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, 🇵🇱 in 🇬🇧.
#AcademicSky 🧪
I write books, buy them!
https://linktr.ee/jbagniewska
Fellow at @kelloggoxford.bsky.social
Zoologist, science communicator, 🇵🇱 in 🇬🇧.
#AcademicSky 🧪
I write books, buy them!
https://linktr.ee/jbagniewska
Paid summer research internships in Oxford! Work with me on biodiversity in school grounds (or with someone else on another project).
🧪 #UNIQplus is open to UK undergraduates from under-represented and disadvantaged backgrounds.
📆 Applications due 18 Feb:
www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/g...
🌍 #AcademicSky
🧪 #UNIQplus is open to UK undergraduates from under-represented and disadvantaged backgrounds.
📆 Applications due 18 Feb:
www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/g...
🌍 #AcademicSky
January 14, 2026 at 10:19 AM
Paid summer research internships in Oxford! Work with me on biodiversity in school grounds (or with someone else on another project).
🧪 #UNIQplus is open to UK undergraduates from under-represented and disadvantaged backgrounds.
📆 Applications due 18 Feb:
www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/g...
🌍 #AcademicSky
🧪 #UNIQplus is open to UK undergraduates from under-represented and disadvantaged backgrounds.
📆 Applications due 18 Feb:
www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/g...
🌍 #AcademicSky
🐻💙🐻❄️
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.
🧪🌍
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.
🧪🌍
January 13, 2026 at 2:45 PM
🐻💙🐻❄️
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.
🧪🌍
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.
🧪🌍
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.
🧪
Earlier egg laying with greater oak availability.
🧪
December 17, 2025 at 12:14 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.
🧪
Earlier egg laying with greater oak availability.
🧪
Are you at #BES2025 @britishecologicalsociety.org Annual Meeting?
Come and say hi to the ecology team from @oxlifelonglearning.bsky.social!
#biodiversity #academicSky 🧪🌏🦊
Come and say hi to the ecology team from @oxlifelonglearning.bsky.social!
#biodiversity #academicSky 🧪🌏🦊
December 16, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Are you at #BES2025 @britishecologicalsociety.org Annual Meeting?
Come and say hi to the ecology team from @oxlifelonglearning.bsky.social!
#biodiversity #academicSky 🧪🌏🦊
Come and say hi to the ecology team from @oxlifelonglearning.bsky.social!
#biodiversity #academicSky 🧪🌏🦊
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!
🧪 #academicsky 🌍
@drnickworsfold.bsky.social
🧪 #academicsky 🌍
@drnickworsfold.bsky.social
December 15, 2025 at 11:07 AM
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!
🧪 #academicsky 🌍
@drnickworsfold.bsky.social
🧪 #academicsky 🌍
@drnickworsfold.bsky.social
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.
🧪🐈☕🐾
Research: doi.org/10.1292/jvms...
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.
🧪🐈☕🐾
Research: doi.org/10.1292/jvms...
December 12, 2025 at 3:27 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.
🧪🐈☕🐾
Research: doi.org/10.1292/jvms...
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.
🧪🐈☕🐾
Research: doi.org/10.1292/jvms...
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.
🧪🪶🍄
www.birdsonthebrink.co.uk/blog/botb-gr...
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.
🧪🪶🍄
www.birdsonthebrink.co.uk/blog/botb-gr...
December 5, 2025 at 4:25 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.
🧪🪶🍄
www.birdsonthebrink.co.uk/blog/botb-gr...
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.
🧪🪶🍄
www.birdsonthebrink.co.uk/blog/botb-gr...
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/...
🧪🌍🐾🍯
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/...
🧪🌍🐾🍯
December 4, 2025 at 2:49 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/...
🧪🌍🐾🍯
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/...
🧪🌍🐾🍯
🔊What 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".
🧪🌍🦎
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".
🧪🌍🦎
December 3, 2025 at 2:24 PM
🔊What 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".
🧪🌍🦎
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".
🧪🌍🦎
The Communicating Scientist strikes again!
Before engaging in any sort of communication - speaking, writing, visuals - ask yourself:
🎯What is your purpose?
👤Who is your audience?
⚠️What are your constraints?
This is the foundation for tailoring your messages and approaches.
#AcademicSky #Scicomm 🧪
Before engaging in any sort of communication - speaking, writing, visuals - ask yourself:
🎯What is your purpose?
👤Who is your audience?
⚠️What are your constraints?
This is the foundation for tailoring your messages and approaches.
