence.org is featured on the @commsbio.nature.com homepage this week!! www.nature.com/commsbio/ check it out to see a cool bat picture by Brock Fenton!! 🦇💗🦇💗
Reposted by Daniel Becker
Gestation length both shapes and is shaped by other life history traits in terrestrial eutherian mammals
doi.org/10.1093/evle...
Now in @evolletters.bsky.social by Thodoris Danis et al.
doi.org/10.1093/evle...
Now in @evolletters.bsky.social by Thodoris Danis et al.
Gestation length both shapes and is shaped by other life history traits in terrestrial eutherian mammals
Abstract. The length of gestation in eutherian mammals, which is key to their reproductive success, is closely connected to other life history traits, body
doi.org
November 5, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Gestation length both shapes and is shaped by other life history traits in terrestrial eutherian mammals
doi.org/10.1093/evle...
Now in @evolletters.bsky.social by Thodoris Danis et al.
doi.org/10.1093/evle...
Now in @evolletters.bsky.social by Thodoris Danis et al.
Reposted by Daniel Becker
2025. Viral epidemic potential is not uniformly distributed across the bat phylogeny www.nature.com/articles/s42...
Viral epidemic potential is not uniformly distributed across the bat phylogeny - Communications Biology
Phylogenetic and machine learning analyses reveal that bats (order: Chiroptera) are not a group with uniform viral epidemic potential: virulence, transmissibility, and death burden cluster within dist...
www.nature.com
November 5, 2025 at 1:51 AM
2025. Viral epidemic potential is not uniformly distributed across the bat phylogeny www.nature.com/articles/s42...
Reposted by Daniel Becker
I'm excited to announce that the first chapter of dissertation is published in @commsbio.nature.com !!! and i feel super fortunate that it could be published during bat week 💗🦇 www.nature.com/articles/s42... @danjbecker.bsky.social @colincarlson.bsky.social @/amandavicentesantos
October 30, 2025 at 4:37 PM
I'm excited to announce that the first chapter of dissertation is published in @commsbio.nature.com !!! and i feel super fortunate that it could be published during bat week 💗🦇 www.nature.com/articles/s42... @danjbecker.bsky.social @colincarlson.bsky.social @/amandavicentesantos
a nice summary of new work led by @carolinecummings.bsky.social and in collaboration with @colincarlson.bsky.social and @viralemergence.org on the distribution of zoonotic risk across bat species.
Only specific groups of bat species are likely to carry viruses with high epidemic potential, highlighting the importance of targeted surveillance and habitat conservation. doi.org/g985xg
Not all bats carry equal viral risk, new study reveals
A study published in Communications Biology sheds new light on the relationship between bats and dangerous viruses. Led by researchers at the University of Oklahoma, the study shows that, contrary to widespread assumptions, not all bats carry viruses with high epidemic potential, only specific groups of species.
phys.org
November 4, 2025 at 2:16 PM
a nice summary of new work led by @carolinecummings.bsky.social and in collaboration with @colincarlson.bsky.social and @viralemergence.org on the distribution of zoonotic risk across bat species.
Reposted by Daniel Becker
Hope you can join us for three full days (June 2-4th, 2026) of great science in a beautiful setting!
October 20, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Hope you can join us for three full days (June 2-4th, 2026) of great science in a beautiful setting!
Reposted by Daniel Becker
just in time for #batweek --Phylogenetic and ML analyses show that viral epidemic potential is not uniform among bats: virulence, transmissibility, and death burden cluster within distinct clades.🦇@carolinecummings.bsky.social @colincarlson.bsky.social @viralemergence.org go.sn.pub/acnbg1
October 30, 2025 at 2:54 PM
just in time for #batweek --Phylogenetic and ML analyses show that viral epidemic potential is not uniform among bats: virulence, transmissibility, and death burden cluster within distinct clades.🦇@carolinecummings.bsky.social @colincarlson.bsky.social @viralemergence.org go.sn.pub/acnbg1
Reposted by Daniel Becker
Super excited to finally share this! #CollectionsAreEssential
🦇🦠 New preprint - in a long-term effort led by the amazing @mayajuman.bsky.social, we've shown that the ML tools developed by @viralemergence.org let us efficiently screen museum collections for pathogens with pandemic potential
🎉🔓 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
🎉🔓 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Museum collections and machine learning guide discovery of novel coronaviruses and paramyxoviruses
Natural history museum collections are valuable but underutilized resources for viral discovery, offering opportunities to test hypotheses about viral occurrence across space, time, and taxonomic grou...
