iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Prof. Jeff Ollerton @jeffollerton.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Absolutely! I used this quote from Jeremy Fox's recent book as an opener to a recent paper: pollinationecology.org/index.php/jp...

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Michael Caterino @mcaterino.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

An outstanding review of the myriad ways insects are central to vertebrate survival. They appropriately call attention to how much we still don't know about these interactions and how to conserve them, but avoid (intentionally?) calling attention to the fact that we are included in 'vertebrates'!

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Prof. Jeff Ollerton @jeffollerton.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Yes, there was a lot of discussion about that within the working group! We have a couple of other reviews coming out that deal with the human dimension.

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Anntics #difficultwoman @anntics.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Insects Matter Too

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Tess Grainger @tessgrainger.bsky.social · 03/11/2025

New paper out today in Ecology Letters! In this synthesis we dive into the equilibrium assumption in ecology - why it's everywhere in ecological theory, the evidence for it in nature, when meeting the assumption is important, how to achieve it in empirical research, and more! tinyurl.com/yh6kyysm

Drawing of a researcher looking out thoughtfully at mountains, grasslands and intertidal study systems

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Systems Ecology @systems-ecology.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

🌱 Systems Ecology is now live! A new independent, researcher-run, diamond OA journal for ecological research through systems science. Free to read. Free to publish. No APCs. We are now open for submissions: systems-ecology.org Please help spread the word!

systems-ecology.org

Systems Ecology

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Ricard Solé @ricardsole.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

We are very happy to announce the launch of Systems Ecology @systems-ecology.bsky.social, a new independent, diamond open-access journal dedicated to advancing systems-level understanding in ecology. systems-ecology.org/index.php/se Check the Founding editorial! systems-ecology.org/index.php/se...

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Michael Caterino @mcaterino.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

A fascinating story (summarized in a very digestible blog post)!

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Prof. Jeff Ollerton @jeffollerton.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Fake figs, fooled fig wasps & rewarded flies: this plant has one of the strangest #pollination systems yet found in #Apocynaceae. I’ve written about the new study and how it fits into our wider work on this extraordinary plant family. Read more here: jeffollerton.co.uk/2026/09/18/f... #Biodiversity

jeffollerton.co.uk

Fake figs, fooled wasps, and another extraordinary Apocynaceae pollination system

One of the things I love about working on the milkweed and dogbane family (Apocynaceae) is that it has an apparently inexhaustible capacity to produce strange and wonderful interactions with animal…

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Molecular Biology and Evolution @molbioevol.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Mullin et al. use WGS from 101 museum specimens of British/Irish moss carder bumblebees from 1894-2019 to reveal a dramatic drop in genetic diversity: ∼24.6% decrease in heterozygosity and a 2.86-fold increase in ROH 🔗 academic.oup.com/mbe/article/... 📷 Gavin Broad #societyjournal #naturalhistory

MBE | Museum specimens reveal the genomic consequences of long-term population decline in an insect pollinator

Photo: Gavin Broad

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Prof. Jeff Ollerton @jeffollerton.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

I agree 100%!! The current trend for f**king signs everywhere telling us how to feel is deeply, deeply annoying.

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Annie Leymarie @annieleymarie.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

THe UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (UKCEH), together with local farmers, is trialling 9 hardy rice varieties in rewetted peat soils in the Fens. www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...

Pic of a rewetted land looking lush with a few (non native!) rice plants in a patch of water, surrounded by what seems a wide range of native plants.

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Prof. Jeff Ollerton @jeffollerton.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

A new season of Radio Go! starts on 25th September! Don't forget to turn on your webcam...

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Prof. Jeff Ollerton @jeffollerton.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

That's not a Theory, those are Premises.

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Prof. Jeff Ollerton @jeffollerton.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

"Not all those who wander are lost"....unless they're trying to navigate through this book by #Tolkien

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Prof. Jeff Ollerton @jeffollerton.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Nature loss is increasingly a national security issue. From natural infrastructure and defensive rewilding to sovereign debt, food-system resilience and the UK’s Climate Security Taskforce, the framing is shifting. #NatureSecurity #Biodiversity #NationalSecurity jeffollerton.co.uk/2026/09/04/n...

jeffollerton.co.uk

Nature and national security: some recent developments

Back in January I wrote a post entitled Pollination as a matter of national security, prompted by the UK Government’s rather extraordinary publication of this report: Global biodiversity loss, ecos…

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Butterfly @butterfly-project.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

🧵1/4 💡 Pollinator stewardship begins by recognising that pollinators do far more than pollinate 🪲Many forest pollinators spend most of their lives as larvae, hidden from flowers in dead wood or leaf litter. #ForestStation 1/3: 🎥1 insect, 2 lives @jagiellonskiuni.bsky.social @ioes-ju.bsky.social

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Butterfly @butterfly-project.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

🧵2/4 As adults, these insects carry pollen between flowers. As larvae, they decompose dead matter and return chemical elements to the cycle of matter – fundamental process that sustains life. One organism. Two life stages. Two essential roles in keeping the forest alive.

