iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Dr Willow Neal 🏳️‍🌈 @willowneal.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

They’ve been seen here before, but despite doing surveys for my PhD for two years and two years volunteering this is the first time I’ve seen a clouded yellow in MK! @theparkstrust.bsky.social

A clouded yellow butterfly nectaring on a yellow flower.

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Tom & Lorenzo @tomandlorenzo.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

What horseshit. She embraced gay people at the height of the AIDS crisis, embraced trans people at the height of the war against them, supported Black communities and artists, and wrote the most pro-worker's rights feminist pop song of all time. Neutral my ass

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Dr Willow Neal 🏳️‍🌈 @willowneal.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

One my fav species because you can have a male queen of Spain 🏳️‍🌈 💅🏻

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Dave Goulson @davegoulson.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

In December, the Govt will decide if it will renew the glyphosate licence until 2041… • That’s 15 more years of impacts on worms, bees, soils and run-off into ponds and rivers, and glyphosate in your food. Sign Garden Organic’s petition NOW to ban this dangerous herbicide #GrowersAgainstGlyphosate.

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Dr Willow Neal 🏳️‍🌈 @willowneal.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

Kinda mind blowing that it’s been 6 years since doing plant taxonomy as part of my MSc. Would have rather not done it during lock down on my own, but loved it nonetheless!

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Dan Hoare @djhbutterflies.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

📢2 great jobs in #NatureRecovery at Butterfly Conservation, closing soon! Conservation Manager Wales, and Project Manager with PeacePlus Nature project in Northern Ireland. Challenging & exciting roles putting you at the heart of efforts to save butterflies & moths. butterfly-conservation.org/jobs 🦋

A Marsh Fritillary butterfly, brightly coloured with orange, cream and brown chequered wings, sits on a background of green plants

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UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) @ukceh.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

UKBMS volunteers have walked a total of >1.5 million kilometres since 1976 at more than 7,600 sites to produce this incredible dataset. That’s the equivalent of walking 40 times around the world – or to the moon and back twice. Latest annual results: www.ukbms.org 3/3

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Dr Willow Neal 🏳️‍🌈 @willowneal.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

Sad but unsurprising results. Also amazing to see the community dedication for so many records! My research in #urban #butterflies found a few specialists in MK, making urban nature even more important future conservation and reducing biodiversity loss.

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UKBMS @ukbms.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

WEEK ONE! The UKBMS surveys officially kick off today 🎺 🥳 🦋 If you're taking part, check the weather and choose a good day for your survey this week - temps above 13degrees, sun and light winds are best. Weeks run from each Wednesday to the following Tuesday this year. Good luck!

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Pável Matos @pavelmatosm.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

New PhD position: Butterfly Evolution at High Elevations 🦋⛰️🧬 The project aims to understand the rapid evolution and adaptation of Andean white butterflies using genomics. DEADLINE: May 8, 2026 Start: Autumn 2026 (Czechia) More info: pavelmatos.wordpress.com/join-us/

pavelmatos.wordpress.com

Join us

Opportunities Below are the positions currently open in our lab. Regular open positions If you have an exciting research idea and are interested in applying for your own funding, feel free to get i…

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Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 09/03/2026

One of the excluded systematic reviews is the York systematic reviews commissioned as part of the Cass Review itself. NHS England excluded from its evidence review a systematic review produced for the very process this evidence review is supposed to implement. It's a joke.

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Faith @faithamjones.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

Are you an relatively new to field ecology and data collection? Or are are you supervising students? Our guide for effective field data collection is now published in @methodsinecoevol.bsky.social! We also include a printable poster with a visual overview of the guide doi.org/10.1111/2041...

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OpenLiving Labs @openlivinglabs.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

I’ll be doing my talk at @niscifest.bsky.social at 4pm today. A few of my colleagues are here too, with the first speaker starting in 15 mins! Come along if you’re interested. #NISF #NorthernIreland #Ecologi

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Mariella Herberstein (she/her) 🌈 @mherberstein.bsky.social · 03/02/2026

Come to Hamburg and do a PhD on insect/spider traits with me!

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Dr Willow Neal 🏳️‍🌈 @willowneal.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

In a few weeks I’ll be talking about #biodiversity loss, ecological restoration and urban #butterflies including the restoration work we are doing at the @openlivinglabs.bsky.social at the Northern Ireland science festival in Belfast! #NISF. It’s free! nisciencefestival.com/event/how-to...

nisciencefestival.com

How to turn urban spaces into wildlife havens | NI Science Festival

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Royal Entomological Society @royentsoc.bsky.social · 30/01/2026

LAST CALL 🐞 The #ForestInvertebrates SIG brings together research on trees, invertebrates & urban ecosystems. 📅 5 March 📍 Hyde Park Learning Centre 🌱 Optional field visit on 4 March Submit your research abstracts by 5pm today (30 Jan) for a chance to join the programme 🔽

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Forest Invertebrates SIG 2026

Submit your abstracts by 5pm today!

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Dr Willow Neal 🏳️‍🌈 @willowneal.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

Utterly ridiculous. Segregated ponds is a new low. Glad this was stopped.

