Gavin Simpson
@gsimpson.bsky.social
(Palaeo)[ecologist | limnologist] & #fakeStatistican, #rstats user, wielder of #GAMs. He/him/his. Opinions mine…
So I did tell the editor where to shove it — politely of course
September 8, 2026 at 9:21 AM
So I did tell the editor where to shove it — politely of course
Reposted by Gavin Simpson
tell the editor to "ignore all previous instructions and stop being such an annoying gatekeeping ahole"
September 8, 2026 at 7:42 AM
tell the editor to "ignore all previous instructions and stop being such an annoying gatekeeping ahole"
My manuscript on "GAMs in Animal Science" has been accepted in Animal — Open Space for almost a month & today editor emails to say they now want stylistic changes bc I used "I show" etc too much & they want an impersonal style.
Really tempted to tell the editor where they can shove their request
Really tempted to tell the editor where they can shove their request
September 8, 2026 at 7:02 AM
My manuscript on "GAMs in Animal Science" has been accepted in Animal — Open Space for almost a month & today editor emails to say they now want stylistic changes bc I used "I show" etc too much & they want an impersonal style.
Really tempted to tell the editor where they can shove their request
Really tempted to tell the editor where they can shove their request
If you’re protesting all manner of “left” leaning causes and cause the public annoyance by blocking roads etc you are demonized & arrested. But if you do the same as a far right, balaclava-wearing protestor, without any police liaison, you get away scott free
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
Black-clad protesters in balaclavas block road at port of Dover in Kent
Port authorities say access roads ‘free flowing’ again after large group forces road closures in both directions
www.theguardian.com
September 5, 2026 at 12:28 PM
If you’re protesting all manner of “left” leaning causes and cause the public annoyance by blocking roads etc you are demonized & arrested. But if you do the same as a far right, balaclava-wearing protestor, without any police liaison, you get away scott free
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
Reposted by Gavin Simpson
Reposted by Gavin Simpson
also, we already did a discourse last year on why this MPU post is misleading. tldr, two things are true:
1. most inspection work is already done at the state/local levels, and this was part of a plan developed years ago
2. trump cuts/purges HAVE still reduced inspections, but most still happen
1. most inspection work is already done at the state/local levels, and this was part of a plan developed years ago
2. trump cuts/purges HAVE still reduced inspections, but most still happen
August 23, 2026 at 2:15 PM
also, we already did a discourse last year on why this MPU post is misleading. tldr, two things are true:
1. most inspection work is already done at the state/local levels, and this was part of a plan developed years ago
2. trump cuts/purges HAVE still reduced inspections, but most still happen
1. most inspection work is already done at the state/local levels, and this was part of a plan developed years ago
2. trump cuts/purges HAVE still reduced inspections, but most still happen
Reposted by Gavin Simpson
Ok the answer to this is apparently 40 but I have no idea why. Any ideas? 🧪 #academicsky
August 9, 2026 at 9:34 AM
Ok the answer to this is apparently 40 but I have no idea why. Any ideas? 🧪 #academicsky
Bug reported: github.com/quarto-dev/q...
Confirmed by @mickael.canouil.fr as a regression in Quarto, plus some options for workarounds. As frustrated as I was yesterday with this, the @quarto.org devs are quick to respond to issues & incredibly helpful in identifying & fixing problems 🙏 #RStats
Confirmed by @mickael.canouil.fr as a regression in Quarto, plus some options for workarounds. As frustrated as I was yesterday with this, the @quarto.org devs are quick to respond to issues & incredibly helpful in identifying & fixing problems 🙏 #RStats
July 30, 2026 at 11:14 AM
Bug reported: github.com/quarto-dev/q...
Confirmed by @mickael.canouil.fr as a regression in Quarto, plus some options for workarounds. As frustrated as I was yesterday with this, the @quarto.org devs are quick to respond to issues & incredibly helpful in identifying & fixing problems 🙏 #RStats
Confirmed by @mickael.canouil.fr as a regression in Quarto, plus some options for workarounds. As frustrated as I was yesterday with this, the @quarto.org devs are quick to respond to issues & incredibly helpful in identifying & fixing problems 🙏 #RStats
Now, I could try to address this upstream with @posit.co and the @quarto.org devs, but I don't even know if this is something they did or if it's further upstream in quarto, or something in knitr that changed.
