George Holmes
@georgeholmes.bsky.social
Professor of Conservation and Society @envleeds.bsky.social. Known to students as Dr. Evil. Biodiversity conservation. Human geography. Political ecology. Protected areas. Social impacts of conservation. Human-wildlife coexistence. Rewilding. Sarcasm.
Reposted by George Holmes
A curious thing I share about #okapi is their long history with the U.S., esp. New York: @amnh.org, Bronx Zoo, @wcs.org. Deals w Belgian Congo, Lang's Congo trip, Gilman's philanthropy, #Warhol & Anne Eisner Putnam's art, & Madison Square Gdns where Mr G, the only circus okapi, died. Book out today
November 11, 2025 at 9:10 AM
this paper in @consletters.bsky.social is a superb primer on what power means in conservation - a big job to summarise centuries of social theory and decades of conservation social science research into a few thousand words!
conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Naming It Is Not Enough: An Orienting Map for Understanding Conservation's Entanglement With Power
Power is frequently acknowledged in conservation as a limiting factor, something to be cited, problematized, or managed, less frequently is it engaged with as a lived, situated, and multidimensional ....
conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
November 5, 2025 at 5:42 PM
this paper in @consletters.bsky.social is a superb primer on what power means in conservation - a big job to summarise centuries of social theory and decades of conservation social science research into a few thousand words!
conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Fancy coming to POLLEN in Barcelona and joining our panel on "Political Ecologies of Restoration: Reintroduction, Assisted
Migration, and Rewilding"? Then submit an abstract via the link below!
pollenpoliticalecology.network/pollen-2026/...
Migration, and Rewilding"? Then submit an abstract via the link below!
pollenpoliticalecology.network/pollen-2026/...
Programme - POLLEN
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pollenpoliticalecology.network
November 4, 2025 at 2:10 PM
Fancy coming to POLLEN in Barcelona and joining our panel on "Political Ecologies of Restoration: Reintroduction, Assisted
Migration, and Rewilding"? Then submit an abstract via the link below!
pollenpoliticalecology.network/pollen-2026/...
Migration, and Rewilding"? Then submit an abstract via the link below!
pollenpoliticalecology.network/pollen-2026/...
Reposted by George Holmes
🚨 We are looking for 3 new colleagues to join the GreenFrontier team as Postdoctoral Researchers!
Deadline for applications: 25 Nov 2025
Each of the 3 openings will involve extended ethnographic fieldwork + plenty of opportunities to consolidate research & leadership skills!
Please share widely!
Deadline for applications: 25 Nov 2025
Each of the 3 openings will involve extended ethnographic fieldwork + plenty of opportunities to consolidate research & leadership skills!
Please share widely!
November 3, 2025 at 7:32 AM
🚨 We are looking for 3 new colleagues to join the GreenFrontier team as Postdoctoral Researchers!
Deadline for applications: 25 Nov 2025
Each of the 3 openings will involve extended ethnographic fieldwork + plenty of opportunities to consolidate research & leadership skills!
Please share widely!
Deadline for applications: 25 Nov 2025
Each of the 3 openings will involve extended ethnographic fieldwork + plenty of opportunities to consolidate research & leadership skills!
Please share widely!
Short piece in @consletters.bsky.social exploring social, cultural, political and ecological apsects of illicit and unregulated species translocations - what others (not me, due to homophone errors) might call guerilla rewilding. conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Who Let the Frogs out? Illicit and Unregulated Species Translocations
Click on the article title to read more.
conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
October 30, 2025 at 8:40 AM
Short piece in @consletters.bsky.social exploring social, cultural, political and ecological apsects of illicit and unregulated species translocations - what others (not me, due to homophone errors) might call guerilla rewilding. conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
A fun visit to the University of Kent, to discuss species reintroductions. Here's me in front of the campus mural of a European Bison. There's a small herd of them living just three miles from this mural, but it is not a simple story of a 're' introduction.
October 23, 2025 at 1:06 PM
A fun visit to the University of Kent, to discuss species reintroductions. Here's me in front of the campus mural of a European Bison. There's a small herd of them living just three miles from this mural, but it is not a simple story of a 're' introduction.
This is an important petition on academic freedom, for a professor at Syracuse, NY, USA, who has been indefinitely suspended for a very mildly sarcastic four-word social media post relating to US politics.
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Letter of Support for Professor Farhana Sultana
As scholars within and beyond academia, we write in solidarity with academic freedom of expression with our colleague, Dr. Farhana Sultana, an internationally recognized scholar and tenured Full Profe...
docs.google.com
October 17, 2025 at 8:14 AM
This is an important petition on academic freedom, for a professor at Syracuse, NY, USA, who has been indefinitely suspended for a very mildly sarcastic four-word social media post relating to US politics.
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Reposted by George Holmes
Today I am mostly thinking about the popular inter-war literary genre 'animal stories written by fascists'. Join me.
