Tim Curran
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timcurran.bsky.social
Tim Curran
@timcurran.bsky.social
3.9K followers 2.4K following 800 posts
Assoc. Prof. of Ecology at Lincoln Uni, Aotearoa/New Zealand. Scientist, teacher, dad, bibliophile, cricket tragic, snorkeler, rockpooler (fond of crabs). Uses traits to understand plant responses to disturbance. Likes to BBQ plants.
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timcurran.bsky.social
Tim Curran @timcurran.bsky.social · Aug 29
I'm so very proud of Niger Sultana and the first chapter of her PhD thesis!!!

She had so many challenges and came through them all with flying colours.

With @loraxcate.bsky.social @azhar06.bsky.social et al.

in @botsocamerica.bsky.social

bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Testing key tenets of pyro‐ecophysiology: Indicators of drought response in relation to shoot flammability
Premise Relationships between flammability and drought tolerance influence vegetation dynamics during fires. A goal of the emerging subdiscipline of pyro-ecophysiology is to identify ecophysiologica.....
bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Reposted by Tim Curran
itsnotfairman.bsky.social
Humbled to bea part of this paper on principles for developing evidence briefs for landscape fire management. besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Developing evidence briefs for landscape fire management
For evidence briefs to provide value to the ecological management and natural hazards community and to the broader public, researchers and practitioners need clear guidance on how briefs must be deve...
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
February 16, 2026 at 8:23 AM
timcurran.bsky.social
Vegetation flammability contributes to alternative stable states in arid Australia

Cool project led by Boyd Wright

connectsci.au/wf/article/3...
Vegetation flammability contributes to alternative stable states in arid Australia
Recent studies in arid Australia show fire-mediated alternative stable state systems in shrubland–grassland communities. This research compares the flammab
connectsci.au
February 16, 2026 at 8:40 AM
timcurran.bsky.social
This is disappointing, to say the very least...

Environment (Disestablishment of Ministry for the Environment) Amendment Bill

Merger with Ministry of Housing & Urban Development, Ministry of Transport, & the local govt functions of the Dept of Internal Affairs

bills.parliament.nz/v/6/27caed65...
House
bills.parliament.nz
February 16, 2026 at 5:29 AM
timcurran.bsky.social
Bark traits and their influence on thermal resistance to wildfires: an experimental study across six tree species common in Central Europe

link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Bark traits and their influence on thermal resistance to wildfires: an experimental study across six tree species common in Central Europe - Fire Ecology
Climate change is increasing the probability of wildfires in the non-fire-prone forests of Central Europe. Systematic knowledge on tree resistance to fire would help to improve the future management o...
link.springer.com
February 16, 2026 at 12:49 AM
Reposted by Tim Curran
oxfordecosystems.bsky.social
This week, the Ecosystems Lab welcomed back @ioliverasmenor.bsky.social. During her visit, she shared updates from her research on experimental fire reintroduction and reflected on years of collaborative work in the Brazilian Cerrado. Read more here: www.oxfordecosystems.org/post/collabo...
Collaborating Across Continents to Understand Fire and Savanna Dynamics
Dr Imma Oliveras Menor shares her research on vegetative phenology and fire response strategies in the Brazilian Cerrado.
www.oxfordecosystems.org
February 13, 2026 at 2:57 PM
Reposted by Tim Curran
newsroom.co.nz
Though often seen as a clean-energy success story, NZ is lagging other countries that are reaching 100 percent renewable power. Jamie Morton reports.
NZ needs to pay power firms to build renewable generation – professor
newsroom.co.nz
February 12, 2026 at 4:55 AM
timcurran.bsky.social
Analysis of vegetation clearing in New South Wales 2010 - 2023: Implications for biodiversity.

