Laura Jennings
@botanistlaura.bsky.social
Botanist at Kew working on the conservation of New Guinea plants
Reposted by Laura Jennings
I know it’s intentional but we should stop calling everything AI, lumping useful machine learning techniques for science with large language models that tech companies are trying to cram into everything.
AI to track icebergs adrift at sea.
British scientists say a world-first AI tool to catalogue and track icebergs as they break apart into smaller chunks could fill a "major blind spot" in predicting climate change
u.afp.com/S2sA
British scientists say a world-first AI tool to catalogue and track icebergs as they break apart into smaller chunks could fill a "major blind spot" in predicting climate change
u.afp.com/S2sA
February 5, 2026 at 9:00 AM
I know it’s intentional but we should stop calling everything AI, lumping useful machine learning techniques for science with large language models that tech companies are trying to cram into everything.
Reposted by Laura Jennings
TLDR; it is too early to stop doing taxonomic & natural history work and exclusively do meta-analysis; our existing datasets are highly structured & biology is weird. we shouldn't assume we already know enough to extrapolate a species' needs for conservation- we still need taxonomy & autecology
February 1, 2026 at 4:22 PM
TLDR; it is too early to stop doing taxonomic & natural history work and exclusively do meta-analysis; our existing datasets are highly structured & biology is weird. we shouldn't assume we already know enough to extrapolate a species' needs for conservation- we still need taxonomy & autecology
It's a 'science publishing is broken' story but I am really in support of a quality acronym
We've got ISSUES. Literally.
We scraped >100k special issues & over 1 million articles to bring you a PISS-poor paper. We quantify just how many excess papers are published by guest editors abusing special issues to boost their CVs. How bad is it & what can we do?
arxiv.org/abs/2601.07563
A 🧵 1/n
We scraped >100k special issues & over 1 million articles to bring you a PISS-poor paper. We quantify just how many excess papers are published by guest editors abusing special issues to boost their CVs. How bad is it & what can we do?
arxiv.org/abs/2601.07563
A 🧵 1/n
January 13, 2026 at 11:26 AM
It's a 'science publishing is broken' story but I am really in support of a quality acronym
Reposted by Laura Jennings
Drought is often omitted from IUCN Red Listing assessments as it is difficult to quantify. But our study has found that >95% of threatened species will be exposed to longer and more frequent droughts! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Exposure and sensitivity of threatened plant species to changing drought regimes: A global analysis
Climate change is driving substantial impacts on plants, including widespread increases in drought frequency, duration, and intensity. Changes to thes…
www.sciencedirect.com
January 7, 2026 at 2:11 AM
Drought is often omitted from IUCN Red Listing assessments as it is difficult to quantify. But our study has found that >95% of threatened species will be exposed to longer and more frequent droughts! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Laura Jennings
This “Biotech” has raised more than half a billion USD. Imagine what real conservation work that could fund.
‘They didn’t de-extinct anything’: can Colossal’s genetically engineered animals ever be the real thing?
‘They didn’t de-extinct anything’: can Colossal’s genetically engineered animals ever be the real thing?
The bioscience startup has attracted billions in investment – and a flurry of criticism, but founder tells the Guardian plans to bring back the woolly mammoth will not be derailed
www.theguardian.com
December 31, 2025 at 4:04 PM
This “Biotech” has raised more than half a billion USD. Imagine what real conservation work that could fund.
