iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Leo Fordham

UCL Faculty of Life Sciences @ucllifesciences.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

A fantastic week at the Biodiversity Futures Summer School 🌍 Thank you to all our speakers, organisers and students who explored how science, technology and evidence can help protect biodiversity and planetary health. #BiodiversityFutures #PlanetaryHealth #UCLLifeSciences #UCL200

Group photograph of Biodiversity Futures Summer School participants standing beneath the Olympic Rings sculpture in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. The colourful rings are framed against dramatic dark clouds, with trees and grassland surrounding the group.

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Leo Fordham @leofordham.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

Really enjoyed writing this blog post for the Bumblebee Conservation Trust about my resource supplementation work. It was surprisingly tricky but a really useful exercise in making my work more accessible. A huge thanks to the BCT for the opportunity and for sharing my research, check it out below!

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Reposted by Leo Fordham

Morgan Morrison @morganmorrison73.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

Happy to share our horizon scan of European wild pollinators is out! We identified 10 priority issues for 10yrs, including, for the 1st time, legislation as an opportunity (NRR). However, political shifts may slow progress, while new pesticide tech presents opportunities. doi.org/10.1038/s415...

doi.org

Horizon scanning for European wild pollinators identifies world-leading legislation as a key opportunity for pollinators - Scientific Reports

Scientific Reports - Horizon scanning for European wild pollinators identifies world-leading legislation as a key opportunity for pollinators

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Leo Fordham @leofordham.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

Happy to be home after a wonderful week at #ECCB2026. V exciting presenting the results of our pollinator e+airDNA (pollEnatAIR?) study for the first time, and thanks to all the incredible presenters and workshop hosts. How lovely is Leiden?? @eccb26leiden.bsky.social @scbeurope.bsky.social

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Leo Fordham @leofordham.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

Delighted to have given an invited talk yesterday on farmland bumblebee resource supplementation to the team @bumblebeetrust.bsky.social A fantastic charity and such an important interface for collaboration. The paper is here: bit.ly/41RtXaP and keep an eye out for a blog I'm writing for them too! 🧪

bit.ly

Resource supplementation later in the colony cycle improves real‐world bumblebee colony survival

Our findings suggest that B. terrestris colonies became food-limited towards the end of their colony cycle in early summer. We suggest ecological intensification through planting native wildflower sp...

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Reposted by Leo Fordham

Butterfly Conservation Europe @europebutterfly.bsky.social · 17/01/2026

Crucial new meta-analysis of pollinator requirements in agricultural landscapes shows that butterflies need a min of 37% of semi-natural habitat, whereas bees need 16-18% and hoverflies 6%. Where this is not possible greatly increasing habitat quality can help. natuurkennis.nl/wp-content/u...

Scarce Swallowtail, Iphiclides podalrius

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Leo Fordham @leofordham.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

Now officially out in the first JAE issue of 2026, read and share if you haven't already! 🧪

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Leo Fordham @leofordham.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

Had an absolutely fantastic time at #BES2025 and a massive well done to all speakers and presenters. Really enjoyed displaying my poster and research, representing two great unis, and meeting so many great people and potential collaborators. Glad my title brought as much joy to others as it did me!!

Me standing by my poster detailing research from my first chapter, titled 'Bees sir, can I have some more? Post-spring resource supplementation increases farmland bumblebee colony survival'

Group photo of postgrads from UCL East at the BES2025 poster session

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Leo Fordham @leofordham.bsky.social · 17/10/2025

Can anyone recommend any good online ecological #bioinformatics courses? Would appreciate guidance, I don't have buckets of time so the more direct and relevant the better. Thanks in advance! Picture for attention, copyright me

A side-on view of an orange large skipper butterfly (Ochlodes sylvanus) perching on a verdant blade of grass with its wings closed

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Reposted by Leo Fordham

UCL News @uclnews.bsky.social · 07/08/2025

Wasp scientists are calling for your help in a very simple survey: the next time a wasp visits your picnic, if you mark down whether it goes for protein or sugar, you can help Prof Seirian Sumner @waspwoman.bsky.social and her @uclcber.bsky.social colleagues better understand the wasp life cycle

ucl.ac.uk

Ham or jam? Help scientists by recording wasp food preferences

The next time a wasp visits your picnic, if you make a note of whether it goes for protein or sugar, you can help UCL scientists better understand the wasp life cycle.

