Elizabeth Hilborn
@elizabee.bsky.social
Bee veterinarian, orchardist, environmental health scientist, writer, and award-winning author of "Restoring Eden" (CRP 2023). One health, agriculture with a future, pollinators and plants. Photos are my own unless otherwise credited.
New York Times bestseller "The Light Eaters" — Virtual book talk with Zoë Schlanger, Atlantic journalist covering science, health, and the environment. Tues., Dec. 16, 7-8:30pm EST. go.unc.edu/lighteaters
Schlanger invites us into the world of plant behavior and intelligence research.🧪🌍🌱
Schlanger invites us into the world of plant behavior and intelligence research.🧪🌍🌱
November 24, 2025 at 8:46 PM
New York Times bestseller "The Light Eaters" — Virtual book talk with Zoë Schlanger, Atlantic journalist covering science, health, and the environment. Tues., Dec. 16, 7-8:30pm EST. go.unc.edu/lighteaters
Schlanger invites us into the world of plant behavior and intelligence research.🧪🌍🌱
Schlanger invites us into the world of plant behavior and intelligence research.🧪🌍🌱
Wonderful piece out today by @phoebeweston.bsky.social
showing the fundamental and intimate connections between the natural world and our own bodies.
🧪🌍🌱
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
showing the fundamental and intimate connections between the natural world and our own bodies.
🧪🌍🌱
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
The nature extinction crisis is mirrored by one in our own bodies. Both have huge implications for health
Modern life is waging a war against ecosystems around us and inside us. Keeping our own microbes healthy is another reason to demand action to preserve the natural world
www.theguardian.com
November 1, 2025 at 4:06 AM
Wonderful piece out today by @phoebeweston.bsky.social
showing the fundamental and intimate connections between the natural world and our own bodies.
🧪🌍🌱
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
showing the fundamental and intimate connections between the natural world and our own bodies.
🧪🌍🌱
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Demand for organic food is rising, but growers need support to fund development of varieties compatible with organic methods to minimize production costs.
If this matters to you ask your senators to support the Organic Science and Research Investment Act (SB 1385)
fruitgrowers.com/organic-scie...
If this matters to you ask your senators to support the Organic Science and Research Investment Act (SB 1385)
fruitgrowers.com/organic-scie...
Learn more about the Organic Science and Research Investment Act - Serving Agriculture Since 1907
Organic growers across the country may be receiving some much-needed assistance from Washington, D.C, during the coming months.
fruitgrowers.com
October 11, 2025 at 8:25 PM
Demand for organic food is rising, but growers need support to fund development of varieties compatible with organic methods to minimize production costs.
If this matters to you ask your senators to support the Organic Science and Research Investment Act (SB 1385)
fruitgrowers.com/organic-scie...
If this matters to you ask your senators to support the Organic Science and Research Investment Act (SB 1385)
fruitgrowers.com/organic-scie...
Reposted by Elizabeth Hilborn
The forever chemical PFNA is so hazardous that the EPA struck an agreement with 8 companies to phase it out nearly two decades ago.
Now an EPA report on its harms sits in limbo, and the Trump administration won’t say when it will be released.
By @fastlerner.bsky.social
Now an EPA report on its harms sits in limbo, and the Trump administration won’t say when it will be released.
By @fastlerner.bsky.social
Scientists Completed a Toxicity Report on This Forever Chemical. The EPA Hasn’t Released It.
Agency scientists found that PFNA could cause developmental, liver and reproductive harms. Their final report was ready in mid-April, according to an internal document reviewed by ProPublica, but the ...
www.propublica.org
October 11, 2025 at 12:25 AM
The forever chemical PFNA is so hazardous that the EPA struck an agreement with 8 companies to phase it out nearly two decades ago.
Now an EPA report on its harms sits in limbo, and the Trump administration won’t say when it will be released.
By @fastlerner.bsky.social
Now an EPA report on its harms sits in limbo, and the Trump administration won’t say when it will be released.
By @fastlerner.bsky.social
Reposted by Elizabeth Hilborn
A little break from reality: a delightful insect procession by Nishiyama Kan'ei (Japan, Edo period). Check out the original for more delightful details www.metmuseum.org/art/collecti...
