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Heather Richardson

@hg-richardson.bsky.social
476 followers 876 following 158 posts

📝 Freelance journalist covering conservation, environmental science, travel + more for Nat Geo, Nature, BBC, etc. ✍️ Writing a book about human-wildlife conflict 📍🇬🇧🇿🇦🇪🇺 🔗 linktr.ee/hg_richardson

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Heather Richardson @hg-richardson.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Friday reads: heathergracerichardson.substack.com/p/reads-of-t...
heathergracerichardson.substack.com
📖 Reads of the week: Fat bears + how great apes grieve
Plus: Egypt looks to bolster cultural tourism with medical offerings.
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Heather Richardson @hg-richardson.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Articles I read over the past week: heathergracerichardson.substack.com/p/reads-of-t...
heathergracerichardson.substack.com
📖 Reads of the week: On feeding bears in Montana + Mauritania’s iron ore train
Plus: Why we all love foreign supermarkets.
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Heather Richardson @hg-richardson.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Things I read this week: heathergracerichardson.substack.com/p/reads-of-t... #climatechange #travel
heathergracerichardson.substack.com
📖 Reads of the week: Fascism and climate change + narwhal data collectors
Plus: Saudi’s efforts to build a high-end restaurant scene + Chamonix’s UTMB problem.
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Reposted by Heather Richardson
Jeffrey Perkel (he/him) @jperkel.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
#AI offers a powerful technology for managing zoonotic diseases and reducing the risk of spillover, possibly even preventing outbreaks in the first place. At least, that’s the theory. @hg-richardson.bsky.social reports @nature.com 🧪https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-02684-1
nature.com
AI models are being used to track zoonotic diseases. Will they prevent the next pandemic?
Spread of diseases between humans and animals is an issue around the world. But AI models can be used to monitor their progress.
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Heather Richardson @hg-richardson.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Can sharks help us predict hurricanes? 🦈 www.reuters.com/business/env...
reuters.com
Scientists turn to sharks to improve hurricane predictions
From the killer shark of Jaws to the tornado-tossed predators of the Sharknado movies, films long have portrayed sharks as objects of summer fear. But when a shark ​cuts through the waters off the U.S...
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Heather Richardson @hg-richardson.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Love this 🥰 Retired shepherd Joaquin Tapioles built his own observatory, from where he’ll watch next week’s total solar eclipse: www.reuters.com/science/spai...
reuters.com
Spain's 'Galactic Shepherd' to watch total eclipse from DIY observatory
In a tiny Spanish farming village, retired shepherd Joaquin Tapioles is preparing to watch next week's first-in-a-century total ​solar eclipse from the observatory he built after being inspired by ‌th...
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Heather Richardson @hg-richardson.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
- Funding for 1,000 PhDs on the Congo Basin ✅ - Do non-human primates form social bonds with other animals? 🐒 - Why a “No Influencers” sign in Nantucket went viral 🤳 ⬇️ open.substack.com/pub/heatherg...
open.substack.com
📖 Reads of the week: Congo research drive + primates that keep pets
Plus: Why a "No Influencers" sign in Nantucket went viral.
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Heather Richardson @hg-richardson.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
This week: 🏡 How the city of Guimarães tries to exist within planetary boundaries. 🐅 Forget zebra crossings, India’s all about tiger overpasses (but core habitats need attention too). 🦒 And do safari tourists stress out wildlife? open.substack.com/pub/heatherg...
open.substack.com
📖 Reads of the week: Greening Guimarães + creating pathways for tigers
Plus: Do safari tourists stress out wildlife? A team of researchers decided to find out.
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Reposted by Heather Richardson
EMILY WILSON @emilyrcwilson.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
No professional accomplishment has ever made me happier than this. theonion.com/translator-o...
theonion.com
Translator Of Original ‘Minions’ Epic Poem Slams ‘Sexless, Bloodless’ Film Adaptation
PHILADELPHIA—In a 4,500-word essay published in Harper’s Magazine, Emily Wilson, known for her popular translation of the Minions epic poem, blasted the latest film Thursday as a “sexless, bloodless” ...
