Publications | Ben Maslen
Software and data
R package ecopower - Estimates power and performs equivalence testing for multivariate abundance data to answer ecological study design and habitat restoration questions. The software uses a Gaussian copula model for simulation, expert informed multivariate effect sizes, and a critical value based approach to estimating power. The package also provides functions for parameterising multivariate effect sizes and simulating multivariate abundance data jointly.
Tassie BRUV: A benchmark data set for computer vision and movement quantification algorithms (2025) - The Tassie BRUV dataset is an image dataset that we generated as a benchmark dataset using Baited Remote Underwater Videos (BRUVs) from chain moorings and environmentally friendly moorings in Tasmania. These videos were collected by CSIRO and OzFish volunteers as part of a separate study to observe if there are differences in the community abundance of fish species between chain and environmentally friendly moorings in this area. This dataset can be used to benchmark computer vision techniques, and, in conjunction with the surrounding video footage, techniques that include movement information.
Preprints
Tripovich, J. S., Appleby, D., Nelson, C. M. V., Xu, Z., Klinck, H., Roe, P., Pitcher, B.J., Maslen, B. (2026). Monitoring bird acoustic activity in the Samford Valley, Queensland: Impacts of 2019–20 Black Summer Fires. Queensland: Impacts of, 20. Available at SSRN: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.7217945
Published research
Anderson, S., Norden, S., Maslen, B., & Baitch, L. (2026). Frailty and time-to-theatre for elderly hip fracture patients at a regional hospital in australia: A retrospective cohort study. Geriatric Orthopaedic Surgery & Rehabilitation, 17, 21514593261487222. https://doi.org/10.1177/21514593261487222
Ignacio, B. L., Moles, A. T., Offord, C. A., Chiarenza, G. M., Maslen, B., Hemmings, F. A., Leggett, K., & Xirocostas, Z. A. (2026). Soil seed bank holds some potential for natural regeneration in a semi-arid rangeland. Austral Ecology, 51(8), e70278. https://doi.org/10.1111/aec.70278
Langley, M., Vergés, A., Maslen, B., Lynch, T., & Poore, A. (2026). Remote underwater video and analysis with AI show differences between fish communities at chain moorings and at environmentally friendly moorings. Marine & Freshwater Research, 77(3). https://doi.org/10.1071/MF25208
Lau, S. M., Popovic, G., Maslen, B., & Depczynski, B. (2026). Early, unplanned readmission in diabetes inpatients: Comparing the utility and performance of machine learning and traditional prediction models to guide timely diabetes management team review. Diabetic Medicine, 43(2), e70186. https://doi.org/10.1111/dme.70186
Ford, A. M., Grootemaat, S., Towers, I., Maslen, B., Cornwell, W. K., Ooi, M. K., & Falster, D. S. (2025). Assessing the effect of tissue and fire-response traits on plant growth rates post-disturbance in eastern australia. Functional Ecology, 39(1), 320–332. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.14698
Maslen, B. (2025). Swimming in data: Using AI and distance sampling to improve the analysis of remote underwater videos in estimating fish abundance [PhD thesis, University of New South Wales (Australia)]. https://doi.org/10.26190/unsworks/31635
Maslen, B., Popovic, G., Wang, D., Jansen, A., & Warton, D. (2025). The motion picture: Leveraging movement to enhance AI object detection in ecology. Ecology and Evolution, 15(8), e71996. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71996
Coleman, A., Maslen, B. J., & Foster, R. (2024). Inequities in PrEP use according to medicare status in a publicly funded sexual health clinic; a retrospective analysis. Sexual Health, 21(2), SH23141. https://doi.org/10.1071/SH23141
Maslen, B., Popovic, G., Lim, M., Marzinelli, E., & Warton, D. (2023). How many sites? Methods to assist design decisions when collecting multivariate data in ecology. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 14(6), 1564–1573.https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.14094
Brandenburger, C. R., Maslen, B., Sherwin, W. B., & Moles, A. T. (2022). Weedy and seedy: The rapid evolution of life-history characteristics in an introduced daisy. AoB Plants, 14(5), plac038. https://doi.org/10.1093/aobpla/plac038
Kirubakaran, R., Hennig, S., Maslen, B., Day, R. O., Carland, J. E., & Stocker, S. L. (2022). Evaluation of published population pharmacokinetic models to inform tacrolimus dosing in adult heart transplant recipients. British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, 88(4), 1751–1772. https://doi.org/10.1111/bcp.15091
Muskovic, W., Slavich, E., Maslen, B., Kaczorowski, D. C., Cursons, J., Crampin, E., & Kavallaris, M. (2022). High temporal resolution RNA-seq time course data reveals widespread synchronous activation between mammalian lncRNAs and neighboring protein-coding genes. Genome Research, 32(8), 1463–1473. https://doi.org/10.1101/gr.276818.122
Khan, S., Schilling, H. T., Khan, M. A., Patel, D. K., Maslen, B., & Miyan, K. (2021). Stock delineation of striped snakehead, channa striata using multivariate generalised linear models with otolith shape and chemistry data. Scientific Reports, 11(1), 8158. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-87143-9
Leroy, E. C., Royer, J.-Y., Alling, A., Maslen, B., & Rogers, T. L. (2021). Multiple pygmy blue whale acoustic populations in the indian ocean: Whale song identifies a possible new population. Scientific Reports, 11(1), 8762. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-88062-5
Mesaglio, T. P., Schilling, H. T., Adler, L., Ahyong, S. T., Maslen, B., & Suthers, I. M. (2021). The ecology of lepas-based biofouling communities on moored and drifting objects, with applications for marine forensic science. Marine Biology, 168(2), 21. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-021-03822-1
Cooper, E. A., Buxey, K. N., Maslen, B. J., & Muhlmann, M. (2020). Retrospective analysis of a bi-national colorectal cancer audit to characterize stage II colon cancer patients who were offered adjuvant chemotherapy. ANZ Journal of Surgery, 90(6), 1136–1140. https://doi.org/10.1111/ans.15735
Folpp, H. R., Schilling, H. T., Clark, G. F., Lowry, M. B., Maslen, B., Gregson, M., & Suthers, I. M. (2020). Artificial reefs increase fish abundance in habitat-limited estuaries. Journal of Applied Ecology, 57(9), 1752–1761. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.13666
Radford, C., McNutt, J. W., Rogers, T., Maslen, B., & Jordan, N. (2020). Artificial eyespots on cattle reduce predation by large carnivores. Communications Biology, 3(1), 430. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-020-01156-0