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Dr Manu Saunders FRES

@manusaunders.bsky.social
5.1K followers 1.4K following 552 posts

Ecologist. Mum. Writer. Senior Lecturer Uni New England (Australia). Editor in Chief: Insect Conservation and Diversity. Anaiwan Country. My words. She/her. ecologyisnotadirtyword.com saundersecologylab.com

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Reposted by Dr Manu Saunders FRES
Ian M. Mackay, PhD (he/him) 🦠🤧🧬📑🦟🧀 @mackayim.bsky.social · 11h
"While he is a distinguished editor, Kohler's biggest impact on the nation has been as a communicator." -one of Australia's best communicators... @alankohler.bsky.social 👏👏👏 www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09...
abc.net.au
Finance presenter Alan Kohler retiring after three decades at ABC
Alan Kohler, one of the most influential journalists Australia has ever produced, will retire at the end of the year.
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Dr Manu Saunders FRES @manusaunders.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Finally got the Bogong moths here in Armidale, a few days later than the rest of NSW! Hundreds fluttering through our backyard tonight, nectaring on Eremophila and Pittosporum #ozinverts #threatenedspecies
Large brown Bogong moths on a flowering Eremophila plant. Scene is at night, lit up by torchlight
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Reposted by Dr Manu Saunders FRES
RES Publications @respublications.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
New work in #RESInsectConsDiv #BumbleBees alter diet breadth but maintain pollen macronutrient levels in response to varying floral availability in managed timberlands doi.org/10.1111/icad... #InsectCommunities #Bombus #Pollinators #Conservation @manusaunders.bsky.social @wileyecology.bsky.social
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Dr Manu Saunders FRES @manusaunders.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Amazing! This year's Bogong moth migration seen in full flight, after a few years of low records. Insect population dynamics can be unpredictable, especially without long-term data. Look forward to seeing science on what may have driven this year's pattern #ozinverts www.news.com.au/technology/s...
news.com.au
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RES Publications @respublications.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
New #OpenAccess work in #RESInsectConsDiv reports on roadside #pollinator populations & the negative impact of intensive roadside vegetation maintenance, suggesting implications for management. doi.org/10.1111/icad... #InsectDeclines #Biodiversity @cwf-fcf.bsky.social @manusaunders.bsky.social
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Reposted by Dr Manu Saunders FRES
Scientific American @sciam.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Apple "detectives" wanted to identify a gnarly old tree growing on a remote plot of land in Maine. What they discovered was the key to a centuries-old apple mystery.
scientificamerican.com
How apple detectives solved the mystery of an ancient tree—and rewrote the history of fruit
And how they might have helped save the future of American apples
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Reposted by Dr Manu Saunders FRES
Prof Deborah Lupton, MPH PhD @dalupton.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Try this at your next meeting #HigherEd #academia #sociology #GenAI
A satirical bingo card with stock phrases about generative AI in higher education
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Dr Manu Saunders FRES @manusaunders.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
I agreed with the general premise of this post until: "I also used LLMs as an aid to understand the paper better and also learn some concepts used in the papers that I did not know prior to this exercise." Irony etc. But seriously, we won't defeat AI with AI! #AcademicSky medium.com/@TmlrOrg/ask...
medium.com
Asking Authors About Their Own Papers
By Nihar B. Shah
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Reposted by Dr Manu Saunders FRES
Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 15/09/2026
This is a thing everywhere in the world: on-site diesel generation is advertised as "backup" generation, but data centre operators plan to use it way, way more than that. Firmus in Australia now fighting against rules to limit pollution from their fossil-fuelled project
abc.net.au
Data centre company lodges appeal against 'unreasonable' restricted generator use
An energy-hungry data centre that received recent council approval to have diesel generators as backup power is now appealing against the "unreasonable" conditions on how they can be used.
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Lora Kolodny @lorak.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
thinkin bout this - along with pollution, ai psychosis & ai enabled (industrialized basically) online harassment, discrimination, plagiarism, propaganda and ncii/csam (etc.) farrr more than “extinction” by ai within a decade
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Karin Wulf @kawulf.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Students in discussion of uncurated materials is not teaching. Students hanging out together is not teaching. Good teaching is the thing that AI cannot do, while it can mimic a role in the first two. 9/
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Karin Wulf @kawulf.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
I have listened to and read lots and lots of What AI will Mean for College and the one big thing that gets skips all the time is TEACHING. Information provided is not teaching. 8/
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The Point @thepointau.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
“Pacific nations have been telling Australia this for years” writes @louisemorris.bsky.social “Emission cuts need to happen at the source, not through offsets from avoided deforestation or speculative carbon removal schemes.” Read the full piece on The Point: thepoint.com.au/opinions/260...
