Michelle Bastian
@mhbastian.bsky.social
Senior Lecturer in Environmental Humanities at Edinburgh College of Art. Field philosopher working on clocks, phenology and questioning the charisma of our favourite time solutions. Image from artist David Horwitz
Reposted by Michelle Bastian
Reposted by Michelle Bastian
I am bewildered that this labour of Sisyphus is being carried out by volunteers, while Southern Water, which has admitted responsibility for the catastrophe, is doing nothing to remediate it.
‘We feel we’re fighting a losing battle’: the race to remove millions of plastic beads from Camber Sands
A huge cleanup effort has seen volunteers working to remove beads by hand and machine. They can only wait and see the extent of damage to wildlife and dune habitat
www.theguardian.com
November 15, 2025 at 8:19 AM
I am bewildered that this labour of Sisyphus is being carried out by volunteers, while Southern Water, which has admitted responsibility for the catastrophe, is doing nothing to remediate it.
Reposted by Michelle Bastian
Congratulations to our newest Green councillor, Cllr Mike Dunn, on winning the Long Ashton ward by-election in North Somerset with a huge Green vote!
November 14, 2025 at 2:52 AM
Congratulations to our newest Green councillor, Cllr Mike Dunn, on winning the Long Ashton ward by-election in North Somerset with a huge Green vote!
Reposted by Michelle Bastian
Up to £2,500 for 2-4 weeks in 2026. Open to postdoctoral researchers, or those with comparable records of research.
📣Our UofG Library Visiting Research Fellowships are now open for applications!
We’re delighted to invite scholars from across the globe to apply to work with our internationally significant collections.
Apply at: www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/li...
📆Closing date: 5 January 2026
#UofGLibraryFellows
We’re delighted to invite scholars from across the globe to apply to work with our internationally significant collections.
Apply at: www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/li...
📆Closing date: 5 January 2026
#UofGLibraryFellows
November 15, 2025 at 9:06 AM
Up to £2,500 for 2-4 weeks in 2026. Open to postdoctoral researchers, or those with comparable records of research.
Reposted by Michelle Bastian
I cannot really see how their 'data centre watch' project can be separate from the company, given how one of their advertised services is essentially creating reports on local oppo against data centres for the companies that are building them
archive.ph/RBPxF
archive.ph/RBPxF
November 15, 2025 at 9:44 AM
I cannot really see how their 'data centre watch' project can be separate from the company, given how one of their advertised services is essentially creating reports on local oppo against data centres for the companies that are building them
archive.ph/RBPxF
archive.ph/RBPxF
At the same time you have Joe Rogan invoking peer reviewed research, as the kind of proof needed if claiming election fraud.
MAGA’s ongoing war on academic freedom, reflected in headlines from the last 24 hours.
November 15, 2025 at 10:34 AM
At the same time you have Joe Rogan invoking peer reviewed research, as the kind of proof needed if claiming election fraud.
Reposted by Michelle Bastian
We need more of this: www.theguardian.com/education/20...
Levy on international students’ tuition fees not in best interest of UK, says leader of top university
Duncan Ivison, president of Manchester University, says government’s 6% surcharge plan will ‘hurt the sector’
www.theguardian.com
November 15, 2025 at 10:13 AM
We need more of this: www.theguardian.com/education/20...
Reposted by Michelle Bastian
It’s also at some level green industrial strategy because investing in the industries we need more of by channeling public and private money towards them creates and sustains jobs, builds workforces, and drives experience curves which in turn tends to drive down the costs of clean technology
November 13, 2025 at 11:06 PM
It’s also at some level green industrial strategy because investing in the industries we need more of by channeling public and private money towards them creates and sustains jobs, builds workforces, and drives experience curves which in turn tends to drive down the costs of clean technology
Reposted by Michelle Bastian
One important thing to understand about these policy support mechanisms (“benefits for middle class voters”) being scrapped or slashed is that they are *expressly designed* to incentivise people with money to spend it on clean technology, on basis that public spending can’t deliver transition on own
Hundreds of thousands to lose heat pump subsidies in Reeves’s budget plan
Exclusive: Supporters say grants largely going to middle-class households, but experts warn move will slow transition from gas boilers
www.theguardian.com
November 13, 2025 at 10:50 PM
One important thing to understand about these policy support mechanisms (“benefits for middle class voters”) being scrapped or slashed is that they are *expressly designed* to incentivise people with money to spend it on clean technology, on basis that public spending can’t deliver transition on own
Reposted by Michelle Bastian
E-bikes that are adequate car substitutes for families simply do cost £1000s so if you’re going to make those e-bikes ineligible for salary sacrifice then you urgently need to incentive their uptake with a different policy mechanism. That’s not on the cards though so this is straightforwardly bad
November 14, 2025 at 7:23 AM
E-bikes that are adequate car substitutes for families simply do cost £1000s so if you’re going to make those e-bikes ineligible for salary sacrifice then you urgently need to incentive their uptake with a different policy mechanism. That’s not on the cards though so this is straightforwardly bad
Reposted by Michelle Bastian
The ethics council to the vast Norwegian sovereign wealth fund (largest in the world) has been suspended by the Norwegian government.
