iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Colin Beale

BTO | British Trust for Ornithology @btobirds.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

We are pleased to announce our first Youth Out in Nature Summit at RSPB Newport Wetlands 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 on 26 Sept. Our BTO Youth Volunteers have been working with the RSPB Youth Council to provide this unique opportunity - sign up today! www.bto.org/our-work/eve... @rspb.bsky.social @rspbcymru.bsky.social

A group of young people birdwatching at a wetland site, with text promoting the BTO/RSPB Youth Out In Nature Summit on 26 September 2026. Photo by Katie Hargreaves/BTO/RSPB.

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Colin Beale @cmbeale.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Gulls get a bad press, but I always like a smart one! This Lesser-black Backed Gull was on Skokholm at the start of the month, keeping a wary eye on it's chicks below. A fine bird!

A very smart Lesser Black-backed Gull on a rocky rise with green background with very blurry puffins behind. It's a smart bird, with a shiny white head and undersides, smooth slate grey back outlined in white, with black wings with tiny white diamond tips. What makes it cute are the yellow legs and beak, as well as beady yellow eye. If you zoom in you'll see there's a fine red rim around the eye, which is either lovely eyeliner, or the sign of a heavy night accounting for the perhaps slightly angry look.

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Reposted by Colin Beale

SCCS Cambridge 2027 @sccscambridge.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

📢 Apply now to SCCS 2027 🎉 The 26th Student Conference on Conservation Science will take place between 30 March – 1 April 2027 at the University of Cambridge. Check the website for further details and to apply: www.sccs-cam.org

sccs-cam.org

Student Conference on Conservation Science - Welcome

SCCS helps young conservation scientists gain experience, learn new ideas and make contacts that will be valuable for their future careers.

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Colin Beale @cmbeale.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

This Friday @cascade-hei.bsky.social & Defra are organising the first of a joint series of seminars on topics of interest to Defra & academics in the biodiversity world. Join us at 1pm for a lively discussion of AI, biodiversty & ethics! 🌎 🧪 events.teams.microsoft.com/event/4bb0d8...

Card showing title of talk and time - ethical frameworks for high-tech biodiversity monitoring in lower-income nations

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Colin Beale @cmbeale.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

New paper out this week on elephant conservation & conservation objectives. We considered where money is spent on elephant conservation by philanthropists & international funders, seeking to determine what the best way to spend this $$ should be. 1/5 conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... 🧪🌍

An elephant looks puzzled while standing in knee high vegetation and under a tree. He's probably pondering whether the money spent on elephant conservation is optimally shared with his colleagues elewhere and may be slightly disappointed to know that actually he doesn't get any of that cold hard cash at all. It's a difficult life being an elephant and if he had the money he might choose a very different way to spend it. On very large amounts of recreational drugs, for instance. He is a bit ragged around the ears as through he enjoyed fights, but maybe some plastic surgery and ear reconstruction is what he really wants?

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Reposted by Colin Beale

Arjun Amar @arjundevamar.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

Post-doc opportunity in raptor conservation at The FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology in Cape Town, South Africa - with @megmurg.bsky.social and me. South African Citizen or have a valid work visa. science.uct.ac.za/fitzpatrick/... #Ornithology #RaptorResearch #AfricanOrnithology

science.uct.ac.za

Applications open for Quantitative Raptor Biologist postdoc at FitzPatrick Institute

Call for applications for a postdoctoral fellowship in quantitative raptor biology; deadline 15 May 2026

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Colin Beale @cmbeale.bsky.social · 02/04/2026

Are you looking for a Post-doc related to biodiversity? We might have just the role for you! @anthropocenebio.bsky.social are curently advertising 10 (yes!) post-docs covering natural & social science of biodivesity. Come work with us & share with anyone appropriate! sites.google.com/york.ac.uk/l...

sites.google.com

LCAB Postdoctoral recruitment

The Leverhulme Centre for Anthropocene Biodiversity (LCAB) is a major research centre funded by the Leverhulme Trust to increase knowledge of how the relationship between humanity and the natural worl...

