Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Joanna Bagniewska @joannabagniewska.com · 3d

Please remember that you need to have a license to handle bats, and you shouldn't touch wild animals in general (disturbance as well as disease transfer - wear gloves and a mask to protect both parties).

They ARE cute though 😍

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Joanna Bagniewska @joannabagniewska.com · 3d

This is the more normal part of my job!

Please remember that you need to have a license to handle bats, and you shouldn't touch wild animals in general (disturbance as well as disease transfer - wear gloves and a mask to protect both parties).
🧪🦇🌍 #AcademicSky

Oxford Lifelong Learning, University of Oxford @oxlifelonglearning.bsky.social · 3d

Seeing as it's nearly Halloween, we thought we'd share some photos from our Ecological Survey Techniques students' trip to Wytham Woods to take a closer look at these adorable little fuzzy creatures... 🦇 Who knew bats could be this cute?

#OxfordLifelongLearning #OxfordUniversity #StudyAtOxford

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Joanna Bagniewska @joannabagniewska.com · 3d

Academics: We're overworked, underpaid and unappreciated.
Academics at @oxlifelonglearning.bsky.social: I spent the afternoon in a bedsheet, being a ghost.

That's it. That's what @tomrocksmaths.bsky.social, @jonathanhealey.bsky.social and I are paid to do. Things won't get better.

#AcademicSky

Ghost Joanna reads to a stuffed museum bear.

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Joanna Bagniewska @joannabagniewska.com · 3d

Plus a great overview of this sad topic in @phys.org.web.brid.gy phys.org/news/2025-10...
🧪🐠

Losing Nemo: Almost all aquarium fish in the US are caught in the wild

New research has revealed that about 90% of marine aquarium fish sold by online retailers in the United States are sourced directly from wild populations, mostly in the western Pacific and Indian Ocea...

phys.org

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Joanna Bagniewska @joannabagniewska.com · 3d

⚠️Losing Nemo: Almost all aquarium fish in the US are caught in the wild⚠️

"Across all platforms and 13 popular fish taxonomic families, we found 734 unique species for sale, 89.2% (655 species) of which were sourced exclusively from the wild."
🧪🐠🌍
conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

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Reposted by Joanna Bagniewska

Eva Amsen @easternblot.bsky.social · 4d

Did you know that recent model iPhone Pros have a LiDAR sensor? You can use it to measure distances, and scientists in Spain used it to recreate a digital version of a cave filled with ancient cave art. 🧪 #scicomm www.forbes.com/sites/evaams...

Mapping Cave Art With A Cellphone

Researchers in Spain used Apple iPhone’s built-in LiDAR sensor to create a 3D map of a cave with hundreds of prehistoric cave paintings.

www.forbes.com

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Joanna Bagniewska @joannabagniewska.com · 10d

That's beautiful! I have slight stick insect envy.

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Joanna Bagniewska @joannabagniewska.com · 10d

Ha, my bad!
But yes, generous friends do help on the unusual pet front.

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Joanna Bagniewska @joannabagniewska.com · 10d

You need to make some entomologist friends!

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Joanna Bagniewska @joannabagniewska.com · 10d

What do friends do?
Friends get you the ultimate nerd status symbol: a giant prickly stick insect, Extatosoma tiaratum.

Welcome, Michalina (aka Misia-Patysia)!

🧪 🦂 🌍

A giant prickly stick insect on an arm, in front of my book chapter on giant prickly stick insects.

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Joanna Bagniewska @joannabagniewska.com · 11d

I met Jane Goodall in 2005, when she was visiting the @houstonzoo.bsky.social; I was doing my undergrad project there, and she came over to chat about meerkats and mongooses.
You can see a glimpse of her in the snapshot a friend took on that day.

RIP, Jane.
🌏🧪🐵

Very pleased Joanna in an orange top; Jane Goodall on the right in the blue shirt.

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Joanna Bagniewska @joannabagniewska.com · 11d

Jane Goodall dies age 91.

A conservation icon gone.

🧪 🐒 🌍

www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c9...

Jane Goodall, chimpanzee expert and animal rights campaigner, dies age 91 - follow live

The campaigner, a

www.bbc.co.uk

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Joanna Bagniewska @joannabagniewska.com · 12d

In October, the British Council will be launching the Climate Skills Global Collaboration Grants 2025, offering grants up to £85,000 for partnerships between the UK and Brazil, India, Indonesia, Mexico, and Viet Nam.

opportunities-insight.britishcouncil.org/short-articl...

#AcademicSky #climate 🧪

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Joanna Bagniewska @joannabagniewska.com · 13d

Anyone in need of excellent #teaching resources (UG and postgrad) for #ecology and #conservation? Bill has created some amazing explainer videos, and they're all free and ready for you to use.
Enjoy.