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Heather Richardson @hg-richardson.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Who gets to be the naked mole rat queen? And more: open.substack.com/pub/heatherg... #wildlife #nature
open.substack.com
📖 Reads of the week: Naked mole rat queens + uncontainable elephants
Plus: Why Antarctica guides are quitting their dream jobs.
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Heather Richardson @hg-richardson.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
"Tough questions need to be asked of Africa’s leaders about why millions of their citizens gamble with death to reach Europe or to wade through the crocodile-infested Limpopo River to escape Zimbabwe." Justice Malala on SA's xenophobic violence: www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...
bloomberg.com
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Heather Richardson @hg-richardson.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
An iceberg obit, how Nigerian women’s groups are leading conservation efforts, and China’s attempt to rebrand Xinjiang: open.substack.com/pub/heatherg...
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Heather Richardson @hg-richardson.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
An iceberg obit, how Nigerian women’s groups are leading conservation efforts, and China’s attempt to rebrand Xinjiang: open.substack.com/pub/heatherg...
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Heather Richardson @hg-richardson.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
This week I’ve been reading about how scientists are safeguarding our coffee habits, the Soviet history of cactus collecting, and the trial of a man charged over his girlfriend’s death during their ascent of Austria’s highest mountain. #science #nature open.substack.com/pub/heatherg...
open.substack.com
📖 Reads of the week: Coffee conservation + cacti smuggling
Plus: Inside the trial of the mountaineer whose girlfriend died on Grossglockner.
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Heather Richardson @hg-richardson.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
For anyone wondering why the UK struggles so much with the heat 🔥 —> theconversation.com/heat-humidit...
theconversation.com
Heat, humidity and housing: why British heatwaves hit differently
A 35°C heatwave really does “feel worse” in the UK than in many other countries.
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Heather Richardson @hg-richardson.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
Very good 🛥️
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Heather Richardson @hg-richardson.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Okay, Gwyneth Paltrow
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Heather Richardson @hg-richardson.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
Can an ecosystem “malfunction”? How one village coexists with baboons. And the places that want off the UNESCO World Heritage List: open.substack.com/pub/heatherg... #nature #science #ecology #tourism
open.substack.com
📖 Reads of the week: Ecosystem views + human-baboon coexistence
Plus: The sites fighting for UNESCO World Heritage de-listing.
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Heather Richardson @hg-richardson.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
One of Britain’s biggest oaks has died after passing spring with no new leaves. It’s thought to be up to 1,200 years old. A major contributing factor to its death is likely to be years of heavy human traffic around the oak – maybe that’s something areas with “famous” trees can learn from.
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FRANCE 24 English @en.france24.com · 15/06/2026
Isreal to stay ‘indefinitely’ in lands seized in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza, says defence minister
f24.my
Isreal to stay ‘indefinitely’ in lands seized in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza, says defence minister
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Monday that Israeli ground forces would remain in land they hold in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza, potentially challenging a memorandum of understanding announced a day earlier between the US and Iran to end the war in the Middle East.
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Heather Richardson @hg-richardson.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
👏👏👏 Next on my to-buy list... www.thebookseller.com/news/wynn-wi...
thebookseller.com
Wynn-Williams’ Careless People sales soar by 305% after author ‘silenced’ at Hay
Sales of Sarah Wynn-Williams’ book Careless People have shot up the by 304.5% week-on-week, according to the latest charts data from NielsenIQ BookData.
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Reposted by Heather Richardson
Heather Richardson @hg-richardson.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
Sharks, protests and football: open.substack.com/pub/heatherg...
open.substack.com
📖 Reads of the week: Great white shark in the Med + national park protests in Kenya
Plus: All the reasons this World Cup already sucks.
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Heather Richardson @hg-richardson.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
When I catch myself muttering at the end of an interview.
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Heather Richardson @hg-richardson.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
Sharks, protests and football: open.substack.com/pub/heatherg...
open.substack.com
📖 Reads of the week: Great white shark in the Med + national park protests in Kenya
Plus: All the reasons this World Cup already sucks.
