Pauline Couper
LightNews LightNews
banner
paulinecouper.bsky.social
Pauline Couper
@paulinecouper.bsky.social
1.2K followers 970 following 210 posts
Geographer. Geographical thought & practice, philosophy of geog, epistemic pluralism, geomorphology, higher ed.
Assoc Prof & Head of dept, York St John Uni, UK. FRGS, PFHEA, CGeog. #academicsky #geosky
Posts Replies Media Videos
paulinecouper.bsky.social
"To be of a place is to know the stories of the land. Whether they’re about heroes traversing imaginary worlds, or the complexities of knowledge tied with the shifts of wind or cycles of the fish..." Jamie Tahana on climate change, global responsibilities & Indigenous sovereignty.
etangata.bsky.social E-Tangata @etangata.bsky.social · 2d
“Not caring anymore doesn’t mean the problem is no longer there. Especially in the Pacific, where climate change isn’t a distant threat but a present-day catastrophe already uprooting communities, unravelling the fine tapestry of culture, and upending entire ways of life.” — Jamie Tahana.
Giving up isn't an option for the Pacific | E-Tangata
“Not caring anymore doesn’t mean the problem is no longer there. Especially in the Pacific, where climate change isn’t a distant threat but a present-day catastrophe already uprooting communities, unr...
e-tangata.co.nz
November 9, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Reposted by Pauline Couper
benpatrickwill.bsky.social
We wrote this paper a while ago and since then OpenAI has claimed plans to be "core infrastructure" of education, Google has rammed Gemini into schools via its education platforms, and AWS showed it underpins most edtech platforms... 1/
November 7, 2025 at 9:31 PM
Reposted by Pauline Couper
disabilitystor1.bsky.social
1.This is not the only known example we know of ChatGPT cheering on a vulnerable young person to die by suicide, this time it is a recent Texas A&M grad
2. Every single university that has invited OpenAI into our midst should be asked to account for their choices.
www.cnn.com/2025/11/06/u...
Shamblin’s conversation partner wasn’t a classmate or friend – it was ChatGPT, the world’s most popular AI chatbot. A CNN review of nearly 70 pages of chats between Shamblin and the AI tool in the hours before his July 25 suicide, as well as excerpts from thousands more pages in the months leading up to that night, found that the chatbot repeatedly encouraged the young man as he discussed ending his life – right up to his last moments.
November 7, 2025 at 1:50 AM
paulinecouper.bsky.social
Save Geography at the University of Leicester.
The University of Leicester is proposing to dissolve Geography into a School of Chemical, Earth & Environmental Science. All research-active human geographers are at threat of redundancy. Add your voice to keep #Geography whole!
c.org/sbYBqcwrhC
Sign the Petition
Save Geography at the University of Leicester
c.org
November 7, 2025 at 1:54 PM
Reposted by Pauline Couper
geoskinner.games
Really great trip yesterday telling the story of the management on the River Hull, from top to bottom. Amazing remeandering work on the beautiful and rare chalk rivers at Driffield Trout Stream!
paulinecouper.bsky.social Pauline Couper @paulinecouper.bsky.social · 5d
Excellent #fieldtrip yesterday looking at #RiverManagement across the Hull catchment, from headwaters to the Humber estuary. Organised & led by @geoskinner.games, with insights from Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, Natural England & Hull City Council. And the weather stayed dry for us!
Students looking at Driffield Trout Stream, one of the most northerly chalk streams in the UK. A meander on the Driffield Trout Stream, restored within the last 4 years. Photo shows a chalk stream with varied bed and plenty of in-stream vegetation. Students looking across the Humber Estuary, standing alongside the flood wall. The Deep aquarium is behind, and Voyage statue stands above them.
November 6, 2025 at 6:32 AM
paulinecouper.bsky.social
Excellent #fieldtrip yesterday looking at #RiverManagement across the Hull catchment, from headwaters to the Humber estuary. Organised & led by @geoskinner.games, with insights from Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, Natural England & Hull City Council. And the weather stayed dry for us!
Students looking at Driffield Trout Stream, one of the most northerly chalk streams in the UK. A meander on the Driffield Trout Stream, restored within the last 4 years. Photo shows a chalk stream with varied bed and plenty of in-stream vegetation. Students looking across the Humber Estuary, standing alongside the flood wall. The Deep aquarium is behind, and Voyage statue stands above them.
November 6, 2025 at 6:27 AM
Reposted by Pauline Couper
watershed-i.bsky.social
Often overlooked, small water bodies - streams, damp ditches, small bogs, ponds - support more rare species compared with larger habitats while high-quality ponds support about 2/3 of all freshwater plant + animal species in a landscape.

