Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by nicky nicolson

Peter Moonlight @petermoonlight.bsky.social · 10d

Calling botanical researchers, the School of Natural Science at Trinity College Dublin is hiring a tenure track Assistant Professor in Plant Biodiversity and Conservation.

I know this is someone's dream job, so let me know if that is you and you want to chat!

my.corehr.com/pls/trrecrui...

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nicky nicolson @nickynicolson.bsky.social · 19d

Here's your reach @turingway.bsky.social 😎supporting botanical research into the plant families that give us potatoes and coffee

Aureliano Bombarely @bombarelya.bsky.social · 19d

@sandyknapp.bsky.social opens the #SOLRUB2025 meeting talking about how wonderful are #Solanaceae species. New dating results are coming out soon. The family is older that we thought. Almost 90 MY. She closes her presentation talking about the importance of community.

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Society of RSE @society-rse.org · Sep 10

Great closing quote from Graham Lee in this mornings Track A talk on Where do people come from?

"RSE is more than a technical discipline, its a social movement aiming to revolutionise how research engages with software." - Graham Lee

#RSECon25

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nicky nicolson @nickynicolson.bsky.social · Sep 10

Sorry to miss #RSECon25 - are the talks (or at least the keynotes) being recorded for later viewing?

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nicky nicolson @nickynicolson.bsky.social · Jul 2

I don't know if "punlishing" is intentional - but its a lovely neologism 😂

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Anna Mazzola @annamazz.bsky.social · May 21

It’s Mary Anning’s birthday, so time to share @katebeaton.bsky.social’s brilliant cartoon again.

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Niko Sirmpilatze @nikosirmpilatze.com · May 19

Still a few weeks to register for some hands-on training and hacking on open-source tools for analysing animal motion, whole-brain microscopy with @brainglobe.info, and big imaging data. 🧠📈

Aug 11-15 at @sainsburywellcome.bsky.social in London.

"Free as in beer" and travel stipends available.

SWC/GCNU Neuroinformatics Unit @neuroinformatics.dev · Apr 16

We're excited to announce the Neuroinformatics Unit Open Source Week, August 11-15 2025 in London, UK.

Bringing together researchers and developers of open-source software for training, community-building and hacking.

No cost and travel stipends available.

neuroinformatics.dev/open-softwar...

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Hidden REF @hiddenref.bsky.social · May 19

📢 Registration is now open 📢

Join us on 7-8 October 2025 at Thinktank, Birmingham Science Museum for the second Festival of Hidden REF!

Explore the indicative schedule, learn more on our website or head straight to the registration page to secure your place! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-festiv...

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Mike Simpson @mdsimpson.co.uk · Mar 19

We're not "over-diagnosing", we're getting BETTER at diagnosing. That was the point of all those years of research.

And yes, more people are self-diagnosing, but that's because they are better informed. That was the whole point of raising awareness! #MentalHealth

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Bruce Stagg Martin @bstaggmartin.bsky.social · Apr 23

Okay, I'm probably preaching to the choir here, but BHL is an absolutely VITAL resource for ecologists and evolutionary biologists. There's no other database I'm aware of that provides digital access to species descriptions dating all the way back to the 1800s and beyond.

Rod Page @rdmpage.bsky.social · Apr 22

"A New Future for the Biodiversity Heritage Library" blog.biodiversitylibrary.org/2025/04/new-... Important changes for BHL @biodivlibrary.bsky.social which can no longer be hosted at #Smithsonian and needs a new home.

A New Future for the Biodiversity Heritage Library

The Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) is the world’s largest open access digital library for biodiversity literature and archives. A global consortium of over 660 contributors, BHL has made more …

blog.biodiversitylibrary.org

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Reposted by nicky nicolson

Isabel @isabelott.bsky.social · Apr 24

Oh no - I use BHL collections multiple times a week for my work 😭 it’s open access & the only place the old American Mosquito Control Association journal (Mosquito News) are kept, with a ton of work on disease vector surveillance, ecology, their pathogens, you name it. God.

a grassland chase 🌾🌾🌾🌾 @chasesolidago.bsky.social · Apr 24

In addition to EVERY-FUCKING-THING ELSE

The most vital of tools, the Biodiversity Heritage Library, is apparently homed at the Smithsonian. For obv reasons, the Smithsonian cannot retain it

For free, you can access biodiversity-related texts going back to the 1400s!

www.biodiversitylibrary.org

About the Biodiversity Heritage Library

The Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) is the world’s largest open access digital library for biodiversity literature and archives. BHL is revolutionizing global research by providing free, worldwide access to knowledge about life on Earth.

