JD Roberts
@jdroberts.bsky.social
Musican, historian and biologist. Melodic ambient soundscapes and parasitic worms. He/him
Researching hookworm, guinea worm, environmental history, parasitology, ecology, and Caribbean & Cornish history.
Researching hookworm, guinea worm, environmental history, parasitology, ecology, and Caribbean & Cornish history.
I'm always a bit surprised this isn't happening faster - all a journal really needs is a website (pretty cheap nowadays), a couple of editors (free), reviewers (free), and a pipeline into the scholarly search engines. What work are the big publishers actually doing for all the money they charge?
Universities want new business models, not just discounts.
As @theblochian.bsky.social (OLH Exec. Director) writes: Together we can move our university funding away from obscene commercial extractivists and back into scholar-led non-profit models
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-v...
As @theblochian.bsky.social (OLH Exec. Director) writes: Together we can move our university funding away from obscene commercial extractivists and back into scholar-led non-profit models
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-v...
Chaos is coming for scholarly publishing - Research Professional News
Buckling of commercial models alongside maturing of community-led efforts promises major shifts, says Caroline Edwards
www.researchprofessionalnews.com
November 12, 2025 at 5:23 PM
I'm always a bit surprised this isn't happening faster - all a journal really needs is a website (pretty cheap nowadays), a couple of editors (free), reviewers (free), and a pipeline into the scholarly search engines. What work are the big publishers actually doing for all the money they charge?
Reposted by JD Roberts
Come along next Tuesday to hear all about Californian health myths and their impact on perceptions of TB and the 1918-19 Flu. I'm excited to share my findings and delve into all the details that didn't fit into my recently submitted PhD thesis, reincarnating zephrys and mammoth oranges included!
We're looking forward to @islayshelbourne.bsky.social's paper in a few weeks' time, on histories of contagion in modern California. To sign up, use the eventbrite link here: (Just look at the size of those oranges!) www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/california...
November 12, 2025 at 11:42 AM
Come along next Tuesday to hear all about Californian health myths and their impact on perceptions of TB and the 1918-19 Flu. I'm excited to share my findings and delve into all the details that didn't fit into my recently submitted PhD thesis, reincarnating zephrys and mammoth oranges included!
There's something about autumn which always makes me want to go for deep, warm sounds
November 8, 2025 at 5:30 PM
There's something about autumn which always makes me want to go for deep, warm sounds
Reposted by JD Roberts
Today, @danielmacfarlane.bsky.social on "Finding Environmental History in 'The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.'"
The Edmund Fitzgerald sank on November 10, 1975 in Lake Superior.
niche-canada.org/2025/11/07/f...
#envhist #musichistory #greatlakes #envhum
The Edmund Fitzgerald sank on November 10, 1975 in Lake Superior.
niche-canada.org/2025/11/07/f...
#envhist #musichistory #greatlakes #envhum
Finding Environmental History in "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald"
Gordon Lightfoot’s 1976 ballad immortalized the 1975 Edmund Fitzgerald shipwreck, linking Great Lakes industry, Indigenous history, environmental change, and enduring cultural memory.
niche-canada.org
November 7, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Today, @danielmacfarlane.bsky.social on "Finding Environmental History in 'The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.'"
The Edmund Fitzgerald sank on November 10, 1975 in Lake Superior.
niche-canada.org/2025/11/07/f...
#envhist #musichistory #greatlakes #envhum
The Edmund Fitzgerald sank on November 10, 1975 in Lake Superior.
niche-canada.org/2025/11/07/f...
#envhist #musichistory #greatlakes #envhum
Looking forward to this online @northernenvhistory.bsky.social talk next week!
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/california...
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/california...
Californian Health Myths and Understanding of Contagion, 1850-1920
Islay Shelbourne, University of St Andrews
www.eventbrite.co.uk
November 7, 2025 at 11:24 AM
Looking forward to this online @northernenvhistory.bsky.social talk next week!
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/california...
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/california...
