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sarahwatts.bsky.social
Sarah Watts
@sarahwatts.bsky.social
910 followers 390 following 59 posts

Upland ecologist and manager of nature recovery at #Corrour, PhD researcher at the University of Stirling, and Chair of the Mountain Woodland Action Group. Treeline woodland, restoration ecology, arctic-alpine plants, #HighMountainTrees #MountainFlowers .. more

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Environmental science 72%
Geography 18%
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sarahwatts.bsky.social
Sarah Watts @sarahwatts.bsky.social · Nov 22
Hi, I'm Sarah Watts & I've arrived on #BlueSky! I work on landscape-scale #NatureRecovery in the Scottish Highlands, focusing on #mountain #woodland, tree #regeneration with deer management, arctic-alpine plants, & #peatlands. I'm both a practitioner & researcher, striving for evidence-based action!

Reposted by Sarah H. Watts

countrysidejobs.bsky.social
Countryside Jobs Service @countrysidejobs.bsky.social · 19d
Conservation Officer vacancy with @n-t-s.bsky.social 40 hours per week based at Mar Lodge Estate, Braemar, Aberdeenshire c-js.uk/4oubBG7
National Trust for Scotland: Conservation Officer advertised with CJS
Salary: £28,228 - £30,118 Hours: 40 hours per week Location: Mar Lodge Estate, Braemar, Aberdeenshire, AB35 5YJ Working at one of the most important sites for nature conservation in the UK, this…
c-js.uk

sarahwatts.bsky.social
Sarah Watts @sarahwatts.bsky.social · Oct 5
Sorry to be that person to ask, but did you get permission from the National Trust for Scotland to use their annotated photographs on your own social media? These photos are from the Mar Lodge Estate Facebook page.

Reposted by Sarah H. Watts

bsbiscotland.bsky.social
BSBI Scotland @bsbiscotland.bsky.social · Oct 3
Book your #ScotBotanistsConf place now! Its going to be a fantastic day @thebotanics.bsky.social, with brilliant talks on restoring montane woodland, Tufted Saxifrage, urban flora and much much more!
@sarahwatts.bsky.social @plantlifeuk.bsky.social @botsocscot.bsky.social @naturescot.bsky.social
A small, tight clump of Tufted Saxifrage rosettes just catching the morning sunlight on a steep rock wall, high in the Grey Corries. There are three flowerheads, with the last tiny white petals hanging on as they go to seed. Behind, a pattern of brown-green bryophytes and ledges form a mosaic in the vertiginous, pale grey quartzite, with the rock spires reaching towards a bright blue sky in the far corner of the photo.

sarahwatts.bsky.social
Sarah Watts @sarahwatts.bsky.social · Aug 3
My best botanical day of the year! While hillwalking in the #Cairngorms we discovered a new, unrecorded population of the ultra rare Marsh Saxifrage (Saxifraga hirculus). This beautiful upland plant is a protected species & only found at a few sites in Scotland. #WildflowerHour #MountainFlowers

sarahwatts.bsky.social
Sarah Watts @sarahwatts.bsky.social · Aug 1
Making the most of flower power! This week at #Corrour we have been repeat #monitoring to determine if our tall herbs and upland calcareous grasslands are continuing to recover after a reduction in deer densities on the estate. It's wonderful to study these lovely plants in a dynamic landscape!

Reposted by Sarah H. Watts

treesforlife.bsky.social
Trees for Life @treesforlife.bsky.social · Jul 8
Volunteers from our Tree Seed Collection Project recently visited Ben Lawers NNR for their annual trip to learn more about montane tree species.

Montane scrub is a rare and fragmented #habitat found in mountainous regions, where dwarfed #trees and shrubs dominate. 🌿

Learn more 👉 bit.ly/3IfJ2wq

sarahwatts.bsky.social
Sarah Watts @sarahwatts.bsky.social · Jun 23
An interesting early morning start joining #forestry #PhD researcher Ben Wilson from @stir.ac.uk recording the #moths found in light traps set up at Loch Ossian woods on #Corrour. My favourite find of the day couldn't help but be the large & very charismatic Poplar Hawk-moth (Laothoe populi)!

sarahwatts.bsky.social
Sarah Watts @sarahwatts.bsky.social · Jun 22
🥰

sarahwatts.bsky.social
Sarah Watts @sarahwatts.bsky.social · Jun 22
Here's the delighted face of someone who has just said "This looks exactly like Carex rariflora habitat"...moments before finding Carex rariflora (Mountain Bog-sedge)! We've got our eye in on this Nationally Rare high-altitude plant & the special places it occurs. #WildflowerHour #MountainFlowers

sarahwatts.bsky.social
Sarah Watts @sarahwatts.bsky.social · Jun 22
Lovely time botanising in the #Cairngorms finding Alpine Speedwell (Veronica alpina), Alpine Cat's-tail (Phleum alpinum), Alpine Foxtail (Alopecurus magellanicus), & a new record of Scottish Pearlwort (Sagina x normaniana) last recorded at this site 24 years ago!
#WildflowerHour #MountainFlowers

sarahwatts.bsky.social
Sarah Watts @sarahwatts.bsky.social · Jun 20
You too! Thank you for showing us the Carex x limula 😁

sarahwatts.bsky.social
Sarah Watts @sarahwatts.bsky.social · Jun 20
How many #montane #scrub enthusiasts can you fit around a relict montane willow? We found out on a #Mountain #Woodland Action Group field trip to #Dalnacardoch Estate last week, while discussing exciting potential options for #regeneration & #restoration alongside landscape-scale deer management.