www.biorxiv.org
September 22, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Super excited to finally share this! #CollectionsAreEssential
Reposted by Daniel Becker
🦇🦠 New preprint - in a long-term effort led by the amazing @mayajuman.bsky.social, we've shown that the ML tools developed by @viralemergence.org let us efficiently screen museum collections for pathogens with pandemic potential
🎉🔓 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
🎉🔓 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Museum collections and machine learning guide discovery of novel coronaviruses and paramyxoviruses
Natural history museum collections are valuable but underutilized resources for viral discovery, offering opportunities to test hypotheses about viral occurrence across space, time, and taxonomic grou...
www.biorxiv.org
September 22, 2025 at 6:46 PM
🦇🦠 New preprint - in a long-term effort led by the amazing @mayajuman.bsky.social, we've shown that the ML tools developed by @viralemergence.org let us efficiently screen museum collections for pathogens with pandemic potential
🎉🔓 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
🎉🔓 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Daniel Becker
🚨 NEW: Climate change is already causing 30,000 deaths per year - a global annual economic loss of $100-350B USD - but the true damage is probably 10x higher. Out TODAY in Nature Climate Change: the first systematic look at the science of "health impact attribution" 🔓 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
September 17, 2025 at 11:57 AM
🚨 NEW: Climate change is already causing 30,000 deaths per year - a global annual economic loss of $100-350B USD - but the true damage is probably 10x higher. Out TODAY in Nature Climate Change: the first systematic look at the science of "health impact attribution" 🔓 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Daniel Becker
A few words about purple martins—how to help them, how to help all migratory birds, how to help birds that don’t migrate—in this week’s essay. Gift link via @nytopinion: www.nytimes.com/2025/09/01/o...
Opinion | One Way the Earthbound Can Take Flight
www.nytimes.com
September 1, 2025 at 5:39 PM
A few words about purple martins—how to help them, how to help all migratory birds, how to help birds that don’t migrate—in this week’s essay. Gift link via @nytopinion: www.nytimes.com/2025/09/01/o...
Reposted by Daniel Becker
Be sure to check out what a few of the ICB co authors of
Understanding #climate change threats to vertebrate #wildlife by studying #ecoimmunology across #biological scales
doi.org/10.1093/icb/...
are up to
Fagre
www.annafagre.com
Becker & Simonis
beckerlab.weebly.com
Understanding #climate change threats to vertebrate #wildlife by studying #ecoimmunology across #biological scales
doi.org/10.1093/icb/...
are up to
Fagre
www.annafagre.com
Becker & Simonis
beckerlab.weebly.com
August 28, 2025 at 11:35 AM
Be sure to check out what a few of the ICB co authors of
Understanding #climate change threats to vertebrate #wildlife by studying #ecoimmunology across #biological scales
doi.org/10.1093/icb/...
are up to
Fagre
www.annafagre.com
Becker & Simonis
beckerlab.weebly.com
Understanding #climate change threats to vertebrate #wildlife by studying #ecoimmunology across #biological scales
doi.org/10.1093/icb/...
are up to
Fagre
www.annafagre.com
Becker & Simonis
beckerlab.weebly.com
Reposted by Daniel Becker
ICB
Understand more about how #climate change threatens #organismal health and #ecological stability in a myriad of ways -
read :
Understanding #climatechange threats to #vertebrate #wildlife by studying #ecoimmunology across biological scales
Fagre et al
doi.org/10.1093/icb/...
Understand more about how #climate change threatens #organismal health and #ecological stability in a myriad of ways -
read :
Understanding #climatechange threats to #vertebrate #wildlife by studying #ecoimmunology across biological scales
Fagre et al
doi.org/10.1093/icb/...
August 29, 2025 at 11:58 AM
ICB
Understand more about how #climate change threatens #organismal health and #ecological stability in a myriad of ways -
read :
Understanding #climatechange threats to #vertebrate #wildlife by studying #ecoimmunology across biological scales
Fagre et al
doi.org/10.1093/icb/...
Understand more about how #climate change threatens #organismal health and #ecological stability in a myriad of ways -
read :
Understanding #climatechange threats to #vertebrate #wildlife by studying #ecoimmunology across biological scales
Fagre et al
doi.org/10.1093/icb/...
Reposted by Daniel Becker
🚀 gratia 0.11.0 is out!
Now has a paper in JOSS — please cite 📄 doi.org/10.21105/jos...
