Dr Beth Nicholls

And another paper out, which has just been covered by The Guardian! www.theguardian.com/environment/... original article: royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article... @bethbees.bsky.social @nicrodemo.bsky.social

This. Took. Forever. So if you see a typo...no you didn't! In other news, very excited for our 2-day UK #UrbanAgriculture forum starting tomorrow and welcoming lots of amazing researchers, growers and policymakers to @sussex.ac.uk #FoodSecurity #FoodSystems #Diversity #Community #Governance

🍅Our new paper in @plantspeopleplanet.bsky.social evaluating the effectiveness of #CitizenScience approach for understanding plant-pollinator interactions in urban food growing 🫛 @davegoulson.bsky.social @calacastellanos.bsky.social @leah-salm.bsky.social nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

An article I wrote for @theconversation.com in response to #allotment sell-offs. Featuring evidence from myself and @davegoulson.bsky.social and the amazing work led by Jill Edmondson's team at Sheffield. #communitygardens #urbanbiodiversity #growyourown theconversation.com/allotments-a...

Applications for Winter 2025 conference attendance grants are trickling in, awarding up to £500 with a high success rate (if eligible). Deadline isn't until 1st October, but don't forget to get referee statements in by then too! All the info you need is here: www.asab.org/conference-g... @asab.org

Amid this weeks news about Labour's plans to sell off EIGHT allotment sites around the UK, what better time to get together and discuss research priorities around UK urban agriculture! Register here: lnkd.in/eq25UG3j

🥕 Are you a UK researcher or practitioner working in urban agriculture? Please join us at 'Growing Together: A Transdisciplinary Forum on UK Urban Food Systems' 📅17-18th September 2025 📍University of Sussex ✍️Register by 31st Aug: lnkd.in/eQHbQxP2 ❓More info? Contact: e.nicholls@sussex.ac.uk

Starring @idrisadams.bsky.social, on BBC Breakfast - PhD student @londonnercdtp.bsky.social @uclcber.bsky.social We are so proud of you Idris - a media natural spreading the #WaspLove! @ucllifesciences.bsky.social @uclnews.bsky.social

I need help identifying a #bumblebee! I’m in the Peruvian Andes, cloud forest near Salkantay (and Machu Picchu). We spotted this monstrously big orange bumblebee, 3-4cm long (see picture. We actually spotted them twice, but only managed to photo once). My best ID so far is Bombus dahlbomii, but…

Please share! Competitively funded PhD project on the role of #bee foraging choices on plant-pollinator interactions and floral #evolution at Sussex Uni www.sussex.ac.uk/study/fees-f...

🚨 Our study from @bethbees.bsky.social lab is out in @royalsocietypublishing.org . We show that bumblebees taste some amino acids (valine), but not others (lysine). Bees might choose flowers not just by how sweet they taste! #bees 🐝 #taste 👅 #pollen #nectar 🌺 #protein 🥩 doi.org/10.1098/rsos...

The Dartington Forest Garden is threatened with destruction by landlords the Dartington Trust. It took >30 years to grow, and is a wonderful example of a radically different approach to food & fibre production. Please sign the petition, and share. www.agroforestry.co.uk/save-darting...

Flowers🌸 as infection🤧 hotspots for pollinators🐝: landscape and behaviour have an impact. New preprint from @cristinabotias.bsky.social, @bethbees.bsky.social, @nataliehempel.bsky.social and me doi.org/10.1101/2025...

Huge Frustration as UK Government pauses the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme www.wildlifetrusts.org/news/frustra...

Our latest paper led by Kentaro Takagi was featured on the cover of Functional Ecology! 🎉👏🐝🌸 "Realized flower constancy in bumble bees: Optimal foraging strategy balancing cognitive and travel costs and its possible consequences for floral diversity" For full details: bit.ly/4bzIADN

Looking forward to participating in this session on Pathways to Sustainable Agriculture today at the University of Ghana in collaboration with @ids.ac.uk and @sussex.ac.uk

Applications to Soapbox Science Brighton 2025 are open! All female and non-binary scientists in STEM subjects are welcome to apply 🥼👩‍🔬🌼🐜🐭🐝🧪⚛️ Apply by March 2nd soapboxscience.org/apply-to-spe...

