Scientific diving combines the magic of being underwater with the challenge of collecting meaningful ecological data. From learning to dive on the Great Barrier Reef to coral surveys in the Philippines and fieldwork for my Honours project in Sydney, diving has become central to my journey as a marine scientist. It can be exhausting, highly regulated and paperwork-heavy, but few things compare with gathering the data that ultimately drive ecological research and conservation.

Rextinct is a new R package that estimates extinction dates using radiocarbon-dated fossils. It implements CRIWM, a method that accounts for gaps in the fossil record and dating uncertainty. Unlike older tools, it doesn’t assume fossil ages are evenly spread or errors are normally distributed, making it more accurate and flexible. Rextinct helps scientists track when species disappeared—and understand why.