Joanna Bagniewska
@joannabagniewska.com
Lecturer in Environmental Science at Oxford Uni, Oxford Lifelong Learning @oxlifelonglearning.bsky.social
Fellow at @kelloggoxford.bsky.social
Zoologist, science communicator, 🇵🇱 in 🇬🇧.
#AcademicSky 🧪
I write books, buy them!
https://linktr.ee/jbagniewska
Fellow at @kelloggoxford.bsky.social
Zoologist, science communicator, 🇵🇱 in 🇬🇧.
#AcademicSky 🧪
I write books, buy them!
https://linktr.ee/jbagniewska
Excellent advice collated by @billsutherland.bsky.social at #BES2025 - how to approach scientific conferences (especially ones as big as those from @britishecologicalsociety.org).
Don't be afraid to chat people up, attend talks you fancy, and enjoy yourself!
What would you add?
#academicsky 🧪
Don't be afraid to chat people up, attend talks you fancy, and enjoy yourself!
What would you add?
#academicsky 🧪
I asked participants for tips attending scientific conferences #BES2025 youtu.be/ow_ickvkvbA?...
Tips for attending scientific conferences
YouTube video by Bill Sutherland's Conservation Concepts
youtu.be
December 18, 2025 at 9:51 PM
Excellent advice collated by @billsutherland.bsky.social at #BES2025 - how to approach scientific conferences (especially ones as big as those from @britishecologicalsociety.org).
Don't be afraid to chat people up, attend talks you fancy, and enjoy yourself!
What would you add?
#academicsky 🧪
Don't be afraid to chat people up, attend talks you fancy, and enjoy yourself!
What would you add?
#academicsky 🧪
Great talk from @clairebranston.bsky.social at #BES2025, with a Glasgow urban gradient setup similar to that of @mszulkin.bsky.social in Warsaw.
Earlier egg laying with greater oak availability.
🧪
Earlier egg laying with greater oak availability.
🧪
December 17, 2025 at 12:14 PM
Great talk from @clairebranston.bsky.social at #BES2025, with a Glasgow urban gradient setup similar to that of @mszulkin.bsky.social in Warsaw.
Earlier egg laying with greater oak availability.
🧪
Earlier egg laying with greater oak availability.
🧪
Are you at #BES2025 @britishecologicalsociety.org Annual Meeting?
Come and say hi to the ecology team from @oxlifelonglearning.bsky.social!
#biodiversity #academicSky 🧪🌏🦊
Come and say hi to the ecology team from @oxlifelonglearning.bsky.social!
#biodiversity #academicSky 🧪🌏🦊
December 16, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Are you at #BES2025 @britishecologicalsociety.org Annual Meeting?
Come and say hi to the ecology team from @oxlifelonglearning.bsky.social!
#biodiversity #academicSky 🧪🌏🦊
Come and say hi to the ecology team from @oxlifelonglearning.bsky.social!
#biodiversity #academicSky 🧪🌏🦊
Come to our workshop at @britishecologicalsociety.org Annual Meeting #bes2025 tomorrow lunchtime. We will discuss fieldwork teaching for AI-proofing assessments and improving AI skills - bring your case studies!
🧪 #academicsky 🌍
@drnickworsfold.bsky.social
🧪 #academicsky 🌍
@drnickworsfold.bsky.social
December 15, 2025 at 11:07 AM
Come to our workshop at @britishecologicalsociety.org Annual Meeting #bes2025 tomorrow lunchtime. We will discuss fieldwork teaching for AI-proofing assessments and improving AI skills - bring your case studies!
🧪 #academicsky 🌍
@drnickworsfold.bsky.social
🧪 #academicsky 🌍
@drnickworsfold.bsky.social
Animal cafes - hot or not?
Exotic animal cafes provide
-limited space
-poor animal interaction oversight and controls
-inadequate feeding
-restricted behavioral opportunities
resulting in poor welfare. Even cat cafes have low welfare scores.
Don't go there.
🧪🐈☕🐾
Research: doi.org/10.1292/jvms...
Exotic animal cafes provide
-limited space
-poor animal interaction oversight and controls
-inadequate feeding
-restricted behavioral opportunities
resulting in poor welfare. Even cat cafes have low welfare scores.
Don't go there.
🧪🐈☕🐾
Research: doi.org/10.1292/jvms...
December 12, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Animal cafes - hot or not?