Reposted by Sarah H. Watts

bsbibotany.bsky.social
BSBI Botany @bsbibotany.bsky.social · Jun 19
Want to see a map of where mega-rare Alpine Catchfly grows in Britain?
Check out its #PlantAtlas2020 page:
plantatlas2020.org/atlas/2cd4p9...
Our online Plant Atlas has pages for 3,495 plants with maps, info on conservation status & trends plus galleries of photos: all free for you to use & enjoy!

sarahwatts.bsky.social
Sarah Watts @sarahwatts.bsky.social · Jun 16
This is one of the two known Uk sites - with by far the largest population 😄

sarahwatts.bsky.social
Sarah Watts @sarahwatts.bsky.social · Jun 15
The ultra-mega-rare #Alpine Catchfly (Silene suecica) is only found in two sites in Britain! We were absolutely delighted to see it in full flower today while botanising in the #Cairngorms; growing on a very unusual high-altitude serpentine rock rich in magnesium. #mountainflowers #wildflowerhour

sarahwatts.bsky.social
Sarah Watts @sarahwatts.bsky.social · Jun 15
Here's a plant that only occurs at one single place in the ENTIRE WORLD!! How special to see the #endemic Scottish Mouse-ear (Cerastium fontanum subsp. scoticum) in the #Cairngorms showing off its lovely long petals today, also alongside Cyphel (Cherleria sedoides). #mountainflowers #wildflowerhour

sarahwatts.bsky.social
Sarah Watts @sarahwatts.bsky.social · Jun 11
Delighted to have completed Phase 3 of our multi-year #peatland #restoration project at #Corrour with Peatland ACTION! The 245ha at Loch na Lap brings our total for this particular project to 648ha, & our overall peatland restoration area on the estate up to 870ha. Works by Barker and Bland.

sarahwatts.bsky.social
Sarah Watts @sarahwatts.bsky.social · May 6
How wonderful to receive these photos from the @treesforlife.bsky.social Dundreggan tree nursery who have been growing montane willows for us. These precious plants are to become our future seed stand for Whortle-leaved Willow on #Corrour; a high-altitude specialist listed as Endangered in Britain.

sarahwatts.bsky.social
Sarah Watts @sarahwatts.bsky.social · May 2
One of my very favourite jobs of the year: #monitoring our #montane #willows at #Corrour! These Downy Willow saplings were planted two years ago & they're flourishing, all on the open hill without the use of fencing. I'm looking forward to surveying some of our other planting sites next week. 🤗 🤩

sarahwatts.bsky.social
Sarah Watts @sarahwatts.bsky.social · Apr 24
I had a fantastic #fieldwork day this week planting Downy Willow (Salix lapponum) saplings for an experiment designed by PhD student Rory Abernethy @stir.ac.uk. Their growth & survival will be assessed as part of #research on Sitka Spruce colonisation at the treeline in Scotland.

sarahwatts.bsky.social
Sarah Watts @sarahwatts.bsky.social · Apr 10
I had a very interesting, unique & fun day of sunny #fieldwork this week on Ben Ledi with our University of Stirling 1st year PhD student Rory Abernethy who is studying Sitka Spruce colonisation at the treeline in Scotland. We were tagging trees for a planned experiment @stir.ac.uk.

sarahwatts.bsky.social
Sarah Watts @sarahwatts.bsky.social · Apr 7
I had a very productive & enjoyable day of #fieldwork last week promoting #montane #willow #conservation! Great to join a team from @hutton.ac.uk & Catkin Ecology working in Glen Lochay to collect cuttings for creating new local provenance seed stands from five threatened willow species!

sarahwatts.bsky.social
Sarah Watts @sarahwatts.bsky.social · Apr 7
Fantastic weather this weekend for a round of the epic "Fisherfield 6" in the North-West Highlands, featuring plenty of sunshine, wind, deer, mountains, ridges, scrambling, bog, big river crossings, & some very remote Scots Pine indeed. 🔭🤩🥰💪🏔️☀️

sarahwatts.bsky.social
Sarah Watts @sarahwatts.bsky.social · Apr 3
We've begun a #riverwoods #restoration trial at #Corrour through the Loch Abar Mòr partnership. These small unfenced seed islands are intended to provide cover & nutrients along the river where seed sources are currently lacking. I'll be #monitoring their progress! #naturerichLochaber

sarahwatts.bsky.social
Sarah Watts @sarahwatts.bsky.social · Mar 30
Rainy day roadside botanical safari staring the stunning arctic-alpine Purple #Saxifrage (Saxifraga oppositifolia) this weekend at Ben Lawers! #WildflowerHour #NTSBenLawers #botany #

sarahwatts.bsky.social
Sarah Watts @sarahwatts.bsky.social · Mar 27
We've planted more trees in our bespoke #montane #willow seed stand at #Corrour! These arctic-alpine Downy Willow are cuttings from wild plants on the estate. The stand has clones from 92 individuals to upscale seed production for the local area. It's the largest stand for this species in Britain!

