David Higgins
@davidhiggins.bsky.social
Professor of Environmental Humanities at the University of Leeds, UK. Working on culture and environmental crisis. Writing a book about birds, loss, and restoration. Worried parent. Luddite. Opinions my own. Reposts ≠ endorsement.
Pinned
David Higgins
@davidhiggins.bsky.social
· Oct 17
The book I'm writing -- on bitterns, loss, and hope -- has for a while seemed impossible. Today it seems merely improbable. I'm counting that as progress!
Reposted by David Higgins
The Wildlife Trusts have warned of a nightmare for biodiversity as the UK Government went against its election commitment to ensure that development promotes nature recovery:
UK Government dilutes nature-protection laws for housebuilding
The Labour Government has watered down Biodiversity Net Gain, going against its pledge to ensure that development promotes nature recovery.
bit.ly
December 26, 2025 at 12:46 PM
The Wildlife Trusts have warned of a nightmare for biodiversity as the UK Government went against its election commitment to ensure that development promotes nature recovery:
Reposted by David Higgins
Following a spring clean at Longbarrow HQ, I've found a number of hardbacks (ex-bookshop / damaged in transit) that are perfectly readable, but not saleable.
If you're in Sheffield (postcodes S1-S12 only), and you'd like a free book, message your postal address and I'll deliver it over the weekend.
If you're in Sheffield (postcodes S1-S12 only), and you'd like a free book, message your postal address and I'll deliver it over the weekend.
December 26, 2025 at 9:31 AM
Following a spring clean at Longbarrow HQ, I've found a number of hardbacks (ex-bookshop / damaged in transit) that are perfectly readable, but not saleable.
If you're in Sheffield (postcodes S1-S12 only), and you'd like a free book, message your postal address and I'll deliver it over the weekend.
If you're in Sheffield (postcodes S1-S12 only), and you'd like a free book, message your postal address and I'll deliver it over the weekend.
Depressing that the UK still hasn’t got its act together. I had a total of four weeks’ paternity leave for my two children — taking more didn’t stack up financially. My returning to work so soon was not good for me or my family.
www.theguardian.com/money/2025/d...
www.theguardian.com/money/2025/d...
‘Lost decade’ of progress after UK introduced shared parental leave, say experts
Research suggests fewer than one in 60 public sector workers share leave with partners when they have a baby
www.theguardian.com
December 26, 2025 at 9:45 AM
Depressing that the UK still hasn’t got its act together. I had a total of four weeks’ paternity leave for my two children — taking more didn’t stack up financially. My returning to work so soon was not good for me or my family.
www.theguardian.com/money/2025/d...
www.theguardian.com/money/2025/d...
Stuff made by HUMANS that I've enjoyed this year. Post #4.
I’ve returned to Richard Jefferies again and again. His late essays (e.g. ‘Hours of Spring’) are extraordinary: beautifully written and observed, and shot through with a bittersweet irony that undercuts their tendency to excess.
I’ve returned to Richard Jefferies again and again. His late essays (e.g. ‘Hours of Spring’) are extraordinary: beautifully written and observed, and shot through with a bittersweet irony that undercuts their tendency to excess.
December 26, 2025 at 8:47 AM
Stuff made by HUMANS that I've enjoyed this year. Post #4.
I’ve returned to Richard Jefferies again and again. His late essays (e.g. ‘Hours of Spring’) are extraordinary: beautifully written and observed, and shot through with a bittersweet irony that undercuts their tendency to excess.
I’ve returned to Richard Jefferies again and again. His late essays (e.g. ‘Hours of Spring’) are extraordinary: beautifully written and observed, and shot through with a bittersweet irony that undercuts their tendency to excess.
Reposted by David Higgins
& flat calm, silence until you send up five mallards to rouge in sunset; two pinkfooted geese pace & twist their necks to watch you go
December 25, 2025 at 4:40 PM
& flat calm, silence until you send up five mallards to rouge in sunset; two pinkfooted geese pace & twist their necks to watch you go
Merry Christmas and good cheer to all — except proponents of Gen AI. They can fuck off.
December 25, 2025 at 12:08 AM
Merry Christmas and good cheer to all — except proponents of Gen AI. They can fuck off.
My opposable thumbs don’t seem to help much when it comes to wrapping presents. Most chimpanzees could probably do better; possibly even a few dolphins.
December 24, 2025 at 2:31 PM
My opposable thumbs don’t seem to help much when it comes to wrapping presents. Most chimpanzees could probably do better; possibly even a few dolphins.
Stuff made by HUMANS that I've enjoyed this year. Post #3.
The Cuckoo’s Lea by @drmjwarren.bsky.social. Well written, evocative, and wears its erudition very lightly!
The Cuckoo’s Lea by @drmjwarren.bsky.social. Well written, evocative, and wears its erudition very lightly!
December 24, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Stuff made by HUMANS that I've enjoyed this year. Post #3.
The Cuckoo’s Lea by @drmjwarren.bsky.social. Well written, evocative, and wears its erudition very lightly!