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Reposted by Colin Beale

Graeme Beale @midfyffe.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

Miw the museum cat. #Scottish #cat poem of the day number 5. Text in the thread, along with the inspiration. It turns out that MIW is the Ancient Egyptian word for cat. What a joy! Poem in the thread, along with the inspiration from Islam Issa's Alexandria. youtube.com/shorts/J4_ry...

youtube.com

Miw the museum cat: Scottish Cat Poem of the Day 5

YouTube video

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Colin Beale @cmbeale.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

Can confirm, this is how he sounds...

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Colin Beale @cmbeale.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

Quite the highlight at Filey Bird Obs this morning, when we caught & ringed this stunning Long-eared Owl! Otherwise quiet, with a few goldcrests and a single chiffchaff in the bushes shoeing spring is so on the way up here! Great to see these birds though & it won't be long before they all arriving!

A long-eared owl in the hand for ringing. It is down from tummy upwards starting over its shoulder at the camera with piercing orange eyes. This is a powerful floofball that is perfectly camouflaged as a tree trunk with browns, and gets everywhere.

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Reposted by Colin Beale

Jack Hatfield @jackhhatfield.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

What is resilience for a landscape? Check out our (with Charles Cunningham, @hannalp.bsky.social, Lauren Barnes, Chris Thomas and @janehillyork.bsky.social ) new paper now out in @peopleandnature.bsky.social Early View @anthropocenebio.bsky.social doi.org/10.1002/pan3...

doi.org

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Colin Beale @cmbeale.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

Are you a national of an African country? Looking to study birds of prey at one of three leading ornithological research university across the contient? This might be for you! raptorresearchfoundation.org/grants-award...

Poster advertising the Arican Raptor Leadership Grant - African antionals applying for MSc or Hons courses at AP LEventis Ornithological Research Institute (Nigeria), Fitzpatric Institute of African Ornithology (UCT, South Africa) or Mohammed V University (Morocco) are invited to apply via https://raptorresearchfoundation.org

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Nicolas Mouquet @nmouquet.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

‪ 🌳 Do you want to contribute to research on how humans perceive forests? Take this quick, anonymous 10-min survey 🌲 👉 www.biodiful.org#/forest This will help us explore how people experience forest biodiversity! Please share on 🦋 & tag @biodiful.bsky.social to reach more participants 🙏💚 🌐🌍🦤🦑🪴🍁🧪

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Colin Beale @cmbeale.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

I got my copy last week and can confirm that this is a brilliant book and a true bargain, for an incredibly detailed and informative work on an internationally important yet remarkably under appreciated local nature and birding site. Buy your copy now!

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Reposted by Colin Beale

George Holmes @georgeholmes.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

Do you work for a conservation organisation? Take part in this global survey of conservation labour - on who does what in conservation, where, and how: www.cmi.no/projects/292...

cmi.no

Conservation Labor: A New Frontier in Labor Theory and Conservation Science (CONLAB)

There is a rapidly developing literature on the 'human dimensions' of conservation, including critical scholarship and appli...

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Reposted by Colin Beale

Emma @emmasartworks.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

A not-completely-exhaustive illustration of our winter shorebirds, but these are the species that you’re most likely to see during winter around Teesmouth (northeast England). 🐡🪶 #birdingNortheast

Pen and watercolour illustrations of waders/shorebirds from the Hartlepool/Teesmouth area of northeast England

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Colin Beale @cmbeale.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

Some fantastic reflections on attending #IPBES12 from ECRs at @anthropocenebio.bsky.social here, including thanks to the @ipbes.net experts & exec for taking timeto explain the details of the process. I'd love to hear other reflections from folk who came to the @cascade-hei.bsky.social pre-briefing!

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Colin Beale @cmbeale.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

Some very productive times at #IPBES12 for the @cascade-hei.bsky.social team! There are so many needs identified by IPBES experts & members that #UKHEI can support. It's also been great to help so many ECRs navigate their way through these events - the future of science-policy engagement looks good!

