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brownecfm.bsky.social
Conor Browne
@brownecfm.bsky.social
12K followers 480 following 740 posts
Biorisk analyst
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brownecfm.bsky.social
Sunset over Belfast Lough yesterday evening from Holywood, County Down, Northern Ireland.
A landscape photograph taken at sunset. The left foreground of the shot is a sandy beach that snakes to the outskirts of a small town just visible in the distance; the spire of a church marks where the town begins. The remainder of the foreground is the still water of Belfast Lough, with only small ripples visible on the surface. The reflections of clouds and the setting sun can be seen on the water. The horizon is a line of lights, with the signature cranes of Harland and Wolff shipyard, where The Titanic was built, just visible rising above the line of lights. Behind the lights, to the right of the shot, the glow of the sunset is visible across low hills on the far shore. The sky is light blue, with thick clouds covering the sky to the left of the shot.
November 10, 2025 at 6:06 PM
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The coastal path from Dunseverick Castle to the Giant's Causeway earlier this afternoon. One of my favourite places on Earth.
A landscape photograph. A narrow rocky trail in the foreground, flanked by a barbed wire fence to the right and thick heather to the left, leads towards a headland in the midground of the shot. The ocean is visible beyond the headland, calm and still. A jagged coastline of headlands and coves snakes away to the horizon on the right of the shot, with a thick, cloudy sky above. The green of the land could only be Ireland, but the colours of the sky, sea, and land are muted by the dull October light.
October 8, 2025 at 5:18 PM
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Looking out on the Atlantic Ocean from West Strand, Portrush. From the early days of the pandemic, the rugged coastline between here and Ballycastle has been my sanctuary. The photograph is not filtered; the concrete-like, flat, monotone light is typical of October here.
A photograph of the ocean. The colours of the scene are grey and muted. The foreground is cresting waves, a heavy swell breaking towards the shore. A rocky headland protrudes from the left of the shot, with a distant coastline just visible on the horizon. The sky is grey and overcast, with only a few scattered patches of light breaking through. Rain over the sea can be seen on the horizon.
October 6, 2025 at 5:26 PM
brownecfm.bsky.social
My mother passed away two years ago today. She had a wicked, mischievous sense of humour, prone to extended episodes of the giggles, and a joy in discovering new things or places - which is why I'm sharing this photo of her discovering IG filters for the first time in 2016!
A slightly blurred photograph of my mother. She is sitting in a red armchair, a small framed painting hanging on the wall behind her. She is laughing at what she sees on a screen in front of her, an Instagram filter over her face making her look like a cartoon rabbit. Her joy is palpable in the photograph.
September 17, 2025 at 8:10 AM
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Sunset earlier this evening from Ramore Head, Portrush, Northern Ireland.
A photograph of a sunset. The sun is just above the horizon, casting a long ray of shimmering light across the ocean towards the foreground. The light is muted but has a quality of soft radiance. The foreground is a rocky shore, and a distant coastline sits on the horizon. A few clouds are visible in an otherwise clear sky, the sky's colour transiting from light blue to a soft red above the horizon.
August 12, 2025 at 9:09 PM
brownecfm.bsky.social
1. I've said exactly this for quite some time. Expanding on Adrian's @sillyputty78.bsky.social point on X / Twitter here, Covid-19 has three distinct characteristics as a disease that enables it to be denied at a societal level.
If COVID resulted in everyone getting harmless, untreatable, utterly gross pustules covering their entire face for weeks we wouldn't still be in a pandemic.
August 10, 2025 at 5:59 PM
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Looking down the Mourne Wall, from the summit of Slieve Donard, in the Mourne Mountains of Northern Ireland.
A landscape photograph. The left foreground of the shot is dominated by a drystone wall that snakes down the slope of a very steep hill and up another. A saddle between two hills is in the exact centre of the shot, with a steep, rocky gorge visible to the left of the shot and another hill to the right. The landscape is green, but bleak. Not a single person is visible in the shot. In the distance, to the left of the shot, a mountain with two rocky colls on the summit can be seen. Dark clouds loom in the sky.
August 1, 2025 at 8:13 PM
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Looking down Glenariff Glen while hiking on the Garron Plateau earlier today.
A landscape photograph. The foreground is lush, long grass. Beyond the grass is a green and verdant valley, with high cliffs on either side. Two rainbows traverse the valley, the lower one more vivid than the one above. The valley floor is farmland, but the plateaus visible high above the valley walls are wild and bleak. The land is green, in a way that only land in Ireland is. The valley floor ends in a coastline in the middle of the shot, the higher of the two rainbows blurring the horizon between the sea and the sky. White, light clouds float high above.
