James A Campbell
@rtbecard.bsky.social
(he/him) Former bird dude, current fish guy; currently based in Berlin. I'm into ecology, stats, bioacoustics, and artificial light.
Currently working as part of this ETN: https://www.msca-ribes.eu/
Currently working as part of this ETN: https://www.msca-ribes.eu/
Pinned
Here's a thread of all my paper announcements:
Reposted by James A Campbell
Quick oceans update: yah, sea surface temperatures remain in new territory this year.
See more at zacklabe.com/climate-chan.... This data (extrapolar ocean) is provided by @copernicusecmwf.bsky.social ERA5. 🌊
See more at zacklabe.com/climate-chan.... This data (extrapolar ocean) is provided by @copernicusecmwf.bsky.social ERA5. 🌊
September 25, 2026 at 9:29 PM
Quick oceans update: yah, sea surface temperatures remain in new territory this year.
See more at zacklabe.com/climate-chan.... This data (extrapolar ocean) is provided by @copernicusecmwf.bsky.social ERA5. 🌊
See more at zacklabe.com/climate-chan.... This data (extrapolar ocean) is provided by @copernicusecmwf.bsky.social ERA5. 🌊
Reposted by James A Campbell
New #citizenscience #ALAN paper out from my labmates.
Citizen science reveals temporally structured insect attraction and mitigation efficacy under artificial light at night - Communications Biology
Communications Biology - Citizen science reveals temporally structured insect attraction and mitigation efficacy under artificial light at night
www.nature.com
September 21, 2026 at 2:10 PM
New #citizenscience #ALAN paper out from my labmates.
@pfrazee.com what's the status of editing posts on here? Is this something that's on the roadmap?
My accumulation of spelling mistakes is starting to become painful on here 😬.
My accumulation of spelling mistakes is starting to become painful on here 😬.
September 21, 2026 at 10:38 AM
@pfrazee.com what's the status of editing posts on here? Is this something that's on the roadmap?
My accumulation of spelling mistakes is starting to become painful on here 😬.
My accumulation of spelling mistakes is starting to become painful on here 😬.
Any one know what this is?
For two recent pre-prints, I've gotten AI agents posing as "science journalists" emailing me for media requests.
I'm wondering what the hustle is here....
Both times, the agent identified itself as "Conor Watkins" from "Primary News".
#OpenScience #SciComm
For two recent pre-prints, I've gotten AI agents posing as "science journalists" emailing me for media requests.
I'm wondering what the hustle is here....
Both times, the agent identified itself as "Conor Watkins" from "Primary News".
#OpenScience #SciComm
September 21, 2026 at 9:46 AM
Any one know what this is?
For two recent pre-prints, I've gotten AI agents posing as "science journalists" emailing me for media requests.
I'm wondering what the hustle is here....
Both times, the agent identified itself as "Conor Watkins" from "Primary News".
#OpenScience #SciComm
For two recent pre-prints, I've gotten AI agents posing as "science journalists" emailing me for media requests.
I'm wondering what the hustle is here....
Both times, the agent identified itself as "Conor Watkins" from "Primary News".
#OpenScience #SciComm
Here's a thread of all my paper announcements:
September 20, 2026 at 2:13 PM
Here's a thread of all my paper announcements:
Preprint: This short paper is my take on how to calculate/report absolute measures of time-difference-of-arrival positioning in #acoustictelemetry setups.
Beyond reporting, these error measures can be passed to statespace models (like CTCRW) for very accurate post-processing estimates.
Beyond reporting, these error measures can be passed to statespace models (like CTCRW) for very accurate post-processing estimates.
Absolute measures of time-difference-of-arrival positioning error in underwater acoustic telemetry setups
This brief communication presents two solutions for calculating absolute measures of error from time-difference-of-arrival (TDOA) positioning in underwater acoustic telemetry arrays. First, a Monte Ca...
www.biorxiv.org
September 20, 2026 at 2:09 PM
Preprint: This short paper is my take on how to calculate/report absolute measures of time-difference-of-arrival positioning in #acoustictelemetry setups.
Beyond reporting, these error measures can be passed to statespace models (like CTCRW) for very accurate post-processing estimates.
Beyond reporting, these error measures can be passed to statespace models (like CTCRW) for very accurate post-processing estimates.
New preprint out: I use an extended Kalman filter for #acoustictelemetry positioning.
It solves positions more-less instantly while applying a CTCRW movement model.
It works great on datasets that don't have huge outliers (due to horizontal reflections).