Public vegetation clearing data in NSW indicates that almost 700,000 hectares of native vegetation were cleared between 2010 and 2023.

wentworthgroup.org/2026/02/anal...
Analysis of vegetation clearing in New South Wales 2010 – 2023
A spatial analysis of the impacts of land clearing on biodiversity in New South Wales.
wentworthgroup.org
February 11, 2026 at 8:13 PM
Reposted by Tim Curran
frediotto.bsky.social
Patagonian wildfires show how denying climate change & pushing environmental destruction make the reality of climate change much worse. Threatening the destruction of trees that have been alive when the bronze age collapsed. @wwattribution.bsky.social www.worldweatherattribution.org/climate-chan...
a map of southern south America showing the location of burning fires with lots of red dots.
February 11, 2026 at 9:13 AM
timcurran.bsky.social
theconversation.com/importing-ga...
Importing gas locks NZ into fossil fuels for longer – just as clean energy surges
Even as the US steps back from Paris and New Zealand flirts with imported gas, the global energy transition is gathering speed.
theconversation.com
February 11, 2026 at 6:05 PM
Reposted by Tim Curran
quolltracks.bsky.social
hunterlandcare.org.au/whats-in-a-n...
What’s in a Name? A Rose by any other name. | Hunter Region Landcare Network
hunterlandcare.org.au
February 11, 2026 at 8:48 AM
timcurran.bsky.social
www.australiangeographic.com.au/news/2019/03...
17 incredible Australian women in botany - Australian Geographic
Australia is home to many talented botanists, many of whom are women. Here are just a few of their stories.
www.australiangeographic.com.au
February 11, 2026 at 8:00 AM
Reposted by Tim Curran
jonbright.bsky.social
Once extinct in NSW, the chuditch or western quoll is now breeding in the wild thanks to a conservation program.
The animals were released into an area, the size of 11,000 football fields, within the Sturt National Park in 2024. www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02...
Western quoll joey born in the wild after conservation program success
Once thought to be extinct in NSW, the small, spotted, and highly photogenic western quoll is making a hard-fought comeback to the wild.
www.abc.net.au
February 10, 2026 at 11:52 PM
Reposted by Tim Curran
ioliverasmenor.bsky.social
Are you a community ecologist interested in fire ecology? Come join our group! Postdoc position for project FEVER, that aims to understand how fire affects biodiversity, ecosystem functioning, and biogeochemical cycles in Mediterranean forests @umramap.bsky.social.
Portail Emploi CNRS - Offre d'emploi - M/F Postdoctorat projet FEVER: Fire effects on vegetation productivity and nutrient fluxes in Mediterranean ecosystems
Assurez-vous que votre profil candidat soit correctement renseigné avant de postuler
emploi.cnrs.fr
February 6, 2026 at 7:35 PM
timcurran.bsky.social
ior
February 5, 2026 at 9:54 PM
Reposted by Tim Curran
paulapenfold.bsky.social
You’re welcome.

There’s also a tool in here so you can search the files yourself .. easier than the DOJ site which is clunky as, and I’ve stripped out the duplicates/irrelevancies
Paula Penfold searched 1000 New Zealand Epstein files. Here’s what they reveal
Inside the web of connections revealed in more than 1000 New Zealand documents from the Epstein archive.
www.stuff.co.nz
February 4, 2026 at 5:22 PM
timcurran.bsky.social
Never forget Epstein’s little helpers – the powerful men who knew about his crimes, and helped him out anyway

Marina Hyde nails it.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Never forget Epstein’s little helpers – the powerful men who knew about his crimes, and helped him out anyway | Marina Hyde
I’m sorry, but this is not just a political scandal. Time to refocus on the horrific mistreatment of women and girls, and the role of these ghouls, says Guardian columnist Marina Hyde
www.theguardian.com
February 3, 2026 at 7:44 PM
timcurran.bsky.social
Wiminyji in the Western Desert: Martu knowledge reveals historical declines of northern quolls in arid Australia

by Muuki Taylor @harryymoore.bsky.social @judydunlop.bsky.social et al.

connectsci.au/wr/article/5...
Wiminyji in the Western Desert: Martu knowledge reveals historical declines of northern quolls in arid Australia
This study documents Martu Traditional Owners’ knowledge of the northern quoll (Dasyurus hallucatus) or wiminyji, in the Western Desert of Western Australi
connectsci.au
February 3, 2026 at 1:33 AM
timcurran.bsky.social
A Typology of Australian Terrestrial Bird Communities

@martinemaron.bsky.social et al.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
A Typology of Australian Terrestrial Bird Communities
Aim Holistic measurement of the response of fauna communities to interventions requires suitable community condition metrics. However, the development of such metrics is hindered by the absence of b...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
February 2, 2026 at 9:56 PM
Reposted by Tim Curran
joncounts.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy
I've been up in the North Canterbury mountains this week, helping to teach our third-year undergraduate field research course at #LincolnUniversityNZ. It was great fun, as always, helping students to carry out their first ecology research projects.