#AcademicSky #Scicomm 🧪
December 1, 2025 at 4:23 PM
The Communicating Scientist strikes again!
Before engaging in any sort of communication - speaking, writing, visuals - ask yourself:
🎯What is your purpose?
👤Who is your audience?
⚠️What are your constraints?
This is the foundation for tailoring your messages and approaches.
#AcademicSky #Scicomm 🧪
Before engaging in any sort of communication - speaking, writing, visuals - ask yourself:
🎯What is your purpose?
👤Who is your audience?
⚠️What are your constraints?
This is the foundation for tailoring your messages and approaches.
#AcademicSky #Scicomm 🧪
And a composite image from the paper, showing kitties hunting invertebrates.
🧪🌍🐈🪲
🧪🌍🐈🪲
November 21, 2025 at 2:31 PM
And a composite image from the paper, showing kitties hunting invertebrates.
🧪🌍🐈🪲
🧪🌍🐈🪲
💋 Kissing is unhygienic and has no obvious reproductive benefits - but it evolved ~21 million years ago, and stuck with most great apes until today.
🧪 In fact, paper by @matildabrindle.bsky.social shows that Neanderthals and humans probably kissed each other.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
🧪 In fact, paper by @matildabrindle.bsky.social shows that Neanderthals and humans probably kissed each other.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
November 19, 2025 at 3:11 PM
💋 Kissing is unhygienic and has no obvious reproductive benefits - but it evolved ~21 million years ago, and stuck with most great apes until today.
🧪 In fact, paper by @matildabrindle.bsky.social shows that Neanderthals and humans probably kissed each other.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
🧪 In fact, paper by @matildabrindle.bsky.social shows that Neanderthals and humans probably kissed each other.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
November 14, 2025 at 5:39 PM
🐝New species of Australian bee just dropped! 🐝
It was found during surveys of the critically endangered wildflower Marianthus aquilonarius.
Megachile lucifer is named because of the "demon-like horns" of the female.
🧪Discovery by Kit Prendergast and Joshua Campbell:
jhr.pensoft.net/article/1663...
It was found during surveys of the critically endangered wildflower Marianthus aquilonarius.
Megachile lucifer is named because of the "demon-like horns" of the female.
🧪Discovery by Kit Prendergast and Joshua Campbell:
jhr.pensoft.net/article/1663...
November 12, 2025 at 5:20 PM
🐝New species of Australian bee just dropped! 🐝
It was found during surveys of the critically endangered wildflower Marianthus aquilonarius.
Megachile lucifer is named because of the "demon-like horns" of the female.
🧪Discovery by Kit Prendergast and Joshua Campbell:
jhr.pensoft.net/article/1663...
It was found during surveys of the critically endangered wildflower Marianthus aquilonarius.
Megachile lucifer is named because of the "demon-like horns" of the female.
🧪Discovery by Kit Prendergast and Joshua Campbell:
jhr.pensoft.net/article/1663...
🐀Male and female rats like to be tickled differently - males prefer rougher play.
🤣How do we know? Rats produce ultrasonic giggles that can be monitored with a bat detector.
🧪Why is this relevant? To improve lab animal welfare.
Ah, to tickle rats for a living...♥️
f1000research.com/articles/14-...
🤣How do we know? Rats produce ultrasonic giggles that can be monitored with a bat detector.
🧪Why is this relevant? To improve lab animal welfare.
Ah, to tickle rats for a living...♥️
f1000research.com/articles/14-...
November 11, 2025 at 1:44 PM
🐀Male and female rats like to be tickled differently - males prefer rougher play.
🤣How do we know? Rats produce ultrasonic giggles that can be monitored with a bat detector.
🧪Why is this relevant? To improve lab animal welfare.
Ah, to tickle rats for a living...♥️
f1000research.com/articles/14-...
🤣How do we know? Rats produce ultrasonic giggles that can be monitored with a bat detector.
🧪Why is this relevant? To improve lab animal welfare.
Ah, to tickle rats for a living...♥️
f1000research.com/articles/14-...
Love elephants?
Love fantastic speakers?
Then come to the @oxon-mammal-group.bsky.social seminar, Mon Nov 10, 7pm at @morethanadodo.bsky.social.
@redmondi.bsky.social will talk about elephants, biodiversity and climate change - don't miss it.
🧪 🐘 #oxford
Love fantastic speakers?
Then come to the @oxon-mammal-group.bsky.social seminar, Mon Nov 10, 7pm at @morethanadodo.bsky.social.
