Caroline Lehmann

A recent enquiry made us fall in love/awe with Elizabeth Gray (1831-1924) all over again These photographs of Mrs Gray, an intrepid Scottish fossil collector, were taken around her 90th birthday in 1922-23. Happy International Women’s Day!

Marsupials previously thought extinct for millennia discovered in New Guinea The chances of finding one mammal species thought to be lost was ‘almost zero’ and finding two is ‘unprecedented’, biologist Tim Flannery says

"Two charismatic marsupial species that had been thought extinct for 6,000 years are alive in rainforest in remote West Papua."

Oh yeah this is super cool as both the pygmy long-fingered possum and ring-tailed glider were previously only known from fossils 🤯🧪🐀
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Nature security assessment on global biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse and national security This strategic assessment explores how global biodiversity loss and the collapse of critical ecosystems could affect the UK’s resilience, security and prosperity.

“Protecting & restoring ecosystems is easier, cheaper & more reliable”

The Government’s Nature Security report has been criticised, but this conclusion about the way ahead makes all the right noises

www.gov.uk/government/p...

Eurasian Grassland Conference 2026 | EDGG Sofia, 19-23 July 2026

🌱 Eurasian Grassland Conference 2026
Sofia, Bulgaria | 19–23 July
Connect science & conservation for grassland sustainability 🔬🌾
More: edgg.org/egc2026
#EGC2026 #IAVS

‪Tell me the truth...I'm ready.

New IPBES report finds that $220 billion were directed to conservation & restoration of biodiversity in 2023...

yet $7.3 trillion flowed toward subsidies that directly harm nature.

IPBES Business & Biodiversity Assessment www.ipbes.net/business-imp...
@ipbes.net

Flyer with basic information about the iDiv Summer School

View of a male researcher making records on a tablet outdoors with small yellow flowers in the background

🌱 Apply now for the iDiv Summer School: “Passion for Collecting – Collection-Based Research in Plant Ecology”

Participants will learn how to work with living collections, seed banks, and herbaria to unlock ecological insights.

📅 24–28 Aug 2026 🗓️ Apply by 31 Mar 2026

🔗 www.idiv.de/events/summe...

🐑🌱 What drives functional change in grazed grasslands?
Eshelman et al. report that increased grazing favours avoidance, resistance, and tolerance traits, with most trait shifts arising from intraspecific variation rather than species turnover.

Very excited to share that my first first-author paper is out in the Journal of Vegetation Science! 🌱🥳

Our paper used a 20-year grazing experiment in the Scottish uplands to assess how grass community traits shift in response to grazing.

📖 Paper here: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Science funding needs fixing — but not through chaotic reforms The changes announced by a major UK science funder are putting scientists — and the future of research — in a difficult position.

Science funding needs fixing - but not through chaotic reforms.

Prominent climate scientist argues it's time to ditch the 'myth of neutrality' | CBC Radio Climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe talks to Bob McDonald about the polarization of science and why she thinks scientists should stop pretending to be neutral when it's our planet at risk.

“Scientists should stop trying to be neutral and instead embrace their values,”says a group of top climate scientists, including @katharinehayhoe.com. The neutrality myth is harming the reputation of science right when we need it most.” #ClimateCrisis

Science isn’t neutral. It’s science.

Self-Directed Residencies 2026-27 – Sweeney’s Bothy - Bothy Project Bothy Project is delighted to announce its latest open call for Self-Directed Residencies at Sweeney’s Bothy, a simple off-grid building in unique surroundings on the Isle of Eigg, on Scotland's west ...

Open call for Bothy Project self-directed residencies 2026-27 – at Sweeney’s bothy. A subsidised and truly magical off-grid space to engage with the natural world and your practice. Last there we had phenomenal evening vistas as far as Mingulay. www.bothyproject.com/opportunitie...

rspatialdata: a repository of spatial datasets & tutorials for spatial analysis & visualization in #rstats, supporting real-world applications such as estimating air pollution, quantifying disease burden, and monitoring progress toward the SDGs🌍💻📊

👉 rspatialdata.github.io

Taxonomist post at the Herbarium, Singapore Botanic Gardens. www.careers.hrp.gov.sg/sap/bc/ui5_u...

