Sign in

Raf De Bont 🟥

@rafdebont.bsky.social
3.5K followers 856 following 165 posts

Historian of science and the environment // Late adopter & cautious adventurer // Interested in 19th, 20th and 21st century natures // Author of Stations in the Field and Nature's Diplomats // moving-animals.nl

PostsRepliesMedia
Raf De Bont 🟥 @rafdebont.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
On my way back from the Tensions in Europe conference Apart from the great talks, I was also charmed by Eindhoven's modernist architecture. Somehow this past futurism makes me a bit nostalgic.
030
Raf De Bont 🟥 @rafdebont.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
"Drill, baby, drill!" This graph shows oil production by the three biggest producers. U.S. output has risen almost continuously since the late Bush Jr. years. Trump can be blamed for much worse, but on oil he's more an accelerant than an outlier: the shale boom made higher production bipartisan.
110
Raf De Bont 🟥 @rafdebont.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
@monicavasile.bsky.social did a great job today defending her PhD thesis 'Saving Species: A History of Wildlife Reintroductions and Recovery' (seen below in the wild). The supervisors are very proud!
5323
Raf De Bont 🟥 @rafdebont.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Of course, I knew that 'ethnic' cuisine is usually a combination of lies and lazy stereotypes, but it becomes all the more apparent when the 'ethnicity' involved is your own. 'Flemish' fish and chips?
110
Raf De Bont 🟥 @rafdebont.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
Publication day! Globalizing Wildlife - edited by Tom Quick, @vbateman.bsky.social and yours truly - shows that globalization is not just a human but also an animal affair.
2329
Raf De Bont 🟥 @rafdebont.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
And in the margins of the exotica, a bit of Heimatgefühl.
020
Raf De Bont 🟥 @rafdebont.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
Neatly labeled wilderness!
140
Raf De Bont 🟥 @rafdebont.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
It has high-tech jungles!
110
Raf De Bont 🟥 @rafdebont.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
Used the occasion of being in the Max Planck institute to visit the imposing Botanical garden nearby.
150
Raf De Bont 🟥 @rafdebont.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
On a sidenote: the MPIWG also has impressive canteen technologies.
110
Raf De Bont 🟥 @rafdebont.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
To my relief, the people hanging around there have nothing of the stern aura of Max Planck (whose bust is still in the hallway).
120
Raf De Bont 🟥 @rafdebont.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
Outlines of a house (Liège).
030
Raf De Bont 🟥 @rafdebont.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
@upittpress.bsky.social currently has a discount of 40% on their books, including my Nature's Diplomats. The discount code is 29INT40, and the landing page is here: upittpress.org/intersection....
087
Raf De Bont 🟥 @rafdebont.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
Our Faculty kestrel is a beacon of Enlightenment.
191
Raf De Bont 🟥 @rafdebont.bsky.social · 26/11/2025
All this in the slightly intimidating decor of the royal palace.
020
Raf De Bont 🟥 @rafdebont.bsky.social · 25/11/2025
You can probably blame the Dutch royals for lots of things, but not for their choice in Erasmus Prize winners. Hooray for Donna Haraway!
1181
Raf De Bont 🟥 @rafdebont.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
Pre-discussing the Dutch elections @fasosmaastricht.bsky.social
051
Raf De Bont 🟥 @rafdebont.bsky.social · 04/10/2025
@fasosmaastricht.bsky.social is mooi vertegenwoordigd op het Weekend van de Wetenschap!
120
Raf De Bont 🟥 @rafdebont.bsky.social · 02/10/2025
My neighbors' red maple. Although considered highly adaptable, this one individual has been suffering under increasingly hot and dry summers. Still, every October, it is my favorite non-native species.
030
Raf De Bont 🟥 @rafdebont.bsky.social · 20/09/2025
With some scary taxidermy during the lunch break.
0110
Raf De Bont 🟥 @rafdebont.bsky.social · 20/09/2025
On my way back from the "Planetary Futures" conference in Manchester, organized by @sadiahqureshi.bsky.social and @duncanwilson78.bsky.social Two days of vibrant discussions on how the humanities can help us understand extinction.
2347
Raf De Bont 🟥 @rafdebont.bsky.social · 22/08/2025
Impressions from #eseh2025: a speech by Linnaeus himself, grandiose academic architecture and a quaint natural history museum. But, above all, wonderfully engaging panels and workshops. And, abover all, catching up with old and new friends. Many thanks to the organizers!
0111
Raf De Bont 🟥 @rafdebont.bsky.social · 18/08/2025
Good morning Sweden! On the train towards #eseh2025
081
Raf De Bont 🟥 @rafdebont.bsky.social · 05/07/2025