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Heather Richardson @hg-richardson.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
Reuters journalists Nafisa Eltahir, Suzanne Vanhooymissen and Reade Levinson on their documentary "Death in Darfur: 3 days of horror caught on camera": www.reuters.com/podcasts/exp... #Sudan @reuters.com
reuters.com
Exposing a massacre
Reuters journalists use online videos to reconstruct the details of a massacre.
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Heather Richardson @hg-richardson.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
Noisy spawning, Albanian protests, and a miraculous survival story from Nepal: open.substack.com/pub/heatherg... #nature #conservation
open.substack.com
📖 Reads of the week: Thunderous mating + Albanian rage
Plus: A story of survival against the odds from Mount Everest.
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Heather Richardson @hg-richardson.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
"The micropayment, on this reading, is not the destination. It is the door." On the big question of how to fund newsrooms @reutersinstitute.bsky.social reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/news/micropa...
reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk
Micropayments for news have failed everywhere. Can they succeed in Kenya?
Two legacy newspapers are leveraging mobile payments to offer day passes and access to articles for small prices. Maurice Oniang’o examines whether it’s working.
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Heather Richardson @hg-richardson.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
On sacred baobabs and the shared joy of having a favourite tree: heathergracerichardson.substack.com/p/reads-of-t... #nature
heathergracerichardson.substack.com
📖 Reads of the week: Connecting with trees
Plus: A pan-Africanist road trip through West Africa.
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Heather Richardson @hg-richardson.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
Beyond Plastics attached location trackers to 36 single-use polypropylene cups and placed them in recycling bins inside Starbucks stores across the US. ​None were tracked to a recycling facility, but 33 ​ended up in landfills, incinerators, or on their way to either. www.reuters.com/business/env...
reuters.com
US group says Starbucks plastic cups marked recyclable end up in trash
Starbucks' plastic single-use cups it often serves in U.S. cafes ‌are not as recyclable as the company claims, an environmental nonprofit group said on Wednesday.
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Heather Richardson @hg-richardson.bsky.social · 24/05/2026
Figured out the secret to a great running shot is simply running 3mins/km, so going to give that a go next time #CapeTownMarathon
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Heather Richardson @hg-richardson.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
Keurboomstrand, South Africa 🇿🇦
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Heather Richardson @hg-richardson.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
For any new-ish nature journalists, check out @mongabay.com's webinar "How Journalism Works": mongabay.org/opportunity/... #journalism #environment #nature
mongabay.org
How Journalism Works - Environmental Journalism and Education
How do journalists decide what to report? What makes a story idea worth considering? And how can organizations, researchers, practitioners, and communities share information in a way that is clear, re...
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Heather Richardson @hg-richardson.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
Whales 🐋, SciComm 🎙️ + thru-hiking 🥾: open.substack.com/pub/heatherg...
open.substack.com
📖 Reads of the week: Whale stranding politics + reframing climate change
Plus: Thru-hiker Kamryn Renae doing her own thing on the PCT.
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Heather Richardson @hg-richardson.bsky.social · 09/05/2026
The theme this week is LAND open.substack.com/pub/heatherg... #conservation #sustainability #equality
open.substack.com
📖 Reads of the week: fortress conservation + green colonialism
Plus, what a Cape Town bike ride reveals about apartheid's legacy
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Heather Richardson @hg-richardson.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
Kraken-like giant octopuses, conservative environmentalists, and the jet fuel crisis heathergracerichardson.substack.com/p/reads-of-t...
heathergracerichardson.substack.com
📖 Reads of the week (24.04.26)
Kraken-like giant octopuses, conservative environmentalists, and the jet fuel crisis.
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Asher HELLbein @asherelbein.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
This is wild: the authors find evidence for giant, macro-predatory octopuses in Late Cretaceous oceans that might max out at *62 feet long,* comfortably large enough to attack, kill and eat mosasaurs
science.org
Earliest octopuses were giant top predators in Cretaceous oceans
Top predators drive changes in ecosystem structure. For the last ~370 million years, large-sized vertebrates have dominated the apex of the marine food chain, while invertebrates have served as smalle...
