Colin M. Beale | Lightnews

Colin Beale @cmbeale.bsky.social · 4d

I've just replaced my pair from here (£18). Previous pair lasted 8 years with (at least) weekly use. Can't complain...

Molly Brown @molly-rc-brown.bsky.social · 9d

My first PhD paper is out today in Conservation Biology! @society4conbio.bsky.social

Freely available to read here: doi.org/10.1111/cobi...

Tldr 🧵 below!

An African savanna elephant using its trunk to pull branches towards its mouth.

Colin Beale @cmbeale.bsky.social · 9d

It's also been a privilidge to work with Molly & the amazing @professorpub.bsky.social ! Conservation is truly an interdisciplinary field, & I have a feeling that Molly's work shows how slowly the field is encorporating expertise from fields beyond the natural sciences...

We've reached the bottom of the thread, so here's an elephant foot. It is grey with large toenails and no signs of butter.

Colin Beale @cmbeale.bsky.social · 9d

Lots of other insights from social marketingare still unused in ivory campaigns, & those working on demand management for other wildlife products might like to explore these ideas too. For me Molly's project has been a opportunity to shift focus from treating symptoms to causes of threat. 4/5

Elephants wear ivory best, even if (as here) they only have the one remaining tusk. This elephant is standing in font of rather lush green vegetation and staring at us. He's big.

Colin Beale @cmbeale.bsky.social · 9d

Molly's analysis shows that even today very few campaigns meet all the benchmarks for good marketing, with a very large gap in evaluation, so we don't really know how well they work. But she did find that campaigns encouraging people to make pledges to recieve digital rewards (pic) scored highly 3/5

Digital "Yantra" from Mercy is Power campaign - three coloured images with Thai writing. The red denotes power, green wealth and yellow protection. Which would you like?

Colin Beale @cmbeale.bsky.social · 9d

Knowing how powerful marketing can be, conservationists have been trying to run marketing campaigns to encourage people to stop buying ivory. There's a rapidly growing field of conservation marketing. But to start with, most ivory campaigns look a bit like conservationists just making stuff up. 2/5

spongebob squarepants is smiling and holding his hands up in the air with the word marketing written above him .

Alt: spongebob squarepants is smiling and holding his hands up in the air with the word marketing written above him .

media.tenor.com

Colin Beale @cmbeale.bsky.social · 9d

New paper! @molly-rc-brown.bsky.social1st PhD paper is out. It evaluates 55 interventions aimed at managing demand for ivory from Asian consumers, & shows that while quality has increased over time (& effectiveness?) there's still a lot to do. conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... 1/5🧪🌍

Elephants, wildebeest and a bunch of other animals at a water hold in Tanzania. They're cute and should stay alive.

Jonny Gordon @jonathan-gdon.bsky.social · 11d

Increasing human ecological impact over the Holocene (11,700 - 150 years ago) led to biodiversity gains in Europe.

Why? From ~8,500 years ago, the spread of farming created heterogeneous, habitat-rich landscapes that enhanced biodiversity.

Read our new paper: dx.doi.org/10.1111/geb....

🌏 🧪

Colin Beale @cmbeale.bsky.social · 12d

Nice morning @northcavewet.bsky.social this morning, with a brief glossy ibis dropping in and some pinging Bearded tits. Sad to see several dead swans though, presumably victims of bird flu 😢. #birds

Glossy ibis in a bank, such in a lake. Terrible picture!

Colin Beale @cmbeale.bsky.social · 14d

Sudents found this a really helpful way of learning about how AI works, and the dangers of using it. Seemed like getting them to do the critique was a really good way of helping them see the problems.

Colin Beale @cmbeale.bsky.social · 14d

I asked Gemini to create a draft grant application for a Darwin Innovation grant - this is an assessment for a final year module. I gave the students the output & the task of spotting why it was a terrible answer. My answers (there are probably more) are in this doc: docs.google.com/document/d/1...