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Claire G. Griffin @polargriffin.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Gettting rid of protections for 94% of wetlands and 1/3 of streams and rivers (especially out West). "Relatively permanent" as a rule from the Supreme Court is ambiguous and essentially meaningless - some of the most important ecologically waters dry up seasonally! www.nytimes.com/2026/09/04/c...
nytimes.com
Trump Administration Moves to Drop Protections for More Wetlands
The proposed rule could strip federal protections from most U.S. wetlands, many of which help feed drinking water systems.
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Reposted by Dr Manu Saunders FRES
Rachel Hollis @rachelhollisart.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
A bit disconcerting when one of the world's largest moth species is attracted to your headlamp! Found this beautiful Hercules Moth in far north Queensland. #wildoz #wildlife #nature #biodiversity #insects
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Dr Manu Saunders FRES @manusaunders.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Another 'not funded' ARC grant application on my list, sigh #FT26. Time to update my application for next round... Reminder: if you write & submit an excellent ARC application that doesn't get funded, you're a superstar too! #AcademicSky ecologyisnotadirtyword.com/2023/11/10/m...
ecologyisnotadirtyword.com
Mental health and wellbeing effects of the academic grant treadmill
It’s grant rejection time again for far too many Australian researchers. Many will have to jump straight on the application treadmill again, only to find out in 12 months’ time that it too was unsu…
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Reposted by Dr Manu Saunders FRES
Bob Wong @bbmwong.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Are you an ecologist/evolutionary biologist looking for an ongoing academic position? Monash University’s School of Biological Sciences is hiring! Come join us in Melbourne, Australia! Details here: careers.pageuppeople.com/513/cw/en/jo...
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Reposted by Dr Manu Saunders FRES
Dr Manu Saunders FRES @manusaunders.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
New blog: If you don't use genAI to artificially enhance your research outputs, why aren't you encouraged to claim the originality and integrity of your work? #AcademicSky ecologyisnotadirtyword.com/2026/09/04/s...
ecologyisnotadirtyword.com
Scholarship, authorship and genAI: claim your work!
A common argument for ‘ethical’ use of GenAI in academic research and practice is that it’s okay to use these tools to write the final product that you claim authorship for, i.e. drafting, editing …
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Dr Manu Saunders FRES @manusaunders.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
New blog: If you don't use genAI to artificially enhance your research outputs, why aren't you encouraged to claim the originality and integrity of your work? #AcademicSky ecologyisnotadirtyword.com/2026/09/04/s...
ecologyisnotadirtyword.com
Scholarship, authorship and genAI: claim your work!
A common argument for ‘ethical’ use of GenAI in academic research and practice is that it’s okay to use these tools to write the final product that you claim authorship for, i.e. drafting, editing …
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Reposted by Dr Manu Saunders FRES
RES Publications @respublications.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
New #OpenAccess research in #RESInsectConsDiv #MothTraps shine a light on nocturnal #parasitoid wasps: Snapshot assessment of UK diversity and distributions doi.org/10.1111/icad... #Biodiversity #InsectMonitoring @manusaunders.bsky.social @wileyecology.bsky.social
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Dr Manu Saunders FRES @manusaunders.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Normalising AI use for all outsources the research and verification process to individuals who don't have the high level of skills/training needed to conduct rigorous research. We already suffer from policy makers not listening to experts, this is very concerning www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
theguardian.com
‘Scary’: how misinformation and AI hallucinations are infiltrating Australia’s parliament
Exclusive: Guardian analysis reveals that dozens of policy submissions from across the political spectrum incorrectly summarise real research and invent or wrongly cite sources
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Reposted by Dr Manu Saunders FRES
RES Publications @respublications.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
New research in #RESInsectConsDiv Keeping the herds: Traditional #grazing shapes beetle #assemblages in Mongolian steppes doi.org/10.1111/icad.70134 #Coleoptera #Biodiversity @manusaunders.bsky.social @wileyecology.bsky.social
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Aruna Chandrasekhar @arunacsekhar.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Summer in Mumbai was brutal and endless. The monsoon's poster child was running out of water. In a dispatch for @equatormag.bsky.social, I wrote about living with extreme heat in a broken city and limits to resilience. With🔥 images by @ishantankha.bsky.social www.equator.org/articles/cit...
equator.org
City of Sweat • EQUATOR
A vision of our overheated future on the streets of Mumbai
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Reposted by Dr Manu Saunders FRES
Jacquelyn Gill @jacquelyngill.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
This is what we call “revisionist history.”
