V Bateman

These are incredible! Are they still used by p. martins or just for show now?

"This is an essential text for scholars working on environmental, animal, scientific, and segregation histories in South Africa and beyond". The first review of my book is out on Animal History. A big thank you to Mia Uys for this generous review.
online.ucpress.edu/ah/article-a...

Self portrait of William Finley and Herman Bohlman with two golden eagles. The photographers sit at the edge of a large nest, five feet wide, where two young golden eagles sit. One holds a camera while the other a box of glass plates.

Sharing my fav photo from my research on the work of Herman Bohlman and William and Irene Finley: A self portrait with golden eagles, taken from 158 feet up a sycamore tree, 1904. #animalhist

Poster for “Interspecies Interactions in the Visual Arts (1550-1914) Collaborations, Experiments, Oppositions” international symposium held May 21-23, 2025.

Excited to talk #animalhist with other art historians today at the “Interspecies Interactions in the Visual Arts”symposium, org by @claralanger.bsky.social and Oriane Poret. I’ll be speaking about seeking a “bird’s eye view” in avian photography, and finding (un)wanted encounters.

Today’s my first day as a SSHRC Postdoc Fellow at Trent University! I’ll be working on a media history of (bird) conservation in 20th cent N America. 🪿🦆🐦‍⬛🦅Grateful to have research support, be back in Canada, and look forward to working with @finisdunaway.bsky.social
#envhist #animalhist

YouTube video by BellMuseum Wood Duck Ways (Vintage Documentary by Walter J. Breckenridge)

youtu.be/LcwZw_54MDo?...

Poster for online workshop Wild or Domestic? Research on Artificial Bird Nesting Sites. May 6, 2025.

A black and white photograph of two men on ladders resting on a tree. One is holding a camera while the other poses beside a metal canister wood duck nest. The bird emerges from the entrance. 1966, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Looking forward to next week’s online workshop “Wild or Domestic? Research on Artificial Bird Nesting Sites” organized by @dollyjorgensen.bsky.social & Thomas Reitmaier. I’ll be discussing wood duck conservation via nest boxes and the film Wood Duck Ways (1956) [linked below] #envhist #animalhist

Airports offer snowy owls vast tundra-like habitats similar to up north. While most airports shoot them (there’s been a few avian caused plane crashes worldwide), at Logan airport one man has been capturing and relocating owls since 1981.

Are snowy owls attracted to airports?

Fired NPS, USFS, BLM Employees Share Their Stories The Guardian profiled a number of people fired from the agencies that manage federal lands - the US Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, etc. — purged from their jobs by the Trump/Musk administration. Victoria W

People purged from the National Park Service & agencies that manage federal lands speak out. “I have dedicated my life to being a public servant, teacher, and advocate for places that we ALL cherish. I have saved lives and put my own life at risk…” [kottke.org]

Great presentations and discussions yesterday with this wonderful bunch, at the colloquium 'Moving Animals: Wanderings in the Anthropocene', co-organized with @vbateman.bsky.social

Helen Cowie’s talk on alpacas, showing two historical images of alpacas in menageries

Vanessa Bateman speaking on wapiti (or elk) in New Zealand. Three images show magazine covers depicting New Zealand sport hunters and fishers.

Vincent Bijman speaking about the mongoose. Image of a book on game birds in Hawaii and a scientist surrounded by game birds.

Vincent Bijman and audiences at the Moving Animals conference. Slides show a mongoose and the ecologist Charles Elton.

