Heather Battles
@anthroetc.bsky.social
Senior Lecturer in Bioanthropology at UoA in Aotearoa/NZ. Infectious disease and epidemics; disability; history and memory.
Reposted by Heather Battles
Here is an obituary for Alice Wong from The Sick Times, a publication aligned with disability rights and disability activism, if you are looking for an alternative to reading the nyt one: thesicktimes.org/2025/11/15/a...
Alice Wong, disability activist and luminary, dies at 51 - The Sick Times
Alice Wong platformed and uplifted people with Long COVID in her final chapter as a lifelong disability advocate and storyteller.
thesicktimes.org
November 16, 2025 at 2:05 AM
Here is an obituary for Alice Wong from The Sick Times, a publication aligned with disability rights and disability activism, if you are looking for an alternative to reading the nyt one: thesicktimes.org/2025/11/15/a...
Wild form of polio found in German sewage sample, health institute says
www.reuters.com
November 12, 2025 at 11:08 PM
Wild form of polio found in German sewage sample, health institute says
Reposted by Heather Battles
As expected, Canada has lost its measles-free status because of the long-running outbreak there. With it goes the #measles elimination status of the entire zone of the Americas, the only division of the #WHO to ever have achieved measles elimination. www.statnews.com/2025/11/10/m...
Canada loses measles elimination status — as does the entire Americas region
Canada has formally lost its measles elimination status, the country’s public health agency announced, triggering the loss of that status throughout all of the Americas.
www.statnews.com
November 10, 2025 at 2:49 PM
As expected, Canada has lost its measles-free status because of the long-running outbreak there. With it goes the #measles elimination status of the entire zone of the Americas, the only division of the #WHO to ever have achieved measles elimination. www.statnews.com/2025/11/10/m...
Less than one month until #ASHB2025 in Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland! 💀🦷👣🗣🦧🐒🔬🩻🧬⚰️🪦
@aushumanbiology.bsky.social
@aushumanbiology.bsky.social
November 10, 2025 at 11:34 PM
Less than one month until #ASHB2025 in Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland! 💀🦷👣🗣🦧🐒🔬🩻🧬⚰️🪦
@aushumanbiology.bsky.social
@aushumanbiology.bsky.social
Reposted by Heather Battles
'Alarming gaps': WHO warns NZ to urgently close measles vaccination gap among Māori and Pacific communities
'Alarming gaps': WHO warns NZ to urgently close measles vaccination gap among Māori and Pacific communities
The World Health Organisation has warned New Zealand to urgently close the "alarming gaps" in measles immunisation for the most at-risk communities.
www.rnz.co.nz
October 27, 2025 at 5:45 PM
'Alarming gaps': WHO warns NZ to urgently close measles vaccination gap among Māori and Pacific communities
Reposted by Heather Battles
Hospitals, clinics not equipped for measles outbreak - general practitioner
Hospitals, clinics not equipped for measles outbreak - general practitioner
Immunisation Advisory Centre senior adviser Mamaeroa David warns waiting times at hospitals are 3-4 weeks.
www.rnz.co.nz
October 25, 2025 at 4:55 AM
Hospitals, clinics not equipped for measles outbreak - general practitioner
Reposted by Heather Battles
More measles cases confirmed in multiple regions
More measles cases confirmed in multiple regions
Three new cases of measles have been reported in the Manawatū and Nelson today, including two children.
www.rnz.co.nz
October 21, 2025 at 5:50 AM
More measles cases confirmed in multiple regions
Reposted by Heather Battles
REMINDERS:
*Abstracts for the 2025 conference are due at 11:59pm NZDT Monday 13/10
*Discounted early bird registration also ends at 11:59pm NZDT Monday 13/10
*Regular price registration closes Monday 20/10
Abstract submission and registration here: www.australasianhumanbiology.com/conferences....
*Abstracts for the 2025 conference are due at 11:59pm NZDT Monday 13/10
*Discounted early bird registration also ends at 11:59pm NZDT Monday 13/10
*Regular price registration closes Monday 20/10
Abstract submission and registration here: www.australasianhumanbiology.com/conferences....
October 8, 2025 at 9:03 AM
REMINDERS:
*Abstracts for the 2025 conference are due at 11:59pm NZDT Monday 13/10
*Discounted early bird registration also ends at 11:59pm NZDT Monday 13/10
*Regular price registration closes Monday 20/10
Abstract submission and registration here: www.australasianhumanbiology.com/conferences....