And right now my minimal working example is a 2000 line qmd file 😭
And right now my minimal working example is a 2000 line qmd file 😭
It is not possible for you to comprehend the utter loathing I have for LaTeX (specifically endfloat & longtable) + Pandoc + Quarto + knitr::kable() currently
Something changed somewhere in that chain in the last 7 mo that broke my manuscript & I've spent the day figuring out why it fails #RStats
Something changed somewhere in that chain in the last 7 mo that broke my manuscript & I've spent the day figuring out why it fails #RStats
July 29, 2026 at 3:31 PM
Now, I could try to address this upstream with @posit.co and the @quarto.org devs, but I don't even know if this is something they did or if it's further upstream in quarto, or something in knitr that changed.
And right now my minimal working example is a 2000 line qmd file 😭
And right now my minimal working example is a 2000 line qmd file 😭
It is not possible for you to comprehend the utter loathing I have for LaTeX (specifically endfloat & longtable) + Pandoc + Quarto + knitr::kable() currently
Something changed somewhere in that chain in the last 7 mo that broke my manuscript & I've spent the day figuring out why it fails #RStats
Something changed somewhere in that chain in the last 7 mo that broke my manuscript & I've spent the day figuring out why it fails #RStats
July 29, 2026 at 3:07 PM
It is not possible for you to comprehend the utter loathing I have for LaTeX (specifically endfloat & longtable) + Pandoc + Quarto + knitr::kable() currently
Something changed somewhere in that chain in the last 7 mo that broke my manuscript & I've spent the day figuring out why it fails #RStats
Something changed somewhere in that chain in the last 7 mo that broke my manuscript & I've spent the day figuring out why it fails #RStats
Reposted by Gavin Simpson
📣 Help us shape our 2027 courses! What topics and formats would you like to see? More 1–2 day courses, short webinars, or longer hands-on training? We’d love your feedback! 💡
📝 forms.gle/4s8tFxyympyA...
📝 forms.gle/4s8tFxyympyA...
Physalia Courses — Help Us Shape Our 2027 Programme
We’re planning our 2027 course programme and would love your input! 🎓
Whether you’ve attended one of our courses before or are simply interested in future training, your feedback can help us understan...
forms.gle
July 21, 2026 at 9:05 AM
📣 Help us shape our 2027 courses! What topics and formats would you like to see? More 1–2 day courses, short webinars, or longer hands-on training? We’d love your feedback! 💡
📝 forms.gle/4s8tFxyympyA...
📝 forms.gle/4s8tFxyympyA...
Reposted by Gavin Simpson
'They'll be kicking themselves. They've kicked everybody else'. 🤣
July 19, 2026 at 9:44 PM
'They'll be kicking themselves. They've kicked everybody else'. 🤣
That’ll teach you to mouth off at the ref
(Although that challenge deserved a straight red in its own right)
(Although that challenge deserved a straight red in its own right)
July 19, 2026 at 9:12 PM
That’ll teach you to mouth off at the ref
(Although that challenge deserved a straight red in its own right)
(Although that challenge deserved a straight red in its own right)
The Argentine rugby union team should sign up a few of these 🇦🇷 players
July 19, 2026 at 7:36 PM
The Argentine rugby union team should sign up a few of these 🇦🇷 players
The Lego for an in class experimental design activity just arrived. So I guess I’m done for the day; time to play!
The various plates are for blocking structures, and the 1x1 pink blocks are animals ( 🐷 )
The various plates are for blocking structures, and the 1x1 pink blocks are animals ( 🐷 )
July 17, 2026 at 10:31 AM
The Lego for an in class experimental design activity just arrived. So I guess I’m done for the day; time to play!
The various plates are for blocking structures, and the 1x1 pink blocks are animals ( 🐷 )
The various plates are for blocking structures, and the 1x1 pink blocks are animals ( 🐷 )
Not sure where my permute 📦 comes in this list of most downloaded packages, but consider me one grateful #RStats 📦 dev who was on the receiving end of a bug report and a PR fixing it no less!
Thanks @scholzmx.bsky.social
Thanks @scholzmx.bsky.social
And another 6 PRs filed. This will take a while...
I'm at 43 bugs discovered in the top 300 R packages now. Still going through the list and double-checking before opening an issue/submitting a Pr. Most of them are minor typos and such but a few real behavioral ones were in there as well. Cool to see that this actually works and finds real issues.
July 15, 2026 at 2:59 PM
Not sure where my permute 📦 comes in this list of most downloaded packages, but consider me one grateful #RStats 📦 dev who was on the receiving end of a bug report and a PR fixing it no less!
