Nirodha Weeraratne
@nirodhaweeraratne.bsky.social
1.2K followers
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PostDoc π©πΎβπ¬ π¬π¦ 𧫠ππβπ« πΎ
Plant-soil-microbial interactions & tertiary education in agriculture.
#fungi #bacteria #microbiomes #biofilms
#bioinoculants #biocontrol #biopesticides
π±π° π¦πΊ 1stGen π©πΎβπΎπ©βπ¦π multicultural foodie, language nerd, movie buff, thalassophile.
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In honour of spooky month, share a 4 word horror story that only someone in your profession would understand.
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"The chancellor approved it"
Reposted by Nirodha Weeraratne
Reposted by Nirodha Weeraratne
Reposted by Nirodha Weeraratne
Reposted by Nirodha Weeraratne
Reposted by Nirodha Weeraratne
Matthias C. Rillig
@mrillig.bsky.social
Β· Sep 20
Microplastics and antibiotics in agricultural soil: mechanisms and implications of co-contamination
The co-contamination of agricultural soils by microplastics (MPs), antibiotics, and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) is an emerging environmental coβ¦
www.sciencedirect.com
Reposted by Nirodha Weeraratne
Reposted by Nirodha Weeraratne
Reposted by Nirodha Weeraratne
![In Australia we are seeing the results of running universities like businesses without adequate governance: wage theft from staff, fee theft from students, and the academic equivalent of shrinkflation. Students pay more but get less. Face-to-face teaching is reduced, final exams are replaced by group assignments, and the bulk of teaching is done by poorly paid sessional staff on short-term contracts with no security or career path. This is not business efficiency; it is exploitation dressed up as managerial necessity.
Meanwhile, senior management itself lacks the kinds of incentives that would exist in genuine businesses. Many university leaders
[https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/university-boss-got-a-240k-pay-rise-over-three-years-
20250902-p5mrth] are on five-year contracts with no continuing role once their term is up. In the corporate world, executives would hold stock or be awarded options, giving them a direct stake in the long-term performance of the enterprise. In universities, by contrast, vice chancellors and deputy vice chancellors often move on before the costs of their decisions materialise. They capture the prestige of announcing grand initiatives but rarely face the consequences when those initiatives fail.
The net result is the worst of both worlds. Universities invoke the rhetoric of business discipline, but they lack the governance structures that give that discipline bite. They operate without the checks that private ownership provides, yet subject staff and students to the cost-cutting and efficiency drives that profit-maximising firms pursue. The result is waste at the top and insecurity at the](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:e3cdplwwzze2etym25zuy6ks/bafkreifpsnslkzxaa2upznr5a623xfqwabftri7rkbhv5auervyzoxa4oq@jpeg)
