Honourable mention to this shark book that I absolutely loved as a child and has always stuck in my mind. I must have thought about it at least once a year since I first got it (and if you’re wondering how many times that’s been, maybe the picture of the state-of-the-art tech will give you a clue…)
Second, one I read cover to cover in a vehicle on a reserve in South Africa. Having done a BA in Spanish without any idea of next steps, it was during this trip that I realised my interest in nature wasn’t so informal. It changed everything for me, and I applied for an ecology MSc upon my return.
Firstly, the first bird book I received as a child, when I didn’t know that my interest in biodiversity would become so important and I just wanted to know what the crow with the grey head and the blue eyes in the garden was. It’s still lovingly kept in my parents’ house and used often.
For World Book Day, I’m sharing two books which represent important parts of my unusual career trajectory…
Last month I attended the @tibsaarhus2026.bsky.social conference where I presented a poster on some of my DPhil thesis work and enjoyed discussing all things biodiversity with fellow biogeographers. Can't believe it's been four years since my first TIBS conference as a nervous 1st year PhD student!
I feel strongly about #EDI in #academia, and am in a privileged position that allows me to speak openly about my experiences in the hopes of having a positive impact on the field. I'm keen to expand this beyond my own department, so please reach out to me if I can come to yours and share!
In the evening, I was delighted to be on a panel at the School's community event "Tales of teamwork in science and learning". As well as listening to fascinating talks from my fellow academics, I chatted to undergraduates about how to navigate working with others if you're neurodivergent.
In the afternoon, I gave a presentation to my colleagues on supervising PhD students with ADHD. Drawing from my own experiences, and those of others in a support network I started a few years ago, we had a great discussion on the challenges these students face, and practical steps to support them.
Yesterday I had a rewarding day talking all things neurodiversity to members of @openuniversity.bsky.social 's School of Environment, Earth, and Ecosystem Sciences. What a joy to work in a department that cares so deeply about staff and student wellbeing.
Hey Matt, thanks for the great event last night and for settings this up. Please can you add me? Thanks
I gave a workshop today on my experiences doing a PhD with ADHD. I learnt a lot about the specific challenges (and strategies to mitigate them) over the last couple of years, and I’m passionate about helping anyone else in this situation! It was great, and we had an hour long discussion afterwards!
Thanks for sharing 😁
🌿 Fully funded #PhD alert! Are you curious about how species shape each other’s evolution? 🦋🌸
We’re looking for a student to study the co-evolution of insects & angiosperms in the Amazon using a multi-species mechanistic model.
🔗 centa.ac.uk/studentship/...
#Evolution #Biodiversity #NERC #CENTA
If I asked you to picture the Zambezi River, I'm sure this wouldn't be what comes to mind! More often captured where it's vast and powerful, I was lucky enough to visit the quiet source of Africa's fourth-longest river on fieldwork in Zambia in 2022.
Thanks Denise! Hope you’re well x
Beyond delighted to share that I passed my viva on Friday! Thank you to everyone who helped me get here, I couldn’t be more grateful.
Delighted to have started my postdoc on the SABER project yesterday. Thank you so much @neil-r-edwards.bsky.social for the welcome, I’m so glad to be on board and can’t wait to get stuck in!
Absolutely delighted to share that I submitted my DPhil thesis last week after 3.5 years delving into the world of biodiversity data. Thank you to everyone who helped me get to this point. Next stop, a postdoc modelling the evolution of Amazonian biodiversity at the Open University! I can’t wait.
One of the best parts of my PhD was my research stay in Joaquín's group in Madrid, and I'm delighted that the fruits of our labour has now been officially published!
Great to see this summary of our recent work! Muchas gracias @gbifes.bsky.social
I miss this view 😩
Thanks on both counts 😁
Would love to be added please! Thank you
Hi Dan, I hope you’re well? If you’re still adding people, I’d love to join. Thank you!
New pre-print alert for my first post! With wonderful collaborators from the MNCN Department of Biogeography & Global Change in Madrid, we found that increased mobilisation of natural history collections can still improve quality and coverage of insect biodiversity data doi.org/10.1101/2024...