Exotic animal cafes provide
-limited space
-poor animal interaction oversight and controls
-inadequate feeding
-restricted behavioral opportunities
resulting in poor welfare. Even cat cafes have low welfare scores.
Don't go there.
🧪🐈☕🐾
Research: doi.org/10.1292/jvms...
Exotic animal cafes provide
-limited space
-poor animal interaction oversight and controls
-inadequate feeding
-restricted behavioral opportunities
resulting in poor welfare. Even cat cafes have low welfare scores.
Don't go there.
🧪🐈☕🐾
Research: doi.org/10.1292/jvms...
Can fungi build better homes for cavity-nesting birds?
We combine expertise in architecture (@unimelb.bsky.social) and ecology (@ox.ac.uk) to see if nests made out of mycelium (insulating, carbon-neutral and biodegradable fungi roots) attract birds.
🧪🪶🍄
www.birdsonthebrink.co.uk/blog/botb-gr...
We combine expertise in architecture (@unimelb.bsky.social) and ecology (@ox.ac.uk) to see if nests made out of mycelium (insulating, carbon-neutral and biodegradable fungi roots) attract birds.
🧪🪶🍄
www.birdsonthebrink.co.uk/blog/botb-gr...
December 5, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Can fungi build better homes for cavity-nesting birds?
We combine expertise in architecture (@unimelb.bsky.social) and ecology (@ox.ac.uk) to see if nests made out of mycelium (insulating, carbon-neutral and biodegradable fungi roots) attract birds.
🧪🪶🍄
www.birdsonthebrink.co.uk/blog/botb-gr...
We combine expertise in architecture (@unimelb.bsky.social) and ecology (@ox.ac.uk) to see if nests made out of mycelium (insulating, carbon-neutral and biodegradable fungi roots) attract birds.
🧪🪶🍄
www.birdsonthebrink.co.uk/blog/botb-gr...
Do striped hyenas have a sweet tooth?
Yes, yes they do.
Here's the first record of honey consumption by a hyena, caught on a camera trap in Kenya:
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
🧪🌍🐾🍯
Yes, yes they do.
Here's the first record of honey consumption by a hyena, caught on a camera trap in Kenya:
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
🧪🌍🐾🍯
December 4, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Do striped hyenas have a sweet tooth?
Yes, yes they do.
Here's the first record of honey consumption by a hyena, caught on a camera trap in Kenya:
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
🧪🌍🐾🍯
Yes, yes they do.
Here's the first record of honey consumption by a hyena, caught on a camera trap in Kenya:
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
🧪🌍🐾🍯
Some fantastic pedagogical points made here - eloquent and compact. And yes, there needs to be more talk about how explanations are not the same as learning.
#AcademicSky
#AcademicSky
Can LLMs be personal tutors?
In theory yes; in practice there are some big challenges to overcome. I list four here.
In particular we have to get away from the idea that explanations = learning.
substack.nomoremarking.com/p/llm-tutors...
In theory yes; in practice there are some big challenges to overcome. I list four here.
In particular we have to get away from the idea that explanations = learning.
substack.nomoremarking.com/p/llm-tutors...
Can LLMs be personal tutors?
Four big challenges
substack.nomoremarking.com
December 4, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Some fantastic pedagogical points made here - eloquent and compact. And yes, there needs to be more talk about how explanations are not the same as learning.
#AcademicSky
#AcademicSky
🔊What does the herp say?
The first ever record of vocalisation in viviparous lizards is described in The Herpetological Bulletin: www.thebhs.org/publications... - and by my student Johnnie Johnson, no less!
FYI, the sound is a "brief chirp".
🧪🌍🦎
The first ever record of vocalisation in viviparous lizards is described in The Herpetological Bulletin: www.thebhs.org/publications... - and by my student Johnnie Johnson, no less!
FYI, the sound is a "brief chirp".
🧪🌍🦎
December 3, 2025 at 2:24 PM
🔊What does the herp say?
The first ever record of vocalisation in viviparous lizards is described in The Herpetological Bulletin: www.thebhs.org/publications... - and by my student Johnnie Johnson, no less!
FYI, the sound is a "brief chirp".
🧪🌍🦎
The first ever record of vocalisation in viviparous lizards is described in The Herpetological Bulletin: www.thebhs.org/publications... - and by my student Johnnie Johnson, no less!
FYI, the sound is a "brief chirp".
🧪🌍🦎
The Communicating Scientist strikes again!