Reposted by Laura Jennings
2025 was a year of progress & discoveries for akaleha' tree snail conservation here in the CNMI 🐌 Akaleha' are tree snails in Family Partulidae native to the Mariana Islands🇲🇵🇬🇺
To count down the new year,
Here's our Top 10 Akaleha' Conservation Moments of 2025
#InverteFest #JoyOfMolluscs
To count down the new year,
Here's our Top 10 Akaleha' Conservation Moments of 2025
#InverteFest #JoyOfMolluscs
December 24, 2025 at 10:15 PM
2025 was a year of progress & discoveries for akaleha' tree snail conservation here in the CNMI 🐌 Akaleha' are tree snails in Family Partulidae native to the Mariana Islands🇲🇵🇬🇺
To count down the new year,
Here's our Top 10 Akaleha' Conservation Moments of 2025
#InverteFest #JoyOfMolluscs
To count down the new year,
Here's our Top 10 Akaleha' Conservation Moments of 2025
#InverteFest #JoyOfMolluscs
Reposted by Laura Jennings
Okay, I need your help. If everyone buys my book on Kindle today (for 99p), it could push it back to number one on the Music chart and I'd HAVE A CHRISTMAS NUMBER ONE. I would really, really, really like that for Christmas. 99p! www.amazon.co.uk/Story-Christ...
www.amazon.co.uk
December 24, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Okay, I need your help. If everyone buys my book on Kindle today (for 99p), it could push it back to number one on the Music chart and I'd HAVE A CHRISTMAS NUMBER ONE. I would really, really, really like that for Christmas. 99p! www.amazon.co.uk/Story-Christ...
This is so great! Especially the stylised lettering, even though I don't know what it says
December 20, 2025 at 12:45 PM
This is so great! Especially the stylised lettering, even though I don't know what it says
Reposted by Laura Jennings
"You saved me," he said. "Not just from the Mouse King - from a terrible curse, too. Will you do me the honour of accompanying me to my home, the Land of Sweets?"
They travelled by swan over gold-flecked oceans & silver-edged cities. 4/
#ArtAdventCalendar
#NHPNutcracker
They travelled by swan over gold-flecked oceans & silver-edged cities. 4/
#ArtAdventCalendar
#NHPNutcracker
December 23, 2023 at 8:46 PM
"You saved me," he said. "Not just from the Mouse King - from a terrible curse, too. Will you do me the honour of accompanying me to my home, the Land of Sweets?"
They travelled by swan over gold-flecked oceans & silver-edged cities. 4/
#ArtAdventCalendar
#NHPNutcracker
They travelled by swan over gold-flecked oceans & silver-edged cities. 4/
#ArtAdventCalendar
#NHPNutcracker
Reposted by Laura Jennings
Check out our cover article by @timjanicke.bsky.social and colleagues about the role of sexual selection in animal speciation. academic.oup.com/evlett/artic.... The beautiful illustration is by Katharina Bóth.
December 4, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Check out our cover article by @timjanicke.bsky.social and colleagues about the role of sexual selection in animal speciation. academic.oup.com/evlett/artic.... The beautiful illustration is by Katharina Bóth.
Introduce yourself with five animals you have seen in the wild:
Green turtle
Magnificent Bird of Paradise
Purple Spotted Swallowtail
Rothschild's giraffe
Tawny Hermit Crab
Green turtle
Magnificent Bird of Paradise
Purple Spotted Swallowtail
Rothschild's giraffe
Tawny Hermit Crab
Introduce yourself with five animals you have seen in the wild
Small-clawed otter
Clouded leopard
Bear Cuscus
Leatherback turtle
Orangutan
Small-clawed otter
Clouded leopard
Bear Cuscus
Leatherback turtle
Orangutan
November 28, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Introduce yourself with five animals you have seen in the wild:
Green turtle
Magnificent Bird of Paradise
Purple Spotted Swallowtail
Rothschild's giraffe
Tawny Hermit Crab
Green turtle
Magnificent Bird of Paradise
Purple Spotted Swallowtail
Rothschild's giraffe
Tawny Hermit Crab
The number of natural history specimens collected has fallen off a cliff in the 21st century.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Global sampling decline erodes science potential of natural history collections - Nature Communications
Natural history collections hold over two billion specimens representing Earth’s biodiversity, but their scientific value depends on continued specimen collection and digitisation. This study demonstr...
www.nature.com
November 26, 2025 at 10:13 AM
The number of natural history specimens collected has fallen off a cliff in the 21st century.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
This is beautiful but my first thought was pandan cake
Fascinating world of ancient #glass ! A small-scale but colourful mosaic glass inlay depicting an Ibis. This inlay, originating from a workshop in Roman-era Egypt, was discovered in Tawern, near Trier, Germany.
