Here's a favourite word from Mi'kmawi'smk, (thanks to Curtis Michael's YouTube lessons): Skite’kmujuawti (ske-day-ja-muj-wati). It means 'Milky way' but directly translates to 'ghost road'. A beautiful reminder that languages hold world views & we lose so much more than words when we lose them.

Past events exist, after all, only in memory, which is a form of imagination. The event is real now, but once it’s then, its continuing reality is entirely up to us, dependent on our energy and honesty.

I’m in love

A Parliament of Cats - Second Reading Coal, the final remaining cat from Ottawa's Parliament Hill cat sanctuary, reaches the end of his journey.

"Cats were first appointed Seeker of the Mouse in the Canadian Parliament buildings in the early 20th century." - @alanmaceachern.bsky.social

#caturday #cdnhist

niche-canada.org/2024/08/06/l...

Cover of the book "When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History, and America’s Black Botanical Legacy" by Beronda Montgomery

I had the honor of reading an ARC of "When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History, and America’s Black Botanical Legacy" by @berondam.bsky.social. It is an excellent and very moving fusion of science, history, and memoir. It comes out Tuesday. I highly recommend it. #WhenTreesTestify

Cows and goats: animal history online.

Our department at UBC is hiring for a professor of forest ecophysiology, including "tree ecophysiology; plant abiotic or biotic stress physiology; forest mortality and climate change responses; forest carbon balance; tree water relations; or nutrient use." Learn more at: tinyurl.com/5da56f5c

Bringing back the birds: the ‘ghost woodlands’ transforming England’s barren sheep fells A groundbreaking tree-planting programme is uniting farmers and rewilders, as portions of common ground in the Yorkshire Dales national park are being restored to their ancient glory

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Good summary of our new PM’s climate credentials. Not much has been made of this in Canada - were we hoping Alberta would not notice? (Diana Fox Carney’s climate work is also worth noting.)

Live coverage of Sweden’s moose migration draws millions of viewers From now until May 4, a livestream’s remote cameras will capture dozens of moose as they swim across the Angerman River in the annual spring migration toward summer grazing pastures

A beautiful story in these trying times. What would a Canadian version be to Swedish Moose TV (besides moose)? I'm thinking caribou migration.

www.theglobeandmail.com/world/articl...

FREE article: Blakley "Historicizing the 'Beast-Man': On Slavery and Human-Animal Studies" Issue 1, no. 1

More animal archives…

Caddisfly archives

Is it a Dire Wolf? Or a Gee Whiz Puppy? The perils of a living PR stunt.

The most innocent explanation I can come up with for de-extinction is that they’re making some fancy designer pets for Bezos’ Future Moon Ranch. teamtrash.substack.com/p/is-it-a-di...

That’s it!

Ghost dog. Reminds me of the photo of the free ranging dog in Susan Nance’s introduction to The Historical Animal

Lab Dog: What Global Science Owes American Beagles by Brad Bolman In this illuminating and at times grim debut study, Princeton historian of science Bolman explores how the beagle came to be con...

According to @publisherswkly.bsky.social, Lab Dog is an "illuminating" and "intriguing deconstruction of a little discussed, ethically complex issue". And you can preorder a copy wherever you preorder copies of books right this second

www.publishersweekly.com/9780226839745

America’s butterflies are disappearing at a ‘catastrophic’ rate | CNN US butterfly populations are declining because of insecticides, climate change and habitat loss, with the number of the winged beauties down 22% since 2000, a new nationwide study finds.

This article both freaks me the fuck out and makes me feel like a crazy person for feeling like the only person constantly screaming about it.

www.cnn.com/2025/03/07/c...

Hey fellow Canadian historians: best sources on us/canadian tariff history?

Swallows in flight by Benjamin Chee Chee.

Artist Benjamin Chee Chee at work in 1975. Photo © Ernie Bies

“When I draw fish or birds or animals they have no symbolic meaning from the past. For me they are animals of the present and I draw them because I like their clean lines and beautiful shapes.” - Temagami artist Benjamin Chee Chee (1944-1977)

What does a bear-baiting assemblage look like? Interdisciplinary analysis of an Early Modern ‘sport’ | Antiquity | Cambridge Core What does a bear-baiting assemblage look like? Interdisciplinary analysis of an Early Modern ‘sport’

Excited that my first Bluesky post is the first major #BoxOfficeBears publication, Open Access and Open Fabulousness in @antiquityj.bsky.social.

Learn about the bears and dogs of C16th Bankside from our team of ancient-DNA analysts, archaeologists and historians.

www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

‘The Interview’: Ed Yong Wants to Show You the Hidden Reality of the World The Pulitzer Prize-winning science writer talks about burnout from covering the pandemic and how bird-watching gave him a new sense of hope.

Hummingbirds, burnout and the experiential www.nytimes.com/2025/02/22/m...

Why would CBC do this to Canada? To us?

fast ruins, modern ruins, future ruins, and the sacred sites beneath our feet.

A deep green background with brightly coloured snapdragon flowers. Overlaid is white text that reads "The society for the history of natural history - call for papers."

✨A Sense of Nature✨

This year our annual International Summer Meeting will explore the intersections of the senses with the history of natural history.

📆19-20 June 2025
🏛️Kelvin Hall, University of Glasgow.

We're looking for papers that explore the sensory experiences 👇
shnh.org.uk/all-events/c...

Book cover for Sea level with words vertical over an ocean and measure marks on both sides

Coming up Monday, 27 Jan 2025, 16:00 CET (10am Eastern):
We welcome Wilko Graf von Hardenberg to discuss his book Sea Level: A History (Univ of Chicago Press, 2024) in the Greenhouse #envhum book talk series.
Join us for the live online talk!
newnatures.org/greenhouse/e...

Have you seen Carney’s interview with Jon Stewart? He has a sense of humour