Sicily Fiennes 🍉

PhD tea towels!!!! Thank you to my amazing supervisors @katatrepsis.bsky.social, @georgeholmes.bsky.social & Chris Birchall. And thank you to Freddy of Dreadful Threads in Leeds for producing :)

I’m in a video about my very cool PhD program @extinctionleeds.bsky.social. Shot during a difficult time for me, I’m still happy I managed the filming and shared my research 🧐

If only I spoke better Spanish, Italian and Romanian 😩. If you do and are into political ecology/green criminology please check it here posts out!

Nairobi’s ‘Birdman’: Rescuing raptors on the streets of Kenya’s capital Rodgers Oloo Magutha, who’s lived much of his life on the streets, has big dreams of one day opening a bird shelter.

"He imagines a space where children from the streets can find shelter, food and clothing, and a sense of purpose through caring for rescued birds and the environment."

Beautiful story - the kind that makes you hopeful.

www.aljazeera.com/features/202... #birds

Naturalists for Palestine Naturalists for Palestine is a call from individuals and organisations in the UK nature sector to stand for an end to the genocide in Gaza, and to the suffering and oppression of the people of Palesti...

Really excited to hear about this initiative ‘Naturalists for Palestine’, sign up everyone!

naturalistsforpalestine.org

Speaking at the Headingley Café Scientifique on 19/11/25 at 7:45 pm! Anyone welcome to join in person :)

cafesci.hdtleeds.org.uk?page_id=983

New paper on harms-based political ecology - Beastly Business Our team members Alison Hutchinson, Rosaleen Duffy, George Iordachescu and Teresa Lappe-Osthege developed an idea of bringing together debates on harms from green criminology with political ecology co...

1/ 📄New paper! Alison Hutchinson @georgeiorda.bsky.social Teresa Lappe-Osthege & myself have developed a new harms-based #PoliticalEcology as a way of understanding the #WildlifeTrade published in @jpoliticalecology.bsky.social ⬇️
beastlybusiness.org/2025/07/23/n...

Excellent piece on #GlassEel trade in @mongabay.com - and as ever @monicapons.bsky.social is absolutely spot on. Eel consumption always relies on wild caught fish, & the valuable trade attracts criminal networks #IWT #WildlifeTrade #EuropeanEel #EnvironmentalCrime

I went on this course in 2022 and it was incredible :)

Uncaged Conservation - An inclusive audio-visual exploration of wildlife marketplace Through this collaborative work of art and science, we want to challenge the misconceptions about the illegal wildlife trade and the people involved. Immerse yourself in the website and experience wha...

congratulations to Dr @sicilyfiennes.bsky.social , for successfully defending their thesis on the songbird trade in Indonesia. A highly interdisciplinary study, with some wonderful papers and a cool interactive website here www.uncagedconservation.com

Congratulations to @sicilyfiennes.bsky.social on successfully defending their PhD thesis! I can honestly say that this was one of the most interesting projects I have been involved with, the most talented students I have supervised, and the least stressful waits for a viva outcome :-)

Thank you so much for everything!

hello venues, LGBTQ+ clubs and organisations, workplaces and pals Social posts and posters are nice, but we need you to write to the EHRC and tell them their new guidance (see next slides) doesn't work for you They can't tell people how to run a gay or lesbian club. And they can't make you be toilet cops. Please tell them it doesn't work for you. A quick email or phone call will help a lot.

From the EHRC interim guidance: In workplaces and services that are open to the public: • trans women (biological men) should not be permitted to use the women's facilities and trans men (biological women) should not be permitted to use the men's facilities, as this will mean that they are no longer single-sex facilities and must be open to all users of the opposite sex • in some circumstances the law also allows trans women (biological men) not to be permitted to use the men's facilities, and trans men (biological woman) not to be permitted to use the women's facilities From Phoenix: If we pass too well, we aren't allowed in either gendered toilet or changing room. It's not fair to segregate us, never mind the impact on disabled people if abled trans people use their facilities

From the EHRC interim guidance: Membership of an association of 25 or more people can be limited to men only or women only and can be limited to people who each have two protected characteristics. It can be, for example, for gay men only or lesbian women only. A women-only or lesbian-only association should not admit trans women (biological men), and a men-only or gay men-only association should not admit trans men (biological women). From Phoenix: If you run a gay or lesbian club, night, bar, sauna, reading group, walking group etc - the EHRC say you have to exclude trans people or include cishets. Freedom of association is under threat

Time is of the essence. They're going to make this guidance statutory and Parliament will make that law soon. We will try to help with template letters etc, but your initial objections should be logged NOW. We love you, you need to speak up.

Time is of the essence and we need to fight the EHRC interim guidance before it becomes statutory and Parliament make it law.

Don’t just shout about it, write to them. Also tell the media, if you can get them to care. I’ve posted this on Instagram.

Speak to your unions and staff networks at work

I have my PhD viva next week (eek!). Any last-minute tips from the pros on here?