@redmondi.bsky.social will talk about elephants, biodiversity and climate change - don't miss it.
🧪 🐘 #oxford
November 6, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Love elephants?
Love fantastic speakers?
Then come to the @oxon-mammal-group.bsky.social seminar, Mon Nov 10, 7pm at @morethanadodo.bsky.social.
@redmondi.bsky.social will talk about elephants, biodiversity and climate change - don't miss it.
🧪 🐘 #oxford
Love fantastic speakers?
Then come to the @oxon-mammal-group.bsky.social seminar, Mon Nov 10, 7pm at @morethanadodo.bsky.social.
@redmondi.bsky.social will talk about elephants, biodiversity and climate change - don't miss it.
🧪 🐘 #oxford
"A short-legged ground roller catches a pimple-nose chameleon" - my teenage insecurities rolled into one wildlife photo.
🧪 🐦 🦎
🧪 🐦 🦎
November 4, 2025 at 2:27 PM
"A short-legged ground roller catches a pimple-nose chameleon" - my teenage insecurities rolled into one wildlife photo.
🧪 🐦 🦎
🧪 🐦 🦎
Denmark: turning diplomacy into DUPLOmacy.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelaty was gifted a LEGO set of the Great Pyramid of Giza by the Danish Foreign Minister during his visit for the Grand Egyptian Museum's opening.
Look how happy he is.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelaty was gifted a LEGO set of the Great Pyramid of Giza by the Danish Foreign Minister during his visit for the Grand Egyptian Museum's opening.
Look how happy he is.
November 3, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Denmark: turning diplomacy into DUPLOmacy.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelaty was gifted a LEGO set of the Great Pyramid of Giza by the Danish Foreign Minister during his visit for the Grand Egyptian Museum's opening.
Look how happy he is.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelaty was gifted a LEGO set of the Great Pyramid of Giza by the Danish Foreign Minister during his visit for the Grand Egyptian Museum's opening.
Look how happy he is.
My Oxford-o-meter is reaching its maximum: apart from lecturing at @oxlifelonglearning.bsky.social, I'm now also a fellow at @kelloggoxford.bsky.social.
Wohoo!
www.kellogg.ox.ac.uk/our-people/j...
#Oxford #AcademicSky
Wohoo!
www.kellogg.ox.ac.uk/our-people/j...
#Oxford #AcademicSky
November 3, 2025 at 1:46 PM
My Oxford-o-meter is reaching its maximum: apart from lecturing at @oxlifelonglearning.bsky.social, I'm now also a fellow at @kelloggoxford.bsky.social.
Wohoo!
www.kellogg.ox.ac.uk/our-people/j...
#Oxford #AcademicSky
Wohoo!
www.kellogg.ox.ac.uk/our-people/j...
#Oxford #AcademicSky
Halloween is nearing, and Serious Academics need to celebrate.
Here's the @oxlifelonglearning.bsky.social undead team - @tomrocksmaths.bsky.social, @jonathanhealey.bsky.social and myself - doing what academics do best: ghosting you.
👻🎃
🧪 #AcademicSky
Here's the @oxlifelonglearning.bsky.social undead team - @tomrocksmaths.bsky.social, @jonathanhealey.bsky.social and myself - doing what academics do best: ghosting you.
👻🎃
🧪 #AcademicSky
October 27, 2025 at 1:08 PM
Halloween is nearing, and Serious Academics need to celebrate.
Here's the @oxlifelonglearning.bsky.social undead team - @tomrocksmaths.bsky.social, @jonathanhealey.bsky.social and myself - doing what academics do best: ghosting you.
👻🎃
🧪 #AcademicSky
Here's the @oxlifelonglearning.bsky.social undead team - @tomrocksmaths.bsky.social, @jonathanhealey.bsky.social and myself - doing what academics do best: ghosting you.
👻🎃
🧪 #AcademicSky
Hot wings coming up! - i.e., brown rats hunt bats IN FLIGHT.
🐀🦇🍴
While this has serious conservation implications for urban bats, I can't help but be amazed by the rats' dexterity and adaptability.
Full paper by @berlinbatlab.bsky.social here:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... 🧪🌍🦊
🐀🦇🍴
While this has serious conservation implications for urban bats, I can't help but be amazed by the rats' dexterity and adaptability.
Full paper by @berlinbatlab.bsky.social here:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... 🧪🌍🦊
October 22, 2025 at 1:16 PM
Hot wings coming up! - i.e., brown rats hunt bats IN FLIGHT.
