Education
MSc Data Science (Statistics)
University of Leeds
2024–2026
BSc (Hons) Physics with Astronomy (1st Class)
University of Nottingham
2017–2020
Experience
Scientist
(Formerly Statistician/Data Analyst)
PAI
2020-Present
Undergraduate Research Fellow
Sanford Research
2019
Awards
Certificate Data-Driven Astronomy
University of Sydney
2024
Professional Certificate Data Science
IBM
2020
First Year Scholarship Award for Academic Achievement
University of Nottingham
2018
Book
Foxon, F. (2024). Folklore and Zoology (1st edition). CRC Press (Taylor & Francis). ISBN: 9781032757674. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003477211
Articles
Foxon, F. (2025). Fringe Zoology: The (In)Convenience of Disappearing Evidence. Skeptical Inquirer. 49(1).
Foxon, F., Selya, A.S., Gitchell, J.G., Shiffman, S. (2024). Increased e-cigarette use prevalence is associated with decreased smoking prevalence among US adults. Harm Reduction Journal. 21(136). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12954-024-01056-0
Foxon, F. (2024). Artificial neural network for hoax cryptogram identification. Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Historical Cryptology HistoCrypt 2024. 86-90. https://doi.org/10.58009/aere-perennius0094
Foxon, F. (2024). How Much Iron Is In The Sun? Astronomy & Geophysics. 65(2):2.29–2.31. https://doi.org/10.1093/astrogeo/atae024
Foxon, F. (2024). Heuvelmans the Heretic and Hidden Animals. Interdisciplinary Science Reviews. 49(3-4):332-348 https://doi.org/10.1177/03080188241233107.
Foxon, F., Shiffman, S. (2024). Methodological considerations when assessing symptoms of nicotine dependence by cigarette and e-cigarette use behavior and brand. Drug and Alcohol Dependence. 258:111255. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2024.111255.
Foxon, F. (2024). Bigfoot: If It’s There, Could It Be a Bear? Journal of Zoology. 323(1):1-8. https://doi.org/10.1111/jzo.13148
Foxon, F. (2024). The Moa the Merrier: Resolving When the Dinornithiformes Went Extinct. Belgian Journal of Zoology (via PCI Ecology). 154:1-9. https://doi.org/10.26496/bjz.2024.114
Foxon, F. (2023). How prevalent is liver injury attributed to turmeric? The American Journal of Medicine. 137(1):e18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjmed.2023.10.001
Foxon, F. (2023). Discordant device/brand reporting among adolescents who used e-cigarettes in the National Youth Tobacco Survey. Nicotine & Tobacco Research. 26(5):650-651. https://doi.org/10.1093/ntr/ntad228
Foxon, F. (2023). Can Bayesian Statistics Be Used to Analyze Phenomena in Folk Zoology? Journal of Scientific Exploration. 37(3):570–571. https://doi.org/10.31275/20233065
Foxon, F., Shiffman, S. (2023). Comment on Wang et al. Consumption of JUUL vs. Other E-Cigarette Brands among U.S. E-Cigarette Users: Evidence from Wave 5 of the PATH Study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 20(18):6715. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20186715
Foxon, F. (2023). Fast or Slow, How Long can Snakes Grow? Bulletin of the Chicago Herpetological Society. 58(8):123–124. https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/x46hd
Foxon, F. (2023). On the 32-Character Zodiac Cipher. Cryptology ePrint Archive. 2023/982. https://ia.cr/2023/982
Foxon, F. (2023). Re: “Impact of the e-cigarette era on cigarette smoking among youth in the United States: A population-level study”. Preventive Medicine. 164:107265. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2023.107444
Foxon, F. (2023). If not a fake, what’s in the lake? The Skeptic. https://www.skeptic.org.uk/2023/06/whats-in-lake-champlain-analysing-historic-sightings-of-the-cryptid-known-as-champ/. Translated to German and republished in Skeptiker. https://www.gwup.org/zeitschrift-skeptiker/archiv/147-wurzel/archiv-zeitschrift-skeptiker/2426-zeitschrift-skeptiker-3-2023
Foxon, F. (2023). The Loch Ness Monster: If It’s Real, Could It Be an Eel? JMIRx Bio. 1:e49063. https://doi.org/10.2196/49063
Foxon, F., Shiffman, S. (2022). Attribution of Use Characteristics to Electronic Cigarette Brands in the National Youth Tobacco Survey. Qeios. https://doi.org/10.32388/IRRATG
Foxon, F., Selya, A.S., Gitchell, J.G., Shiffman, S. (2022). Population-Level Counterfactual Trend Modelling to Examine the Relationship Between Smoking Prevalence and E-Cigarette Use among US Adults. BMC Public Health. 22:1940. https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/y7r3d
Foxon, F. (2022). A treatise on the Rilke cryptogram. Cryptologia. 47(6):493–510. https://doi.org/10.1080/01611194.2022.2092784