I'm collapsed […]

[Original post on mastodon.nz]
A photo of five students at night gathered around our moth light, a bright mercury vapour bulb set on a small tripod above a white sheet. You can see moths settled on the sheet and others swirling about the bulb. A photo of two students botanising in the tussock and herb fields above the forest tree line up Mount Faust. Far down in the background you can see the valley floor where the Boyle River Outdoor Education Centre is where we stayed. We spend the day walking up the mountain from there to collect daisy seed heads. A photo of four people (I'm bottom left) near the top of Mount Faust, with the Boyle River Outdoor Education Centre building far off in the distance down on the valley floor. Connor, top left, was doing his project on the insects that each daisy seeds and we all climbed the mountain with him to help. A photo of two students working in forest. Ashley, on the ground, is setting out a peanut butter baited tracking tunnel at one of our stations for monitoring pest mammals in the forest. For her project, Ashley will be using the past 15 years of class data on mammals and birds to see how the pest mammals affect the forest's bird populations. Abby, standing, is measuring the diameter of one of the trees, as part of her project that's looking at how forest structure affects birds.
January 30, 2026 at 5:28 AM
Reposted by Tim Curran
bmhayward.bsky.social
Some NZ journalists are still writing about increasing storms but not providing any context: ‘as our climate changes’
I’d say it’s just an omission were it not for a comment by a radio panelist last week that she’d never heard a reported connection between more extreme storm events & climate change
Sharon Murdoch carton a women mentioned clinate change matters to Nz politicians
February 1, 2026 at 8:00 AM
Reposted by Tim Curran
loraxcate.bsky.social
Thinking of all the academic (and other) women in Aotearoa feeling triggered by the news about a certain UoA prof tonight. Whether you have a personal connection to this one or have similar experiences, I hope you have good support. Reach out if you want to talk.
February 1, 2026 at 8:54 AM
timcurran.bsky.social
Are green firebreaks a useful fire management tool under climate change in southeastern Australia?

TLDR: yes, in many scenarios, especially when used in conjunction with other fire mitigation measures

by @ericamarshall.bsky.social @trentpenman.bsky.social

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Are green firebreaks a useful fire management tool under climate change in southeastern Australia?
Fire management under changing climatic conditions presents several challenges, including the need to manage fire regimes for multiple objectives, suc…
www.sciencedirect.com
February 1, 2026 at 7:17 AM
Reposted by Tim Curran
sedvitae.bsky.social
Send to your people who live in #bushfires zones. Get them to put good fences up. A colorbond fence will stop ember attacks at ground level. Provides a safe haven to fight fire to save your home. research.csiro.au/bushfire/lan...
Fences and walls - Bushfire best practice guide
Fences and garden walls can be used to shield the home during bushfire
research.csiro.au
February 1, 2026 at 1:22 AM
timcurran.bsky.social
Australian summers to experience more 50C days as heatwaves intensify, experts say

www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02...
As heatwaves get worse, 50C summers could be the new norm
Heatwaves are becoming longer, more frequent and more intense with multiple days of 50C looking more likely.
www.abc.net.au
January 31, 2026 at 9:37 PM
Reposted by Tim Curran
dpcarrington.bsky.social
New research - Including carbon emissions from permafrost thaw and fires reduces the remaining carbon budget for limiting warming to 1.5C by 25%

#climatecrisis
HT @carbonbrief.org
www.nature.com/articles/s43...
Permafrost and wildfire carbon emissions indicate need for additional action to keep Paris Agreement temperature goals within reach - Communications Earth & Environment
Including permafrost and wildfire carbon emissions reduces the remaining allowable carbon budget for keeping the global average temperature increase below 1.5 degrees by 25%, according to Earth system...
www.nature.com
January 26, 2026 at 10:18 AM