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Butterfly @butterfly-project.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

🧵3/4 This is #PollinatorStewardship: protecting not just flower-visiting adults, but the habitats and resources required throughout the entire life cycle. Effective pollinator conservation must reach beyond flowers.

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Butterfly @butterfly-project.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

🧵4/4 This hidden world connects the work of Butterfly and our sibling project ProPollSoil 🌱 f.mtr.cool/ftgpdhujoi 📖 Read the Butterfly Newsletter and subscribe so you don't miss out on future issues! 📣

f.mtr.cool

Newsletter

Newsletter Subscribe to our Newsletter to receive it directly into your inbox twice a year! Find the latest edition of our Newsletter below: Volume 1, Spring 2026 You can unsubscribe from the newsletter here.

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Prof. Jeff Ollerton @jeffollerton.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

genAI and data centres are not "destroying the Earth" - human activities are impacting the Earth. The major one being agriculture which has a much, much bigger impact in terms of energy, land use, chemical inputs and water. We'll agree to differ, but it's important to see the bigger picture.

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Prof. Jeff Ollerton @jeffollerton.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

I would not trust any book that "overestimates the water usage of a datacenter in Chile by a factor of 1,000x due to a unit conversion error". There have been other books on OpenAI that have been more positive - it depends on how journalists choose to spin it.

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Prof. Jeff Ollerton @jeffollerton.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

Can you provide some links to the evidence base for those claims and I'll take a look.

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Prof. Jeff Ollerton @jeffollerton.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

The Israeli government is using AI, including Microsoft systems, in its military work, but that's not the same as claiming that OpenAI is "actively funding a genocide". All data centres, for all purposes (including Bluesky) require water and power, and that's certainly a concern.

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Quantian @quantian.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

After intensive discussion I have concluded that it is necessary to build an entire Potemkin internet exactly as it appeared in 2005. You get Wikipedia, forums, news sites, whatever, but no short form video, social media, or AI. When you graduate college you get the password to the real Internet.

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Prof. Jeff Ollerton @jeffollerton.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Keeping up with the scientific literature is difficult! I have been experimenting with #ChatGPT alerts to produce a weekly, curated #pollination briefing. In this post, I reflect on what makes that approach useful, and why it still needs informed human judgement: jeffollerton.co.uk/2026/07/24/k...

jeffollerton.co.uk

Keeping up with pollination: using ChatGPT as a research alert

There is too much science. That is not a complaint about the quantity of research being done. Quite the opposite: it is remarkable how much good work is now being published across the world. But th…

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Jeroen van der Sluijs @jeroenvandersluijs.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

News about the Joint White Paper "Towards pollinator stewardship in all policies: Policy incoherence in the EU is a major barrier to pollinator restoration" (doi.org/10.5281/zeno...) Now in 14 languages! Share these stories with your national policy makers butterfly-europe.eu/media-covera...

https://butterfly-europe.eu/media-coverage-of-joint-white-paper-towards-pollinator-stewardship-in-all-policies/

Eight EU projects propose a roadmap to reverse the wild pollinator decline - Funded by the European Union

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WildPosh Project @wildposh.eu · 09/07/2026

Last week, WildPosh partners joined the #ECE2026 in Tours, France. The project was presented by: 🐝Project manager Sara Reverte (UMONS) 🦋 @sabpes.bsky.social (University of Turin) 🪲 Our communications partner @pensoft.net Learn more: www.wildposh.eu/news/wildpos...

wildposh.eu

WildPosh partners present research at ECE 2026

Last week, WildPosh partners joined the XIII European Congress of Entomology (ECE 2026) in Tours, France. This international conference brought together 1,400 participants to share research on the rol...

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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

This point needs to be made over and again: The main purpose of wealth taxes should not be to raise revenue. That's a small and secondary benefit. The main purpose should be to *reduce the fortunes of the ultrarich*. Why? Because those fortunes present a massive threat to democracy and public life.

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Prof. Jeff Ollerton @jeffollerton.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

It was a real pleasure to be invited to Westminster to give evidence to this inquiry. I look forward to seeing the final report in November.

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Buizer Advies @buizeradvies.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

A roadmap to reverse the decline of wild pollinators and protect managed bees   buizeradvies.nl/2026/06/26/a... Thanks to @jeroenvandersluijs.bsky.social e.a. #policy #pollinators @christophehansen.bsky.social The Privet Hawk Moth is a nocturnal pollinator👇 Photo: @jeffollerton.bsky.social

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Butterfly @butterfly-project.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

🧵3/3 The preprint of our White Paper is now available to support EU Member States and everyone working on pollinator restoration plans. The final, fully-edited version of the document will be delivered in about a month. Read the preprint: doi.org/10.5281/zeno... #PollinatorStewardship

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Butterfly @butterfly-project.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

🧵2/3 Agriculture, chemicals, planning, education, finance, trade and research all shape the future of pollinators for better or worse. That is why we call for pollinator stewardship in all policies: a shared responsibility to care for pollinators, their habitats and the services they provide.

