Jake Dalzell
@bitheolaidhe.bsky.social
botanist and micromycologist from Belfast
luıḃeolaıḋe ⁊ mıcrıṁíceolaıḋe 'e ḃunaḋ Ḃéal Feırste
PhD student in Aberystwyth. Network ecology, evo eco, conservation, etc.
My website: irishplants.org
Field Guide to Plant Pathogens: plantpathogens.net
luıḃeolaıḋe ⁊ mıcrıṁíceolaıḋe 'e ḃunaḋ Ḃéal Feırste
PhD student in Aberystwyth. Network ecology, evo eco, conservation, etc.
My website: irishplants.org
Field Guide to Plant Pathogens: plantpathogens.net
Pinned
I am starting a PhD and am looking for grassland restoration/rewilding sites in Northern Ireland! Please forward this flier to anyone who might be interested in having their land surveyed for fungi!
Reposted by Jake Dalzell
Many of my science colleagues are not speaking out-I suspect due to the fear Phil notes, that they'll targeted for loss of funding. I hope they read this account of what happened at a faculty meeting at Frankfurt University in 1933 as the Nazi's took control 🧪
www.facinghistory.org/resource-lib...
www.facinghistory.org/resource-lib...
![The new Nazi commissar wasted no time on the amenities. He immediately announced that Jews would be forbidden to enter university premises and would be dismissed without salary on March 15; this was something that no one had thought possible despite the Nazis’ loud antisemitism. Then he launched into a tirade of abuse, filth, and four-letter words such as had been heard rarely even in the barracks and never before in academia. . . . [He] pointed his finger at one department chairman after another and said, “You either do what I tell you or we’ll put you into a concentration camp.” There was silence when he finished; everybody waited for the distinguished biochemist-physiologist. The great liberal got up, cleared his throat, and said, “Very interesting, Mr. Commissar, and in some respects very illuminating: but one point I didn’t get too clearly. Will there be more money for research in physiology?"
The meeting broke up shortly thereafter with the commissar assuring the scholars that indeed there would be plenty of money for “racially pure science.” A few of the professors had the courage to walk out with their Jewish colleagues, but most kept a safe distance from these who only a few hours earlier had been their close friends. I went out sick unto death—and I knew that I was going to leave Germany within forty-eight hours.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:r3avzdjyhu6jm7vxia265ncu/bafkreifojqcxuiy2wz6bx4wxamyzad5tkda2gbfljc6olk7jvd6pmt74hu@jpeg)
February 1, 2026 at 4:49 PM
Many of my science colleagues are not speaking out-I suspect due to the fear Phil notes, that they'll targeted for loss of funding. I hope they read this account of what happened at a faculty meeting at Frankfurt University in 1933 as the Nazi's took control 🧪
www.facinghistory.org/resource-lib...
www.facinghistory.org/resource-lib...
January 30, 2026 at 6:14 PM
Reposted by Jake Dalzell
Wild Belfast's annual starling watch event today at Albertbridge.
January 24, 2026 at 5:26 PM
Wild Belfast's annual starling watch event today at Albertbridge.
I saw my first Peronospora ficariae of the year yesterday! Look out for yellowed, downturned leaves of Lesser Celandine with branched conidiophores underneath (visible with a hand lens).
#FungiFriends #WildPlantDisease
#FungiFriends #WildPlantDisease
January 24, 2026 at 6:35 PM
I saw my first Peronospora ficariae of the year yesterday! Look out for yellowed, downturned leaves of Lesser Celandine with branched conidiophores underneath (visible with a hand lens).
#FungiFriends #WildPlantDisease
#FungiFriends #WildPlantDisease
A reminder about this free talk next Tuesday! If you are looking for a new group to record this year plant pathogens are a great choice!
#FungiFriends
#FungiFriends
Are you interested in learning more about identifying plant pathogens in the wild? Come along to my webinar at 7pm on the 27th of January!
bsbi.org/take-part/ev...
#FungiFriends #WildPlantDisease
bsbi.org/take-part/ev...
