“It is desperately frustrating that our political, economic and social systems don’t know what to do with the science

We need … innovations in our democracy to give scientists the politics they deserve” theguardian.com/environment/ar…

Great to see fellow member of ScientistsForXR, Lynn Bjerke 💙, in the main photo from this article in the Guardian today.

Contrary to the opinions of the climate scientists interviewed, the potential for change is much greater through protest than voting.

As I’ve been struggling with the Introduction for a paper today

I’m reminded that editing - a major role for more senior scientists- is much easier than writing

Can anyone recommend a paper that reviews the different conservation 'approaches'?

Such as species conservation vs habitat conservation

I'd have thought there would be a good overview, but no luck....

'Conservation biology differs from most other biological sciences in one important way: it is often a crisis discipline'

Michael Soule wrote this nearly 40 yrs ago, but we are still in crisis

'Our elected representatives, current or aspiring, must see beyond their stint in parliament & focus on the survival of our planet

We must unite around a commonality, a simple love of life, all life.'

🪧MARCH on 22 June to #RestoreNatureNow
🙋SIGN UP 👉 restorenaturenow.com

Not convinced we all have a responsibility to stand up for the future? Read this theguardian.com/environment/ar…
Time for collective action. Join us [email protected]

Increasingly I feel that UK (& EU) research funding is very bandwagon-y

Net zero, pollinators, trees getting a lot of love. Maybe an excessive focus of funding

Whereas other areas (like grasslands, ecosystem functioning, rewilding) have very little targeted research funding

I’ve been trying to find a usable definition of ecosystem degradation

IPBES says it is “the many processes that drive the decline or loss in biodiversity, ecosystem functions or their benefits to people”

This is too vague, & does not allow one to identify a degraded ecosystem

It can be hard for scientists to convince people of the need for transformational change if they have flown halfway round the world to give that message

This sounds like me!

Delighted to share my open access paper in Nature Communications Earth and Environment Communications Earth & Environment 'Scientists’ identities shape engagement with environmental activism'

nature.com/articles/s4324…

One of the Dorset activists told me “If this was happening in England, hundreds of thousands of people would be absolutely furious. There would questions in parliament, there would be a state of outrage” ⁦Extinction Rebellion Wimborne⁩ ⁦Friends of the Earth NI⁩ ⁦ #LoughNeagh belfastlive.co.uk/news/northern-…

On last assessment, 21.5% of plant species & 39% of vertebrate species are now considered to be at risk of extinction in the UK

They do not have a voice but we do

Join us in London on 22 June to send a clear message to our politicians #restorenaturenow

restorenaturenow.com

The 2024 badger vaccination season is off to a flying start with new Cornwall Badgers staff member Adrienne Hutchinson facing the three-in-one-trap challenge on her first morning of training. She made it look easy! ZSL Science

Nice to see that our Restoring Resilient Ecosystems paper advocating restoring ecosystem complexity rather than taxonomic identity has been one of the top cited papers in Ecography

🛑Stop polluting our river🛑

River Allen in Wimborne, a chalk stream of international importance, is under permanent assault from plastic tree guards, balloons etc

🛑Stop polluting our river🛑

Just had an email claiming I am a 'research(dot)com' top researcher

Not celebrating as they can't even get my affiliation correct

In our local chalk river

Foil balloons are made from plastic nylon sheets with a metallic coating and will never biodegrade

But, it's just a bit of fun isn't it...?

There are many suggested approaches to making farming more sustainable, but conceptual ambiguity impedes progress

So, we went back to ecological theory to identify rigorous farmland sustainability metrics & pinpoint beneficial management interventions
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/br…