Three random thoughts on graduate & youth unemployment:
1) I have a million criticisms of the institutional university, but if employers don't want to hire intelligent, educated and thoughtful graduates, that is a failure of capitalism, not a failure of education
1) I have a million criticisms of the institutional university, but if employers don't want to hire intelligent, educated and thoughtful graduates, that is a failure of capitalism, not a failure of education
November 3, 2025 at 9:37 AM
Three random thoughts on graduate & youth unemployment:
1) I have a million criticisms of the institutional university, but if employers don't want to hire intelligent, educated and thoughtful graduates, that is a failure of capitalism, not a failure of education
1) I have a million criticisms of the institutional university, but if employers don't want to hire intelligent, educated and thoughtful graduates, that is a failure of capitalism, not a failure of education
One more for hallowe'en - a spooky folk ballad about a demonic hound set in the Yorkshire Dales. The lyrics are from 1830, and tell a tale of forbidden witchcraft on lonely moors... (special thanks to Allan Myers and Fedir Tkachov for this one!)
jdrobertsmusic.bandcamp.com/track/the-sp...
jdrobertsmusic.bandcamp.com/track/the-sp...
The Spectre Hound (The Legend of Troller's Gill), by JD Roberts & Allan Myers
from the album Harebells and Heather
jdrobertsmusic.bandcamp.com
October 31, 2025 at 5:58 PM
One more for hallowe'en - a spooky folk ballad about a demonic hound set in the Yorkshire Dales. The lyrics are from 1830, and tell a tale of forbidden witchcraft on lonely moors... (special thanks to Allan Myers and Fedir Tkachov for this one!)
jdrobertsmusic.bandcamp.com/track/the-sp...
jdrobertsmusic.bandcamp.com/track/the-sp...
Revisiting my dark ambient album 'In Search of Dead Knowledge' for Hallowe'en. This is 'There is no Way But Onwards', which is one of my favourite tracks on the album. I think the combination of distorted chords, arrythmic percussion and minimal piano worked pretty well!
Video by Sarmad Munir
Video by Sarmad Munir
October 31, 2025 at 10:35 AM
Revisiting my dark ambient album 'In Search of Dead Knowledge' for Hallowe'en. This is 'There is no Way But Onwards', which is one of my favourite tracks on the album. I think the combination of distorted chords, arrythmic percussion and minimal piano worked pretty well!
Video by Sarmad Munir
Video by Sarmad Munir
With it being hallowe'en and all, I thought I'd take this chance to revisit my dark ambient album 'In Search of Dead Knowledge'...listen for spooky vibes and creeping horror
Video by the inimitable Sarmad Munir
Video by the inimitable Sarmad Munir
October 30, 2025 at 6:48 PM
With it being hallowe'en and all, I thought I'd take this chance to revisit my dark ambient album 'In Search of Dead Knowledge'...listen for spooky vibes and creeping horror
Video by the inimitable Sarmad Munir
Video by the inimitable Sarmad Munir
The walls of Carl Wark, looking southeast towards Longshaw
October 29, 2025 at 9:23 AM
The walls of Carl Wark, looking southeast towards Longshaw
Reposted by JD Roberts
I wee reminder that this is comming up on tuesday afternoon!
For those looking forward to Thomas' talk on historical environmental medicine in a a couple of weeks, you can now sign up using the eventbrite link below. Looking forward to seeing you online at 1500 GMT on the 28th of October.
eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A...
eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A...
October 25, 2025 at 8:15 PM
I wee reminder that this is comming up on tuesday afternoon!
"When the war reached Kyiv, I literally saved my sanity with music. At first, it was the kalimba; this small, resonant, magical instrument filled the house with the feeling of a fairy tale that would definitely end well" - Dmytro and me on our album
cadenceandsignal.substack.com/p/bayun-the-...
cadenceandsignal.substack.com/p/bayun-the-...
Bayun the Cat and JD Roberts: Sound as a Place to Heal.
From Kyiv’s war-torn streets to English shores, two artists turn distance and loss into a quiet, enduring conversation in sound.
cadenceandsignal.substack.com
October 23, 2025 at 7:11 PM
"When the war reached Kyiv, I literally saved my sanity with music. At first, it was the kalimba; this small, resonant, magical instrument filled the house with the feeling of a fairy tale that would definitely end well" - Dmytro and me on our album
cadenceandsignal.substack.com/p/bayun-the-...
cadenceandsignal.substack.com/p/bayun-the-...