It solves positions more-less instantly while applying a CTCRW movement model.
It works great on datasets that don't have huge outliers (due to horizontal reflections).
An extended Kalman filter for large-volume path positioning of aquatic animals within acoustic telemetry arrays
Acoustic telemetry is a core methodology for collecting fine-scale movement data for aquatic animals. When telemetry receivers are set up in closely spaced arrays with overlapping detection ranges, th...
www.biorxiv.org
September 20, 2026 at 2:02 PM
New preprint out: I use an extended Kalman filter for #acoustictelemetry positioning.
It solves positions more-less instantly while applying a CTCRW movement model.
It works great on datasets that don't have huge outliers (due to horizontal reflections).
It solves positions more-less instantly while applying a CTCRW movement model.
It works great on datasets that don't have huge outliers (due to horizontal reflections).
Reposted by James A Campbell
fun fact! Musk's fossil fuelled data centres almost certainly emit more climate pollution than is saved by all Tesla vehicles
ketanjoshi.co/2026/03/02/m...
ketanjoshi.co/2026/03/02/m...
September 3, 2026 at 7:37 PM
fun fact! Musk's fossil fuelled data centres almost certainly emit more climate pollution than is saved by all Tesla vehicles
ketanjoshi.co/2026/03/02/m...
ketanjoshi.co/2026/03/02/m...
"Proceeding of the Royal society" is now officially on my list of absolutely shit journals...
They published the worst paper I have every peer reviewed (and the worst piece of scientific writing I have ever read, by far).
They published the worst paper I have every peer reviewed (and the worst piece of scientific writing I have ever read, by far).
August 27, 2026 at 1:34 PM
"Proceeding of the Royal society" is now officially on my list of absolutely shit journals...
They published the worst paper I have every peer reviewed (and the worst piece of scientific writing I have ever read, by far).
They published the worst paper I have every peer reviewed (and the worst piece of scientific writing I have ever read, by far).
What is the preferred (not latex or cloud-based) document format for collaboratively writing manuscripts across linux/windows/macOS? Specifically for equation compatibility.
I'm using onlyoffice to write docx right now... seems to work... but I'm not sure how much I can trust it 🤔
I'm using onlyoffice to write docx right now... seems to work... but I'm not sure how much I can trust it 🤔
August 6, 2026 at 11:47 AM
What is the preferred (not latex or cloud-based) document format for collaboratively writing manuscripts across linux/windows/macOS? Specifically for equation compatibility.
I'm using onlyoffice to write docx right now... seems to work... but I'm not sure how much I can trust it 🤔
I'm using onlyoffice to write docx right now... seems to work... but I'm not sure how much I can trust it 🤔
Reposted by James A Campbell
Vol. 2, no. 5 of the CO2 Newsletter, June-August 1981 is now downloadable. Founded by American geologist William Barbat, each was 8 pages of excerpts from recent reports, editorials and deeply researched articles.
All 18 issues are heart-breakers.
allouryesterdays.info/co2-newslett...
1/9
All 18 issues are heart-breakers.
allouryesterdays.info/co2-newslett...
1/9
August 3, 2026 at 9:27 AM
Vol. 2, no. 5 of the CO2 Newsletter, June-August 1981 is now downloadable. Founded by American geologist William Barbat, each was 8 pages of excerpts from recent reports, editorials and deeply researched articles.
All 18 issues are heart-breakers.
allouryesterdays.info/co2-newslett...
1/9
All 18 issues are heart-breakers.
allouryesterdays.info/co2-newslett...
1/9
Are there examples of concise statements that people put in acknowledgments sections to make clear to readers that absolutely no AI was used in any part of their paper?
#Academiclife
#Academiclife
July 22, 2026 at 9:38 AM
Are there examples of concise statements that people put in acknowledgments sections to make clear to readers that absolutely no AI was used in any part of their paper?
#Academiclife
#Academiclife
I wrote up my solution for figure scaling in rmarkdown. `fig.width` and `fig.height` set the output size and the new `scale` parameter scales the figure contents.