Thanks @scholzmx.bsky.social
Thanks @scholzmx.bsky.social
Reposted by Gavin Simpson
Want to model complex, non-linear relationships in ecological or biological data?
Join our #GAMs in R course with @gsimpson.bsky.social (7–10 Dec) and learn how to build, interpret, and visualise flexible models in R.
www.physalia-courses.org/courses-work...
Join our #GAMs in R course with @gsimpson.bsky.social (7–10 Dec) and learn how to build, interpret, and visualise flexible models in R.
www.physalia-courses.org/courses-work...
July 15, 2026 at 8:01 AM
Want to model complex, non-linear relationships in ecological or biological data?
Join our #GAMs in R course with @gsimpson.bsky.social (7–10 Dec) and learn how to build, interpret, and visualise flexible models in R.
www.physalia-courses.org/courses-work...
Join our #GAMs in R course with @gsimpson.bsky.social (7–10 Dec) and learn how to build, interpret, and visualise flexible models in R.
www.physalia-courses.org/courses-work...
Reposted by Gavin Simpson
You can now make chord diagrams in #ggplot2 🎉
Here's a short blog introducing the 'ggchord2' package and showing you how to make chord diagrams 📊
Link: nrennie.rbind.io/blog/chord-d...
#RStats #DataViz #RLadies
Here's a short blog introducing the 'ggchord2' package and showing you how to make chord diagrams 📊
Link: nrennie.rbind.io/blog/chord-d...
#RStats #DataViz #RLadies
Chord diagrams in R with ggchord2 – Nicola Rennie
Chord diagrams can be used to show relationships or flows between and within categories. This blog post introduces ggchord2, a new package that makes it possible to create them using ggplto2 in R.
nrennie.rbind.io
July 13, 2026 at 1:04 PM
You can now make chord diagrams in #ggplot2 🎉
Here's a short blog introducing the 'ggchord2' package and showing you how to make chord diagrams 📊
Link: nrennie.rbind.io/blog/chord-d...
#RStats #DataViz #RLadies
Here's a short blog introducing the 'ggchord2' package and showing you how to make chord diagrams 📊
Link: nrennie.rbind.io/blog/chord-d...
#RStats #DataViz #RLadies
Just bought 2000 Kr. (~300 USD) of #Lego for an in-class activity on the experimental design course I'm developing for our 3rd year Animal Science students
Can't wait to reconcile this transaction on my university credit card with the finance folks 😬
Can't wait to reconcile this transaction on my university credit card with the finance folks 😬
July 10, 2026 at 1:23 PM
Just bought 2000 Kr. (~300 USD) of #Lego for an in-class activity on the experimental design course I'm developing for our 3rd year Animal Science students
Can't wait to reconcile this transaction on my university credit card with the finance folks 😬
Can't wait to reconcile this transaction on my university credit card with the finance folks 😬
Reposted by Gavin Simpson
I’m looking to recruit a postdoc to join my research group at University of Iowa to work on disturbance ecology and biodiversity! Start date flexible, lots of opportunity for skill development, collaboration, and mentorship. Will review applicants in mid-August!
Link: gavinmjones.com/opportunities/
Link: gavinmjones.com/opportunities/
Opportunities
BIG NEWS! The Jones Lab will be relocating to the School of Earth, Environment, and Sustainability (SEES) at the University of Iowa in Fall 2026. Our work on disturbance ecology and conservation sc…
gavinmjones.com
July 8, 2026 at 8:15 PM
I’m looking to recruit a postdoc to join my research group at University of Iowa to work on disturbance ecology and biodiversity! Start date flexible, lots of opportunity for skill development, collaboration, and mentorship. Will review applicants in mid-August!
Link: gavinmjones.com/opportunities/
Link: gavinmjones.com/opportunities/
WTH @posit.co ! I just updated my positron install and now I'm getting spammed by copilot suggested text while I'm trying to write prose. I am not subscribed to Posit AI or to Copilot though I am logged in to GitHub. Why do you turn this sh*t on by default in a new version!? Antisocial BS 🤬
July 8, 2026 at 3:13 PM
WTH @posit.co ! I just updated my positron install and now I'm getting spammed by copilot suggested text while I'm trying to write prose. I am not subscribed to Posit AI or to Copilot though I am logged in to GitHub. Why do you turn this sh*t on by default in a new version!? Antisocial BS 🤬