iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Sarah Arnold

Robin Hayward 🌳 🏳️‍⚧️ @canopyrobin.com · 25/09/2026

We're publishing new guidance to support trans people who do fieldwork (any work outside the office)! Now we need your help to get them seen so please share! inclusivefieldwork.leeds.ac.uk/trans/

a cartoon of three fieldworkers. One has a small trans flag. The logos of the university of leeds, research england, and canopy robin are shown, as well as the URL: InclusiveFieldwork (dot) Leeds (dot) AC (dot) UK (slash) trans

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Robin Hayward 🌳 🏳️‍⚧️ @canopyrobin.com · 25/09/2026

If you want a six minute summary of how to support trans+ fieldworkers, then why not check out this video we made (voiced by the incredible @izzyvalkyrie.bsky.social)?

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Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Kent Wildlife Conference: 25th October 2026 Uni. of Kent/Darwin Conference Suite £22 (£15 students) incl. refreshments/lunch Theme: biological recording & its importance. @graemelyons.bsky.social speaking on pan-species listing! #KentNature #NaturalHistory www.kentfieldclub.org.uk/programme/up...

kentfieldclub.org.uk

The Kent Wildlife Conference - Kent Field Club| KFC

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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

McDonald said. “I’ve long seen grant awarding competitions as essentially a value-destroying activity…There is a trade-off between efficient public spending, research quality and time at the bench.”

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Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Exciting discussion of all things Apple-related. Popular topics at the moment seem to be fruit breeding, cider-making, variety preferences, social aspects. Looking forward to more chatter on entomology and integrated pest management obviously! Thoroughly support more #FruitSky

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Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

The absolute JOY and EXCITEMENT I feel at Gerben Messelink discussing the potential of my favourite micro-ladybird Scymnus interruptus in greenhouse biocontrol. I might get to hang with this wonderful creature professionally and research it. So awesome. #IOBC-WRPS #BiologicalControl

Fuzzy photo of projected talk slide, featuring a photo of a gorgeous black and red hairy ladybird munching an aphid, and a graph basically showing survival on different food mixes.

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Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

To other #autistic and otherwise low-social-battery folks in research: what are your top tips for getting the most out of academic conferences without overdoing it? Please drop advice/strategies below! #NeurodivergentInScience #NeurodivergentInSTEM

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Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

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Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

IOBC getting started, a few days on biocontrol in protected crops. Science starting with adapting IPM for Canadian greenhouse ornamentals. #IOBC-WRPS

A darkened lecture theatre with many people in the audience. The slide being shown welcomes the audience to Boskoop, NL. Large vases of flowers frame the stage.

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Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Excited to be in Netherlands for IOBC Greenhouse WGM 2026 - looking forward to a few days all about biological control on protected crops. And meeting all sorts of people in the field - research, biocontrol providers, growers, agronomists, etc.! #IOBC #BiologicalControl #ProtectedCropping

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Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Yay! We seem to have a garden mole again! (I really do see this as a positive - moles seem to do interesting things with the soil and bring seeds in the seedbank to the surface, so the plant community becomes more fun. Yes, there's a bit of mess, but also annual wildflowers!) #EcosystemServices

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Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

Lovely outing with @kentfieldclub.bsky.social yesterday to Forge Field, a fascinating site that was a good deal more verdant than feared. Saw a couple of fun things: 1. Red-banded birch aphid Callipterinella tuberculata - fantastic little aphids and almost certainly under-recorded in the UK.

A dark green, glossy birch leaf with a cluster of paler-green aphids that each have a couple of red-brown bands across their bodies. They are all huddled together in a fairly round colony, and tended by a small brown-black ant sitting on top of them all. The ant is probably only 3mm long but is nearly as wide as the aphid colony!

A much looser colony of light green aphids, each with two brown-red bands across them. They're spread out across the surface of a glossy green birch leaf that is in dappled shade. One dark brown/black ant about the length of 5-6 aphids is tending them.