Before engaging in any sort of communication - speaking, writing, visuals - ask yourself:
🎯What is your purpose?
👤Who is your audience?
⚠️What are your constraints?
This is the foundation for tailoring your messages and approaches.
#AcademicSky #Scicomm 🧪
Before engaging in any sort of communication - speaking, writing, visuals - ask yourself:
🎯What is your purpose?
👤Who is your audience?
⚠️What are your constraints?
This is the foundation for tailoring your messages and approaches.
#AcademicSky #Scicomm 🧪
December 1, 2025 at 4:23 PM
The Communicating Scientist strikes again!
Before engaging in any sort of communication - speaking, writing, visuals - ask yourself:
🎯What is your purpose?
👤Who is your audience?
⚠️What are your constraints?
This is the foundation for tailoring your messages and approaches.
#AcademicSky #Scicomm 🧪
Before engaging in any sort of communication - speaking, writing, visuals - ask yourself:
🎯What is your purpose?
👤Who is your audience?
⚠️What are your constraints?
This is the foundation for tailoring your messages and approaches.
#AcademicSky #Scicomm 🧪
Early career ornithologists, this one's for you.
🧪🌍🪶
🧪🌍🪶
🎉 Abstract submission is open for the EOU Fledglings Meeting 2026 in Gdańsk, Poland (27–29 March 2026)!
📝 Submit your oral/poster abstract:
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
📅 Deadline: 16 Jan 2026
More info: eounion.org/fledglings
#EOU26 #Ornithology
📝 Submit your oral/poster abstract:
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
📅 Deadline: 16 Jan 2026
More info: eounion.org/fledglings
#EOU26 #Ornithology
November 28, 2025 at 11:03 AM
Early career ornithologists, this one's for you.
🧪🌍🪶
🧪🌍🪶
About time!
The EU court has ruled that Poland must recognise the marriage of a Polish same-sex couple who married in Germany, even though Polish law does not allow such marriages.
The ruling requires Poland to change its system for recognising such marriages so as not to discriminate against same-sex couples.
The ruling requires Poland to change its system for recognising such marriages so as not to discriminate against same-sex couples.
EU court orders Poland to recognise same-sex marriages conducted in other member states
notesfrompoland.com
November 25, 2025 at 2:31 PM
About time!
🐈 What's TikTok good for? Examining which arthropods are hunted by cats.
🌍 Social media have become an increasingly useful resource in ecological research.
🪲 We now know that cats kill arthropods from 14 different orders.
🧪 Study:
resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
🌍 Social media have become an increasingly useful resource in ecological research.
🪲 We now know that cats kill arthropods from 14 different orders.
🧪 Study:
resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Social media highlights the overlooked impact of cats on arthropods
The impact of domestic cats on vertebrate biodiversity is unequivocal; however, we still know little about their effects on arthropods. By analysing over 17,000 photos and videos from social media p...
resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
November 21, 2025 at 2:30 PM
🐈 What's TikTok good for? Examining which arthropods are hunted by cats.
🌍 Social media have become an increasingly useful resource in ecological research.
🪲 We now know that cats kill arthropods from 14 different orders.
🧪 Study:
resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
🌍 Social media have become an increasingly useful resource in ecological research.
🪲 We now know that cats kill arthropods from 14 different orders.
🧪 Study:
resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
💋 Kissing is unhygienic and has no obvious reproductive benefits - but it evolved ~21 million years ago, and stuck with most great apes until today.
🧪 In fact, paper by @matildabrindle.bsky.social shows that Neanderthals and humans probably kissed each other.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
🧪 In fact, paper by @matildabrindle.bsky.social shows that Neanderthals and humans probably kissed each other.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
November 19, 2025 at 3:11 PM
💋 Kissing is unhygienic and has no obvious reproductive benefits - but it evolved ~21 million years ago, and stuck with most great apes until today.
🧪 In fact, paper by @matildabrindle.bsky.social shows that Neanderthals and humans probably kissed each other.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
🧪 In fact, paper by @matildabrindle.bsky.social shows that Neanderthals and humans probably kissed each other.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
🧪🌍🦊🌿
🍃 Considering applying for our Postgraduate Certificate in Ecological Survey Techniques?
Join us online on Thursday 4 December at 13:00 to find out more about the course, get to know the course team, meet our former students, and ask any questions you may have.
🔗 Register here: buff.ly/CdqjObj
Join us online on Thursday 4 December at 13:00 to find out more about the course, get to know the course team, meet our former students, and ask any questions you may have.
