🌿🌍 Join us to learn about the newly published “Geographically proximate rare species exhibit strong population divergence while maintaining intraspecific genetic diversity in Homoranthus (Myrtaceae)” in @annbot by Eilish McMaster and co-authors. (1/9) 👉 doi.org/qr49 @manusaunders.bsky.social

Day 100 of receiving yet another, nearly identical, enshittified, chatGPT-generated proposals for some form of tech X restoration proposal for Restoration Ecology from a group of (real? fake?) professors who clearly have no restoration experience and no idea what restoration ecology even is.

Not funny that unis are encouraging staff and students to defer 'teaching and learning' decisions to this

Massive boom in conference submissions (chock full of AI fabrications) due to LLM adoption is NOT "increased researcher productivity" It is research integrity failure, knowledge degradation, disciplinary suicide

If you've ever wondered about Expectations in Academia, there are still people reviewing grant applications who think an applicant is not worth funding because they let their 'excellent' research trajectory slow down in recent years due to *having a child* #AcademicSky

On this day that supports inclusive futures for women and girls in science, let's not forget all the women that were sidelined, ignored, or forced out of science because they: - had children - prioritised family/caring - did science differently - questioned boundaries & norms - fought the patriarchy

We wrote a whole paper on this in 2017, on the women who often leave the field sciences as their only route to get away from harassment anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...

New report from @copyright.com.au 'Hidden risks of GenAi in the workplace' More employees are using genAI tools for work and uploading third party material, but few understand the terms and ethics of these tools. www.copyright.com.au/licences-per...

I’m furious at AI because it steals our work, consumes vast resources and produces mediocrity, but along the way it also traumatises the people - mainly in the developing world - who are paid a pittance to train it. Theft, abuse, environmental destruction, all to make rich men richer. Burn it all.

Our backyard has another 'first' record for an insect species in Armidale @inaturalist.bsky.social, Amphirhoe sloanei(?). So many possible reasons for 'firsts', eg few people looking; less common species; dispersal from the coast (random or migration)... we'll probably never know #wildoz #ozinverts

Equity, Ethics, & genAI “students & staff are reminded of the risks & advised of ‘prohibited’ uses at the same time as inhouse genAI tools are actively promoted […] ethical responsibility is passed on to staff & students, with few clear guidelines...” ecologyisnotadirtyword.com/2026/01/30/e...

Solar provided 59% of electricity in the Australian national (east coast) grid between 9am and 6pm over the past week. It was 30% of total generation. Life moves pretty fast etc. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

We all have opinions about using genAI, but what happens when our collaborators, students or stakeholders hold different views? I've already run into several of the challenges @manusaunders.bsky.social identifies here.

Very thoughtful piece asking important questions that we will increasingly face - esp those of us who are "conscientious objectors." We need to start discussing these questions & to push our institutions to address them.

"Boundaries are blurred when an organisation or institution claims to prohibit genAI use for writing assessments or research outputs, but supports and encourages its use for almost every other teaching, learning and research activity." A really good article here...

New blog: we need more policies and guidelines that help us navigate professional disagreements and conflicts over genAI use and deliver fair and equitable outcomes for individuals #AcademicSky #HigherEd ecologyisnotadirtyword.com/2026/01/30/e...

1. The thing about science that these jokers don't understand is that science cannot be vibe-coded. Whatever its flaws, the point with vibe coding is that you're trying to quickly make something that sorta works, where you can immediately sorta see if it sorta works and then sorta use it.

i.e. humans

Extreme heatwave for most of SE Australia this week. Here in Armidale, previously cool temperate summer rainfall, it is so hot and dry our dirt is cracking while gardens still appear green. Stay safe, put your birdbaths in the shade and keep them full www.weatherzone.com.au/news/intense...

Survey conducted by one for-profit publishing company. Respondents were authors/reviewers/editors of said company and were incentivised to respond... Not actually evidence that 'more than half of researchers' use AI for peer review #AcademicSky www.nature.com/articles/d41...

New blog, after a hiatus: not groundbreaking stuff, but I muse on how having a child changed my work priorities and made me realise how holes in the equity net can easily drop new parents out of the academic network #AcademicSky ecologyisnotadirtyword.com/2026/01/22/h...

New post: It's been a while between blogs, but I'm still here ecologyisnotadirtyword.com/2026/01/22/h...

Using multiple lines of evidence, we show that feral cats and red foxes are strongly implicated in most Australian mammal extinctions and in the ongoing imperilment of numerous extant species. academic.oup.com/bioscience/a... A large collaborative effort to rebut Wallach and Lundgren (2025).