sarahwatts.bsky.social
Sarah Watts @sarahwatts.bsky.social · Mar 21
It was fun to take part in the panel discussion on nature restoration at #SNSC2025 this week with Professor Colin Galbraith, Nikki Yoxall, Ashleigh Kitchiner & Clive Mitchell. My advice to my early career peers to "embrace nerdiness, as much as possible" certainly got quite the reaction! 💪🤓
scotnsconf.bsky.social Scotland's Nature Student Conference 2025 @scotnsconf.bsky.social · Mar 18
Time for our exciting panel discussion on “Nature Restoration and the role of people” in both Scotland and globally! #SNSC2025 @naturescot.bsky.social

sarahwatts.bsky.social
Sarah Watts @sarahwatts.bsky.social · Mar 21
It was fantastic to be invited as a #keynote speaker at Scotland's Nature Student Conference #SNSC2025 this week & share my enthusiasm for mountain woodland #restoration! I really enjoyed hearing about lots of exciting ongoing research & joining the afternoon panel discussion @scotnsconf.bsky.social
bsbiscotland.bsky.social BSBI Scotland @bsbiscotland.bsky.social · Mar 20
Two key messages from #SNSC2025: we have a big problem, but we can do something about it.
@scottishgov.bsky.social CSA Mat Williams laying out reality - 47% native plants in decline, 1 in 9 Scottish species threatened with extinction, & @sarahwatts.bsky.social sharing hope for mountain woodlands
Prof Mat Williams, Chief Scientific Advisor for Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture to Scottish Government, laying out some harsh truths about the state of nature in Scotland right now: 15% average decrease in Scottish wildlife since 1994; 47% of our flowering plants have decreased in distribution since 1970; 11% (1 in 9) of Scottish species are threatened with extinction; 49% decline in Scotland's seabirds between 1986 and 2019. Find out more about Mat and his role here: https://www.gov.scot/about/how-government-is-run/directorates/environment-and-forestry/chief-scientific-adviser-environment-nat-resources-agriculture/ Sarah Watts, PhD student at University of Stirling, Conservation Manager at Corrour Estate, BSBI Committee for Scotland member and all round force of (and for) nature, speaking about the fantastic work she is doing to understand and restore Scotland's highly threatened arctic-alpine mountain woodland. A fantastic demonstration of research and conservation action coming together for the betterment of Scotland's wildlife and habitats and opening the door for nature-based solutions to environmental problems such as flooding and erosion

Reposted by Sarah H. Watts

bsbiscotland.bsky.social
BSBI Scotland @bsbiscotland.bsky.social · Mar 20
Two key messages from #SNSC2025: we have a big problem, but we can do something about it.
@scottishgov.bsky.social CSA Mat Williams laying out reality - 47% native plants in decline, 1 in 9 Scottish species threatened with extinction, & @sarahwatts.bsky.social sharing hope for mountain woodlands
Prof Mat Williams, Chief Scientific Advisor for Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture to Scottish Government, laying out some harsh truths about the state of nature in Scotland right now: 15% average decrease in Scottish wildlife since 1994; 47% of our flowering plants have decreased in distribution since 1970; 11% (1 in 9) of Scottish species are threatened with extinction; 49% decline in Scotland's seabirds between 1986 and 2019. Find out more about Mat and his role here: https://www.gov.scot/about/how-government-is-run/directorates/environment-and-forestry/chief-scientific-adviser-environment-nat-resources-agriculture/ Sarah Watts, PhD student at University of Stirling, Conservation Manager at Corrour Estate, BSBI Committee for Scotland member and all round force of (and for) nature, speaking about the fantastic work she is doing to understand and restore Scotland's highly threatened arctic-alpine mountain woodland. A fantastic demonstration of research and conservation action coming together for the betterment of Scotland's wildlife and habitats and opening the door for nature-based solutions to environmental problems such as flooding and erosion

Reposted by Sarah H. Watts

sarahelizwoods.bsky.social
Sarah Woods @sarahelizwoods.bsky.social · Mar 19
Great to get along to @scotnsconf.bsky.social this week - two great days at RBGE talking to student naturalists about wild plants and their interests. We talked skill levels, training, data, recording, Sticky Catchfly and arctic alpines (obviously inspired by @sarahwatts.bsky.social!)