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Leo Fordham @leofordham.bsky.social · 19/06/2025

Whilst doing a pollinator survey, I have fortuitously discovered that taking 0.6x selfies with a marbled white (Melanargia galathea) on one's nose is a great joy of life- can wholeheartedly recommend #butterfly #ecology #biodiversity #nature 🧪

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Leo Fordham @leofordham.bsky.social · 13/06/2025

Fieldworking hard or hardly fieldworking?

Picture taken during fieldwork, with calcareous grassland under a cloudless sky in the background and the book Count Belisarius in the foreground

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Leo Fordham @leofordham.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

Hive mind- never in doubt. The symposium was the perfect celebration of such a strong postgrad research department- well done to everyone, a privilege to be involved! 🐝🧪

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Leo Fordham @leofordham.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

Had a wonderful time yesterday at the Bumblebee Working Group meeting in Cambridge and really enjoyed presenting the debut of my first chapter results! Thanks to all who came and listened, and to @sofiadartnell.bsky.social, Lynn Dicks, and @camzoology.bsky.social for hosting- great job

Title slide of a presentation I gave at the 2025 Bumblebee Working Group in Cambridge: Summer but not spring resource supplementation increases bumblebee colony survival

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Leo Fordham @leofordham.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

Glorious day and location to teach @alexisggk.bsky.social and @cminnaar.bsky.social the art of catching (bumblebee) queens- what a ridiculous and brilliant job this is (Caught with permission from Windsor Great Park)

A captured buff-tailed bumblebee queen in the foreground with researchers diligently capturing more in the background

A sea of flowering heather (Calluna sp) in Windsor Great Park

A bad close up of a buff-tailed bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) queen foraging on heather

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Leo Fordham @leofordham.bsky.social · 27/02/2025

What a great year it was to run a large scale bumblebee colony survival experiment! Hoping to publish the results very soon, but spoiler- it's not looking pretty

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Reposted by Leo Fordham

ceevol.bsky.social @ceevol.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DARWIN!! Celebrating today with CEE Darwin's Birthday Debate at @nhm-london.bsky.social. Looking at 'How would Darwin do fieldwork today? Sharing science benefits equitably in ecology and evolution' #CEEDarwin2025

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Leo Fordham @leofordham.bsky.social · 16/12/2024

@iussi-nwes.bsky.social 2024 conference at QMUL off to a very strong start with a fascinating talk by Guillaume Chomicki on what ant-plant interactions can tell us about evolution #IUSSI #IUSSI24

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Reposted by Leo Fordham

Hannah Scharf @hannah-scharf.bsky.social · 02/12/2024

Because there is still a lot of interest and the first pack is full, I made a second part to the behavioral ecology starter pack 🦅🐟🦧🐝🦎 go.bsky.app/2ZkeB2Z

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Leo Fordham @leofordham.bsky.social · 25/11/2024

Seen lots of general and brilliant starter packs for bee/ento/invert researchers, but not yet one specifically for early career researchers- would there be interest in joining if I made one? Similarly if I've missed any then directions would be appreciated (pic for attention)

Honeybee foraging on a low plant with dense clusters of small white flowers

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Reposted by Leo Fordham

Dave Goulson @davegoulson.bsky.social · 23/11/2024

It seems to me that the debate over applying inheritance text to farmland has been v one sided. At the risk of making myself unpopular, a thread of observations follows: 1) For a couple leaving a farm to their descendants, the tax threshold is £3 million, not £1 million as widely stated.

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