Jo Simons (she/her)

"Listen to me:

Our profit from the post office is the post office.

Our profit from a library is the library.

Our profit from a school is the school."

When assessing #kakapo chicks we weigh them, check their respiration rate and hydration. We usually do this twice in the first four days (this chick is less than a day old), and then every 5-7 days. The frequency of checks depends on their genetic priority. #kakapo2026 #conservation #parrots

This Sunday, 8 March 2026 we're celebrating International Women's Day 👩‍🔬💪🎉

Despite their impact on history, science, and the arts, thousands of notable women are missing from Wikipedia, where they make up only 20% of articles about people.

A 3x3 grid titled "Is it a library? Alignment chart". Horizontal axis categories: Contents purist: Must contain books Contents neutral: Must contain information Contents rebel: Can contain anything Vertical axis categories: Curation purist: Must be managed by a professional librarian Curation neutral: Must be curated by someone Curation rebel: Can be managed by nobody Examples represented on the grid: Curation purist, contents purist: New York Public Library is a library Curation purist, contents neutral: A newspaper archive is a library Curation purist, contents rebel: A school information commons is a library Curation neutral, contents purist: A home bookshelf is a library Curation neutral, contents neutral: A Spotify playlist is a library Curation neutral, contents rebel: A zoo is a library Curation rebel, contents purist: A street library is a library Curation rebel, contents neutral: A PC downloads folder is a library Curation rebel, contents rebel: A junk drawer is a library

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Free event for all ages
“This event completely changed how I see our city centre”

Guided by an ecologist w story-telling this gentle urban walk offers insight into this amazing place where we live & what we can do to make our city landscape & community flourish
events.humanitix.com/balcony-to-bay

The reopening of Te Matapihi ki te Ao Nui Central Library is one for the books – and everything else Te Matapihi ki te Ao Nui Central Library officially reopens its doors to the public from 10am on Saturday 14 March, marking a huge milestone for Wellington.

Te Matapihi ki te Ao Nui Central Library officially reopens its doors to the public from 10am on Saturday 14 March

wellington.govt.nz/news-and-eve...

Black fluffy cat with big round eyes holding a small pink heart, on a dark background. Text above says: “I hope this week brings you some victories and that good things find you every single day.”

Social media created this nonsense idea that not exposing yourself to hatred is isolationist. Choosing to not spend your free time with bigots isn’t living in a bubble. I don’t need to know what’s going on at X. I won’t be smarter or more knowledgeable or empathic by being there. Neither will you.

Regret to announce that we’ve reached Wrong Coat season. Every coat you wear from now til mid April will be The Wrong Coat for the weather

Red shelves full of DVDs to rent.

Miss the days of going down to the local video shop to find a movie to rent?

Well, here's the DVD section at Parramatta Library. And it's free!

#DVD #movie #Parramatta #library

I arrived on the shores of Aotearoa over 12 years ago. Every year there have been cuts to public research and redundancies of public researchers. I cannot overstate how dire this is and how much of our future we are losing.
Public research is one way we look after one another. It matters. #NZPOL

This is wonderful news!

The Biodiversity Heritage Library is a crown jewel of biodiversity literature and is deserving of both stability and ongoing support.

Thanks to the Field Museum for recognizing that.

Tūturiwhatu (New Zealand dotterel) JBZ at Te Henga this morning. After a disastrous breeding season last summer, this is one of many chicks successfully fledged this year thanks to a dedicated group of local volunteers who do everything they can to give these endangered birds a fighting chance. 🪶🇳🇿

University class making sure Wikipedia doesn't erase LGBTQ+ history A professor and her students are editing Wikipedia pages to ensure they preserve and represent the lives and stories of LGBTQ+ people

If it’s not on Wikipedia, does the internet think it exists? 🧐

This professor and her students are ensuring LGBTQ+ history isn’t lost by improving coverage on Wikipedia. Over 900 million views later, they are making the internet a more inclusive place. 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈

Check out the full story: bit.ly/4aA458D

This is horrifying. For those of you who don't know, preeclampsia is the leading cause of maternal and perinatal mortality ON THE PLANET.

Kākāpō Files II podcast Following the next breeding season of the world’s favourite parrot.

Following the #kakapo breeding season and want more detail? Don't forget to check out the "Kākāpō Files" #podcast from Radio NZ with the wonderful Alison Ballance. #kakapo2026 #conservation #parrots #birds www.rnz.co.nz/podcast/kaka...