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Heather Richardson @hg-richardson.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
Amazing photos of women riders in tbourida, by Chantal Pinzi.
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Heather Richardson @hg-richardson.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
Space stewardship, travelling while blind, and controversies around a new conservation CEO and Robben Island tourism open.substack.com/pub/heatherg... #science #environment #travel #conservation #history
open.substack.com
📖 Reads of the week (17.04.26)
Space stewardship, travelling while blind, and controversies around a new conservation CEO and Robben Island tourism.
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Heather Richardson @hg-richardson.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
Bits from the past 2.5 months in Athens 🇬🇷 #Greece
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Heather Richardson @hg-richardson.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
Stuff I read this week: open.substack.com/pub/heatherg...
open.substack.com
📖 Reads of the week (03.04.26)
Anne Poelina, "nature diplomacy", and risky glacier tourism.
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Heather Richardson @hg-richardson.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
Baby sperm whale!!! 🩶
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It's ME(Jaime) @exceedhergrasp1.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
Isn't this hobbyless behavior?
User abbiistabbii says:

The Germans really cooked making "Hobbyless behavior" an insult. It is both devastating, applicable to a wide range of people and behaviors, and doesn't resort to swearing.

Man ranting on the internet about the Superbowl halftime show or complaining that something is "woke"? Hobbyless behavior.  Girls mocking another girl for not looking right? Hobbyless behavior.  Mindless vandalism?  Hobbyless behavior.

It is more powerful than "get a life" or the English "You're Sad" because it gets to the central point of the matter, and that is wonderful. Danke, Deutsch.
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Heather Richardson @hg-richardson.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
Please just go and listen to the sounds of rats chatting: open.substack.com/pub/heatherg...
open.substack.com
📖 Reads of the week (20.03.26)
Sounds we can't hear, mining impact in Zambia, and how Flightradar24 took off.
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Heather Richardson @hg-richardson.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
Please just go and listen to the sounds of rats chatting: open.substack.com/pub/heatherg...
open.substack.com
📖 Reads of the week (20.03.26)
Sounds we can't hear, mining impact in Zambia, and how Flightradar24 took off.
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Reposted by Heather Richardson
Kat Abughazaleh @katmabu.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
Dark money groups are paying influencers to spread attacks about our campaign. Voters deserve to know who is trying to manipulate our election.
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Reposted by Heather Richardson
Scientific American @sciam.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
Dolphins washing up on the shores of Patagonia may have been fleeing orcas in the area
scientificamerican.com
Dolphins have been stranding in droves on the shores of Patagonia. Scientists think they’ve found the culprit
Dolphins washing up on the shores of Patagonia may have been fleeing orcas in the area
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Heather Richardson @hg-richardson.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
'Parisian car traffic fell by more than half between 2002 and 2023, while cycle lanes expanded sixfold. Bikes now make more than twice as many journeys as cars. Hidalgo, stepping down after 12 years, exulted: “The bike beat the car.”' www.ft.com/content/882e...
ft.com
How Paris beat the car
Though chaotic, the city’s transition has become a global role model
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Heather Richardson @hg-richardson.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
Featuring: - a black rain explainer from @nature.com 🇮🇷 - a piece on research from Japan about climate change and bear attacks by @benjij.bsky.social for @vox.com 🐻 - @xaviergreenwood.bsky.social’s article about Dubai influencers for @theobserveruk.bsky.social 🤳 open.substack.com/pub/heatherg...
open.substack.com
📖 Reads of the week (13.03.26)
Black rain in Tehran, how cloud cover affects human-bear conflict, and influencer politics in Dubai.
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Heather Richardson @hg-richardson.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
How incredible is this photo of a cauliflower soft coral, by Ross Gudgeon? It won the Close-up Photographer of the Year 7 (2025). www.cupoty.com/winners-7
Photo of a cauliflower soft coral.
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Heather Richardson @hg-richardson.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
They knew what the effects would be when they targeted that oil facility. It should be unforgivable.
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