iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Rob Knell @robknell.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

If you’re a scientist then you *must* watch The Love Hypothesis on Amazon Prime: a fascinating documentary about what *really* goes on in our labs. This educational clip is likely to feature in stats lectures for years to come. 🧪

2245

Rob Knell @robknell.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

West and East views of the Olifants river from the high water bridge this morning.

A view across a river with rocky banks to the right, cloudy skies with some blue. It’s illuminated by sunshine coming from behind the photographer

A view of a large river with rocks and islands. The sky has dark clouds with the sun shining through and reflected in the water

051

Rob Knell @robknell.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Sunset timelapse over the Drakensberg escarpment as viewed from the Lowveld on our @uniofhull.bsky.social Savannah Ecology field course in South Africa #SouthAfrica #Nkosisikel'iAfrica

030

Rob Knell @robknell.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

As an academic in the UK my job does often suck like an Electrolux, but I spent today tracking spotted hyaenas up a river with our @uniofhull.bsky.social students and now we're sitting around a fire having a few cold ones... not bad

A photo showing some wet ground with two clear hyaena prints in visible in the mud.

A fire on the left and a group of people enjoying the fire on the right of the photo

190

Rob Knell @robknell.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Looks like we have a side-splittingly hilarious creationist in Exclusive Books at JNB. 🧪

A bookshelf in a bookstore labelled “Fiction”. Directly beneath the sign is a copy of the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin.

333

Rob Knell @robknell.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

That said, the current state of academic publishing is utterly appalling. This is the contents slide for a talk I recently did on the subject for our PhD students.

A screenshot of a slide from a talk. The title is "Academic publishing". There is a picture of an agricultural muck spreader throwing out manure. The bullet points read:
*The current shitshow
*How did we get into this mess? - For-profit academic publishing -Open-access: the dream and its subversion - Predatory journals - Paper mills and fraud
* Case study: STOTEN
* Science is self correcting isn't it?
* What you can do

120

Rob Knell @robknell.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Rutland Osprey Project has just announced that *24* chicks have fledged this year from 12 nests. 24! Here is one of the proud Dads (NB I have posted this photo before). #birds #ukbirds #ukwildlife

An Osprey flies left-to-right against a background of dark vegetation. The bird is holding a fish in its talons and there is water dripping from both fish and bird.

2165

Rob Knell @robknell.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

This should put you off for life.

A nausea-inducing emoji of a yellow blob sadly hugging a heart.

110

Rob Knell @robknell.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

All that is now All that is gone All that's to come and everything under the sun is in tune but the sun is eclipsed by the moon.

A noisy photo of the sun almost completely eclipsed by the moon with only a sliver along the top visible.

020

Rob Knell @robknell.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

5) This is what The Sunday Times reported. NB I seem to have a couple of the details wrong (it sounds like the supervisor he had the one meeting with was the one who left, further comms via phone and text not email).

Screenshot of a part of a newspaper article reading "The panel concluded in March that the citation issues were a result of “honest and reasonable error” and also detailed that the text overlap with Zwozdiak-Myers was “well within the accepted range of compliance with the academic standards of the time”.
It also accepted that Arday’s supervisory team had been “depleted” after he said he received only one formal supervision during his PhD, and that all other contact with his director of studies, Phil Vickerman, was conducted via phone and text. One of the two other academics assigned to supervise him left the university and he never met the other. Arday said the investigation should have been private but instead “took place in a court of public opinion”."

000

Rob Knell @robknell.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Some osprey shots from near Rutland water last week. These birds were taking fish from a stocked trout pond so purists may wish to turn their noses up. #birds #ukbirds #ukwildlife #raptors

An osprey flies from left to right across the frame. The background is dark, out of focus vegetation. The bird has a large fish in its claws and there is water dripping from both bird and fish.

An osprey flies left to right across the frame, wings half up. It has a fish in its claws identifiable as a rainbow trout, and water is dripping from both bird and fish.

An osprey flying out of the water with a fish in its claws, heading towards the camera

Against a background of long grass an osprey dives towards the water with both legs outstretched in front.

070

Rob Knell @robknell.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

Plunge-diving gannet composite. Flamborough Head, East Riding of Yorkshire, yesterday morning. #birds #ukbirds #wildlife #seabirds

A white bird with black wingtips dives into the sea in a series of images composited into a single one. At the start of the dive the bird's wings are outstretched but as it dives they become more folded back. In the background is a cliff showing white chalk at the base and the sea below.

