Thoughtful essay “we are in danger of forgetting the greatest untapped resource on any college campus — the professors. We are surrounded by human experts, yet we are being encouraged to take our questions to robots”

Lovely to host some @swanseauni.bsky.social Geography alumni , here in our little corner of Wales , this morning. What a nice part of the job! Enjoyed a few choice quotes -“Geography is essential for everything!” I mean we think so too… 😁💚🌳🌍 Have a great weekend, all, it was a pleasure to meet you!

Do any of you have a fun map-reading and orienteering activity you’d be willing to share? I’d like to see some examples as I’m putting a skill session together for my natural history class. It could be something done in-class, or it could involve an outdoor scavenger hunt-type exercise (1 hour).

Really enjoyed chatting about plants & sound with @bengarrod.bsky.social for Radio 3s The Essay. We talked about Milburn’s work on xylem cavitation where he recorded the sound it makes through the trunk . But is it tree music ? …🌳🎶 😊 www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Ship’s floor (oak) reused as lintel. Removed during construction work from Cambrian Place Swansea. Dendro dated to spring summer 1778 and sourced from a locally grown Welsh 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 tree! #dendrochronology #wales #archaeology

Two very important graphs. Net migration reached record levels in 2023 - and has since halved. The vast majority of arrivals comprises students and workers. Arrivals in small boats and asylum seekers - less than 5%. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

One of my favourite Welsh treescapes, around the @nationaltrust.org.uk Wales Stackpole lily ponds 💚🌳 Looking very handsome in its end of summer coat 🍁 🍃

Deforestation kills more than trees.

Thanks so much to the team at School Science Review for the chance to write about climate communication, directionally motivated reasoning and why deficit approach climate outreach just doesn’t work . If you’re looking to change hearts and minds on climate , have a read .

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... A tree I , sadly, never had a chance to meet . If it’s loss angered you, please also get angry about 7% of our woods being in ecological health, street trees being routinely ripped out, & industrial monoculture plantations in our national parks .

theconversation.com/britains-wil... Since I wrote this this piece in 2023 the Woodland Trusts 2025 report has found : - two new woodland pests have emerged . - the decline in woodland wildlife has got worse - woodland creation targets are being missed

Our park and street trees are absolutely vital in hot weather , they provide shade , moisture to the atmosphere, and with it , free air conditioning. #streettrees #urbanwoodland

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre... Timely . Its exam board season here in higher education UK , the time of year when I am reminded again and again of the desperate need for class to become included as a protected characteristic.

Lovely to catch up with @wwf.org.uk champ Mark Wright , talking , drawing, and chatting all this awesome and naturey, and see @owendaveydraws.bsky.social fab new book @hayfestival.bsky.social , 💐🙊🍀🐾🦋🌍

2030 Global Forest Vision priority actions launch . Excited to be part of this effort ! We have some work to do to stand a chance of meeting the twin 2030 forest goals to halt and reverse global deforestation. Here’s a to do list for right now …🌳💚 #2030forestvision

“The result is a lesson in how not to manage anything” I am so glad to read someone actually raising the question of whether the performance of the very well paid public servants who run British universities, may possibly be a factor in the current impressive HE bin fire www.ft.com/content/0ec7...

Reflecting , after a busy teaching week, on seeing the magnificent Kyoto play from RSC and @goodchancetheatre.bsky.social last week. If you get a chance go see it , it is the most honest piece of climate communication I have ever witnessed 💚🌳🌎 www.rsc.org.uk/kyoto/

Dear NSF scientists and staff: If you're looking to talk to a journalist about what's going on at the agency, please reach out (from a non-governmental phone/computer) via signal @jonlambert.12

UK govt has awarded Drax more subsidies for burning trees for power. Critics say biomass power is bad for the environment. Drax says the subsidy extension is good news for energy security. The strike price is £113/MWh, around twice as expensive as some offshore wind projects.

😬 optics 😬 … not the greatest day in higher education in Wales …

UK University funding is a mess at the moment. Student fees frozen while costs go up. Fewer international students coming to subsidise courses for UK students. No quotas, so ‘top’ Universities take more students to pay the bills. More news like this to come: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

And now DOE Office of Science - gonna be a bad week (4 years?) for science

Something a bit different for this geographer this eve. Thanks BBCPM for having me on to chat #StormEowyn and what happens when you add climate change to the Atlantic Storm Track . Off to @swanseageog 70th birthday party now !

Ian is wise.

After an annoying week of organisational dysfunctionality I’ve decided to spend the weekend reading about who I (apparently) am. Geographer. By literal definition “earthwriter”. Whose definitions do you like ? (And why do students consider geographical thought the cod liver oil of their timetable…)

As Storm Darragh ravages the UK, keeping us prisoners awake by rattling our doors, cutting power to 55,000 homes, and placing 3 million lives at risk, I'm struck by the fact that this 1 storm is already more disruptive than all UK climate protest over the last 30 years combined.

Please consider coming to the Royal Meteorological Society meeting on the History of Climate Modelling on 4th Dec if you can easily and sustainably get to London. Including talks by @coxypm.bsky.social and others www.rmets.org/event/histor...

For those who missed it: Elon Musk, the Royal Society, and me deevybee.blogspot.com/2024/11/why-...

I've made a starter pack of those with interests in tree-ring science e.g. dendroclimatology, dendrochronology, dendroecology. Please let me know if you'd like to be added (or removed!) or to suggest others to add go.bsky.app/LXrT3xb

Some beautiful Welsh irony optics going on this evening … Guess what slows down flood waters? Yup that would be 🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳 (ps the 10% tree cover target was in fact a 3% tree cover target cos Welsh farms already have 6-7% tree cover on average… this wasn’t about trees )

If you’re still catching up on the #COP29 #climate outcomes from Baku (yes, there were some, I promise!), you can’t do much better than @carbonbrief.org’s summary here: www.carbonbrief.org/cop29-key-ou...

There's an alternative model to improve senior management that would not require VCs to come from educationalist backgrounds: expect them to teach and administer one module per term per annum. Much needless expenditure & poor policy derives from senior managers' distance from students & classrooms.

Revealed: Saudi Arabia accused of modifying official #COP29 negotiating text - Exclusive: News of changes to usually non-editable Presidency document ‘risks placing climate summit in jeopardy', says one expert Story by me www.theguardian.com/environment/...

#cop29 in overtime. So familiar - wait until delegations from climate action nations have run out of visas/cash & had to leave & then dominant voices can have their way in over time . We need a system of emergency mini cash grant payments to those who need to stay, if negotiations run over

Just sharing from over there… Calling Year 12 geographer lovers & tree huggers 📢🌳💚Join me for our geography masterclass - "Forests Forever: A Geographers Guide to Halting Deforestation...." this Tuesday! Registration link below⬇️💚🌳 www.swansea.ac.uk/study/webina...

Hello. Gosh, it’s nice over here isn’t it !