🔗 Register here: buff.ly/CdqjObj
November 19, 2025 at 2:34 PM
🧪🌍🦊🌿
🚨Academic freebie alert 🚨
We're running a workshop on preparing doctoral research proposals; sign up and join online or show up in person in Oxford Uni.
#AcademicSky 🧪
We're running a workshop on preparing doctoral research proposals; sign up and join online or show up in person in Oxford Uni.
#AcademicSky 🧪
📢 Free training session! Preparing Your Doctoral Research Proposal.
Open to postgraduates not currently studying at Oxford University – wherever you plan to apply.
Join online or in person at Rewley House, Oxford.
Wed 10 Dec 2025, 11am–2pm GMT (UK time).
👉 Find out more: buff.ly/qHSucUn
Open to postgraduates not currently studying at Oxford University – wherever you plan to apply.
Join online or in person at Rewley House, Oxford.
Wed 10 Dec 2025, 11am–2pm GMT (UK time).
👉 Find out more: buff.ly/qHSucUn
November 17, 2025 at 4:37 PM
🚨Academic freebie alert 🚨
We're running a workshop on preparing doctoral research proposals; sign up and join online or show up in person in Oxford Uni.
#AcademicSky 🧪
We're running a workshop on preparing doctoral research proposals; sign up and join online or show up in person in Oxford Uni.
#AcademicSky 🧪
November 14, 2025 at 5:39 PM
🐝New species of Australian bee just dropped! 🐝
It was found during surveys of the critically endangered wildflower Marianthus aquilonarius.
Megachile lucifer is named because of the "demon-like horns" of the female.
🧪Discovery by Kit Prendergast and Joshua Campbell:
jhr.pensoft.net/article/1663...
It was found during surveys of the critically endangered wildflower Marianthus aquilonarius.
Megachile lucifer is named because of the "demon-like horns" of the female.
🧪Discovery by Kit Prendergast and Joshua Campbell:
jhr.pensoft.net/article/1663...
November 12, 2025 at 5:20 PM
🐝New species of Australian bee just dropped! 🐝
It was found during surveys of the critically endangered wildflower Marianthus aquilonarius.
Megachile lucifer is named because of the "demon-like horns" of the female.
🧪Discovery by Kit Prendergast and Joshua Campbell:
jhr.pensoft.net/article/1663...
It was found during surveys of the critically endangered wildflower Marianthus aquilonarius.
Megachile lucifer is named because of the "demon-like horns" of the female.
🧪Discovery by Kit Prendergast and Joshua Campbell:
jhr.pensoft.net/article/1663...
🐞🧬🦅 join us for a PhD position researching how birds evolve resistance to prey toxins. If you’re excited about wild chemical arms races, we’d love to hear from you. @shabmohammadi.bsky.social @livuni-ives.bsky.social @livuni-ismib.bsky.social @mpi-ce.bsky.social
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
November 12, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Reposted by Joanna Bagniewska
JOB: Assistant Professor in Environmental History, University of Warwick, Coventry campus (UK) www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPK289/a...
#envhist
#envhist
Assistant Professor in Environmental History (111009-1125) at University of Warwick
Apply now for the Assistant Professor in Environmental History (111009-1125) role on jobs.ac.uk - the leading job board for higher education jobs. View details.
www.jobs.ac.uk
November 12, 2025 at 4:01 PM
JOB: Assistant Professor in Environmental History, University of Warwick, Coventry campus (UK) www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPK289/a...
#envhist
#envhist
🐀Male and female rats like to be tickled differently - males prefer rougher play.
🤣How do we know? Rats produce ultrasonic giggles that can be monitored with a bat detector.
🧪Why is this relevant? To improve lab animal welfare.
Ah, to tickle rats for a living...♥️
f1000research.com/articles/14-...
🤣How do we know? Rats produce ultrasonic giggles that can be monitored with a bat detector.
🧪Why is this relevant? To improve lab animal welfare.
Ah, to tickle rats for a living...♥️
f1000research.com/articles/14-...
November 11, 2025 at 1:44 PM
🐀Male and female rats like to be tickled differently - males prefer rougher play.
🤣How do we know? Rats produce ultrasonic giggles that can be monitored with a bat detector.
🧪Why is this relevant? To improve lab animal welfare.
Ah, to tickle rats for a living...♥️
f1000research.com/articles/14-...