Experimental parallel processing ⚡
New assemble() for building plots 🎨
Better support for complex families + new diagnostics 🧪
Lots of bug fixes + polish ✨
👉 gavinsimpson.github.io/gratia/
#Rstats
Now has a paper in JOSS — please cite 📄 doi.org/10.21105/jos...
Experimental parallel processing ⚡
New assemble() for building plots 🎨
Better support for complex families + new diagnostics 🧪
Lots of bug fixes + polish ✨
👉 gavinsimpson.github.io/gratia/
#Rstats
An R package for working with generalized additive models
Graceful 'ggplot'-based graphics and utility functions for working with generalized additive models (GAMs) fitted using the 'mgcv' package.
gavinsimpson.github.io
August 18, 2025 at 6:32 PM
🚀 gratia 0.11.0 is out!
Now has a paper in JOSS — please cite 📄 doi.org/10.21105/jos...
Experimental parallel processing ⚡
New assemble() for building plots 🎨
Better support for complex families + new diagnostics 🧪
Lots of bug fixes + polish ✨
👉 gavinsimpson.github.io/gratia/
#Rstats
Now has a paper in JOSS — please cite 📄 doi.org/10.21105/jos...
Experimental parallel processing ⚡
New assemble() for building plots 🎨
Better support for complex families + new diagnostics 🧪
Lots of bug fixes + polish ✨
👉 gavinsimpson.github.io/gratia/
#Rstats
Reposted by Daniel Becker
Hey wild immunologists of blue sky… do you work on a non-model taxa???
Would you have 15 min to spare to zoom in and share your research with my comparative immunology class?
I’m looking to spotlight real research this semester. Please spread the word and reach out if you’re interested!
Would you have 15 min to spare to zoom in and share your research with my comparative immunology class?
I’m looking to spotlight real research this semester. Please spread the word and reach out if you’re interested!
August 13, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Hey wild immunologists of blue sky… do you work on a non-model taxa???
Would you have 15 min to spare to zoom in and share your research with my comparative immunology class?
I’m looking to spotlight real research this semester. Please spread the word and reach out if you’re interested!
Would you have 15 min to spare to zoom in and share your research with my comparative immunology class?
I’m looking to spotlight real research this semester. Please spread the word and reach out if you’re interested!
Reposted by Daniel Becker
Are you an early-career biologist or ecologist who would benefit from an invited seminar? Would you like to come to UMaine next fall or spring to give a talk? Leave a brief comment with some info about what you do. I'm co-hosting our seminar series again, and am filling out our rosters.
July 30, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Are you an early-career biologist or ecologist who would benefit from an invited seminar? Would you like to come to UMaine next fall or spring to give a talk? Leave a brief comment with some info about what you do. I'm co-hosting our seminar series again, and am filling out our rosters.
Reposted by Daniel Becker
🚨 First PhD chapter is out! My work thus far, with @andy2dobson.bsky.social
We found that formerly common species have declined the fastest, on average.
📄 North American bird declines are driven by reductions in common species | Science Advances www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
We found that formerly common species have declined the fastest, on average.
📄 North American bird declines are driven by reductions in common species | Science Advances www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
North American bird declines are driven by reductions in common species
Declines in North American birds are driven not by rare species vanishing but by sharp losses among formerly common species.
www.science.org
July 31, 2025 at 3:18 AM
🚨 First PhD chapter is out! My work thus far, with @andy2dobson.bsky.social
We found that formerly common species have declined the fastest, on average.
📄 North American bird declines are driven by reductions in common species | Science Advances www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
We found that formerly common species have declined the fastest, on average.
📄 North American bird declines are driven by reductions in common species | Science Advances www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Daniel Becker
🦇 NEW RESEARCH: Our 3-year study of Australian flying foxes identified six co-circulating coronaviruses, with highest rates of infection and co-infection in young bats, and evidence of circulating recombinants 🧪🌏 🧵
Available open access in @natcomms.nature.com
📄 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Available open access in @natcomms.nature.com
📄 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Synchronized seasonal excretion of multiple coronaviruses coincides with high rates of coinfection in immature bats - Nature Communications
Bats harbor diverse coronaviruses but temporal dynamics are less well studied. Here, the authors analyzed coronaviruses in Australian flying foxes over 3 years showing peak shedding and co-infections ...
