Carly Ziter
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carlyziter.bsky.social
Carly Ziter
@carlyziter.bsky.social

Urban & landscape ecologist thinking about nature-based solutions for biodiversity, people, and climate in the cities we live in. Prof @ Concordia. Probably talking about trees on the radio. Potter. Knitter. Baker. Gardener. Year-round cyclist. ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ (she/her) .. more

Environmental science 72%
Geography 18%
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Hi, Bluesky! ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ urban & landscape ecologist here - tweeting at the intersection of ecology and urbanism + mentorship and work-life balance. Based in Tiohtiร :ke/Montreal

On the off-hours: pottery, knitting, all-weather cycling, & the embarrassment and enjoyment of learning a new language as an adult!

Reposted by Eric J. Pedersen

Really enjoying #BES2025. Things I appreciate:
- Morning plenaries (gets people in on time, doesnโ€™t leave morning speakers w/ empty rooms)
- Good length coffee breaks (30 min!)
- Vegan lunch served on site
- Posters across all career stages & spread across rooms
- Strong presence of journals/editors

But more to come! Was a huuuuge effort just to get the dataset and do basic descriptive work, so we havenโ€™t had a chance to get into many of the more interesting social-ecological questions!

Thereโ€™s also been pretty concerted efforts to plant in equity deserving and low canopy areas in recent years, so that may play into it too (if weโ€™re just thinking about species richness, for example)

Thanks! Weโ€™re in the process of looking at that now. Very preliminary results show that itโ€™s much weaker than we might expect from the literature, but I think there may be some interactions with urban form that we need to consider to tease out the patterns.

Great idea!
Hey #BES2025, especially #ECR folks. Do you have a research project and are wondering about a target journal for it? Come up to platform 5 during posters tonight for speed review! You can get feedback f an editor. If your work has management implications, it would fit at @aer-ese-bes.bsky.social

Reposted by Carly D. Ziter

Hey #BES2025, especially #ECR folks. Do you have a research project and are wondering about a target journal for it? Come up to platform 5 during posters tonight for speed review! You can get feedback f an editor. If your work has management implications, it would fit at @aer-ese-bes.bsky.social
Sandra Diaz' talk at #BES2025 was one of the best keynote's I've seen. She managed to weave art, storytelling, and cutting-edge interdisciplinary functional trait ecology together to show us the importance of connecting with people when we do our science. A great start to the conference!
So happy to see Sandra Diaz use trees from Gorbea as an example of relational values with nature #BES2025 ๐Ÿชพ๐Ÿ‚๐Ÿ’š๐Ÿ’š

@jalene-lamontagne.bsky.social mentioned you'd be here - would be lovely to meet in person!

Reposted by Chhaya M. Werner

Really looking forward to presenting some of our past, ongoing, and upcoming work on the underappreciated role of private urban trees at #BES2025 tomorrow morning (in the Nature and Humans session)! Hoping to see some friendly faces and new colleagues there. @britishecologicalsociety.org

I love the no-right-on-red in Montreal. Makes me feel so much safer as a cyclist and pedestrian, and less worried as a driver!
Some ideas for improving road safety that can be implemented in US cities without modifying infrastructure:

โ€ข No cars moving through the intersection when pedestrians have a "walk" signal.

โ€ข No turn on red.

โ€ข 20 mph speed limit.

โ€ข Leading pedestrian interval for cyclists.

Others?
Some ideas for improving road safety that can be implemented in US cities without modifying infrastructure:

โ€ข No cars moving through the intersection when pedestrians have a "walk" signal.

โ€ข No turn on red.

โ€ข 20 mph speed limit.

โ€ข Leading pedestrian interval for cyclists.

Others?

Reposted by Monica G. Turner

Yes! We should all do this much more.
You can do this right now:

Think of a person who wrote a paper you love, whose work influenced or helped you, or has made your professional life better.

Search up their email address. Shoot them a quick email of thanks. It means so, so much. This is a rough time of year, share some joy.