🐀🦇🍴
While this has serious conservation implications for urban bats, I can't help but be amazed by the rats' dexterity and adaptability.
Full paper by @berlinbatlab.bsky.social here:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... 🧪🌍🦊
🐀🦇🍴
While this has serious conservation implications for urban bats, I can't help but be amazed by the rats' dexterity and adaptability.
Full paper by @berlinbatlab.bsky.social here:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... 🧪🌍🦊
In Oxford and love astronomy? Join me on Oct 29th, as I speak with @chrislintott.bsky.social about celestial bodies and citizen science.
All part of Hevelius Days in the @bodleian.ox.ac.uk. Free event, but booking is essential: visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/event/oct25/...
🧪🔭
All part of Hevelius Days in the @bodleian.ox.ac.uk. Free event, but booking is essential: visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/event/oct25/...
🧪🔭
October 17, 2025 at 10:42 AM
In Oxford and love astronomy? Join me on Oct 29th, as I speak with @chrislintott.bsky.social about celestial bodies and citizen science.
All part of Hevelius Days in the @bodleian.ox.ac.uk. Free event, but booking is essential: visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/event/oct25/...
🧪🔭
All part of Hevelius Days in the @bodleian.ox.ac.uk. Free event, but booking is essential: visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/event/oct25/...
🧪🔭
What can willy bones tell us about the sex lives of extinct bears?
I. arctoides could have had
🍆prolonged periods of intromission
♂️a multi-male mating system
🏠large home range sizes and/or lower population density.
Also, check out the size of panda bacula 🔍🐼🐻❄️🐻.
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
🧪🌍
I. arctoides could have had
🍆prolonged periods of intromission
♂️a multi-male mating system
🏠large home range sizes and/or lower population density.
Also, check out the size of panda bacula 🔍🐼🐻❄️🐻.
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
🧪🌍
October 15, 2025 at 1:16 PM
What can willy bones tell us about the sex lives of extinct bears?
I. arctoides could have had
🍆prolonged periods of intromission
♂️a multi-male mating system
🏠large home range sizes and/or lower population density.
Also, check out the size of panda bacula 🔍🐼🐻❄️🐻.
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
🧪🌍
I. arctoides could have had
🍆prolonged periods of intromission
♂️a multi-male mating system
🏠large home range sizes and/or lower population density.
Also, check out the size of panda bacula 🔍🐼🐻❄️🐻.
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
🧪🌍
Academics: We're overworked, underpaid and unappreciated.
Academics at @oxlifelonglearning.bsky.social: I spent the afternoon in a bedsheet, being a ghost.
That's it. That's what @tomrocksmaths.bsky.social, @jonathanhealey.bsky.social and I are paid to do. Things won't get better.
#AcademicSky
Academics at @oxlifelonglearning.bsky.social: I spent the afternoon in a bedsheet, being a ghost.
That's it. That's what @tomrocksmaths.bsky.social, @jonathanhealey.bsky.social and I are paid to do. Things won't get better.
#AcademicSky
October 9, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Academics: We're overworked, underpaid and unappreciated.
Academics at @oxlifelonglearning.bsky.social: I spent the afternoon in a bedsheet, being a ghost.
That's it. That's what @tomrocksmaths.bsky.social, @jonathanhealey.bsky.social and I are paid to do. Things won't get better.
#AcademicSky
Academics at @oxlifelonglearning.bsky.social: I spent the afternoon in a bedsheet, being a ghost.
That's it. That's what @tomrocksmaths.bsky.social, @jonathanhealey.bsky.social and I are paid to do. Things won't get better.
#AcademicSky
⚠️Losing Nemo: Almost all aquarium fish in the US are caught in the wild⚠️
"Across all platforms and 13 popular fish taxonomic families, we found 734 unique species for sale, 89.2% (655 species) of which were sourced exclusively from the wild."
🧪🐠🌍
conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
"Across all platforms and 13 popular fish taxonomic families, we found 734 unique species for sale, 89.2% (655 species) of which were sourced exclusively from the wild."
🧪🐠🌍
conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
October 9, 2025 at 2:00 PM
⚠️Losing Nemo: Almost all aquarium fish in the US are caught in the wild⚠️
"Across all platforms and 13 popular fish taxonomic families, we found 734 unique species for sale, 89.2% (655 species) of which were sourced exclusively from the wild."
🧪🐠🌍
conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
"Across all platforms and 13 popular fish taxonomic families, we found 734 unique species for sale, 89.2% (655 species) of which were sourced exclusively from the wild."
🧪🐠🌍
conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...