06612

Rob Knell @robknell.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Sunday evening at Bempton. A howling, cold Northerly was making it hard for the puffins to land so they were circling and making repeated attempts to get on the cliffs... making it easier to photograph them. #birds #ukbirds #ukwildlife #wildlife

A puffin in flight with a beak full of sandeels. Its orange feet are trailing behind. In the background is the sea and an area of out of focus chalk cliff

A puffin in flight with a beak full of sandeels, wings canted back in the strong wind.

Moody sunset shot with orange light coming through clouds and the silhouette of a gannet

Gannet in flight with the orange sun and clouds behind. The bird is a young one (three years?) and still has some black feathers on the wings.

1416

Rob Knell @robknell.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

Gannets in the wind, Staple News, Bempton Cliffs this evening. #birds #ukbirds #seabirds

2274

Rob Knell @robknell.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

Went to the fabulous Farne Islands last week. Puffins and Arctic Terns in incredible numbers as well as Guillemots, Eider ducks, grey seals, and all the rest. Puffins and terns obviously very busy feeding ravenous chicks. #birds #ukbirds #seabirds #wildlife

A black and white image of a rocky slope, mostly stained white with bird droppings, with numbers of guillemots on every flat surface.

An arctic tern with wings outstretched and its tail streamers wide, with a black cap to its head and a small fish in its red beak.

A puffin in flight with a beak full of sandals

Close up of a puffin's head and torso with part of the wing while it flies. The beak is absolutely full of sandeels.

1241

Rob Knell @robknell.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

Questionable journal spotting: what's wrong with their cover? Answer in the alt text 🧪

031

Rob Knell @robknell.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

Since today's #Birdoftheday theme is #WorldOceansDay here are a couple of plunge-diving gannets which I photographed last year (I've posted it before so sorry for the repetition). The upper one has a fishhook embedded in its wing and some fishing line trailing. #birds #wildlife #oceans

Two gannets plunge diving, the lower one is half into the water and the upper one is about to enter the water, wings folded back and streamlined.

1121

Rob Knell @robknell.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

Plunge diving gannets off @rspb.bsky.social Bempton Cliffs on Friday #birds #ukbirds #wildlife

1130

Rob Knell @robknell.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

Greater Spotted Woodpecker taking off from his nest #birds #ukbirds #wildlife #ukwildlife

A composite shot showing first the head and then the whole bird emerging from a hole in a Scots Pine, with a sequence of images of the bird flying from left to right

0274

Rob Knell @robknell.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

I'll see your Aussie black-shouldered kite and raise you a South African black-winged kite (near Orpen Gate, Kruger National Park).

A smal-to-medium raptor with white head and breast, red eyes and slate grey wings with black "shoulders" sits on a piece of dead wood with a blue sky behind

110

Rob Knell @robknell.bsky.social · 16/05/2026

Kingfisher in the rain, posing nicely and then beating an unfortunate stickleback on its perch #birds #ukbirds #wildlife #wildlifephotography

A kingfisher facing left, perched on a green branch with a green out-of-focus backgroung

A kingfisher perched on a narrow branch tossing a stickleback up into the air.

A kingfisher on a narrow branch smacks the stickleback in its beak against the branch. Drops of water are flying off both bird and fish.

The kingfisher about to hit the stickleback on its perch to the right of the image. Lots of water droplets are flying around.

0161

Rob Knell @robknell.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

Skived off work yesterday afternoon and went Osprey hunting... #birds #wildlifephotography #ukbirds #ukwildlife

Osprey in flight. A big, mostly white raptor with dark patterning on the wings and a yellow eye in flight against a blue sky

A osprey in flight carrying a fish with green vegetation in the background

An osprey taking off from the water surface with a fish. There is vegetation in the background and the bird's wings are raised

A osprey in flight, passing left to right in the frame. It is dripping with water and is holding a large fish in the talons of its right foot.

0110

Rob Knell @robknell.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

Inaugural lecture! I will be talking about my research on how mating systems alter evolutionary processes and why this is important. This is a public lecture and should be fun and accessible to everyone: all welcome. Links in next post. 🧪

Poster for Inaugural lecture entitled Love in the time of climate change: how mating systems can control evolution. Has a picture of two black-browed albatrosses looking lovingly at each other.

1187

Rob Knell @robknell.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

Displaying lapwings, a reed bunting and a sedge warbler from @rspb.bsky.social St Aidans from Saturday morning. #birds #ukbirding #ukwildlife

A lapwing flies over roadbeds with green trees in the background. It is banking to the right and has its wings outstretched and its tail fanned.

A lapwing on a display flight, wings outstretched and seen from the back against the blue sky. The metallic tree and purple on the bird's back and wings is striking.

A reed bunting singing on a branch, with a green background. The bird's black head and white collar are distinctive.

