'German police are set to gain powers to shoot down rogue drones...The cabinet approved the new legislation on Wednesday, now awaiting parliamentary consent...The new law comes after dozens of flights were diverted or cancelled last Friday at Munich Airport' www.independent.co.uk/news/world/e...

"Hobbyist" is a truly breathtaking choice of phrase. It encapsulates a profound sense of contempt for the labour of academics in the UK, who already have to navigate an underfunded system dominated by precarity and overwork. "Knows the price of everything but the value of nothing" springs to mind

Poland shoots down drones over its territory amid Russian attack on Ukraine, says military

Some nice news to close the week. @paulcureton.bsky.social and I have been awarded @britishacademy.bsky.social Small Research Grants funding. We’ll shortly kick off our project, ‘Future drone skies: Planning in volume’, which will explore the impact of drones on built environments

📣 I'M HIRING! Please spread the word 📣 🔎 Looking for a 1-year postdoctoral research associate to support @sensory-lives-prj.bsky.social & UK-wide tour of a playhouse tent communicating neurodivergent children’s experiences of Temporary Accommodation. 🛜 www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DOL488/p...

It was a pleasure to deliver this year’s @dgrgrgs.bsky.social annual lecture at #RGS2025. Thank you @adammpacker.bsky.social & @tessosborne.bsky.social for the kind invitation, to @debbiehopkins.bsky.social for rich discussant reflections, and to all who joined the session ⭐️

We have a day of exciting events today, don't miss out! 🔹Our AGM at 13:10 is a chance to hear from the committee & details of our upcoming election 🔹Our inaugural lecture from @ahjackman.bsky.social on her fascinating research 🔹And many more DGRG sponsored sessions throughout the day #RGSIBG25

Welcome to RGS-IBG AC25! We have an exciting lineup of 14 (co-)sponsored session over the next few days, as well as our Annual Lecture & Reception. Join us for conversations across a broad range of topics intersecting the digital. Please check ExOrdo for locations/timings. @rgsibg.bsky.social

We warmly invite you to the Digital Geographies Research Group Annual Lecture at @rgsibg.bsky.social AC25 at @unibirmingham.bsky.social Our inaugural lecture will be given by @ahjackman.bsky.social (@uniofreading.bsky.social) on ‘Feminist digital geographies in flight: Diversifying drone stories’

They escaped Ukraine's front lines. The sound of drones followed them #UkraineRussianWar #UkraineUnderAttack

Still sinking in that I have been promoted to Associate Professor in Human Geography at the University of Reading. Grateful to colleagues at UoR and beyond who have been incredibly kind and supportive, and to the students who light up my teaching and keep me learning! ⭐

“Last Monday, a Russian military drone violated Lithuanian airspace,” said Kęstutis Budrys, the foreign minister in Vilnius. “This marks the second such incident in less than a month. Similar airspace violations have also been reported recently by other allies.” www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

“The revelations…are the latest to show just how much Russia’s leaders are dragging the country’s youth into the war effort in Ukraine, with ‘patriotic’ and militarised education often spilling over into outright participation.” www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...

Annual leave visiting Slovenia was truly delightful 🤩 🇸🇮

‘The volume of drugs being delivered by drones into prisons is severely undermining hopes of rehabilitation among inmates, a watchdog has warned’ www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

📢New Issue of The GJ!📢 This issue features papers on topics including drones, fintech, and e-waste. The GJ publishes papers on issues of public interest - get in touch with submission ideas at [email protected]. rgs-ibg.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/14754959... #geosky

📢 Report launch: ‘From Ambition to Action: Insights into drone use by Local Government in England’ explores real-world use cases of drones by local government in England - reflecting on benefits, drivers &barriers. research.reading.ac.uk/drone-geogra... ➡️ Blog: research.reading.ac.uk/research-blo...

📢 New article - 'Techno-legal geographies: consumer drone misuse and harms'. Louise Hooper @gardencourtlaw.bsky.social and I reflect on the legal dimensions of off-the-shelf drone incidents and the potential diversified harms accompanying them. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Drones 'pose a growing threat as criminals,terrorists,& hostile foreign actors...weaponize the tech to endanger public safety &national security.The Order establishes the Federal Task Force to Restore American Airspace Sovereignty &propose solutions to UAS threats' www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/...

'From 5G to drones: For a feminist geopolitics of the electromagnetic spectrum'. New in @proghumgeog.bsky.social , Daisy Curtis & I think across the spectrum, developing a feminist-inspired agenda attentive to bodies, more-than-human encounters, and living with spectrum doi.org/10.1177/0309...

‘In an ever-evolving conflict, soldiers rapidly adapt…the latest threat comes from fibre optic drones. A spool of tens of kilometres of cable is fitted to the bottom of a drone & the fibre optic cord is attached to the controller held by the pilot’ www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Interesting read: 'How to make field education in geography more anti-racist: seven key steps' by Annie Hughes (Kingston University London), via Geography Directions blog.geographydirections.com/2025/05/19/h...

