Clare Hickman
@drhick.bsky.social
Environmental & medical historian at Newcastle University - hospitals, gardens, landscapes, senses, inclusive interpretation, story teller.
Reposted by Clare Hickman
The poet and author of #TheCompanyOfOwls @pollyrowena.bsky.social observes the wintering of short-eared owls in Cumbria. They are the UK's most nomadic owl, seeking a gentler version of the season.
🎧Listen to BBC Radio 4's #TweetOfTheDay:
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
#owls #birds #nature
🎧Listen to BBC Radio 4's #TweetOfTheDay:
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
#owls #birds #nature
Tweet of the Day - Polly Atkin on the Short-Eared Owl - BBC Sounds
Writer Polly Atkin observes the wintering of short-eared owls in Cumbria.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 6, 2026 at 10:38 AM
The poet and author of #TheCompanyOfOwls @pollyrowena.bsky.social observes the wintering of short-eared owls in Cumbria. They are the UK's most nomadic owl, seeking a gentler version of the season.
🎧Listen to BBC Radio 4's #TweetOfTheDay:
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
#owls #birds #nature
🎧Listen to BBC Radio 4's #TweetOfTheDay:
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
#owls #birds #nature
Reposted by Clare Hickman
What counted as knowledge in Britain’s age of exploration...and who decided?
On Wed 4 Feb, @edwinrose.bsky.social explores how natural knowledge was shaped by travel, collecting, and exchange - and whose voices were left out.
6–8pm · Burlington House
Find out more: buff.ly/ypMIRvt
On Wed 4 Feb, @edwinrose.bsky.social explores how natural knowledge was shaped by travel, collecting, and exchange - and whose voices were left out.
6–8pm · Burlington House
Find out more: buff.ly/ypMIRvt
January 6, 2026 at 1:01 PM
What counted as knowledge in Britain’s age of exploration...and who decided?
On Wed 4 Feb, @edwinrose.bsky.social explores how natural knowledge was shaped by travel, collecting, and exchange - and whose voices were left out.
6–8pm · Burlington House
Find out more: buff.ly/ypMIRvt
On Wed 4 Feb, @edwinrose.bsky.social explores how natural knowledge was shaped by travel, collecting, and exchange - and whose voices were left out.
6–8pm · Burlington House
Find out more: buff.ly/ypMIRvt
Reposted by Clare Hickman
You've dodged all the usual stuff eg:
"Lack of/ missing/ late train crew"
"Engineering works"
"[something] on the line"
"Signalling fault"
"Bad weather"
But then...
"Birmingham trains delayed after wartime bomb found - BBC News"
(Pleased I set off before 9)
share.google/ppFzQBmU8Oh0...
"Lack of/ missing/ late train crew"
"Engineering works"
"[something] on the line"
"Signalling fault"
"Bad weather"
But then...
"Birmingham trains delayed after wartime bomb found - BBC News"
(Pleased I set off before 9)
share.google/ppFzQBmU8Oh0...
Birmingham trains delayed after wartime bomb found - BBC News
Disruption through Birmingham New Street is expected to last until 12:30 GMT.
share.google
January 6, 2026 at 1:16 PM
You've dodged all the usual stuff eg:
"Lack of/ missing/ late train crew"
"Engineering works"
"[something] on the line"
"Signalling fault"
"Bad weather"
But then...
"Birmingham trains delayed after wartime bomb found - BBC News"
(Pleased I set off before 9)
share.google/ppFzQBmU8Oh0...
"Lack of/ missing/ late train crew"
"Engineering works"
"[something] on the line"
"Signalling fault"
"Bad weather"
But then...
"Birmingham trains delayed after wartime bomb found - BBC News"
(Pleased I set off before 9)
share.google/ppFzQBmU8Oh0...
Reposted by Clare Hickman
Deadline approaching for 'In/Out' SSHM2026 at University of Leeds!