A sedge warbler singing facing the viewer, beak open and the orange interior of its mouth visible. It is surrounded by willow catkins which are lit from behind.

092

Rob Knell @robknell.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

Just put a bunch of photos from the Kruger Park up on Flickr flic.kr/s/aHBqjCSmQd here is a sample #birds #wildlife #wildlifephotography #Africa #SouthAfrica #KrugerNationalPark

A crocodile rests on some rocks in a river. The rocks and the croc are reflected in the still water.

A mature male lion with a full, dark mane looks directly at the camera

A martial eagle with slate grey wings and upper body parts and white legs and belly with an orange eye, perched on a dead tree

A ridiculous looking crested guineafowl with red eyes and a "meet me at Macdonalds" haircut.

0101

Rob Knell @robknell.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

For today's #Birdoftheday theme of #ComeDineWithMe here is a green woodhoopoe with an unfortunate spider that I photographed last week at Satara #birds #wildlife #photography #KrugerNationalPark

Green woodhoopoe perched on cassia tree seedpods. The bird is holding a spider in its red beak,

1304

Rob Knell @robknell.bsky.social · 16/04/2026

Birthday surprise for me: 0.7% of the global population of wild dogs playing with an old mudflap. #wildlife #wilddog #Lycaeon #KrugerNationalPark #SouthAfrica #conservation

250

Rob Knell @robknell.bsky.social · 28/03/2026

Male marsh harrier and a wren having a sing-song from Tophill Low this morning before the clouds rolled in and the wind got silly #birds #ukbirds #wildlifephotography #ukwildlife #birdsofprey

Male marsh harrier flying right to left with blue sky behind. The upper wings with black tips and then white and reddish-brown over the shoulders are clearly visible.

Male marsh harrier flying left to right in front of a blue sky. The typical white wings with black tips contrast with the brown body and one yellow leg can be seen

A wren sitting on a horse chestnut twig facing left with its beak open.

070

Rob Knell @robknell.bsky.social · 23/03/2026

I'm writing a talk on the current problems with scientific publishing. It's getting harder and harder to avoid just screaming at the computer. Here's a typical slide 🧪

1104

Rob Knell @robknell.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

Puffins are back in numbers on the cliffs at @rspb.bsky.social Bempton Cliffs. Took this at early o'clock this morning and hand-stacked the composite in Photoshop #birds #ukbirds #wildlife #photography #seabirds

A composite photo of a puffin taking off left-to-right with multiple images of the bird in flight.

1279

Rob Knell @robknell.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

Early morning on the East Yorkshire Coast today

High chalk cliffs to the right of the image with yellow early morning sun lighting up the sea in patches as it breaks through the morning mist

A misty scene with cliffs and a sea-arch, with some sun shining on the sea and some birds flying.

070

Rob Knell @robknell.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

Revelation 13:18 Let him that hath understanding count the number of the unread emails: for it is the number of a man; and the number is Six hundred threescore and six. #academia

A screenshot of part of a mac's desktop. The Outlook icon is indicating that there are 666 unread emails.

040

Rob Knell @robknell.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

Evidence that I was down with modern thinking even as a nine year old #dinosaurs #birds 🧪

A photo of an old piece of paper dated May 28 1978. It has my name and the text "Dinosaurs are alive and well and living in nests" in childish handwriting

2282

Rob Knell @robknell.bsky.social · 21/02/2026

Like this but a bit bigger with some horns. Box stats the same.

010

Rob Knell @robknell.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #DivingForFood so here are some plunge diving gannets from the North Sea in 2025. Note the upper bird in image 2 has a fishhook embedded in its wing and is trailing fishing line #birds #ukbirds #seabirds

A gannet diving across the frame upper right to lower left. The sea behind is blue-green. The bird has not yet completely folded its wings.

Two gannet diving upper left to lower right into a grey sea. The lower bird is mostly in the water, the upper bird is about to enter the water. The upper bird has a fishhook embedded in its wing and fishing line trailing from it.

A gannet diving across the frame upper right to lower left. The sea behind is blue-green. The very tip of the bird's beak has just entered the water.

A head-on picture of a plunge diving gannet at the moment the tip of its beak touches the water.

2402

Rob Knell @robknell.bsky.social · 08/02/2026

Last week the cliffs were empty. Now the gannets and guillemots are back at @rspb.bsky.social Bempton Cliffs. I declare ornithological spring to have started. #birds #ukbirds #ukwildlife #seabirds

A cliff with many black guillemots lined up on the ledges

A gannet sitting on rocks with the sea behind.