'In 2023, the DfT sponsored the CAA to review the regulation of UAS in the UK, publishing the “Review of UK UAS Regulations consultation”...The CAA engaged with all responses to the consultation. This reply sets out the CAA’s final policy recommendations' www.caa.co.uk/publication/...

Pleasure to review Adam Fish's provocative and thoughtful book 'Oceaning: Governing Marine Life with Drones'. Focusing on drones in marine conservation, the book explores the drone's potential as a 'tool for an affirmative multispecies ethics'. More at: www.h-net.org/reviews/show...

Great to present at today's @aerosociety.bsky.social 's Remotely Piloted and Autonomous Aircraft Systems Conference. Shared findings on research with UK local authorities and drone industry on societal impacts and benefit www.aerosociety.com/media/26274/...

Missing the stunning views from our UoR Geography and Environmental Science part 2 field class to Stirling last week!

Great to host today's panel on Gender and fieldwork, to mark International Women's Day. Thank you to panellists Catherine Souch @rgsibg.bsky.social , Alison MacLeod, Selma Benyovszky, Anya Lawrence and Alanna Cant for your thoughtful and careful input. Looking forward to continuing conversations!

#OpenAccess paper in The GJ: 'Everyday understandings of drone incidents and misuse in the Mass Observation Archive' by @ahjackman.bsky.social This paper explores everyday stories of drone usage through the lens of feminist geographies and geopolitics. doi.org/10.1111/geoj... #geo #geosky

🚨 Calling all current UK #geography #PhD students! We are developing best-practice guidelines for addressing #precarious employment within geography departments. Join a focus group below to contribute your insights! forms.office.com/e/ec5ywgjhXm

Calling all PERMANENT colleagues working in a UK #geography department! We are developing best-practice guidelines for addressing #precarious employment within geography departments. Join a focus group below to contribute your insights! forms.office.com/e/ec5ywgjhXm

🚨 Calling all colleagues who have previously worked in a UK #geography department, but no longer do. We are developing best-practice guidelines for addressing #precarious employment within geography departments. Join a focus group below to contribute your insights! forms.office.com/e/ec5ywgjhXm

"Russia carries out massive missile and drone attack on energy targets, Ukraine says' . 'Ukraine's energy and gas infrastructure also came "under massive missile and drone shelling", the country's energy minister says' www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cg...

Great to share project findings from @paulcureton.bsky.social and I's Urban life and design in the drone age project (exploring the implications of BVLOS drones for urban planning and design) at the Future Flight Social Insight workshop futureflightsocial.ac.uk

‘Russian drone detonates on Chornobyl nuclear plant containment shell’ www.theguardian.com/world/2025/f...

The Drone Ready Cities project launched a regulatory framework for local authorities. Nice to see it quoting extensively from our report on drones and legal considerations. ➡️DRC regulatory framework www.midlandsaerospace.org.uk/documents/re... ➡️Our report research.reading.ac.uk/drone-geogra...

In 2022 I worked w/ @massobsarchive.bsky.social (who seek the views of ‘ordinary’ people to understand everyday life in Britain) on a directive on drones. New in @thegj.bsky.social, I examine the 124 responses, exploring how correspondents understand drone incidents & misuse doi.org/10.1111/geoj...

The implications of this extend far beyond geography departments, as do the practical suggestions for what can be done at the level of the everyday

Really important blog post by the @rgsibg.bsky.social States of Precarity research team. There are overlaps here with our @isrfoundation.bsky.social research on ableism in academia as many disabled staff on precarious contracts avoid asking for reasonable adjustments they are legally entitled to

The Gender & Feminist Geography Research Group of the RGS invites expressions of interest for sponsored sessions at the RGS 2025 Annual Conference! The deadline for sponsored session proposal submissions is 26 Feb 2025. Please email queries and submissions to me [email protected] 📧

"[colleagues] were often unaware or ignorant of the extensive use of fixed term contracts and the wide-ranging personal and professional implications of those contractual terms." Check out our new Geography Directions blog post for early project findings and info on our free #precarity resources.

an important report on precarity in UK geography departments: “Whilst we cannot take full responsibility for the endemic structural problems within UK Higher Education, nor can we cede responsibility for caring about our colleagues.” blog.geographydirections.com/2025/01/13/r... @rgsibg.bsky.social

A big thank you to @zjayres.bsky.social for the design work on the posters. Zoe was a joy to work with and we're really excited to share the results.

New in Geography Directions on our States of Precarity project, exploring precarity in HE Geography. Shares posters raising awareness & giving visibility to fixed-term contracts & experiences. Please share & display in geog depts! @pjforman.bsky.social blog.geographydirections.com/2025/01/13/r...