Reposted by Carly D. Ziter

๐Ÿคฆ
You can do this right now:

Think of a person who wrote a paper you love, whose work influenced or helped you, or has made your professional life better.

Search up their email address. Shoot them a quick email of thanks. It means so, so much. This is a rough time of year, share some joy.
Please contribute! We neex broad input, different forest types, and an array of natural disturbances to see how disturbance regimes are changing.

Reposted by Carly D. Ziter

Cycling and Pedestrian Projects is hiring three temporary Transportation Engineers to work on capital projects that implement bikeways, road safety improvements and Complete Streets features. Apply by January 6. https://jobs.toronto.ca/jobsatcity/job/Toronto-TRANSPORTATION-ENGINEER-ON-M/597961817/

Reposted by Carly D. Ziter

Refining my earlier query (thx to those who replied!): I'm wondering if people can rec urban planning /design programs whose curricula center social justice (in *practice*; not just on the website!).

I'm esp interested in those that address *digital equity* โ€” e.g., broadband, data centers, etc.

Reposted by Carly D. Ziter

it is possible, I promise you, to hold the truth that systemic problems require systemic solutions, AND to believe and tell people that change is possible and it starts in our homes, relationships, and communities

I've seen many applicants to my lab end up in other places (sometimes my rejection of their application, sometimes their rejection of my lab!), and they absolutely thrive in those programs. Keep looking for the right fit.

If you're a prospective student or postdoc reaching out to advisors - please try not to take rejections personally. Yes, you can always work on your application (and if you get feedback, consider it!) but often it really is just an issue of timing and/or resources.

I'm in the thick of grad school application & recruitment season (maybe you too?), and I've been feeling particularly down lately about having to send so many rejections. I wish I had time, money, and bandwidth to take on all the amazing students who reach out, but unfortunately that's not reality!
TIL about a memorial ceremony in Iceland in 2019 to mark the end of a glacier, changing the place name from Okjรถkull to Ok (jรถkull = glacier). Uncompromising wording on the bronze plaque:
"This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".
Utrecht has made space not just for bikes, but for trees.

Trees are prioritized, given space, and maintained by the municipality, not just in parks, but along every road that is developed.

A resilient city prepares for the future on a warming planet.
Tonight I'll be speaking to Nature Guelph about our team's research on bioacoustic methods for studying bird migration. Join online through Nature Guelph if you're interested:
natureguelph.ca/events/eaves...

Reposted by Carly D. Ziter

If you have a student, anywhere in the world, who would like and entomological society membership please have them come on over to our entopoc.org website to sign up for up to three free memberships per student!
Folks: I will be flying an ad for well funded PhD and MSc positions in the coming days. If you want to do movement ecology and conservation with these incredible animalsโ€ฆ watch this space ๐Ÿฆ‰๐ŸŒฒ

Also, SO fitting that the highlighted photo on the below screenshot is one of Montreal's Ruelles Vertes (a Canadian case study that's particularly close to my own heart!)
It's been a privilege to be part of this global effort over the past years! The Natura Roadmap for Urban Nature-based Solutions is the first comprehensive global assessment of urban NbS knowledge & practice (with >150 case studies)

US-Canada report (co-led with @drnitrogen.bsky.social) coming soon!

It's been a privilege to be part of this global effort over the past years! The Natura Roadmap for Urban Nature-based Solutions is the first comprehensive global assessment of urban NbS knowledge & practice (with >150 case studies)

US-Canada report (co-led with @drnitrogen.bsky.social) coming soon!

Excited to head to #BES2025 in a few weeks (for the first time since attending BeS/Intecol as an MSc student in 2013!). Looking forward to re-connecting with international colleagues and making new connections.

Reposted by Carly D. Ziter

#Montreal was rated #1 bicycle city in North America this year.

But the party that won the municipal election campaigned on auditing and removing bike lanes.

Theyโ€™ve already started in my borough, #Outremont.

So we made our own bike lane this morning. We need to keep our kids activeโ€”and safe.