Paste the code for the option hook in the first chunk, and the scale parameter will be available in all the following chunks. #rstats
Paste the code for the option hook in the first chunk, and the scale parameter will be available in all the following chunks. #rstats
![```{r setup, include=FALSE}
# Set chunk hook
# This will automatically adjust the figure parameters for you
knitr::opts_hooks$set(fig_scale = function(options) {
# --- Store out_width
# HTML and latex output require different units
out_width <- switch(knitr::opts_knit$get("rmarkdown.pandoc.to"),
# html requires pixels
"html" = sprintf("%ipx", options[["fig.width"]] * options[["dpi"]]),
# Latex requires inches
"latex" = sprintf("%.fin", options[["fig.width"]])
)
# Calculate new fig width and height values
fig_width <- options[["fig.width"]]/options[["scale"]]
fig_height <- options[["fig.height"]]/options[["scale"]]
# Store chunk options
options$out.width = out_width
options$fig.height = fig_height
options$fig.width = fig_width
# Return the modified options
return(options)
})
# Set figure scaling hook for following chunks
knitr::opts_chunk$set(scale = 0.8, fig_scale = TRUE)
```](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:jj7aoaxve4jvjyvunvuq34d4/bafkreiglft3h7m7z5y5c7dtauq3p3e5764ukukvruxv4th7l2ywqcpxsry)
July 13, 2026 at 5:10 PM
I wrote up my solution for figure scaling in rmarkdown. `fig.width` and `fig.height` set the output size and the new `scale` parameter scales the figure contents.
Paste the code for the option hook in the first chunk, and the scale parameter will be available in all the following chunks. #rstats
Paste the code for the option hook in the first chunk, and the scale parameter will be available in all the following chunks. #rstats
Dear #rstats, is there a repository that shows the build scripts for all the libraries bundled in RTools distributions?
I had an especially awful time trying to link to RTools' libsndfile (I gave up and compiled my own). Would be helpful if I could see how these libraries are configured.
I had an especially awful time trying to link to RTools' libsndfile (I gave up and compiled my own). Would be helpful if I could see how these libraries are configured.
July 13, 2026 at 2:26 PM
Dear #rstats, is there a repository that shows the build scripts for all the libraries bundled in RTools distributions?
I had an especially awful time trying to link to RTools' libsndfile (I gave up and compiled my own). Would be helpful if I could see how these libraries are configured.
I had an especially awful time trying to link to RTools' libsndfile (I gave up and compiled my own). Would be helpful if I could see how these libraries are configured.
#rstats, is there a reason why R doesn't have a special `end` keyword for indexing? Like, `vec[(end-10):(end)]` for selecting the last 10 elements (as opposed to `n=length(vec); vec[(n-10):n]`). Or some reasonable way to refer to the last index?
I feel like this is some low-hanging fruit
I feel like this is some low-hanging fruit
June 29, 2026 at 2:17 PM
#rstats, is there a reason why R doesn't have a special `end` keyword for indexing? Like, `vec[(end-10):(end)]` for selecting the last 10 elements (as opposed to `n=length(vec); vec[(n-10):n]`). Or some reasonable way to refer to the last index?
I feel like this is some low-hanging fruit
I feel like this is some low-hanging fruit
I finally found a nice solution for scaling figures in rmarkdown: Setup a chunk options hook which dynamically sets the out.width, fig.width and fig.height options.
fig.width=7, scale=0.8 now returns a figure 7 in wide, but the contents will be scaled down by a factor of 0.8.
#Rstats
fig.width=7, scale=0.8 now returns a figure 7 in wide, but the contents will be scaled down by a factor of 0.8.
#Rstats
![Screenshot of codeblock:
# Set chunk hook
# This will automatically adjust the figure parameters for you
knitr::opts_hooks$set(fig_scale = function(options) {
# Calculate out_width
out_width <- sprintf("%.fin", options[["fig.width"]])
fig_width <- options[["fig.width"]]/options[["scale"]]
fig_height <- options[["fig.height"]]/options[["scale"]]
# Store chunk options
options$out.width = out_width
options$fig.height = fig_height
options$fig.width = fig_width
return(options)
})
# Set figure scaling hook
knitr::opts_chunk$set(scale = 0.8, fig_scale = TRUE)
# Set random seed for reproducible plots
set.seed(1)](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:jj7aoaxve4jvjyvunvuq34d4/bafkreicm55eac6x3rorjdjkloydx6ffovhox5q7uyjiwdomlfedhbevita)
June 27, 2026 at 4:24 PM
I finally found a nice solution for scaling figures in rmarkdown: Setup a chunk options hook which dynamically sets the out.width, fig.width and fig.height options.
fig.width=7, scale=0.8 now returns a figure 7 in wide, but the contents will be scaled down by a factor of 0.8.
#Rstats
fig.width=7, scale=0.8 now returns a figure 7 in wide, but the contents will be scaled down by a factor of 0.8.
