Andy’s like-for-like comparisons are a refreshing break from all the hype about AI energy use. Yes AI uses a lot of energy but so do a lot of other consumer products we take for granted. substack.com/home/post/p-...

These two iconic polar species have been driven to endangered status by a warming planet www.cnn.com/2026/04/09/c...

Do AI coding agents actually save scientists time? Maybe sometimes if you are selective about what you usel them for open.substack.com/pub/vitaexma...

New blog post: The dirty secret about stats you were never taught. www.seascapemodels.org/posts/2026-0...

This is super interesting to read because I was very concerned about the water and AI thing so I went to my one scientist friend who literally worked on water reg/quality/usage and asked her about AI, data centers, water etc. She was far more concerned with agriculture abuses than AI.

Starting this collaborative blog was the best decision I’ve made this year. Carla Sbrocchi puts to words the uncomfortable feeling I have and explains how to move forward on the data centre environmental issue open.substack.com/pub/vitaexma...

Should researchers feel guilty about data centres that power their AI usage? Perspective on environmental impacts of AI led by the thoughtful Carla Sbrocchi @liomys.mx substack.com/home/post/p-...

One under-appreciated use of LLMs in science is to improve code consistency. We looked at the multivariate distance among #rstats written by LLMs. Less detailed prompts produced code that was more variable in functions and variable names used. besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

About to set my first uni assignment of the chatGPT era (have been on fellowship until now). Wish me luck! Tips appreciated too. Its stats and R programming assignment (#rstats) 😬

Words... Research - 350 Business - 73 Technology - 48 Education - 38 Economy - 31 Resources - 31 Health - 21 Environment - 15 (mostly not *the* environment) Engineering - 8 Mining - 4 Climate - 2 Nature - 1 (not to do with the environment) Biodiversity - 0 Climate Change - 0 Conservation - 0

Our new study provides guidelines for using LLMs to help with ecological analyses. We support our guidelines with quantitative evaluations of LLM performance. Its important to back up our claims about what AI can and can't do with hard data. besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Generative AI can build valid ecosystem models. This is a type of 'AI powered' modelling that is transparent. The black box (an LLM in this case) writes code and equations that predict to new data well and are open to critique from humans. vitaexmachina.substack.com/p/llm-enable...

Critical look at “AI enhanced scientists” by @liomys.mx open.substack.com/pub/vitaexma...

I rounded up a few Claude Skills for #RStats users. Huge thanks to the creators who developed them. They share Skills for everything from tidyverse code to brand.yml files to learning while using AI. Hope the list is useful, and please let me know what I missed! 🧡 rworks.dev/posts/claude...

I was loving Claude Code... until I tried it with #rstats. Constant errors, wouldn't use the tidyverse even when asked, "optimized" functions were slower. Frustrated, I started a session just to teach R to Claude and summarize what it learned into a CLAUDE.md file gist.github.com/sj-io/3828d6...

Prototype app that makes Bayesian stats code from a flow chart: 'Mermaid to Stan'. Vibe coded in 15 minutes. #rstats www.seascapemodels.org/mermaid-to-s... So many new teaching possibilities become available when you can make apps this quickly: vitaexmachina.substack.com/p/do-we-real...

Conservation is turning to markets for funding, but are the funds sufficient to cover the costs of restoring habitats? In our new study we looked at the financial feasibility of blue carbon to support mangrove restoration. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... (DM or email me if you need a copy)

Can AI really help protect the planet — and the people defending it? A new op-ed warns that while COP30 leaders tout AI’s promise for conservation, ethical risks remain. It argues Indigenous experts must guide AI’s development to reflect their priorities and protections. ** Views are authors'.

Great article on where over emphasis on publication metrics has led us to

Substack is the new home for thoughtful writing on the internet, and I'm trying it out. Check out my latest post on coastal habitat restoration substack.com/inbox/post/1... #biodiversity #nature #coastalhabitats #restoration

AI generated Santa wish list

New post open.substack.com/pub/bluecolo...

State of the world’s kelp forests study now open access (via Aaron Eger) www.cell.com/one-earth/fu...

Giant kelp is a productivity powerhouse—about 40x more productive than the kelp that’s replaced it on Tasmania’s east coast. Our new study found that if we restore giant kelp it boosts fisheries like abalone and rock lobster 📖 Read more: doi.org/10.1002/aqc.70242

EEB Postdoctoral Fellowship @ U.Toronto app deadline Jan 15 2026. Opportunity for independent research, encourages collab across labs/disciplines. Lots of great folks to interact with, Come join us! eeb.utoronto.ca/employment-2/

How do we monitor fisheries to know if seafood is sustainable? It turns out WHERE we monitor is just as important as HOW MUCH we monitor. We argue the “where” needs to be codified in fisheries policies: Report: www.nature.org/content/dam/... Blog: www.seascapemodels.org/posts/2025-1...