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Colin Beale @cmbeale.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

Great to have some fanstastic @york.ac.uk colleagues along for discussions at #IPBES12 at the moment. @charlielem.bsky.social @proflinds.bsky.social and loads more! Also fun to catch up with colleagues from across the world to discuss these important topics.

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Colin Beale @cmbeale.bsky.social · 30/01/2026

This was a great workshop, and I'm also excited about what comes from the work of CASCADE over the past 2 years. Watch this space!

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Colin Beale @cmbeale.bsky.social · 09/01/2026

Just recieved news from @btobirds.bsky.social that one of our campus Long-tailed Tits had been found over the weekend all of 7km east of where we ringed it as a baby in the summer. A flock in the garden this morning gives an opportunity to share a little story about dispersal in this cute bird! 1/N🦉

7 long-tailed tits crowding onto fat balls. They are themselves floofballs, with a slightly pinkish white underside, blank wings with a white stripe, pink back and cute black eyebrow over beady black eyes as well a tail amost twice the length of their body. Very VERY cute.

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Colin Beale @cmbeale.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

New paper alert! Despite China’s landmark 2017 domestic ivory ban, demand hasn't vanished. The fab @molly-rc-brown.bsky.social's 2nd PhD paper out today reviews the deep-seated psychological and social reasons why demand persists. 🌍 🧪 besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.... 1/6

A family of elephants at a waterhole viewed from about toe height. with a baobab behind them. These are coold beasts!

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Colin Beale @cmbeale.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

New paper! Led by @jackhhatfield.bsky.social we looked at species driving biotic homogenisation (biological communities becoming more similar). onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.... Current wisdom assumes expansion of human-associated common species is the cause of homogenisation, but is it?🌍🧪1/5

Yellow-collared Lovebirds - two small green parrots with yellow breasts and collars and black heads. White eyelinter and a sharp red beak. They're cute. Mnay lovebirds are kept as pets but escape sometimes and have colonised lots of places they weren't in before.

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Reposted by Colin Beale

Jack Hatfield @jackhhatfield.bsky.social · 07/01/2026

New paper with @jonathan-gdon.bsky.social @cmbeale.bsky.social and Chris Thomas looking at species contributions to biotic homogenisation and differentiation. @anthropocenebio.bsky.social doi.org/10.1111/geb....

doi.org

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Colin Beale @cmbeale.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

Have a smart male pochard for #InternationalUnsolicitedDuckPicDay ducks do make some of the best #birds

A male pochard from above. He has a rusty red head, grey back and black breast and rear with a dapper blue beak. Very fine.

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Colin Beale @cmbeale.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

Last chance to apply for this ACCE+ DPT PhD project on nomadic birds in East Africa: www.findaphd.com/phds/project... deadline is tomorrow, so still time to draft soemthing good! It will be a great project with @funkyant.bsky.social too, so please apply!

A black-shouldered Kite sites in a thorn tree in front of an otherworldly orange background. It is a stunning white, gret and black bird that looks SO FIERCE. A gooed axample of a nomaid bird species too...

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Reposted by Colin Beale

Markus Eichhorn @markuseichhorn.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

I often get asked about the Miyawaki method of forest restoration, usually by people who have heard extraordinary claims for it. Morales et al. (2025) have reviewed the evidence and found it to be weak or absent. 🌏🧪🌳🌲 besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Tiny forests, huge claims: The evidence gap behind the Miyawaki method for forest restoration

To scale up restoration effectively, practitioners and policymakers should prioritize methods supported by robust empirical evidence rather than relying on untested claims. Our findings highlight the...

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Colin Beale @cmbeale.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

Starting the week with a 1st new paper of the year! Led by Annalie Melin, this is a red-list assessment for her newly described oil-collecting bee species. Red Listing invertebrates is notoroisly hard, as data on distribution & longevity are sparse. 🧪🌏1/3 links.springernature.com/f/a/Ih58aJfK...