October 5, 2025 at 2:08 PM
A little break from reality: a delightful insect procession by Nishiyama Kan'ei (Japan, Edo period). Check out the original for more delightful details www.metmuseum.org/art/collecti...
Today, the Lancet published an updated, evidence-based model diet designed to maximize human health and minimize environmental damage in a developing world.
The Guardian piece is linked here: tinyurl.com/mrs9tfcx the referenced study (restricted access) is linked in the first comment.
🧪 🌍🌱
The Guardian piece is linked here: tinyurl.com/mrs9tfcx the referenced study (restricted access) is linked in the first comment.
🧪 🌍🌱
‘Planetary health diet’ could save 40,000 deaths a day, landmark report finds
Diet allows modest meat consumption and would also slash food-related climate emissions by half, says report by 70 leading experts from 35 countries
tinyurl.com
October 3, 2025 at 2:59 AM
Today, the Lancet published an updated, evidence-based model diet designed to maximize human health and minimize environmental damage in a developing world.
The Guardian piece is linked here: tinyurl.com/mrs9tfcx the referenced study (restricted access) is linked in the first comment.
🧪 🌍🌱
The Guardian piece is linked here: tinyurl.com/mrs9tfcx the referenced study (restricted access) is linked in the first comment.
🧪 🌍🌱
Reposted by Elizabeth Hilborn
Farewell to Jane Goodall 🌿 A pioneering scientist whose groundbreaking work with primates transformed how we understand ourselves. She showed how research and advocacy can unite, inspiring generations.
Jane Goodall, Eminent Primatologist Who Chronicled the Lives of Chimps, Dies at 91
Her discoveries in the 1960s about how chimpanzees behaved in the wild broke new ground and represented what was called “one of the Western world’s great scientific achievements.”
www.nytimes.com
October 1, 2025 at 9:36 PM
Farewell to Jane Goodall 🌿 A pioneering scientist whose groundbreaking work with primates transformed how we understand ourselves. She showed how research and advocacy can unite, inspiring generations.
Reposted by Elizabeth Hilborn
Bee on a New England Aster. Love planting asters because of their late blooms. #NativePlants #Pollinators
September 28, 2025 at 8:21 PM
Bee on a New England Aster. Love planting asters because of their late blooms. #NativePlants #Pollinators
Are urban areas pesticide-free oases for pollinators?
A recent study of two Western US cities reveals concerning concentrations of pesticides on larval host plants known to support butterflies.
🧪 🌍 🌱 🐝
academic.oup.com/etc/advance-...?
A recent study of two Western US cities reveals concerning concentrations of pesticides on larval host plants known to support butterflies.
🧪 🌍 🌱 🐝
academic.oup.com/etc/advance-...?
Pesticides detected in two urban areas have implications for local butterfly conservation
Abstract. Human-managed green spaces in urban landscapes have become important focal points for insect conservation, partly because of the desirable insect
academic.oup.com
September 28, 2025 at 1:32 AM
Are urban areas pesticide-free oases for pollinators?
A recent study of two Western US cities reveals concerning concentrations of pesticides on larval host plants known to support butterflies.
🧪 🌍 🌱 🐝
academic.oup.com/etc/advance-...?
A recent study of two Western US cities reveals concerning concentrations of pesticides on larval host plants known to support butterflies.
🧪 🌍 🌱 🐝
academic.oup.com/etc/advance-...?
I'm pleased to present "Restoring Eden" for the Durham Garden Forum on Tuesday evening September 16. I'll be discussing how to support pollinators at home. 🐝🦋
Link to the event in first comment.
Link to the event in first comment.
September 12, 2025 at 8:58 PM
I'm pleased to present "Restoring Eden" for the Durham Garden Forum on Tuesday evening September 16. I'll be discussing how to support pollinators at home. 🐝🦋
Link to the event in first comment.
Link to the event in first comment.
Reposted by Elizabeth Hilborn
Join us next week on #LandEthicLive for an inspiring talk with Paula about stewardship, restoration, and self-discovery! 💚 The program is free, virtual, and recorded for later access.
#Stewardship #BadNaturalist #Conservation #FreeEvent
#Stewardship #BadNaturalist #Conservation #FreeEvent
Next week, I'll be talking with the Aldo Leopold Foundation's Jennifer Sterling as part of the Land Ethic Live series. This is such a great organization, advancing Leopold's foundational conservation ideals. I hope you'll check it out!