Submit your paper or panel proposals by 5pm GMT, 11 Jan 2026 to sshm2026leeds@leeds.ac.uk
More details at:
sshm.org/sshm-2026-in...
@sshmedicine.bsky.social @historynerdess.bsky.social @universityofleeds.bsky.social #histmed
Submit your paper or panel proposals by 5pm GMT, 11 Jan 2026 to sshm2026leeds@leeds.ac.uk
More details at:
sshm.org/sshm-2026-in...
@sshmedicine.bsky.social @historynerdess.bsky.social @universityofleeds.bsky.social #histmed
a black and white alarm clock shows that it is almost 5:00
Alt: a black and white alarm clock counting down
media.tenor.com
January 6, 2026 at 12:43 PM
Deadline approaching for 'In/Out' SSHM2026 at University of Leeds!
Submit your paper or panel proposals by 5pm GMT, 11 Jan 2026 to sshm2026leeds@leeds.ac.uk
More details at:
sshm.org/sshm-2026-in...
@sshmedicine.bsky.social @historynerdess.bsky.social @universityofleeds.bsky.social #histmed
Submit your paper or panel proposals by 5pm GMT, 11 Jan 2026 to sshm2026leeds@leeds.ac.uk
More details at:
sshm.org/sshm-2026-in...
@sshmedicine.bsky.social @historynerdess.bsky.social @universityofleeds.bsky.social #histmed
Reposted by Clare Hickman
I'm hiring 2 postdocs on my Wellcome project "How Did Infectious Diseases Become Wild?: Plague, Yellow Fever, and Disease Ecology in the Brazilian Hinterland (1920-1975)"
Department of Global Health and Social Medicine
King's College
3 years 01/10/26- 30/09/29
Deadline: 01/02/26
shorturl.at/KZ6Vh
Department of Global Health and Social Medicine
King's College
3 years 01/10/26- 30/09/29
Deadline: 01/02/26
shorturl.at/KZ6Vh
Postdoctoral Research Associate | King's College London
www.kcl.ac.uk
January 5, 2026 at 5:22 PM
I'm hiring 2 postdocs on my Wellcome project "How Did Infectious Diseases Become Wild?: Plague, Yellow Fever, and Disease Ecology in the Brazilian Hinterland (1920-1975)"
Department of Global Health and Social Medicine
King's College
3 years 01/10/26- 30/09/29
Deadline: 01/02/26
shorturl.at/KZ6Vh
Department of Global Health and Social Medicine
King's College
3 years 01/10/26- 30/09/29
Deadline: 01/02/26
shorturl.at/KZ6Vh
Reposted by Clare Hickman
Isaac Fletcher's #c18th farming diaries from #Cumbria feature on Farming Today. Download from BBC Sounds www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
and see also Cumbria County History Trust website www.cumbriacountyhistory.org.uk/farming-year...
and see also Cumbria County History Trust website www.cumbriacountyhistory.org.uk/farming-year...
BBC Radio 4 - Farming Today, 01/01/26 Isaac Fletcher's Farming Diaries
The farming diaries of an 18th-century yeoman farmer.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 3, 2026 at 12:33 PM
Isaac Fletcher's #c18th farming diaries from #Cumbria feature on Farming Today. Download from BBC Sounds www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
and see also Cumbria County History Trust website www.cumbriacountyhistory.org.uk/farming-year...
and see also Cumbria County History Trust website www.cumbriacountyhistory.org.uk/farming-year...
Reposted by Clare Hickman
feels weird given everything but apparently I’ve retained the ability to be shocked
January 3, 2026 at 10:33 AM
feels weird given everything but apparently I’ve retained the ability to be shocked
Reposted by Clare Hickman
Do have a read and share Arjun's wonder and appreciation of moss in the first of today's @theguardian.com young country diaries.
#countrydiary #naturewriting
#countrydiary #naturewriting
Young country diary: Other kids love birds and insects – I love moss | Arjun
Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire: I couldn’t believe how much moss there was covering the rocks, the trees, the ground – everything
www.theguardian.com
December 27, 2025 at 12:04 PM
Do have a read and share Arjun's wonder and appreciation of moss in the first of today's @theguardian.com young country diaries.
