Rob Boyd
@robboyd.bsky.social
NERC Independent Research Fellow at the University of Exeter. Visiting Scientist at UK CEH. Associate Editor for Methods in Ecology and Evolution. Into biodiversity monitoring, sampling theory, missing data theory, and causal inference
📖Published📖 This new review article proposes several main steps towards increasing the use of Risk of Bias (RoB) assessment in ecology and evolutionary biology and highlights the important role of the synthesis community, but also of journals and funders 🌍 🧪 Read here 👇
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The Journal of Mathematical Philosophy is now open for submissions! It is fully open access, with no fees for authors or readers. Please help spread the word, and do consider sending us your work. Very happy to be part of the inaugural editorial board. mathematicalphilosophy.org/mathphil
mathematicalphilosophy.org
Current butterfly occurrence data largely reflect where citizen scientists can go, rather than solely where species occur 🚶♀️ Accessibility metrics can be used to inform citizen science survey design and aid interpretation of data. @mingruiliuml.bsky.social @robboyd.bsky.social tinyurl.com/2tbw3jf3
Causal Analysis Reveals That Public Access to Land Can Shape Our View of Species' Geographic Distributions
Aim Citizen science data are widely used to study species' distributions. Using butterfly observations from South-West England, we sought to better understand what shapes the spatial footprint of re...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Why DAGs aren't just for causal inference and should often represent the observation process Check out our new paper: doi.org/10.1016/j.co... @r-cooke.bsky.social, Gary Powney and @sacrevert.bsky.social @ukceh.bsky.social @uniexecec.bsky.social
Why your DAG should probably incorporate sampling and measurement processes
Insect scientists are starting to use Directed Acyclic Graphs (DAGs) to display assumptions about causal relationships between variables that exist be…
sciencedirect.com
What has a greater effect on the number of butterfly records across Devon and Cornwall: habitat or public access? Our new paper, led by Mingrui Li, addresses this question dx.doi.org/10.1111/ddi.... @jonbennie.bsky.social @davidroybrc.bsky.social @richardfoxbc.bsky.social @uniexecec.bsky.social
Causal Analysis Reveals That Public Access to Land Can Shape Our View of Species' Geographic Distributions
Aim Citizen science data are widely used to study species' distributions. Using butterfly observations from South-West England, we sought to better understand what shapes the spatial footprint of re...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Are our ecological conclusions built on shaky foundations? Our latest paper in @methodsinecoevol.bsky.social highlights that Risk of Bias (RoB) assessment, crucial for ensuring the internal validity of research, is almost never used in #systematicreviews in eco & evo 📉 🔗 doi.org/10.1111/2041...
Scientists using LLMs (AI) to write/modify text & to précis the literature is a slippery slope Scientific training is about learning how to: write clearly & succinctly, assess the literature, develop our own knowledge, & be critical thinkers Using LLMs to do these undermines scientific integrity
We’re hiring! We invite applications for an Ecological Statistician to join our team. Work at the interface of cutting-edge biodiversity science and statistics. DL 27 May @jarnovanhatalo.bsky.social @rececochange.bsky.social @erc.europa.eu jobs.helsinki.fi/job/Helsinki...
Ecological Statistician
Ecological Statistician
jobs.helsinki.fi
"The real threat is a slow, comfortable drift toward not understanding what you're doing. Not a dramatic collapse. Not Skynet. Just a generation of researchers who can produce results but can't produce understanding."
Minas Karamanis@minaskar.bsky.social · 4mo agoHey, I wrote a thing about AI in astrophysics ergosphere.blog/posts/the-ma...
Fantastic that our paper using @ukbms.bsky.social data led by @robboyd.bsky.social @ukceh.bsky.social has been shortlisted for the best paper of the year prize! @savebutterflies.bsky.social
Methods in Ecology and Evolution@methodsinecoevol.bsky.social · 4mo ago🏅 Shortlisted for the 2025 Robert May prize! 🏅 In his blog post, @robboyd.bsky.social talks about his paper 'Using causal diagrams and superpopulation models to correct geographic biases in biodiversity monitoring data' 🌍 🧪 Read the blog and find the full article 👇 buff.ly/a7UROJJ
🏅 Shortlisted for the 2025 Robert May prize! 🏅 In his blog post, @robboyd.bsky.social talks about his paper 'Using causal diagrams and superpopulation models to correct geographic biases in biodiversity monitoring data' 🌍 🧪 Read the blog and find the full article 👇 buff.ly/a7UROJJ
Robin Boyd: Using causal diagrams and superpopulation models to correct geographic biases in biodiversity monitoring data
Throughout March, we are featuring articles shortlisted for the 2025 Robert May Prize. The Robert May Prize is awarded by the British Ecological Society each year for the best paper in Methods in E…
methodsblog.com
🏅 Shortlisted for the 2025 Robert May prize! 🏅 In his paper, @jsmartin.bsky.social proposes a statistical model for detecting how complex, continuously varying environments shape the expression of and association among multiple organismal traits 🌍 Read more here 👇
buff.ly
In a sea of opinions about the role of LLMs in academics I offer my own. Apart from being harmful, exploitive plagiarism machines, LLMs rob us of the opportunity to experience the gift of friction in writing, which changes how we think. We must not give away that gift. doi.org/10.1002/fee....