July 27, 2025 at 7:23 PM
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Remembering my late father today. A strange feeling that this photograph was taken when dad was only a year older than I am now. He died at the age of 59, and the older I get, the more I realise how much he taught me.

George Browne, Óglaigh na hÉireann, RHG, 1940-1999. RIP.
A portrait photograph of my father. He is hiking, wearing a patterned fleece and carrying a rucksack, a hiking pole in his left hand. His hair is silver-grey, and he is looking beyond the lens, towards the horizon behind the photographer. The background is rough and hilly terrain, the hilltops to the right of shot illuminated by sunlight.
June 15, 2025 at 5:39 PM
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The summit of Trostan, the highest point in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Trostan is located deep in the Glens of Antrim, and is a place that has long played a major role in the folklore of the area.
A landscape photograph. The foreground is a rocky plateau, with small stones and rocks scattered between sparse patches of grass. Four small cairns of rocks sit slightly to the right of the midline of the shot. Beyond the four cairns is a hilly, bleak landscape, with a forest visible to the left of the shot. Huge, looming clouds fill the sky, dark and menacing.
June 1, 2025 at 7:09 PM
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Carn Neil, on the Garron Plateau. Taken on a hike a few weeks ago, this place - perched high above Glenariff, the Queen of the Glens - is extraordinarily special to me. My late father adored this bleak and desolate spot, and I always feel his presence when I'm there.
A landscape photograph. The foreground is a blanket bog - a melange of grasses, heathers, and small pools of standing water. The midground is dominated by a cairn of rocks, approximately three metres high. A distant headland and the ocean is visible beyond the cairn on the horizon. The sky is thick with looming, dark clouds.
May 7, 2025 at 3:31 PM
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Hiking Ronan's Way earlier today, high on the plateau between Glendun and Glenaan in the Glens of Antrim. The sharp-peaked hill visible in the distance is Tievebulliagh, site of a Neolithic axe quarry; flint axe heads from here have been excavated all across the British Isles.
A landscape photograph. A wooden-poled wire fence stretches from the foreground in the left of the shot across the photograph far into the distance. The fence crosses a bleak but beautiful plateau of grass, gorse, and bog. The sky is threatening; dark clouds sit low above the horizon of distant hills. A sharp-peaked hill is visible to the left of the midground of the shot.
April 27, 2025 at 6:31 PM
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Looking across the coast between the coastal villages of Cushendall and Cushendun from the Galboly trail on the Garron Plateau, Northern Ireland.
A landscape photograph taken close to sunset. The foreground of the shot is a rough trail, with small rocks and boulders on either side of it. The midground of the shot is divided by light - on the right of the midground are tall stacks of rock illuminated by the setting sun, while the left of the shot are distant cliffs, muted in shadow. The trail winds its way between the stacks of rock and the cliffs. The sea is visible in the middle of the shot, an azure blue, and beyond it, a low coastline of hilly farmland. The sky above is cloudless and light blue.
April 7, 2025 at 8:44 PM
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The bleak and desolate beauty of the Garron Plateau, the most remote region of Northern Ireland and one of my favourite places on Earth.
A landscape photograph. A wire fence, supported by wooden fence poles, stretches from the left foreground into the far distance. The terrain is blanket bog: heather and grass as far as the eye can see. The horizon is a ridge of low hills, and the sky is blue and filled with puffy white clouds. There is not a single other person visible, and the scene conveys an atmosphere of serene emptiness.
April 1, 2025 at 6:04 PM
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Wishing you all a very Happy St. Patrick's Day from Ireland, on the way to Slemish Mountain (visible in the distance). Slemish was St. Patrick's first Irish home - according to legend he lived there for six years.
A landscape photograph. The foreground is a rough track leading to a gate; on either side of the track are green fields and a few small trees. On the horizon is a very distinctive small mountain, with the track leading towards it. The sky is cloudy, a mixture of greys and blues.
March 17, 2025 at 5:31 PM
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From the summit of Slievenanee today, an irresistible detour when hiking the Dungonnel Way. My late father taught me to love this bleak and beautiful landscape, just as he did. It's home.
A landscape photograph. The foreground is a blanket bog, the ground a mixture of light grass and dark heather. The midground is a long ridge, with light reflecting on the downward slope. Distant hills and mountains can be seen on the horizon, with the edge of a lake just visible on the right of the shot. The sky is heavily clouded.
March 15, 2025 at 10:08 PM
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The Garron Plateau in Northern Ireland is a bleak and beautiful place to hike. A blanket bog, it is very tough underfoot. This was taken yesterday, looking down at the Glenariff valley from the western edge of the plateau, where the bog meets the eastern valley cliffs.