🤣How do we know? Rats produce ultrasonic giggles that can be monitored with a bat detector.
🧪Why is this relevant? To improve lab animal welfare.
Ah, to tickle rats for a living...♥️
f1000research.com/articles/14-...
🦁Jacob the lion, who lost a leg in a poacher's snare, has changed his hunting strategy to account for reduced mobility.
🐆Since he can't overpower his prey like healthy lions do, he sets ambushes instead, like a leopard - and can kill 200-kg forest hogs!
🧪
washingtonweeklytimes.com/science-2/a-...
🐆Since he can't overpower his prey like healthy lions do, he sets ambushes instead, like a leopard - and can kill 200-kg forest hogs!
🧪
washingtonweeklytimes.com/science-2/a-...
A three-legged lion has learned to hunt in a completely unexpected way - WashingtonWeeklyTimes.com
Jacob, outfitted with a tracking collar, lost his left hind leg in a poacher’s snareAlex Braczkowski A lion that lost one leg to a poacher’s snare has defied the expectations of conservation scientist...
washingtonweeklytimes.com
November 10, 2025 at 11:20 AM
🦁Jacob the lion, who lost a leg in a poacher's snare, has changed his hunting strategy to account for reduced mobility.
🐆Since he can't overpower his prey like healthy lions do, he sets ambushes instead, like a leopard - and can kill 200-kg forest hogs!
🧪
washingtonweeklytimes.com/science-2/a-...
🐆Since he can't overpower his prey like healthy lions do, he sets ambushes instead, like a leopard - and can kill 200-kg forest hogs!
🧪
washingtonweeklytimes.com/science-2/a-...
Love elephants?
Love fantastic speakers?
Then come to the @oxon-mammal-group.bsky.social seminar, Mon Nov 10, 7pm at @morethanadodo.bsky.social.
@redmondi.bsky.social will talk about elephants, biodiversity and climate change - don't miss it.
🧪 🐘 #oxford
Love fantastic speakers?
Then come to the @oxon-mammal-group.bsky.social seminar, Mon Nov 10, 7pm at @morethanadodo.bsky.social.
@redmondi.bsky.social will talk about elephants, biodiversity and climate change - don't miss it.
🧪 🐘 #oxford
November 6, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Love elephants?
Love fantastic speakers?
Then come to the @oxon-mammal-group.bsky.social seminar, Mon Nov 10, 7pm at @morethanadodo.bsky.social.
@redmondi.bsky.social will talk about elephants, biodiversity and climate change - don't miss it.
🧪 🐘 #oxford
Love fantastic speakers?
Then come to the @oxon-mammal-group.bsky.social seminar, Mon Nov 10, 7pm at @morethanadodo.bsky.social.
@redmondi.bsky.social will talk about elephants, biodiversity and climate change - don't miss it.
🧪 🐘 #oxford
Both the sling-jaw wrasse and this video of it are all I hoped for and more.
Wait for it...
And...
Perfection.
🧪 🐟 💋
Wait for it...
And...
Perfection.
🧪 🐟 💋
This week I’m giving thanks for the Sling-Jaw Wrasse, and it’s amazing jaw #biomechanics!
🐟🦑🧪🌿
🐟🦑🧪🌿
November 6, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Both the sling-jaw wrasse and this video of it are all I hoped for and more.
Wait for it...
And...
Perfection.
🧪 🐟 💋
Wait for it...
And...
Perfection.
🧪 🐟 💋
Parenting in the animal world is nothing like what Bluey, Peppa Pig or 101 Dalmatians would make us believe. Louise Gentle explains what children's stories with animal protagonists are getting massively wrong (cannibalism alert).
Always love a good debunking.
🧪🦊🪶
theconversation.com/childrens-bo...
Always love a good debunking.
🧪🦊🪶
theconversation.com/childrens-bo...
Children’s books feature tidy nuclear families – but the animal kingdom tells a different story
Storybooks and films may have given you the wrong idea about what family looks like in the animal kingdom.
theconversation.com
November 5, 2025 at 9:36 PM
Parenting in the animal world is nothing like what Bluey, Peppa Pig or 101 Dalmatians would make us believe. Louise Gentle explains what children's stories with animal protagonists are getting massively wrong (cannibalism alert).
Always love a good debunking.
🧪🦊🪶
theconversation.com/childrens-bo...
Always love a good debunking.
🧪🦊🪶
theconversation.com/childrens-bo...