GeminiJunk

Part 1: Critique a bit of junk: AI answer to assessment brief: The text below was generated by Gemini through a few prompting questions, seeing a Darwin Innovation Project example. I’ve highlighted a...

docs.google.com

Colin Beale @cmbeale.bsky.social · 21d

This is very sad news. I had the joy of driving William across the Serengeti some years ago, where the journey was interrupted by urgent stops to identify grasses, & last spent time in the field last year in South Africa. A brilliant ecologist, bursting with ideas & generous with his expertise.

juli g pausas @jgpausas.bsky.social · 21d

I'm very sad to say William Bond, of the University of Cape Town & Fellow of the Royal Society (@royalsociety.org ), has passed away. It is a great loss. He was an enthusiastic ecologist and a critical thinker. I learned a lot, and I still had a lot to learn from him. RIP. 😢

🧪🌎🔥🌿🌳🪴🌐 #PlantScience

Three books by W. Bond and collaborators: Fire and plants (1996), Fire in Mediterranean ecosystems (2012), and Open ecosystems (2019).

juli g pausas @jgpausas.bsky.social · 21d

I'm very sad to say William Bond, of the University of Cape Town & Fellow of the Royal Society (@royalsociety.org ), has passed away. It is a great loss. He was an enthusiastic ecologist and a critical thinker. I learned a lot, and I still had a lot to learn from him. RIP. 😢

🧪🌎🔥🌿🌳🪴🌐 #PlantScience

Colin Beale @cmbeale.bsky.social · Nov 26

This is a fascinating question, one I ask my students by asking what the difference is between ecology & natural history. My answer may upset many, but for me the key is one uses a scientific method, the other doesn't. That's not to say one is more valuable, but they do differ in culture & practice.

Colin Beale @cmbeale.bsky.social · Nov 26

I guess I'm an "other" because I would go for the "make a positive difference" answer. My goals aren't just to inform, and are definitely positive (though positive for whom is a variable question), but otherwise I would have gone for management & policy.

Rafael Marcondes @rafamarcondes.bsky.social · Nov 26

Reviewer didn't understand and/or didn't like my use of the term "natural history". I came up with a simple definition to add to the revised manuscript, but before I post I'm curious as to how all y'all 21st century natural historians would define it. Drop your take in the replies!

Phil Martin @philmartin.bsky.social · Nov 26

What do you think the primary goal of applied ecological/conservation research is?

1️⃣ <a href="https://poll.blue/p/PuXpIV/1" class="hover:underline text-blue-600 dark:text-sky-400 no-card-link" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-link="bsky">Diagnose threats and impacts
2️⃣ <a href="https://poll.blue/p/PuXpIV/2" class="hover:underline text-blue-600 dark:text-sky-400 no-card-link" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-link="bsky">Understand ecological processes
3️⃣ <a href="https://poll.blue/p/PuXpIV/3" class="hover:underline text-blue-600 dark:text-sky-400 no-card-link" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-link="bsky">Inform management or policy
4️⃣ <a href="https://poll.blue/p/PuXpIV/4" class="hover:underline text-blue-600 dark:text-sky-400 no-card-link" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-link="bsky">Something else (comment below)

📊 Show results

Colin Beale @cmbeale.bsky.social · Nov 24

This paper has been on the way for just about a decade: the 1st draft was written 8 years ago - some great pesistence by the fab T. Michael Anderson! Lots of fun to have been working on it wth the likes of @funkyant.bsky.social y.social, @sallyarchibald.bsky.social & @carlastaver.bsky.social etc!

y.social

Colin Beale @cmbeale.bsky.social · Nov 24

We used data on soil, climate, topography, fire, 🐘 & treecover to identify 5 clusters of ecologicaly similar savannahs. We found that the way the major ecological processes operate in these five can be quite different: e.g. only in hot moist savannahs did we detect a direct impact of fire on trees.

Figure showing the results of a bunch of fancy structural equation models linking processes imporant across savannahs. On the left is a global model where basically everything affects everything else, on the right it is split into 5 different areas and each is simpler.