Classic paper titles “This research is important for the conservation and Management of Sharks”: A proposed framework for ensuring that this is actually true

I'd really like to get the "AI water is being hyped up as a problem by the labs because it's so obviously stupid it invalidates AI critics' more serious complaints" people and the "Andy's in the pocket of the labs because he's questioning the AI water issue" people together in the same room

🧵1/9 There are 35,000+ fish species, but we have formal social-behaviour classifications for a tiny fraction. Most knowledge lives in the experience of researchers, fishers, divers, aquarists, naturalists, and Indigenous communities, but almost none of it is centralised. So we built ShoalBase.org.

Teaching stats next year, I’m planning to make it interactive - Stats can be more than numbers and R code, Gelman and Vehtari’s book has lots of ideas for interactive classroom stats activities

New post on making science infographics with Gemini Pro 3 (Nano Banana), my experiences so far www.seascapemodels.org/posts/2025-1...

The new Gemini image model (AKA nano banana) is pretty impressive, does very accurate infographics based on web-search, can do basic reasoning, including generating images of code and resulting plots (without running that code the image comes out of the AI) www.seascapemodels.org/posts/2025-1...

Two years ago we got together in a beautiful mountain to learn and develop #rstats packages for ecology After {labeleR} (ecologyr.github.io/labeleR/) and {BlueCarbon} (ecologyr.github.io/BlueCarbon/), {mappestRisk} is now officially out! See thread by lead author @dario-ssm.bsky.social 👇

Disgraceful & tragic what governments have done to this once science powerhouse! www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11... "Federal Science Minister...Tim Ayres said the cuts were aimed at refocusing the efforts of the CSIRO towards research priorities, such as critical minerals, iron & steel...in Australia."

Should I post a pre-print? - a short guide of pros and cons written with my students and collaborators, thanks all www.seascapemodels.org/posts/2025-1...

Must read paper if you do conservation science "Twenty-five years of misinterpreting the biodiversity hotspot approach" www.nature.com/articles/s41...

We had fun with Rstats and genAI at the Centre for Marine Socioecology R workshop the past two days. Sharing these prompting patterns we developed in the workshops, that help an AI agent work through different statistical modelling tasks with a researcher step-by-step. github.com/cbrown5/GLMs...

TLDR; The PSF has made the decision to put our community and our shared diversity, equity, and inclusion values ahead of seeking $1.5M in new revenue. Please read and share. pyfound.blogspot.com/2025/10/NSF-... 🧵

How to plot interactive effects from GLMs the easy way #rstats www.seascapemodels.org/posts/2025-1...

Quick web quizzes are easy to DIY now with vibe coding. Love this chartle idea. I’m going to make my own version for my next stats class

Highlighting a few well informed articles about the environmental impacts of large language models. Maybe not as bad as we've been led to believe by the mass media but definitely still needs consideration: www.seascapemodels.org/posts/2025-1...

This is an alarming finding from AI company Anthropic. What they mean is: the models guess when they are being tested for ethical decision making, and modify their responses to appear more ethical. So the ethical tests probably underestimate bad behaviour assets.anthropic.com/m/99128ddd00...

🤖 Big update to the LLMs + R guide > 10 packages added plus other tools and interested reads luisdva.github.io/llmsr-book/ As usual, all the content is available in English and Spanish. #rstats

The SA and Federal governments $102.5M Algal Bloom Summer Plan is rolling out, with grants up to $150K, fee relief, and new R&D funding to help fisheries and aquaculture recover and build resilience 🐟 Read more: seachangeaustralia.org/south-austra...

I made a Connections style app to quiz my students, using genAI to do the code of course. Try it here: www.seascapemodels.org/connections-... Get the code here: github.com/cbrown5/conn...

Sheep paddock restored to wetland bringing back fish nursery habitat www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10...

Australia's much loved wildlife and places sorely need greater care and legal protection. Our latest for @aunz.theconversation.com. theconversation.com/labor-is-clo... With good friends and colleagues, @drphilmccormack.bsky.social & @yungenchee.bsky.social.

www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10... "The government was unlikely to side with the Greens to see the laws passed...Coalition wants to ensure the final say on projects rests with the minister, not the EPA...Senator Watt said it was "unlikely" the government would include a (climate) trigger in the law..."

Announcing Positron Assistant: Your AI co-pilot for data science workflows within #Positron! This AI client brings deep LLM integration for chat & inline code completions. Generate code, refactor, debug, get smart project suggestions, all in your IDE. Learn more: positron.posit.co/assistant.html

The new Wiley journal review system is an absolute nightmare. Editorial assistants have been replaced by a clunky, AI-enabled website that makes it harder to find and invite reviewers. Associate editor workloads have increased. I'm not convinced the invitations to reviewers are even going through.