Important & troubling piece by @martinsandbu.ft.com
www.ft.com/content/f6b3...
Important & troubling piece by @martinsandbu.ft.com
www.ft.com/content/f6b3...
How Norway jeopardised its integrity overnight
Oslo abruptly changed the ethics rules for the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund
www.ft.com
November 14, 2025 at 5:54 PM
The ethics council to the vast Norwegian sovereign wealth fund (largest in the world) has been suspended by the Norwegian government.
Important & troubling piece by @martinsandbu.ft.com
www.ft.com/content/f6b3...
Important & troubling piece by @martinsandbu.ft.com
www.ft.com/content/f6b3...
Like cutting heat pump subsidies, cutting the cycle2work scheme because of middle class scare mongering, sets back the wide adoption and normalisation of green tech transitions.
Get your £4000 cargo ebikes to replace your car while you can I guess.
Get your £4000 cargo ebikes to replace your car while you can I guess.
So glad to see the Verge covering cargo bikes too - my Tern HSD makes it so I can haul anyone or anything without a car!
November 14, 2025 at 7:39 PM
Like cutting heat pump subsidies, cutting the cycle2work scheme because of middle class scare mongering, sets back the wide adoption and normalisation of green tech transitions.
Get your £4000 cargo ebikes to replace your car while you can I guess.
Get your £4000 cargo ebikes to replace your car while you can I guess.
Reposted by Michelle Bastian
They market their cars as weapons and we allow them on the same roads as children cycling to school.
And I still get weird middle-aged men in my notifications obfuscating for and defending this.
This is not a serious society.
And I still get weird middle-aged men in my notifications obfuscating for and defending this.
This is not a serious society.
November 13, 2025 at 9:43 PM
They market their cars as weapons and we allow them on the same roads as children cycling to school.
And I still get weird middle-aged men in my notifications obfuscating for and defending this.
This is not a serious society.
And I still get weird middle-aged men in my notifications obfuscating for and defending this.
This is not a serious society.
Reposted by Michelle Bastian
Watching Labour MPs take a wrecking ball to nature makes me so angry & so sad. Their action tonight voting down amendments to the #PlanningBill intended to protect wildlife & habitats from destruction is so reckless & so counterproductive. People didn’t vote Labour for this 👇
Housing secretary tells Labour MPs to vote down planning bill amendment
Amendment restricts protection for animals to allow faster house building
www.theguardian.com
November 13, 2025 at 9:06 PM
Watching Labour MPs take a wrecking ball to nature makes me so angry & so sad. Their action tonight voting down amendments to the #PlanningBill intended to protect wildlife & habitats from destruction is so reckless & so counterproductive. People didn’t vote Labour for this 👇
Reposted by Michelle Bastian
Mass redundancies, courses & departments closing across the country, finances existentially bad, government policy making things worse, strikes & looming national industrial action. But hey, the execs get to put on suits, drink champagne, clap each other on the back, & pretend it’s all fine.
Hello from Edinburgh, where we’re about to kick off the 2025 #THEAwards and will be sharing updates here throughout the event. Tonight, the 21st annual “HE Oscars”, we’ll be handing out trophies in 21 categories. See the full shortlist: https://ow.ly/P0hi50XpUKN
November 13, 2025 at 8:42 PM
Mass redundancies, courses & departments closing across the country, finances existentially bad, government policy making things worse, strikes & looming national industrial action. But hey, the execs get to put on suits, drink champagne, clap each other on the back, & pretend it’s all fine.