The ibis was considered a sacred animal of Thoth, the Egyptian deity...🧵1/2
📷 me
🏺
The ibis was considered a sacred animal of Thoth, the Egyptian deity...🧵1/2
📷 me
🏺
November 15, 2025 at 8:16 AM
This is beautiful but my first thought was pandan cake
I enjoyed this, it's always great to hear people enthuse about plants (this one's Dactylanthus, Balanophoraceae), the NZ accents are also lovely
Plant geeks giddy about finding a parasitic flower.
It's really lovely.
It's really lovely.
Resurrecting Wellington's Flowers of the Underworld episode of Our Changing World
Until late 2024, nobody had seen te pua o Te Rēinga “the flower of the underworld” in the Wellington region for more than a hundred years. A chance discovery of a small struggling population has kick ...
www.rnz.co.nz
November 15, 2025 at 8:07 AM
I enjoyed this, it's always great to hear people enthuse about plants (this one's Dactylanthus, Balanophoraceae), the NZ accents are also lovely
As well as chickening out of necessary tax rises I also think this is another sensible thing the UK govt won't do
Can’t wait to hear fuel duty get frozen again in the budget in ten days or so!!
Govt scraps all electrification investment. Midland Main Line to stay forever diesel Leicester Nottingham Derby Sheffield. Hugely embarrassing and inexplicable
www.ft.com/content/5ecd...
www.ft.com/content/5ecd...
November 14, 2025 at 2:35 PM
As well as chickening out of necessary tax rises I also think this is another sensible thing the UK govt won't do
Reposted by Laura Jennings
This got to me. Haunting and beautifully written. news.mongabay.com/2025/10/in-m...
In memory of the Christmas Island shrew
It never weighed more than a spoonful of sugar. Five or six grams of life, soft-furred and sharp-nosed, darting among the roots and leaf litter of a tiny island in the Indian Ocean. At night, its voic...
news.mongabay.com
October 25, 2025 at 1:56 AM
This got to me. Haunting and beautifully written. news.mongabay.com/2025/10/in-m...
I think it's incredible infographic day on the internet because this is excellent
"After the fall of the Roman Empire, elephants virtually disappeared from Western Europe. Since there was no real knowledge of how the animal looked, illustrators had to rely on oral and written transmissions to morphologically reconstruct the elephant" www.uliwestphal.de/elephas-anth...
September 24, 2025 at 12:23 PM
I think it's incredible infographic day on the internet because this is excellent
Reposted by Laura Jennings
Reposted by Laura Jennings
Now that it’s the time of year when the obscurely-funded right wing Restore Trust, a private company, try once again to take over the National Trust, my annual reminder of what they want to do with our history & heritage.
blogs.sussex.ac.uk/snapshotsofe...
blogs.sussex.ac.uk/snapshotsofe...
Culture Warriors’ Attacks on the National Trust
Charles Moore uses the Spectator of 3 June to rally support for a rebel National Trust group. Calling themselves Restore Trust, this group of disaffected members and former members bemoan the insti…
blogs.sussex.ac.uk
September 16, 2025 at 6:53 AM
Now that it’s the time of year when the obscurely-funded right wing Restore Trust, a private company, try once again to take over the National Trust, my annual reminder of what they want to do with our history & heritage.
blogs.sussex.ac.uk/snapshotsofe...
blogs.sussex.ac.uk/snapshotsofe...
Reposted by Laura Jennings
I only just heard of What’s Eating Your Collection? and it’s so fascinating.
Unless you’re a collections manager, you have no idea the constant effort required to conserve what’s placed in a museum’s care.
