Hannah McGovern 🐟
@hannahmcgx.bsky.social
PhD student at Royal Holloway 🐟🌴 little fish in a big oil-polluted pond 🐠
Pinned
Hi there! I'm Hannah, a PhD student at @royalholloway.bsky.social studying the #ecology and #evolution of guppies in oil-polluted waters in Trinidad 🐠🇹🇹 I look at freshwater ecology, rapid adaptation, and have even begun dipping my toe into genomics (scary stuff!🫣)
nothing wrong with tangled tape measures and string transects 😂😭 #leafcounterandproud
October 29, 2025 at 5:07 PM
nothing wrong with tangled tape measures and string transects 😂😭 #leafcounterandproud
First of the two @rhulbiology.bsky.social presentations at today's @ceevol.bsky.social Autumn Symposium is by @hannahmcgx.bsky.social who presents her PhD work on effects of oil pollution on guppy colouration
September 19, 2025 at 1:39 PM
jogging round uni of reading campus this morning, had to stop to check out the wildlife -so many butterflies in a patch of long grass left unmown over the summer! just goes to show how something as easy as not cutting the grass can help nature 🌾🦋🌻
July 11, 2025 at 1:55 PM
jogging round uni of reading campus this morning, had to stop to check out the wildlife -so many butterflies in a patch of long grass left unmown over the summer! just goes to show how something as easy as not cutting the grass can help nature 🌾🦋🌻
Flying over Caroni Swamp on the first leg of our 18hr journey home. After a month of floods, sweat and (occasional) tears this years field season is at an end 😢 But the experiences we've had, wildlife we've seen and people we've met have made this trip truly unforgettable 💙🏝️🐟 Thank you Trinidad!!!
June 18, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Flying over Caroni Swamp on the first leg of our 18hr journey home. After a month of floods, sweat and (occasional) tears this years field season is at an end 😢 But the experiences we've had, wildlife we've seen and people we've met have made this trip truly unforgettable 💙🏝️🐟 Thank you Trinidad!!!
halfway through fieldwork already! time flies when you're catching smallfry🐟🐟🐟 guppy gang in the pitch lake + surrounding waterways catching fish and exploring the gooeylogical features of the largest asphalt lake in the world
May 30, 2025 at 4:01 PM
halfway through fieldwork already! time flies when you're catching smallfry🐟🐟🐟 guppy gang in the pitch lake + surrounding waterways catching fish and exploring the gooeylogical features of the largest asphalt lake in the world
repping RHUL at caroni swamp 🇹🇹🦩🐊 spectacled caiman, flamingos, scarlet ibis and silky anteaters ... it's not only guppies on this field trip!
May 21, 2025 at 11:53 PM
repping RHUL at caroni swamp 🇹🇹🦩🐊 spectacled caiman, flamingos, scarlet ibis and silky anteaters ... it's not only guppies on this field trip!
first day of fieldwork complete! got a little too up close and personal with the pitch lake water (you can really feel the upwelling) but overall success ✨🐟🌎
May 19, 2025 at 4:54 PM
first day of fieldwork complete! got a little too up close and personal with the pitch lake water (you can really feel the upwelling) but overall success ✨🐟🌎
@evolecollab.bsky.social lab cleaned up at the RHUL biology PGR symposium 🐟💪 best MSc talk (Ella) + runner up (Rebecca) and best PhD poster (yours truly)😎
May 13, 2025 at 8:00 PM
@evolecollab.bsky.social lab cleaned up at the RHUL biology PGR symposium 🐟💪 best MSc talk (Ella) + runner up (Rebecca) and best PhD poster (yours truly)😎
Reposted by Hannah McGovern 🐟
I put way too much effort into this, but I think it scans
February 7, 2025 at 2:45 PM
I put way too much effort into this, but I think it scans
sending this to my old landlord who threatened the deposit if we didnt mow the lawn before moving out 💪👊
New paper🚨
Using the UK MoJ prison sites as a case study, we show that reducing lawn mowing frequencies to between 6-12 weeks increases pollinator abundance by 170% 🐝🦋 in urban and suburban building complexes
doi.org/10.52201/CEJ22/YGEL5296
A simple message to help #pollinators
Using the UK MoJ prison sites as a case study, we show that reducing lawn mowing frequencies to between 6-12 weeks increases pollinator abundance by 170% 🐝🦋 in urban and suburban building complexes
doi.org/10.52201/CEJ22/YGEL5296
A simple message to help #pollinators
- Conservation Evidence
doi.org
January 9, 2025 at 5:39 PM
sending this to my old landlord who threatened the deposit if we didnt mow the lawn before moving out 💪👊
considering the state of our rivers this is not at all surprising, though still incredibly depressing 😟 the decline of freshwater habitats may not be as visually dramatic as something like coral bleaching or deforestation but it is still just as significant for global biodiversity 🐟
A detailed extinction risk assessment of freshwater fauna, covering more than 23,000 species, reveals that around 24% of the studied species are threatened with extinction. The analysis identifies major threats from pollution, dams, agriculture and invasive species.