Reposted by Michelle Bastian
2025 British & Irish Botanical Conference #BIBConf25 takes place at Edge Hill University on Saturday 29 November.
We have a fabulous programme lined up for plant-lovers!
Exhibits & 8 talks inc. a keynote by Prof John Rodwell (of NVC fame).
Programme & bookings:
www.tickettailor.com/events/botan...
We have a fabulous programme lined up for plant-lovers!
Exhibits & 8 talks inc. a keynote by Prof John Rodwell (of NVC fame).
Programme & bookings:
www.tickettailor.com/events/botan...
Select tickets – British and Irish Botanical Conference 2025 – Health, Medicine and Social Care Building, Edge Hill University
British and Irish Botanical Conference 2025 – Health, Medicine and Social Care Building, Edge Hill University, Sat 29 Nov 2025 - Everyone is welcome at the 2025 British & Irish Botanical Conferenc...
www.tickettailor.com
November 13, 2025 at 8:48 PM
2025 British & Irish Botanical Conference #BIBConf25 takes place at Edge Hill University on Saturday 29 November.
We have a fabulous programme lined up for plant-lovers!
Exhibits & 8 talks inc. a keynote by Prof John Rodwell (of NVC fame).
Programme & bookings:
www.tickettailor.com/events/botan...
We have a fabulous programme lined up for plant-lovers!
Exhibits & 8 talks inc. a keynote by Prof John Rodwell (of NVC fame).
Programme & bookings:
www.tickettailor.com/events/botan...
Ive watched tonnes and tonnes of apocalyptic tv and films and this has been a really unique take so far.
Vince Gilligan's new show Pluribus is incredible, and feels like it may have been designed as an eff you to the Emmys for never awarding Rhea Seehorn
November 13, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Ive watched tonnes and tonnes of apocalyptic tv and films and this has been a really unique take so far.
This really can't come soon enough.
This has been doing some numbers today. And I hear there may be T-shirts for sale...
Chaos is coming for scholarly publishing: www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-v...
Chaos is coming for scholarly publishing: www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-v...
Chaos is coming for scholarly publishing - Research Professional News
Buckling of commercial models alongside maturing of community-led efforts promises major shifts, says Caroline Edwards
www.researchprofessionalnews.com
November 12, 2025 at 10:57 PM
This really can't come soon enough.
Reposted by Michelle Bastian
Registration is open for the 2026 Local Phenology Leader Virtual Conference! Connect with fellow LPLs, get updates about the new Nature’s Notebook app, hear from phenology experts, and more.
View the full schedule, learn how you can participate, and register today.
usanpn.org/community/Lo...
View the full schedule, learn how you can participate, and register today.
usanpn.org/community/Lo...
November 12, 2025 at 7:42 PM
Registration is open for the 2026 Local Phenology Leader Virtual Conference! Connect with fellow LPLs, get updates about the new Nature’s Notebook app, hear from phenology experts, and more.
View the full schedule, learn how you can participate, and register today.
usanpn.org/community/Lo...
View the full schedule, learn how you can participate, and register today.
usanpn.org/community/Lo...
Reposted by Michelle Bastian
The senior leadership team at @edinburghuniversity plan to cut staff expenditure by £90m, which is more than 10%.
This would mean about 1 in 8 members of staff losing their jobs. With hundreds of jobs already lost, a further 1,000+ jobs are on the line.
www.instagram.com/p/DQuFjwBjHB5/
This would mean about 1 in 8 members of staff losing their jobs. With hundreds of jobs already lost, a further 1,000+ jobs are on the line.
www.instagram.com/p/DQuFjwBjHB5/
November 12, 2025 at 3:49 PM
The senior leadership team at @edinburghuniversity plan to cut staff expenditure by £90m, which is more than 10%.