The Cuckoo’s Lea by @drmjwarren.bsky.social. Well written, evocative, and wears its erudition very lightly!
An excellent conservation centre in Leeds needs support for a new boiler. TCV Hollybush Emergency Boiler Appeal www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/tcv-hollyb...
TCV Hollybush Emergency Boiler Appeal
We are raising money to repair the Hollybush Eco Wood Pellet Boiler that broke down the week before Christmas
www.crowdfunder.co.uk
December 24, 2025 at 11:18 AM
An excellent conservation centre in Leeds needs support for a new boiler. TCV Hollybush Emergency Boiler Appeal www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/tcv-hollyb...
Reposted by David Higgins
Marxists: AI is a technology for capital to crush labor power and take control of everything.
Sensible people: this is doomerism and hysteria.
Navarro: AI is a technology for us to crush labor power and take control of everything.
Sensible people: this is doomerism and hysteria.
Navarro: AI is a technology for us to crush labor power and take control of everything.
Peter Navarro: "In an age of AI when all the white collar jobs are going away pretty damn quick, I think maybe it's a good time for people to think about having good blue collar jobs ... give tariffs a chance, because they're working"
December 23, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Marxists: AI is a technology for capital to crush labor power and take control of everything.
Sensible people: this is doomerism and hysteria.
Navarro: AI is a technology for us to crush labor power and take control of everything.
Sensible people: this is doomerism and hysteria.
Navarro: AI is a technology for us to crush labor power and take control of everything.
Thanks for all the very helpful responses. I now have everything I need. (Writing an essay on turtle doves, loss, Richard Jefferies, and the dream of escaping from linear time…)
I'd be most grateful if anyone in possession of a field guide to British birds from the 1950s/1960s could provide me with a photo of the relevant page featuring the turtle dove, along with the bibliographical reference. In return, I'm happy to make a Christmas donation to a charity of your choice.
December 23, 2025 at 9:48 PM
Thanks for all the very helpful responses. I now have everything I need. (Writing an essay on turtle doves, loss, Richard Jefferies, and the dream of escaping from linear time…)
I'd be most grateful if anyone in possession of a field guide to British birds from the 1950s/1960s could provide me with a photo of the relevant page featuring the turtle dove, along with the bibliographical reference. In return, I'm happy to make a Christmas donation to a charity of your choice.
December 23, 2025 at 12:25 PM
I'd be most grateful if anyone in possession of a field guide to British birds from the 1950s/1960s could provide me with a photo of the relevant page featuring the turtle dove, along with the bibliographical reference. In return, I'm happy to make a Christmas donation to a charity of your choice.
My daughter, who is FIVE, just told me off for “Dadsplaining everything”. 💀💀💀
December 23, 2025 at 8:55 AM
My daughter, who is FIVE, just told me off for “Dadsplaining everything”. 💀💀💀
Perfect reading matter for the festive period. @davidbatherwoods.bsky.social
December 22, 2025 at 10:19 PM
Perfect reading matter for the festive period. @davidbatherwoods.bsky.social
Just finished my last piece of 'work that I don't necessarily want to do' for 2025! I *might* do a bit of writing over Christmas, if I feel like it (and my kids let me), but basically school's out. Time for a mince pie. 🎄🎄🎄
December 22, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Just finished my last piece of 'work that I don't necessarily want to do' for 2025! I *might* do a bit of writing over Christmas, if I feel like it (and my kids let me), but basically school's out. Time for a mince pie. 🎄🎄🎄
Reposted by David Higgins
a big part of the issue surrounding the use of chatgpt/LLMs in academic research comes down to process vs. product. a lot of us know that the process of doing research matters because that's where intellectual work is done; but some "academics" and lots of techies only care about a fast product
December 21, 2025 at 2:49 PM
a big part of the issue surrounding the use of chatgpt/LLMs in academic research comes down to process vs. product. a lot of us know that the process of doing research matters because that's where intellectual work is done; but some "academics" and lots of techies only care about a fast product
Reposted by David Higgins
I'm very excited to announce the launch of the #18thC Ecologies Network! Co-convened by myself & @calsutherland.bsky.social at @cecs-york.bsky.social , ECEN is a hub for researchers interested in the many diverse ecologies of the period 🌱
Find out more: hzj520.wixsite.com/eighteenth-c...
Find out more: hzj520.wixsite.com/eighteenth-c...
December 21, 2025 at 12:12 PM
I'm very excited to announce the launch of the #18thC Ecologies Network! Co-convened by myself & @calsutherland.bsky.social at @cecs-york.bsky.social , ECEN is a hub for researchers interested in the many diverse ecologies of the period 🌱
Find out more: hzj520.wixsite.com/eighteenth-c...
Find out more: hzj520.wixsite.com/eighteenth-c...
A suitably dreary morning for lurking in a graveyard looking for hawfinches. Eventually had a good scope view of one and a half view of another. Also a few siskins and greenfinches plus the usual woodland birds. (Harewood, West Yorkshire) #UKbirding
December 21, 2025 at 2:34 PM
A suitably dreary morning for lurking in a graveyard looking for hawfinches. Eventually had a good scope view of one and a half view of another. Also a few siskins and greenfinches plus the usual woodland birds. (Harewood, West Yorkshire) #UKbirding
Apart from being total bollocks, the headline to this article (about Knaresborough) is a geographical headfuck.