Written by @rhettayersbutler.bsky.social - a great tribute to William's dedication to seek science and environmental policy to care about open ecosystems through critical evaluation of the processes that shape these majestic expensive regions and their biodiversity.

Thank you so much for the beautiful tribute to William Bond. He was an incredible person who influenced so many in ecology.

William Bond, defender of grasslands In recent years, one of the loudest ideas in environmental policy has been that trees are the planet’s universal remedy. Plant enough of them, in enough places, and carbon will be soaked up, water wil...

"Bond’s work leaves behind an inconvenient lesson for an era of climate urgency: that speed is not a substitute for understanding, and that good intentions, applied without care, can erase ancient worlds as efficiently as neglect." A beautiful tribute to William Bond. Forever missed by many.

🚩Dig into plant functional ecology! 🌱⛏️ Join the 8th Go Belowground! PhD course (13–19 Sep 2026, Czech Republic) Lectures, hands-on field, lab training ▶️ 1url.cz/2ziQz
#clonality #budbank #belowground #mophology #roots #traits #GoBelowground #ExFuMo
@czechacademy.bsky.social @ibotcz.bsky.social

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR IN ECOSYSTEM MODELLING at Aarhus University in Århus, DENMARK Dec 17, 2025 | Are you experienced in integrating field data and remote sensing data  with numerical modelling to quantify interactions within ecosystems?  Then... | NEW JOB

This looks like a cool job... www.researchgate.net/job/1034278_...

Understanding fire conflict through stakeholder mapping in Madagascar's grassy biomes Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. French translation: Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

🚨🔥Hot off the press: Understanding fire conflict through stakeholder mapping in Madagascar
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Paper published in People and Nature! How actors understand fire in Madagascar and what this reveals about how to manage fire

That's so wonderful Ashish! Congratulations!

That link was for England. Here is the link for Scotland
www.scotblood.co.uk

Home Register to be a blood donor, give blood and save lives. Find out more about blood donation.

Giving blood saves lives. It takes little time from your day and will be transformational for the people who receive it. It's a selfless act for our fellow people and one very much in need. www.blood.co.uk

Increased efficiency of water use does not stimulate tree productivity - Nature Climate Change The authors theoretically delineate the maximal increases in tree growth that can be expected from increases in plant intrinsic water-use efficiency, which increases with rising CO2. They highlight en...

So this is super interesting! Increased efficiency of water use does not stimulate tree productivity. Once again i long for a savanna face experiment that isn't simply confounded as a fire exclusion experiment.

Very cool!

Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Plant Ecology Position Details Full Time | Continuing Academic Level B I AU$113,211 - $133,974 p.a.I View Position Description Academic Level C |AU $138,124 - $158,885 pa I View Position Description Location: Bedfo...

Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Plant Ecology at Flinders Uni just advertised. Such a great place + city to live in. So nice to see an Adelaide wide cluster of grassy ecology expertise developing that would be v exciting to be part of! Apply!

And, just delighted we get to keep working together on all this grassy business in tropical and temperate climes!

Congrats 🎉 Dr Eshelman!! @s-eshelman.bsky.social graduated her PhD having completed fab work on the functional ecology of grasses + grazing. Look out for her papers on grazing lawns, intraspecific trait variation and using herbarium specimens to examine grass life histories across Madagascar. 🥂😊👏

Why do global environmental institutions multiply and persist even when they seem unable to address biodiversity loss and environmental governance failures effectively?

Our new OA article with @jacquelinebest.bsky.social in @risjnl.bsky.social tries to answer this question. 1/7

cup.org/4hZNlcX

Your podcast is fantastic 😊 thanks for all the work and what is clearly a labour of love to make it happen. I can help on nature restoration, NetZero, rewilding and climate change impacts on ecosystems.

Are you an expert on A Complicated Thing? Science, policy, tech, the history of a country/region?

We're gathering a list of friendly experts who can help inform our coverage. If you'd like to serve as an unofficial sounding board for The Europeans, please let us know your area of expertise below!