Dr Manu Saunders
@manusaunders.bsky.social
Ecologist. Mum. Writer.
Senior Lecturer Uni New England (Australia).
Editor in Chief: Insect Conservation and Diversity.
Anaiwan Country. My words. She/her.
https://ecologyisnotadirtyword.com
https://saundersecologylab.com/
Senior Lecturer Uni New England (Australia).
Editor in Chief: Insect Conservation and Diversity.
Anaiwan Country. My words. She/her.
https://ecologyisnotadirtyword.com
https://saundersecologylab.com/
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
Closing out my year with a journal editor shocker 🧵
Checking new manuscripts today I reviewed a paper attributing 2 papers to me I did not write. A daft thing for an author to do of course. But intrigued I web searched up one of the titles and that's when it got real weird...
Checking new manuscripts today I reviewed a paper attributing 2 papers to me I did not write. A daft thing for an author to do of course. But intrigued I web searched up one of the titles and that's when it got real weird...
December 20, 2025 at 10:05 AM
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...
What the hyperproduction of AI slop is doing to science
A new study shows AI writing is turning traditional measures of research quality upside down.
theconversation.com
December 20, 2025 at 9:42 AM
"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...
Reposted by Dr Manu Saunders
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
doi.org/10.1111/icad.70050
#GardenMothScheme #Biodiversity #ALAN
@manusaunders.bsky.social @wileyeco.bsky.social
December 19, 2025 at 2:05 PM
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
doi.org/10.1111/icad.70050
#GardenMothScheme #Biodiversity #ALAN
@manusaunders.bsky.social @wileyeco.bsky.social
Reposted by Dr Manu Saunders
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.
Full release available at the link in our bio.
December 18, 2025 at 6:05 AM
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.
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
Yet one more reason we cannot allow LLMs to serve as epistemic grounding is that we cannot triangulate among them the way you can among reasonable independent sources. They bullshit in the same way and end up agreeing with one other about things that are completely false.
December 16, 2025 at 10:38 AM
Amazing how often the Gemini preview contradicts itself if you adjust your search wording from affirmative to negative tense
Reposted by Dr Manu Saunders
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
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
December 3, 2025 at 11:01 AM
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
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
Reposted by Dr Manu Saunders
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
#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
December 7, 2025 at 9:05 AM
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
#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...
Controversial 'Brumby Bill' recognising horses' heritage value dumped
A widely criticised bill recognising the heritage value of wild horses in Kosciuszko National Park will be scrapped in a move celebrated by the Invasive Species Council.
www.abc.net.au
November 29, 2025 at 10:31 AM
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
November 22, 2025 at 9:04 AM
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
Reposted by Dr Manu Saunders
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.
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
November 20, 2025 at 5:32 PM
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.
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
Reposted by Dr Manu Saunders
‘Deathly silent’: two out of three corals in world heritage-listed Ningaloo reef have been killed, scientists confirm
‘Deathly silent’: two out of three corals in world heritage-listed Ningaloo reef have been killed, scientists confirm
One expert says he is ‘starting to visualise the point where all we have left of corals and reefs is memories’
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Almost two out of three corals across popular tourism spots at the World Heritage-listed Ningaloo reef died after an unprecedented marine heatwave hit the Western Australia region, scientists have said.
The areas in Ningaloo’s northern lagoon had undergone a “profound ecological simplification” with coral species that were keystones to the habitat among those killed. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
November 19, 2025 at 7:25 AM
‘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/...
Social media highlights the overlooked impact of cats on arthropods
The impact of domestic cats on vertebrate biodiversity is unequivocal; however, we still know little about their effects on arthropods. By analysing over 17,000 photos and videos from social media p...
resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
November 19, 2025 at 10:42 AM
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...
A global publishing scam assisted by AI has targeted Australia. Here are 5 tips to avoid scammers
Aspiring authors in Australia are among those who have been scammed by a network of publishing houses using cloned websites and AI tools.
theconversation.com
November 18, 2025 at 11:51 AM
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...
‘Sad day for publicly funded science’: up to 350 more jobs to go at CSIRO
Australia’s national scientific agency announces more research job losses as it looks for budgetary savings
www.theguardian.com
November 18, 2025 at 10:07 AM
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...
Wildlife recovery means more than just survival of a species
Current laws that deem species safe from extinction ignore their ecological role, geographic range and genetic diversity, as well as their relationships with people.
theconversation.com
November 5, 2025 at 10:53 AM
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...