#FungiFriends #WildPlantDisease
January 20, 2026 at 3:30 PM
A reminder about this free talk next Tuesday! If you are looking for a new group to record this year plant pathogens are a great choice!
#FungiFriends
#FungiFriends
Reposted by Jake Dalzell
Are you interested in learning more about identifying plant pathogens in the wild? Come along to my webinar at 7pm on the 27th of January!
bsbi.org/take-part/ev...
#FungiFriends #WildPlantDisease
bsbi.org/take-part/ev...
#FungiFriends #WildPlantDisease
December 11, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Are you interested in learning more about identifying plant pathogens in the wild? Come along to my webinar at 7pm on the 27th of January!
bsbi.org/take-part/ev...
#FungiFriends #WildPlantDisease
bsbi.org/take-part/ev...
#FungiFriends #WildPlantDisease
Fieldwork this week has been chilly!
January 10, 2026 at 5:18 PM
Fieldwork this week has been chilly!
Reposted by Jake Dalzell
Two fabulous sedges from late April on Arnside Knott.
Spring Sedge (Carex caryophyllea) and its rare red relative Carex ericetorum (Rare Spring Sedge).
The beautiful wine red glumes of ericetorum separate these really well in flower/fruit. What beauties! 😍
@bsbibotany.bsky.social
Spring Sedge (Carex caryophyllea) and its rare red relative Carex ericetorum (Rare Spring Sedge).
The beautiful wine red glumes of ericetorum separate these really well in flower/fruit. What beauties! 😍
@bsbibotany.bsky.social
December 17, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Two fabulous sedges from late April on Arnside Knott.
Spring Sedge (Carex caryophyllea) and its rare red relative Carex ericetorum (Rare Spring Sedge).
The beautiful wine red glumes of ericetorum separate these really well in flower/fruit. What beauties! 😍
@bsbibotany.bsky.social
Spring Sedge (Carex caryophyllea) and its rare red relative Carex ericetorum (Rare Spring Sedge).
The beautiful wine red glumes of ericetorum separate these really well in flower/fruit. What beauties! 😍
@bsbibotany.bsky.social
Reposted by Jake Dalzell
A major new YouGov poll of 2,600+ people shows:
78% favour solar
63% support onshore wind
70% back offshore wind
And 70% would support a solar farm near their own home.
That’s a landslide.
78% favour solar
63% support onshore wind
70% back offshore wind
And 70% would support a solar farm near their own home.
That’s a landslide.
December 16, 2025 at 3:49 PM
A major new YouGov poll of 2,600+ people shows:
78% favour solar
63% support onshore wind
70% back offshore wind
And 70% would support a solar farm near their own home.
That’s a landslide.
78% favour solar
63% support onshore wind
70% back offshore wind
And 70% would support a solar farm near their own home.
That’s a landslide.
Reposted by Jake Dalzell
Funded PhD Opportunity: Seagrass Disease Ecology
Explore how the pseudofungus Phytophthora gemini impacts Zostera marina and restoration success. Lab + fieldwork @thembauk.bsky.social @plymuni.bsky.social & OCT. Combine microbiology, ecology & restoration science 🌱
👉 www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPK439/p...
Explore how the pseudofungus Phytophthora gemini impacts Zostera marina and restoration success. Lab + fieldwork @thembauk.bsky.social @plymuni.bsky.social & OCT. Combine microbiology, ecology & restoration science 🌱
👉 www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPK439/p...
November 17, 2025 at 8:30 AM
Funded PhD Opportunity: Seagrass Disease Ecology
Explore how the pseudofungus Phytophthora gemini impacts Zostera marina and restoration success. Lab + fieldwork @thembauk.bsky.social @plymuni.bsky.social & OCT. Combine microbiology, ecology & restoration science 🌱
👉 www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPK439/p...
Explore how the pseudofungus Phytophthora gemini impacts Zostera marina and restoration success. Lab + fieldwork @thembauk.bsky.social @plymuni.bsky.social & OCT. Combine microbiology, ecology & restoration science 🌱
👉 www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPK439/p...
Reposted by Jake Dalzell
To round up my year of biological recording, here are my favourite finds from each month of 2025!