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Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Then and now... Some parts of growing crops haven't changed much in 3000+ years - like worrying about them getting enough irrigation during a dry spell, and making sure communication about what's happening with the crop reaches the right people!

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Edge Foundation @edgeuk.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Our eighteenth Skills Shortages Bulletin contains twelve contributions from researchers, employers and educators which map the pressures reshaping the UK labour market, from rising youth inactivity to the technician crisis at the heart of industrial strategy. www.edge.co.uk/research/ski...

edge.co.uk

Skills Shortages Bulletin 18

12 May 2026

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Kirsty MacLeod @kjmacleod.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Who do I know going to @ecbb2026.bsky.social? Unfortunately I can’t go anymore but my excellent Masters student is presenting a poster. I’d love to link her up with some friendly fellow grad students! Conferencing alone can be a little lonesome.

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Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Nope - we are not having a party in a soft-fruit greenhouse! A thread about protected crops and a bumblebee's eye view... 🧵 #AppliedEntomology #Horticulture #SoftFruit #ProtectedCroppingSystems

A view of a blackberry crop inside a greenhouse - the crop grows in a tall c. 2.5m "hedge" made of dense planting, held in place by wires and strings. Along the top of the crop is a brightly coloured bunting (think village fete) in blue and green.

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Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

The southern green shieldbug, Nezara viridula, fascinates me. It's going from strength to strength in UK. A lot of records appear to be associated with gardens & allotments, as it's partial to runner beans. As a crop pest, it's not really causing big problems in the UK yet (that I've heard). [1/]

A screw-topped plastic pot in a human hand, containing a large number of quite large green shieldbugs of varying life stages, and also some bright red bryony berries to keep them hydrated.

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Elizabeth McCarthy @emccnicotiana.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

We made it to Tucson and picked up some more botanists on the way! #Botany2026 #PlantPeopleFTW

5 botanists in a cab heading to Botany 2026

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Seirian Sumner @waspwoman.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Are wasps feeling the heat this summer? Be kind to wasps at your picnic this summer: share your meal & tell us what they're after. Is it Ham (protein-rich)? or Jam (sugary) @uclnews.bsky.social @theconversation.com @femi-benny.bsky.social @cintiaoi.bsky.social theconversation.com/where-have-a...

theconversation.com

Where have all the wasps gone this summer?

And why you should let them share your picnic ham and jam.

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European Commission @ec.europa.eu · 01/08/2026

Japan has now joined Horizon Europe. Japan’s researchers can now partner with teams across the EU. Together, we will advance global research in health, digital technologies, and climate neutrality ↓ link.europa.eu/YP7MtB

Visual featuring Mount Fuji framed by pink cherry blossoms. At the centre are the overlapping flags of the European Union and Japan, with the text "EU-JAPAN HORIZON EUROPE" overlaid below.

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Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Exciting new paper about gut contents metabarcoding - and how metabarcoding a big sample can get interesting if you also end up finding DNA from inside the guts of predators. Useful to know how long prey DNA stays detectable when assessing biocontrol in crops...

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Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

It would be great if "reviewer invitation" e-mails included a quick button for "I can't do it in the next 14 days but could do it by [other_date] - would that be acceptable?" Often am willing to do it, but need more than 2 weeks - but replying to automated e-mail saying this isn't always efficient.

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Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

When I was a kid we sometimes visited France and I have fond memories of being fascinated by firebugs in the gardens of gîtes. Now, the firebugs have come to me: they've colonised enough of Kent that this year, one has turned up in our garden! #Entomology #Hemiptera

A red-and-black true bug a bit under 1cm long; its abdomen has some sort of triangle and diamond shaped black bits, but also two circular black spots. It is sitting on a common mallow with shrivelled-up pink-purple flowers and held in a hand for focus.