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Dr Willow Neal 🏳️‍🌈 @willowneal.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

I can’t stop buying #tarantulas any time I want… #Vitaliuschromatus. She must have been pretty thirsty!

Vitalius chromatus drinking from a higher angle to show the red abdomen

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Royal Entomological Society @royentsoc.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

From soil to canopy, urban trees support rich invertebrate life 🌿 Join our #ForestInvertebrates SIG on 5 March 2026 for interdisciplinary talks, research case studies & discussion. 📝 Abstracts welcome – Deadline 30 January 🚶 Optional field visit: 4 March 👉

buff.ly

Share your Research by 30 January

Forest Invertebrates Special Interest Group, 4-5 March

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Dr Willow Neal 🏳️‍🌈 @willowneal.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

Buying one new tarantula after a decade really opened the flood gates… unbelievably addictive hobby. Welcome slings of #Birupes simoroxigorum and #Dolichothele rufoniger #tarantula #spider #bugsky. Will stop buying them soon/probably/eventually…

A small spiderling (sling) species Birupes simoroxigorum

A small spiderling (sling) species Dolichothele rufoniger

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Dr Willow Neal 🏳️‍🌈 @willowneal.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

Creeping over the edge waiting for the cricket… I love this #spider, it’s so colourful and active #tarantula #Chromatopelmacyaneopubescens

Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens peering over its wet waiting for its prey.

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Dr Willow Neal 🏳️‍🌈 @willowneal.bsky.social · 07/01/2026

Well colour me suprised, turns out no one cares except massive bigots. Who knew. 👇🏻

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Dr Willow Neal 🏳️‍🌈 @willowneal.bsky.social · 03/01/2026

Had an amazing new years visiting friends in Dorset and playing with a drone out at the New Forest!

Heath and gorse at the New Forest in Dorset.

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OpenLiving Labs @openlivinglabs.bsky.social · 22/12/2025

Prepping the December catch for genetic #sequencing. Most of this plate is the bug Trioza urticae, which are found in nettles and we have absolutely loads at the living labs! Interesting to see their numbers grow over the past few weeks— maybe this is the peak? #nature #entomology #genomics #BIOSCAN

A well plate filled with organisms for genetic sequencing. Most of the species pictured are the sap-sucking bug Trioza urticae.

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Dr Willow Neal 🏳️‍🌈 @willowneal.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

This was such an excellent listen. As someone from a #workingclass background I really related to this!

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Natalie Cooper @nhcooper123.bsky.social · 16/12/2025

Excited to launch the new improved Reproducible Code guide from @britishecologicalsociety.org @methodsinecoevol.bsky.social FREE online here! www.britishecologicalsociety.org//wp-content/... Amazing work by some very talented ECRs. We hope it’s useful!

Book cover for Reproducible Code guide. The cover has a red background with a large yellow-bodied black-headed stag beetle.

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Dr Willow Neal 🏳️‍🌈 @willowneal.bsky.social · 09/12/2025

New baby Grammistola pulcripies! This is an extremely addictive hobby… #Tarantula #Bugsky

Tarantula Grammistola pulcripies “sling” (spiderling) eating a wax moth larvae.

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Dr Willow Neal 🏳️‍🌈 @willowneal.bsky.social · 30/11/2025

After a years of deciding on a second tarantula I finally landed on one I’ve had my eye on for years. Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens. I love them. Hungry all the time and dashed so fast it scared the life out of me. Good fun! #BugSky

A new world tarantula, Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens with greenish blue legs, a yellow and grey/blue carapace with a distinctive orange abdomen.

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Dr Willow Neal 🏳️‍🌈 @willowneal.bsky.social · 29/11/2025

This gets published but my manuscript has been with the editor for 2 months 😢

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Neil R. Edwards @neil-r-edwards.bsky.social · 24/11/2025

Anyone considering doing a #PhD with us at the OU in life science or #environment ILESLA is a fantastic opportunity to take part in a world class PhD training programme, find out more this Wednesday

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Dr. Jey McCreight 🏳️‍⚧️🧬 @jeymccreight.bsky.social · 07/11/2025

Watson was deeply influential to me as a genomicist, but not how you may assume From stealing Rosalind Franklin's lab notes to his frequent sexist & racist bioessentialist comments later in life, he showed how the scientific community would still worship a terrible person Don't idolize bad people

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Jodie Bettis @jodiebettis.bsky.social · 25/10/2025

🤔 ‘One day it struck me that the world would be a very different place if environmental crimes were treated in the same way as murders. So, why aren’t they? And should they be?’ #ecocidelaw #greencrime www.theguardian.com/books/2025/o...

theguardian.com

Should we treat environmental crime more like murder?

Serial killers and violent criminals dominate the headlines. What if we covered ecocide and pollution in the same way?