#countrydiary #naturewriting
#countrydiary #naturewriting
Reposted by Clare Hickman
Might get this printed on a t-shirt. @drhick.bsky.social @draflint.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...
‘Slightly haunted but manageable’: new signs cause confusion – and delight – in Christchurch
Six absurdist signs resembling official city council information boards have popped up across New Zealand’s second-largest city
www.theguardian.com
December 22, 2025 at 9:08 AM
Might get this printed on a t-shirt. @drhick.bsky.social @draflint.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...
Reposted by Clare Hickman
There's still time to submit your paper proposals for SSHM 2026 In/Out @universityofleeds.bsky.social
Submission deadline: 11 Jan 2026 5.00pm GMT
sshm.org/sshm-2026/
@historynerdess.bsky.social
#HistMed #HistSTM
Submission deadline: 11 Jan 2026 5.00pm GMT
sshm.org/sshm-2026/
@historynerdess.bsky.social
#HistMed #HistSTM
SSHM 2026: In/Out
Location: University of Leeds Dates: 30 June to 3 July 2026 Submission Deadline: 5.00pm (GMT) 11th January 2026 Conference Co-Convenors: Dr Alexia Moncrieff & Dr Katherine Rawling Conference Co…
sshm.org
December 18, 2025 at 9:58 AM
There's still time to submit your paper proposals for SSHM 2026 In/Out @universityofleeds.bsky.social
Submission deadline: 11 Jan 2026 5.00pm GMT
sshm.org/sshm-2026/
@historynerdess.bsky.social
#HistMed #HistSTM
Submission deadline: 11 Jan 2026 5.00pm GMT
sshm.org/sshm-2026/
@historynerdess.bsky.social
#HistMed #HistSTM
Reposted by Clare Hickman
It’s the 20th December, and #sketchpadvent continues with Derek Walker’s vision for speculative 80s fun palace Wonderworld in Corby. Here’s folk having a Mekon burger in the Dan Dare restaurant
December 20, 2025 at 7:27 AM
It’s the 20th December, and #sketchpadvent continues with Derek Walker’s vision for speculative 80s fun palace Wonderworld in Corby. Here’s folk having a Mekon burger in the Dan Dare restaurant
Out of office is on! ✨💫 Here’s my current view and probably the best photo I’ve taken this year to mark the occasion 🎄🥂
December 19, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Out of office is on! ✨💫 Here’s my current view and probably the best photo I’ve taken this year to mark the occasion 🎄🥂
Reposted by Clare Hickman
"California was not a “wilderness” or chaos before the settler cartography mapped it [...] “Every hill, every valley, creek, canyon, gulch, gully, draw, point, cliff, bluff, beach, bend, good-sized boulder, and tree [...] had its name, its place in the order of things.”"
@nichecanada.bsky.social
@nichecanada.bsky.social
Not just a novelist, @ursulakleguin.com was also a cartographer. Her fictional geographies were on display this fall at London’s Architectural Association Gallery, and a companion book on Silver Press sheds new light on her peerless world-building. Read our interview with editor/curator Sarah Shin.
Maps and Legends: The Spectacular Cartography of Ursula K. Le Guin - Library of America
Mapmaking lay at the heart of Ursula K. Le Guin’s worldbuilding. An able illustrator whose subjects ranged from realist watercolors to cartoon cats, the author of such SFF classics as The Left Hand of...
www.loa.org
December 18, 2025 at 9:43 PM
"California was not a “wilderness” or chaos before the settler cartography mapped it [...] “Every hill, every valley, creek, canyon, gulch, gully, draw, point, cliff, bluff, beach, bend, good-sized boulder, and tree [...] had its name, its place in the order of things.”"
