Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Matthew Holmes

@mattholmes.bsky.social

1.1K followers 290 following 21 posts

Historian of Science, Technology, and the Environment https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8498-3264 Author of "The Graft Hybrid: Challenging Twentieth-Century Genetics" @upittpress.bsky.social‬ #HistSTM #EnvHist #HistTech #AnimalHistory matthewrholmes.com

orcid.org

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Matthew Holmes @mattholmes.bsky.social · Mar 3

How did people in the 19thc decide if birds were intelligent? Find out in my new article "Avian architects: Technology, domestication, and animal minds in urban America" doi.org/10.1177/0073... (1/3)

A sparrow sitting on a ledge against the background of an American city.

2 16 46

Reposted by Matthew Holmes

Collection Ecologies @collecol.bsky.social · 14d

@collecol.bsky.social is back! 🪲

We've put together a great seminar series - we hope you'll come along!

On 2 Oct 11am EDT/4pm GMT we're doing a reading club - Appadurai's "The Museum, the Colony, and the Planet: Territories of the Imperial Imagination".

All info ⬇️ www.chstm.org/group/collec...

Collection Ecologies | Consortium for History of Science, Technology and Medicine

www.chstm.org

1 7 19

Reposted by Matthew Holmes

Dr. Penelope K Hardy @pkhardy.bsky.social · 15d

New on H-Sci-Med-Tech:

Check out Eric J. Richards (@btiscience.bsky.social)‬’s review of @mattholmes.bsky.social’s book _The Graft Hybrid: Challenging Twentieth-Century Genetics_ pub 2024 @upittpress.bsky.social
‬
#HSTM

Review available @hnetreviews.bsky.social
www.h-net.org/reviews/show...

3 2

Reposted by Matthew Holmes

Monica Vasile 🐾 @monicavasile.bsky.social · 18d

Had a really good time at the Planetary Futures conference in Manchester. Big thanks to wonderful organizers @sadiahqureshi.bsky.social, @duncanwilson78.bsky.social and presenters!

Snapshots from talks🧵
@mattholmes.bsky.social
@angecass.bsky.social
#envhist
#envhum
#histsci

Matt Holmes's presentation at the Planetary Futures conference at Manchester Museum

Angela Cassidy's presentation at the Planetary Futures conference at Manchester Museum on pests and coypu (aka nutria)

1 4 23

Reposted by Matthew Holmes

Dolly Jørgensen @dollyjorgensen.bsky.social · Aug 28

Join us Mon 1 Sept 2025 for @greenhouseuis.net #envhum book talk with @richardfallon.bsky.social on Contesting Earth’s History in Transatlantic Literary Culture 1860-1935: Believers & Visionaries on the Borderlines of Geology & Palaeontology (Oxford UP 2025).
newnatures.org/greenhouse/e...
#histsci

On left: purple flower and underneath Greenhouse Environmental Humanities Book Talks
On right: cover of the book Contesting Earth's History in Transatlantic Literary Culture, 1860-1935 with drawings of many animals and two naked people

14 27

Reposted by Matthew Holmes

Melina Antonia Buns @melinabuns.bsky.social · Aug 21

excited to share the call for the workshop

EXTRACTIVE NATURES / NATURES OF EXTRACTION

happening at @uobrisceh.bsky.social on 6-7 Nov 2025,
 made possible by the @britishacademy.bsky.social

deadline: 10 September!

full call below ⤵

#envhist #envhum

3 64 77

Reposted by Matthew Holmes

Sadiah Qureshi @sadiahqureshi.bsky.social · Aug 15

I have a horrible feeling I forgot to post that registration for this conference about extinction, conservation and the future of our planet is now open. We have an amazing range of speakers, who are listed here, alongside the link to register.

networks.h-net.org/group/announ...

4 15 15

Reposted by Matthew Holmes

Marianna Dudley @dudleymarianna.bsky.social · Aug 7

If you would like to review my book for a publication, get in touch! The book is a history of wind energy and I’m trying to get it out to as wide an audience as possible.

manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526182968/

Manchester University Press - Electric wind

Electric wind - Browse and buy the Paperback edition of Electric wind by Marianna Dudley

manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk

3 29 46

Reposted by Matthew Holmes

Raf De Bont 🟥 @rafdebont.bsky.social · Aug 1

Make sure to read @monicavasile.bsky.social's wonderful new article in Environmental Humanities - arguing we should think of reintroduction projects not as a form of 'homecoming', but as 'homemaking'. #MovingAnimals read.dukeupress.edu/environmenta...

Beyond Homecoming | Environmental Humanities | Duke University Press

read.dukeupress.edu

6 13

Reposted by Matthew Holmes

Society for the History of the Philosophy of Technology (HPT) @hptsociety.bsky.social · Jul 14

The Humanities and Technology Association (HTA) have published a Call for Papers for their 43rd annual Humanities and Technology Association Conference, held at Salve Regina University in Newport, Rhode Island from Oct. 23-25th, 2025.