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Kent Field Club @kentfieldclub.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

Social media are great communication tools for naturalists, but you can't beat face-to-face. The Kent Wildlife Conference on 24 October is for anyone interested in the county's natural history. Book today www.tinyurl.com/WildConf2026.

tinyurl.com

Kent Wildlife Conference 2026

THE KENT WILDLIFE CONFERENCE SATURDAY 24th October 2026 Darwin Conference Suite, Darwin College, University of Kent The Kent Wildlife Conference is an opportunity for all those interested in the...

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Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 18/04/2026

Chalk grassland today - a new species for me, Aphanus rolandri, a groundbug - and one I haven't seen for a while, Osmia bicolor, which nests in old snail shells. Both seem to be into the orange-and-black colour theme! #Entomology #Insects #ChalkGrassland

A flat, small and mostly black true bug, perhaps 7mm long, that has a distinctive orange-coloured diamond-shaped splotch in the middle of its abdomen. It is walking across dry, cracking soil, with a few blades of grass visible.

A medium sized solitary bee (a bit under a cm long) inside a glass tube for observation. Its head and thorax are covered in pure black hairs, and it has a cute little face. Its legs have some orange-gold hairs on, and its abdomen is covered in glorious tawny-gold hairs in sort of bands. The underside of the abdomen has a pollen scopa that is dusted with yellow pollen. It's lovely and looks really dapper!

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Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

Excellent rainbow over @niab-uk.bsky.social East Malling site today! I really do get to work in a beautiful place.

A rainbow arcing across the cloudy sky, over a partly blossoming tree and (less prettily), a damp car park. There are trees and bushes in the background, and if you look really closely, the primary rainbow is a stacker with a baby rainbow underneath, and there is a faint secondary rainbow above it too. The grass between the car park and rainbow is lit by spring sunshine. It is a very April scene overall.

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Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

I know you folks in eastern USA are still wrapped in your woollies (stay safe!), but here in the UK it is getting warmer and brighter and the first solitary bees are out! Andrena bicolor female today! #SolitaryBee #Entomology #FirstBeesOfSpring #Bee #Pollinator

A bright yellow shaggy-petalled dandelion flower on which a medium sized golden-orange bee is sitting. She has impressive flowing orange hairs on her hind legs, a more tawny thorax and her abdomen has tawny-interspersed-with-more-blond hairs on. She looks dopey but tidy and fresh, and she is a real live bee on a flower in February!

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Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

Fun surprise this week - this delightful ladybird dropped out of a bush at work while beating some foliage. Having not met one before, I assumed it was a massive Scymnus, but no, it's Rhyzobius forestieri, an introduced species from Australia, just hanging out. Rather exciting! #Entomology #Ladybird

A microscope image of a small but not tiny ladybird (3mm), black all over on the back, but covered in short pale hairs. And because it's a bit hairy, it's snagged a few bits of light detritus as well - fibres, bits of crud, that sort of thing. The centre of its elytra are less hairy and lightly punctured.

The same ladybird under a microscope, but zoomed out. This shows the slight shininess at the top of the elytra and the fine pale hairs over most of it. The shape is oval but not as elongate as some of the smaller micro-ladybirds.

The same ladybird (3mm long, otherwise black, under a microscope) rolled on to its back, showing that the abdominal sternites are bright orange-red.

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Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

As the last few years have seen some serious yield challenges in West African cocoa, leading to global price volatility (and noticeable increases in the price of chocolate bars, changes in recipes, etc.), let's think about just one part of this system: pollination. A thread 🧵 [1/]

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Kate Laskowski @katelaskowski.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

How do we know our research results are REAL? We replicate them! Most folks agree but lament on how hard it is to publish these replications. My dearest gentle reader, lament no more! Delighted to unveil: Replication Studies, a new section of Behavioral Ecology 1/ academic.oup.com/beheco/artic...

academic.oup.com

Replication studies: a win-win for early-career training and behavioral ecology

Replicating previous research builds confidence that results are real and meaningful. But close replications are rare due to limitations in resources and d

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Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

