What good is great science if no one sees it?

At #ATBC2025, we led a @mongabay.com workshop on Communicating Conservation Science.

4 tips to help researchers connect with journalists + increase their impact:

🎯 Target the right journalist
✉️ Pitch clearly
🧾 Make it easy to cover
⚡ Respond fast

I’ll never forget getting this close to a mountain gorilla. 🦍

Most of my time at @mongabay.bsky.social is spent on the 💻 ensuring our work reaches the right people.

But sometimes I step into the field. 📷

The biggest challenge? Staying calm as a gorilla got so close I could hear her breathing.

The hoary fox is the only canine endemic to both the Cerrado biome & Brazil; it’s now trying to survive among cattle pastures & soy plantations.

A project in southern Brazil combines research, conservation & community engagement to protect the species.

news.mongabay.com/2025/02/a-ca...

This incident underscores the importance of press freedom & the challenges journalists face. @geraldrflynn.bsky.social's reporting on environmental issues has exposed corruption and human rights abuses, & his deportation sends a chilling message to journalists in Cambodia.

@geraldrflynn.bsky.social's case is part of a broader pattern of repression against journalists & environmental activists in Cambodia. In 2024 alone, journalist Mech Dara was jailed, Ouk Mao was charged for exposing illegal deforestation, and Chhoeung Chheng (pictured) was shot and killed.

@geraldrflynn.bsky.social's expulsion appears to be retaliation for his work. A reporter on illegal logging, land grabbing & environmental crimes in Cambodia, Flynn was recently featured in a @france24.com documentary critical of the country’s carbon offsetting efforts.

The conservation of the cheetah is a balance between challenges and triumphs. At @mongabay.bsky.social, we'll continue to report on this and many more species throughout the year.

Fewer than 7,000 cheetahs remain in the wild due to habitat loss, declining prey populations, and human-wildlife conflict. The Asiatic cheetah now survives in isolated pockets in Iran, with fewer than 30 individuals remaining.

Did you know that cheetahs, once spread across Africa and Asia, today occupy only a fraction of their historical range?

On #WorldConservationDay and #WorldCheetahDay, the cheetah symbolizes both the challenges and opportunities of conservation.