1 4 5

Reposted by Matthew Holmes

Cambridge Collections Connections Communities @camglamresearch.bsky.social · Jul 10

What a great roundtable! @collecol.bsky.social!

Dr. Dominik Huenniger @dominikhhh.bsky.social · Jul 10

Had a fabulous time at #BSHS2025 @bshsnews.bsky.social . #HistSTM

So much on #museums , #collections , #envhist #HistNatHist . 😍

Great seeing friends & meeting new people. Esp. @camglamresearch.bsky.social

Thanks everyone for attending our @collecol.bsky.social roundtable. Join please:

Collection Ecologies | Consortium for History of Science, Technology and Medicine

www.chstm.org

1 4 9

Reposted by Matthew Holmes

Biodiversity Heritage Library @biodivlibrary.bsky.social · Jun 11

📢 The #BiodiversityHeritageLibrary is entering a bold new chapter – and we need your help! Today we release our official Call for Support. We’re seeking new hosts for BHL’s staff, infrastructure, and services. Learn more: blog.biodiversitylibrary.org/2025/06/tran... #BHLTransition #ILoveBHL

A red flower on a green stem withe the words: BHL Call for support now open overlayed.

2 86 85

Reposted by Matthew Holmes

ESEH – European Society for Environmental History @eseh.bsky.social · Jul 3

Please consider supporting the Biodiversity Heritage Library! #envhist #envhum

B. Ricardo Brown, PhD @node801.bsky.social · Jul 2

CALL FOR SUPPORT: Secure the Future of BHL
Following the Smithsonian Institution’s decision to conclude its long-standing role as BHL’s host on 1 January 2026.
#HistSTM #HistSci #Biodiversity #Ecology #EnvHist #NatHist #EnvironmentalStudies
about.biodiversitylibrary.org/call-for-sup...

12 15

Reposted by Matthew Holmes

Christoffer Basse Eriksen @cberiksen.bsky.social · Jun 28

I’m very happy to announce that I’ve been awarded an IRFD Starting Grant for the project “Sovereign Flowers: Flora Danica and the Emergence of the National Flora, 1750–1900.” Hooray! The project allows me to build a small research group of a PhD student and a postdoc at Aarhus University (@au.dk).

2 3 21

Reposted by Matthew Holmes

The Museum of English Rural Life (MERL) @themerl.bsky.social · Jun 26

Absolute Units returns!!!

In this ep, we speak to environmental historian @dollyjorgensen.bsky.social about her research into pigs in medieval England.

Topics include: taking your hogs for a walk, the Hapsburg chin of domestic pigs, Babe 2, and so much more.

merl.reading.ac.uk/explore/abso...

Absolute Units: three giant rams float over the English countryside.

10 100 450

Reposted by Matthew Holmes

Finn Arne Jørgensen @finnarne.me · Jun 20

Hey #histtech, can we dig up some suggestions here?

Margy Avery @mavery.bsky.social · Jun 19

@shothisttech.bsky.social Seeking a history of technology scholar on the history of shovels - any suggestions and/or recommendations would be appreciated. Thank you!

3 5 10

Reposted by Matthew Holmes

BSHS @bshsnews.bsky.social · Jun 20

📣 Join historian Sadiah Qureshi as she shares insights from Vanished, her acclaimed new book on extinction, empire & erasure for free! With an introduction by Helen Macdonald, author of H is for Hawk!
🗓 Wed 9 July, 6–10pm
📍 Cambridge
🎟 www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1395979053...
#PublicLecture #histSTM

4 11

Reposted by Matthew Holmes

Gabriella M. Petrick, Ph.D. 🍇🍇🍇 @gpetrick.bsky.social · Jun 11

I'm editing the Food (& Drink) Section for Environmental Change and Human Experience for OUP Intersections. Looking for new work on food, drink and the environment. Contact me if you want to learn more. It is peer-reviewed.
academic.oup.com/oxford-inter...

Content, Overview, and Scope of Food Section for Environmental Change and Human Experience.

Section name: Food
Section Editor(s): Gabriella M. Petrick, Ph.D.
Content overview and scope :
The Food section of Environmental Change and Human Experience will focus on the tension between the need for humans to sustain themselves while simultaneously exploiting the natural resources and environments surrounding them. Humans and their agricultural practices have long redesigned the environment in both helpful and problematic ways for animals, insects, and societies. Articles in the series will explore the diversity of foods and beverages across space and time and illustrate how food production has reshaped communities, cultures, and the landscape.
These essays and topics use new research to build on older literature and will provide new insights on historical themes such as globalization, power, and industrialization. They also highlight new areas of research such as the consequences of technologies on the environment, animal studies and how of more-than-human actors shaped the past, water studies, and indigenous approaches to historical and contemporary foods and food systems. The essays will fall under the topics of “Food Flows: The Circulation of Food across the World”; “Indigenous Knowledge: Sustaining and Exploiting Food Environments”; “Animals: More than Just Meat”; “Quenching a Thirst: Water and Other Drinks”; “Food and Power”; “Building Fields of Dreams: Agriculture and the Reshaping of Landscapes”, and “Industrial Food”.

