Joanna Bagniewska
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joannabagniewska.com
Joanna Bagniewska
@joannabagniewska.com
Lecturer in Environmental Science at Oxford Uni, Oxford Lifelong Learning @oxlifelonglearning.bsky.social
Fellow at @kelloggoxford.bsky.social

Zoologist, science communicator, πŸ‡΅πŸ‡± in πŸ‡¬πŸ‡§.
#AcademicSky πŸ§ͺ

I write books, buy them!
https://linktr.ee/jbagniewska
Happy 25th birthday, @wikipedia.org! πŸŽ‚

The first edit in Wikipedia's database, to HomePage, was made on January 15, 2001, at 19:27 (UTC), and stated in its entirety "This is the new WikiPedia!"

Over 65 million articles across 300+ languages. Here's to many more πŸŽ‰
#Wikipedia25 πŸ§ͺ
January 15, 2026 at 8:35 PM
Paid summer research internships in Oxford! Work with me on biodiversity in school grounds (or with someone else on another project).

πŸ§ͺ #UNIQplus is open to UK undergraduates from under-represented and disadvantaged backgrounds.
πŸ“† Applications due 18 Feb:
www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/g...
🌍 #AcademicSky
January 14, 2026 at 10:19 AM
institutions.newscientist.com
January 13, 2026 at 2:45 PM
πŸ»πŸ’™πŸ»β€β„οΈ

Polar bear ♂️+ grizzly ♀️= PIZZLY
Grizzly ♂️+ polar bear ♀️= GROLAR

Number of hybrid bears is likely to increase as climate change and ice decline push polar bears south, while grizzlies move north. These hybrids aren't sterile, but also lack the specific adaptations of their parents.
πŸ§ͺ🌍
January 13, 2026 at 2:45 PM
Może czas zmienić konferencje? :)
December 30, 2025 at 12:23 PM
πŸ§ͺ🌏
#academicsky
December 30, 2025 at 11:15 AM
Excellent advice collated by @billsutherland.bsky.social at #BES2025 - how to approach scientific conferences (especially ones as big as those from @britishecologicalsociety.org).

Don't be afraid to chat people up, attend talks you fancy, and enjoy yourself!

What would you add?

#academicsky πŸ§ͺ
December 18, 2025 at 9:51 PM
Great talk from @clairebranston.bsky.social at #BES2025, with a Glasgow urban gradient setup similar to that of @mszulkin.bsky.social in Warsaw.

Earlier egg laying with greater oak availability.

πŸ§ͺ
December 17, 2025 at 12:14 PM
Are you at #BES2025 @britishecologicalsociety.org Annual Meeting?

Come and say hi to the ecology team from @oxlifelonglearning.bsky.social!

#biodiversity #academicSky πŸ§ͺ🌏🦊
December 16, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Come to our workshop at @britishecologicalsociety.org Annual Meeting #bes2025 tomorrow lunchtime. We will discuss fieldwork teaching for AI-proofing assessments and improving AI skills - bring your case studies!
πŸ§ͺ #academicsky 🌍
@drnickworsfold.bsky.social
December 15, 2025 at 11:07 AM
"Owls, by far the most common species, were often tethered to perches, unable to fly. Owls are nocturnal species and therefore their natural behaviour is to hide away during daylight hours." writes Sam Ward, prof of zoo animal welfare, of animal cafes.

πŸ§ͺ🌍

theconversation.com/exotic-anima...
Exotic animal cafes: cute trend or welfare crisis?
Exotic animal cafes are marketed as harmless fun, but research findings suggest a more complex truth.
theconversation.com
December 12, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Animal cafes - hot or not?

Exotic animal cafes provide
-limited space
-poor animal interaction oversight and controls
-inadequate feeding
-restricted behavioral opportunities
resulting in poor welfare. Even cat cafes have low welfare scores.

Don't go there.

πŸ§ͺπŸˆβ˜•πŸΎ

Research: doi.org/10.1292/jvms...
December 12, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Avoid those horrific humblebragging posts ("I am humbled to have been awarded...") 🀒. Be genuine. Think about who your audience is.
My high-flying MBA mate once said: it's so refreshing to see your LinkedIn - everyone writes about their conferences and promotions, and you post pictures of ants.
December 8, 2025 at 12:40 PM
Can fungi build better homes for cavity-nesting birds?