![Yorkshire Live
[romanticised photo of river nidd and viaduct at Knaresborough]
Yorkshire town dubbed 'the Italy of England' is perfect for a day trip.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:nqu647dxieaalotdatjaol66/bafkreih3u5fvyyq7aubyhmbiibvy77eytqx7xsxy3qe5rsr3dfy7ndky6a@jpeg)
December 20, 2025 at 10:26 PM
Apart from being total bollocks, the headline to this article (about Knaresborough) is a geographical headfuck.
To my astonishment, after five months and many phone calls and emails, Aer Lingus have paid me some money that they were legally required to pay me!
December 20, 2025 at 10:13 PM
To my astonishment, after five months and many phone calls and emails, Aer Lingus have paid me some money that they were legally required to pay me!
Reposted by David Higgins
"Learning from the past to inform future seabird conservation (PASTBIRD)"
An eclectic mixture of etnography, inorganic chemistry and seabird/island ecology. In 2026 we will be looking for a PhD student in AU in Denmark, and a PostDoc in the Faroes. Please share!
dff.dk/hvad-har-vi-...
An eclectic mixture of etnography, inorganic chemistry and seabird/island ecology. In 2026 we will be looking for a PhD student in AU in Denmark, and a PostDoc in the Faroes. Please share!
dff.dk/hvad-har-vi-...
Se oversigt over støttet forskning
På siden her kan du se alle forskningsprojekter, som Danmarks Frie Forskningsfond har støttet siden 2014.
dff.dk
December 20, 2025 at 7:56 PM
"Learning from the past to inform future seabird conservation (PASTBIRD)"
An eclectic mixture of etnography, inorganic chemistry and seabird/island ecology. In 2026 we will be looking for a PhD student in AU in Denmark, and a PostDoc in the Faroes. Please share!
dff.dk/hvad-har-vi-...
An eclectic mixture of etnography, inorganic chemistry and seabird/island ecology. In 2026 we will be looking for a PhD student in AU in Denmark, and a PostDoc in the Faroes. Please share!
dff.dk/hvad-har-vi-...
Reposted by David Higgins
Consumer-facing “A.i.” is a fascist project of right wing billionaires to replace actual knowledge and human interaction with lies, disinformation, slop, and propaganda.
Academics and technologists are sounding the alarm about a growing crisis in scholarship as we know it: AI-generated citations of nonexistent papers that have infested real journals. Despite being fake, the sources are widely assumed to be authentic the more they appear in published literature.
AI Is Inventing Academic Papers That Don't Exist -- And They're Being Cited in Real Journals
Academic articles from authors using large language model are creating an ecosystem of fake research that threatens human knowledge itself.
www.rollingstone.com
December 20, 2025 at 1:15 PM
Consumer-facing “A.i.” is a fascist project of right wing billionaires to replace actual knowledge and human interaction with lies, disinformation, slop, and propaganda.
Reposted by David Higgins
I'm sorry, but using AI like this should be considered academic malpractice. I would be infuriated to find out that reviewers were placing my work into AI systems without my consent.
www.frontiersin.org/documents/un...
www.frontiersin.org/documents/un...
December 19, 2025 at 3:22 PM
I'm sorry, but using AI like this should be considered academic malpractice. I would be infuriated to find out that reviewers were placing my work into AI systems without my consent.
www.frontiersin.org/documents/un...
www.frontiersin.org/documents/un...
Reposted by David Higgins
this is what i was talking about when I said we need to ground anti-ai arguments in a rejection of the goals.
what makes it wasteful isn't a specific measurable quantity, (although that's also still a lot)
what makes it wasteful is *what it's used for*
we need to kirby this argument
what makes it wasteful isn't a specific measurable quantity, (although that's also still a lot)
what makes it wasteful is *what it's used for*
we need to kirby this argument
saw some angry responses to this piece, which is fine, but it is abundantly clear that the pro-AI faction in this country is about to start hammering hard on the line that water fears are overblown, using Masley as a source
December 18, 2025 at 3:39 PM
this is what i was talking about when I said we need to ground anti-ai arguments in a rejection of the goals.
what makes it wasteful isn't a specific measurable quantity, (although that's also still a lot)
what makes it wasteful is *what it's used for*
we need to kirby this argument
what makes it wasteful isn't a specific measurable quantity, (although that's also still a lot)
what makes it wasteful is *what it's used for*
we need to kirby this argument
Reposted by David Higgins
Still shopping? BUY MY BOOKS. Buy this one for anyone who likes the world and was once a kid. www.hive.co.uk/Product/Rich...
www.hive.co.uk
December 19, 2025 at 11:30 AM
Still shopping? BUY MY BOOKS. Buy this one for anyone who likes the world and was once a kid. www.hive.co.uk/Product/Rich...