To document Earth’s species and understand the complexities of swiftly-changing ecosystems in the midst of a major extinction crisis and widespread climate change, researchers need something that no single library can provide — access to the world’s collective knowledge about biodiversity. While natural history books and archives contain information that is critical to studying biodiversity, much of this material is available in only a handful of libraries globally. Scientists have long considered this lack of access to biodiversity literature as a major impediment to the efficiency of scientific research.

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Reposted by nicky nicolson

mlichtenberg.bsky.social @mlichtenberg.bsky.social · Apr 23

The most meaningful work of my career has been the 17.5 years I have spent with the Biodiversity Heritage Library. Now BHL faces new challenges, and seeks funding and support. Please share this message, and reach out if you can help.

#ILoveBHL

Biodiversity Heritage Library @biodivlibrary.bsky.social · Apr 22

Change is in the air for BHL! In 2026, BHL hosting will transition away from the Smithsonian, opening doors to reimagine our future. Rest assured, our 63 million pages of biodiversity knowledge remain secure and accessible.
Learn what's next for BHL ➡️

A New Future for the Biodiversity Heritage Library

The Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) is the world’s largest open access digital library for biodiversity literature and archives. A global consortium of over 660 contributors, BHL has made more …

blog.biodiversitylibrary.org

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Reposted by nicky nicolson

Biodiversity Heritage Library @biodivlibrary.bsky.social · Apr 22

Today we celebrate the incredible biodiversity of our planet – and the power of #OpenAccess to protect it. The Biodiversity Heritage Library makes over 62 million pages of biodiversity knowledge freely available to all. 🔗 biodiversitylibrary.org
#EarthDay #EarthDay2025 #Biodiversity #BHLib

A screenshot of the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) website homepage

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nicky nicolson @nickynicolson.bsky.social · Mar 24

You're a braver man than me! I'm not sure could re-read #ProphetSong

nicky nicolson @nickynicolson.bsky.social · Mar 24

😱 ...do you think that we should try to compile a dataset of extreme variations to test AI identification approaches?

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nicky nicolson @nickynicolson.bsky.social · Mar 21

Thanks! Are any of this group going to the @softwaresaved.bsky.social collaborations workshop this year? Maybe we could catch up there if so

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Andrew Porter @retropz.bsky.social · Mar 21

Last few days to apply #Metascience post @uniofmanchester.bsky.social working with James Bird, @naubertbonn.bsky.social, Prof Andrew Stewart & me to investigate opportunities and barriers in deploying Electronic Research Notebooks (ERNs)

www.jobs.manchester.ac.uk/Job/JobDetai...

#ELN #OpenResearch

Text reads: We are recruiting a Research Associate for an exciting UKRI Metascience project

Support researchers in moving from traditional methods of recording research......to digital-first Electronic Research Notebooks......enhancing data sharing, FAIR principles, re-use and collaboration

Images show a person writing in physical notebook, holding a tablet computer while wearing lab gloves, and a big image of a blue 'share' button on a computer keyboard

Apply by 24th March, Job reference: SAE-028173

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nicky nicolson @nickynicolson.bsky.social · Mar 21

Good luck with your recruitment!
Is there anywhere I can read more about the ERN project? This seems pretty relevant for how working practices are evolving in taxonomy as our specimens and literature are digitised

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Software Sustainability Institute @softwaresaved.bsky.social · Mar 20

👥 If you have written software, code or scripts for research purposes and are from an underrepresented group in research software, we would like to hear from you! Find out how to get involved in our inclusive RSE study at www.software.ac.uk/news/partici...