We combine expertise in architecture (@unimelb.bsky.social) and ecology (@ox.ac.uk) to see if nests made out of mycelium (insulating, carbon-neutral and biodegradable fungi roots) attract birds.

πŸ§ͺπŸͺΆπŸ„

www.birdsonthebrink.co.uk/blog/botb-gr...
December 5, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Do striped hyenas have a sweet tooth?

Yes, yes they do.

Here's the first record of honey consumption by a hyena, caught on a camera trap in Kenya:
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

πŸ§ͺ🌍🐾🍯
December 4, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Some fantastic pedagogical points made here - eloquent and compact. And yes, there needs to be more talk about how explanations are not the same as learning.

#AcademicSky
Can LLMs be personal tutors?

In theory yes; in practice there are some big challenges to overcome. I list four here.

In particular we have to get away from the idea that explanations = learning.

substack.nomoremarking.com/p/llm-tutors...
Can LLMs be personal tutors?
Four big challenges
substack.nomoremarking.com
December 4, 2025 at 2:39 PM
No, but not having to learn the intricacies of coding means that they are able to focus on the statistical analysis rather than being worried about how to program. They still need to understand which analytical methods to use and check that the output is correct.
December 3, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Ecology students are more keen to use R for stats when they are able to vibecode instead of being bogged down with the programming (they usually don't have much of a background in coding and want to just focus on producing a useful graph).
December 3, 2025 at 2:29 PM
πŸ”ŠWhat does the herp say?

The first ever record of vocalisation in viviparous lizards is described in The Herpetological Bulletin: www.thebhs.org/publications... - and by my student Johnnie Johnson, no less!

FYI, the sound is a "brief chirp".

πŸ§ͺ🌍🦎
December 3, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Whole podcast ("The Subtle Art of Connecting with an Audience") can be found here:

YouTube
www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9Rx...
Podcast platforms
mentormeet.com/podcast/

#AcademicSky #Scicomm πŸ§ͺ
The Subtle Art of Connecting with an Audience | MentorMeet Stories with Joanna & Nadia
YouTube video by MentorMeet
www.youtube.com
December 1, 2025 at 4:25 PM
The Communicating Scientist strikes again!

Before engaging in any sort of communication - speaking, writing, visuals - ask yourself:

🎯What is your purpose?
πŸ‘€Who is your audience?
⚠️What are your constraints?

This is the foundation for tailoring your messages and approaches.
#AcademicSky #Scicomm πŸ§ͺ
December 1, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Early career ornithologists, this one's for you.
πŸ§ͺ🌍πŸͺΆ
πŸŽ‰ Abstract submission is open for the EOU Fledglings Meeting 2026 in GdaΕ„sk, Poland (27–29 March 2026)!

πŸ“ Submit your oral/poster abstract:
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

πŸ“… Deadline: 16 Jan 2026
More info: eounion.org/fledglings

#EOU26 #Ornithology
November 28, 2025 at 11:03 AM
About time!
The EU court has ruled that Poland must recognise the marriage of a Polish same-sex couple who married in Germany, even though Polish law does not allow such marriages.

The ruling requires Poland to change its system for recognising such marriages so as not to discriminate against same-sex couples.
EU court orders Poland to recognise same-sex marriages conducted in other member states
notesfrompoland.com
November 25, 2025 at 2:31 PM
And a composite image from the paper, showing kitties hunting invertebrates.
πŸ§ͺ🌍🐈πŸͺ²
November 21, 2025 at 2:31 PM
🐈 What's TikTok good for? Examining which arthropods are hunted by cats.

🌍 Social media have become an increasingly useful resource in ecological research.

πŸͺ² We now know that cats kill arthropods from 14 different orders.

πŸ§ͺ Study:
resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Social media highlights the overlooked impact of cats on arthropods
The impact of domestic cats on vertebrate biodiversity is unequivocal; however, we still know little about their effects on arthropods. By analysing over 17,000 photos and videos from social media p...
resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
November 21, 2025 at 2:30 PM