🧵 1/4

freshwaterhabitats.org.uk/news/start-w...
Surveying wildlife in a pond with water reeds, amidst farmland, trees, hills, woods in distance.
November 2, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Reposted by Pauline Couper
davidstoreygeog.bsky.social
Geography in the service of the imperial state:
Putin speaking at the Russian Geographical Society emphasising the political utility of mapping and geographical knowledge
November 2, 2025 at 6:49 PM
paulinecouper.bsky.social
On language, AI and the loss of embodied knowledge and intuition.
"...we are now feeding AI outputs back into training data. The result is linguistic patterns amplifying themselves, detached from embodied experience."
November 1, 2025 at 9:06 PM
Reposted by Pauline Couper
brenttoderian.bsky.social
“Air pollution fell substantially as Paris restricted car traffic and made way for parks, people-streets and bike-lanes.”

Better for the climate, better for health, better for livability and quality of life.

Common sense.

Such a no-brainer, it’s remarkable that more cities HAVEN’T done the same.
Paris said au revoir to cars. Air pollution maps reveal a dramatic change.
Air pollution fell substantially as the city restricted car traffic and made way for parks and bike lanes.
www.washingtonpost.com
October 28, 2025 at 2:31 AM
Reposted by Pauline Couper
wokestudies.bsky.social
9-year-old's letter to BBC Children's programme: Blue Peter (1973)
Hollander is now Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research & Impact and Professor of StemCell Biology at Liverpool University
#highered #science #medicine #surgery #edchat #education
www.liverpool.ac.uk/researcher/w...
Dear Val, John, Peter and Lesslie This may seem very strange, but I think I no how to make people or animals alive. Why Im teling you is because I cant get the things I need. A list of what I need. 1. Diagram of how evreything works (inside youre body) 2. Model of a heart split in half, (both halvs) 3. The sort of sering [syringe] they yous for cleaning ears (Tsering must be very very clean) 4. Tools for cutting people open 5. Tools for stiches 6. Fiberglass box, 8 foot tall, 3 foot width. 7. Picture of a man showing all the arteries. Sorry but in number 6 in the list the box needs lid. If you do get them on 1st March I can pay £10, £11, £12, £13 or £14. Send your answer to me, Love from Anthony, London, NW11
October 27, 2025 at 9:44 AM
paulinecouper.bsky.social
Education & politics, in Aotearoa & internationally.
"...if you control the curriculum, you can erase histories and languages. Education is not and has never been a neutral space, it either strengthens the status quo or challenges it” (Tina Ngata).
etangata.bsky.social E-Tangata @etangata.bsky.social · 16d
“If a ‘knowledge-rich’ curriculum isn’t grounded in te ao Māori and the very people and things that make Aotearoa unique, who is determining the knowledge and where does it come from?” — Jessie Moss on the ideology behind education reform.
The imported ideology behind education reform | E-Tangata
e-tangata.co.nz
October 26, 2025 at 11:24 AM
Reposted by Pauline Couper
davehitchcock.bsky.social
I wrote about the stupid white paper.

In summary, with these people in the driver's seat and apparently unbothered by consequences, we're so cooked.
Somewhere in the Department for Education, a phone is ringing
On October 20th at a bit after 5pm, the UK government introduced its Education and Skills white paper to Parliament, to absolutely no…
hitchcockian.medium.com
October 22, 2025 at 8:38 AM
Reposted by Pauline Couper
davidstoreygeog.bsky.social
Good to see this from my former Geography @worcesteruni.bsky.social colleagues Albert Mvula, Alan Dixon & Ian Maddock
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Assessing on-farm impacts of the deep bed farming system on soil and water conservation, and maize yields among smallholder farmers in Malawi
Malawi's vulnerability to climate change and declining soil fertility underscores the need for climate-smart, soil-conserving agricultural practices. In Malawi, the deep bed farming (DBF) system of...
www.tandfonline.com
October 22, 2025 at 9:51 AM
paulinecouper.bsky.social
JOB: Lecturer in #geography, expertise in #geomorphology & #hydrology. Full-time, permanent. Deadline 04 Nov.
Come and join a small, highly collegial team!
#academicsky #HEjobs #UKHE
jobs.yorksj.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx...
Job Opportunity at York St John University: Lecturer in Geography
Full time permanent Location: York Salary: £39,906 to £48,822 per annum Introduction to YSJ universityYork St John is an ambitious, modern university at the heart of historic York and there has never been a more exciting...
jobs.yorksj.ac.uk
October 18, 2025 at 8:20 AM
Reposted by Pauline Couper
pavementgeology.bsky.social
Many thanks to @richardfisher.bsky.social for this lovely article on my #urbangeology rambles! www.bbc.co.uk/future/artic...
'Urban geology': How to find fossils (and other discoveries) in your city's buildings
If you look closer at the building stones, tiles and pavements of the big city, you can find a hidden world of geology and history, from fascinating fossils to unusual rocks.
www.bbc.co.uk
October 18, 2025 at 7:57 AM
paulinecouper.bsky.social
Oh, such a fabulous piece: on education, the Proclaimers, and the power and limitations of maps...
"I think it is sad that you would come to college to be told where to go. I think it is sad that you would go to college and follow a map written by someone else."
#academicsky
October 17, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Reposted by Pauline Couper
davidstoreygeog.bsky.social
Great to see this research into an important aspect of rural health, led by my former colleague Nick Evans @worcesteruni.bsky.social
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
University of Worcester to head study into arthritis in farmers
Researchers will go to large agricultural shows and markets, developing contact with farmers.
www.bbc.co.uk
October 16, 2025 at 12:09 PM
paulinecouper.bsky.social
Today I managed to be both early and late for the same meeting. Early bcs I put the event in my calendar while in Finland, & Outlook 'helpfully' adjusted it to UK time. I turned up 2 hours early. Late (5 mins) bcs I was then concentrating and didn't notice the time. 🙄
How's your day going?
October 15, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Reposted by Pauline Couper
phidipdbq.bsky.social
This is what climate scientists have been warning about for decades. We were told, by people sprawled on their fainting couches, that the scientists were just fear mongering.

