We want to invite you all to the opening night of the Annual Fall Lecture Series at Museum London! More details about this event, and the event series can be found on our website: www.rotman.uwo.ca/event/connec...

Glad this keeps getting news coverage. More native plants, less lawn, happy planet! Good info included from @brendonstuff.bsky.social! www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

COSEWIC has labelled the Snowy owl as Threatened in Canada. Next we wait for the government to respond. This article identifies the need for greater public education about anthropogenic factors in the Snowy owl’ decline and ways for our society to collectively reduce harms www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

repeat after me kids There Is No Such Thing As “AI Art”

if we ever decided collectively to hold a day for recognizing and respecting women who don’t have kids, I would totally support that

⛳🧠 Proximity to golf courses linked to Parkinson’s disease A new study found living within 1–3 miles of a golf course was associated with higher Parkinson’s disease risk, likely linked to pesticide use and groundwater contamination. 🔗 doi.org/10.1001/jama... #SciComm #NeuroScience 🧪

next time someone wishes me “happy Friday” in a virtual meeting I’m going to ask them why

One of the biggest citizen science studies ever conducted — if you logged an eBird sighting in N. America in the last 14 years, this paper represents your work and this alarm is all of our responsibility to sound: Avian life is slipping away. 🌎🧪 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Check out this new video featuring my PhD research! @westernu.bsky.social @westernuresearch.bsky.social

Here’s my #electionday hot take: the “I voted” stickers no longer being circulated are an undervalued asset for bolstering voter turnout. They are a small, inexpensive yet highly visible positive incentive for voters to participate and demonstrate their values. We should make voting cool and normal!

I’m about done with “elbows up”. Can we do “eyes open” next?

Ontarians need to realize that our rights are being taken away, and we are being scammed for short-term profit. Developing the economy versus protecting the environment through evidence-based regulation IS A FALSE DICHOTOMY. “Red tape reduction” is marketing, not policy. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

so the pope directly criticized the Trump administration’s policies on immigration, then met with the vice president and told him (a catholic) to his face that he is wrong, and then immediately died? kind of badass tbh. RIP

This TVO piece is from 2021; the faces and issues of the day have changed, but the legal basis for federal and provincial jurisdictions remain the same. A great read for folks trying to make sense of federal campaign promises that encroach on provincial responsibilities amp.tvo.org/article/whos...

🌍🧪 Plastics will linger past 2060 – even with bold policy action A new study finds that even under the most ambitious global plans, microplastics will keep rising due to legacy waste. 🔗 doi.org/10.1126/scia... #Plastics 🧪 #SciComm

The Liberal Party under Trudeau introduced the Nature Accountability Act (Bill C-73) in 2024. The bill never made it past the first reading. www.parl.ca/legisinfo/en... Will @mark-carney.bsky.social bring back this critical legislation to uphold Canada's commitment to protect biodiversity?

all the time and energy spent talking about celebrities on a joyride in space (subsidized by taxpayers) could have been used to make people aware of massive defunding of NASA that will set American space exploration and science back by at least a generation www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

Relevant to your interests, @brendonstuff.bsky.social: www.forbes.com/sites/grrlsc...

That time of year when you blink and accidentally drop $100 on native plants

Love to see folks out in community cleaning up trash. Let’s remember the ‘war against litter’ cannot be won by only targeting people throwing items on the ground; litter mostly originates from structural and systemic gaps that must be remedied through policy reforms and proactive bylaw enforcement.

ngl I have really struggled with Passover the last couple of years

theyre ‘flooding the zone’! these rapid changes and overlapping crises are too much to handle! me growing my little native plant garden:

Within the past 30 days, as the stock market was deliberately tanked by American politicians, nearly $4 million worth of stock was traded by 15 American politicians 🧐 www.capitoltrades.com/trades

CBC/Radio-Canada is a pillar of our Canadian identity.    We’re going to strengthen our public broadcaster with more long-term funding, and a modernized mandate — to deliver more local news and keep Canadians better informed during emergencies.