#Rstats
Just got accepted for a spot at the at the ETN symposium on Oct 13-15 in Copenhagen:
"Novel methods for fine-scaled positioning: Population Monte Carlo and extended Kalman filtered time-of-arrival positioning."
"Novel methods for fine-scaled positioning: Population Monte Carlo and extended Kalman filtered time-of-arrival positioning."
ETN Symposium
www.europeantrackingnetwork.org
June 22, 2026 at 2:47 PM
Just got accepted for a spot at the at the ETN symposium on Oct 13-15 in Copenhagen:
"Novel methods for fine-scaled positioning: Population Monte Carlo and extended Kalman filtered time-of-arrival positioning."
"Novel methods for fine-scaled positioning: Population Monte Carlo and extended Kalman filtered time-of-arrival positioning."
Reposted by James A Campbell
BBC article about Brian Ripley of the #RStats Core team given this week's excellent news concerning 2026 Rousseeuw Price for Statistics recognition for him and the core team.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Prof Brian Ripley on developing R to manage the world's data
Prof Brian Ripley has spent the past three decades working on a computer software that analyses data.
www.bbc.com
June 21, 2026 at 2:00 PM
BBC article about Brian Ripley of the #RStats Core team given this week's excellent news concerning 2026 Rousseeuw Price for Statistics recognition for him and the core team.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Reposted by James A Campbell
NSF's grantmaking is miserly when compared to recent years, but when compared it to the historical record, we see it's a radical break from the long-term consensus of investing in scientific innovation. grant-witness.us/posts/2026-0... #NSF 🧪
The NSF is on Track for its Worst Year in Generations – Grant Witness
Throttling of science funding is utterly unprecedented and radical when compared to the past 50 years.
grant-witness.us
June 19, 2026 at 2:19 PM
NSF's grantmaking is miserly when compared to recent years, but when compared it to the historical record, we see it's a radical break from the long-term consensus of investing in scientific innovation. grant-witness.us/posts/2026-0... #NSF 🧪
Reposted by James A Campbell
At the end of the term I asked my college creative wriing students to submit anonymous thoughts on AI. No real surprises: Mood ranges from resignation to despair, capitulation from embittered erosion of standards to total, feelings of betrayal from deep to furious. 1/
June 16, 2026 at 3:50 PM
At the end of the term I asked my college creative wriing students to submit anonymous thoughts on AI. No real surprises: Mood ranges from resignation to despair, capitulation from embittered erosion of standards to total, feelings of betrayal from deep to furious. 1/
One of the more strange Amazon AI slop products I've found. People don't really put their chickens in hamster balls, right? ...the reviews for this are on the fence...
June 15, 2026 at 11:23 AM
One of the more strange Amazon AI slop products I've found. People don't really put their chickens in hamster balls, right? ...the reviews for this are on the fence...
FYI, to all researchers in #underwaternoise / #bioacosutics.
Our beloved UW-30 (Electro Voice) underwater speaker is no longer in production, since last year already.
AFAIK, there is only one other company that makes similar speakers (Aqua 30 by DNH).
RIP UW-30, you served us well 🫡
Our beloved UW-30 (Electro Voice) underwater speaker is no longer in production, since last year already.
AFAIK, there is only one other company that makes similar speakers (Aqua 30 by DNH).
RIP UW-30, you served us well 🫡
June 15, 2026 at 10:50 AM
FYI, to all researchers in #underwaternoise / #bioacosutics.
Our beloved UW-30 (Electro Voice) underwater speaker is no longer in production, since last year already.
AFAIK, there is only one other company that makes similar speakers (Aqua 30 by DNH).
RIP UW-30, you served us well 🫡
Our beloved UW-30 (Electro Voice) underwater speaker is no longer in production, since last year already.
AFAIK, there is only one other company that makes similar speakers (Aqua 30 by DNH).
RIP UW-30, you served us well 🫡
Reposted by James A Campbell
Really awful. Write to American Diabetes Association CEO Charles "Chuck" Henderson at [email protected] and Chief Scientific and Medical Officer Rita Rastogi Kalyani at [email protected]. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/05/w...
Police Remove Diabetes Experts From Conference for Distributing Critique of Trump Administration
www.nytimes.com
June 5, 2026 at 9:57 PM
Really awful. Write to American Diabetes Association CEO Charles "Chuck" Henderson at [email protected] and Chief Scientific and Medical Officer Rita Rastogi Kalyani at [email protected]. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/05/w...