James Witts
@jdwitts.bsky.social
NERC Postdoctoral Researcher in Palaeoecology @nhm-london.bsky.social Fossil-wrangler (mostly in the Cretaceous, dabbling in the Jurassic, Paleogene, and more recent), big fan of (southern) high latitudes. Ferroequinologist. Views are my own.
Yesterday we welcomed 70 delegates from 11 countries to @nhm-london.bsky.social for the annual @malacsoc.bsky.social 'Molluscan Forum'! Thanks to my co-organisers and all participants for making it such a friendly & scientifically excellent celebration of everyone's favourite phylum. 😉 🐙🐌🦑🐚
November 6, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Yesterday we welcomed 70 delegates from 11 countries to @nhm-london.bsky.social for the annual @malacsoc.bsky.social 'Molluscan Forum'! Thanks to my co-organisers and all participants for making it such a friendly & scientifically excellent celebration of everyone's favourite phylum. 😉 🐙🐌🦑🐚
Wonderful week in San Antonio 🇺🇸 @geosociety.bsky.social meeting. Somehow managed to chair x2 sessions on the K-Pg extinction & cephalopod palaeobiology, present a talk & poster on our @chalksea.bsky.social work, & co-lead a fieldtrip to the Brazos River K-Pg boundary & Gulf Coast core repository! 🫡
October 23, 2025 at 6:56 PM
Wonderful week in San Antonio 🇺🇸 @geosociety.bsky.social meeting. Somehow managed to chair x2 sessions on the K-Pg extinction & cephalopod palaeobiology, present a talk & poster on our @chalksea.bsky.social work, & co-lead a fieldtrip to the Brazos River K-Pg boundary & Gulf Coast core repository! 🫡
There's something magical about steam trains at night.
September 20, 2025 at 11:34 AM
There's something magical about steam trains at night.
Great to be here in Hannover 🇩🇪 this week for the 12th International #Cretaceous Symposium! Looking forward to a week of interesting research and meeting colleagues. 😊
September 1, 2025 at 7:23 AM
Great to be here in Hannover 🇩🇪 this week for the 12th International #Cretaceous Symposium! Looking forward to a week of interesting research and meeting colleagues. 😊
Why are you late for work?
August 21, 2025 at 9:39 AM
Why are you late for work?
How many of the people spouting this comfortable bollocks actually bother to think about what most asylum seekers or refugees are actually doing and why? The first paragraph alone is unthinkable for most in the 🇬🇧 to even comprehend. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
August 21, 2025 at 8:28 AM
How many of the people spouting this comfortable bollocks actually bother to think about what most asylum seekers or refugees are actually doing and why? The first paragraph alone is unthinkable for most in the 🇬🇧 to even comprehend. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Happy 65th birthday #BluebellRailway!
August 11, 2025 at 8:49 AM
Happy 65th birthday #BluebellRailway!
Fun day @bgs.ac.uk yesterday with my PhD student Emily Ball & Clive Trueman from @unisouthampton.bsky.social! Sampling #Jurassic ammonites & other molluscs from the Christian Malford lagerstätten for stable isotope analysis, Emily hopes to find out about the metabolism & ecology of these critters.
July 31, 2025 at 8:51 AM
Fun day @bgs.ac.uk yesterday with my PhD student Emily Ball & Clive Trueman from @unisouthampton.bsky.social! Sampling #Jurassic ammonites & other molluscs from the Christian Malford lagerstätten for stable isotope analysis, Emily hopes to find out about the metabolism & ecology of these critters.
I've had a few conversations about people still not enjoying #BlueSky as much as some traditional social media platforms. One tip I have is pin the OnlyPosts feed: you will then see posts from folks you follow, chronologically, with nothing else.
July 25, 2025 at 6:22 PM
I've had a few conversations about people still not enjoying #BlueSky as much as some traditional social media platforms. One tip I have is pin the OnlyPosts feed: you will then see posts from folks you follow, chronologically, with nothing else.
Looking forward to a fun few days of science and catching up with coclleagues @lifeandplanet.bsky.social @geolsoc.bsky.social. Our @chalksea.bsky.social project has two posters and a talk on #Cretaceous environmental change and effects on marine ecosystems. Come and say hello!
July 14, 2025 at 9:11 AM
Looking forward to a fun few days of science and catching up with coclleagues @lifeandplanet.bsky.social @geolsoc.bsky.social. Our @chalksea.bsky.social project has two posters and a talk on #Cretaceous environmental change and effects on marine ecosystems. Come and say hello!
Back from a fun 10 days @imsi.institute in Chicago 🇺🇲, working as part of an Interdisciplinary Research Cluster on 'Advances in Mathematical Modelling of mass extinction events'. Great collaborations and some thought-provoking work!
May 21, 2025 at 9:29 AM
Back from a fun 10 days @imsi.institute in Chicago 🇺🇲, working as part of an Interdisciplinary Research Cluster on 'Advances in Mathematical Modelling of mass extinction events'. Great collaborations and some thought-provoking work!
