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Carla Jack

@pocketwildingie.bsky.social

840 followers 710 following 690 posts

Wildlife & horticulture enthusiast in the Irish Midlands. Working on restoring Ireland's biodiversity pocket by pocket with whatever resources are at hand. Focusing on knowledge sharing and often distracted by handi-crafting. Spelling errors included free.

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Carla Jack @pocketwildingie.bsky.social · Mar 4

If you are into any form of practical ecology then this talk brings a lot of important behavioural primers into place. #CommunityOrganising #ScienceCommunication

The Biodiversity Network @biodivoxford.bsky.social · Mar 3

On Friday, Brock Bergseth gave us a powerful talk, debunking some of the most common myths around changing (environmental) behaviour, and discussing how our inherent social wiring can be leveraged to create meaningful, scalable change.

Catch it on our YouTube channel now! @biology.ox.ac.uk

Leveraging human behavioural science for conservation. Brock Bergseth

YouTube video by Oxford Biodiversity Network

youtu.be

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Reposted by Carla Jack

The Guardian @theguardian.com · 2h

Century-old papers saved from the bin reveal changes in Europe’s plant life

Plant inventories dating back to 1884 and nearly thrown away enable unique time-lapse study of biodiversity in Swiss meadows

www.theguardian.com

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Carla Jack @pocketwildingie.bsky.social · 1d

What amazing insights!

Conservation as a Trojan horse for resource extraction, habitat fragmentation and so much more.

#MordecaiOgada bringing light to the real issues (right to roam, community, equality). On the ground voices and experiences are essential for real fruitful solutions.

Dr. Aaron Thierry @thierryaaron.bsky.social · 5d

"the image of white men... devoting their lives to saving wild animals...[is] used to drive the point home that as the planet experiences immense destruction of species, habitats, & ecosystems, it is only white people who really care. Conservation is now almost exclusively associated with whiteness"

Mordecai Ogada, Director of Conservation Solutions Afrika – The Big Conservation Lie

YouTube video by Human Dimensions of Natural Resources

youtu.be

Reposted by Carla Jack

William (Bill) Sutherland @billsutherland.bsky.social · 3d

What are the ecological consequences of using different grazing species? In this video I discuss the issue with Lee Schofield, author of Wild Fell. youtu.be/ozHdOKKtpzU?...

Conservation grazing: how different species shape habitats

YouTube video by Bill Sutherland's Conservation Concepts

youtu.be

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Carla Jack @pocketwildingie.bsky.social · 3d

#OurPrehistory podcast - The American Megafauna Extinctions & their relation to other worldwide Megafauna extinctions.

www.patreon.com/posts/43-ame...

I enjoy the mix of academic context and storytelling from Benjy Longworth. And extra reading/maps are ❤️

#SundaySlowdown #Megafauna #Extinction

43. American Megafauna Extinctions | Benjy Longworth

www.patreon.com

Carla Jack @pocketwildingie.bsky.social · 5d

Id like to suggest you try this book/audiobook: I want a better catastrophe.

It's really helped me work through similar sentiments.

Carla Jack @pocketwildingie.bsky.social · 5d

Exactly! And add to that the fact that ecological collapse from over extracting resources means we lose a lot of protective health benefits. Intact ecosystems and regenerative food systems means a healthier population and less extreme weather events but current systems encourage pillaging instead.

Carla Jack @pocketwildingie.bsky.social · 5d

I have about three hours left on the 'bullshit jobs' audiobook and I can't unsee the tones of Feudalism/vassalism in corporations now.

This book is incredible and dreadful at the same time for opening my eyes.

Reposted by Carla Jack

Carlow Weather @carlowweather.bsky.social · 6d

Don’t drive into floods. These photos were taken just 20 minutes apart near Bantry in Cork yesterday. As you can see in the photos during that time, the water levels rose high enough to nearly cover the car.

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Carla Jack @pocketwildingie.bsky.social · 6d

It is pervasive and a crime against nature too that it is still sold in nurseries in this country.

I'm working on getting the hedges removed at our new home & trying to budget it out. Stressful to think of it even on a small scale so cannot imagine how anyone is sleeping on this at the NWPS.

Carla Jack @pocketwildingie.bsky.social · 7d

Origins podcast Ep - 2004 interview #JaneGoodall describes in her own words:

- 1957 arrival in Nairobi, Kenya
- encouragement & financial support from Louis Leakey to study chimpanzees in the wild
- 1960 groundbreaking discovery that changed the way we see chimpanzees & define 'humanity'

3 yrs!

Episode 03: Jane Goodall

Dr. Jane Goodall is a legend. She is a science hero, a trailblazing researcher who inspires people around the world. In this episode, Jane Goodall shares part of the story of how she went from working...

leakeyfoundation.org

Carla Jack @pocketwildingie.bsky.social · 7d

I found an interesting study on the potential links between copper mining 4000 years ago and Strawberry trees in Ireland based on DNA sequencing a year or two ago.

britishandirishbotany.org/index.php/bi...