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Butterfly @butterfly-project.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

🧵1/3 It’s #PollinatorWeek 🐝🦋 A moment to celebrate pollinators, and to ask whether our policies truly give them a chance to recover. Our new joint White Paper argues that pollinator restoration needs coherent action across sectors. Read the preprint: doi.org/10.5281/zeno... #Pollinators

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Biological Recording Company @biologicalrecording.co.uk · 31/05/2026

🐝 Want to survey pollinators with confidence? Join the self‑paced Surveying for Pollinators course with Pollinator Specialist @jeffollerton.bsky.social. Learn techniques & study design for effective monitoring, for ONLY £12.50. 📌 Enrol: courses.biologicalrecording.co.uk/courses/surv...

courses.biologicalrecording.co.uk

Pollinator Survey Methods: Tools for Research & Conservation

Learn practical and advanced pollinator survey techniques in this online course. From transects to trapping, discover methods to monitor bees, butterflies, and more — and see how your data can inform ...

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Prof. Jeff Ollerton @jeffollerton.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

Escape the European heatwave - stay indoors, stay cool, and enjoy tomorrow's webinar on Plant-Pollinator Interactions and the UN Sustainable Development Goals! There's still time to sign up: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/plant-poll... #Biodiversity #Ecology #Pollinators #UNSDGS #Bees

eventbrite.co.uk

Plant-Pollinator Interactions and the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Learn why plant–pollinator interactions matter, how they underpin the UN SDGs, and what actions can support a pollinator-friendly future.

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Biological Recording Company @biologicalrecording.co.uk · 25/05/2026

Last chance! 🐝🦋 Join Professor @jeffollerton.bsky.social tomorrow for our Skills for Ecology webinar: “Plant–Pollinator Interactions Underpin SDGs”. Explore how pollinators support food security, biodiversity, climate resilience and sustainable development 🧪 🌎 www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1980275133...

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Biological Recording Company @biologicalrecording.co.uk · 21/05/2026

Why do pollinators matter for the UN SDGs? They support food, healthy diets, resilient ecosystems & biodiversity—linking to SDGs on hunger, health, climate & nature 🌎 🧪 Join our webinar with Prof. @jeffollerton.bsky.social on 26th May to learn more! 🔗 www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1980275133...

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Prof. Jeff Ollerton @jeffollerton.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

Sometimes, #science does not go the way you plan. That is usually framed as failure: the experiment did not work, the results were inconclusive, the story was unclear. But science can also advance when we go back to old data and ask a different question: jeffollerton.co.uk/2026/05/21/w...

jeffollerton.co.uk

When an old experiment revealed a new story about flowers

Sometimes, science does not go the way you plan. That is usually framed as failure: the experiment did not work, the results were inconclusive, the story was unclear. But science can also advance w…

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Prof. Jeff Ollerton @jeffollerton.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

I haven't John, I'll take a look, thanks.

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Biological Recording Company @biologicalrecording.co.uk · 27/04/2026

What does Biodiversity Net Gain mean for pollinators? 🐝 Prof @jeffollerton.bsky.social discusses how BNG may overlook insect needs—and how it could evolve to better support the pollinators behind ~75% of wild plants 🌎 🧪 Watch: youtu.be/PNnUEDs8KeM @britentsoc.bsky.social @amentsoc.bsky.social

youtu.be

Biodiversity Net Gain: What Could BNG Mean For Pollinators?

YouTube video by Biological Recording Company

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Prof. Jeff Ollerton @jeffollerton.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

Peter Raven has passed. A very sad loss, but also a life well lived, and that should be celebrated. I was glad to have the chance to meet Peter, briefly, when I was introduced to him at the International Botanical Congress in Shenzhen. RIP news.mongabay.com/2026/04/pete... #biodiversity #botany

news.mongabay.com

Peter Raven, botanist and advocate for biodiversity, has died, aged 89

Life on Earth is often described as a web, but for much of modern science it was catalogued as a ledger: names, specimens, distributions, relationships drawn in careful lines. Over the course of the 2...

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Prof. Jeff Ollerton @jeffollerton.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

What the COVID lockdowns taught us about plant-pollinator specialisation in gardens. One of the few positive things to come out of the COVID lockdowns was the unexpected opportunity to look much more closely at the nature right outside our doors: jeffollerton.co.uk/2026/04/23/w... #biodiversity

jeffollerton.co.uk

What the COVID lockdowns taught us about plant-pollinator specialisation in gardens

One of the few positive things to come out of the COVID lockdowns was the unexpected opportunity to look much more closely at the nature right outside our doors. In 2020 I coordinated the Lockdown …

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Dara Stanley @darastanley.bsky.social · 16/04/2026

We're looking for records of ground nesting bees around Europe! Can you help? Follow the simple steps below! @aicbrn.bsky.social @esai-irl.bsky.social @ucdearth.bsky.social @pomscheme.bsky.social @climatecocentre.bsky.social

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Biological Recording Company @biologicalrecording.co.uk · 17/04/2026

Pollinators quietly support many UN Sustainable Development Goals – from Zero Hunger to Climate Action. 🐝 🌍 🧪 Join Prof @jeffollerton.bsky.social to explore how plant–pollinator interactions underpin sustainable development. 📅 26 May 2026 | 12:30–14:00 🎟 www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1980275133...

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