Digital Naturalism Laboratories
banner
dinalab.bsky.social
Digital Naturalism Laboratories
@dinalab.bsky.social
A jungle makerspace for field biology in Gamboa, Panamá. www.dinalab.net

We also organize the Digital Naturalism Conference: http://2025.dinacon.org
Pinned
Hiya folks! For new people here's the big project we have been working on in Panamá!
The Mothbox!

It's a fully #opensource insect camera trap with loads of documentation to build the whole thing yourself from off the shelf parts!

digital-naturalism-laboratories.github.io/Mothbox/
Home
The Mothbox is a low cost DIY insect monitor
digital-naturalism-laboratories.github.io
Reposted by Digital Naturalism Laboratories
🍁Funding for new PhD students ($40k/yr) & postdocs ($70k/yr) coming from outside Canada. Contact me if interested in #Ecophysiology at #UBC in #Vancouver! Possible topics: leaf physiology, thermal ecology, microclimate, scaling, tree physiology, forest ecology, more! michaletzlab.org
Please share!
January 15, 2026 at 5:49 PM
Did you know 2026 is year of the Moth?!?!

Let's celebrate those Light-Seeking Lepidoptera, Shadow Flappers, and Blackhole Butterflies all year long!
January 15, 2026 at 5:10 PM
Reposted by Digital Naturalism Laboratories
And if you want more detail on why I left iNat, I wrote about that too: kueda.net/blog/2026/01...
Why I Left iNaturalist
After almost 18 years, I left iNaturalist, the product and organization I helped create. I left because I don’t believe the current Leadership team is pointing the product in the right direction, and ...
kueda.net
January 6, 2026 at 7:34 PM
Reposted by Digital Naturalism Laboratories
In 2025 the normally predictable upwelling in the Gulf of Panama failed to appear - the first time since our records began 40 years ago (www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2512056122I).
We are studying the gulf carefully to see what will happen in 2026. Will it also fail or was 2025 a one-off?
January 15, 2026 at 3:14 PM
People keep being like, why don't the police arrest the bad police who murder people?

And that's the answer right there.
Let me tell you what, the police and the democrats aren't going to save the USA from fascism.
January 15, 2026 at 3:07 PM
Let me tell you what, the police and the democrats aren't going to save the USA from fascism.
January 15, 2026 at 3:03 PM
Reposted by Digital Naturalism Laboratories
the open secret of course is that the police really run every city in this country. if you ever "mostly agreed" but called abolition unserious or impossible, at this point it's clear you need to spend a couple months in a Time Out before you're allowed to have an opinion like a big kid
January 15, 2026 at 1:47 PM
Reposted by Digital Naturalism Laboratories
at this point i am relieved, if anything, that "the police" have not been deployed to "fight ICE" because they will simply start maiming and killing protestors, together
January 15, 2026 at 1:45 PM
Reposted by Digital Naturalism Laboratories
It's that time of year! Please reach out if you'd like to give a (paid) guest lecture (on zoom) in my Primate class this semester :) Currently looking for speakers for 20 or 23 Feb!
I'm looking for guest speakers (paid, awaiting funding) for my Primate Behavior class. I'm hoping to find a couple people who work with primates in different settings (zoo, lab, field). Preference for in-country (field), historically excluded, & student/early career primatologists. Please reach out!
January 14, 2026 at 9:08 PM
Reposted by Digital Naturalism Laboratories
unteaching the pop cultural definition of anarchy that conflates it with chaos is one of my most frustrating side projects
People often describe chaotic things as "anarchy," when in fact, anarchy is about communities working together without some people with elevated rights above others (kings).

Notice the government, and its king are causing the chaos.

The anarchy, the communities, are the ones fighting for order.
January 15, 2026 at 12:13 PM
Reposted by Digital Naturalism Laboratories
The Minneapolis mayor and police chief do not get it. By admonishing protesters, they are telling the WRONG PEOPLE to de-escalate and remain peaceful. They literally told everyone to go home tonight.

This is not going to solve their problem.
January 15, 2026 at 4:49 AM
People often describe chaotic things as "anarchy," when in fact, anarchy is about communities working together without some people with elevated rights above others (kings).

Notice the government, and its king are causing the chaos.