2 3

Reposted by Matthew Holmes

Caroline Arscott @carscott.bsky.social · Jun 9

Interesting role for a Historian or Arts/Humanities scholar to join at a senior level in the research team; overlapping specialities required: Early Modern, history of enslavement, country house history, plant humanities.

Corinne Fowler @corinnefowler.bsky.social · Jun 9

Job researching plants and enslavement
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DNK213/s...

Senior Research Associate: Plants, Enslavement, and Public History at University of Bristol

Recruiting now: Senior Research Associate: Plants, Enslavement, and Public History on jobs.ac.uk. Click for details and explore more academic job opportunities on the top job board

www.jobs.ac.uk

34 29

Reposted by Matthew Holmes

Dr. Dominik Huenniger @dominikhhh.bsky.social · Jun 4

Join us & let‘s workshop together!
#envhum #collections #museum

Collection Ecologies @collecol.bsky.social · Jun 4

🚨 Don't miss our final CHSTM seminar of the academic year! 12 June at 12pm EST/5pm BST ✨

@dominikhhh.bsky.social & @nickytheprof.bsky.social will be workshopping our forthcoming special issue with Endeavour! 🪲

Sign up to get all your @collecol.bsky.social info!
www.chstm.org/group/collec...

3 5

Reposted by Matthew Holmes

Centre for the Philosophy of Historiography @centrephilohistory.bsky.social · Jun 3

Today in two weeks (17.06), we'll hold the workshop "Historical Contingency" with Gregory Radick and Robert Northcott as speakers. The event will be hybrid, taking place in person in Ostrava and on Zoom. For more information, see below or here: philevents.org/event/show/1....

All welcome!

6 8

Reposted by Matthew Holmes

Coral City Camera @coralcitycamera.bsky.social · May 28

Your friendly neighborhood manatee 🤗〰️🐮〰️ #manatee #manateesofcoralcity #sirenia #cutiepie #seapotato #seacow #closeup #coral #coralhead #coralcitycamera #miami #portmiami #biscaynebay #coralcity

82 710 7.2K

Reposted by Matthew Holmes

Brad Scott @trichocolea.bsky.social · May 9

From about 1814 to 1820 Jane Talbot and several members of her extended family developed a particular interest in mosses, learning about them via books, microscopes, correspondence and being out in the field.

My new article is open access in BJHS dx.doi.org/10.1017/S000... #BookHistory #bryology

Specimen of Bartramia ithyphylla collected in south Wales by Jane Talbot, within the herbarium of her cousin William Henry Fox Talbot

‘Bryum compactum’ from Cromlyn Bog, Glamorganshire, collected by Jane Talbot, from the herbarium of her cousin William Henry Fox Talbot

1 4 14

Reposted by Matthew Holmes

V Bateman @vbateman.bsky.social · Apr 30

Looking forward to next week’s online workshop “Wild or Domestic? Research on Artificial Bird Nesting Sites” organized by @dollyjorgensen.bsky.social & Thomas Reitmaier. I’ll be discussing wood duck conservation via nest boxes and the film Wood Duck Ways (1956) [linked below] #envhist #animalhist

Poster for online workshop Wild or Domestic? Research on Artificial Bird Nesting Sites. May 6, 2025.

A black and white photograph of two men on ladders resting on a tree. One is holding a camera while the other poses beside a metal canister wood duck nest. The bird emerges from the entrance. 1966, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

1 1 11

Matthew Holmes @mattholmes.bsky.social · Apr 28

In my article about the 1872 introduction to Jamaica, I found that the mongoose was thought to be a good biological control because a pet mongoose was seen killing rats in India... doi.org/10.1017/S000...

A plague of weasels and ticks: animal introduction, ecological disaster, and the balance of nature in Jamaica, 1870–1900 | The British Journal for the History of Science | Cambridge Core

A plague of weasels and ticks: animal introduction, ecological disaster, and the balance of nature in Jamaica, 1870–1900 - Volume 56 Issue 3

doi.org

Matthew Holmes @mattholmes.bsky.social · Apr 28

Great piece by @beebrookshire.bsky.social on human hubris and the disastrous introduction of the mongoose to the Caribbean! #envhist #envhum #histSTM

Bethany Brookshire @beebrookshire.bsky.social · Apr 28

"This is the hubris—the overconfidence that humans have. We assumed we knew that mongooses ate rats, and we assumed that was all we needed to know." teamtrash.substack.com/p/mongoose-i...

Mongoose in paradise

These guys live the life you wish you had.

teamtrash.substack.com

1 3