iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Mitchell Whitelaw @mtchl.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 09/10/2026

New work: Anthophiles uses machine learning to ID plants present in bee observations. It's an experiment in joined-up biodiversity data. anthophiles.mtchl.net #biodiversity #citizenscience #pollinators #insects

Screenshot of an interface showing bubble graphs and an observation of a blue-banded bee visiting a tomato plant.

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Mitchell Whitelaw @mtchl.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 19/09/2026

More Rapid Creek dragonflies - a painted grasshawk, very happy perching on a roadside fence #darwin #insects #macrophotography

A golden dragonfly perching on a rusty wire fence

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Mitchell Whitelaw @mtchl.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 14/09/2026

I’m in Darwin this week, meeting new people and critters on Larrakia country. This is a yellow-striped flutterer (Rhyothemis variegata), near Rapid Creek #insects #macrophotography

A dragonfly-like insect perched on a twig near water

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Mitchell Whitelaw @mtchl.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 02/09/2026

Talk coming up, 16th Sept in Darwin (and online) "Sensing an inland wetland: glitches, patches and mosaics" - on the making of Mosaic. Register here […] [Original post on post.lurk.org]

A camera trap image showing a wetland and the tail of a bird, sitting on the camera

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Mitchell Whitelaw @mtchl.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 23/08/2026

More orchid hunting today, but this #sundew stole the show. I think it’s a tall sundew (Drosera auriculata) #macrophotography #carnivorousplants

A macro photo of a sundew with sticky globs of clear “dew” on its flowers

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Mitchell Whitelaw @mtchl.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 22/08/2026

First #orchid of the season for me yesterday, and my first maroonhood. The insect here is probably a pollinator, the fungus gnat this species lures in. #macrophotography #pollinators #florrespondence #canberra

A macro photo of a hooded orchid with a small insect

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Mitchell Whitelaw @mtchl.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 25/07/2026

And this is Grevillea intricata. I was pretty stunned at the huge parallel dimension that is WA #flora. #macro #florrespondence #wa

A macro photo of an intricate conical blossom made up of many white-yellow stamen

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Mitchell Whitelaw @mtchl.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 25/07/2026

I was briefly in Perth this week for work, and managed to take the #macro lens for a walk around Kings Park. I think this is marno (Daviesia divaricata) #florrespondence #wa #flora

A macro photo of small red-yellow blossoms on a stalky shrub

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Mitchell Whitelaw @mtchl.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 07/07/2026

... and some yellow navels (Lichenomphalia chromacea). These are fruiting bodies of the fungal partner in a lichen #fungi #lichensubscribe #canberra #macro

A macro photo of a group of tiny yellow mushrooms

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Mitchell Whitelaw @mtchl.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 07/07/2026

Fungal microworlds from up Mt Majura today (1/2). I think this is Ramaria lorithamnus #fungi #macro #canberra

A macro photo of a pale fungus with branching finger like limbs.

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Mitchell Whitelaw @mtchl.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 06/07/2026

📣 New paper: Designing for biodiversity data in place: Species, encounters, and interfaces This open access paper presents our work developing ALA Lens for the Atlas of Living Australia. It shows how conventional interfaces can hide the taxonomic and spatial […] [Original post on post.lurk.org]

A diagram combining a bubble graph of species images and names, as well as a map showing a heatmap and a scattering of markers.

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Mitchell Whitelaw @mtchl.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 04/07/2026

Parts of Ukraine are strewn with fibre optic cable - drone warfare debris. Now birds are weaving it into nests 😳 youtu.be/xCa2d9amRlw?si=6VT5Cz9yEZW…

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Mitchell Whitelaw @mtchl.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 26/04/2026

This tiny spider - about 4mm long - is I think a “rockhopper”, a local species in tribe Euophryini #macro #insects

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Mitchell Whitelaw @mtchl.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 26/04/2026

Bit of #macro in the autumn light up on Mt Majura. This handsome hopper is a Common Macrotona #insects

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Mitchell Whitelaw @mtchl.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 18/03/2026

TIL George Shiras invented the camera trap in the 1890s, using tripwires, remote shutter releases and a magnesium flash. Astounding shots from around Whitefish Lake, a Michigan wetland, all documented in his book […] [Original post on post.lurk.org]

THREE STARTLED ADVENTURERS WERE CAUGHT IN THE AIR - a photograph by George Shiras showing three deer leaping through the forest at night.

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Mitchell Whitelaw @mtchl.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 20/10/2025

"In the nineteenth century, flower painters in Denmark shifted from depicting arranged, cut flowers to showing plants within their ecosystems..." Glorious paper by Gry Hedin on "Plant-Thinking in Nineteenth-Century Danish Flower Painting." Image: Christine […] [Original post on post.lurk.org]

A painting of flowers growing beside a lake

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Mitchell Whitelaw @mtchl.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 15/10/2025

@nebogeo I saw Floating Points play last weekend, with Akiko Nakayama doing wild “live painting” visuals w ferrofluids etc. Great fun. But you are bringing this grit and grime to the synthesis itself - love it

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Mitchell Whitelaw @mtchl.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 13/11/2024

New project finally out! ALA Lens is work for the Atlas of Living Australia, Australia's open biodiversity data aggregator. Adrian Mackenzie and I used a combination of experimental design and social research to develop rich new interfaces for digital […] [Original post on post.lurk.org]

A screen capture of a digital map, showing a density grid and markers with icons showing birds, fungi and other lifeforms. A pop-up over one marker shows an observation of a Gang-gang cockatoo.

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