Bob Smith

We need to incorporate national-level goals and targets into regional and local level plans. Otherwise, we'll repeat past mistakes and produce inadequate, ecologically unrepresentative networks. We're holding a forum on this next month and everyone is welcome!

research.kent.ac.uk/dice-systema...

How do you know whether or not your conservation monitoring program is helping you to deliver outcomes? We have made a checklist of 15 distinct reasons - some more directly connected to outcomes than others.

Conservation abandonment is a policy blind spot Nature Ecology & Evolution - Amidst the collective push to establish nature conservation initiatives, little attention has been paid to ensuring that they persist over time. The abandonment of...

Conservation abandonment is a policy blind spot.

#ICYMI, read the article here: rdcu.be/eQpdN

#OpenAccess #nature #climate @catalyzconserv.bsky.social

Excited to be trailing FreeStations - accessible environmental pollution equipment - at our @dice-kent.bsky.social campus next week

Huge thanks for Prof Mark Mulligan from @kingscollegelondon.bsky.social for building them with us!

Read more here: blogs.kent.ac.uk/dice/2025/09...

YouTube video by Bill Sutherland's Conservation Concepts Why most conservation projects fail to learn

Excellent advice from Hugh Possingham on monitoring conservation projects and why most Monitoring and Evaluation is flawed. youtu.be/qa6Ewt-W5mU?...

The University of Glasgow groundspeople are going to be quite annoyed when they come in to work tomorrow...

Photos of the first Author Meeting of the Spatial Planning and Ecological Connectivity Assessment hosted by IIASA in Laxenburg, Austria

Photos of the first Author Meeting of the Spatial Planning and Ecological Connectivity Assessment hosted by IIASA in Laxenburg, Austria

Photos of the first Author Meeting of the Spatial Planning and Ecological Connectivity Assessment hosted by IIASA in Laxenburg, Austria

Photos of the first Author Meeting of the Spatial Planning and Ecological Connectivity Assessment hosted by IIASA in Laxenburg, Austria

And that’s a wrap!

This week, authors of the #SpatialPlanningConnectivity Assessment met for the first time to explore biodiversity-inclusive spatial planning and ecological connectivity.🌍

Thank you to @iiasa.ac.at 🇦🇹 for being excellent hosts!

🧪 www.ipbes.net/spatial-plan...

A lichen-covered bench in Manaton, Devon.

There are over 18,000 types of lichen in existence. My personal favourite is ‘village bench lichen’, which devotes its entire existence selflessly to gradually making communal public seating more furry and comfortable.

This feels like the perfect post to reply to and announce this - but my book, Endemic: Exploring the wildlife unique to Britain, which includes a chapter on the No Parking Whitebeam, comes out a week today.

share.google/Rgyzzyr777Hi...

📣📣📣 Fully funded MSc scholarships available for this Sept.

Short deadline: 21st July

Kent are offering fully funded taught MSc in Conservation Science #scholarships @dice-kent.bsky.social

For more info: lnkd.in/eiPJG8uE

Any questions, then please email: lhscholars@kent.ac.uk

#phdchat #funding

Job alert: 2.75 -3 yr postdoc in Mathematical ecology/epidemiology or Decision Sci at the University of Queensland on the value of information for decisions with @hugepossum.bsky.social @katehelmstedt.bsky.social Katriona Shea & myself #MathSky 🌍 uq.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/uqcareers/jo... please share

Please share: PhD scholarship opportunity in mathematical ecology on the value of information for improving ecological management, open to international students, with a great team @hugepossum.bsky.social, Katriona Shea, Kate Helmstedt, & me at UQ, Australia 🌍 🧮, study.uq.edu.au/study-option...

Leverhulme ‘Space for Nature’ MSc Scholarship Join the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology as a Leverhulme 'Space for Nature' scholar.

*New postgraduate studentship*! ⚠️⬇️

We are now offering fully funded taught MSc in Conservation Science studentships at the University of Kent, particularly targeted towards individuals from underserved backgrounds.

Apply here: ➡️ www.kent.ac.uk/durrell-inst...

#postgraduatescholarships

👋 Hello BlueSky! I’m Dr Stephanie Brittain, a Lecturer in Conservation Science at @dice-kent.bsky.social & a Research Fellow @iccs.bsky.social @ox.ac.uk.

I’m also President of the SCB SSWG (Social Science Working Group) @society4conbio.bsky.social scbsocialscience.org #ConSocSci

Please come along to our #ICCB2025 symposium on "Future pathways for area-based conservation" tomorrow, Tues 17, from 3:15 to 4:15 pm in Mezzanine Level Meeting Room M3.

We have a set of excellent speakers talking about how and whether different types of conservation areas fit within GBF Target 3.

