Angela Cassidy
@angecass.bsky.social
4.3K followers 1.2K following 710 posts
Undisciplined scholar. Researching science, society+policy; humans-animals-environments; #OneHealth #microbes #STS #HistSTM #scicomm. Author, 'Vermin, Victims and Disease: British Debates over Badgers and Bovine TB'
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angecass.bsky.social
Please please, GIVE ME A SIGN YOU'RE REAL!
"1. Fill out your profile BEFORE you start following people: issue is that accounts with generic avatars and no biography or introductory text are perceived as likely to be bots, so users not only eschew following back but they may even automatically block"
uoylibrary.bsky.social
We've written a Researcher's Guide to Bluesky!

It's a bit like all those other useful guides to Bluesky, but with several useful insights from University of York academics about using the platform, and we'd love it if it was reposted far and wide...

>> blogs.york.ac.uk/library/2024...

🧵 below
The Researcher’s Guide to Bluesky – The Library, Learning, Archives and Wellbeing Blog
blogs.york.ac.uk
Reposted by Angela Cassidy
angecass.bsky.social
Cross posting this to alert colleagues in #scicomm #sts #envhums #scipol about alarming developments at the BBC Written Archive. So many fundamental studies in these areas have drawn on this resource; it would be disastrous to lose access to it.
eicathomefinn.bsky.social
For reasons, it would be v. helpful to have information from a broad range of academic and non-academic (incl. GLAM) users of the BBC Written Archives OTHER THAN historians, briefly on: 1) What you've used it for and 2) How the proposed changes would impact on your research.

Reposts welcomed.
Historians dismayed by ‘scandal’ of BBC cutting access to...
Critics say new limit to trove of information sounds knell for independent research
observer.co.uk
Reposted by Angela Cassidy
rsmythfreelance.bsky.social
Today I am mostly thinking about the popular inter-war literary genre 'animal stories written by fascists'. Join me.
Title page of a collection of animal stories by Henry Williamson: TARKA THE OTTER, SALAR THE SALMON, THE EPIC OF BROCK THE BADGER, CHAKCHEK THE PEREGRINE.
Reposted by Angela Cassidy
dinostalgia.bsky.social
A call for 🦕🦖🦣 contributors! With Victor Monnin, I'm editing a collection about extinct animal parks—it's a field guide, of sorts, that turns a critical eye on places real, imagined, and yet to be. Find the full CFP for LANDS OF THE LOST here: tinyurl.com/dinoparks #PaleoSky #HistSci #EnvHist #STS
A promotional image for an edited collection called "Lands of the Lost: A Field Guide to Dinosaur Parks Physical, Fictional, and for the Future." The collection editors Dr. Victor Monnin & Dr. Alison Laurence are putting out a call for contributions. Abstracts are due January 10, 2026 to dinoparkfieldguide@gmail.com. Find the full call at: https://tinyurl.com/dinoparks

The background image is of the outdated-but-adored Iguanodon models at Crystal Palace Park.
Reposted by Angela Cassidy
curatorgeoff.bsky.social
🔔🔔JOB KLAXON🔔🔔🔔
Come and join the team at NMS - we're looking for a new Head of Collections Services. It's a brilliant role and a great team.

Details
Salary - £70.692-80,152
Hours - FT 35 Hours per week
Deadline - Nov 9th, 2025

careers.nms.ac.uk/job/780754
Head of Collections Services
careers.nms.ac.uk
Reposted by Angela Cassidy
katemcal993.bsky.social
We recently sorted through my grandparents’ book collection, which they built up over decades (they were both avid readers!) Finding notes in the front, bookmarks made from old receipts, finger marks on the pages, felt like finding little traces of them
nick-pettigrew.bsky.social
The veneration of Books As Objects misses the point entirely. If you're reading a book, turn the corners down, break the spine, spill soup on it. It's your book, go nuts. A pristine, unread book is a tragedy in a way that a beloved, much-read book that looks like the dog's been at it could never be.
rachelfeder.bsky.social
Tell me your most unhinged literary opinion, as a little treat
Reposted by Angela Cassidy
lsangha.bsky.social
I got my first taste of archival research when visited the BBC written Archives as a 3rd year undergrad in 2001 to research my dissertation.

I studied the papers relating to radio programme 'Ack-Ack Beer-Beer', broadcast in WWII for Anti-Aircraft and Balloon Barrage personnel.

1/
eicathomefinn.bsky.social
For reasons, it would be v. helpful to have information from a broad range of academic and non-academic (incl. GLAM) users of the BBC Written Archives OTHER THAN historians, briefly on: 1) What you've used it for and 2) How the proposed changes would impact on your research.

Reposts welcomed.
Historians dismayed by ‘scandal’ of BBC cutting access to...
Critics say new limit to trove of information sounds knell for independent research
observer.co.uk
Reposted by Angela Cassidy
amandarees.bsky.social
SCIENCE RELIGION AND THE HUMAN FUTURE (Oxford UP) available Jan 16! So grateful to fabulous co-authors Charlotte Sleigh & David Wilkinson who stepped up after the dreadful loss of Tom McLeish (plus new jobs for other authors): book would not be here without them! @eclasproject.bsky.social
Reposted by Angela Cassidy
eicathomefinn.bsky.social
For reasons, it would be v. helpful to have information from a broad range of academic and non-academic (incl. GLAM) users of the BBC Written Archives OTHER THAN historians, briefly on: 1) What you've used it for and 2) How the proposed changes would impact on your research.