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nicky nicolson @nickynicolson.bsky.social · Mar 7

💪 An anti-acknowledgement:
"No thank you to the people who have called me scary instead of strong and intimidating instead of intelligent"

Adriana Guatame-García @adrianaguatame.bsky.social · Mar 6

A friend included this anti-acknowledgement section on her PhD thesis. She also added the proposition: “Systematic bullying and undermining of girls and women in STEM starts early on and is the reason why they do not stay in science and related fields.”
Absurd we still need to go through this
🧪👩‍🔬

There have been people less than helpful in my journey here. I wanted to acknowledge those too, bc I know I am not unique in this experience.
No thank you to the physics study assoc that made me sing songs about how women couldn't study physics without sleeping with the professor, the day I stepped into university life. No thank you to the 5th year physics student that decided to assign me a stripper name within the first minute of meeting me in the physics coffee corner in my first year. No thank you to the technician that was responsible for onboarding me on the use of the cluster in my third year who raised his eyebrows and asked me if that meant I was some sort of computer girl. No thank you to the senior researcher that sent me utterly inappropriate texts after a conference, then proceeded to apologise months later by telling me they had not been meant for me anyway so no hard feelings remain hopefully And no thank you to him for attending every conference I've been to since. No thank you to the people who told me that it was surprising that I was doing a PhD since I was a girl. No thank you to the man who mistook me for a coffee lady at a conference, and after having to correct him two times that I did not work there, responded with you should consider it. No thank you to the researcher that asked me what I was wearing underneath my outfit during a conference. No thank you to the physicist who declared to a room full of other physicists that biologists don't know how to design an experiment. No thank you to the people who have called me scary instead of strong and intimidating instead of intelligent.
And finally, no thank you to the exec board of the TU Delft, whose knee-jerk reaction to being held up a mirror about the social safety at the university, was to sue the party holding up the mirror instead of looking at the problems they highlighted.
... You have made me feel like I do not belong in science & I cannot forgive you for that.

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nicky nicolson @nickynicolson.bsky.social · Mar 5

👀 @bionomia.net

Julian Fietkau @fietkau.me · Mar 4

I'm finally unveiling the #activitypub project that has been consuming my weekends: Encyclia, an #orcid bridge that will make ORCID records followable and interactable on the fediverse. 🙂

It's early-stage and the ORCID following function is not publicly available yet. We're seeking community […]

Original post on fietkau.social

fietkau.social

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nicky nicolson @nickynicolson.bsky.social · Feb 21

Specifically plantsearch: www.bgci.org/resources/bg...

PlantSearch | Botanic Gardens Conservation International

BGCI’s PlantSearch database is the only global database of plant taxa in botanic gardens and similar organizations.

www.bgci.org

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nicky nicolson @nickynicolson.bsky.social · Feb 21

Have you tried BGCI? www.bgci.org

BGCI | Botanic Gardens Conservation International

BGCI’s work aims to promote and develop a more efficient, cost effective and rational approach to plant conservation in botanic gardens.

www.bgci.org

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Reposted by nicky nicolson

GBIF @gbif.org · Feb 13

Session and workshop submission deadline extended for #LivingData2025! ⏰

📌New deadline: Friday 14 February 23:59 GMT-5

🔗www.livingdata2025.c...

#DatosVivos2025

@tdwg.org @gbif.org #OBIS @geobon.org BON #InstitutoHumboldt

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David Beavan @davidbeavan.bsky.social · Feb 13

Want cutting-edge digital research? Then you want Research Software Engineering. Only a couple of days left to contribute to the evidence base for Research Software Engineering and the impact it brings

David Beavan @davidbeavan.bsky.social · Feb 5

🚨 Calling all who care about digital research! 🚨 Share examples of the impact Research Software Engineering or RSEs have had on (your) research. Help us build an evidence base and a bright future for the field. Deadline: Fri, 14 Feb ⏰. Share & spread the word! 🙌 forms.office.com/Pages/Respon...

Microsoft Forms

forms.office.com

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