doi.org
July 21, 2025 at 6:40 AM
🦇 NEW RESEARCH: Our 3-year study of Australian flying foxes identified six co-circulating coronaviruses, with highest rates of infection and co-infection in young bats, and evidence of circulating recombinants 🧪🌏 🧵
Available open access in @natcomms.nature.com
📄 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Available open access in @natcomms.nature.com
📄 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Daniel Becker
Are you a PhD student, have an offer, or have had an offer recently rescinded from a US university? If so, Western (in London, ON, Canada) has a new scholarship program for you! Check out this news story. I can vouch for this university! You will love it.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Western University launches program to capitalize on shrinking U.S. research funding | CBC News
Western University is looking to capitalize on massive shifts in the academic landscape of the United States with a new initiative designed to turn a difficult situation into a brain gain for both the...
www.cbc.ca
July 19, 2025 at 10:02 PM
Are you a PhD student, have an offer, or have had an offer recently rescinded from a US university? If so, Western (in London, ON, Canada) has a new scholarship program for you! Check out this news story. I can vouch for this university! You will love it.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Reposted by Daniel Becker
The 2025 Bat Infectious Disease meeting is now on. Looking forward to several excellent talks, along with talks by Rita and Victoria from my lab. #BatID
Thanks to Dr. Cara Brook and her lab for organizing and hosting us!
Thanks to Dr. Cara Brook and her lab for organizing and hosting us!
July 10, 2025 at 1:20 PM
The 2025 Bat Infectious Disease meeting is now on. Looking forward to several excellent talks, along with talks by Rita and Victoria from my lab. #BatID
Thanks to Dr. Cara Brook and her lab for organizing and hosting us!
Thanks to Dr. Cara Brook and her lab for organizing and hosting us!
Reposted by Daniel Becker
🚨 New publication out today. Bats are over 1480 species. In this latest article, we discuss the diversity within bats and their immune systems. Elegantly led by the Becker and Frank laboratories.
nyaspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
@danjbecker.bsky.social @bat-lady.bsky.social
nyaspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
@danjbecker.bsky.social @bat-lady.bsky.social
NYAS Publications
Bats are recognized to have distinct immune systems from other vertebrates that may allow them to host virulent pathogens without showing disease. However, these flying mammals are also incredibly di...
nyaspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
July 3, 2025 at 1:06 PM
🚨 New publication out today. Bats are over 1480 species. In this latest article, we discuss the diversity within bats and their immune systems. Elegantly led by the Becker and Frank laboratories.
nyaspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
@danjbecker.bsky.social @bat-lady.bsky.social
nyaspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
@danjbecker.bsky.social @bat-lady.bsky.social
Reposted by Daniel Becker
Infectious Disease Modelling starter pack update! Many more modellers have joined Bluesky recently so this update is overdue. Pls keep on sending suggestions! (bio should contain experience relevant for this pack)
IDModelling pack 1: go.bsky.app/86Ao1a5
IDModelling pack 2 : go.bsky.app/2oBB7KX
IDModelling pack 1: go.bsky.app/86Ao1a5
IDModelling pack 2 : go.bsky.app/2oBB7KX
July 1, 2025 at 8:56 AM
Infectious Disease Modelling starter pack update! Many more modellers have joined Bluesky recently so this update is overdue. Pls keep on sending suggestions! (bio should contain experience relevant for this pack)
IDModelling pack 1: go.bsky.app/86Ao1a5
IDModelling pack 2 : go.bsky.app/2oBB7KX
IDModelling pack 1: go.bsky.app/86Ao1a5
IDModelling pack 2 : go.bsky.app/2oBB7KX
Reposted by Daniel Becker
🦠🌿🐦🧪 How can biodiversity monitoring help global efforts in disease surveillance?
With ✨ fantastic ✨ colleagues from @viralemergence.org and the @geobon.org working group on One Health, we try to identify three key lessons for the future.
🧵 A short thread!
academic.oup.com/bioscience/a...
With ✨ fantastic ✨ colleagues from @viralemergence.org and the @geobon.org working group on One Health, we try to identify three key lessons for the future.
🧵 A short thread!
academic.oup.com/bioscience/a...
Biodiversity science and biosurveillance are fellow travelers
The failure to meet the Aichi targets to alleviate global biodiversity decline (Nature 2020) was a wake-up call to the biodiversity monitoring community (T
academic.oup.com
June 30, 2025 at 1:07 PM
🦠🌿🐦🧪 How can biodiversity monitoring help global efforts in disease surveillance?
With ✨ fantastic ✨ colleagues from @viralemergence.org and the @geobon.org working group on One Health, we try to identify three key lessons for the future.
🧵 A short thread!
academic.oup.com/bioscience/a...
With ✨ fantastic ✨ colleagues from @viralemergence.org and the @geobon.org working group on One Health, we try to identify three key lessons for the future.
🧵 A short thread!
academic.oup.com/bioscience/a...