Foxon, F. (2021). Correlations Between COVID-19 Cases, Test Positivity Rates, and Vaccinations in the United States. Qeios. https://doi.org/10.32388/QG3ALT
Foxon, F. (2021). Ammonoid Taxonomy with Supervised and Unsupervised Machine Learning Algorithms. PCI Paleontology. https://doi.org/10.31233/osf.io/ewkx9
Foxon, F. (2021). Evaluating Modern System Dynamics Software for Use in Astrophysical Simulations. Astronomy and Computing. 36:100486. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ascom.2021.100486
Foxon, F. (2021). Estimating E-Cigarette Use Prevalence Among US Adolescents Using Vaping-Related Online Search Trends. Substance Use & Misuse. 56(10):1559–1563. https://doi.org/10.1080/10826084.2021.1936054
Foxon, F. (2020). Finding Probable Frequency Sums to Reduce the Key Space of Homophonic Substitution Ciphers. Journal of Young Investigators. 38(1):1–5. https://doi.org/10.22186/jyi.38.1.1-5
Foxon, F. & Selya, A.S. (2020). Electronic Cigarettes, Nicotine Use Trends, and Use Initiation Ages among US Adolescents from 1999–2018. Addiction. 115(12):2369–2378. https://doi.org/10.1111/add.15099
As Coauthor
Selya, A.S., Kim, S., Shiffman, S., Gitchell, J.G., Foxon, F. (2023). What Substances Are Adolescents Vaping? Estimating Nicotine-Specific and Cannabis-Specific Vaping from US National Youth Surveys. Substance Use & Misuse. 59(2):218–224. https://doi.org/10.1080/10826084.2023.2267114
Selya, A.S., Foxon, F., Chandra, S., Nealer, E. (2023). Meta-Analysis of E-Cigarette Price Elasticity. F1000. https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.129233.1
Juul Labs Inc., Foxon, F. (2022). Juul Lab’s Submission to the Call for Evidence on the Evaluation of the Legislative Framework for Tobacco Control. https://www.juullabs.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Juul-Labs-Submission-to-the-Call-for-Evidence-on-the-Evaluation-of-the-Legislative-Framework-for-Tobacco-Control.pdf
Selya, A.S., Foxon, F. (2021). Response to Proposed Changes to the Netherland’s Tobacco and Tobacco Products Decree. https://www.internetconsultatie.nl/smaakjes/reactie/366b7013-8ee6-4411-bbba-f004509cbb7a
Selya, A.S., Foxon, F. (2021). Trends in Electronic Cigarette Use and Conventional Smoking: Quantifying a Possible “Diversion” Effect among U.S. Adolescents. Addiction. 116(7):1848–1858. https://doi.org/10.1111/add.15385
Presentations
Foxon, F. (2025). Forecasting the Amplitude of Solar Cycles. Poster presentation at the upcoming 245th meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS). National Harbor, MD.
Foxon, F. (2024). Artificial neural network for hoax cryptogram identification. Oral presentation at the 7th International Conference on Historical Cryptology HistoCrypt. Oxford. https://youtu.be/CYPkLXjKTmk
Foxon, F., Niaura, R. (2024). Methods Used by US Adults to Stop Smoking Cigarettes, 2020–2022. Poster presentation at the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT) Conference. Edinburgh. https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/2yuw4
Foxon, F. (2023). Updated Population-Level Counterfactual Trend Modelling to Examine the Relationship between Smoking Prevalence and E-Cigarette Use among US Adults and Adolescents. Poster presentation at the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco Europe (SRNT-E) Conference. London. https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/rknxp
Foxon, F. (2022). Iron Abundance in the Solar Photosphere. Poster presentation at The National Astronomy Meeting (NAM) 2022. Coventry. https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/z937r
Foxon, F. (2021) EVALI and the Internet. Video presentation at the Global Forum on Nicotine 2021. Virtual. https://youtu.be/Q9SXPm-W26M
Kleykamp, B.A. & Foxon, F. (2021) Comparing Smoking Prevalence, Quit Attempts, and Harm Perceptions Among Younger and Older Smokers. Poster presentation at the Annual Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT) Conference. Virtual. https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/8n3w6
Foxon, F. & Selya, A.S. (2020). Electronic Cigarettes and Nicotine Use Trends among US Adolescents. Poster presentation at the Annual Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT) Conference. New Orleans. https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/p8wkv
Foxon, F. & Selya, A.S. (2019). Is Vaping a Gateway to Cigarettes? A Simulation Approach. Poster presentation at the Annual Sanford Research Summer Research Symposium. South Dakota.