The anarchy, the communities, are the ones fighting for order.
January 15, 2026 at 4:15 AM
Reposted by Digital Naturalism Laboratories
It's getting worse out there, because they shot a woman in the face in broad daylight filmed at multiple camera angles and there have been no consequences
I'm back home from Minneapolis now. It's an occupation. Our federal government has sent troops to shoot us in the face. It's fucking insane.
January 15, 2026 at 2:35 AM
Reposted by Digital Naturalism Laboratories
With all the love in my heart and respect I have for Erin, I trust MPD as far as I can throw them. Keep the peace always means tear gas the people demanding answers, never means arresting the fed who shot our neighbors
Sharing directly from MPD: Minneapolis police is only at the NE location to keep the peace - ICE did the shooting - please share this with community
January 15, 2026 at 2:28 AM
Reposted by Digital Naturalism Laboratories
Everyone talking about abolishing ICE.

But let's also talk about tearing down the wall. I want to live long enough to see it fall.
January 15, 2026 at 2:46 AM
Reposted by Digital Naturalism Laboratories
Democrats urgently need to lose their next primaries. We can't afford to go into a dictatorship with an "opposition" that votes for most of the dictator shit.
The House voted 341 to 79 to fund Trump's war-mongering foreign policy agenda.

Only 57 Democrats voted NO.

clerk.house.gov/evs/2026/rol...
January 15, 2026 at 2:00 AM
Reposted by Digital Naturalism Laboratories
The House voted 341 to 79 to fund Trump's war-mongering foreign policy agenda.

Only 57 Democrats voted NO.

clerk.house.gov/evs/2026/rol...
January 14, 2026 at 11:48 PM
Reposted by Digital Naturalism Laboratories
Using a combination of glitches in Super Mario World, Yoshi can be taken into the final battle, where he can eat Peach upon Bowser's defeat. With Peach gone, the ending will not play, and Mario and Yoshi will simply stare at each other forever.
January 14, 2026 at 5:41 PM
Reposted by Digital Naturalism Laboratories
January 13, 2026 at 3:47 PM
Mothbox updates:

I figured out some hacks that make starting up and configuring a mothbox WAYYYY easier!

Also spent the whole end of the year and beginning of the year whittling away at little refinements to the manufacturing process!
forum.openhardware.science/t/new-firmwa...
New Firmware 4.16.5 and usuability updates
I have been cranking during the limbo period between years to get you a lot of cool new improvements and refinements for the Mothbox! I am very excited about these updates because they make a LOT of t...
forum.openhardware.science
January 14, 2026 at 3:09 PM
Hey! Are you going to @wildlabs.bsky.social 's International Conservation Technology Conference in Lima, Peru? If so, we got a cool workshop you can sign up for where you will get hands-on experience building and using automated insect monitors! and we will play with data!
whova.com/web/YBLOiSDZ...
International Conservation Technology Conference hosted on Whova
February 18 – 20, 2026, Peru, Lima
whova.com
January 14, 2026 at 2:43 PM
Reposted by Digital Naturalism Laboratories
Our lab (www.cossee.org) and (www.i-deel.org) are looking for a postdoc(s) to nominate via this program - www.ualberta.ca/en/graduate-.... If you are a good fit, you contact us asap ([email protected] or [email protected]) - our internal deadline for nominations is on 9th Feb. 🚀 🔥 🏃‍♂️‍➡️
COSSEE: Collaboration for Open Science and Synthesis in Ecology and Evolution
Explore the Collaboration for Open Science and Synthesis in Ecology and Evolution (COSSEE). Discover groundbreaking research, publications, and opportunities. Learn about open science initiatives and ...
www.cossee.org
January 14, 2026 at 5:46 AM
Reposted by Digital Naturalism Laboratories
Please contact me if you want to be nominated for a postdoc via this scheme - you need to live outside of Canada and I need to do so by 9 Feb (and need to start by March 2027) - www.ualberta.ca/en/graduate-... (I think you do need to have a competitive CV etc)

Please email me if you are interested
Canada Impact+ Research Training Awards for Postdoctoral Scholars
www.ualberta.ca
January 14, 2026 at 12:30 AM
Reposted by Digital Naturalism Laboratories
Everybody thinks 'https://' stands for 'hypertext transfer protocol secure' but it actually stands for 'head to this place, sucka' followed by a colon and two laser sounds
January 13, 2026 at 8:17 PM
Reposted by Digital Naturalism Laboratories
Incredible article which points out that it often collectively costs more to apply for scarce research funding than the funds awarded to the successful proposals.

What an absurd system we've built in the service of efficiency and competition.

www.nature.com/articles/d41...
January 13, 2026 at 8:55 PM