A conceptual diagram illustrating the two approaches used to
assess the IUCN Red List status of specialist oil-collecting bees. The
starting point for both approaches is the compilation of georeferenced
occurrence data for the species. Here, we use Rediviva vogeli as an
example. IUCN-based approach (top sequence, left to right): To
estimate the Extent of Occurrence (EOO), a minimum convex hull
polygon is plotted around the occurrence records. The resulting EOO
map is then intersected with national spatial datasets to evaluate the
decline in the “area, extent, and/or quality of habitat,” corresponding
to Subcriterion b(iii) of IUCN Criterion B. First, the EOO is reduced
to 59.4% of its initial area as a consequence of habitat loss. Overlaying threatened habitats on what remains reveals that 29.1% of remaining habitat is threatened, suggesting a high risk of further habitat loss.
Finally, we overlay the EOO with the current protected area network
and find that only 5.6% of the EOO is currently protected. SDM-based
approach (bottom sequence, left to right): Occurrence data and environmental variables are used to generate species distribution models
(SDMs), from which the Area of Occupancy (AOO) is estimated. The
resulting AOO map is also intersected with national spatial datasets to
assess habitat condition under Subcriterion b(iii) of Criterion B. First,
the AOO is reduced to 67.4% of its initial area as a consequence of
habitat loss. Overlaying threatened habitats on what remains reveals
that 22.1% of remaining habitat is threatened, suggesting a high risk
of further habitat loss. Finally, we overlay the AOO with the current
protected area network and find that only 22.1% of the AOO is currently protected. The two approaches, combined with expert knowledge where available, informs the assessment of species status under
IUCN Criterion B: Endangered (EN) using the IUCN-approach; and
Vulnerable (VU) using the SDM-approach

Picture of Rediviva steineri, one of the bee species identifying key features to look for. She's a cure fluffy bee with longsh front legs.

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Molly Brown @molly-rc-brown.bsky.social · 17/12/2025

My first PhD paper is out today in Conservation Biology! @society4conbio.bsky.social Freely available to read here: doi.org/10.1111/cobi... Tldr 🧵 below!

An African savanna elephant using its trunk to pull branches towards its mouth.

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Colin Beale @cmbeale.bsky.social · 17/12/2025

New paper! @molly-rc-brown.bsky.social1st PhD paper is out. It evaluates 55 interventions aimed at managing demand for ivory from Asian consumers, & shows that while quality has increased over time (& effectiveness?) there's still a lot to do. conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... 1/5🧪🌍

Elephants, wildebeest and a bunch of other animals at a water hold in Tanzania. They're cute and should stay alive.

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Jonny Gordon @jonathan-gdon.bsky.social · 15/12/2025

Increasing human ecological impact over the Holocene (11,700 - 150 years ago) led to biodiversity gains in Europe. Why? From ~8,500 years ago, the spread of farming created heterogeneous, habitat-rich landscapes that enhanced biodiversity. Read our new paper: dx.doi.org/10.1111/geb.... 🌏 🧪

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Colin Beale @cmbeale.bsky.social · 13/12/2025

Nice morning @northcavewet.bsky.social this morning, with a brief glossy ibis dropping in and some pinging Bearded tits. Sad to see several dead swans though, presumably victims of bird flu 😢. #birds

Glossy ibis in a bank, such in a lake. Terrible picture!

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Colin Beale @cmbeale.bsky.social · 04/12/2025

This is very sad news. I had the joy of driving William across the Serengeti some years ago, where the journey was interrupted by urgent stops to identify grasses, & last spent time in the field last year in South Africa. A brilliant ecologist, bursting with ideas & generous with his expertise.

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Rafael Marcondes @rafamarcondes.bsky.social · 26/11/2025

Reviewer didn't understand and/or didn't like my use of the term "natural history". I came up with a simple definition to add to the revised manuscript, but before I post I'm curious as to how all y'all 21st century natural historians would define it. Drop your take in the replies!