#AcademicSky 🧪🌍

William (Bill) Sutherland @billsutherland.bsky.social · 13d

Are you a student studying ecology or conservation? Do you lecture ecology or conservation? I created this playlist for you and hope it is useful. youtube.com/playlist?lis...

Conservation concepts for undergraduates and postgraduates - YouTube

Key concepts underpinning undergraduate ecology and conservation courses

youtube.com

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Joanna Bagniewska @joannabagniewska.com · 13d

🐻Why does #FatBearWeek matter, for bears and people?🐻

@antoniouzal.bsky.social writes for @theconversation.com:

theconversation.com/alaskas-fat-...

Meanwhile, vote in the semi-finals for your favourite chonky bear here: explore.org/fat-bear-week
🧪🌍🦊

Alaska’s Fat Bear Week is more than a bit of fun – for the animals, size is a matter of survival

Bears need to put on fat in order to survive the harsh Alaskan winters.

theconversation.com

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Joanna Bagniewska @joannabagniewska.com · 19d

🐻🐻🐻🐻
It is finally here.
Fat Bear Week 2025.
🐻🐻🐻🐻

Vote for the fattest, portliest, chubbiest bear of Katmai NP (@fatbearweek.bsky.social). Some of these chonks weigh more than half a ton, and have gained over 100kg since July.

Who will win this year?

Voting is open: explore.org/fat-bear-week
🧪🌍🦊

Chunk the Bear gaining weight between July and September.

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Joanna Bagniewska @joannabagniewska.com · 20d

Calling all chimp enthusiasts!
Oxon Mammal Group winter seminar season kicks off with a talk by @pintsizedprimate.bsky.social from @oxford-anthro.bsky.social on chimpanzee cultures, archaeology and conservation.
13 Oct, 7pm, at @morethanadodo.bsky.social.
Free for members, 3GBP for non-members.
🧪🐵

oxon-mammal-group.bsky.social @oxon-mammal-group.bsky.social · 20d

Our Winter Lecture series is back for 2025/26! Our first talk is Monday 13th October, 7pm at Oxford's Natural History Museum. Dr Kat Almeida-Warren is going to be talking about chimpanzee cultures, archaeology, and conservation. It's going to be fascinating, hope to see you all there!

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Joanna Bagniewska @joannabagniewska.com · 20d

The tagline of IgNobel Prizes is: "Research that makes people laugh... then think" - so this study fits the bill brilliantly.

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Joanna Bagniewska @joannabagniewska.com · 20d

Why not? Loads of flies in OZ...

Joanna Bagniewska @joannabagniewska.com · 20d

Not in Japan!

Actually, wildlife attacks on livestock are a huge conservation problem, stripes or no stripes.

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Joanna Bagniewska @joannabagniewska.com · 20d

#IgNoble prize winner:
Painting cows with zebra-like striping reduces biting fly attacks.

💡Painting black-and-white stripes can increase cattle welfare without the use of pesticides, proposing a solution for the problem of pesticide resistance in the environment.

🧪🌍🪰🦓🐮
doi.org/10.1371/jour...

A cow painted in zebra stripes; diagram shows the area of legs and body used to count biting flies on cows in the study. Source: Kojima et al., 2019

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Joanna Bagniewska @joannabagniewska.com · 23d

I don't know - I find Bluesky and LinkedIn much more useful. Twitter became absolutely useless for me after changing into X (pushing AI nonsense and ads, hiding interesting content).
Having said that, I still use your Zotero tutorial threads there 😍
#academicsky

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Joanna Bagniewska @joannabagniewska.com · Sep 12

🐀 Personality tests for wild mice! 🐀

Small mammals come with different personalities, and these personalities can impact ecological outcomes.

How can we standardise measuring personality traits in wild small mammals? @alessiomortelliti.bsky.social and colleagues provide five key tips.

🧪🦊🌍

Mammal Society @mammalsociety.bsky.social · Sep 12

A new review highlights the importance of measuring personality in wild small mammals—and proposes a much-needed standardised approach 🐭🔬

📖 Read the full review here: doi.org/10.1111/mam....

Measuring Personality in Wild Small Mammals: A Review of Methods and Proposal for a Standardised Approach

We provide a systematic review of methodologies used to study personality in small mammals. We propose adopting ‘Standardised Experimental Design’ and ‘Behavioural Measurements’ to effectively…

doi.org

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Joanna Bagniewska @joannabagniewska.com · Sep 12

Daubenton's bats' poo is more like chocolate Rice Krispies. Make of that what you will.

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Joanna Bagniewska @joannabagniewska.com · Sep 12

Wildlife advice and wild life advice:

🦇 Pipistrelle poo looks like chocolate hundreds and thousands; don't confuse the two.

🥰 Find someone who looks at you the way ecologists look at bat poo.

🧪🌍 @oxlifelonglearning.bsky.social

Two ecologists looking wistfully at a bat box.

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