New PhD position on large mammals and land-use change in Europe | Conservation Biogeography Lab We are excited to invite applications for a new PhD position on large mammals and land-use change in Europe. Join us at the Conservation and Biogeography Lab at Humboldt University Berlin!

Come join us at the Conservation Biogeography Lab @biogeoberlin.bsky.social @humboldtuni.bsky.social and carry out work on megafauna in Europe

pages.cms.hu-berlin.de/biogeo/websi...

Strategic Nature Network Rebuilding Nature has the vision to create a Strategic Nature Network by restoring dynamic ecosystems that protect society, delivering 30|30|30

Rebuilding Nature launched today and aims to create a UK Strategic Nature Network by 2030. The group includes National Highways, Network Rail and more.

Its key focus is re-connecting fragmented landscapes to allow the free movement of plants & wildlife and provide resilience against climate change.

Still can't believe we got onto the cover of Science! Across 11 reserves and 7 years, we found that dehorning achieved large reductions in poaching, but it's not a magic bullet

Full article: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Popular version: www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025...

Really looking forward to #BioBlitz 2025 at @dice-kent.bsky.social tomorrow!

There’s still time to book yourself onto free walks and surveys that are running all day tomorrow 👇

🦅 🦇 🐞 🐝 🌱 🌻 🦔

Understanding and optimising local nature recovery networks in England at University of Kent on FindAPhD.com PhD Project - Understanding and optimising local nature recovery networks in England at University of Kent, listed on FindAPhD.com

DEADLINE APPROACHING. There are only 5 days left to apply for a fully-funded PhD on "Understanding and optimising local nature recovery networks in England".

The project is open to home students and the deadline is this Sunday (May 11th).

More details are here: www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

Join @dice-kent.bsky.social for #BioBlitz 2025 on the 17th May 🌱 🪲 🐸 🐝 🦡 🌺

This is a family friendly event where we try to record as many species as possible!

We’ve lots of free events! Find them all and sign up here 👉 lnkd.in/e5kjJRmd

Why not join me for a walk to learn about #soundscapes? 🐦🔉

Two fully-funded PhD scholarships @BangorUni
in conservation social science. Deadline 5th May. If you have conservation scientists, geographers, economists, sociologists in your network do share. Details in thread below (1/3)
www.bangor.ac.uk/conservation...

Forest-dependent smallholder homestead inside a larger, industrialized cattle ranch in the South American Gran Chaco.

Different land uses often overlap, but we often ignore this in #conservation planning. Here is how we can change that --> paper in One Earth by Marie Pratzer and #SystemShift team doi.org/10.1016/j.on... @oneearthofficial.bsky.social @biogeoberlin.bsky.social @humboldtuni.bsky.social @erc.europa.eu

The two studentships that I'm involved with are for home students only. But two of the Leverhulme- funded projects are open to international students too (on conservation in Cameroon and on tropical fisheries).

Please share this information with anyone who might be interested and don't hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions.

Leverhulme Scholars Leverhulme Scholars

DICE is advertising an additional four PhD studentships through our Leverhulme ‘Space for Nature’ Doctoral Scholars programme.

All have a deadline of Deadline 23/04/25.

www.kent.ac.uk/durrell-inst...

Exploring scenarios for conservation areas to balance biodiversity and ecosystem services in the UK’s marine environment at University of Kent on FindAPhD.com PhD Project - Exploring scenarios for conservation areas to balance biodiversity and ecosystem services in the UK’s marine environment at University of Kent, listed on FindAPhD.com

PhD 2: Exploring scenarios for conservation areas to balance biodiversity and ecosystem services in the UK’s marine environment. Deadline 23/04/25.

www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

Supervised by Rachel Seary and Bob Smith, funded by Leverhulme.

Understanding and optimising local nature recovery networks in England at University of Kent on FindAPhD.com PhD Project - Understanding and optimising local nature recovery networks in England at University of Kent, listed on FindAPhD.com

I am advertising two PhD studentships (part of the six that DICE is currently advertising).

PhD 1: Understanding and optimising local nature recovery networks in England. Deadline 11/05/25.

www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

Supervised by Bob Smith and Zoe Davies, funded by UKRI E3.

👆 Fully-funded #PhD opportunity as part of the
@WGSSSDTP
researching the social and economic aspects of restoring the Celtic rainforests. Would particularly suit a Welsh-speaking researcher! bangor.ac.uk/conservation...

YouTube video by Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology Citizen Science: Experts and Expertise in Species Identification | Dr Gail Austen | #DiceTalks

April's DICE Talk was from Dr Gail Austen, the Leverhulme Support Officer for DICE. Dr Austen started at DICE in 2013 as a PhD student researching accuracy, error and bias in species identification.

youtube.com/watch?v=MVBp...