A landscape photograph taken close to golden hour. The foreground to the right of the shot is a grass and heather covered promontory, while the rest of the shot tracks down a cliff-edged valley all the way to the sea. The valley floor is a small forest, and the farmland on the far side of the valley is an emerald green. The sky is bright blue, with only a few white clouds. A haze is visible in the distance, stretching up from the coastline to the cliffs
March 10, 2025 at 12:07 PM
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The Ulster Way hiking trail hugs the coast between the towns of Ballycastle and Portstewart, and one of my favourite activities on this section of the route is exploring the hidden coves and small pebble beaches that very few people here even know exist.
A landscape photograph. The foreground is a small pebbled beach, with a cliff face rising to the left of the shot. The choppy sea, white with foam, splashes in small waves against the beach and the small jetty protruding from it. Just slightly off the midline of the shot, a rocky and pointed seastack rises out of the water. The sky is light blue with white clouds.
March 4, 2025 at 5:27 PM
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Stunning light on the North Coast today.
A landscape photograph. The foreground is a rocky coastline. A breaking wave sweeps towards the shore from the right of the shot. A headland is visible in the midground to the left of the shot, while a distant coastline sits on the horizon. The sea is choppy, and the sky is cloudy but backlit by the sun.
March 1, 2025 at 4:19 PM
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Absolutely wonderful hike in Glenariff valley today, up to the Garron Plateau then down to the waterfalls of the Inver River gorge.
A landscape photograph looking down a valley. The foreground is blanket bog, stretching out in the midground to cliffs on both sides of the valley. The floor of the valley is farmland, but the plateaus on each side are rough, desolate terrain. The sky is light blue, with clouds visible. The horizon is the sea, with a far-off coastline in the distance. A photograph of a waterfall. Three distinct streams of water fall down a rock face into a small lagoon, which then flows into a stream. There are boulders on both sides of the stream, one covered in moss.
February 12, 2025 at 7:01 PM
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1. My new research paper, 'Navigating Uncertainty: Forecasting the Effects of COVID-19 through the lens of Value Pluralism' is now available to download from my website:

nodentibiorisk.co.uk
A photograph of the front cover of a research paper. A city street, with tall buildings on either side, stretches from foreground to midground, ending in a building with a crane beside it. There are a few parked cars beside the footpaths, but there are no people in the scene. Light crosses the street from right to left, and the sky is the muted blue typical of just before dusk. The title on the cover is 'NAVIGATING UNCERTAINTY: Forecasting the effects of Covid-19 through the lens of Value Pluralism'.
January 9, 2025 at 10:03 PM
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Belfast is beautiful at night. This is the Queen's Bridge, with the Beacon of Hope* sculpture on the far side of the River Lagan. I walked this quayside path at night many times during the first lockdown; so quiet except for the occasional siren.

*Nuala with the Hula to locals
A photograph of a bridge taken at night. Five spans of the bridge are visible from right to left of the shot, with railings visible running along the top of the bridge. The bridge crosses a river, and the surface of the water is awash with multicoloured reflections of light from the streetlights and buildings above. A metal sculpture is visible on the opposite bank of the river, a woman holding a large ring high up towards the sky. Lights are visible inside buildings on the opposite bank, and streetlights dominate the right of the shot. The air has a slightly hazy quality to it, the light diffused by a touch of fog.
December 27, 2024 at 7:30 PM
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A very Merry Christmas to you all from Belfast! Samson and Goliath - the huge gantry cranes of the Harland and Wolff shipyard, where The Titanic was built - are lit up every year with the biggest Christmas lights in Northern Ireland (this is Goliath, 315 ft tall).
A photograph taken at night. The photograph is dominated by a huge shipyard gantry crane in the centre of the shot, its top illuminated with blue Christmas lights. 'H & W' is painted in the centre of the yellow crane. A warehouse sits directly below the crane, with a metal fence snaking along the bottom of the shot, separating the shipyard from the road.
December 24, 2024 at 9:13 PM
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3.56pm this evening from Ramore Head, Portrush. The sun won't set this early again until December 2025.
A landscape photograph. The foreground of the shot is the dark, shimmering ocean, the tops of small waves barely visible. The horizon begins with a headland to the left of the shot, becoming a band of sunset red stretching across the entire frame. The sky is full of thick, dark clouds, with a patch of bright blue visible through a gap in them in the upper middle of the shot.
December 13, 2024 at 8:30 PM
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Sunset through a hazy winter sky this evening from Ramore Head, Portrush.
A landscape photograph. The very bottom of the shot is a sliver of sea, stretching out to a headland and then a distant snow-speckled coast on the horizon. The rest of the shot is dominated by a hazy sky, the red of the sunset piercing the clouds above the headland to the left.
November 22, 2024 at 8:37 PM