*Abstracts for the 2025 conference are due at 11:59pm NZDT Monday 13/10
*Discounted early bird registration also ends at 11:59pm NZDT Monday 13/10
*Regular price registration closes Monday 20/10
Abstract submission and registration here: www.australasianhumanbiology.com/conferences....
When I get asked to write commentaries, it's not usually a good sign - it's because an infectious disease I study historically is relevant again.
Comment from Auckland University: Measles vaccination levels in NZ have dipped well below that necessary for herd immunity, exposing us to diseases we thought we’d consigned to history.
Open the door to measles, and it won't stop there
newsroom.co.nz
October 8, 2025 at 8:42 PM
When I get asked to write commentaries, it's not usually a good sign - it's because an infectious disease I study historically is relevant again.
Reposted by Heather Battles
Conference registration and abstract submission are now open for our 2025 Conference in Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland! Learn more at www.australasianhumanbiology.com/conferences....
August 29, 2025 at 6:47 AM
Conference registration and abstract submission are now open for our 2025 Conference in Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland! Learn more at www.australasianhumanbiology.com/conferences....
Reposted by Heather Battles
"The government has made it clear on several occasions that we want publicly funded research to focus on solving real world problems that can be commercialised". What a grim sentence.
www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
Marsden Fund says it was given only a day's notice of further funding cuts
The Marsden Fund is among three contestable funds to lose millions to help set up the new Institute for Advanced Technology.
www.rnz.co.nz
August 18, 2025 at 8:33 PM
"The government has made it clear on several occasions that we want publicly funded research to focus on solving real world problems that can be commercialised". What a grim sentence.
www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
Reposted by Heather Battles
Data on the cuts to the Marsden Fund reported by RNZ this morning
August 18, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Data on the cuts to the Marsden Fund reported by RNZ this morning
Reposted by Heather Battles
🚨 JOB APPLICATION 🚨
The University of Western Australia is looking for a Lecturer in Biological Anthropology
Deadline for applying: August 29th
More information on the link below 👇
external.jobs.uwa.edu.au/en/job/52090...
The University of Western Australia is looking for a Lecturer in Biological Anthropology
Deadline for applying: August 29th
More information on the link below 👇
external.jobs.uwa.edu.au/en/job/52090...
Prospective staff : Jobs at UWA : The University Of Western Australia
external.jobs.uwa.edu.au
July 25, 2025 at 8:50 AM
🚨 JOB APPLICATION 🚨
The University of Western Australia is looking for a Lecturer in Biological Anthropology
Deadline for applying: August 29th
More information on the link below 👇
external.jobs.uwa.edu.au/en/job/52090...
The University of Western Australia is looking for a Lecturer in Biological Anthropology
Deadline for applying: August 29th
More information on the link below 👇
external.jobs.uwa.edu.au/en/job/52090...
Reposted by Heather Battles
🚨 JOB APPLICATION 🚨
The University of Western Australia is looking for an Associate Professor in Biological Anthropology
Deadline for applying: August 22nd
More information on the link below 👇
external.jobs.uwa.edu.au/en/job/52090...
The University of Western Australia is looking for an Associate Professor in Biological Anthropology
Deadline for applying: August 22nd
More information on the link below 👇
external.jobs.uwa.edu.au/en/job/52090...
Prospective staff : Jobs at UWA : The University Of Western Australia
external.jobs.uwa.edu.au
July 25, 2025 at 8:51 AM
🚨 JOB APPLICATION 🚨
The University of Western Australia is looking for an Associate Professor in Biological Anthropology
Deadline for applying: August 22nd
More information on the link below 👇
external.jobs.uwa.edu.au/en/job/52090...
The University of Western Australia is looking for an Associate Professor in Biological Anthropology
Deadline for applying: August 22nd
More information on the link below 👇
external.jobs.uwa.edu.au/en/job/52090...
Reposted by Heather Battles
Wenner Gren is closing Sapiens because, among other things, they anticipate being able to fund fewer than 10% of their applications... at the same time as other funding sources from the federal government are being destroyed. This funding environment is an existential crisis for anthropology 🏺🧪
July 24, 2025 at 7:44 PM
Wenner Gren is closing Sapiens because, among other things, they anticipate being able to fund fewer than 10% of their applications... at the same time as other funding sources from the federal government are being destroyed. This funding environment is an existential crisis for anthropology 🏺🧪
Awful.