🌿
🌿
A Bad Naturalist: Learning to Steward the Land
events.zoom.us
September 4, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Join us next week on #LandEthicLive for an inspiring talk with Paula about stewardship, restoration, and self-discovery! 💚 The program is free, virtual, and recorded for later access.
#Stewardship #BadNaturalist #Conservation #FreeEvent
#Stewardship #BadNaturalist #Conservation #FreeEvent
Sockman reports over 20 years of monitoring in remote Colorado mountain meadows. He found that flying insects declined over a cumulative 72%.
Decline was associated with each previous year's heat and a 0.8 degree C (daily low) temperature rise per decade.
🧪 🌍 🐝
Open access: doi.org/10.1002/ecy....
Decline was associated with each previous year's heat and a 0.8 degree C (daily low) temperature rise per decade.
🧪 🌍 🐝
Open access: doi.org/10.1002/ecy....
Long‐term decline in montane insects under warming summers
Widespread declines in the abundance of insects portend ill-fated futures for their host ecosystems, all of which require their services to function. For many such reports, human activities have dire...
doi.org
September 9, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Sockman reports over 20 years of monitoring in remote Colorado mountain meadows. He found that flying insects declined over a cumulative 72%.
Decline was associated with each previous year's heat and a 0.8 degree C (daily low) temperature rise per decade.
🧪 🌍 🐝
Open access: doi.org/10.1002/ecy....
Decline was associated with each previous year's heat and a 0.8 degree C (daily low) temperature rise per decade.
🧪 🌍 🐝
Open access: doi.org/10.1002/ecy....
It's a race every year to secure some beech nuts before the squirrels strip them from the trees.
I'm watching closely. The husks will open any day now.
Foodforest#
I'm watching closely. The husks will open any day now.
Foodforest#
September 3, 2025 at 1:22 AM
It's a race every year to secure some beech nuts before the squirrels strip them from the trees.
I'm watching closely. The husks will open any day now.
Foodforest#
I'm watching closely. The husks will open any day now.
Foodforest#
Bad news indeed.
Foodborne disease outbreaks that I investigated during the 1990s used CDC's newly-developed molecular methods developed with FoodNet funding. The tools allowed us to specifically ID foods and to intervene, preventing ongoing exposures and infections.
🧪🥚🍔🥗
tinyurl.com/2p9kt5mr
Foodborne disease outbreaks that I investigated during the 1990s used CDC's newly-developed molecular methods developed with FoodNet funding. The tools allowed us to specifically ID foods and to intervene, preventing ongoing exposures and infections.
🧪🥚🍔🥗
tinyurl.com/2p9kt5mr
CDC cuts back foodborne illness surveillance program
tinyurl.com
August 30, 2025 at 5:38 PM
Bad news indeed.
Foodborne disease outbreaks that I investigated during the 1990s used CDC's newly-developed molecular methods developed with FoodNet funding. The tools allowed us to specifically ID foods and to intervene, preventing ongoing exposures and infections.
🧪🥚🍔🥗
tinyurl.com/2p9kt5mr
Foodborne disease outbreaks that I investigated during the 1990s used CDC's newly-developed molecular methods developed with FoodNet funding. The tools allowed us to specifically ID foods and to intervene, preventing ongoing exposures and infections.
🧪🥚🍔🥗
tinyurl.com/2p9kt5mr
New report shows that bees choose to visit flowers to meet specific nutritional requirements, and those requirements change over the bees' life-cycle.
Another reason to keep/plant a wide diversity of native, pesticide-free flowering plants to support pollinators.
🧪 🌍 🌱 🐝
tinyurl.com/3fj2wkst
Another reason to keep/plant a wide diversity of native, pesticide-free flowering plants to support pollinators.
🧪 🌍 🌱 🐝
tinyurl.com/3fj2wkst
Bumble bees balance their diets with surprising precision
Bumble bees aren’t random foragers – they’re master nutritionists. Over an eight-year field study in the Colorado Rockies, scientists uncovered that different bee species strategically balance their i...
tinyurl.com
August 28, 2025 at 4:43 PM
New report shows that bees choose to visit flowers to meet specific nutritional requirements, and those requirements change over the bees' life-cycle.