This last part is funniest. They outright said it out. They wont license their content out for competive advantage but somehow they expect and are even successful in getting other publishers to license content to them.. wonder what magic is happening here. (7)

#rstats

The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Statistics will be running a special issue commemorating the 25th anniversary of the official release of R. (The Univ. of Auckland was the birthplace of R.) They invited various people to contribute articles, including me. 🧵 1/

York History Department - Academic Jobs Uncover the past to define the future. We are seeking research-led historians to join our world-class, collaborative community. Discover career-defining opportunities within one of the UK’s most disti...

We are advertising 4 jobs at York for historians (1 year medieval, 2 years modern Britain and public history, 3 years modern China, and open ended modern Middle Eastern) features.york.ac.uk/history-jobs/

Politics. Fight the policies, fight the impacts, fight the cruelty.

Don’t pick on people’s looks, weight, children.

It might seem funny - but if we’re fat or bald or whatever - we’re watching & we know you’re secretly judging us.

Let’s be better.

Two PhD opportunities at the Australian National University and the University of Technology Sydney, working on thermal responses and thermal acclimation of C4 photosynthesis. www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

Getting to know Aotearoa New Zealand’s editors Getting to know Aotearoa New Zealand’s editors Towards the end of last year, we conducted an anonymous survey of the Aotearoa New Zealand editing community. The […]

New Zealand #Wikiverse (and this applies globally too!) needs more diversity. www.wikimedia.nz/getting-to-k...

Let's be clear. Kids aren't addicted to screens. They, like adults, are addicted to deliberately addictive algorithms designed to keep them on platforms.

Student Recitals in Your IR: Managing Copyright for Performance Media in Institutional Repositories https://umiami.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8Dpe68a0LyJEjSm

Just a regular reminder to please support your local theatre, café, bookstore, bakery, and library. We breathe life into these places when we support them.

Without us, they can't survive, and truthfully, without them, neither can we.

Extreme events and river biodiversity under climate change - Nature Reviews Biodiversity Extreme events — such as floods, droughts and heatwaves — are escalating in frequency, magnitude and duration. This Review discusses the implications of these global changes for biodiversity in rivers...

Rivers aren’t just warming: they’re being reshaped by extreme events
Our new paper in @natrevbiodiv.nature.com shows how floods, droughts & heatwaves are pushing ecosystems past their limits, with recovery no longer guaranteed
We can build resilience, but it requires a shift in how we manage rivers

Graphic for Good Luck Craft Club. A meetup for artists of Asian descent in Wellington. The graphic is yellow and features a red diamond logo and some hand drawn elements such as embroidery thread, embroidery scissors, lanterns and a pan chang knot.

Wellington! I’ve been working on something cool with a couple of lovely collaborators.

Good Luck Craft Club is a monthly craft meetup for artists of Asian descent in the Wellington region.

Central CBD locations, ticketed workshops, BYOC(bring your own craft) and a community craft box.

South Island Edelweiss blooming in the mountains, with the text "What seasonal changes are you noticing right now?" overlaid.

A Coast Live Oak observation on iNaturalist with the annotation panel open, showing "Fruits or Seeds" selected.

Close-up of an Asclepias expansa flower with annotation guidance for flowering plants and vascular plants overlaid as text. Text reads: "Documenting a flowering plant? Note what you see: No flowers or fruits, Flower buds, Open flowers, Fruits or seeds. And for any vascular plant (ferns, trees, wildflowers): Breaking leaf buds, Green leaves, Colored leaves (late season or drought), No live leaves."

A White Witch moth caterpillar on a tree trunk with annotation guidance for animals overlaid as text. Text reads: "Documenting an animal? Capture where they are in their life cycle: Egg, larva, nymph, or pupa (for insects); Juvenile or adult (for most animals); Teneral — a newly emerged adult not yet in its final form (for dragonflies and cicadas). Even indirect signs of animals count! You can annotate: Tracks, scat, feathers, hair, or bone; Nests, webs, burrows, and other constructions; Molted skin or exoskeleton; Galls on plants; Whether the organism appears alive or dead."

What's changing in nature where you are right now? 👀

First flowers, emerging leaves, migrating birds, fresh tracks in the snow, and more — your iNaturalist observations can help scientists understand how climate change is influencing natural cycles. The key is annotations: tr.ee/annotations

My little sister Elisabeth Easther has the #1 best selling book in New Zealand's indie book stores this week. Proud as a cat with two tails -- and also on behalf of our Mum and Dad who are not here to see this, but would have been fully chuffed.
bookhub.co.nz/c/this-week-...