What a nice cover nature has this week 😀 If you want to learn more about the paper behind this cover and about the unexpectedly high functional diversity of dryland flora see rdcu.be/dRBA1

Papers with Geography and Earth Sciences @ Aber Uni Aberystwyth University scientists as authors make the cover of nature in successive weeks. Not bad for a little department on the west Wales coast Sarah Davies

Aberystwyth's Big Tribute festival - so good you get free drink refills from God.

A pancreatic cancer diagnosis is about as bad as it gets. Survival rates are pitiful and treatment to prolong life is brutal. We really need more research to improve this situation.

From BBC: Rali Ceredigion has been recognised for being one of the world's most sustainable races Have the rallly if you want, but stop the #Greenwashing nonsense. Planting trees and buying "offsets" won't neutralise the damage done by the CO2 emissions. BBC should know better

I marked retirement from Geography and Earth Sciences @ Aber Uni with a farewell presentation on Friday. All a bit emotional but grateful for chance to say thanks to all my wonderful friends & reflect on career. What a send off thank you! Such a great dept Sarah Davies Andy Dougill Nigel Trodd Cathy Delaney 🇺🇦

Celebrating the best field scientist (& mate) I know ...

It was also good to be able to thank all the people who've inspired and helped me throughout my career that don't work in Aber Fernando T. Maestre Cathy Delaney 🇺🇦 Stephen R Hoon David Elliott Jonas Lembrechts Jayne Belnap Andy Dougill Iris Moeller Nigel Trodd An honour to have worked with you all.

Cancer, chemo and now covid is not a combination I'd recommend. Ironically, most likely an unintentional additional gift from my retirement event 😕At least it's sunny in Wales at the moment ,👍🏼😀🌞

Lucky to have this on our doorstep. After school surfing at Ynyslas.

Drivers of woody dominance across global drylands science.org/doi/10.1126/sc… Proud to provide Kalahari survey data w/ Andrew Thomas for global study via BIODESERT Fernando T. Maestre & many ...

In our latest Science Advances article science.org/doi/10.1126/sc… we evaluated what drives woody vegetation dominance across global drylands Our findings suggest that projected climate changes & grazing pressure may increase this dominance, altering dryland structure and functioning

2 yrs ago I was diagnosed with advanced #pancreatic #cancer. A team of #NHS doctors, nurses, consultants, radiographers, dieticians & paramedics - plus friends & family have kept me going ever since. Feel I should celebrate life & say thanks to everyone. Live & enjoy the moment.

Glad to share this KAUST press release on our recent Science Advances article led by lab postdoctoral researcher Lucio lnkd.in/eHQ47ZGQ You can read the open access article here lnkd.in/dMPVbPD9

Prince William and King Charles leaching “22million ” from #macmillancancer is a new low . Imagine doing that to a Cancer charity? #Dispatches

A brief snow storm caused chaos on roads around Lampeter this morning. 2 hours to travel 15 miles, so I missed my cancer scan appointment in Swansea. Our ability to cope with anything but average weather is shocking.

UK Car Park Management have issued a £40 fine for over staying the 2 hour limit at Singleton Hospital. I was having two scans ahead of palliative radiotherapy for #cancer. That took 4 hours. This can't be right? Pancreatic Cancer UK NHS Public Health Wales BBC Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Cambrian News

Colleagues, please do not refer to our Emeritus Professors as ‘The Ghosts of Christmas Past’, thank you. ^HR

Thanks Mariecia Fraser you've been an inspiration to me & taught me so much about farming in the marginal environments of the Welsh uplands. "New thinking is needed to make the most of formerly improved upland pastures" is finally published as OA😀 nature.com/articles/s4426…