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Phil Martin @philmartin.bsky.social · 26/11/2025

What do you think the primary goal of applied ecological/conservation research is? 1️⃣ Diagnose threats and impacts 2️⃣ Understand ecological processes 3️⃣ Inform management or policy 4️⃣ Something else (comment below) 📊 Show results

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Colin Beale @cmbeale.bsky.social · 24/11/2025

New paper out documenting research in protected areas across the African Savannah. We identify the widespread hot, wet savannah sites as understudied with 38% of all parks having no papers associated with them & 5 parks accounting for ~50% of all papers 🧪 1/3 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

A map of Africa showing each savanna protected area as one of five possible savanna clusters grouped according to climate, soil, and landscape parameters and the various environmental groups they call into. There are lots of sites that fall into "Cluster 1" of hot, mosit savannahs, but litte research in these areas.

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Colin Beale @cmbeale.bsky.social · 06/11/2025

So, next up is this fabulous project with me and @funkyant.bsky.social on nomadic birds in East Africa. Fieldwork and fancy spatial statistics are on offer here, and who doesn't want birds like this fabulous, nonadic Temminck's Courser?! www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

An attentive parent Temminck's Courser is feeding a cute chick. These are top quality birds. Give me MORE!!!!

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Colin Beale @cmbeale.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

This afternoons light reading included NERC science's "Forward look". www.ukri.org/publications... I'm loving the brazen audacity with which they claim as their achievements the Paris climate accord, etc. It makes my own occasional hyperbole look positively unambitious! 🧪

Document that says

Achievements:

140 countries have adopted net zero targets

39% capital value of global businesses with emission reduction targets aligned to the UN Paris Agreement

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Colin Beale @cmbeale.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

Over the next few weeks I'll be sharing some fun PhD opportunities. Today, if you're into hydrology, forests and wading 🪶 in Scotland this one might be for you! 🧪 www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

Rather famous scottish landscape with the west highlands railway looping through mountains. A forest plantation is evident. A few small people on the left are doing their best not to be recognised.

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Glen O'Hara @gsoh31.bsky.social · 24/10/2025

So I've been reading the Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper. There's some good things in there. But when it comes to universities there's very little to cheer. The situation is very tough and will get worse. The last chance to preserve what we've got has passed. Let me explain why. (1/?)

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Colin Beale @cmbeale.bsky.social · 24/10/2025

This was an unexpected start to the morning!

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Tiff Ki @tiff-ki.bsky.social · 21/10/2025

Really glad to see this exciting and fun work from my PhD out - huge thanks to @janehillyork.bsky.social @cmbeale.bsky.social and Dr Blanca Huertas! Next summer, going to go to Sulawesi to link two of these regions with present day surveys! 🦋

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Colin Beale @cmbeale.bsky.social · 20/10/2025

This was a great paper to work with @tiff-ki.bsky.social and great to see it out now!

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Colin Beale @cmbeale.bsky.social · 17/10/2025

A great choice of someone who has done so much to inspire a new generation of ornithologists!

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Rob Thomas @robthomasbirds.bsky.social · 16/10/2025

This was a lovely surprise and honour, to receive the 2025 Marsh Award for Ornithology from the British Trust for Ornithology @btobirds.bsky.social, at this evening’s opening of the Society of Wildlife Artists’ annual exhibition.

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Jonathan Pomroy @jonathanpomroy.bsky.social · 14/10/2025

They’re back! Redwings. A blog at jonathanpomroy.wordpress.com

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Spurn Bird Observatory @spurnbirdobs.bsky.social · 28/09/2025

We are looking for a short-term residential volunteer to join the team from the 2nd to 19th October (+/-2 days). Tasks include morning bird monitoring (Point Counts / Visible Migration watches) and afternoon maintenance tasks (habitat/estate work)⬇️

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Élie Pédarros @eliepedarros.bsky.social · 12/09/2025

Excited to share the preprint of our first @cascade-hei.bsky.social paper on “Potential for academic institutions to support international biodiversity commitments” 🌿 🌍.

doi.org

Potential for academic institutions to support international biodiversity commitments

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