Another reason to keep/plant a wide diversity of native, pesticide-free flowering plants to support pollinators.
🧪 🌍 🌱 🐝
tinyurl.com/3fj2wkst
Another reason to keep/plant a wide diversity of native, pesticide-free flowering plants to support pollinators.
🧪 🌍 🌱 🐝
tinyurl.com/3fj2wkst
Chytrid fungal infections among frogs thrived in shady areas, but not among frogs living near boulders.
"The researchers hypothesized that the boulders acted as natural refuges that absorbed heat during the day and slowly released it at night."
1/N
"The researchers hypothesized that the boulders acted as natural refuges that absorbed heat during the day and slowly released it at night."
1/N
August 20, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Chytrid fungal infections among frogs thrived in shady areas, but not among frogs living near boulders.
"The researchers hypothesized that the boulders acted as natural refuges that absorbed heat during the day and slowly released it at night."
1/N
"The researchers hypothesized that the boulders acted as natural refuges that absorbed heat during the day and slowly released it at night."
1/N
A pickerel frog decided to use one of our livestock water buckets today.
I added supports for them to climb out and removed livestock near the bucket. Pickerel frogs (Rana palustris) can secrete toxins when they feel threatened.
#farmlife
I added supports for them to climb out and removed livestock near the bucket. Pickerel frogs (Rana palustris) can secrete toxins when they feel threatened.
#farmlife
August 19, 2025 at 6:27 PM
A pickerel frog decided to use one of our livestock water buckets today.
I added supports for them to climb out and removed livestock near the bucket. Pickerel frogs (Rana palustris) can secrete toxins when they feel threatened.
#farmlife
I added supports for them to climb out and removed livestock near the bucket. Pickerel frogs (Rana palustris) can secrete toxins when they feel threatened.
#farmlife
As an environmental health scientist, I see this reporting by the NY Times as a game-changer for awareness of harmful exposures associated with firefighting in the US.
Well worth a look.
The article is paywalled, but a summary video can be viewed for free.
🧪
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/17/u...
Well worth a look.
The article is paywalled, but a summary video can be viewed for free.
🧪
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/17/u...
Wildfire Fighters, Unmasked in Toxic Smoke, Are Getting Sick and Dying
www.nytimes.com
August 17, 2025 at 4:45 PM
As an environmental health scientist, I see this reporting by the NY Times as a game-changer for awareness of harmful exposures associated with firefighting in the US.
Well worth a look.
The article is paywalled, but a summary video can be viewed for free.
🧪
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/17/u...
Well worth a look.
The article is paywalled, but a summary video can be viewed for free.
🧪
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/17/u...
Sweet (and hot) summer. I give my Anaheim peppers time to color up for a sweeter flavor with a bit more heat.
🌱
🌱
August 16, 2025 at 11:38 PM
Sweet (and hot) summer. I give my Anaheim peppers time to color up for a sweeter flavor with a bit more heat.
🌱
🌱
Removing predators from the landscape alters plant communities because of the unchecked grazing/browsing of expanding populations of hungry herbivores.
Here's an example with wolves and aspen trees from western mountains in the US.
🧪🌍🌱
Here's an example with wolves and aspen trees from western mountains in the US.
🧪🌍🌱
Our new paper out today: www.livescience.com/animals/land...
Return of wolves to Yellowstone has led to a surge in aspen trees unseen for 80 years
Gray wolves were reintroduced in Yellowstone National Park in 1995 to help control the numbers of elk that were eating young trees, and it is finally paying off for quaking aspen.
www.livescience.com
August 4, 2025 at 9:35 PM
Removing predators from the landscape alters plant communities because of the unchecked grazing/browsing of expanding populations of hungry herbivores.
Here's an example with wolves and aspen trees from western mountains in the US.
🧪🌍🌱
Here's an example with wolves and aspen trees from western mountains in the US.
🧪🌍🌱
Hundreds of monarch butterflies died in a winter 2024 event. Investigation implicated multiple pyrethroid insecticides:
tinyurl.com/3h3y7wuf
From The Guardian:
"Combinations of pesticides can have a synergistic effect that makes them even more toxic.