Great meeting with tree fruit industry people! alt-text: (1) Ali Capper speaks to full meeting room of growers/industry; (2) Adam Walker (Niab) speaks in front of slide explaining woolly apple #aphid lifecycle; (3) Sarah Arnold (Niab) speaks with title slide on apple blossom #weevil. #orchard #ipm

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Journal of Experimental Biology @jexpbiol.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

Read our new Special Issue, Sensory Perception in a Changing World, guest edited by Almut Kelber, Kathleen Gilmour and Sanjay Sane, featuring Reviews & Commentaries discussing the impact of environmental change on how animals perceive their surroundings tinyurl.com/5t3mkrny

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Vivek Nityananda @viveknityananda.bsky.social · 03/02/2026

New PhD alert! We'll be applying animal welfare ideas to look at how stress affects bees, looking at the effect on bee brains with @lenariab.bsky.social, and working with @sensibee.bsky.social developing new monitoring methods. Please spread the word! #bees #PhD 🧪 www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

findaphd.com

The effect of stress on pollinator behaviour at Newcastle University on FindAPhD.com

PhD Project - The effect of stress on pollinator behaviour at Newcastle University, listed on FindAPhD.com

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Estelle Ravel @estelle-ravel.bsky.social · 31/01/2026

Do agricultural diversification practices pay off in the long run? Our new paper synthesizes 100+ years of evidence showing that diversification practices become more profitable over time and delivers growing benefits for soils, biodiversity, and carbon. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

nature.com

Long-term agricultural diversification increases financial profitability, biodiversity, and ecosystem services: a second-order meta-analysis - Nature Communications

Feeding a growing population while protecting the environment is a major global challenge. This study suggests that agricultural diversification enhances long-term profitability, biodiversity, soil he...

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Ash Whiffin @ashwhiffin.bsky.social · 09/11/2025

Steven Hammer, one of our regular collection users, co-developed a new #insect pinning block, with staff and volunteers from the museum. It’s 3D-printed and open source, so you can try it for yourself: cults3d.com/en/3d-model/... #ECN2025

cults3d.com

Entoblock step

An improved pinning block for entomological collections. It has five steps at different heights for quick and accurate label setting. The steps are visible from both sides, making it suitable for lef...

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Gabby Palomo, PhD @gabspalomo.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

I am teaching a GIS class this semester for undergrads. First time I’m teaching it and it’s all done in R. I’m super excited! I was wondering if you have any recs on papers that link GIS and geospatial science with ecology. I want to include readings and discussions for the lecture part. 🧪🌎#ratats

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Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 30/12/2025

Plenty of Bombus terrestris workers active near Tower Hill station in London today - chilly but not bitter, and almost warm in the sun, so I guess they were making the most of the big flowering Choisya while conditions were good. Workers were collecting pollen, so active winter nest. #Pollinators

A yellow and black striped worker bumblebee visiting white Choisya flowers, amongst evergreen leaves. The image is lit by bright winter sunshine.

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Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 28/12/2025

Christmas day walk flowers: scentless mayweed, daisy, annual mercury, common mallow, black nightshade, marigold garden escape, red deadnettle, shepherd's purse, some sort of sowthistle? Nice to have flowers still cheering things up. #WildflowerHour

A montage of 9 flower images, in 3 x 3 grid. From top left: scentless mayweed, white skinny petals, yellow centres, floofy foliage; common daisy, white petals/yellow centre and neat green leaves; annual mercury, tiny green flowers in clustery strings; common mallow, a single rich pink flower, half-open, quite big; black nightshade, white flowers with pointed yellow middles, and black mini-tomato-like fruit; marigold, big bold orange flowers; red deadnettle, pink tubey flowers; shepherd's purse, tiny white flowers and heart-shaped seed pods; sowthistle, floppy long yellow petals in a skinny pom-pom, and long spear-shaped leaves.

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Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 27/11/2025

Has anyone found an Android app that genuinely, really: 1. Provides translation of voice/speech 2. Between English and Brazilian Portuguese 3. And does this in offline mode?

