Darren Gröcke

🌏 Why was the #KelpSummit2025 so important?

Hear from some of our key speakers: Cat Wilding @thembauk.bsky.social, Erin Lawes (Environment Agency), @rodneyforster.bsky.social, @grockesibl.bsky.social & @pippajmoore.bsky.social
To view more from the Summit, visit the link in our bio.

Middle East Bronze and Iron Age cultures wine production - Durham University

Bronze and Iron Age farmers in the Middle East prioritised wine production over olive growing in times of climatic change. Researchers in our Department of Archaeology and @durhamearthsci.bsky.social analysed charred seeds and wood samples 👉 www.durham.ac.uk/news-events/...

Our sunflower experiment is coming along nicely. No clear relationship between soil amendment and growth yet. But I’m hypothesising we will see a difference in the actual flower and seeds. Time will tell…

Working on a Sunday to collect some heritage long-straw rye plants as part of a bread study - lovely field setting

Today we are coring soil again in Cumbria but today we have supervisors making sure we do it properly 😂

Great Barrier Reef suffers worst coral decline on record Reefs have been battered by cyclones and starfish that eat coral, but heat stress driven by climate change is the main cause of damage.

As an Aussie who has visited and marvelled at its beauty over 30 years ago it is disheartening to read of its decline and pressure to survive.

Great Barrier Reef suffers worst coral decline on record www.bbc.com/news/article...

A scientist’s wine decanter 😂🍷🤪
Thank you Fisher Scientific UK

Our grass experiment is coming along very nicely in Cumbria. Rain and warm weather has helped. Now we leave it for a month and see what impact the soil amendments have had.

@durhamearthsci.bsky.social

In Cumbria again today measuring our Miyawaki trees and seeds no if our grass experiments have started to sprout. 😁😁

Westmorland Furness Council
Lynster Farmers Group
Durham University
Fieldwork@durham

Back in Cumbria - glorious weather for fieldwork - been worried about our Miyawaki trees but they are sprouting - and tonight we came across a herd of deers including an albino deer 😁 wow

North East universities get £8.9m to commercialise research Durham University's head says the money could benefit local communities through new businesses.

North East universities get £8.9m to commercialise research

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

This morning I am analysing some alcohol / spirit dated back to 1760… oh it smells heavenly. I wonder what carbon sources were used in its creation ???

1200 trees planted in a day - just another 800 to go. An amazing job by Ellie Ward and Myself although we are suffering from abundant nettle stings 😬

1600 kg of biochar and 2000 native trees - let the games begin

Durham University
Brodie Biomass
Trees Please
Lynster Farmers Group

Ok. It looks like a more daunting task in the field compared to drawing up the designs on Google Earth - I barely see the car!!! Thank heavens for the LFG farmers who have come to the rescue - more photos tomorrow

No not yet. I’m hoping to present at Groundswell this summer. 😁

Off to Cumbria and the farms again this week… soil coring, water monitoring and planting over 2000 trees in a woodland experiment

Hugh Ward, Emma Donnelly, Tamara Finkelstein
Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board
Woodland Trust
@naturalengland.bsky.social
@durhamearthsci.bsky.social

Shout out 📣 For those of you who follow us, you'll have had the pleasure of being whisked away to the silky, caramel fronds of a Sussex kelp bed thanks to the beautiful images and footage taken by Paul Boniface, from the amazing Sussex Underwater team.
📸 Guess who? Paul Boniface/Sussex Underwater

Farmers and I have been battling for over 12 months to get a permit / license to repair non-functioning tidal gates, but it’s too late… the River Winster is now showing signs of decay and death - bureaucracy and stone walling has stopped us from stopping environmental damage

UK's first kelp conference held in Brighton Kelp Summit will help to shape the future of kelp ecosystems in the UK and beyond, organisers say.

It was an honour and privilege to present and take part in the First UK kelp conference. May they continue around the country.

UK's first kelp conference held in Brighton

It was great talking to the Sussex Kelp Restoration Project today. For someone who has not analysed any Sussex kelp they were so welcoming and inquisitive it was amazing.

On the train to Brighten today to attend and present at the Kelp Summit 2025.

On the Scarborough coast again collecting seaweed to trace the nitrogen pollution in the region. Is it sewage or chemical or manure???

North Yorkshire Council
Yorkshire Water
Durham University

Holocene hydroclimate and landscape changes as drivers of organic carbon cycling in a small northern Fennoscandian lake

#stableisotopes #chironomids #climatechange

'Unprecedented' Melsonby Iron Age hoard found by archaeologists Archaeologists say they have found more than 800 items dating back about 2,000 years.

Durham University Archaeologists find 'unprecedented' Iron Age hoard

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Out yesterday practicing our skills with the @bluerobotics.bsky.social BlueRov 2 underwater drone. Not as easy as it looks, especially when you didn’t grow up with PlayStations 🙈

@durhamearthsci.bsky.social

And here's our article with @tksilver.bsky.social about our new paper.

PhD Studentship - How Polluted are our Modern Ports? An Eco-bio-geological Investigation at Durham University Apply for a PhD Studentship - How Polluted are our Modern Ports? An Eco-bio-geological Investigation. Discover a wide range of PhD opportunities at jobs.ac.uk.

It's find-a-PhD season and here is a very topical one with @grockesibl.bsky.social at Durham. www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DMH221/p...

Out in Cumbria again coring farm soils. 😁

BP shuns renewables in return to oil and gas The energy giant has announced its strategy after rivals also rowed back on green energy plans.

A clear sign that oil is the name of the game. Renewable energy is now getting less investment - a massive u-turn in the fight against human-induced climate change 😡

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...