Many of the world‘s largest cities are coastal. It won’t just be towns, but cities that will have to be abandoned.

🤷🏼‍♂️🤷🏼‍♂️🤷🏼‍♂️
October 14, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Reposted by Pauline Couper
juliecupples79.bsky.social
This is so idiotic. Students get exceptional, competent (the vast majority) and mediocre teachers in every single institution. And success depends not on the teacher but on the student and how hard they work
peterstefanovic.bsky.social Peter Stefanovic @peterstefanovic.bsky.social · Oct 11
Tuition fees set to be lowered at universities with poor teaching

Labour is considering bringing the cap below £9,000 a year on campuses where standards aren’t met

www.thetimes.com/uk/education...
Tuition fees set to be lowered at universities with poor teaching
Labour is considering bringing the cap below £9,000 a year on campuses where standards aren’t met
www.thetimes.com
October 12, 2025 at 8:38 AM
paulinecouper.bsky.social
Fabulous couple of days at the Philosophy of Geography conference for doctoral researchers, University of Oulu, organised by Dr Johanna Sitomaniemi-San, Prof
Eeva-Kaisa Prokkola & Dr Marika Kettunen. The university's botanical gardens were the perfect setting. 1/2
Inside the botanical gardens, tropical area. A brick path winds between big leafy plants. More big plants around a pond. Look carefully and there's a fly-trap plant hanging above the water. An Australian wollemi tree, described on the adjacent information panel as one of the world's rarest trees. University of Oulu complimentary notebook and pen, made of cardboard. Sustainability concerns were very much in evidence everywhere in the University.
October 8, 2025 at 7:46 AM
paulinecouper.bsky.social
A super first day at the University of Oulu, Finland. Honoured to be the opening speaker for the Geography Research Unit's inaugural Philosophy of Geography conference for PhD researchers. Discussion time raised lots of big questions about the nature of geography. A bit of sightseeing a bonus!
Toripolliisi, a big statue of a policeman View across the water towards Pikisaari island. A white bridge for pedestrians and cyclists crosses from left to right. Pikisaari huvimaja, a bathhouse with small pavilion above, alongside autumnal trees. The main street of Pikisaari, lined with wooden houses and trees.
October 6, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Reposted by Pauline Couper
marspidermonkey.bsky.social
As a primatologist, Jane Goodall was a huge inspiration to me. I admired the way she describes chimpanzee behavior with such detail and empathy, and she’s inspired so many people and advocated for chimpanzee conservation and welfare.

However, I'm dismayed at what her narrative leaves out (1/10)
Photo of Jane Goodall in the center, signing a book, with three women standing slightly hunched behind her. A very young Michelle is to the right, smiling.
October 2, 2025 at 4:18 PM
paulinecouper.bsky.social
YSJ Geography is marking Black History Month by celebrating the work of Black geographers past and present on our blog. With thanks to colleagues, esp Olalekan Adekola, Tokunbo Olorundami & Jamie Arathoon. 1/2
#BlackHistoryMonth #Geosky #Geography
blog.yorksj.ac.uk/geography/20...
What Does It Mean to Be a Black Geographer? - Geography at YSJ
What Does It Mean to Be a Black Geographer?   How many Black geographers can you name? How many of their works have you read or cited?   Geography, as […]
blog.yorksj.ac.uk
October 1, 2025 at 12:14 PM