The most depressing thing I've read this hour.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/f...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/f...
February 13, 2025 at 7:10 PM
The most depressing thing I've read this hour.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/f...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/f...
First #fieldwork of 2025 ☑️. Good day at #Eastbourne with @chalksea.bsky.social project collaborator Dr Charlie Underwood, collecting samples and surveying the #Cenomanian Plenus Marls. Plenty to think about, & fossil sponges, bivalves, brachiopods, and echinoderms galore!
February 6, 2025 at 4:30 PM
First #fieldwork of 2025 ☑️. Good day at #Eastbourne with @chalksea.bsky.social project collaborator Dr Charlie Underwood, collecting samples and surveying the #Cenomanian Plenus Marls. Plenty to think about, & fossil sponges, bivalves, brachiopods, and echinoderms galore!
Lucky enough to have first-hand experience of Will and colleagues @bas.ac.uk ice-breaking abilities to reach our field site on Seymour Island #Antarctica last year!
January 23, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Lucky enough to have first-hand experience of Will and colleagues @bas.ac.uk ice-breaking abilities to reach our field site on Seymour Island #Antarctica last year!
In 2025, I appear to have become one of those people. #sorrynotsorry
January 15, 2025 at 9:43 AM
In 2025, I appear to have become one of those people. #sorrynotsorry
I know we've had this discussion on #geoscience social media before, but this seems a fairly ridiculous amount of money @geolsoc.bsky.social. Also a brilliant illustration of academia: how you can be 'experienced career' and still a postdoc on a fixed-term contract.. 🙄
January 13, 2025 at 1:09 PM
I know we've had this discussion on #geoscience social media before, but this seems a fairly ridiculous amount of money @geolsoc.bsky.social. Also a brilliant illustration of academia: how you can be 'experienced career' and still a postdoc on a fixed-term contract.. 🙄
I'm a motorsport fan and recently started following this account, claiming to be the journalist Peter Windsor. It started DM'ing me yesterday. Reached out to the real PW via email, who confirmed it is NOT him. @support.bsky.team Please can we get some kind of verification system in place?
January 8, 2025 at 12:34 PM
I'm a motorsport fan and recently started following this account, claiming to be the journalist Peter Windsor. It started DM'ing me yesterday. Reached out to the real PW via email, who confirmed it is NOT him. @support.bsky.team Please can we get some kind of verification system in place?
'You will be visited by three spirits.'
The three spirits:
The three spirits:
December 24, 2024 at 4:30 PM
'You will be visited by three spirits.'
The three spirits:
The three spirits:
Hosting Prof Ken Miller from Rutgers University NJ at the NHM today. Ken gave a great overview seminar on his career-long effort to reconstruct sea level and climate from 100 million years ago to today, and (why he sold his NJ beach-front house) into the future.
December 17, 2024 at 12:03 PM
Hosting Prof Ken Miller from Rutgers University NJ at the NHM today. Ken gave a great overview seminar on his career-long effort to reconstruct sea level and climate from 100 million years ago to today, and (why he sold his NJ beach-front house) into the future.
Fantastic talk by @eileenstraube.bsky.social in the #PalAss24 symposium on #Extinction, talking about the 'gap' between conservation and palaeobiology (and issues for conservation palaeobiology), and calculating extinction risk.
December 10, 2024 at 3:11 PM
Fantastic talk by @eileenstraube.bsky.social in the #PalAss24 symposium on #Extinction, talking about the 'gap' between conservation and palaeobiology (and issues for conservation palaeobiology), and calculating extinction risk.
Happy #AntarcticaDay! I feel extraordinarily privileged to be a scientist researching this amazing place, and even more privileged to have spent two months living and working there in 2024. 🇦🇶
December 1, 2024 at 10:47 AM
Happy #AntarcticaDay! I feel extraordinarily privileged to be a scientist researching this amazing place, and even more privileged to have spent two months living and working there in 2024. 🇦🇶
BEHOLD. A spreadsheet of #Cretaceous macrofossil biostratigraphy for the UK Chalk (constantly work in progress, since 1876). Am I the only one crazy enough to actually enjoy using Excel for stuff like this?
November 25, 2024 at 6:34 PM
BEHOLD. A spreadsheet of #Cretaceous macrofossil biostratigraphy for the UK Chalk (constantly work in progress, since 1876). Am I the only one crazy enough to actually enjoy using Excel for stuff like this?
Looking forward to a day of talks and posters about all things #Mollusc! 🐚🦑🐌 The annual 'Molluscan Forum' held at NHM London is always a great and informal conference, particularly for Early Career Researchers. 🧪
November 20, 2024 at 10:05 AM
Looking forward to a day of talks and posters about all things #Mollusc! 🐚🦑🐌 The annual 'Molluscan Forum' held at NHM London is always a great and informal conference, particularly for Early Career Researchers. 🧪