View of Is the Strawberry Tree, Arbutus unedo (Ericaceae), native to Ireland, or was it brought by the first copper miners?

britishandirishbotany.org

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Carla Jack @pocketwildingie.bsky.social · 7d

Understandable sentiments! Fortunately there are islands of true hope and inspiration in between.

My teen and I visited Abbeyleix bog this morning. Collected some devil's bit scabious seed, hunted for sundews and we got to talk about community organising/citizen science.

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Reposted by Carla Jack

SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️ @skwinnicki.bsky.social · 8d

Do you sometimes see/report/handle dead wildlife as a scientist (including volunteer community scientists)?

If so, do you have any strategies for dealing with the stress and grief that these encounters can cause?

I'm building a toolkit for myself and for some other stressed out folks!

context:

a woman is holding up a help wanted sign in a window

Alt: Gif of a woman taping a "help wanted" sign to a window.

media.tenor.com

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Carla Jack @pocketwildingie.bsky.social · 8d

Robin’s Pincushion or Bedeguar Gall Wasp on Dog Rose in Portarlington, co Laois

"Inside the gall is a group of the Bedeguar Gall Wasp larvae, each residing in their own chamber within the
gall. The larvae feed on the plant tissue inside the gall."

PDF Src: shorturl.at/Id502

#BugSky

Bedeguar Gall on dog rose co Laois ireland

Carla Jack @pocketwildingie.bsky.social · 8d

Still trying to emotionally recover from losing all my plant and invertebrate photos from 2025 before I uploaded them to the national biodiversity centre. 500+ labelled to species & GPS

Thoughts and prayers for recovery 🐝

Also a reminder: UPLOAD YOUR CIT SCIENCE items (I'm shouting at myself)

Carla Jack @pocketwildingie.bsky.social · 8d

I keep this image on my phone as a reminder that we don't get to just put our hands up.

Src: atmosphere.copernicus.eu/ipcc-report-...

Whether we are midwives to a new world or hospice carers to a dying world we have Work. To. Do.
Paraphrased from interviews in book 'I Want a Better Catastrophe'.

Reposted by Carla Jack

The Ferret @theferret.scot · 9d

In 2012, a flood forced Dr Fiona Work out of her home in Edzell for 10 months. Eleven years later, the village flood group she helped form saved the community during Storm Babet.

Our latest: theferret.scot/new-a...

leafless tree stands in the middle of floodwater, its bare branches spreading wide against the grey surface of the water. White text overlay reads: “It takes a village: a new approach to living with flooding.”

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Carla Jack @pocketwildingie.bsky.social · 10d

I love it! It's worked well for me on other properties (where scutch grass wasn't present).

Scything has been great for the meadow area closer to the house (hoping to reduce fertility and see what wildflowers show up with a bit of help).

Big wet field is another one to puzzle out. Early days.

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Carla Jack @pocketwildingie.bsky.social · 11d

I often think there's fieldcraft/outdoor competencies could transfer well to a role of stewardship rather than extraction. (E.g.: poachers that become game wardens in Southern Africa.)

Hardest switch is when their identity is centered around that extraction industry not the landscape/ecosystem.

Carla Jack @pocketwildingie.bsky.social · 11d

Fortunately those will be closer to the house and the kids can help 😂

Carla Jack @pocketwildingie.bsky.social · 12d

We have 6.5 acres (new to us) and there are areas of dense grass, dock, creeping thistle so clearing patches to the soil will save me some back breaking work over the coming years.

(It won't be an all out war because I like dock and creeping thistle in moderation)

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Carla Jack @pocketwildingie.bsky.social · 12d

The realisation is incredibly disorientating.

I'm finding I have to sit with my kids more and more and relate stories from my childhood to show them where all this bullshit leads. I wish they didn't need a primer on a new shitty topic every week.

Carla Jack @pocketwildingie.bsky.social · 12d

Something to be truly happy about and proud of!

It's an underappreciated plant and I honestly didn't know much about it until your guide on it was posted here.

Carla Jack @pocketwildingie.bsky.social · 12d

Great Collab with @domainofscience.com & @rbgkew.bsky.social below

Have to share "Surprising Map of Plants" - stuffed with so much tasty information on the origin of plant familys/groups.

Every time I got lost in a complicated textbook this vid helped me recenter myself.

youtu.be/ONVpFtiD-fo?...

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Carla Jack @pocketwildingie.bsky.social · 13d

I was considering setting up a chicken composting area and only moving them out over the grass for seasonal clearing of the thatchy areas that need a clear out.

Now I'm thinking an army of guinea pigs would be more entertaining 😂

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