Colin Beale @cmbeale.bsky.social · Nov 24

New paper out documenting research in protected areas across the African Savannah. We identify the widespread hot, wet savannah sites as understudied with 38% of all parks having no papers associated with them & 5 parks accounting for ~50% of all papers 🧪 1/3
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

A map of Africa showing each savanna protected area as one of five possible savanna clusters grouped according to climate, soil, and landscape parameters and the various environmental groups they call into. There are lots of sites that fall into "Cluster 1" of hot, mosit savannahs, but litte research in these areas.

Colin Beale @cmbeale.bsky.social · Nov 11

Hope you read this aloud to your fellow passengers.

Colin Beale @cmbeale.bsky.social · Nov 6

So, next up is this fabulous project with me and @funkyant.bsky.social on nomadic birds in East Africa. Fieldwork and fancy spatial statistics are on offer here, and who doesn't want birds like this fabulous, nonadic Temminck's Courser?! www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

An attentive parent Temminck's Courser is feeding a cute chick. These are top quality birds. Give me MORE!!!!

Colin Beale @cmbeale.bsky.social · Oct 31

This afternoons light reading included NERC science's "Forward look". www.ukri.org/publications... I'm loving the brazen audacity with which they claim as their achievements the Paris climate accord, etc. It makes my own occasional hyperbole look positively unambitious! 🧪

Document that says

Achievements:

140 countries have adopted net zero targets

39% capital value of global businesses with emission reduction targets aligned to the UN Paris Agreement

Colin Beale @cmbeale.bsky.social · Oct 31

Over the next few weeks I'll be sharing some fun PhD opportunities. Today, if you're into hydrology, forests and wading 🪶 in Scotland this one might be for you! 🧪 www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

Rather famous scottish landscape with the west highlands railway looping through mountains. A forest plantation is evident. A few small people on the left are doing their best not to be recognised.

Glen O'Hara @gsoh31.bsky.social · Oct 24

So I've been reading the Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper. There's some good things in there. But when it comes to universities there's very little to cheer. The situation is very tough and will get worse. The last chance to preserve what we've got has passed. Let me explain why. (1/?)

Colin Beale @cmbeale.bsky.social · Oct 24

This was an unexpected start to the morning!

Duncan Bye @duncbye.bsky.social · Oct 24

A Glossy Ibis at Heslington East this morning at the west end wader scrape. Nice to have time for a quick bike twitch before work. Great find by @cmbeale.bsky.social ringing group
@nybirdnews.bsky.social @yorkbirding.bsky.social

Duncan Bye @duncbye.bsky.social · Oct 24

A Glossy Ibis at Heslington East this morning at the west end wader scrape. Nice to have time for a quick bike twitch before work. Great find by @cmbeale.bsky.social ringing group
@nybirdnews.bsky.social @yorkbirding.bsky.social

Colin Beale @cmbeale.bsky.social · Oct 20

This was a great paper to work with @tiff-ki.bsky.social and great to see it out now!

Richard Fox @richardfoxbc.bsky.social · Oct 20

Really nice paper from @tiff-ki.bsky.social & co. shows no overall decline in butterfly species richness in Sulawesi over 166 yrs, but changing communities with endemics & forest specialists declining. Short-term trends unreliable measures of long term. royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/... 🌏

Richard Fox @richardfoxbc.bsky.social · Oct 20

Really nice paper from @tiff-ki.bsky.social & co. shows no overall decline in butterfly species richness in Sulawesi over 166 yrs, but changing communities with endemics & forest specialists declining. Short-term trends unreliable measures of long term. royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/... 🌏

Colin Beale @cmbeale.bsky.social · Oct 17

A great choice of someone who has done so much to inspire a new generation of ornithologists!

BTO | British Trust for Ornithology @btobirds.bsky.social · Oct 16

The Marsh Award for Ornithology goes to Dr. Rob Thomas! @robthomasbirds.bsky.social has made a huge contribution to ornithology through academic research, teaching & mentorship that’s inspired generations of students. He’s also published a monograph on the Storm-petrels. @marshawards.bsky.social

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