Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Rachel Germain @gerlame.bsky.social · 7d

I wish there were more (any??) graduate fellowships that are based more on improvement or recent record of success, ignoring an initial rough start

1 7

Rachel Germain @gerlame.bsky.social · Aug 17

We use annual plants, flour beetles, and duckweed in the lab, greenhouse, and field to test how processes of community assembly interact and how they feedback with evolution

Check out our website & lab instagram page

(email and website deliberately not posted here to prevent spam)

1

Rachel Germain @gerlame.bsky.social · Aug 17

🚨postdoc opportunity at UBC🚨 applications are now open for the Killam Postdoctoral Fellowship, due internally Oct. 15 - www.postdocs.ubc.ca/award/killam...

I can nominate 1 person and give feedback on that nominee's materials - if interested plz email me by Sept. 10 - join us!

1 51 46

Rachel Germain @gerlame.bsky.social · Jul 27

I can't remember the last time I successfully logged into NSERC or the CCV portal without needing support to manually unlock my account, due to being unable to remember which childhood best friend I used as a security question when I made my account 15 years ago

3

Rachel Germain @gerlame.bsky.social · Jul 6

Closing in on @csee-sceemtgs.bsky.social !

1 8

Rachel Germain @gerlame.bsky.social · Jun 20

Is @tessgrainger.bsky.social trying to tell me something 🤔

6

Rachel Germain @gerlame.bsky.social · Apr 30

Today in lab meeting we are going to do a workshop for each student to develop an organizing conceptual schematic for their thesis (e.g., to be used for the thesis introduction or exit seminar). Anyone here willing to share theirs for inspiration? Here's mine as an example of what I mean 👻

Projects are arranged based on timescale (x axis) and spatial scale (y axis)

6

Rachel Germain @gerlame.bsky.social · Apr 26

Oo looks really cool! I'd definitely need a deeper read before being able to answer your question with any confidence - I'll check it out this week

1 1

Rachel Germain @gerlame.bsky.social · Apr 25

Ecologists are obsessed with linking process and pattern, but quantifying the core processes of community assembly (and their interactions) in a natural setting is extremely hard. But we've done it! Using a fun new method.

Very proud of this paper and of Emilie and Megan's leadership 🥳

Megan Szojka @megan-szojka.bsky.social · Apr 25

Our latest research in California's serpentine grasslands reveals that biodiversity patterns are shaped more by dispersal than environmental conditions alone esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....

Species occupancy is inflated by sink populations in productive environments but not unproductive environments

You have to enable JavaScript in your browser's settings in order to use the eReader.

esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

1 10 36

Reposted by Rachel Germain

Lee Sweetlove @leesweetlove.bsky.social · Apr 5

Lots of excellent advice in this piece. The core message - only through writing do you really think and order your thoughts into logical sense. Makes a case for not using AI for 1st draft because you bypass the thinking step
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
@naturebiotech.bsky.social
#PlantScience

An open letter to graduate students and other procrastinators: it’s time to write - Nature Biotechnology

Nature Biotechnology - An open letter to graduate students and other procrastinators: it’s time to write

www.nature.com

2 25 48

Rachel Germain @gerlame.bsky.social · Apr 2

Each day we creep closer to the handmaid's tale

1

Rachel Germain @gerlame.bsky.social · Apr 2

Reports of USA border officials demanding access to people's devices and denying entry due to evidence of political leanings...this post alone will probably get me banned 😆

1 3

Rachel Germain @gerlame.bsky.social · Mar 27

I think this is the answer - I suspect people compare them often without realizing, but at least the two models yielded identical fits

Rachel Germain @gerlame.bsky.social · Mar 27

I simulated a fake dataset with a binomial distribution and used that fake data in a glmmTMB with A. a binomial error distribution and B. a beta error distribution (to test the consequences of my choice)

The beta distribution had a hugely lower AIC. Anyone know why??

4 1

Rachel Germain @gerlame.bsky.social · Mar 26

Also one more thing, i think it's helpful when people give an idea of the time/leadership commitment of various activities (eg volunteer). Some people have massive lists and i can't tell if they're a bunch of one offs or if someone dedicated year to leading something

3

Rachel Germain @gerlame.bsky.social · Mar 26

That includes time management, but also my time as a salad bar attendant means I can cut up a cantaloupe in ways you could only dream of

1 3

Rachel Germain @gerlame.bsky.social · Mar 26

Same is true for work experience. You might not think working at a grocery store is relevant but it can be both for assessing uncommitted time to research and also because a number of skills are practiced in formal work settings

1 2

Rachel Germain @gerlame.bsky.social · Mar 26

Hot tip for fellowship applications (imo): I see a lot of people being vague about their TAing load/other activities that take up time. Reviewers sometimes use this information to weight productivity. e.g., if two people have the same output but one person TAed way more

1 2 7

Rachel Germain @gerlame.bsky.social · Mar 22

$3400 cad to publish a paper with the currency conversion 😬 i.e., 10% of my nserc

2

Rachel Germain @gerlame.bsky.social · Mar 20

The default smiley on outlook changes the vibe in a way I don't love - it's almost dead in the eyes, can't put my finger on it

1 3

Rachel Germain @gerlame.bsky.social · Mar 17

Peer review is nothing compared to 300 students carefully scrutinizing every sentence, word, symbol, choice of formatting in a midterm exam

10

Rachel Germain @gerlame.bsky.social · Mar 17

I had that exact desk lamp

1

Rachel Germain @gerlame.bsky.social · Mar 4

Gotta love that the reason for threatening tarriffs keeps changing over time 🤔

4

Rachel Germain @gerlame.bsky.social · Mar 1

This looks great!! Do you cover diagnostics/troubleshooting? That's where I'm currently stuck...things looking not bad but unclear if good enough (eg pp_check etc)

2 3

Rachel Germain @gerlame.bsky.social · Feb 27

!!!!!

2