@nichecanada.bsky.social
@nichecanada.bsky.social
Reposted by Clare Hickman
Lots of you will be logging off at the end of today. So what's coming up in 2026? It'll be packed. M'colleagues @drhick.bsky.social and @draflint.bsky.social from the 'All Our Footsteps' project will be publishing a book on 'Outdoor Singing in Modern Britain'! www.cambridge.org/core/element...
Outdoor Singing in Modern Britain
Cambridge Core - History of Ideas and Intellectual History - Outdoor Singing in Modern Britain
www.cambridge.org
December 19, 2025 at 2:47 PM
Lots of you will be logging off at the end of today. So what's coming up in 2026? It'll be packed. M'colleagues @drhick.bsky.social and @draflint.bsky.social from the 'All Our Footsteps' project will be publishing a book on 'Outdoor Singing in Modern Britain'! www.cambridge.org/core/element...
Just sent back corrected proofs for ‘Outdoor Singing in Modern Britain: A Sensory & Emotional History’ 🥳 Huge thanks to my excellent co-writer @draflint.bsky.social for making this fun as well as incredibly rewarding. Merry Christmas to us! 🥂🎄 www.cambridge.org/core/element...
December 18, 2025 at 6:11 PM
Just sent back corrected proofs for ‘Outdoor Singing in Modern Britain: A Sensory & Emotional History’ 🥳 Huge thanks to my excellent co-writer @draflint.bsky.social for making this fun as well as incredibly rewarding. Merry Christmas to us! 🥂🎄 www.cambridge.org/core/element...
Reposted by Clare Hickman
Imagine running a higher education system/country so badly that you actually can't afford, or refuse to fund, research that is *literally defined as* "internationally excellent".
Stupid, stupid, stupid country.
Stupid, stupid, stupid country.
;Eliminating funding for 3* research in the next Research Excellence Framework (REF) would benefit Russell Group institutions by about £50 million a year, suggests modelling into how potential changes to funding formulas may play out.' 1/3
‘Beware trade-offs’ of removing REF funding for 3* outputs
Review of formula used to allocate £2 billion QR funding could downgrade or withdraw money for ‘internationally excellent’ research, some fear
www.timeshighereducation.com
December 18, 2025 at 8:25 AM
Imagine running a higher education system/country so badly that you actually can't afford, or refuse to fund, research that is *literally defined as* "internationally excellent".
Stupid, stupid, stupid country.
Stupid, stupid, stupid country.
Reposted by Clare Hickman
“Climate change is real, but the work of NCAR goes far beyond climate science. NCAR delivers data around severe weather events like fires and floods that help our country save lives and property, and prevent devastation for families.”
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Trump administration to dismantle key climate research center in Colorado
Governor Jared Polis warned that breaking up Boulder’s NCAR would put ‘public safety at risk’
www.theguardian.com
December 17, 2025 at 7:51 PM
“Climate change is real, but the work of NCAR goes far beyond climate science. NCAR delivers data around severe weather events like fires and floods that help our country save lives and property, and prevent devastation for families.”
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Reposted by Clare Hickman
In "Wearing Wild Birds", Laura Valls examines the late 19th century fashion trend of entire birds displayed on women's hats and clothing, exploring public reactions that led to the first preservation movements doi.org/10.3828/whpe... 🗃️ #envhist
December 16, 2025 at 6:04 PM
In "Wearing Wild Birds", Laura Valls examines the late 19th century fashion trend of entire birds displayed on women's hats and clothing, exploring public reactions that led to the first preservation movements doi.org/10.3828/whpe... 🗃️ #envhist
Reposted by Clare Hickman
Four (!) new ahead-of-print articles live now! In "Sick of the City", Beth Wittmann explores the fat body politics of outdoor culture in the US, arguing that body size was a culturally impactful factor in shaping perceptions of outdoor recreation doi.org/10.3828/whpe... 🗃️ #envhist
December 16, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Four (!) new ahead-of-print articles live now! In "Sick of the City", Beth Wittmann explores the fat body politics of outdoor culture in the US, arguing that body size was a culturally impactful factor in shaping perceptions of outdoor recreation doi.org/10.3828/whpe... 🗃️ #envhist
Reposted by Clare Hickman
A must read on the history of chemical plant protection in Norway. More brilliant scholarship from Dr. Hilde Røsstad. #envhum ##envhist ##histsci
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Sensing pesticides. Corporally embodied experiences with chemical plant protection products in Norwegian horticulture, 1945–2021
Norwegian horticulturists working between 1945 and 2021 have handled toxic compounds as part of their everyday practice. In oral history interviews, 44 horticulturists, women and men aged 25 to 95,...