0142

Rob Knell @robknell.bsky.social · 31/01/2026

Female kestrel with her unfortunate breakfast from @rspb.bsky.social Bempton Cliffs this morning. No gannets on the cliffs yet but quite a few lurking offshore. It feels like the whole place is waiting... #birds #ukbirds #ukwildlife

A female kestrel flying right to left with her wings raised. She is holding an unfortunate vole in her yellow feet

A female kestrel flying right to left with her wings roughly horizontal, making the red-brown tops of the wings with black tips visible. She is holding an unfortunate vole in her yellow feet

1601

Rob Knell @robknell.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

Marsh harriers from Blacktoft Sands on Sunday. It was absolutely bloody freezing in the hide. #birds #ukbirds #ukwildlife #wildlifephotography.

Two marsh harriers in the sky, one is flying upwards towards the other with its talons forward as though it wants to grab it.

A male and female marsh harrier in the sky with the clouds as background. The male is on its side with wings outstretched.

A female marsh harrier dropping into a sea of reeds (Phragmites).

0280

Rob Knell @robknell.bsky.social · 27/12/2025

6) More from SA: Wahlberg's eagle chasing swifts at the Olifants high water bridge, some wild dog pups, baboon mother and baby and a composite image of swifts over the Olifants river #birds #wildlife #mammals #SouthAfrica #KrugerNationalPark

Composit image of swifts in flight with the sun setting behind them, reflecred off the river

A wahlberg's eagle chases swifts from the left of the image

A baboon mother looks soulful while holding her young, pink-faced baby

170

Rob Knell @robknell.bsky.social · 27/12/2025

5) Back to South Africa: a grumpy old male elephant, hunting cheetah teenagers, vultures on an elephant carcass and a couple of male buffalo #wildlife #mammals #SouthAfrica #KrugerNationalPark

Black and white image of an elephant's head with short, thick, eroded tusks, his trunk folded back to the left of the frame.

Chiarascuro -style image of two male buffalo, one looking at the camera and one looking right.

A group of white-backed vultures on the remains of an elephant. Many of the vultures are looking at the camera.

Two subadult cheetahs running across the frame from left to right and kicking up dust. They were chasing a steenbok but I don't know if they caught it.

150

Rob Knell @robknell.bsky.social · 27/12/2025

Two diving gannets, a swallow feeding a fledgling and a pair of gannets in an entirely un-clichéd image. #wildlife #ukbirds #birds

A plunge diving gannet seen from the front, wings folded back, just about to enter the blue sea

A pluge diving gannet seen from the side with the very tip of its beack just entering the water.

The heads of two gannets "necking" with the out-of-focus sparkling sea behind them

An adult swallow on a fence, wings back, with its head in a recent fledgling's mouth, feeding it.

180

Rob Knell @robknell.bsky.social · 27/12/2025

3) Back to the birds: male marsh harriers from @tophilllow.bsky.social and puffins from Bempton Cliffs #wildlife #birds #ukbirds

male marsh harrier seen turning with his white wings and black wingtips. He is carrying a prey item to feed his chicks with

Male marsh harrier flying left to right across the image. He has a dead chick of another bird species held in his yellow feet.

Puffin head and shoulders looking left across the photo.

A puffin flying with the sea out-of-focus behind it, with blurred-out sunlight shining off the sea.

180

Rob Knell @robknell.bsky.social · 27/12/2025

2) Some from South Africa including a birthday cheetah and an oxpecker being hassled for snacks by fledglings #wildlife #wildlifephotography #Krugernationalpark

A red-billed oxpecker adult being yelled at by two fledgelings on the mud-covered back of a buffalo

A hippo yawning, mouth open very wide and many yellow teeth and tusks on view.

Adult cheetah looking over its shoulder at the camera, mouth slightly open exposing its fangs

A female lion looking past some green grass. The sunrise is reflected in her eyes.

281

Rob Knell @robknell.bsky.social · 27/12/2025

I took a lot of photos in 2025. I tried to get it down to a top 10 but that was a bit too difficult so I have a top 25. All taken in the UK or South Africa. #wildlife #wildlifephotgraphy #birds #ukbirds 1) Some birds from Tophill Low

Male marsh harrier flying with a large branch for nesting material against a blue sky.

Female marsh harrier stooping, claws extended.

Tawny owl in a tree looking at the viewer through some branches with a blue sky behind

1193

Rob Knell @robknell.bsky.social · 15/12/2025

One of the techniques the students learn to use on our #Wildlife #Conservation #MSc field course in #SouthAfrica is camera trapping to estimate mammal biodiversity. Sometimes the videos are more interesting than other times #leopard @uniofhull.bsky.social

071