Draft 1 of my dissertation submitted! ‘Investigating changes in Hawai’ian coral abundance and community assemblage before and after the 2014-2016 El Niño-Southern Oscillation, and the implications for the ecological functions of reefs under climate change’ 🪸 Nap time.

Just submitted my dissertation & my last ever The Open University assignment! 😭 It’s been a long 5 years but I’m so grateful for how things worked out. I can’t imagine what I’m gonna do with my evenings & weekends now!

I often say that the fossil fuel industry are the most powerful lobbiests in world history. They just got their person as Prime Minister of the sixth largest economy in the world. No windfall tax, new gas licenses, fracking moratorium lifted, not a word on energy efficiency.

It’s surprisingly easy to forget that you live under a feudal monarchy, but then you’ll hear someone say something like ‘the Queen is dead, long live the King’ and it’s like oop yep yikes ok

Academic twitter! I once read that advisors will sometimes cover your application fee for postgrad courses. Is this true? Is it a normal thing to ask?? Please help I am new to this world! #AcademicTwitter #AcademicChatter #phdchat

92% on the dissertation, which means a 1st class honours with straight run of distinctions 🥺 Not a humblebrag if I’ve worked really hard and am openly very proud of myself!! 🎉

🚨🚨🚨 A coral ecologist that I have weirdly idolised for years has just asked to read my dissertation and I am absolutely terrified/suddenly convinced it is awful help send help 😭

Yorkshire ❤️

💕

Today was Clive’s retirement party and I spent all day baffled that no one mentioned this. How is this not your career highlight? I would bring it up daily.

Real question - how do we stop the tories privatising the NHS? Feels like they’re finally declaring it openly after a decade of deliberate underfunding and undermining. They have 2 years to do a smash & grab before labour get in. What are we meant to do in this time?

Currently trying to transfer my mapping skills over to a new GIS software & Jesus f christ what fresh hell is this

I am once again sending out the PSA that Coral City Camera saves me daily. I work on cold, murky North Sea MPAs, but livestreams of coral keep me company when I work from home 🪸

This led to me googling myself & finding that I have a whole section on the Wikipedia page for ‘rabbits’ 💀 just stuff I’ve said about rabbits. Its making me laugh a lot

Do I know anyone attending the 2023 Bivalve Conference Cambridge University in Sept? 🦪🐚 My first conference alone! Kind marine invert nerds, please adopt me!

I have reached peak ‘non-academic at an academic conference’ - told someone I’m a government marine ecologist & she said ‘phew, I’m unemployed too!’ 😂 There is a wonderful world of scientific work outside of academia folks!

The salary for postdoctoral scientists is £36k. Science is global - if the UK is going to be 'the best country for science in the world', we need to be able to recruit the best scientists. Now, we might not be able to - only British scientists can apply.

900%!!!!! Why are we not rioting in the streets may I ask

The new salary threshold of 39k for skilled workers & spouses is insane & immoral. A government ecologist & a postdoc biologist - neither of us meet this criteria. Writing to my MP doesn’t work. Clive Lewis MP how do I fight this??

I'm British and there is no universe in which this piece of unpleasantness is delivering for me.