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Rachel Mitchell

@funeco.bsky.social
906 followers 1.9K following 168 posts

Plant ecologist at University of Arizona, professor, plant and pet lover, parent, baker. Expect ecology, pet, plant, and baking content.

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Reposted by Rachel Mitchell
Dr Abeba Birhane @abeba.blacksky.app · 26/03/2026
if Wikipedia, an org with a shoestring budget and volunteer workforce can ban use of llms, what excuse do large orgs and universities have
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Rachel Mitchell @funeco.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
For real
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Rachel Mitchell @funeco.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
Ecologists! I have received four sets of paper reviews back in the last month, and two had obviously AI generated reviews: @plos.org and @journalofecology.bsky.social. We also have reviews from @journalofecology.bsky.social that I strongly suspect were AI. Our peers are intellectually lazy.
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Rachel Mitchell @funeco.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
I actually got a second set of AI generated reviews on a different manuscript today from @journalofecology.bsky.social , so I will absolutely be reaching out
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Rachel Mitchell @funeco.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
If you are going to use AI to "help" you review, engage your brain and evaluate what the AI is flagging! It can't reason, and it is going to flag the things a 1st year grad might. Also, "internally inconsistent", immediate 🚩for AI use. Looking at you @journalofecology.bsky.social Reviewer 1.
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Rachel Mitchell @funeco.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
Which is how you end up with a review that says that "the track changes version has insertion artifacts" and the paragraph "has not been rebuilt end-to-end".
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Rachel Mitchell @funeco.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
I totally agree. Reviewing a manuscript also requires contextualization, which AI is also bad at. I think because this was @plos the reviewer felt like they could just drop the file into AI, focus on methods, copy and paste, and be done.
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Rachel Mitchell @funeco.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
Sure, I think there is room for a measured approach in AI. Some of what you say, such as "learning new syntax nigh unnecessary" is, to me, alarming from a long term expertise standpoint. But also, review of scientific manuscripts is more than a technical exercise. Or at least, it should be.
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Rachel Mitchell @funeco.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
You are definitely an outlier compared to what the literature reports on efficiency gains from AI use!
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Rachel Mitchell @funeco.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
I am really pissed and going to contest it. It is so obviously AI, and the editor 1) accepted it and 2) rejected the paper even though the review is nonsense! Some of the critiques are that there are "obvious insertion artifacts" in the track changes version...Duh?
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Rachel Mitchell @funeco.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
Welp, just got an obviously AI-generated review back from @plos.org. Love that there was no disclosure and a students manuscript has been fed to the machine.
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Rachel Mitchell @funeco.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
Oh NSF, for having the "best merit review system" you sure have problems with consistency!
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Rachel Mitchell @funeco.bsky.social · 25/12/2025
We have two maniacs but Midge the border is the real killer. These three have really held up well! a.co/d/8GlsH8t a.co/d/4e8sUrT a.co/d/gRt81Eo
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Rachel Mitchell @funeco.bsky.social · 25/12/2025
Oh, I have some Amazon US recommendations for you! We have a few squeaky toys that have lasted months!! Months!
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Reposted by Rachel Mitchell
Leslie Rissler @ljrissler.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
NSF - Forced reorg - POs down ~ 40% (DRP, most rotators not renewed, retirements) - Forced move (and we have to pack and clean) to a building with no furniture, little to no conference space for panels, inadequate 🛜, …) I personally love the boxes they gave us for packing. “Details matter” 🙃
Boxing up the NSF at Eisenhower Av for the forced relocation. Boxes have “Details Matter” signage.
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Reposted by Rachel Mitchell
Alessandro Rigolon @alerigolon.bsky.social · 30/10/2025
18-29 year olds: bless your heart, you were duped so badly. From +5 to -51 (!!!)
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Rachel Mitchell @funeco.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
Just in case you ever forget that #rejectionistherule this was the ranking on a grant declined yesterday by the NSF.
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Rachel Mitchell @funeco.bsky.social · 03/09/2025
They aren't screening for testicular cancer by squishing balls, though they could! Wonder why that might be?
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Rachel Mitchell @funeco.bsky.social · 03/09/2025
I was literally just thinking about this. You know how they could, but don't screen for testicular cancer? Wonder why? Your modern doctor doesn't mean to cause pain, but our technology is a legacy of ignoring women's pain and discomfort. AND mammograms are inaccurate and lead to painful biopsies
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Rachel Mitchell @funeco.bsky.social · 21/08/2025
futurism.com/commitment-j...
futurism.com
People Are Being Involuntarily Committed, Jailed After Spiraling Into "ChatGPT Psychosis"
People experiencing "ChatGPT psychosis" are being involuntarily committed to mental hospitals and jailed following AI mental health crises.
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Rachel Mitchell @funeco.bsky.social · 25/07/2025
It's good to know that this happens at places like Uchicago as well as UA. Last year we had a big whoopsiedoodle miscalculation of 250 million that led to a shortfall of 170 million. The incompetence is absolutely staggering. Insult to injury, a huge contributor was spending on sports.
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Reposted by Rachel Mitchell
Michael Wara @michaelwara.bsky.social · 22/07/2025
Are you a natural resource or agricultural economics PhD or postdoc interested in real world policy work? Come work with CEPP's growing food team on quantifying subsidies in the dairy and beef industry! If not, pass the word! careersearch.stanford.edu/jobs/food-sy...
careersearch.stanford.edu