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Dr Manu Saunders FRES @manusaunders.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Excellent work by Eilish and Peter on this amazing plant genus #ozplants
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Reposted by Dr Manu Saunders FRES
Wendy Harmer @wendyharmer.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
No idea why the Sydney Morning Herald is calling this a "sleeper" issue. The science has been in for decades and residents & activists banging the drums as loudly as they can! www.smh.com.au/environment/...
smh.com.au
‘Little by little cities will have to recede’: Coastal flooding is the sleeper climate issue
Up and down the NSW coast, suburbs and townships are built on low-lying land around coastal lagoons, lakes and estuaries. Sea level rises will make some areas uninhabitable.
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Dr Manu Saunders FRES @manusaunders.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
If university AI policies are written by staff/academics who are heavily involved with AI development and use, is this a policy or a marketing strategy? #AcademicSky
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Reposted by Dr Manu Saunders FRES
RES Publications @respublications.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
New #OpenAccess research in #RESInsectConsDiv Protection status and environmental gradients shape #butterfly #assemblages in an East African tropical ecosystem doi.org/10.1111/icad.70125 #Biodiversity #SpeciesRichness #InsectAbundance @manusaunders.bsky.social @wileyecology.bsky.social
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Dr Manu Saunders FRES @manusaunders.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
The little-known environmental risk that could emerge as ships leave the Strait of Hormuz www.sbs.com.au/news/article...
sbs.com.au
The little-known environmental risk that could emerge as ships leave the Strait of Hormuz
The accrual of biofouling species on the hulls of ships anchored in the Strait of Hormuz could be the world's next biosecurity problem.
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Reposted by Dr Manu Saunders FRES
Stephan Lewandowsky @lewan.uk · 04/08/2026
Proud to have been part of this submission to SCOTUS to hold fossil fuel companies accountable for their decade-long disinformation about climate change. With @naomioreskes.bsky.social @geoffreysupran.bsky.social and others www.ucs.org/about/news/a...
ucs.org
Experts File Friend-of-the-Court Brief in Suncor v Boulder Documenting Companies’ Climate Deception
Experts File Friend-of-the-Court Brief in Supreme Court Case Documenting Suncor Energy and ExxonMobil Decades of Climate Deception
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Dr Manu Saunders FRES @manusaunders.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Not 'if', but 'when'. This analysis is a great awareness tool, but likely an underestimate of impacts. This will be devastating for many species and will reshape ecological communities everywhere www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08...
abc.net.au
'List of doom' outlines birds facing extinction if deadly flu spreads
A list of thousands of Australian species have been ranked by threat level as the deadly H5 bird flu spreads.
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Reposted by Dr Manu Saunders FRES
RES Publications @respublications.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
New #OpenAccess #ConservationNote in #RESInsectConsDiv Mapping wild #bee diversity and flower use for an effective #conservation of the Doñana #biodiversity hotspot doi.org/10.1111/icad.70121 @manusaunders.bsky.social @curromolina.bsky.social @nermonper.bsky.social @ibartomeus.bsky.social
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Dr Manu Saunders FRES @manusaunders.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
With huge community level implications: workloads increase as journal editors, grant assessors, job panels, lecturers, and research student supervisors have to spend more time assessing human integrity than scientific content. Expectations increase for all as LLM-generated careers are normalised...
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Catherine Sheard @sheardcat.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Just hit a new record for number of reviewers invited -- 24, and still counting. (If you're reading this and want to review a plant macroecology paper, lmk?)
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Dr Manu Saunders FRES @manusaunders.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
This is basically how Science works
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Dr Manu Saunders FRES @manusaunders.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
Stop normalising genAI.
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RES Publications @respublications.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
New #ConservationNote in #RESInsectConsDiv Extreme habitat specialization by the Amazonian #DungBeetle #Canthonidia rubromaculata doi.org/10.1111/icad.70115 @manusaunders.bsky.social @wileyecology.bsky.social Photos: The study species; field areas & activities (all credits: Gabriel Herrera)
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Alexander Lees @alexanderlees.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
Our new commentary rdcu.be/ftx6h in @natecoevo.nature.com written with folks from @inaturalist.bsky.social and @cornellbirds.bsky.social shows that use of AI to manipulate existing or create new wildlife images undermines the huge value of vast citizen science databases. 🌍🪰🪶 #Ornithology 🧵 1/10
rdcu.be
Citizen science platforms must mitigate against the threat of generative AI
Nature Ecology & Evolution - Citizen science platforms must mitigate against the threat of generative AI
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Reposted by Dr Manu Saunders FRES
Martin Harvey @kitenet.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
An insect follow-up to the issues raised by @alexanderlees.bsky.social - a recorder asked ChatGPT to clean up a blurry photo of an insect they didn't recognise. It was then sent in as a record of a cicada. Can anyone work out what the original insect was? (Answer to follow!) bsky.app/profile/alex...