Thinking like a mountain in the age of AI
Click on the article title to read more.
doi.org
We're pleased to announce the shortlist for this year's Robert May prize! 🌟 Each year, we award the Robert May prize to the best paper in the journal by an early career author 🧪 🌏 See the full list below 👇 buff.ly/SosksZF
Published 📖 Generalized graphical mixed models connect ecological theory with widely used statistical models GGMMs connect ecological theory with statistical models that are applied for inference, prediction, and causal analysis throughout ecology 🖥️ 🌍 🔎
buff.ly
As well as the FIT Count survey, we run a more systematic survey using insect traps in a set of 1 km squares across the UK. If you live near one of the red squares on the map and are interested in taking part please contact us for more details ukpoms.org.uk/one-km-squar...
UK Pollinator Monitoring Scheme@pomscheme.bsky.social · 5mo agoThere's less than a month until the start of the 2026 FIT Count season on 1 April! The Flower-Insect Timed Count survey asks you to spend 10 minutes counting all insects that land on a patch of flowers, to help monitor abundance of #pollinators. 🪰🦋🌻🪲🐝 More info at ukpoms.org.uk/fit-counts
CFP: Society for the Study of Measurement will be held at the University of Edinburgh June 22-25, 2026. Submit proposals for papers, symposia, & poster on any topics in the theory, history, philosophy, & application of measurement by January 15, 2026 app.oxfordabstracts.com/stages/80364... #HPS
New paper on adaptive sampling for ecological monitoring published in @oikosjournal.bsky.social nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/.... Premise is to aim for proportional allocation across strata. Success depends on choice of stratifying variables. Oli Pescott’s brainchild
nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Science-integrity project will root out bad medical papers ‘and tell everyone’ Thrilled to announce this new $900,000 project headed by @jamesheathers.bsky.social
Science-integrity project will root out bad medical papers ‘and tell everyone’
Group behind Retraction Watch aims to pinpoint the most influential flawed health data.
nature.com
Our new paper combines wildlife surveillance data and spatial risk modelling to map suitability for TBEV in GB. We identified key drivers linked to TBEV exposure in deer and produced risk maps, which can guide future surveillance and interventions. www.eurosurveillance.org/content/10.2...
Identifying hotspots and risk factors for tick-borne encephalitis virus emergence at its range margins to guide interventions, Great Britain
Background Tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) is expanding its range in Europe, with increasing human cases reported. Since the first detection of TBEV in ticks in the United Kingdom in 2019, one po...
eurosurveillance.org
DAGs are nice way to think about sample selection biases, Ecology edition. besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Using causal diagrams and superpopulation models to correct geographic biases in biodiversity monitoring data
Biodiversity monitoring schemes periodically measure species' abundances and distributions at a sample of sites to understand how they have changed over time. Often, the aim is to infer change in ...
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
It is only by understanding what causes sampling bias that we can correct it... Check out our new Blog post by @robboyd.bsky.social here! 👇 https://buff.ly/3PVHA30
This paper just out using data from the UKBMS to demonstrate different ways to think about bias in datasets.
Methods in Ecology and Evolution@methodsinecoevol.bsky.social · 2y ago📖Published📖 Our new research article demonstrates how you might combine expert knowledge with causal diagrams and superpopulation models to mitigate geographic biases in biodiversity monitoring data 🌎 🧪 Read it here 👇 https://buff.ly/3C2ZKws
📖Published📖 Our new research article demonstrates how you might combine expert knowledge with causal diagrams and superpopulation models to mitigate geographic biases in biodiversity monitoring data 🌎 🧪 Read it here 👇 https://buff.ly/3C2ZKws
What have causal diagrams got to do with sampling bias? Find out here! Great team @richardfoxbc.bsky.social @davidroybrc.bsky.social + oli Pescott, Colin harrower, Emily Dennis, Ian middlebrook and Marc Botham. @ukceh.bsky.social @ukbms.bsky.social
Methods in Ecology and Evolution@methodsinecoevol.bsky.social · 2y ago📖Published📖 Our new research article demonstrates how you might combine expert knowledge with causal diagrams and superpopulation models to mitigate geographic biases in biodiversity monitoring data 🌎 🧪 Read it here 👇 https://buff.ly/3C2ZKws
🚨 Interested in using #AI to help develop real-time early warnings of human-wildlife conflict? Apply for a fully-funded #PhD supervised by Vicky Boult (University of Reading) and our own @robboyd.bsky.social Part of the AI-INTERVENE programme. Deadline 27 Jan: www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
Leveraging Artificial Intelligence for Real-Time Early-Warnings of Human-Wildlife Conflict at University of Reading on FindAPhD.com
PhD Project - Leveraging Artificial Intelligence for Real-Time Early-Warnings of Human-Wildlife Conflict at University of Reading, listed on FindAPhD.com
findaphd.com
💡 Can we use data science and AI to make citizen science more engaging for participants and improve biodiversity data quality? 🧪 Apply now for a competition-funded #PhD opportunity to explore - deadline 27 Jan. www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
Advancing Volunteer-Led Biodiversity Monitoring with Generative AI and Data Science at University of Reading on FindAPhD.com
PhD Project - Advancing Volunteer-Led Biodiversity Monitoring with Generative AI and Data Science at University of Reading, listed on FindAPhD.com
findaphd.com
Still a couple of weeks left to apply for this #PhD. How are pollinating #insects changing in the UK? This project will develop indicators for #pollinators using #citizenscience data. A collaboration between @ukceh.bsky.social, University of Reading and JNCC. tinyurl.com/3ve5szrh
Francesca Mancini@francescamancini.bsky.social · 2y agoLooking for a #PhDposition? Passionate about #pollinators and #citizenscience? Come do a PhD at @ukceh.bsky.social on developing indicators for pollinating insects using data from UK PoMS. The project includes a placement at JNCC. To apply tinyurl.com/3ve5szrh @drnickisaac.bsky.social
