Sarah Stewart
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sarahastewart.bsky.social
Sarah Stewart
@sarahastewart.bsky.social
Sociologist of Data
DPhil Candidate @OIIOxford Digital collections, data and research infrastructures, scholarly communication, history of science
Naturalist. FLS @linneansociety @BSBIBotany
Wandering Bookish Type. Likes art and long walks.
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Hello World! I am now here on Bluesky! I am a sociologist of data, research infrastructures and scholarly communication, a data manager and biologist! I also love art, literature and going on long walks!
Reposted by Sarah Stewart
What #EYABeauty lies on the inside of this unassuming folder? We're showing off Elsie Wakefield's fungi illustrations today 🍄 Wakefield became Head of Mycology at Kew Gardens in 1915 and our Archives hold her personal papers collection, which includes letters, illustrations and photographs. #KewLA
November 30, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Reposted by Sarah Stewart
Superb result of lots of hard conservation work by my mate Tim Pankhurst at Plantlife, plus many others. For such a rare orchid to become *less threatened* is nothing short of phenomenal. Bravo to everyone involved! @plantlifeuk.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Rare Fen Orchid brought back from brink of extinction
Cambridge University Botanic Garden and partners have been working to successfully reintroduce the species.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 15, 2025 at 7:24 PM
Reposted by Sarah Stewart
Also at #BIBConf25, a panel discussion on Artificial Intelligence: the good, the bad & how best to approach it as a botanical community.
On the panel:
@trevorthebotanist.bsky.social;
Olaf Kranse (Univ Cambridge);
Alice Kershaw @the-wildlifetrusts.bsky.social
Stuart Desjardins (Univ. Leicester)
November 14, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Wonderful to see @jackdashby.bsky.social discussing his book, 'Nature's Memory' @linneansociety.bsky.social last evening!
November 14, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Reposted by Sarah Stewart
Best time to join the growing ranks of #BSBImembers?
In October to get 15 months of benefits for price of 12: that's when 100s of people inc @markavery.bsky.social & @alunsalt.bsky.social joined!
2nd best time? In November, to enjoy 14 months of benefits: bsbipublicity.blogspot.com/2025/10/bsbi...
November 3, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Reposted by Sarah Stewart
Huge thanks to @adamvaughan.bsky.social for his excellent article in today's @thetimes.com about #GBRedList.
Wild plants inc Common Restharrow, Common Rock-rose & Common Milkwort all now classed as Vulnerable - so no longer common!
Download the new Red List:
britishandirishbotany.org/index.php/bi...
November 5, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Reposted by Sarah Stewart
Major revision of #GBRedList of plants published today shows 25% of our native & archaeophyte flora threatened with extinction. Many iconic widespread species classified as threatened for first time including Betony, Marsh Marigold, Devil’s-bit Scabious and Harebell. Another wake-up call for action!
November 5, 2025 at 6:17 PM
Reposted by Sarah Stewart
The platform formerly known as Twitter may be horrible, but it is still shaping policy. So were we all wrong to leave?
Was the left wrong to leave X for BlueSky?
The platform formerly known as Twitter may be horrible, but it's still shaping policy
www.newstatesman.com
October 11, 2025 at 8:18 AM
Many (and belated!) Thanks to the #NorfolkFloraGroup and @jo-the-botanist.bsky.social for a great day in the field! Looking forward to the next field meeting (and more surveying!) 🥰🌱🌿
We had a great #NorfolkFloraGroup day out on the Estate with enough people to field 3 survey groups, covering a massive 8 monads between them - was especially lovely to have @sarahastewart.bsky.social join us 🥰
September 21, 2025 at 1:51 PM
Excited to see the new data portal from @rbgkew.bsky.social launched today! Find out more below!

#biodiversity #naturalhistorycollections #collectionsdata #naturalsciencecollections #botany #researchdata
July 1, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Reposted by Sarah Stewart
Digitisation means global access. What was once locked in cabinets is now open to researchers, students, artists, gardeners - anyone, anywhere 🌐
June 30, 2025 at 10:57 AM
Reposted by Sarah Stewart
Through the power of digitisation, millions of Kew's plant and fungal specimens have stepped out of the archives and into the hands of the world 🌿

Explore the new Data Portal yourself and uncover centuries of botanical history - now just a click away!

www.kew.org/read-and-wat...
June 30, 2025 at 10:57 AM
Reposted by Sarah Stewart
Procumbent Pearlwort (Sagina procumbens) in its very unnatural natural habitat. We need a term for these road-dwellers - tarmacophytes maybe? #UrbanPlants #PavementPlants @bsbibotany.bsky.social
May 12, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Reposted by Sarah Stewart
In today's @theguardian.com country diary, I'm celebrating pavement plants and a #Hitchin speciality with my friends in Happy...