Reposts welcomed.
Historians dismayed by ‘scandal’ of BBC cutting access to...
Critics say new limit to trove of information sounds knell for independent research
observer.co.uk
angecass.bsky.social
Cross posting this to alert colleagues in #scicomm #sts #envhums #scipol about alarming developments at the BBC Written Archive. So many fundamental studies in these areas have drawn on this resource; it would be disastrous to lose access to it.
eicathomefinn.bsky.social
For reasons, it would be v. helpful to have information from a broad range of academic and non-academic (incl. GLAM) users of the BBC Written Archives OTHER THAN historians, briefly on: 1) What you've used it for and 2) How the proposed changes would impact on your research.

Reposts welcomed.
Historians dismayed by ‘scandal’ of BBC cutting access to...
Critics say new limit to trove of information sounds knell for independent research
observer.co.uk
Reposted by Angela Cassidy
davidho.bsky.social
“Living car-free is the most impactful behavior by far in terms of reducing emissions.”
wriclimate.bsky.social
🚲🥗🚗 Small choices matter, but big change happens when systems support them.

WRI Climate ranked 19 climate-friendly behaviors to show which ones cut the most emissions and why policies & businesses must make them accessible.

See the list 👉 bit.ly/4q0pWvC
Reposted by Angela Cassidy
jessdkant.bsky.social
“These findings follow previous research which concluded that the more people learn about how AI works, the less they trust it. The opposite was also true — AI’s biggest fanboys tended to be those who understood the least about the tech.”
The More Scientists Work With AI, the Less They Trust It
A preliminary report shows that researchers' confidence in AI software dropped off a cliff over the last year.
futurism.com
Reposted by Angela Cassidy
chrisgrey.bsky.social
This deserves more attention than it has received.

Gove: "we were too anxious as a government to secure those deals in order to show that Brexit was working".

Exactly as so many of us warned at the time, and as the government denied at the time.
www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/country-and-...
Michael Gove admits that post-Brexit trade deals were bad for farmers
Michael Gove has admitted for the first time that the Australia and New Zealand trade deals negotiated by the former Tory government did not protect Britain’s farmers.
www.yorkshirepost.co.uk
Reposted by Angela Cassidy
handle.invalid
I'm pleased to share the news that I have recently begun a term as co-editor of the British Journal for the History of Science (BJHS), working together with the now editor-in-chief, the brilliant Amanda Rees @amandarees.bsky.social.
Reposted by Angela Cassidy
themerl.bsky.social
Our next free monthly gallery tour takes place tomorrow (14 October, 11.30 am)!

Join our very own Dr Ollie Douglas with @uniofreading.bsky.social's Associate Professor Jeremy Burchardt to learn about the history of fences, and why we divide and enclose the countryside.

No booking required!
Dr Ollie Douglas presents a tour of The MERL galleries with author Guy Shrubsole. The two men are surrounded by rural objects and displays, including a wicker basket and a photograph of a hunt.
Reposted by Angela Cassidy
lsangha.bsky.social
A career highlight for me to join Chris Hoban and various musicians (a string quartet! a hurdy-gurdy man!) on Saturday to deliver an afternoon of history & music at Exeter Phoenix.

It's so special to be able to share my #EarlyModern research with the public in such a powerful & meaningful way. 📜🎵🎻🗃️
A group of people seated on stage in a line with another standing in front of them singing into a microphone. An audience watches on.
Reposted by Angela Cassidy
drjennings.bsky.social
It is 100 years since the birth of Margaret Thatcher. In what ways did 'Thatcherism' change Britain? A while back for an ESRC research project, we collaborated with documentary maker Michelle Coomber on a film about the long-term social and economic impacts of the Thatcher governments.
Generation Right
In what ways did 'Thatcherism' change Britain? What, if any, legacy is there from her period in office for British society today? How ought we to make…
vimeo.com
Reposted by Angela Cassidy
ncdominie.bsky.social
"Pivot to online teaching."
unenthusiast.com
In honour of spooky month, share a 4 word horror story that only someone in your profession would understand.

rm -rf ~/
hammancheez.bsky.social
"The chancellor approved it"
Reposted by Angela Cassidy
profhalloran.bsky.social
I would love to see every single Post Office built during the 1930s. Particularly the ones with WPA murals in them…
hetanshah.bsky.social
What policy themed visitor trail would you do upon retirement? I would pilgrimage to visit the 100 Rishi Sunak outdoor chess sets around the country. I genuinely think it would be one of those fun random things that would take me to places I’d never otherwise go to
Reposted by Angela Cassidy
matthewjkelly.bsky.social
Great piece from @marthagill.bsky.social on the state of Britain’s National Parks. Shocked highest levels of sewage discharge are on Dartmoor. Good account of historical reasons park authorities have such limited powers to manage greatest threats to park ecologies.

observer.co.uk/news/columni...
In our national parks sewage flows while the funds for co...
Underfunded, over-farmed and politically sidelined, Britain’s most treasured landscapes need more than protection
observer.co.uk
Reposted by Angela Cassidy
eciu.net
ECIU @eciu.net · 3d
England sees second worst harvest on record, analysis shows

England has seen its second worst harvest on record, according to an analysis of Government figures, after the country’s hottest spring and summer on record as well as the driest spring in more than 100 years.
buff.ly/ip0wwGL
Reposted by Angela Cassidy
krittikaa.bsky.social
Please go through this thread if you are having a bad day. I promise you, it’s the loveliest thing I’ve seen on Bluesky for a while 🥹
dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social
I don't like to brag but I do think our cat Jim is probably better at stretching than virtually any other cat in Britain.
Jim doing a fantastic stretch.
Reposted by Angela Cassidy
jonturney.bsky.social
hard to believe one of our best science writers has to spend their time reporting on science that can no longer be done, but that is where things are in the USA in 2025
carlzimmer.com
Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE
nyti.ms