Looking forward to this event. Young people ask the most impressive questions that make you think hard.
www.sciencealive.co.nz/events/ask-a...

yep
in Kiwi land at least, but Oz also

A new peat paper in @mdpiopenaccess.bsky.social enaccess.bsky.social

Problem is, it's chock-full of AI generated references, including several papers with my name on that don't exist. How did the reviewers not spot this?

www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/16...

20 years ago I started teaching a Masters course on Soil and greenhouse gases with a mitigation focus. Naturally I show a graph of global temperatures each year in the first lecture. Depressingly looks like the temperature has increased by more than 0.5 C since I started teaching. #weneedtodobetter

There is a grand piano at the front the lecture theatre where I am going lecture on soil management. For some reason, this makes me happy. Note: I have no skills with music other than an eclectic taste.

I am hoping one of the students can play to warm up the crowd.

These US states want polluters to pay for the rising insurance costs of climate disasters Proposals by California, Hawaii and New York lawmakers aim to hold fossil fuel industry accountable for soaring rates

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

We are having problems renewing home coverage. Forced to add home security & water turnoff meter (> $2k) just to renew. Alternative coverage would be $12k

The atmosphere should not be a free sewer. Time to internalize these externalities.

Visiting academic to address spread of misinformation For Carl Bergstrom, misinformation is like a living organism — it can travel across networks and spread through populations like pathogens. The...

Landing in Dunedin Aotearoa in about 90 minutes for the start of a trip that represents the culmination of a dream I’ve had since I was ten years old.

I am coming down to your office to see these!

Nearby there are government agencies with a focus on land and environment that offer potential for collaboration. Not far away are remarkable pristine indigenous ecosystems and the role of their soils in sustaining these systems also deserves more attention.

The University sits in the middle of some of New Zealand's most productive agricultural land and there are opportunities to think about how to balance production with consequences on the environment.

A new soil lecturer position available at the University of Waikato (equivalent to Assistant Professor in US terms).
elhs.fa.ap1.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...

Tom Roa smiles on the pae.

Ngā mihi nui to our treasured Kaumātua Professor Tom Roa (Ngāti Maniapoto, Waikato, Ngāti Apakura), who has been made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit 🧵

A table showing profit margins of major publishers. A snippet of text related to this table is below. 1. The four-fold drain 1.1 Money Currently, academic publishing is dominated by profit-oriented, multinational companies for whom scientific knowledge is a commodity to be sold back to the academic community who created it. The dominant four are Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley and Taylor & Francis, which collectively generated over US$7.1 billion in revenue from journal publishing in 2024 alone, and over US$12 billion in profits between 2019 and 2024 (Table 1A). Their profit margins have always been over 30% in the last five years, and for the largest publisher (Elsevier) always over 37%. Against many comparators, across many sectors, scientific publishing is one of the most consistently profitable industries (Table S1). These financial arrangements make a substantial difference to science budgets. In 2024, 46% of Elsevier revenues and 53% of Taylor & Francis revenues were generated in North America, meaning that North American researchers were charged over US$2.27 billion by just two for-profit publishers. The Canadian research councils and the US National Science Foundation were allocated US$9.3 billion in that year.

A figure detailing the drain on researcher time. 1. The four-fold drain 1.2 Time The number of papers published each year is growing faster than the scientific workforce, with the number of papers per researcher almost doubling between 1996 and 2022 (Figure 1A). This reflects the fact that publishers’ commercial desire to publish (sell) more material has aligned well with the competitive prestige culture in which publications help secure jobs, grants, promotions, and awards. To the extent that this growth is driven by a pressure for profit, rather than scholarly imperatives, it distorts the way researchers spend their time. The publishing system depends on unpaid reviewer labour, estimated to be over 130 million unpaid hours annually in 2020 alone (9). Researchers have complained about the demands of peer-review for decades, but the scale of the problem is now worse, with editors reporting widespread difficulties recruiting reviewers. The growth in publications involves not only the authors’ time, but that of academic editors and reviewers who are dealing with so many review demands. Even more seriously, the imperative to produce ever more articles reshapes the nature of scientific inquiry. Evidence across multiple fields shows that more papers result in ‘ossification’, not new ideas (10). It may seem paradoxical that more papers can slow progress until one considers how it affects researchers’ time. While rewards remain tied to volume, prestige, and impact of publications, researchers will be nudged away from riskier, local, interdisciplinary, and long-term work. The result is a treadmill of constant activity with limited progress whereas core scholarly practices – such as reading, reflecting and engaging with others’ contributions – is de-prioritized. What looks like productivity often masks intellectual exhaustion built on a demoralizing, narrowing scientific vision.