Peer Reviews and Responses
Post-Publication Review of ‘Hidden flaws in e-cigarette industry-funded studies’. https://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/early/2024/06/11/tc-2024-058609.responses#response-to-soule-et-al-hidden-flaws-in-e-cigarette-industry-funded-studies-tobacco-control-doi-101136-tc-2024-058609
Post-Publication Review of ‘Electronic Cigarette Use and Myocardial Infarction’. https://pubpeer.com/publications/CD0E2CD6E82EB2F69173F5A1193331#1
Post-Publication Review of ‘e-Cigarettes Used by Adolescents to Try to Quit Smoking Are Associated With Less Quitting: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of the National Youth Tobacco Survey’. https://pubpeer.com/publications/4867759DFBA472200944BF2B64881D#3
Post-Publication Review of ‘Occam’s Razor and Bayesian Measures of Likelihood Suggest Loch Ness Monsters Are Real Animals’. https://pubpeer.com/publications/654F5BDBD66100D2148E7ABE62F837#1
Post-Publication Review of ‘Consumption of JUUL vs. Other E-Cigarette Brands among U.S. E-Cigarette Users: Evidence from Wave 5 of the PATH Study’. https://pubpeer.com/publications/1FF8B75DFC81492DEBC8E214F63098#1
Response to Journal on ‘Population-level counterfactual trend modelling to examine the relationship between smoking prevalence and e-cigarette use among US adults’. https://pubpeer.com/publications/0C19CEA0C329F1C95FC0884C7A4AE1#2
Peer review of ‘Automatic identification and morphological comparison of bivalve and brachiopod fossils based on deep learning’. https://peerj.com/articles/16200/reviews/
Post-Publication Review of ‘Impact of the e-cigarette era on cigarette smoking among youth in the United States: A population-level study’. https://pubpeer.com/publications/9F3E9313EAE06ED991EE4834D69C8E#1
Post-Publication Review of ‘Use frequency and symptoms of nicotine dependence among adolescent E-cigarette users: Comparison of JUUL and Non-JUUL users’. https://pubpeer.com/publications/57A74561DC4B1B43B91E18A95A24A5#1
Media Appearances
New paper observes that as ecig use increases at the population level, smoking prevalence tends to decrease (2024). Center of Excellence for the acceleration of Harm Reduction. https://www.coehar.org/new-paper-observes-that-as-ecig-use-increases-at-the-population-level-smoking-prevalence-tends-to-decrease/
Prescription for Controversy (2024). Science. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.z7vuqtq
Real-World Quitting (2024). Tobacco Reporter. https://tobaccoreporter.com/2024/05/01/real-world-quitting/
Junk e-cigarette study debunked (2023). The Snowdon Substack. https://snowdon.substack.com/p/junk-e-cigarette-study-debunked
Giant Moa “Sightings” Were Last Reported In 1993, When Did They Go Extinct? (2023). IFLScience. https://www.iflscience.com/giant-moa-sightings-were-last-reported-in-1993-when-did-they-go-extinct-71286
Floe Foxon Interview (2023). BBC Radio 5 Live (Colin Murray 02/10/2023). https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001r125
Authors file complaint with publisher as journal retracts vaping paper (2023). Retraction Watch. https://retractionwatch.com/2023/10/04/authors-file-complaint-with-publisher-as-journal-retracts-vaping-paper/
Seen Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster? Data suggest the odds are low (2023). ScienceNews. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/bigfoot-loch-ness-monster-data-pseudoscience
Medical Journal Retracts Vaping Study for Political, Rather than Scientific Reasons (2023). Tobacco Analysis. https://tobaccoanalysis.blogspot.com/2023/07/medical-journal-retracts-vaping-study.html
Exclusive: Public health journal says it will retract vaping paper for questions authors say were addressed in peer review (2023). Retraction Watch. https://retractionwatch.com/2023/07/27/exclusive-public-health-journal-says-it-will-retract-vaping-paper-for-questions-authors-say-were-addressed-in-peer-review/.
Data scientist suggests many Bigfoot sightings may be bear sightings (2023). Phys.org. https://phys.org/news/2023-01-scientist-bigfoot-sightings.html
Reports of Bigfoot rise when at least 900 black bears are in the area (2023). New Scientist. https://www.newscientist.com/article/2356845-reports-of-bigfoot-rise-when-at-least-900-black-bears-are-in-the-area/
The Loch Ness Monster Absolutely Can’t Be an Eel, Study Shows (2023). Popular Mechanics. https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/animals/a42574648/loch-ness-monster-what-is-it-study/
Unraveling the Loch Ness Monster’s Eel Connection (2023). JMIR Blog. https://blog.jmir.org/2023/07/24/unraveling-the-loch-ness-monsters-eel-connection/
A Statistical Analysis of the Rilke Cryptogram (2022). Cipherbrain. https://scienceblogs.de/klausis-krypto-kolumne/a-statistical-analysis-of-the-rilke-cryptogram/
On Stars, Ciphers, and Cigarettes (2020). University of Nottingham Blog. https://blogs.nottingham.ac.uk/physics/2020/07/31/on-stars-ciphers-and-cigarettes/
Contact and Socials
Email: ffoxon@pinneyassociates.com
ORCID: 0000-0002-4893-9178
ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Floe_Foxon
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=xVckGTMAAAAJ
Twitter: https://twitter.com/FloeFoxon
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/floefoxon.bsky.social
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FloeFoxon
Folk Zoology Society: https://linktr.ee/folkzoologysociety
My Favourite Equations
Gμ ν = κ Tμ ν
S = kB ln(Ω)
i ℏ ∂t ψ = Ĥ ψ
e i π = -1