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Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 26/11/2025

Really brilliant day visiting fruit farms in São Paulo state. Lots to think about, comparing Brazilian v. UK strawberry cultivation - diff substrates, diff pests (though did see an SWD!) & very different pollinators! Super-cute seeing strawberry flowers pollinated by stingless bees! #Horticulture

A wooden box (c. 20 x 20 x 20cm) with a plastic funnel on the front, in a wooden alcove. On close inspection, the funnel has a wax chimney coming out, and all on the chimney and edge of the funnel are lots of tiny (c. 4mm long) slender bees.

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Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 24/11/2025

In Brazil to network around future collaborative projects and dynamic agroforestry. More about that later. For now...found an impressive (sadly deceased) Ascalapha odorata aka black witch moth aka duppy bat in my hotel. Amazing. #TropicalEntomology #Lepidoptera

A large (c. 12cm wingspan?) moth, mostly dark brown but with various silvery-gold iridescent patterns, a white stripe across its forewing, and a comma-shaped stigma on each forewing too. Lying dead on grass, with a human hand framing it - forewing length is nearly the same length as the human's forefinger.

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David Cooke @llewelyn68.bsky.social · 12/11/2025

Ditto with final talk #AAB_IPPM by @sejarnold.bsky.social NIAB surveying parasitoid wasp diversity on aphids from strawberry crops in Kent. 4 main species found plus hyperparasitoids. eDNA barcoding showed more. Little relationship to local vegetation. Sadly missed rest or risk missing train.

Aphids in soft fruit presentation at AAB meeting on integrated pest management. Sarah Arnold speaking

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Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 12/11/2025

Day 2 of #AAB_IPPM meeting and today is more entomological (but not entirely!). Lots of good talks on the schedule. #IntegratedPestManagement #IPPM #SustainableAgriculture #HorticulturalEntomology

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Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

#AAB_IPPM meeting kicking off with excellent talk from Martin Lines @nffn.bsky.social - he has found that introducing flower-rich margins on his farm as habitat for beneficial biodiversity reduces pest damage significantly and much reduces need for synthetic inputs. #NaturalEnemies #IPM

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Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 10/11/2025

On my way to AAB Advances in Integrated Pest and Pathogen Management meeting - looking forward to a couple of days hearing about what's happening in applied IPPM research. www.aab.org.uk/event/advanc... #IPM #IntegratedPestManagement #Biocontrol #Parasitoids #Aphids #AppliedEntomology

aab.org.uk

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Kent Field Club @kentfieldclub.bsky.social · 25/10/2025

Brilliant first session at today's Kent Wildlife Conference, with @ianbeavis.bsky.social talking Tunbridge Wells' urban hymenoptera, Scarlett Weston of @bumblebeetrust.bsky.social on urban bumblebees, and EA's Josh Hammond on citizen science in water quality monitoring in Kent. #KentNature

Ian Beavis speaking to a packed room at the conference.

Scarlett speaking about the Buzzing in the East End project. The slide is headed 'Community and Collaboration'.

Josh Hammond speaking on river monitoring by citizen scientists. The slide shows a graph and is headed 'Building Environmental Trends'

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Prof Chris Jackson @seismatters.bsky.social · 16/10/2025

The impact of PhD studies on mental health - A longitudinal population study PhDs can be and some would likely argue, should be hard. But surely not *this* hard? #AcademicSky www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

sciencedirect.com

The impact of PhD studies on mental health—a longitudinal population study

Recent self-reported and cross-sectional survey evidence documents high levels of mental health problems among PhD students. We study the relationship…

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Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 10/10/2025

Really proud of Cedric. It's been a fantastic project, piloting some super cool novel methods in #PollinationEcology and providing new insights into crop #pollination in legume systems. Cedric worked incredibly hard collecting all the data. Thanks also to Angela Mkindi at NM-AIST in Tanzania!

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