A photo of an insect of some sort, after having been 'cleaned up' by Chat GPT. Original photo to follow!
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Dr Manu Saunders FRES @manusaunders.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
I'm seeing a sudden increase in AI manuscript submissions at the journal, e.g. 90% of weekly submissions vs ~1 every few months over the last year. I now spend more time evaluating manuscripts for AI indicators, before I even get to the science #AcademicSky
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Dr Manu Saunders FRES @manusaunders.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
"Overall, the evidence suggests a hybrid mix of work-from-home flexibility is the sweet spot for looking after both employers’ and employees’ needs." theconversation.com/narcissist-b...
theconversation.com
‘Narcissist’ bosses are more likely to oppose work from home, studies show. But are they right?
A mix of work-from-home flexibility, with two to three days in the office, appears to be the sweet spot for looking after both employers’ and employees’ needs.
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RES Publications @respublications.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
New work in #RESInsectConsDiv #CitizenScience data reveals that earlier & shorter flight periods correlate with climate warming in the dark-edged #BeeFly doi.org/10.1111/icad.70114 #Phenology @manusaunders.bsky.social @wileyecology.bsky.social @unirdgento.bsky.social @uk-soldierflies.bsky.social
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Dr Manu Saunders FRES @manusaunders.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
I always guide my students to do a quantitative bias assessment in their lit review, because it's the best way to highlight evidence gaps. This should be a standard for all systematic or quantitative literature reviews, not just formal meta-analyses.
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Dr Manu Saunders FRES @manusaunders.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
New blog: It matters what narratives we use to engage with science. Misinformation engages us with a fantasy. #AcademicSky #SciComm #InsectConservation ecologyisnotadirtyword.com/2026/07/10/t...
ecologyisnotadirtyword.com
The windscreen phenomenon is misinformation
I’ve written here and here about how the flawed windscreen phenomenon is not scientifically testable. It’s a popular social media anecdote, but not actually an accurate measure of insect decline. A…
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Reposted by Dr Manu Saunders FRES
RES Publications @respublications.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
New #Forum article in #RESInsectConsDiv Saving bees or sustaining industry? Challenging neoliberal narratives in North American pollinator research and #conservation doi.org/10.1111/icad.70108 #Pollinators #Biodiversity #InsectScience @manusaunders.bsky.social @wileyecology.bsky.social
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RES Publications @respublications.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
📢 #RESInsectConsDiv now publish #ConservationNotes! Learn more from one of the journal's own EiCs, @manusaunders.bsky.social, on why this new category was launched and what it hopes to achieve for evidence-based insect #conservation ⬇️ www.royensoc.co.uk/news/conserv... @wileyecology.bsky.social
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RES Publications @respublications.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
A new #Review is now available in #RESInsectConsDiv, summarising the global patterns of #mining impacts on lotic #macroinvertebrates and implications for freshwater #conservation. doi.org/10.1111/icad.70104 #AquaticInsects @manusaunders.bsky.social @wileyecology.bsky.social
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Dr Manu Saunders FRES @manusaunders.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
A 2019 paper that is often used as evidence of the flawed 'windscreen phenomenon' has been retracted. I cited this paper a few years ago in explainers about why this particular anecdote cannot be used as evidence of insect decline. See thread below 👇 retractionwatch.com/2026/06/23/a...
retractionwatch.com
A prolific evolutionary biologist caught faking data decades ago notches a new retraction
A study claiming a tenfold decrease in bugs splattered on evolutionary biologist Anders Møller’s windshield over two decades has been retracted. shanecotee / iStock Anders Møller, an influential ev…
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RES Publications @respublications.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
New research in #RESInsectConsDiv Urban warming alters body size in Neotropical geometrid #moths: Divergent patterns at community and intraspecific scales doi.org/10.1111/icad.70094 #UrbanInsects #Geometridae #UrbanHeatIslandEffect @manusaunders.bsky.social @wileyecology.bsky.social
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Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 17/06/2026
I got sent 11 expert scientist reactions to Australia's Bureau of Meteorology officially declaring a strong El Nino, and not a single one of the comments mentions fossil fuels, coal, gas, climate policy, power stations, transport, targets - nothing. Of course the media is going to take that lead..
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