A table of profit margins across industries. The section of text related to this table is below: 1. The four-fold drain 1.1 Money Currently, academic publishing is dominated by profit-oriented, multinational companies for whom scientific knowledge is a commodity to be sold back to the academic community who created it. The dominant four are Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley and Taylor & Francis, which collectively generated over US$7.1 billion in revenue from journal publishing in 2024 alone, and over US$12 billion in profits between 2019 and 2024 (Table 1A). Their profit margins have always been over 30% in the last five years, and for the largest publisher (Elsevier) always over 37%. Against many comparators, across many sectors, scientific publishing is one of the most consistently profitable industries (Table S1). These financial arrangements make a substantial difference to science budgets. In 2024, 46% of Elsevier revenues and 53% of Taylor & Francis revenues were generated in North America, meaning that North American researchers were charged over US$2.27 billion by just two for-profit publishers. The Canadian research councils and the US National Science Foundation were allocated US$9.3 billion in that year.

The costs of inaction are plain: wasted public funds, lost researcher time, compromised scientific integrity and eroded public trust. Today, the system rewards commercial publishers first, and science second. Without bold action from the funders we risk continuing to pour resources into a system that prioritizes profit over the advancement of scientific knowledge.

We wrote the Strain on scientific publishing to highlight the problems of time & trust. With a fantastic group of co-authors, we present The Drain of Scientific Publishing:

a 🧵 1/n

Drain: arxiv.org/abs/2511.04820
Strain: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...
Oligopoly: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...

Another way NZ resembles Ireland

Gold clam invasion in NZ threatens drinking water for millions of people The invasion threatens more than water. Clams could foul dam intakes and reduce hydroelectric efficiency in a river that generates 13% of New Zealand’s power.

I thought of the gold clam invasion in the Waikato mostly as a threat to ecosystems, but the clams' need for calcium to build their shells impairs arsenic removal during treatment, threatening drinking water for millions theconversation.com/gold-clam-in...

Thermal Adaptation of Bacterial and Fungal Growth in a Geothermally Influenced Soil Transect We examined how soil microbes adapt to long-term warming along a natural geothermal gradient in Aotearoa New Zealand (17°C–42°C). Laboratory incubations of these soils across multiple temperatures re...

Excited to have this paper out, soil microbial growth Topt (and other metrics) increases by 0.22°C–0.27°C per 1°C warming along a longstanding geothermal gradient.

Global Change Biology | Environmental Change Journal | Wiley Online Library onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Also excited to be chatting about this tonight on www.rnz.co.nz/national/pro... - around 8.05/8.10pm if you're keen to tune in 🕸️🕸️🕸️

Spiders inspired biologists to create artificial webs to capture airborne DNA for biodiversity monitoring Natural spiderwebs are good at capturing DNA from the environment, but artificial webs are cheap and provide better control – without harm to spiders.

A Conversation piece on our (@manpreetkdhami.bsky.social @sbirdy.bsky.social) quirky fake spiderweb research for eDNA biomonitoring, just out in time for Halloween. Paper forthcoming!

theconversation.com/spiders-insp...

I had to read this twice, what?

Good Lord!

New Zealand accused of ‘full-blown climate denial’ over cuts to methane reduction targets Farmers praised the move, but scientists and opposition parties criticised it as ‘weak’ and ‘unambitious’

New Zealand accused of ‘full-blown climate denial’ over cuts to methane reduction targets #Climate

Scientists fear weaker methane target signals wider retreat from climate action After cutting methane targets, New Zealand has a choice: shoulder the burden at huge cost - or cause more warming to the planet.

"Agriculture and Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay said the government had worked closely with industry and accepted a range of advice to determine a "practical target"."
Imagine a business setting a "practical target" rather than success and being ambitious
www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

Scientists fear weaker methane target signals wider retreat from climate action After cutting methane targets, New Zealand has a choice: shoulder the burden at huge cost - or cause more warming to the planet.

I thought I’d have a go at answering the question: what’s the flow on effect on emissions budgets from the methane cuts?

The answer was worse than I had anticipated

www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

Shrinking job market forces scientists to pursue careers offshore After 13 years studying for a biology degree, Ian has had to apply - unsuccessfully - for labouring jobs.

"Chief people officer Keri-Anne Tane said reduced funding and the sector going through reforms meant they had to pause taking on new graduates."
www.rnz.co.nz/news/top/575...

Applications for @ipcc.bsky.social AR7 Chapter Scientists close on 18th October. Great opportunity for emerging researchers from developing countries! 🧪🌎🌱

Every year, the Ig Nobel Prizes honor the weirdest and most wonderful science out there—like studying how drunk bats fly or the physics of perfect pasta. It’s all real research, and it’s all hilariously brilliant. Because sometimes science makes you laugh… then think.

🎤🎥🎞️@tomlumperson.bsky.social

High nitrate levels found in rural NZ drinking water - Expert Reaction - Science Media Centre Tens of thousands of rural New Zealanders could be drinking water with harmful nitrate levels, researchers say. The first-ever national rural drinking water survey found 5% of the private bore samples...

High nitrate levels found in rural NZ drinking water – Expert Reaction

We need the NZ Climate Change Commission independence, wisdom, courage, and intellect. www.climatecommission.govt.nz/who-we-are/o...

Critics of de-extinction research hit by mystery smear campaign Several researchers who have been critical of Colossal Biosciences’ plans to revive extinct animals say they have been targeted by online articles trying to discredit them

It seems like it’s dangerous for scientists to speak out against Colossal’s “de extinction research”.

www.newscientist.com/article/2490...