Promoting research by reducing uncertainty in academic writing: a large-scale diachronic case study on hedging in Science research articles across 25 years - Scientometrics
Hedges are important in academic writing since they indicate uncertainty and tentativeness about academic knowledge. However, few studies explore how hedges have changed in academic writing overtime. ...
link.springer.com
November 5, 2025 at 10:15 AM
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...
Reposted by Dr Manu Saunders
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
doi.org/10.1111/icad.70033
November 3, 2025 at 11:05 AM
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
doi.org/10.1111/icad.70033
Reposted by Dr Manu Saunders
‘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...
www.asauthors.org.au/news/austral...
Australian Government rules out TDM exception for AI training; stands behind creative industries - Australian Society of Authors
We welcome the Albanese government’s decision to rule out a Text and Data Mining exception to Australian copyright law.
www.asauthors.org.au
October 31, 2025 at 7:51 AM
‘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...
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...
Westpac’s work-from-home complaint was a cultural miff that doesn’t resonate in today’s Australia | Van Badham
Women who manage to perform their jobs well while caring for children should get a bloody medal, not a trip to Fair Work
www.theguardian.com
October 28, 2025 at 9:43 AM
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...
Reposted by Dr Manu Saunders
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.
AI can help authors beat writer’s block, says Bloomsbury chief
Publisher last week reported jump in revenue in academic and professional arm thanks to AI licensing deal
www.theguardian.com
October 27, 2025 at 1:17 PM
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.
Reposted by Dr Manu Saunders
Reposted by Dr Manu Saunders
“When you have a disability people can’t see, you don’t get the same level of empathy. It feels like the world has moved on.”
It’s shameful how society is gaslighting people who are experiencing chronic illness and ignoring an ongoing public health crisis.
It’s shameful how society is gaslighting people who are experiencing chronic illness and ignoring an ongoing public health crisis.
Long Covid Is Real -- And It's Changing an Entire Generation
Long Covid is affecting hundreds of thousands of kids in America, and many doctors and schools refuse to recognize their illness.
www.rollingstone.com
October 16, 2025 at 7:48 PM
“When you have a disability people can’t see, you don’t get the same level of empathy. It feels like the world has moved on.”
It’s shameful how society is gaslighting people who are experiencing chronic illness and ignoring an ongoing public health crisis.
It’s shameful how society is gaslighting people who are experiencing chronic illness and ignoring an ongoing public health crisis.
Reposted by Dr Manu Saunders
Wildlife Photographer of the Year awards – in pictures
Wildlife Photographer of the Year awards – in pictures
The Wildlife Photographer of the Year is an annual competition hosted by the Natural History Museum in London, which awards top honours in various categories for outstanding photography
www.theguardian.com
October 15, 2025 at 8:30 AM
Wildlife Photographer of the Year awards – in pictures
Reposted by Dr Manu Saunders
New #OpenAccess work in #RESInsectConsDiv reports on the establishment and rapid spread of #SocialWasps (#Hymenoptera: #Vespinae) in #Greenland
doi.org/10.1111/icad.70023
#InsectMonitoring #SpeciesIntroductions
@manusaunders.bsky.social @wiley.com
doi.org/10.1111/icad.70023
#InsectMonitoring #SpeciesIntroductions
@manusaunders.bsky.social @wiley.com
October 11, 2025 at 1:15 PM
New #OpenAccess work in #RESInsectConsDiv reports on the establishment and rapid spread of #SocialWasps (#Hymenoptera: #Vespinae) in #Greenland
doi.org/10.1111/icad.70023
#InsectMonitoring #SpeciesIntroductions
@manusaunders.bsky.social @wiley.com
doi.org/10.1111/icad.70023
#InsectMonitoring #SpeciesIntroductions
@manusaunders.bsky.social @wiley.com
Reposted by Dr Manu Saunders
Such a needed paper! This focuses on the EU, but I've had to talk many teachers out of exotic stick insects, which are regulated species here in the US as potential pests. (and we have one escaped stick species that has established itself!) #education
Rearing insects in class is an excellent science education tool, but using non-native insects can lead to ethical and environmental issues. Native insects should be prioritised! Great paper exploring this overlooked issue #RESInsectConsDiv 🌏🧪
resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Native insect species should be selected for classroom rearings
Rearing insects in the school classroom can build positive attitudes towards insects among schoolchildren, which is becoming increasingly important as insect populations decline. Identified frequent...
resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
October 10, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Such a needed paper! This focuses on the EU, but I've had to talk many teachers out of exotic stick insects, which are regulated species here in the US as potential pests. (and we have one escaped stick species that has established itself!) #education