January - Jubula hutchinsiae
I re-found this colony recorded in 2004 in the Glen Stream, co. Down. A v interesting & unmistakable oceanic liverwort of humid wooded stream valleys
January - Jubula hutchinsiae
I re-found this colony recorded in 2004 in the Glen Stream, co. Down. A v interesting & unmistakable oceanic liverwort of humid wooded stream valleys
December 11, 2025 at 2:09 PM
To round up my year of biological recording, here are my favourite finds from each month of 2025!
January - Jubula hutchinsiae
I re-found this colony recorded in 2004 in the Glen Stream, co. Down. A v interesting & unmistakable oceanic liverwort of humid wooded stream valleys
January - Jubula hutchinsiae
I re-found this colony recorded in 2004 in the Glen Stream, co. Down. A v interesting & unmistakable oceanic liverwort of humid wooded stream valleys
Are you interested in learning more about identifying plant pathogens in the wild? Come along to my webinar at 7pm on the 27th of January!
bsbi.org/take-part/ev...
#FungiFriends #WildPlantDisease
bsbi.org/take-part/ev...
#FungiFriends #WildPlantDisease
December 11, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Are you interested in learning more about identifying plant pathogens in the wild? Come along to my webinar at 7pm on the 27th of January!
bsbi.org/take-part/ev...
#FungiFriends #WildPlantDisease
bsbi.org/take-part/ev...
#FungiFriends #WildPlantDisease
Reposted by Jake Dalzell
Having an incredible time down South, milder weather and a lot of fungi still about. Including the weird and wonderful like this White Basket! (Ileodyction cibarium) 😍
December 6, 2025 at 5:34 PM
Having an incredible time down South, milder weather and a lot of fungi still about. Including the weird and wonderful like this White Basket! (Ileodyction cibarium) 😍
I'm learning a programming language called Julia at the minute. Here is a graph I made showing how the probability of a disease going extinct changes as its host plant gets more common in a simulation. There is a clear and sudden phase transition below which there is a collapse in host connectivity.
December 6, 2025 at 10:52 PM
I'm learning a programming language called Julia at the minute. Here is a graph I made showing how the probability of a disease going extinct changes as its host plant gets more common in a simulation. There is a clear and sudden phase transition below which there is a collapse in host connectivity.
You can really see my biases in my iNaturalist records from this year. Almost all of the flies are gall midges, almost all the wasps are gall wasps, almost all of the arachnids are gall mites :P
The fungi are well represented this year in pink (1587 records), as are the plants in green (870 records)
The fungi are well represented this year in pink (1587 records), as are the plants in green (870 records)
December 5, 2025 at 6:10 PM
You can really see my biases in my iNaturalist records from this year. Almost all of the flies are gall midges, almost all the wasps are gall wasps, almost all of the arachnids are gall mites :P
The fungi are well represented this year in pink (1587 records), as are the plants in green (870 records)
The fungi are well represented this year in pink (1587 records), as are the plants in green (870 records)
Reposted by Jake Dalzell
1/2 #speciesaday no. 677 is Walckenaeria acuminata. Periscope up! The male of this spider has its eyes spread out along the turret - 4 half way and the other 4 at the top! This genus is an utter joy, I love showing this spider to people for the first time. Even the female has a small protrusion.
December 5, 2025 at 7:29 AM
1/2 #speciesaday no. 677 is Walckenaeria acuminata. Periscope up! The male of this spider has its eyes spread out along the turret - 4 half way and the other 4 at the top! This genus is an utter joy, I love showing this spider to people for the first time. Even the female has a small protrusion.
Reposted by Jake Dalzell
The brainiest orange rock posy lichen (Rhizoplaca chrysoleuca) I ever saw. Northwest Territories, Canada.
#lichen #fungi #fungifriends
#lichen #fungi #fungifriends
December 3, 2025 at 9:05 PM
The brainiest orange rock posy lichen (Rhizoplaca chrysoleuca) I ever saw. Northwest Territories, Canada.