The imagined student-professor relationship at Basel university looks rather, uh, Leninist.
040
Raf De Bont 🟥 @rafdebont.bsky.social · 13/06/2025
New article in Osiris, entitled 'Flying Rhinos', in which I follow two northern white rhinoceroses to discuss the entanglement of mid-twentieth century zoo conservation, colonialism and celebrity culture: www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
3459
Raf De Bont 🟥 @rafdebont.bsky.social · 15/05/2025
And the evening, still in Maastricht, at the book presentation of (former improv pal) Lucas De Man - one of the most engaging public speakers I know.
110
Raf De Bont 🟥 @rafdebont.bsky.social · 15/05/2025
The afternoon back in Maastricht, where FASoS hosted the launch of the CEEhub - our UM beehive for research, education and outreach on Central an Eastern Europe.
110
Raf De Bont 🟥 @rafdebont.bsky.social · 15/05/2025
Spent the morning in Heerlen at Studio Europa's presentation of a new policy brief on the Digital Services Act. Interesting (and sometimes) sharp discussions on an important topic.
120
Raf De Bont 🟥 @rafdebont.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
To put this a bit in historical perspective: (From: www.migrationpolicy.org/article/rapi...)
010
Raf De Bont 🟥 @rafdebont.bsky.social · 05/04/2025
Animal representations at the car mechanic: toy beech martens selling ultrasound devices.
030
Raf De Bont 🟥 @rafdebont.bsky.social · 04/04/2025
Mooie presentatie van het landschapsboek 'De Maas in Limburg' onder redactie van collega's Nico Randeraad en Pieter Caljé
020
Raf De Bont 🟥 @rafdebont.bsky.social · 30/03/2025
Intussen op de steppes van Glysofatië
040
Raf De Bont 🟥 @rafdebont.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
My own paper discussed charismatic minifauna and agricultural natures, focusing on the reintroduction of European hamsters. The museum turned out to have a (not so charismatic-looking) pickled individual of the species.
081
Raf De Bont 🟥 @rafdebont.bsky.social · 19/03/2025
The horns of the local northern white rhino were stolen from the museum, but they had been replaced by plastic ones before the theft. Indoor poaching and plastic horn trafficking concerning African animals in German museums. I don't quiet know what to think of it.
3122
Raf De Bont 🟥 @rafdebont.bsky.social · 19/03/2025
The rewilding conference at Museum Koenig comes with an indoor taxidermic savannah for the coffee breaks.
2291
Raf De Bont 🟥 @rafdebont.bsky.social · 19/03/2025
Setting up camp at my usual railway stranding place (Liège-Guillemins). The train delays give me some extra time to anticipate what looks like a wonderfully interdisciplinary conference: Rewilding in Europe, at Museum Koenig, Bonn.
4190
Raf De Bont 🟥 @rafdebont.bsky.social · 19/03/2025
If I get there, that is:
120
Raf De Bont 🟥 @rafdebont.bsky.social · 17/03/2025
010
Raf De Bont 🟥 @rafdebont.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
De Randstad - altijd even wennen als je uit het landelijke zuiden komt.
010
Raf De Bont 🟥 @rafdebont.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
Voor sectorplan overleg aan de VU, waar Van Leeuwenhoek toeziet op de kwaliteit van de kebab.
071
Raf De Bont 🟥 @rafdebont.bsky.social · 01/02/2025
Great presentations and discussions yesterday with this wonderful bunch, at the colloquium 'Moving Animals: Wanderings in the Anthropocene', co-organized with @vbateman.bsky.social
1405
Raf De Bont 🟥 @rafdebont.bsky.social · 13/12/2024
Nadenken over de geschiedenis en toekomst van de natuurbescherming op het Natuurfocus Symposium:
030
Raf De Bont 🟥 @rafdebont.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
Op het Malieveld tegen de ongeziene bezuinigingen op onderwijs. En we waren met velen!
0123
Raf De Bont 🟥 @rafdebont.bsky.social · 14/11/2024
Protesting unprecedented budget cuts in higher education (As the protest in Utrecht was forbidden, we assembled in Maastricht).
0134
Raf De Bont 🟥 @rafdebont.bsky.social · 25/10/2024
Yet another train delay. It creates some time to witness the succession ecology at Mechelen station. By now some platforms have three meter high trees!
010
Raf De Bont 🟥 @rafdebont.bsky.social · 21/08/2024
Deze ligt alvast klaar voor de #Historicidagen24 morgen
020
Raf De Bont 🟥 @rafdebont.bsky.social · 16/07/2024
Happy organizers after vibrant discussions in three (!) sessions on animal (im)mobilities at #EASST4S2024
1122
Raf De Bont 🟥 @rafdebont.bsky.social · 04/07/2024
Talking about the field ethos at a conference at the marine station of Wimereux. The contents of the (very generous) conference bag really illustrate this ethos nicely...
010
Raf De Bont 🟥 @rafdebont.bsky.social · 05/02/2024
Vincent Bijman closed the evening, interviewing writer and evolutionary biologist Tijs Goldschmidt:
110
Raf De Bont 🟥 @rafdebont.bsky.social · 05/02/2024
And I could return to one of my favorite topics: the tempestuous relationship between the Dutch and their wild hamsters!
110