#rstats package 'mpspline2' got its first CRAN update in a good long while today 🎉 This is thanks largely to the efforts of Andrew Brown at the USDA-NRCS, who has added the super useful ability to spline multiple variables in one call. cran.r-project.org/web/packages...

periodic reminder of the existence of Atkinson Hyperlegible, a free font available from the Braille Institute designed to improve readability for people with low vision I use it in talks because it's pretty and also because, as an audience member, I am perpetually squinting at people's slides

tmap or ggplot2 for maps? 🗺️ David O’Sullivan breaks down the trade-offs in a blog post. URL: dosull.github.io/posts/2024-1... #RStats #RSpatial #Maps #tmap #ggplot2

Physical samples are vital elements of study in many disciplines, including earth and environmental sciences, biological sciences, archaeology, and beyond. Meet the ESIP Physical Sample Curation Cluster 👋 The group meets monthly and is led by Andrea Thomer & Natalie Raia (University of Arizona).

I'm really liking the Trimble catalyst hardware so far, but the software can absolutely get in the bin. The whole interface and workflow pattern appears to have been designed as a form of mass revenge by someone who was treated cruelly by a GIS tech in the past.

This year's issue of Soil Horizons is out! Lots of updates about what's been happening in the soiley parts of the new BSI @bioeconomyscience.bsky.social www.landcareresearch.co.nz/publications...

Nice bit of NZ soil content from @jamiemorton.bsky.social at @newsroom.co.nz, newsroom.co.nz/2025/10/22/s...

Oh super, Microsoft started blocking access to the Internet Archive at work and now I have to have a Conversation with IT.

Okay, for the folks who asked: here's the majority AI view, writing up the reasonable, thoughtful view on AI that the vast majority of people in tech hold, that gets overshadowed by the bluster and hype of the tycoons trying to shill their nonsense. anildash.com/2025/10/17/t... Please share!

Microbes are collectively one of the biggest forces shaping Earth, and yet undergraduate #geology students typically receive little training in microbiology. My new open access textbook seeks to help. “Microbiology for Earth Scientists” is freely available here newprairiepress.org/ebooks/53/

New favorite preprint, both for the topic and the figures arxiv.org/abs/2504.17496 #geomorphology #terracettes #landscapemodeling

Good gravy. You don't see this tack from a conservation department very often 🤣 www.instagram.com/reel/DPKvKTV...

Speaking of which, look what just arrived from my library today. 1979 babey

New blog post! Ever wonder what geom_histogram is actually doing? How about geom_boxplot? In celebration of the release of #ggplot2 4.0.0 (ggplot8?), I explore the relationships between the “geoms” and “stats” offered by the core {ggplot2} functions. #rstats

Anyone in #rstats #quartopub #quarto land know of any good instructional content about making custom callout blocks using Lua filters for absolute Lua noobs? I have a mighty need.

Gould was absolutely right about this. For a sobering thought, how many people on the planet now are competent taxonomists for any group of organisms? Certainly fewer than 10,000. 🧪🌍🌿⚒️🐟 #TeamFish

Woohoo, big new SMap update is out! smap.landcareresearch.co.nz/maps-and-too... we've all been working our butts off on this one. If you need me, I'll be clicking around the web map and second guessing myself at every turn 🙃 #pedology #nzsoils #solmapping

I'm sure this won't have me shrieking in alarm when I wake up for a 4am doomscroll.

ICYMI: In September 2024, The Carpentries submitted a proposal for 1.5 million USD to the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Pathways to Enable Open-Source Ecosystems (POSE) Program, and were extremely pleased to learn that the proposal was recommended for funding. However...

Soil stamps alert! collectables.nzpost.co.nz/soil?page=1 #soilscience #philately

The state of NZ science and research. Grossly underfunded. Watchdog warns of ‘grave danger’ if science reform botched newsroom.co.nz/2025/05/09/e...

📢 New pub: Defining #soil science: Balancing fundamental research and societal needs, in Soil Science Society of America Journal doi.org/10.1002/saj2... @teamrat.bsky.social & I argue, soil science, though crucial for solving environmental challanges, should not be defined solely by its applications

Can't believe I made it all the way to March without having a work day that left me contemplating a new career in the merchant marine. Things are looking up 🙃

Exciting #science leadership positions now open at Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research. For detailed information on each role, please see our Careers webpage: careers.sciencenewzealand.org/landcare-res... #scijobs #scicareers

Really astonished at how low awareness of libgen appears to be among academics here. Its hardly new and it's basically scihub++. I can understand fiction authors etc not knowing about it, but anyone teaching students should have long been aware of it.