To tell stories about Indigenous nations, we need to build capacity for Indigenous journalists in Canadian media — including Indigenous editors. That’s why this year, The Narwhal is hiring an Indigenous editorial fellow. Learn more and apply. #cdnmedia #journalismjobs thenarwhal.ca/2025-indigen...

"At 3C of global heating, climate damage cannot be insured against, covered by governments, or adapted to... no more mortgages, no new real estate development, no long-term investment, no financial stability. The financial sector as we know it ceases to function." www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Recognizing the significant potential for liability surrounding what looks a lot like misfeasance to me (arguably malfeasance?) I’m just gonna leave this here… www.congress.gov/crs-product/...

Here is your periodic reminder that we want your papers on the management of light pollution. Deadline June 1 but we'll take them any time! #DarkSky #lightpollution

I don’t know who will see this or whether it’s helpful, but if you are a scientist in the USA who is impacted by the current state of disarray, please know that your contributions and knowledge and value to society are not lost because of this moment. What you’ve done, and will do again, matters.

where are the workshops to educate people about how to NOT use AI? it seems LLMs are rapidly being integrated into all sectors while costs, regulatory oversight and environmental impacts remain unclear… if I have ethical misgivings about my data and uses feeding these systems, what are my options?

Today is my first day as a postdoctoral fellow! 🤩 I am starting at the School of Urban and Regional Planning at Toronto Metropolitan University to carry out research on urban ecological connectivity. I’m excited to apply what I’ve learned from studying bird biology and conservation management.

An aspect of this I would like to understand better: does the institution (CDC) have a legal duty of care they must fulfil to prevent harm to the public? What’s to stop someone from getting sick and suing the CDC and individuals responsible for making decisions that cause harm and create liability?

This probably deserves some attention in English Canada.

It was very special night. Grateful for all the support. youtu.be/bYKCFRapcHk

what do goats think about?

I really enjoyed this piece. Asking whether bowerbirds' creations count as "art" leads to some interesting places. theconversation.com/can-animals-...

can’t think of much else that could be worse for civic engagement than two back-to-back snap elections at multiple levels of government crammed into 30 days while there’s still snow on the ground

anybody wanna come to London city hall with me to watch the SPPC meeting? it’s gonna be a loooooong and spicy one. I can bring 🍿

London Ontario looking to resurrect 'dead' stroad widening project that will cost 100s of millions just to make traffic worse. @ben-durham.bsky.social youtu.be/9rjIBE-r4ns?...

Trying to wrap my head around controversy over spending municipal property tax $ on incentives to attract family doctors (amid a shortage the province is responsible for). Don’t cities use tax $ to incentivize developers to build homes the province is responsible for? www.ctvnews.ca/london/artic...

I got interviewed by @rangerem.bsky.social on Rogers TV! We chatted about civic engagement through #ldnont advisory committees, careers and volunteering in the environmental sector, communicating the value of birds and nature, and considering post-capitalist futures. www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoLc...

An estimated 42 million birds are killed by glass every year in Canada. Every action, however small, can make a positive difference for the birds. This is a very important and informative article with many resources, including a petition, tips, templates and more.

Just in time for spring bird migration, I wrote my first blog for #ontarionature about a topic I studied for my PhD: how sustainable building design can protect birds from colliding with glass. Federal, provincial and municipal governments can all play key roles. ontarionature.org/sustainable-...

before this nonsensical trade war, many social issues in Canada were already at crisis-level (climate, species loss, housing, affordability, public health...) those issues are still here, mostly worsening, yet we are talking about them less now. it's like all the air has been sucked out of the room.

Something I think about a lot is the decisions made back in the 1970s to start building like this, which began a trend leading to current aesthetic expectations of architecture including big glass windows. Did they not realize how expensive heating and cooling would be? Did they not find dead birds?

In Canada it is illegal for building owners to kill birds. North America has lost nearly 1/3 of its bird populations while 🇨🇦 is supposed to be protecting birds under an international treaty I laid out birds killed by collisions with buildings at the doorstep of parliament to ask: what are we doing?

This is a hugely important economic study. It says quite clearly the costs of acting to slow climate change are far, far less than the costs of failing to act.