Rewilding Britain’s monitoring guidance for rewilding projects is now published
Covering ecological, social & economic aspects
& reflecting the dynamic, open-ended nature of rewilding
I’m pleased to have helped develop this
www.rewildingbritain.org.uk/about-us/wha...
I'd add on to this to say that indoor cats also make better pets - they bond better with their human owners, and want to spend time interacting!
“Every year, we unleash this scourge on the countryside."
Brilliant to see David Attenborough address the enormous impact of pheasants (for shooting) and cats (people's pets) on native wildlife and ecosystems.
These are *crucial* conversations.
www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...
1. Here’s a thread on #NIMBY (“not in my backyard”) and the challenges of change in cities:
First off, although it might feel that way, NIMBY isn’t unique to your city, and it’s (probably) not worse in your city than anywhere else. It’s also not surprising, since it’s largely about human nature.
Figure from the paper: Urban design and planning interventions to mitigate the risk of zoonotic and vector-borne diseases in an urban nature area.
New paper lead by Katherine Robertson @icon-science.bsky.social with @jacintahumphrey.bsky.social @sbekessy.bsky.social explores ways we can use urban design to reduce zoonotic disease risk
academic.oup.com/bioscience/a...
🧪🌏
#urbanNature #urbanism #urbanDesign
Thanks for sharing!
I'm definitely guilty of not managing my attention well!
Look at all those happy beeple!
Head beekeeper taking a selfie with the scientists
Scientists enjoying honey
Bees clustering out the front of their hive
Every year Science Meets Parliament #SMP2026 brings together researchers, politicians, and media to share ideas - and the tour of the Parliament #bees is one of the hottest tickets!
Loved talking to everyone about how #beekeeping starts conversations around landscapes, climate and food security!
Grey and white slender bee with big greenish eyes, mandibles clamped on a dry stalk to rest
Sleepy Coelioxys sharptail bee this evening 🥹
I love them
Hmm, ok yes I see the parallels, and how these same things would be happening in business and industry too!
Ha, yes! Well that was one context, which did make sense (and the room agreed) 😆
But then it is being used more broadly with reference to a national productivity crisis (not just in science)... Is this just the new word for growth?
The front entrance of Australian Parliament House against a blue sky with cloud illuminated from below. The white stone building with square arches support and frame a metal outline of the Australian coat of arms.
On to day two of Science Meets Parliament, and "productivity crisis" is being thrown around lots, but in quite varied contexts.
Does someone want to unpack what this means?
#SMP2026
#auspol
Now I'm really sad that we're not catching up! 💚
"But we have lots of pigeons!?"
"What about the snaaaakes?!"
😆
I think lots of people generally agree that nature and nature access is important, but for many people it's still an abstract concept.
(also, although science literacy is very high here, nature literacy definitely has room for improvement! Hoping the bee tour will help expose some new people to the joy of urban invertebrates!)
Ah, thanks for the vote Cressida! The lure of watching live in the room is too exciting though ☺️
I'm fully embracing the "meets parliament" bit of this event, and hopefully other people who don't know how cool bees are will get to learn that today (I'm already fully converted to that mission)!
It's been great so far! I've learnt lots!
I am such an idiot! I completely forgot that YOU would be doing the tour and how lovely it would be to meet in person!! 🤦🏼♀️
I'm afraid I signed up to watch Question Time in the House 😬
This is partly in response to the newly released "Ambitious Australia" report (government investigation into R&D across Australia).
#auspol
#SMP2026
Worth reading the report, which identifies 6 elements to improve how STEM research supports industry and economy.
www.industry.gov.au/publications...
"Accountants will save the world"
(but they need help to do this)
Today, Science Technology Australia launches its new program "Science meets the Economy".
Designed to help scientists communicate better to business and industry.
#SMP2026
scienceandtechnologyaustralia.org.au/what-we-do/s...
Done! 30 wild flowers. Really enjoyed this project, was a bit like keeping a sketch book, but the pages were canvases. Made me try out things I may not have normally tried. Would recommend a little self-set goal like this to any artist! Honestly, been a joy. Plus I learnt some new flower names.
🌸🍃🌼🍃
And you better believe I'll also be spreading the word about the benefits that #urbanNature brings when we give it a seat at the decision-making table!
🌿 🪶🏙️
#urbanEcology
A model of a superb fairy-wren is being held delicately in front of the blurry background of Canberra airport in Australia.
My Fairy-wren friend and I are excited to arrive in Canberra for STA Science Meets Parliament!
🏛️🧪
Looking forward to a packed program, meeting new people & hunting for the next @ecolsocaus.bsky.social Hot Topics while I'm here.
🔥🌏
#SMP2026
Thank you! ☺️🙏🏼
Hydrology Paper of the Day @hollykirk.bsky.social on the Everyday Nature Index for urban landscapes: biodiversity and vegetation structure; quantifying diversity and connectivity; case studies in Australia, California (USA), and Singapore; how to conduct street surveys; and future research.
This is a stylised landscape with the sea in the foreground, which is in shades of dark blue with ripples on it, and seven hills in shades of brown, orange, and yellow in the middle ground. The background is of a night sky, with a thin crescent moon and stars in an ascending pattern from left to right.
Happy National Eucalypt Day!
I summarised 100 years' of eucalypt data from the Atlas of Living Australia as a landscape
#EucalyptoftheYear #rstats @eucalyptaus.bsky.social 📊🧪
See more here: shandiya.com/dataviz.html...
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....
We are definitely having all those conversations here too, especially as water becomes a limiting resource. From an Aussie perspective, urban vegetation provenance is an important part of resilience as the climate shifts.
That is such a beautiful way to think about all kinds of work in complicated spaces. 💞