www.tandfonline.com
December 15, 2025 at 11:57 PM
A must read on the history of chemical plant protection in Norway. More brilliant scholarship from Dr. Hilde Røsstad. #envhum ##envhist ##histsci
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Clare Hickman
We've published a new #openaccess article ahead of print in 'Plant Perspectives', in which Sabrina Dookie considers 'Mangroves as Sacred Forests'. You can find it here: www.doi.org/10.3197/whpp... @plantperspectives.bsky.social #mangroves #plantstudies #forests #planthum #envhum
December 16, 2025 at 4:02 PM
We've published a new #openaccess article ahead of print in 'Plant Perspectives', in which Sabrina Dookie considers 'Mangroves as Sacred Forests'. You can find it here: www.doi.org/10.3197/whpp... @plantperspectives.bsky.social #mangroves #plantstudies #forests #planthum #envhum
Just had the terrifying realisation that it is 30 years since I first used the Wellcome Library 😳🤯 Back when I was a UCL UG studying history of medicine with Roy Porter, Vivian Nutton, Michael Neve et all. And here I am thinking about new research on the multispecies hospital.
December 15, 2025 at 12:45 PM
Just had the terrifying realisation that it is 30 years since I first used the Wellcome Library 😳🤯 Back when I was a UCL UG studying history of medicine with Roy Porter, Vivian Nutton, Michael Neve et all. And here I am thinking about new research on the multispecies hospital.
Reposted by Clare Hickman
Last week I went on a 'research walk', a new thing for me. I was attempting to 'beat the bounds' of the parish of Portishead, which is the central case study in my current book project about everyday life in 17th century villages. A good start; it was a dry day... 🧵
December 2, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Last week I went on a 'research walk', a new thing for me. I was attempting to 'beat the bounds' of the parish of Portishead, which is the central case study in my current book project about everyday life in 17th century villages. A good start; it was a dry day... 🧵
Reposted by Clare Hickman
🧵 Is it a super flu year? Who knows, but I think the current reporting is stupid.
A pissed off thread using data.
Firstly - here are today's headlines and some from the last 3 years... spot the difference. 1/10
A pissed off thread using data.
Firstly - here are today's headlines and some from the last 3 years... spot the difference. 1/10
December 11, 2025 at 6:30 PM
🧵 Is it a super flu year? Who knows, but I think the current reporting is stupid.
A pissed off thread using data.
Firstly - here are today's headlines and some from the last 3 years... spot the difference. 1/10
A pissed off thread using data.
Firstly - here are today's headlines and some from the last 3 years... spot the difference. 1/10
Reposted by Clare Hickman
Ongoing decimation of British universities part 252:
Apx. 1000 academic staff at University of Essex just received formal ‘risk of redundancy’ letters via email.
Please share @ucuessex.bsky.social @ucu.org.uk
Apx. 1000 academic staff at University of Essex just received formal ‘risk of redundancy’ letters via email.
Please share @ucuessex.bsky.social @ucu.org.uk
December 11, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Ongoing decimation of British universities part 252:
Apx. 1000 academic staff at University of Essex just received formal ‘risk of redundancy’ letters via email.
Please share @ucuessex.bsky.social @ucu.org.uk
Apx. 1000 academic staff at University of Essex just received formal ‘risk of redundancy’ letters via email.
Please share @ucuessex.bsky.social @ucu.org.uk