www.nature.com/articles/s41... 🧪
www.nature.com/articles/s41... 🧪
One-quarter of freshwater fauna threatened with extinction - Nature
A global multi-taxon extinction risk assessment of freshwater fauna for The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species finds one-quarter of species to be at high risk of extinction.
www.nature.com
January 9, 2025 at 5:35 PM
considering the state of our rivers this is not at all surprising, though still incredibly depressing 😟 the decline of freshwater habitats may not be as visually dramatic as something like coral bleaching or deforestation but it is still just as significant for global biodiversity 🐟
Reposted by Hannah McGovern 🐟
Scientists!
We are trying to get 1000 of us into the volunteer database by Jan 1.
You'll be volunteering to speak with classrooms over video chat about your work, and answer their questions! You can volunteer for up to 5 sessions per semester.
Sign up here! www.skypeascientist.com/sign-up.html
We are trying to get 1000 of us into the volunteer database by Jan 1.
You'll be volunteering to speak with classrooms over video chat about your work, and answer their questions! You can volunteer for up to 5 sessions per semester.
Sign up here! www.skypeascientist.com/sign-up.html
December 30, 2024 at 5:00 PM
Scientists!
We are trying to get 1000 of us into the volunteer database by Jan 1.
You'll be volunteering to speak with classrooms over video chat about your work, and answer their questions! You can volunteer for up to 5 sessions per semester.
Sign up here! www.skypeascientist.com/sign-up.html
We are trying to get 1000 of us into the volunteer database by Jan 1.
You'll be volunteering to speak with classrooms over video chat about your work, and answer their questions! You can volunteer for up to 5 sessions per semester.
Sign up here! www.skypeascientist.com/sign-up.html
Reposted by Hannah McGovern 🐟
interesting case study where an offshore wind farm appears to have actually protected marine mammals by setting back vessel traffic and creating a de facto no-fishing zone:
🦑 🌍
🦑 🌍
1/ Do Norfolk's growing grey seal colonies suggest an unexpected biodiversity benefit from renewables infrastructure?
"Wilson and Sayer speculate that more seals are breeding on the east coast because offshore windfarms may have provided a new footing there for underwater vegetation,..."
"Wilson and Sayer speculate that more seals are breeding on the east coast because offshore windfarms may have provided a new footing there for underwater vegetation,..."
‘Britain’s wildlife safari’: baby boom in Norfolk as seal colonies flourish
Grey seals are growing in numbers on England’s east coast as a result of environmental safe havens and cleaner North Sea waters
www.theguardian.com
December 26, 2024 at 11:28 PM
interesting case study where an offshore wind farm appears to have actually protected marine mammals by setting back vessel traffic and creating a de facto no-fishing zone:
🦑 🌍
🦑 🌍
Reposted by Hannah McGovern 🐟
X is for... eXtinct
The Slender billed Curlew was declared globally extinct this year. 1st mainland European #bird to go extinct in half a millennium
'The last New Moon' Slender billed curlew is by textile artist, Angela Knapp.
Inspired by Horatio Clare's 'Orison for a Curlew'
#alphabetbirds 🪶
The Slender billed Curlew was declared globally extinct this year. 1st mainland European #bird to go extinct in half a millennium
'The last New Moon' Slender billed curlew is by textile artist, Angela Knapp.