Check out @cassyni.bsky.social seminar Rethinking extinction “crises”: The case of Asian songbird trade presented by Mx Sicily Fiennes 📅 Thursday 1st May 2025 ⏰ 14.00 PM (GMT+1).

This has been rescheduled woo!

The Supreme Court ignored trans voices. I’m ashamed of what our law has become | Good Law Project The Supreme Court’s decision to exclude trans voices has harmed trans people – and harmed the fairness of their ruling.

In this piece, which I am proud of and I stand by every word, I make two serious criticisms of the procedure that the Supreme Court adopted.
goodlawproject.org/the-supreme-...

Oryx (@oryxthejournal.bsky.social) Oryx—The International Journal of Conservation publishes leading research on biodiversity, conservation practice & the socio-economic dimensions of conservation.

"#TikTok facilitating #songbird #trade in Indonesia" - a recent paper published by #Extinction Studies PhD student @sicilyfiennes.bsky.social in @oryxthejournal.bsky.social: buff.ly/4aNmZaI.

Excited to say I've SUBMITTED my PhD thesis on Asian songbird trade 🎉. My interests are in political ecology, focusing on wildlife trade, creative social science, and critical conservation. If people know of long-term roles in research, analysis, or program management in the UK, please let me know💡

Extinction in the Small Isles This month, we are pleased to welcome fascinating contributions from members of the Leverhulme-funded Extinction Studies Doctoral Training Programme at the University of Leeds, as we proudly host a…

#Extinction in the Small Isles: A fantastic photo blog from a recent group trip to the Scottish Small Isles, by Extinction Studies PhD students Alfie Howard, MT Talensby, Jon Roberts, @sicilyfiennes.bsky.social, Lydia Woods, Serena Turton-Hughes, Jenny Kennedy

Awe and Extinction, by Sicily Fiennes As we coasted through the foggy waters of western Scotland, it had me pondering my biases toward the natural world. Until now, the indescribable awe of seeing a rare seabird or a cheeky cetacean fr…

"Awe and Extinction" - Extinction Studies PhD student @sicilyfiennes.bsky.social writes about reflections on a recent photography trip to the Scottish Small Isles:

Over the past few months I feel very privileged to have been doing an analysis for DEFRA of how The UK Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund projects address poverty; providing recommendations on how projects and the Fund can improve practice ⬇️
iwt.challengefund.org.uk/resources/in...

A logo for the University of Leeds parasite conservation survey featuring 5 coloured hexagons containing icons of different parasites such as ticks, worms and protozoa.

Hey #WildlifeDisease & #conservation folk, please check out our survey on attitudes to parasite conservation.

Are parasites important for biodiversity, would you remove them to protect host welfare, or something more nuanced? We want to hear all views to improve guidance for practitioners 🪱🧪🌍🧵1/n

Fantastic to start the day with @sicilyfiennes.bsky.social leaping into my office with some highly positive reviews on their recent PhD output. "Interesting", "novel", "great paper", "valuable perspective", "significant" and "immediately useful"! Brilliant work and I look forward to sharing it!

A panel showing three images of parasites. From left to right: a bat fly clinging to the face of a Mozambique long-fingered bat, a mass of helminths in the feces of a gray seal, botfly larvae from the stomach of a mountain zebra.

Ever heard of parasite conservation and thought "Why on earth would we want to do that 😱"?! Read our new paper to find out...

We cover key questions including: Why conserve parasites? How do you conserve parasites? & What parasite conservation is already happening?

doi.org/10.1111/cobi...

[1/3]

I was honoured to be invited by the editors of Prisms: Extinction to give a talk on my paper on environmental crises and Asian songbird trade. Please attend this online talk on Tuesday, March 11th, at 2 pm GMT to hear more!

cassyni.com/events/6H6nT...

A brilliant new paper on conservation patriarchy - must be widely read: ‘We conclude that patriarchal norms and structures within conservation must be questioned and dismantled to make conservation more effective and just’ www.nature.com/articles/s44...

The first output from our @leverhulme.bsky.social Extinction Studies project on #shadowextinction - known-unknown and unknown-unknown extinctions - and implications for science and policy is out. Led by Serena Turton Hughes, with
@katatrepsis.bsky.social
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

I wish for Palestine to be free and for the ongoing genocide & scholasticide in Gaza and the West Bank to end, but it's encouraging to see initiatives like this. Still, this needs to be coupled with an arms embargo and cutting ties with companies like BAE Systems.

www.leeds.ac.uk/masters-scho...

Stay tuned for some more insights in our upcoming University of Leeds Extinction Studies DTP podcast… Any comments or insights welcome! What do you think of the term crisis? 🤔(5/5)

The findings highlight the dynamic nature of the trade and the shifting popularity of species. The study also reflects on the implications of labelling such environmental issues as 'crises' and underscores the complexity of addressing wicked problems in #conservation (4/5)