I've long thought of our research as artworks 😉. But now it is actually true - our research on Caspian seal conservation has been integrated into an artwork in Berlin, on ecological degradation and human-nature interactions. w/ @phoca-sapiens.bsky.social. www.studio1-0-6.com/carried-by-t...

Another productive meeting of the Defra/ @naturalengland.bsky.social Species Reintroduction Taskforce, this time at Wild Ennerdale, Cumbria. Classic Taskforce behaviour, crouching in a forest looking at a successfully translocated Hairy Wood Ant colony.

Provocative but very necessary argument in @consletters.bsky.social on rethinking politics and definitions in carnivore conservation in Europe, moving away from crisis mode now that meta-populations are healthy. By @hannalp.bsky.social and von Essen conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Happy Fat Bear Week, for all of those who celebrate: explore.org/fat-bear-week

along with @monicavasile.bsky.social and @hannalp.bsky.social I a huge fan of underwhelming species reintroduction videos. Here is my contribution, releasing some native ramshorn snails into my garden pond.

Excited to share the preprint of our first @cascade-hei.bsky.social paper on “Potential for academic institutions to support international biodiversity commitments” 🌿 🌍.

My academic sphere crosses between critical geography and conservation biology. Of the two, I've seen more racism in geography arenas than in biology. For all the anti-racist rhetoric, there can be some major lack of reflection. Doesn't help its ability to address all the horror in the world.

Piece in @theguardian.com on 17-metre long beaver tunnels in Dutch dykes. Shows the potential issues with beaver re-introductions, and how risks/benefits vary vastly between places. Also, neatly reworks the metaphor of beaver dams/tunnels as ecological engineering www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

My comment on a student's draft of a PhD thesis chapter, and their reply. Some books are a classic for a reason. I judge a book on how often PhD students borrow/steal it from my bookshelf.

Academic and scientific freedom and censorship are critical issues in biodiversity and conservation research, in all disciplines, but it is rarely discussed. Please your experiences of academic and scientific freedom, and constraints on it in our survey app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/leeds/acad...

Academic and scientific freedom and censorship are critical issues in biodiversity and conservation research, in all disciplines, but it is rarely discussed. Please your experiences of academic and scientific freedom, and constraints on it in our survey app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/leeds/acad...

There are a lot of general review type papers on social science and rewilding out there, but this is one of the best ones as a primer on the most important questions to ask: ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid...

POLLEN 2026 is happening in Barcelona 🌅 The call for panels is open and closes on July 31st. See here for more information: tinyurl.com/5b8c5w7j Spread the word.

So, so, so proud to have worked with Hanna on her PhD, which was a brilliant study of human-wolf coexistence in Spain. She now works on coexistence with carnivores in northern Sweden/Sápmi, including on payments for coexistence.

We received exceptional applications for the 2025 SCB Europe Early Career Conservation Award and decided to award two candidates. Congratulations to the winners Dr Hanna Pettersson (University of York UK) and Dr Volen Arkumarev (Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds / BirdLife Bulgaria) 👏🥳

Do you work in conservation/for a conservation organisation? Please take our survey! We need respondents who work in conservation (broadly defined) in any capacity Survey takes 15/20 minutes, doesn’t ask for name & is available in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French www.cmi.no/projects/292...

As we start our research project on academic freedom and censorship in biodiversity conservation research, it is apparent that there is a massive gap between actual experiences of serious censorship, and public and political discussions, e.g. around 'cancelling'.

🚨Job Alert 🚨 🐕‍🦺 🐄🐎🐦‍⬛ Do you have project management skills & an interest in human-animal relations? We are recruiting a project manager role (5 years) for our new project (info in the 🧵) @sheffielduni.bsky.social 📆 deadline 30 June www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DNO134/p...

Great to see work by Sarah Oakes, our of our fantastic Extinction Studies PhD students, highlighted by @leverhulme.ac.uk. Sarah's amazing interdisciplinary project is unique and important in linking social, cultural, and biological facets of #extinction in a #food security context.

A very diverse bunch of scholars - from across biology, conservation, and migration studies - wrote this piece on the very obvious, yet not quite obvious enough for some, dangers of comparing invasive species and human migration. academic.oup.com/bioscience/a...

📣SAVE THE DATE📣 The European Congress of Conservation Biology (ECCB) 2026 will be held in Leiden, 6–10 July! The theme of the conference is “Effective Conservation Science”. Join global experts to explore effective conservation science through keynotes, workshops, field trips, and more.

Political Ecology Network (POLLEN) Conference in Barcelona, June 2026. Help us disseminate the event and submit your articles, please! @icta-uab.bsky.social @pollenetwork.bsky.social pollenpoliticalecology.network/pollen-2026/

At the Wadden Sea in Germany for the European Conservation Humanities Network meeting, talking about time, change and processes in conservation. It looks like we will get lots of high winds and rain, so we might get empirical evidence of erosion and deposition

This was a fun, sunny day, launching the newest NNR. Really interesting that it referenced evolving histories of human-nature connectedness in the site, from Neolithic carvings through Brontë novels to the modern social challenges of Bradford and future changes.

congratulations to Dr @sicilyfiennes.bsky.social , for successfully defending their thesis on the songbird trade in Indonesia. A highly interdisciplinary study, with some wonderful papers and a cool interactive website here www.uncagedconservation.com

🚨 New paper! 🚨 The #lynx and #wolf have been extinct in #Scotland for over 400 years. Could divisions over their #reintroduction, linked to #rewilding, be in part the product of shifting baseline syndrome? 🐺 Check out this new paper to find out 👇 link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Join us for the second CASCADE webinar on Friday 4th April! We will be joined by @slpbenbow.bsky.social (Fauna & Flora International) and Ifesinachi Okafor-Yarwood (@uniofstandrews.bsky.social) to discuss big questions in ocean governance 🌊 Register here 👉 forms.office.com/e/fxLXph2feK

This is such an important paper, on censorship and intimidation in conservation research. We have all seen it, we know it goes on, yet we rarely see it mentioned in academic literature. Now this collection of stories give it visibility: conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....