Food Systems Resource Economics Fellow, Stanford Law School in School of Law, Stanford, California, United States
*NOTE: This position has been deemed critical/has specific funding, has been approved by the Law School for posting, and is exempt from the hiring...
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Rachel Mitchell @funeco.bsky.social · 10/07/2025
But does offloading these relatively easy tasks (that some might argue help you think more deeply about what you are doing) outweigh emissions/data center costs/human toll?
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Rachel Mitchell @funeco.bsky.social · 10/07/2025
Cutting until you hit something vital is the capitalist way.
vital.is
Vital – Ljómi og lífsgæði
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Rachel Mitchell @funeco.bsky.social · 10/07/2025
Who is this article kidding? Error prone, probabilistic, hallucinating AI is coming for my University job!
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Rachel Mitchell @funeco.bsky.social · 10/07/2025
So many ecological processes are highly tied to VPD. Here, Atmospheric aridity strongly influences fire behavior.
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Rachel Mitchell @funeco.bsky.social · 08/07/2025
#terriertuesday #outoffocus Midge says "smile!"
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Reposted by Rachel Mitchell
Lora Kolodny @lorak.bsky.social · 06/07/2025
The percentage of tasks AI "agents" are currently failing at may spell trouble for the industry... futurism.com/ai-agents-fa...
futurism.com
The Percentage of Tasks AI Agents Are Currently Failing At May Spell Trouble for the Industry
The best AI Agents are currently failing about 70 percent of the tasks assigned to them, as investments are expected to drop off a cliff.
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Rachel Mitchell @funeco.bsky.social · 01/07/2025
You can't make this stuff up folks: retractionwatch.com/2025/06/30/s...
retractionwatch.com
Springer Nature book on machine learning is full of made-up citations
Would you pay $169 for an introductory ebook on machine learning with citations that appear to be made up? If not, you might want to pass on purchasing Mastering Machine Learning: From Basics to Ad…
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Rachel Mitchell @funeco.bsky.social · 30/06/2025
Check out it's black-bellied cousin, the Kaibab squirrel!
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Rachel Mitchell @funeco.bsky.social · 30/06/2025
Had this happen with my CAREER. So heartbreaking.
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Rachel Mitchell @funeco.bsky.social · 28/06/2025
A nice apricot sourdough loaf today #breadsky
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Rachel Mitchell @funeco.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
Taught Fire Ecology for the first time this past semester. Just checked my course reviews: my work here is done.
Student review stating "I WILL NEVER MIX UP SEVERITY AND INTENSITY"
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Rachel Mitchell @funeco.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
For me, the biggest concern with these plants in the Sonoran basin and range is their transformative nature; increased fuel loads and continuity in a fire sensitive system during the pyrocene will transform the Sonoran.
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Rachel Mitchell @funeco.bsky.social · 23/06/2025
Today a bronzed cowbird sang to me at very close quarters. One of the most bizarre bird songs I have ever heard from the gorgeous little parasite. macaulaylibrary.org/asset/45159
macaulaylibrary.org
ML45159 - Bronzed Cowbird (Bronzed) - Macaulay Library
Macaulay Library ML45159; © Geoffrey A. Keller; Arizona, United States
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Rachel Mitchell @funeco.bsky.social · 22/06/2025
I love both shows!!!
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Rachel Mitchell @funeco.bsky.social · 22/06/2025
What show? Asking for a friend...
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Rachel Mitchell @funeco.bsky.social · 21/06/2025
Every time I type ratio it comes out ration. Also bouteloueaueuea....
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Rachel Mitchell @funeco.bsky.social · 19/06/2025
Abundance-weighted traits are the mechanistic link, here!
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Rachel Mitchell @funeco.bsky.social · 19/06/2025
Having had close encounters with one of those authors, the invasive species denialism is completely irrational, cherry-picked, and emotional. Great Science and Nature fodder though.
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Reposted by Rachel Mitchell
Foz Meadows @fozmeadows.bsky.social · 18/06/2025
my hottest educational take is that schools should actively, non-punitively teach students how to admit when they don't know something, aren't sure or have made a mistake, with various teaching frameworks adapted to support this ideal, because people who can't admit fault are breaking the world
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Rachel Mitchell @funeco.bsky.social · 18/06/2025
Post an insect that looks like it's generated by AI, but isn't! I found one of these in my yard for the first time ever after being an Arizona resident for 30 years. Giant mesquite bug (5th instar; Thasus neocalifornicus) Glamor shot vs the one in my yard. #inverts
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Rachel Mitchell @funeco.bsky.social · 17/06/2025
We also have a pending submission program that hasn't updated since we submitted in January...R2I2. I suspect that one is also dead in the water.
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Rachel Mitchell @funeco.bsky.social · 17/06/2025
#terriertuesday #terriertuned Midge's theme song is Donna Summer's "Bad Girl", deployed liberally when she is chewing something she stole underneath a bed
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Rachel Mitchell @funeco.bsky.social · 17/06/2025
Your own post mentions that the applications are similar...so it isn't as though the women aren't as qualified. Recognizing that you've fucked up and excluded women for years, and then accepting more of them that are equally as qualified as men to right that wrong doesn't seem like an issue.
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Rachel Mitchell @funeco.bsky.social · 17/06/2025
Smart, snuggly, with jaws like a hyena. I've had dogs for 24 years and I will never have another breed after having a border. Midge, murderer of lizards.
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Rachel Mitchell @funeco.bsky.social · 17/06/2025
Still only 40% of new members! Imagine having to favor women 15x over men to still not reach parity!
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Rachel Mitchell @funeco.bsky.social · 15/06/2025
We have #nokings in #tucson #arizona
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Reposted by Rachel Mitchell
Julie DiCaro @juliedicaro.bsky.social · 13/06/2025
I still cannot get over a woman who shows up to a jungle prison in full glam make up complaining about “political theater.”
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