This would mean about 1 in 8 members of staff losing their jobs. With hundreds of jobs already lost, a further 1,000+ jobs are on the line.
www.instagram.com/p/DQuFjwBjHB5/
This would mean about 1 in 8 members of staff losing their jobs. With hundreds of jobs already lost, a further 1,000+ jobs are on the line.
www.instagram.com/p/DQuFjwBjHB5/
Reposted by Michelle Bastian
NEW PAPER: What happens if you create a committee for the future? Its members bring future focused speech back with them to plenary. Now out in Legislative Studies Quarterly, written together w/ bluesky-less Vesa Koskimaa doi.org/10.1111/lsq.... (1/n)
A More Future‐Oriented Legislature? The Impact of a Permanent “Future Committee” on the Temporal Focus of MPs
Political short-sightedness is commonly considered a problem for democracies struggling with long-term challenges, but few proposed cures for political myopia have been implemented. We study the worl...
doi.org
November 12, 2025 at 4:36 PM
NEW PAPER: What happens if you create a committee for the future? Its members bring future focused speech back with them to plenary. Now out in Legislative Studies Quarterly, written together w/ bluesky-less Vesa Koskimaa doi.org/10.1111/lsq.... (1/n)
Reposted by Michelle Bastian
👆 #PrincesStreet
🤩 positive outcome!! - see thread above
@edi.bike @thecockburn.bsky.social @edinreporter.bsky.social @edinburghminute.bsky.social @turvill.bsky.social @severincarrell.bsky.social @alastairdalton.bsky.social @threadinburgh.scot @vickyallan.bsky.social @sw20.info @edfoc.bsky.social
🤩 positive outcome!! - see thread above
@edi.bike @thecockburn.bsky.social @edinreporter.bsky.social @edinburghminute.bsky.social @turvill.bsky.social @severincarrell.bsky.social @alastairdalton.bsky.social @threadinburgh.scot @vickyallan.bsky.social @sw20.info @edfoc.bsky.social
November 12, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Reposted by Michelle Bastian
#PrincesStreet #Edinwebcast
👍 Amendment passed, voting 7-4
👍 Fantastic news! Transport & wider considerations must now be incorporated in the strategy
This might not have happened without long-term effort/persistence by Spokes & the visionary/technical expertise of Richard Murphy architects
👍 Amendment passed, voting 7-4
👍 Fantastic news! Transport & wider considerations must now be incorporated in the strategy
This might not have happened without long-term effort/persistence by Spokes & the visionary/technical expertise of Richard Murphy architects
November 12, 2025 at 4:12 PM
#PrincesStreet #Edinwebcast
👍 Amendment passed, voting 7-4
👍 Fantastic news! Transport & wider considerations must now be incorporated in the strategy
This might not have happened without long-term effort/persistence by Spokes & the visionary/technical expertise of Richard Murphy architects
👍 Amendment passed, voting 7-4
👍 Fantastic news! Transport & wider considerations must now be incorporated in the strategy
This might not have happened without long-term effort/persistence by Spokes & the visionary/technical expertise of Richard Murphy architects
Reposted by Michelle Bastian
#PrincesStreet #Edinwebcast
Q: Cllr @davidfkey.bsky.social asks if the right question was asked re segregated bike lanes
A: Cycle lane on pavement was not wanted
[Spokes note: the QA only asked re bike lanes in the footway, not in the carriageway, hence negative public response!]
Q: Cllr @davidfkey.bsky.social asks if the right question was asked re segregated bike lanes
A: Cycle lane on pavement was not wanted
[Spokes note: the QA only asked re bike lanes in the footway, not in the carriageway, hence negative public response!]
November 12, 2025 at 3:43 PM
#PrincesStreet #Edinwebcast
Q: Cllr @davidfkey.bsky.social asks if the right question was asked re segregated bike lanes
A: Cycle lane on pavement was not wanted
[Spokes note: the QA only asked re bike lanes in the footway, not in the carriageway, hence negative public response!]
Q: Cllr @davidfkey.bsky.social asks if the right question was asked re segregated bike lanes
A: Cycle lane on pavement was not wanted
[Spokes note: the QA only asked re bike lanes in the footway, not in the carriageway, hence negative public response!]
Reposted by Michelle Bastian
JOB: Assistant Professor in Environmental History, University of Warwick, Coventry campus (UK) www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPK289/a...
#envhist
#envhist
Assistant Professor in Environmental History (111009-1125) at University of Warwick
Apply now for the Assistant Professor in Environmental History (111009-1125) role on jobs.ac.uk - the leading job board for higher education jobs. View details.
www.jobs.ac.uk
November 12, 2025 at 4:01 PM
JOB: Assistant Professor in Environmental History, University of Warwick, Coventry campus (UK) www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPK289/a...
#envhist
#envhist