The solution...less pesticides."
🧪🌍🦋
tinyurl.com/3h3y7wuf
From The Guardian:
"Combinations of pesticides can have a synergistic effect that makes them even more toxic.
The solution...less pesticides."
🧪🌍🦋
Monarch butterflies’ mass die-off in 2024 caused by pesticide exposure – study
New peer-reviewed research found an average of seven pesticides in each of 10 butterflies tested
www.theguardian.com
August 2, 2025 at 4:32 AM
Hundreds of monarch butterflies died in a winter 2024 event. Investigation implicated multiple pyrethroid insecticides:
tinyurl.com/3h3y7wuf
From The Guardian:
"Combinations of pesticides can have a synergistic effect that makes them even more toxic.
The solution...less pesticides."
🧪🌍🦋
tinyurl.com/3h3y7wuf
From The Guardian:
"Combinations of pesticides can have a synergistic effect that makes them even more toxic.
The solution...less pesticides."
🧪🌍🦋
Cranefly orchid flowers (Tipularia discolor) emerging after heavy rains these few past weeks. They rely upon moths for pollination.
Ephemeral mid-summer treat!
🌍🦋🌱
Ephemeral mid-summer treat!
🌍🦋🌱
July 27, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Cranefly orchid flowers (Tipularia discolor) emerging after heavy rains these few past weeks. They rely upon moths for pollination.
Ephemeral mid-summer treat!
🌍🦋🌱
Ephemeral mid-summer treat!
🌍🦋🌱
Recent evaluation of kid's biological concentrations of triclosan, a common antimicrobial used in consumer products, shows an association with a higher risk of allergic disease through age 12.
Overuse of antimicrobials has again been implicated in adverse health impacts. 🧪
tinyurl.com/52cubsd9
Overuse of antimicrobials has again been implicated in adverse health impacts. 🧪
tinyurl.com/52cubsd9
Associations of gestational and childhood urinary triclosan concentrations with atopic and allergic symptoms in Health Outcomes and Measures of the Environment (HOME) Study participants ages 1–12 year...
Background: Triclosan, an antimicrobial chemical that was widely used in consumer products, may
increase risk of allergic diseases in children, but prospective studies are needed
to clarify the associ...
tinyurl.com
July 21, 2025 at 10:20 PM
Recent evaluation of kid's biological concentrations of triclosan, a common antimicrobial used in consumer products, shows an association with a higher risk of allergic disease through age 12.
Overuse of antimicrobials has again been implicated in adverse health impacts. 🧪
tinyurl.com/52cubsd9
Overuse of antimicrobials has again been implicated in adverse health impacts. 🧪
tinyurl.com/52cubsd9
Joanna Macy's passing is a great loss. But before she left us, she built a foundation of community that endures.
She reminded us:
“Of all the dangers we face, from climate chaos to nuclear war, none is so great as the deadening of our response.”
tinyurl.com/3dvur3j6
Thank you for hope Joanna 💖
She reminded us:
“Of all the dangers we face, from climate chaos to nuclear war, none is so great as the deadening of our response.”
tinyurl.com/3dvur3j6
Thank you for hope Joanna 💖
July 20, 2025 at 6:09 PM
Joanna Macy's passing is a great loss. But before she left us, she built a foundation of community that endures.
She reminded us:
“Of all the dangers we face, from climate chaos to nuclear war, none is so great as the deadening of our response.”
tinyurl.com/3dvur3j6
Thank you for hope Joanna 💖
She reminded us:
“Of all the dangers we face, from climate chaos to nuclear war, none is so great as the deadening of our response.”
tinyurl.com/3dvur3j6
Thank you for hope Joanna 💖
PFAS-contaminated treated wastewater is also used to recharge aquifers which may then be used for drinking water and irrigation.
🧪 🌍
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
🧪 🌍
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
US wetlands ‘restored’ using treated sewage tainted with forever chemicals
Use of wastewater treatment plant effluent containing Pfas threatens wildlife, food and drinking water, advocates say
www.theguardian.com
July 20, 2025 at 3:18 AM
PFAS-contaminated treated wastewater is also used to recharge aquifers which may then be used for drinking water and irrigation.
🧪 🌍
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
🧪 🌍
www.theguardian.com/environment/...