Inspired by Horatio Clare's 'Orison for a Curlew'
#alphabetbirds 🪶
December 23, 2024 at 7:08 AM
X is for... eXtinct
The Slender billed Curlew was declared globally extinct this year. 1st mainland European #bird to go extinct in half a millennium
'The last New Moon' Slender billed curlew is by textile artist, Angela Knapp.
Inspired by Horatio Clare's 'Orison for a Curlew'
#alphabetbirds 🪶
The Slender billed Curlew was declared globally extinct this year. 1st mainland European #bird to go extinct in half a millennium
'The last New Moon' Slender billed curlew is by textile artist, Angela Knapp.
Inspired by Horatio Clare's 'Orison for a Curlew'
#alphabetbirds 🪶
food for thought👀and also by global standards even those of us on relatively low UK wages are still within the top % of consumers. fruit and veg in all seasons, new outfits, brand new tech etc are all luxury items that we can now access whenever we want and this does come at a cost 😔
Clearly, then, we need to focus on high-expenditure consumers. Without changing their behaviour, effectively addressing our overshoot of planetary boundaries will be much more challenging.
predirections.substack.com/p/the-wealth...
predirections.substack.com/p/the-wealth...
December 18, 2024 at 2:47 PM
food for thought👀and also by global standards even those of us on relatively low UK wages are still within the top % of consumers. fruit and veg in all seasons, new outfits, brand new tech etc are all luxury items that we can now access whenever we want and this does come at a cost 😔
I knew walking around with nice looking leaves in my pocket would eventually come in handy
December 15, 2024 at 6:29 PM
I knew walking around with nice looking leaves in my pocket would eventually come in handy
Reposted by Hannah McGovern 🐟
Very excited to be @britishecolsoc.bsky.social #BES2024! Like behaviour, frogs, captive management for conservation? Come and see my poster at A2.1 at 18:00 TODAY! Also seeking machine learning expertise - come and chat if that’s your thing! 🐸
December 11, 2024 at 2:57 PM
Very excited to be @britishecolsoc.bsky.social #BES2024! Like behaviour, frogs, captive management for conservation? Come and see my poster at A2.1 at 18:00 TODAY! Also seeking machine learning expertise - come and chat if that’s your thing! 🐸
Reposted by Hannah McGovern 🐟
Hey there! I’m Grace, a PhD student at @qmul.ac.uk, studying the impacts of large herbivores in rewilded areas🍃🐂 I’m looking at #geomorphology, #ecology and even some #remotesensing 🏞️
December 11, 2024 at 3:02 PM
Hey there! I’m Grace, a PhD student at @qmul.ac.uk, studying the impacts of large herbivores in rewilded areas🍃🐂 I’m looking at #geomorphology, #ecology and even some #remotesensing 🏞️
why do guppies keep colonising oil polluted habitats and how is this affecting their ecology? is oil pollution all bad*? come find out at the #bes2024 poster session this evening!
(*it is yeah)
(*it is yeah)
December 11, 2024 at 2:53 PM
why do guppies keep colonising oil polluted habitats and how is this affecting their ecology? is oil pollution all bad*? come find out at the #bes2024 poster session this evening!
(*it is yeah)
(*it is yeah)
Pitch Lake in Trinidad, the worlds biggest asphalt lake. the water on the surface is full of toxic sulphur + hydrocarbons, but still supports a diverse wetland ecosystem 🐟🪿we've been looking at community composition to see whats going on under the surface 🌊
December 8, 2024 at 9:46 PM
Pitch Lake in Trinidad, the worlds biggest asphalt lake. the water on the surface is full of toxic sulphur + hydrocarbons, but still supports a diverse wetland ecosystem 🐟🪿we've been looking at community composition to see whats going on under the surface 🌊
Hi there! I'm Hannah, a PhD student at @royalholloway.bsky.social studying the #ecology and #evolution of guppies in oil-polluted waters in Trinidad 🐠🇹🇹 I look at freshwater ecology, rapid adaptation, and have even begun dipping my toe into genomics (scary stuff!🫣)
December 6, 2024 at 9:40 PM
Hi there! I'm Hannah, a PhD student at @royalholloway.bsky.social studying the #ecology and #evolution of guppies in oil-polluted waters in Trinidad 🐠🇹🇹 I look at freshwater ecology, rapid adaptation, and have even begun dipping my toe into genomics (scary stuff!🫣)