One of the main problems with normalising genAI use for undergrad student 'learning' or assessment writing is how it's misleading students about research processes, especially discipline-specific processes and values. Example from Ecology below 🧵🧪 #AcademicSky

New #OpenAccess research in #RESInsectConsDiv Seasonal dynamics in terrestrial #insect #communities after the impact of the Brumadinho tailings dam disaster doi.org/10.1111/icad.70052 #Biodiversity #PopulationDynamics @manusaunders.bsky.social @wileyecology.bsky.social

New #OpenAccess research in #RESInsectConsDiv reports that #soil sand content is a driving force in structuring #bee #communities doi.org/10.1111/icad.70051 #Conservation #InsectHabitats #Distribution @manusaunders.bsky.social @wileyeco.bsky.social

This is Jo Dyer @instanterudite.bsky.social at her most brilliant best. Jo is a former Adelaide Writers' Week director, and this article beautifully sums up her fury at the needless destruction of one of Australia's most world famous arts events. @theshot.net.au theshot.net.au/uncategorize...

Warrior Louise Adler. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

“We cannot withdraw from the fact that over 1 million species of plants and animals face extinction.” IPBES remains committed to its mandate to provide the most credible science and evidence about biodiversity to all decision makers and actors. — @davidobura.bsky.social , @ipbes.net Chair

Prioritising profit over quality and integrity of scholarship = enshittification #academicsky theconversation.com/the-5-stages...

This is one aspect of a modern academic's workload that is often overlooked...the extra time we now need to spend crosschecking manuscripts/assessments for inappropriate genAI use #AcademicSky

"Generative AI boosts academic productivity...The number of preprints an author produced was a measure of their productivity, while eventual publication in a journal was a measure of an article’s quality." Seems like biased criteria! #AcademicSky theconversation.com/what-the-hyp...

New #OpenAccess work by @rocb-ento.bsky.social, @katatrepsis.bsky.social & W. Kunin in #RESInsectConsDiv explored the effect of bulb type on moth trap catch & composition in UK gardens doi.org/10.1111/icad.70050 #GardenMothScheme #Biodiversity #ALAN @manusaunders.bsky.social @wileyeco.bsky.social

Media release: Unity must guide the Government's response to Bondi attack, not divisive pro-Israel wishlist Full release available at the link in our bio.

Amazing how often the Gemini preview contradicts itself if you adjust your search wording from affirmative to negative tense

New #OpenAccess research by @fabrizia-ratto.bsky.social et al. in #RESInsectConsDiv Floral resource strips enhance #parasitoid #abundance & #diversity in apple #orchards and promote agroecological advances in a South African biosphere reserve doi.org/10.1111/icad.70041 @manusaunders.bsky.social

New #OpenAccess research in #RESInsectConsDiv #Bee community and trait-based responses to fire in a Mediterranean landscape doi.org/10.1111/icad.70043 #Wildfires #SpeciesDiversity #dNBR #FunctionalTraits @manusaunders.bsky.social @wileyeco.bsky.social

Kudos to the scientists who contributed the evidence to show that feral horses cause irreparable damage to ecosystems. This bill protected an invasive species in one of Australia's most important alpine national parks; repealing it is a major win for the environment www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11...

Social spiders! Found this huge communal web, shared by five visible adult female orb weavers, strung across a popular walking path at Mooloolaba Beach #ozinverts #wildoz

If you use GMail, AI (Gemini) was turned on yesterday by default and now scans all of your content for machine learning. To turn off, go to Settings>General and scroll down. Uncheck the box for "Smart features." There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.

‘Deathly silent’: two out of three corals in world heritage-listed Ningaloo reef have been killed, scientists confirm

Social media data can be valuable for identifying ecological patterns. Cats are a major predator of wild animals worldwide, including invertebrates, and this study documents new observations of cat-arthropod interactions #RESInsectConsDiv resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Consumer awareness and agency is essential when it comes to AI infiltration. But has 'dealing with AI' become another Youwashing scam? Just like climate action, recycling, conservation...is responsibility for AI use/misuse being unreasonably shifted to consumers? theconversation.com/a-global-pub...

Disheartening that Australia's national science research org is cutting more research jobs and prioritising 'technological solutions' relevant to a handful of industries, no mention of biodiversity/environment. AI can't solve every problem humanity currently faces www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

No species is an island, they exist within ecosystems. We urgently need more research that builds knowledge of the ecological networks that underpin a species' persistence: pollination, seed dispersal, predation, parasitism, herbivory, response to disturbance 🌏🧪 theconversation.com/wildlife-rec...

Analysis of one journal, but one of the perceived 'highest impact'. It would be interesting to explore this pattern further, in particular how does this writing strategy influence individual career trajectories and drive misinformation in popular media #AcademicSky link.springer.com/article/10.1...

New #OpenAccess work in #RESInsectConsDiv by @graydongillies.bsky.social, @rishonavemulapalli.bsky.social & C.G.Eckert reports that Common #milkweed gardens increase occupancy by #MonarchButterflies & other specialist herbivores towards an urban centre doi.org/10.1111/icad.70033

‘We thank the Attorney-General for this crucial decision and commitment to stand behind the creative industries and protect the rights of authors and illustrators. This represents a clear message from government that creators should be paid for their work.' www.asauthors.org.au/news/austral...

Great win for working parents generally, especially women who disproportionately have primary care responsibilities, even when they are not formally recognised as the primary carer. Enforced office attendance is inequitable. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

People who aren’t writers think writer’s block is at least as big and real a problem as I thought quicksand would be, as a child.