Unless you’re a collections manager, you have no idea the constant effort required to conserve what’s placed in a museum’s care.
What's Eating Your Collection?
www.whatseatingyourcollection.com
September 12, 2025 at 1:55 AM
I only just heard of What’s Eating Your Collection? and it’s so fascinating.
Unless you’re a collections manager, you have no idea the constant effort required to conserve what’s placed in a museum’s care.
Unless you’re a collections manager, you have no idea the constant effort required to conserve what’s placed in a museum’s care.
Reposted by Laura Jennings
oh crap. MNHN-the Paris Natural History Museum paralyzed by cyber-attack! If you've been unable to access their database, website or other resources, here is why.. www.sortiraparis.com/en/news/in-p...
Paris: cyber-attack hits Natural History Museum, cancels exhibition
The massive cyberattack that has paralyzed the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle in Paris's 5th arrondissement since late July 2025 has forced the institution to cancel the "Tropical Autumn: Palms,...
www.sortiraparis.com
September 10, 2025 at 8:19 PM
oh crap. MNHN-the Paris Natural History Museum paralyzed by cyber-attack! If you've been unable to access their database, website or other resources, here is why.. www.sortiraparis.com/en/news/in-p...
I'm looking forward to looking at my study areas in New Guinea and the Lesser Sunda islands when this comes out
Only a pre-print for now, but after 4 years of hard work I couldn't resist sharing this!
The Global Canopy Atlas: analysis-ready maps of 3D structure for the world's woody ecosystems
📜: doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Huge team effort led by the brilliant Fabian Fischer!
The Global Canopy Atlas: analysis-ready maps of 3D structure for the world's woody ecosystems
📜: doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Huge team effort led by the brilliant Fabian Fischer!
September 7, 2025 at 6:21 PM
I'm looking forward to looking at my study areas in New Guinea and the Lesser Sunda islands when this comes out
It's been a great week for weird biology: ants defying the species concept, fluorescing birds of paradise and now forehead teeth in ratfish
Behold the gloriously weird Spotted Ratfish. It has teeth on its forehead for sex. The teeth line a cartilaginous appendage called a tenaculum that in males can be erected and used to grasp a female during mating 🧪
New paper is officially out!
Ratfish have a second jaw on their foreheads - CT + histology show they’re real teeth, built from the same tissues and signals as oral teeth.
www.washington.edu/news/2025/09...
Ratfish have a second jaw on their foreheads - CT + histology show they’re real teeth, built from the same tissues and signals as oral teeth.
www.washington.edu/news/2025/09...
September 5, 2025 at 7:09 AM
It's been a great week for weird biology: ants defying the species concept, fluorescing birds of paradise and now forehead teeth in ratfish
Reposted by Laura Jennings
So this ant...can give birth to male clones of its own species AND of a different species... then mates with the male clones of the other species to produce hybrid workers...and mates with males of its own species to produce new queens... 🐜
Yo these ants are wildin'
🧪
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Yo these ants are wildin'
🧪
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
One mother for two species via obligate cross-species cloning in ants - Nature
In a case of obligate cross-species cloning, female ants of Messor ibericus need to clone males of Messor structor to obtain sperm for producing the worker caste, resulting in males from the same moth...
www.nature.com
September 4, 2025 at 12:24 AM
So this ant...can give birth to male clones of its own species AND of a different species... then mates with the male clones of the other species to produce hybrid workers...and mates with males of its own species to produce new queens... 🐜
Yo these ants are wildin'
🧪
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Yo these ants are wildin'
🧪
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Blackberries and maybe Hieracium as well 😂
Speaking as a bona fide biology expert person who mostly just fiddles with computers all day: the problem is mostly blackberries and if you’re willing ignore them it’s not too bad
The fact that no one can give a coherent definition of ‘species’ is also extremely troubling
August 27, 2025 at 6:45 AM
Blackberries and maybe Hieracium as well 😂