Dr Manu Saunders FRES

U.S. and Iran Predicted a Very Different War Than the One Now Being Waged Economic disruption stemming from the conflict is hurting countries worldwide—while providing a windfall to Russia.

Each side in the Iran war seems to have miscalculated how the other would behave, triggering an ever-expanding conflict with few clear ways out in the foreseeable future.

not just panic buying here apparently, claims that suppliers are prioritising metro areas for limited supplies, and worse situation in more regional/remote areas than we are.

Diesel crisis hits towns and farms as regional suppliers face 14-day waits 'We're supposed to be getting a delivery today [Tuesday] ...but after that? Not sure.'

This is us. A small regional town in New South Wales of about 24,000 people. An administrative and education centre, farming region, on a major interstate highway. Some local servos now completely out of retail fuel. www.armidaleexpress.com.au/story/919462...

New #OpenAccess work in #RESInsectConsDiv

#Conservation implications of shifting #habitat use in migrating insects: Selection patterns in a threatened #damselfly show that season-specific actions are needed
doi.org/10.1111/icad.70063

#Migration
@manusaunders.bsky.social @wileyecology.bsky.social

New #OpenAccess work in #RESInsectConsDiv

Priority areas for #arthropod #conservation in #Iberian Peninsula & #Balearic Islands: Insights from multi-taxon distributional database
doi.org/10.1111/icad.70060

#Biodiversity #Conservation #Natura2000
@manusaunders.bsky.social @wileyecology.bsky.social

Spider encountered during sampling in the study. Credit: Irina Das Sarkar.

Kullu (Himachal Pradesh, India) forest landscape. Credit: Irina Das Sarkar.

Lahaul Spiti (Himachal Pradesh, India) agricultural landscape. Credit: Irina Das Sarkar.

One of the researchers undertaking sampling during the study. Credit: Irina Das Sarkar.

New work in #RESInsectConsDiv explored functional variation in #spider communities across different #LandUse categories along an #ElevationalGradient in North-Western Indian Himalaya
doi.org/10.1111/icad.70062

#TraitVariation #Biodiversity
@manusaunders.bsky.social @wileyecology.bsky.social

An insect pollinator community feasts on white eucalypt blossoms.

Chuffed to start 2026 with news I've been elected a Fellow of the @royentsoc.bsky.social, one of the oldest entomological societies in the world doing amazing work to support insect science and conservation around the world. Look forward to the future of insect conservation!

Geographically proximate rare species exhibit strong population divergence while maintaining intraspecific genetic diversity in Homoranthus (Myrtaceae)

🌿🌍 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

How AI slop is causing a crisis in computer science Preprint repositories and conference organizers are having to counter a tide of ‘AI slop’ submissions.

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

International Day of Women and Girls in Science | United Nations The purpose of the day is to achieve full and equal access to and participation in science for women and girls.

Disappointing that this year's UN theme promotes the idea that AI is gender inclusive and equitable, without any recognition of caveats, risks, environmental impacts, and equity implications... www.un.org/en/observanc...

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...

‘In the end, you feel blank’: India’s female workers watching hours of abusive content to train AI Women in rural communities describe trauma of moderating violent and pornographic content for global tech companies

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.

Amphirhoe sloanei Amphirhoe sloanei from Armidale NSW 2350, Australia on February 3, 2026 at 05:04 PM by manusaunders

www.inaturalist.org/observations...

A glamorous longicorn beetle sits on a white buddleia flower head, drinking nectar. The beetle is elongated and black, with tan pinstripes, swollen segments on the very long legs, and ridiculously long red antenna.

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, and genAI in Academia Generative AI tools are openly accessible, increasingly normalised, and mostly inequitable. They’re a great example of a marketing success benefiting a specific industry that has quickly ignited a …

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...

Australia’s grid now relies on renewable energy as much as coal. Those who doubted it look foolish Solar met the majority of electricity demand between 9am and 6pm in the past week as much of the country cranked air conditioners

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/...

Equity, Ethics, and genAI in Academia Generative AI tools are openly accessible, increasingly normalised, and mostly inequitable. They’re a great example of a marketing success benefiting a specific industry that has quickly ignited a …

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...

Equity, Ethics, and genAI in Academia Generative AI tools are openly accessible, increasingly normalised, and mostly inequitable. They’re a great example of a marketing success benefiting a specific industry that has quickly ignited a …

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

Intense heatwave spreading across Australia, catastrophic fire danger in SA on Saturday An intense and prolonged heatwave will sweep across Australia from this weekend into next week.

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...

Thanks Robin! It's a common journey for academic parents, hopefully systems will change.

More than half of researchers now use AI for peer review — often against guidance A survey of 1,600 academics found that more than 50% have used artificial-intelligence tools while peer reviewing manuscripts.

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...