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RSPB @rspb.bsky.social · 14/10/2025

The Government has tabled 67 last-minute amendments to the Planning & Infrastructure Bill.‼️ Rushed through with little scrutiny, it’s a shambolic way to reform the planning system. It creates confusion, sidelines science and leaves nature dangerously exposed. (1/3)

A Wren stands upright on a mossy branch, beak open in full song, small but defiant. Against a soft golden blur, it seems to speak out for nature itself: a clear voice cutting through the noise, refusing to be ignored.

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Open University Graduate School, UK @ougradsch.bsky.social · 30/09/2025

We're excited to welcome our Oct #OUGradSch25 PhD cohort to campus today! We can’t wait to hear about their research journeys. On Fri, we’ll also welcome Professional Doctorate students. Also welcome to the first PhD by Distance Learning cohort! @oulibrary.bsky.social @openuniversity.bsky.social

A green lawn with people sitting out on a sunny day. A stately home in the background.

A green lawn with people sitting out on a sunny day. A cafeteria in the background.

A crowd of around 70 people standing in the foyer of a library, looking up and smiling.

A crowd of around 70 people standing in the foyer of a library, looking up and smiling. A gold tree made of Open University Shields is on the wall.

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The Open University @openuniversity.bsky.social · 22/09/2025

PhD researcher Elaine Hooton is shining a spotlight on geodiversity and calling for a shift in how we talk about the non-living foundations of our planet. Elaine shared this inspiring photo of geodiversity in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco. Read more 👉 research.open.ac.uk/news/giving-...

Image shoes a rocky and mossy path that runs through a mountain valley towards snowy mountain peaks and a blue sky with white clouds.

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Jess O'Thomson @jessothomson.co.uk · 13/09/2025

The far right turnout today is much smaller than the number of people who came to protest at London Trans Pride this year, but the far right will of course get infinitely more press coverage.

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Philippa East (Author) @philippaeast.bsky.social · 10/09/2025

My governing body, the British Psychological Society (@bpsofficial.bsky.social) is also highly critical of the EHRC Code of Practice. Thank you, BPS, for making this public statement. www.bps.org.uk/psychologist...

Equality and Human Rights Commission response
The BPS response urged the Equality and Human Rights Commission to adopt a clearer and more coherent approach that protects the dignity, privacy, and rights of trans people, while supporting service providers in meeting their legal responsibilities.

09 September 2025

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Richard Fox @richardfoxbc.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

📣 New research, including @savebutterflies.bsky.social #citizenscience data, shows winners & losers across >1200 insect species in Britain since 1990. Urbanisation identified as major driver of decline for moths, ladybirds & hoverflies www.nature.com/articles/s41... 🌍 🦋🐞🦗🪲🐝

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Martin Fishercat 🇳🇿 @martin-fishercat.bsky.social · 30/08/2025

Not enough people know about Hotwheels Sysiphus #spider en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotwhee...

en.wikipedia.org

Hotwheels sisyphus - Wikipedia

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Pável Matos @pavelmatosm.bsky.social · 19/08/2025

New PhD position: Butterfly Conservation Genomics 🦋 The project focuses on threatened butterflies in Czech dry grasslands and steppes. Deadline: September 12, 2025 More info: pavelmatos.wordpress.com/join-us/

pavelmatos.wordpress.com

Join us

Opportunities Below are the positions currently open in our lab. PhD position (full-time doctoral funding) We are seeking a highly motivated PhD student to join our team. The goal of the project is…

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Julian Sidney @butterflyjulian.bsky.social · 10/08/2025

Beautiful Marbled (Eublemma purpurina) and what a stunning little moth. The stand out moth in the moth trap last night in North East Essex. @moths.uk #teammoths @bc-cambs-essex.bsky.social #savebutterflies #irecord

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Journal of Applied Ecology @jappliedecology.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

A meta-analysis found that high-density managed honeybee populations can: 👉disrupt local biodiversity🌏 👉reduce pollinator richness🧪 👉alter plant-pollinator relationships🐝 ...all with minimal benefits to crop yields! Calls for evidence-based hive density guidelines 📑 🔗 doi.org/10.1111/1365...

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Dr Willow Neal 🏳️‍🌈 @willowneal.bsky.social · 29/07/2025

Perils of relying on AI in #research: just had an algorithm tell me that it has heard a Great #Bittern in the courtyard of the OU campus with 92% confidence. I can see why it’s made that assumption cos the car it’s picked up going over a speed bump does sound a little bit like booming!

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Hilary May @birdsbikesboots.bsky.social · 24/07/2025

I did a #BigButterflyCount earlier and almost all the butterflies vanished but just now this happened! I’m guessing one female and a lot of males? Never seen so many together in the garden. @savebutterflies.bsky.social

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Dr Willow Neal 🏳️‍🌈 @willowneal.bsky.social · 17/07/2025

Are butterflies doing better this year? Yes! ✅ Is that a good thing for nature? Yes! ✅ Do I put a downer on some positive butterfly news? Yes! ✅ (sorry) theconversation.com/why-the-uks-... #butterflies #nature #bugsky 🌍

theconversation.com

Why the UK’s butterflies are booming in 2025

Following on from ‘the year without a butterfly’, 2025 has seen sightings soar in the UK and across Europe.

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