Ministry for Culture and Heritage confirms 80 percent cut in senior historian roles
Ministry for Culture and Heritage confirms 80 percent cut in senior historian roles
Manatū Taonga is going ahead with cutting the jobs of most of its historians.
www.rnz.co.nz
July 25, 2025 at 1:15 AM
Awful.
Reposted by Heather Battles
A common scanning method used to create ‘virtual copies’ of precious fossils could be erasing some of the crucial information held within.
Scientists could be accidentally damaging fossils with a method we thought was safe
theconversation.com
July 22, 2025 at 5:52 AM
A common scanning method used to create ‘virtual copies’ of precious fossils could be erasing some of the crucial information held within.
Reposted by Heather Battles
Pleased with this generous review of my book by Heather Battles @anthroetc.bsky.social in Medical History: "Barr’s historical work can thus contribute to wider inter-and trans-disciplinary conversations about the design and implementation of public health responses" www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Philippa Nicole Barr, Uncertainty and Emotion in the 1900 Sydney Plague (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2024), pp. 71, £17.00, paperback, ISBN: 9781108821063. | Medical History | Cambridge Cor...
Philippa Nicole Barr, Uncertainty and Emotion in the 1900 Sydney Plague (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2024), pp. 71, £17.00, paperback, ISBN: 9781108821063. - Volume 69 Issue 2
www.cambridge.org
July 9, 2025 at 12:50 AM
Pleased with this generous review of my book by Heather Battles @anthroetc.bsky.social in Medical History: "Barr’s historical work can thus contribute to wider inter-and trans-disciplinary conversations about the design and implementation of public health responses" www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
"They found that the southern resident orcas — a distinct population of killer whales — were detaching strands of bull kelp from the seafloor to roll between their bodies in a behavior the scientists dubbed “allokelping.”"
edition.cnn.com/2025/06/23/s...
edition.cnn.com/2025/06/23/s...
Drone footage reveals orcas using tools in a stunning first | CNN
Orcas were spotted using kelp as a grooming tool on each other, the first known use of tools among cetaceans for something other than hunting prey.
edition.cnn.com
June 26, 2025 at 8:57 AM
"They found that the southern resident orcas — a distinct population of killer whales — were detaching strands of bull kelp from the seafloor to roll between their bodies in a behavior the scientists dubbed “allokelping.”"
edition.cnn.com/2025/06/23/s...
edition.cnn.com/2025/06/23/s...
The NZ Census is no more: www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
Census to be scrapped from 2030, replaced with administrative data and annual surveys
The traditional Census will be replaced with a combination of government data and smaller annual surveys.
www.rnz.co.nz
June 17, 2025 at 10:42 PM
The NZ Census is no more: www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
"At Macquarie, ancient history and archaeology, creative arts, politics and international relations and the school of sociology would all lose up to, or more than, half of their FTE staff."
Excellent coverage of Macquarie Uni’s proposed restructure:
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
Proposed Macquarie University restructure will ‘hollow out’ humanities, academics say
Macquarie blames prospect of international student caps and ‘uncertainty’ about domestic student numbers for proposed academic job cuts, fewer arts courses
www.theguardian.com
June 15, 2025 at 1:24 AM
"At Macquarie, ancient history and archaeology, creative arts, politics and international relations and the school of sociology would all lose up to, or more than, half of their FTE staff."
Reposted by Heather Battles
Canada is struggling too. This is what happens as a result. A premature infant in Canada just died of measles. If community vaccination had been above 95% this baby who was not yet vaccine eligible could have been protected.
bit.ly/4mOcNEb
bit.ly/4mOcNEb
Premature infant infected with measles dies in Canada
The infant’s death, if confirmed to be caused by measles, would be the first attributed to the disease in Canada this year.
bit.ly
June 7, 2025 at 12:16 AM
Canada is struggling too. This is what happens as a result. A premature infant in Canada just died of measles. If community vaccination had been above 95% this baby who was not yet vaccine eligible could have been protected.
bit.ly/4mOcNEb
bit.ly/4mOcNEb