The poet and author of #TheCompanyOfOwls @pollyrowena.bsky.social observes the wintering of short-eared owls in Cumbria. They are the UK's most nomadic owl, seeking a gentler version of the season. 🎧Listen to BBC Radio 4's #TweetOfTheDay: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/... #owls #birds #nature

What counted as knowledge in Britain’s age of exploration...and who decided? On Wed 4 Feb, @edwinrose.bsky.social explores how natural knowledge was shaped by travel, collecting, and exchange - and whose voices were left out. 6–8pm · Burlington House Find out more: buff.ly/ypMIRvt

You've dodged all the usual stuff eg: "Lack of/ missing/ late train crew" "Engineering works" "[something] on the line" "Signalling fault" "Bad weather" But then... "Birmingham trains delayed after wartime bomb found - BBC News" (Pleased I set off before 9) share.google/ppFzQBmU8Oh0...

Deadline approaching for 'In/Out' SSHM2026 at University of Leeds! Submit your paper or panel proposals by 5pm GMT, 11 Jan 2026 to [email protected] More details at: sshm.org/sshm-2026-in... @sshmedicine.bsky.social @historynerdess.bsky.social @universityofleeds.bsky.social #histmed

I'm hiring 2 postdocs on my Wellcome project "How Did Infectious Diseases Become Wild?: Plague, Yellow Fever, and Disease Ecology in the Brazilian Hinterland (1920-1975)" Department of Global Health and Social Medicine King's College 3 years 01/10/26- 30/09/29 Deadline: 01/02/26 shorturl.at/KZ6Vh

Isaac Fletcher's #c18th farming diaries from #Cumbria feature on Farming Today. Download from BBC Sounds www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m... and see also Cumbria County History Trust website www.cumbriacountyhistory.org.uk/farming-year...

feels weird given everything but apparently I’ve retained the ability to be shocked

Do have a read and share Arjun's wonder and appreciation of moss in the first of today's @theguardian.com young country diaries. #countrydiary #naturewriting

Might get this printed on a t-shirt. @drhick.bsky.social @draflint.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...

There's still time to submit your paper proposals for SSHM 2026 In/Out @universityofleeds.bsky.social Submission deadline: 11 Jan 2026 5.00pm GMT sshm.org/sshm-2026/ @historynerdess.bsky.social #HistMed #HistSTM

It’s the 20th December, and #sketchpadvent continues with Derek Walker’s vision for speculative 80s fun palace Wonderworld in Corby. Here’s folk having a Mekon burger in the Dan Dare restaurant

Out of office is on! ✨💫 Here’s my current view and probably the best photo I’ve taken this year to mark the occasion 🎄🥂

"California was not a “wilderness” or chaos before the settler cartography mapped it [...] “Every hill, every valley, creek, canyon, gulch, gully, draw, point, cliff, bluff, beach, bend, good-sized boulder, and tree [...] had its name, its place in the order of things.”" @nichecanada.bsky.social

Lots of you will be logging off at the end of today. So what's coming up in 2026? It'll be packed. M'colleagues @drhick.bsky.social and @draflint.bsky.social from the 'All Our Footsteps' project will be publishing a book on 'Outdoor Singing in Modern Britain'! www.cambridge.org/core/element...

Just sent back corrected proofs for ‘Outdoor Singing in Modern Britain: A Sensory & Emotional History’ 🥳 Huge thanks to my excellent co-writer @draflint.bsky.social for making this fun as well as incredibly rewarding. Merry Christmas to us! 🥂🎄 www.cambridge.org/core/element...

Imagine running a higher education system/country so badly that you actually can't afford, or refuse to fund, research that is *literally defined as* "internationally excellent". Stupid, stupid, stupid country.

“Climate change is real, but the work of NCAR goes far beyond climate science. NCAR delivers data around severe weather events like fires and floods that help our country save lives and property, and prevent devastation for families.” www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

In "Wearing Wild Birds", Laura Valls examines the late 19th century fashion trend of entire birds displayed on women's hats and clothing, exploring public reactions that led to the first preservation movements doi.org/10.3828/whpe... 🗃️ #envhist

Four (!) new ahead-of-print articles live now! In "Sick of the City", Beth Wittmann explores the fat body politics of outdoor culture in the US, arguing that body size was a culturally impactful factor in shaping perceptions of outdoor recreation doi.org/10.3828/whpe... 🗃️ #envhist

A must read on the history of chemical plant protection in Norway. More brilliant scholarship from Dr. Hilde Røsstad. #envhum ##envhist ##histsci www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

We've published a new #openaccess article ahead of print in 'Plant Perspectives', in which Sabrina Dookie considers 'Mangroves as Sacred Forests'. You can find it here: www.doi.org/10.3197/whpp... @plantperspectives.bsky.social #mangroves #plantstudies #forests #planthum #envhum

Just had the terrifying realisation that it is 30 years since I first used the Wellcome Library 😳🤯 Back when I was a UCL UG studying history of medicine with Roy Porter, Vivian Nutton, Michael Neve et all. And here I am thinking about new research on the multispecies hospital.