What's this? A WHOLE special issue of Conservation biology dedicated to the cutting edge of conservation social science? With a host of amazing papers by great authors? Essential reading!

Great to see this Special Issue on "Trends and Future Directions in the Conservation Social Sciences" in @conbiology.bsky.social #ConSocSci #MarSocSci The field has come a long way, and there is still room for growth:

Two fully-funded PhD scholarships @BangorUni in conservation social science. Deadline 5th May. If you have conservation scientists, geographers, economists, sociologists in your network do share. Details in thread below (1/3) www.bangor.ac.uk/conservation...

Do join us at our next @cascade-hei.bsky.social webinar, on big questions in ocean governance! Register here: www.cascade.ac.uk/cascade-webi...

Excited to say I've SUBMITTED my PhD thesis on Asian songbird trade 🎉. My interests are in political ecology, focusing on wildlife trade, creative social science, and critical conservation. If people know of long-term roles in research, analysis, or program management in the UK, please let me know💡

Join us for the new CASCADE webinar series! In our opening webinar on 21st March, we will be joined by Sarah Chaytor (CAPE) and Nils Bunnefeld (@eklipse-europe.bsky.social) to discuss how to improve linkages between academia and policy. Register here 👉 forms.office.com/e/Avv4aXfE4H

Safety concerns often lead women to avoid parks and recreational spaces. How can urban planners and policymakers embed safety and inclusivity in community spaces? Drs Anna Barker, Jennie Gray and Vikki Houlden write in @uk.theconversation.com. theconversation.com/women-are-th...

Interesting article on opposition to creation of a new national park in Scotland. Reminds me of the work of @anninahelena.bsky.social in Switzerland. It's a debate about what the landscape should look like, who gets to decide, and what views are "legitimate". www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Lots of fun working with Tim Brown @parasitetim.bsky.social on this piece for The Conversation about our recent review on the under-appreciated topic of conserving parasites. If it sounds wierd, read this to find out why it's important for biodiversity 🧪🪱🌍 👇 theconversation.com/parasites-ar...

"Simply having a park nearby is not enough – they must be welcoming and safe for all." In this article for @uk.theconversation.com, @annabarker.bsky.social, @jenniegray.bsky.social and @vikkimaps.bsky.social explain why these spaces can feel unsafe for women. 🏞️ theconversation.com/women-are-th...

Super interesting paper on rewilding and tensions/possibilities with indigenous ontologies and world views. (v. cool that the paper uses indigenous names for species too, alongside English and latin binomial!) conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Congratulations to @sicilyfiennes.bsky.social, one of our PhD students, who has been selected to give an invited seminar on their recent paper on "Rethinking #extinction 'crises'" by Cambridge Prisms Extinction. Tune in online on 11th March at 2pm UK time. Register here: buff.ly/42BfgtZ

Really great study of post-truth, science, lies and bullshit in discussions over wolf conflicts in Finland. A rich discussion of a common yet under-examined issue. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

The government has approved reintroduction of beavers to the wild in England. Really interesting to see how this has unfolded, and I'm proud to support these discussions through the England Species Reintroduction Task Force naturalengland.blog.gov.uk/2025/02/28/b...

For clarity - there are various people at my institution working on rewilding and species reintroduction. We get on, but we don't necessarily agree with one another, use the same methods, or have the same perspective.

This is a fun (Spanish) article about the links between libertarian communities and human-bear interactions. The politics of libertarian utopianism, pursued despite bears. Basically, lack of rules about rubbish disposal invites bear conflicts. www.bbc.com/mundo/articl...

Our paper "Milking the lions" was published today. It's all about a conservation approach that pays people for the presence of predators. Thanks to amazing co-authors @georgeholmes.bsky.social, @mbmabele.bsky.social, and Julia Martin-Ortega Read the paper (open access): doi.org/10.1111/csp2...

It appears that the political consequence of the lynx release in Cairngorms has been for the Scottish government to rule out predator reintroductions. Somewhat predictable. But if they are reintroduced to northern England, e.g. Kielder, they might move in anyway. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Hey #WildlifeDisease & #conservation folk, please check out our survey on attitudes to parasite conservation. Are parasites important for biodiversity, would you remove them to protect host welfare, or something more nuanced? We want to hear all views to improve guidance for practitioners 🪱🧪🌍🧵1/n

Jonathan's brilliant work has, like the rest of the @extinctionleeds.bsky.social projects, absolutely zero respect for the niceties of disciplinary boundaries. It's a wonderful exploration of the social, cultural and biological aspects of hookworm eradication. History, philosophy, epidemiology.