Very interesting read! doi.org/10.1017/S001...
Proximity and Segregation in Industrial Manchester | The Historical Journal | Cambridge Core
Proximity and Segregation in Industrial Manchester
doi.org
October 21, 2025 at 9:27 AM
Very interesting read! doi.org/10.1017/S001...
'Trust the experts!' and 'trust the science!' are phrases which make me veeery nervous because I've worked on colonial medicine long enough to know what scientific experts are capable of when we think we know what's good for people better than they do
October 16, 2025 at 10:19 AM
'Trust the experts!' and 'trust the science!' are phrases which make me veeery nervous because I've worked on colonial medicine long enough to know what scientific experts are capable of when we think we know what's good for people better than they do
Fungi growing in a cracked rowan tree
October 15, 2025 at 10:58 AM
Fungi growing in a cracked rowan tree
My main irritation with the biological literature is the tendency to talk about 'human impacts' and 'human effects' as though humans are one single unitary and homogeneous thing
October 13, 2025 at 5:02 PM
My main irritation with the biological literature is the tendency to talk about 'human impacts' and 'human effects' as though humans are one single unitary and homogeneous thing
One of my favourite photos from the summer - large marsh grasshopper (Stethophyma grossum) on cross-leaved heath (Erica tetralix)
October 10, 2025 at 1:29 PM
One of my favourite photos from the summer - large marsh grasshopper (Stethophyma grossum) on cross-leaved heath (Erica tetralix)
Entering the postdoc world has vastly increased my sympathy for those curates in old novels who are desperately seeking a vacant parish where they can become a vicar and earn a living
October 5, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Entering the postdoc world has vastly increased my sympathy for those curates in old novels who are desperately seeking a vacant parish where they can become a vicar and earn a living
Flooded bridge after heavy rain
September 27, 2025 at 10:46 AM
Flooded bridge after heavy rain
Bog bush-cricket (Metrioptera brachyptera) - sat in some bog myrtle (Myrica gale), appropriately enough
September 25, 2025 at 8:35 AM
Bog bush-cricket (Metrioptera brachyptera) - sat in some bog myrtle (Myrica gale), appropriately enough
Dark bush-cricket, Pholidoptera griseoaptera. Always nice to get a photo of this one, the adults have such a lovely chesnut colour but also tend to hide in brambles where you can't see them and chirp at you
September 21, 2025 at 9:49 AM
Dark bush-cricket, Pholidoptera griseoaptera. Always nice to get a photo of this one, the adults have such a lovely chesnut colour but also tend to hide in brambles where you can't see them and chirp at you
Take a break from doomscrolling, relax and immerse yourself in exploring the Wildwoods...
(I have a new single out)
youtu.be/PeN4k-THfPs
(I have a new single out)
youtu.be/PeN4k-THfPs
Wildwoods (MV)
YouTube video by JD Roberts
youtu.be
September 20, 2025 at 9:54 AM
Take a break from doomscrolling, relax and immerse yourself in exploring the Wildwoods...
(I have a new single out)
youtu.be/PeN4k-THfPs
(I have a new single out)
youtu.be/PeN4k-THfPs
Wood cricket, Nemobius sylvestris. Tiny little animals, but they make the most amazing sound!
September 18, 2025 at 11:36 AM
Wood cricket, Nemobius sylvestris. Tiny little animals, but they make the most amazing sound!
Lesser stag beetle, Dorcus parallelipipedus. I think this species gets a bit overshadowed by its larger relative, but it's still a very impressive beastie!
September 16, 2025 at 8:35 AM
Lesser stag beetle, Dorcus parallelipipedus. I think this species gets a bit overshadowed by its larger relative, but it's still a very impressive beastie!
Very proud to have been part of this awesome project - 11 experimental electronic musicians came together to make an acoustic album, now out for you to listen to!
aemc2.bandcamp.com/album/undres...
aemc2.bandcamp.com/album/undres...
Undressed, by AEMC2
11 track album
aemc2.bandcamp.com
September 15, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Very proud to have been part of this awesome project - 11 experimental electronic musicians came together to make an acoustic album, now out for you to listen to!
aemc2.bandcamp.com/album/undres...
aemc2.bandcamp.com/album/undres...