Last week I went on a 'research walk', a new thing for me. I was attempting to 'beat the bounds' of the parish of Portishead, which is the central case study in my current book project about everyday life in 17th century villages. A good start; it was a dry day... 🧵

🧵 Is it a super flu year? Who knows, but I think the current reporting is stupid. A pissed off thread using data. Firstly - here are today's headlines and some from the last 3 years... spot the difference. 1/10

Ongoing decimation of British universities part 252: Apx. 1000 academic staff at University of Essex just received formal ‘risk of redundancy’ letters via email. Please share @ucuessex.bsky.social @ucu.org.uk

Victims of a deadly typhoon in the Philippines have filed a legal claim against oil and gas company Shell in the UK courts, seeking compensation for what they say is the company's role in making the storm more severe Shell facing first UK legal claim over climate impacts www.bbc.com/news/article...

Reminder: Professor Michael Winter’s Distinguished Lecture 17.12.25 @crpr-exeter.bsky.social: Whatever happened to the Political Economy of Agriculture? Hybrid: Queen’s building, LT1 - 10:15-12:15 or online. Registration is via Eventbrite (bit.ly/3KDpFPu ). Any questions: [email protected].

I’ve posted this before but the light was perfect today- a little Victorian cat paw in a brick at the front of the old Norfolk & Norwich Hospital. As this is on the front-facing corner of the main gates, the bricklayer quite clearly put it there on purpose, at a height where children would spot it.

Home Office Ministers state publicly, on the record, that they are deliberately making life worse for older people and people with disabilities who depend on care services, but it's worth it because it reduces net migration.

Exciting book news - mine and @drhick.bsky.social 's Element on 'Outdoor Singing in Modern Britain: A sensory and emotional history' is coming soon! It draws on research which was part of the AHRC funded In All Our Footsteps project.

I may have whatever nasty cold/cough lurgy is doing the rounds but this has cheered me up immeasurably! Me & @draflint.bsky.social have a coming soon page for our Element. Thanks to AHRC it will be open access too 🙌 www.cambridge.org/core/element...

Such an important quick read. I see so many social/health/wellbeing claims being made by all kinds of projects and interventions with little or no supporting evidence over the long term.

In "Atomic Bombshells," Isabelle Held examines the effects of military-industrial science and the emergence of synthetic materials such as nylon, silicone, and foams on the female body. Read the intro for free on our site! buff.ly/Ee58UOa

Expecting the football world to care about the politics of this tournament shows a lack of historical awareness. We've already had a Club World Cup in the US that was paid for by the Saudis, ffs - a country that is bankrolling tennis and golf, too, and will host the World Cup in 2034. 3/3

Farmers struggling because of erratic climate changes. Food prices will rise. Expect much worse as the climate continues to deteriorate for another 30 years IF world leaders stick to their plans. Longer & harder problems if they don't. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

'This is no longer a risk, it is an emergency,' explain climate experts to more than a thousand British MPs and civil society leaders. theecologist.org/2025/dec/01/...

There's absolutely no restrictions on what goes into an illegal landfill which means no control on what seeps out of them into water, soil + air. We've heard reports of substances like asbestos at illegal sites, others of waste burning + acrid smoke. 🧵 1/4 www.theguardian.com/environment/...

'The British Academy has redoubled its call for a “comprehensive” review of higher education funding in the wake of the government’s levy on international student fees.' 1/3

These posters for the South Korean stage production of Macbeth are the greatest thing ever? #art

This is a great blog of a stimulating and fun event we ran recently in Newcastle. Take a look! 👀 Thanks to @catherinemax.bsky.social for writing it up. (When I’ve made it through the vast marking piles 😅 I’ll try and do something similar from the All Footsteps perspective)

“While Shelby County has recorded the dirtiest air in Tennessee for many years — half the state’s admissions for childhood asthma come from there — local residents say the arrival of Colossus has made things worse.”

"Dickensian"

Are you an early-career environmental historian or interested in the challenges aspiring environmental historians face? Join our panel discussion with @askehn.bsky.social @kathiescharf.bsky.social @tidetales.bsky.social and @wilkohardenberg.bsky.social et al., hosted by @eseh.bsky.social #envhist

best summary I've read of COP, noting the increasing militarisation of the event - to protect fossil fuel interests.

Great to read this table, the week after my institution announces a voluntary severance programme, to see the government introducing a policy that will cost us an extra *£13 million*

I am very pleased and grateful to share this announcement of our recent award from the @wellcometrust.bsky.social for a project on history of smallpox and measles #histmed #histsci news.exeter.ac.uk/faculty-of-h... The project will be based @exeter.ac.uk @cceh-u24.bsky.social led by ... 1/2

"Mice seem to assist pregnant females when they get into difficulty giving birth, with experienced mothers being the most helpful. This is thought to be the first official sighting of such assistance in non-primates, and so expands our knowledge of caregiving behaviours across the animal kingdom."

An ITV video here about Mary Ann Macham, and her history in North Shields - www.itv.com/watch/news/s...

Looking forward to speaking at the 'Air Matters' Symposium tomorrow organised by Tatiana Konrad and Savannah Schaufler. Lots of interesting papers! Free to join online. More info here airproject.univie.ac.at