#lichen #fungi #fungifriends
#lichen #fungi #fungifriends
Reposted by Jake Dalzell
A few Wild Radish were flowering in a fallow arable field near Pentireglaze, Cornwall today, with lovely colour hues to the petals.
Raphanus raphanistrum subsp raphanistrum
Raphanus raphanistrum subsp raphanistrum
December 3, 2025 at 9:20 PM
A few Wild Radish were flowering in a fallow arable field near Pentireglaze, Cornwall today, with lovely colour hues to the petals.
Raphanus raphanistrum subsp raphanistrum
Raphanus raphanistrum subsp raphanistrum
Reposted by Jake Dalzell
I wish more people were aware of this. Considering the scale of the threat, the media's near-silence is both remarkable and culpable.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Hello, foreign oligarchs and corporations! Please come and sue the UK for billions | George Monbiot
The case of a planned Cumbrian coalmine shows how governments around the world are being threatened by litigation in shadowy offshore courts, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
www.theguardian.com
December 2, 2025 at 9:53 AM
I wish more people were aware of this. Considering the scale of the threat, the media's near-silence is both remarkable and culpable.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Reposted by Jake Dalzell
Plant taxonomy is disappearing - and so is our ability to protect species 🍂
Nearly half of countries have fewer than 10 plant taxonomists. Kew is working to close the gap, but we need more experts fast.
Read the study’s key findings and what we're doing about it 👇
https://ow.ly/XhJo50XyGAa
Nearly half of countries have fewer than 10 plant taxonomists. Kew is working to close the gap, but we need more experts fast.
Read the study’s key findings and what we're doing about it 👇
https://ow.ly/XhJo50XyGAa
December 1, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Plant taxonomy is disappearing - and so is our ability to protect species 🍂
Nearly half of countries have fewer than 10 plant taxonomists. Kew is working to close the gap, but we need more experts fast.
Read the study’s key findings and what we're doing about it 👇
https://ow.ly/XhJo50XyGAa
Nearly half of countries have fewer than 10 plant taxonomists. Kew is working to close the gap, but we need more experts fast.
Read the study’s key findings and what we're doing about it 👇
https://ow.ly/XhJo50XyGAa
Reposted by Jake Dalzell
Terana caerulea
#Teranacaerulea #Terana #BlauerRindenpilz #Rindenpilz #cobaltcrust #velvetbluespread #mushroom #mushrooms #fungus #fungi #pilz #pilze #champignons #champignon #nature #natur #FungiFriends
#Teranacaerulea #Terana #BlauerRindenpilz #Rindenpilz #cobaltcrust #velvetbluespread #mushroom #mushrooms #fungus #fungi #pilz #pilze #champignons #champignon #nature #natur #FungiFriends
December 1, 2025 at 10:14 AM
Unfortunately I have picked up a virus and will not make it to #BIBConf but here is my poster, which explains what I am doing in my PhD.
#FungiFriends #WildPlantDisease
#FungiFriends #WildPlantDisease
November 29, 2025 at 7:20 AM
Unfortunately I have picked up a virus and will not make it to #BIBConf but here is my poster, which explains what I am doing in my PhD.
#FungiFriends #WildPlantDisease
#FungiFriends #WildPlantDisease
Interactions between plant pathogens (left) and plants across five quadrats in a restored species-rich grassland. The basic premise of my PhD is to see if these interaction networks differ between restored and ancient grasslands.
#FungiFriends #NetworkEcology
#FungiFriends #NetworkEcology
November 19, 2025 at 11:15 PM
Interactions between plant pathogens (left) and plants across five quadrats in a restored species-rich grassland. The basic premise of my PhD is to see if these interaction networks differ between restored and ancient grasslands.
#FungiFriends #NetworkEcology
#FungiFriends #NetworkEcology
Reposted by Jake Dalzell
Meadow, Snowy, Pink Waxcap at an ancient grassland site I am sampling today. The wonders of rural South Down!
#FungiFriends
#FungiFriends
November 8, 2025 at 11:36 AM
Meadow, Snowy, Pink Waxcap at an ancient grassland site I am sampling today. The wonders of rural South Down!
#FungiFriends
#FungiFriends