Having a great day at the Moving Animals conference! Papers by Helen Cowie on alpacas, @vbateman.bsky.social on wapiti & Vincent Bijman on mongooses #envhist #animalhist

With papers by project members of present & past @rafdebont.bsky.social @monicavasile.bsky.social, Vincent Bijman, @vbateman.bsky.social @moneschleper.bsky.social, advisory board members @dollyjorgensen.bsky.social & @docroscher.bsky.social as well as other very exciting speakers !! #animalhist

And most recently, trying to solve a mystery about two swans at the Bell Museum. More to come! #animalhist #envhum

Presenting my research on wildlife photography and wapiti (elk) at a conference in Banff while two walk by the window and steal the show #animalhist #envhist

To celebrate and conclude five years of research by the Moving Animals project, @rafdebont.bsky.social and I have organized the conference “Moving Animals: Wanderings in the Anthropocene” on Jan 31 in Maastricht. #envhist #animalhist Program at: moving-animals.nl/upcoming-mov...

And searching for cows with @monicavasile.bsky.social in the Swiss alps as part of the @eseh.bsky.social summer school

Also not to forget the non-humans: holding lemming, loon, and finch along the way!

Sadly, this is my last month as postdoc on @rafdebont.bsky.social Moving Animals project @fasosmaastricht.bsky.social. Too many highlights from the last 2.5 years - but what will remain is finding home among the (friendliest) animal + environmental history community

Eight Clams Control This Polish City’s Water Supply In the city of Poznań, Poland, a group of eight clams controls the local water supply through a clever bio-monitoring system: These biological systems are comprised of eight mussels with sensors hot-glued to their she

Eight Clams Control This Polish City’s Water Supply. “If the waters are clean, these [cyborg] mussels stay open and happy. But when water quality drops too low, they close off and shut the water supply of millions of people with them.” [kottke.org]

Always love reading @monicavasile.bsky.social

Highly recommend this! Was a very productive experience and nice people too :)

A feather might seem insignificant, but after one week of only paper it made the birds on page “come to life”

Found a sandhill crane feather in the archive last year - taped to a letter from 1930. 🪶
#animalhist #envhist

Bellwether Histories | University of Washington A multispecies history of the globalized United States, *Bellwether Histories* reveals how animals have been ensnared in colonialism, capitalism, and environmental destruction as human decisions creat...

Not skiing related, but I wrote a chapter on the elk refuge (open access too! ) that puts it into a bigger perspective on the circulation of images, animals in the archive, and settler colonial violence. uw.manifoldapp.org/projects/bel...

ANOHNI Absorbs the Grief of a Planet in Crisis: "We're Porous Creatures" │ Exclaim! "There are aspects of funeral happening right now — that's not a projection, that's a reality"

Recently saw ANOHNI and the Johnsons in concert and want to know of other musicians who address the climate and biodiversity crises as explicitly.

"There are aspects of funeral happening right now — that's not a projection, that's a reality"

exclaim.ca/music/articl...

Migrating birds find refuge in pop-up habitats - High Country News A program that pays rice farmers to create wetland habitats is a rare conservation win.

A program that pays farmers to flood their fields to create “pop-up wetland habitats” as way-stations for migratory birds is a “rare conservation win”. [hcn.org]

New Book - Red Coats and Wild Birds Editor’s Note: In light of recent book launch cancellations, we are happy to offer a space for authors to highlight their new books in environmental history, humanities, historical geography, and rela...

#WorldMigratoryBirdDay

"Collecting specimens and tracking migratory bird patterns enabled these men to map the British Empire and the world and therefore to exert imagined control over it." - Kirsten Greer

niche-canada.org/2020/03/27/n...

#envhist #histgeog #nathist

PhD in the history of biological fieldwork and gender Are you interested in doing a PhD on the history of biology, the environment, and gender? Are you able to work independently and in a team? Do you want to work at an international and interdisciplinar...

#envhist #envhum #histsci

Exciting opportunity to do a paid PhD in the history of biology:

www.academictransfer.com/nl/345235/ph...

Come work with @rafdebont.bsky.social @blenormand.bsky.social and me ❤️

Thrilled to be one of the recipients of the ESEH-Gale Fellowship in Digital Environmental History! Excited to have support for my project on photography, film, and wildlife conservation in the 20th cent 🪿🐦‍⬛🎞️
thank you @eseh.bsky.social