October 14, 2025 at 9:56 AM
Today I am mostly thinking about the popular inter-war literary genre 'animal stories written by fascists'. Join me.
new virtual exhibition on wetlands, exploring how people interact with their wetlands, their rhythms, dynamic changes, and flows of many kinds. www.environmentandsociety.org/exhibitions/...
Wetland Times
www.environmentandsociety.org
October 3, 2025 at 8:14 AM
new virtual exhibition on wetlands, exploring how people interact with their wetlands, their rhythms, dynamic changes, and flows of many kinds. www.environmentandsociety.org/exhibitions/...
This paper - on what habituation does and should mean - is a must-read for anyone working on wildlife conservation, human-wildlife interactions/conflict/coexistence, translocations, in the humanities, social sciences, or natural sciences.
🦊 Reimagining habituation: The case for a reciprocal and contextual understanding ➡️ buff.ly/6rbtYxu
@livwildlab.bsky.social @ethanddoney.bsky.social @vdonfrancesco.bsky.social @hannalp.bsky.social @csandbrook.bsky.social
@livwildlab.bsky.social @ethanddoney.bsky.social @vdonfrancesco.bsky.social @hannalp.bsky.social @csandbrook.bsky.social
October 2, 2025 at 10:48 AM
This paper - on what habituation does and should mean - is a must-read for anyone working on wildlife conservation, human-wildlife interactions/conflict/coexistence, translocations, in the humanities, social sciences, or natural sciences.
I've long thought of our research as artworks 😉. But now it is actually true - our research on Caspian seal conservation has been integrated into an artwork in Berlin, on ecological degradation and human-nature interactions. w/ @phoca-sapiens.bsky.social.
www.studio1-0-6.com/carried-by-t...
www.studio1-0-6.com/carried-by-t...
September 29, 2025 at 9:11 AM
I've long thought of our research as artworks 😉. But now it is actually true - our research on Caspian seal conservation has been integrated into an artwork in Berlin, on ecological degradation and human-nature interactions. w/ @phoca-sapiens.bsky.social.
www.studio1-0-6.com/carried-by-t...
www.studio1-0-6.com/carried-by-t...
Another productive meeting of the Defra/ @naturalengland.bsky.social Species Reintroduction Taskforce, this time at Wild Ennerdale, Cumbria. Classic Taskforce behaviour, crouching in a forest looking at a successfully translocated Hairy Wood Ant colony.
September 26, 2025 at 7:48 AM
Another productive meeting of the Defra/ @naturalengland.bsky.social Species Reintroduction Taskforce, this time at Wild Ennerdale, Cumbria. Classic Taskforce behaviour, crouching in a forest looking at a successfully translocated Hairy Wood Ant colony.
Provocative but very necessary argument in @consletters.bsky.social on rethinking politics and definitions in carnivore conservation in Europe, moving away from crisis mode now that meta-populations are healthy. By @hannalp.bsky.social and von Essen
conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Now What? The Conundrum of Successful Recovery of Wolves and Other Species for European Conservation
The recent decision to downlist the wolf from a “strictly protected” to “protected” status in the Bern Convention and Habitats Directive marks a turning point for European conservation. While reflect...
conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
September 23, 2025 at 8:13 AM
Provocative but very necessary argument in @consletters.bsky.social on rethinking politics and definitions in carnivore conservation in Europe, moving away from crisis mode now that meta-populations are healthy. By @hannalp.bsky.social and von Essen
conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Happy Fat Bear Week, for all of those who celebrate: explore.org/fat-bear-week
Fat Bear Week 2025
Fat Bear Week 2025
explore.org
September 23, 2025 at 7:30 AM
Happy Fat Bear Week, for all of those who celebrate: explore.org/fat-bear-week
along with @monicavasile.bsky.social and @hannalp.bsky.social I a huge fan of underwhelming species reintroduction videos. Here is my contribution, releasing some native ramshorn snails into my garden pond.
September 19, 2025 at 1:07 PM
along with @monicavasile.bsky.social and @hannalp.bsky.social I a huge fan of underwhelming species reintroduction videos. Here is my contribution, releasing some native ramshorn snails into my garden pond.
Reposted by George Holmes
Excited to share the preprint of our first @cascade-hei.bsky.social paper on “Potential for academic institutions to support international biodiversity commitments” 🌿 🌍.
Potential for academic institutions to support international biodiversity commitments
doi.org
September 12, 2025 at 10:17 AM
Excited to share the preprint of our first @cascade-hei.bsky.social paper on “Potential for academic institutions to support international biodiversity commitments” 🌿 🌍.
My academic sphere crosses between critical geography and conservation biology. Of the two, I've seen more racism in geography arenas than in biology. For all the anti-racist rhetoric, there can be some major lack of reflection. Doesn't help its ability to address all the horror in the world.
September 11, 2025 at 10:43 AM
My academic sphere crosses between critical geography and conservation biology. Of the two, I've seen more racism in geography arenas than in biology. For all the anti-racist rhetoric, there can be some major lack of reflection. Doesn't help its ability to address all the horror in the world.