Does anyone know what's happening with old.iuss.org? The PDFs of past World Congress of #soilscience are starting to randomly 404 and there doesn't seem to be much migration of content onto the new website.

This'll have to do until we finally get an NZ Ikea

I can appreciate scite emailing me a month ahead of deleting my account for misuse, fine. I can even appreciate 2-3 warnings. But every day? With the subject line 'hi'? No! Stop it.

I should start referring to more terms I don't like as 'singularly infelicitous'. Its got a good ring to it.

Congrats to the MWLR S-map team – finalist in the Success in Innovation/Commercialisation category at the Science NZ Awards 👏 Understanding soil variability and behaviour is fundamental to smarter land use & management decision-making. #ScienceNZAwards #soil #data #nitogen #landuse #maps #carbon

Very excited that my work on the legacies of the Hyde and Tangiwai railway disasters has been published in the Journal of Disaster Studies, @jds-disasters.bsky.social This is the most personal piece I've written—emotionally intense but rewarding. It's open access and I hope you find it interesting

I've been doing some writing (the description handbook, not the classification), and I've been looking at the draft so long I can't see the rough parts. Come and yell at me about it! #soilscience #pedology

📢 Another new publication in NZJE! A spatial layer of human terrestrial pressures for New Zealand 🌿 Lead author: Olivia Burge, Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research newzealandecology.org/nzje/3580

🚨 After years of development, the new version of #rstats tmap (4) is now available on CRAN! 🎉 Huge thanks to author Martijn Tennekes and all contributors. 🔧 Install: `install.packages("tmap")` 📚 Vignettes: https://buff.ly/4aAYNbq 📖 Book Chapter: https://buff.ly/43TokaF #maps #tmap #rspatial

Every so often I end the workday by scanning through an old issue of New Zealand Soil News, a grey-literature publication, because I'm interested in the history of my discipline. Occasionally, I hit gold. This is from April, 1956. I'll never complain about #gis software again. #soilscience ✂️⚖️🗺️📊🤓

Mmm. Rubble-ey #officecakeclub

This review provides an overview of recent developments in computational methods in #LandscapeEcology It covers topics like spatial patterns, connectivity, landscape genetics, and more. Read the full paper: https://buff.ly/41xU6wx #Ecology #ComputationalMethods #Research

Suddenly mad that we'll never get a Discworld book in which the wizards invent something like Large Language Monsters that eat everyone's stuff before regurgitating it, and Vimes arrests them all for being bloody stupid

Came across this on one screen just as I found the Guardian's retrospective on the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami on another and, hmm youtu.be/KhhTr8wH2P4

I was today years old when I found this gem of a web app to explore 2500+ color palettes for R: r-graph-gallery.com/color-palett...

Working with collaborators in the Global South it upsets me how many pay expensive software license fees, or use insecure pirated versions, when free open-source alternatives are available. Below is a list of easy swaps. Please add to it and share! 👇

The challenge is set! We recently held the biggest ever Soil Judging Competition in partnership with the NZ Soil Science Society. Our next national comp is being held November 2025 and international participation is welcome. #SoilScience #SoilResearch www.soilscienceaustralia.org.au/news/sjc2024

Heh.

Senior Leadership opportunities:4 Science Group Managers to lead 4 science groups. Location: Lincoln, Auckland, Hamilton or Palmerston North Details: https://buff.ly/41lfTaG Closing date: Fri 24th Jan 2025

We are a not-for-profit, professional association for soil scientists and people interested in the responsible management of Australia’s soil resources. Find out more about us at www.soilscienceaustralia.org.au

It seems that I missed one essential item on my pre- #fieldwork checklist 😬

Light, fluffy volaaanic ash over older, firmer silty stuff over welded andesite from a debris avalanche flow. #soilscience #WRB_Andosols

Particle size analysis.

Mmmm. Layers.

Set a new PB for Doing Tasks today. Might have to lie face down on the floor for a year or two.