#countrydiary #naturewriting
Country diary: The simple joys of pavement plant-spotting | Nic Wilson
Hitchin, Hertfordshire: We have a local speciality here, the rue-leaved saxifrage, poking up in street cracks and wall crannies. It’s worth lying on the pavement for
www.theguardian.com
May 13, 2025 at 5:45 AM
Reposted by Sarah Stewart
🛟 IASSIST members, along with members from organisations like RDAP and the Data Curation Network, initiated the Data Rescue Project to coordinate efforts in preserving USA federal data at risk. Data have already been rescued from various agencies. #datarescue
iassistdata.org/blog/2025/02...
From risk to rescue: Securing data for the future generations
IASSIST is an international organization of professionals working in and with information technology and data services to support research and teaching in the social sciences and beyond.
iassistdata.org
February 20, 2025 at 9:37 PM
And the importance of data and citizen science here from @bsbibotany.bsky.social - contributing to the broader understanding of #biodiversity #plantdiversity
Every data point tells a unique story. Every volunteer adds a unique perspective. Together we’re building a more complete picture of biodiversity. #NatureForAll
We're proud to be 1 of 10 UKTEPoP partners who today published a joint statement pledging our commitment to diversity, equity & inclusion in UK species monitoring schemes:
jncc.gov.uk/our-work/ukt...
We need to better understand how biodiversity loss is impacting under-recorded areas & communities.
February 3, 2025 at 7:50 PM
In these times, Open Data are more crucial than ever.

Datasets and websites in the US are unfortunately 'going dark' including medical and health datasets and climate change.

#digitalpreservation #opendata

www.axios.com/2025/01/31/h...
HIV, transgender care, climate change and other federal websites go dark
Several CDC pages were taken down by Friday afternoon. Some redirected users to other sections of the site.
www.axios.com
February 3, 2025 at 7:49 PM
Reposted by Sarah Stewart
The anonymous pamphlet 'Directions for Preserving Animals, and Parts of Animals, for Examination' was probably written by John Hunter in the 18th century, and advises that the bills of birds should be preserved separately in spirits, while the legs can be dried

#Animals
November 28, 2024 at 4:09 PM
Reposted by Sarah Stewart
We know, we know, we're getting ahead of ourselves again, but...

These little penguins have been exploring the archives. Look at all the other penguins! Things took a sinister turn however when they came across a book instructing on the preservation of birds 🤯

#EYAAnimals #ExploreYourArchive
November 28, 2024 at 4:09 PM
Reposted by Sarah Stewart
Our archive is #YourArchive. We have digital records, manuscripts, ephemera, rare books, artworks, and artefacts on the history and heritage of the university. Everyone is welcome to visit: you don't need to be a 'serious researcher' to come to the archives ☺️
#EYAYourArchive #ExploreYourArchive
November 28, 2024 at 4:14 PM
蛇年快乐 Happy New Year of the Snake 2025
January 29, 2025 at 11:06 AM
Reposted by Sarah Stewart
Thanks to @pocketwildingie.bsky.social for promoting the fabulous Basal Project: basalproject.org.uk
It's a great resource for anyone looking to identify wild plants from their juvenile leaves/ basal rosettes.
The site was set up by @richardmabbutt.bsky.social, one of our amazing #BSBImembers.
January 26, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Reposted by Sarah Stewart
Only 4 days left if you want to apply for a BSBI grant!
We have Training Grants (<£250) so you can take a short #WildFlowerID course;
Plant Study Grants (<£1K) for undergrads;
Science & Research Grants (<£1K) aimed at PhD students or amateur researchers.
bsbi.org/grants
Don't miss out, apply ASAP!
January 27, 2025 at 4:54 PM
Reposted by Sarah Stewart
All this time and money wasted on AI development when it could be spent making a thermos that doesn’t give tea a metallic taste
January 29, 2025 at 9:22 AM