Piece in @theguardian.com on 17-metre long beaver tunnels in Dutch dykes. Shows the potential issues with beaver re-introductions, and how risks/benefits vary vastly between places. Also, neatly reworks the metaphor of beaver dams/tunnels as ecological engineering www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Beavers were welcomed back to the Netherlands. Until they started digging 17m-long tunnels | Renate van der Zee
Reintroduced to help boost biodiversity and retain water, beavers are now in danger of causing serious flooding. Should there be more culls? asks Dutch writer and journalist Renate van der Zee
www.theguardian.com
September 1, 2025 at 6:45 AM
Piece in @theguardian.com on 17-metre long beaver tunnels in Dutch dykes. Shows the potential issues with beaver re-introductions, and how risks/benefits vary vastly between places. Also, neatly reworks the metaphor of beaver dams/tunnels as ecological engineering www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
My comment on a student's draft of a PhD thesis chapter, and their reply. Some books are a classic for a reason. I judge a book on how often PhD students borrow/steal it from my bookshelf.
August 8, 2025 at 7:30 PM
My comment on a student's draft of a PhD thesis chapter, and their reply. Some books are a classic for a reason. I judge a book on how often PhD students borrow/steal it from my bookshelf.
Reposted by George Holmes
Academic and scientific freedom and censorship are critical issues in biodiversity and conservation research, in all disciplines, but it is rarely discussed. Please your experiences of academic and scientific freedom, and constraints on it in our survey
app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/leeds/acad...
app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/leeds/acad...
Academic and Scientific Freedoms in Biodiversity and Conservation Research
Online surveys is a powerful, easy to use tool for creating online surveys. Run by Jisc, online surveys is used by over 300 different organisations in the UK...
app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk
July 30, 2025 at 8:52 AM
Academic and scientific freedom and censorship are critical issues in biodiversity and conservation research, in all disciplines, but it is rarely discussed. Please your experiences of academic and scientific freedom, and constraints on it in our survey
app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/leeds/acad...
app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/leeds/acad...
Academic and scientific freedom and censorship are critical issues in biodiversity and conservation research, in all disciplines, but it is rarely discussed. Please your experiences of academic and scientific freedom, and constraints on it in our survey
app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/leeds/acad...
app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/leeds/acad...
Academic and Scientific Freedoms in Biodiversity and Conservation Research
Online surveys is a powerful, easy to use tool for creating online surveys. Run by Jisc, online surveys is used by over 300 different organisations in the UK...
app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk
July 30, 2025 at 8:52 AM
Academic and scientific freedom and censorship are critical issues in biodiversity and conservation research, in all disciplines, but it is rarely discussed. Please your experiences of academic and scientific freedom, and constraints on it in our survey
app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/leeds/acad...
app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/leeds/acad...
There are a lot of general review type papers on social science and rewilding out there, but this is one of the best ones as a primer on the most important questions to ask: ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid...
ora.ox.ac.uk
July 22, 2025 at 12:50 PM
There are a lot of general review type papers on social science and rewilding out there, but this is one of the best ones as a primer on the most important questions to ask: ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid...
Reposted by George Holmes
POLLEN 2026 is happening in Barcelona 🌅
The call for panels is open and closes on July 31st.
See here for more information: tinyurl.com/5b8c5w7j
Spread the word.
The call for panels is open and closes on July 31st.
See here for more information: tinyurl.com/5b8c5w7j
Spread the word.
POLLEN 2026: Open for Panels - POLLEN
When will POLLEN 2026 be launched? IT ALREADY HAS - get ready to come to Barcelona and join us! Panel Submissions are Currently Open (until July 31st) The announcement is here. Or take a look at this ...
tinyurl.com
June 27, 2025 at 4:08 PM
POLLEN 2026 is happening in Barcelona 🌅
The call for panels is open and closes on July 31st.
See here for more information: tinyurl.com/5b8c5w7j
Spread the word.
The call for panels is open and closes on July 31st.
See here for more information: tinyurl.com/5b8c5w7j
Spread the word.
So, so, so proud to have worked with Hanna on her PhD, which was a brilliant study of human-wolf coexistence in Spain. She now works on coexistence with carnivores in northern Sweden/Sápmi, including on payments for coexistence.
We received exceptional applications for the 2025 SCB Europe Early Career Conservation Award and decided to award two candidates.
Congratulations to the winners Dr Hanna Pettersson (University of York UK) and Dr Volen Arkumarev (Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds / BirdLife Bulgaria) 👏🥳
Congratulations to the winners Dr Hanna Pettersson (University of York UK) and Dr Volen Arkumarev (Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds / BirdLife Bulgaria) 👏🥳
June 26, 2025 at 9:36 AM
So, so, so proud to have worked with Hanna on her PhD, which was a brilliant study of human-wolf coexistence in Spain. She now works on coexistence with carnivores in northern Sweden/Sápmi, including on payments for coexistence.