We're back with our next Future Leaders Course 📢 This is your opportunity to join our programme for young people (20 - 30 years) who want to make a difference – for #NationalParks, landscapes, nature and people. Applications close Sun 23 Feb ⏰ Learn more & apply 👉 www.cnp.org.uk/national-par...

Pruning tips to assist #CavityNesting insects and more from the excellent "Nesting & Overwintering Habitat for Pollinators and other Beneficial Insects" guide from @xercessociety.bsky.social - a Science-based invertebrate conservation nonprofit. #Bugsky PDF here: xerces.org/sites/defaul...

It is a messy unresolved issue on how eaters can be sure of what they are buying with regen.. Good @theconversation.com piece. Regeneratively farmed is the new buzz label on supermarket shelves – but what does it actually mean? theconversation.com/regenerative...

Disappointing new study showing - once again - that women are leaving research careers at far higher levels than men If you're interested to read about strategies to reverse these types of curves, check out our recent #Cell perspective- link below ⤵️ #WomeninSTEM 👩‍🔬👩🏾‍🔬🧪 www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Loved this session and excited to try growing some dye plants this year (that are also #Pollinator friendly of course!) and dye my own wool

Today at 2pm in the Council Chamber, Town Hall #ORFC25 join us for a panel discussion on 'What might #InsectSentience mean for agroecology' with @natacharossi.bsky.social @vickihird.bsky.social. We will discuss what new research might mean for how we value #EcosystemServices and insect #Welfare

Today 4pm Ship St Lecture Theatre #ORFC25 come and hear about #Biodiversity in #Polycultures and our work on #Pollinators in #UrbanAgriculture using #CitizenScience @davegoulson.bsky.social @buzzclub.bsky.social

Solidarity. Sovereignty. Love. Inclusion. Wisdom. Resistance. What a fantastic start to #ORFC25

I forgot to include the all important #ORFC!

The Neural Systems & Behavior course at @mblscience.bsky.social is now open for applications (deadline 1st Feb 2025, tinyurl.com/329nbtzp). Students often describe this 8-week training course as a life-changing and eye-opening scientific experience. Apply and join us in magical Woods Hole 💫🐙🧠🔬

We’re still looking for applicants for this PhD position on bees and anthropogenic stressors 🐝

Excited to be attending my first Oxford Real Farming Conference in person this week and to participate in two sessions- 1) #biodiversity in #polycultures (Thurs) and 2) #insectsentience and #agroecology (Fri) with @natacharossi.bsky.social @vickihird.bsky.social - hope to see some of you there!

Funded PhD opportunity in the Graystock lab! If you are interested in pollinators, microbes, parasites and machine learning, please get in touch! - only a few days left to let me know! Whilst a project using the above is planned, im happy to adapt to the strengths of a candidate

Final talks of #ASABWinter2024 by Kate Otter, @karendeepsidhu.bsky.social, @natacharossi.bsky.social / @animalbehaviour.live & Marina Paradopoulou Finishing with teaching queer & feminist perspectives in biology, addressing colonial bias, online outreach & gender ratios in academic publications.

@bethbees.bsky.social and I are co-chairing a roundtable at #ORFC25 on the implications of new research into insect sentience, and how this could reshape traditional perceptions of insects as 'providers' of ecosystem services to agriculture. Anyone else going to #ORFC25?

Pls RT: Interested in doing a PhD on the behaviour of #bees & other animals at CRAB Uni Exeter and Bristol Uni? Check out SWBio swbio.ac.uk www.swbio.ac.uk/programme/pr... (apply by 11.12.) & NERC GW4 www.nercgw4plus.ac.uk/projects-202... @seanrands.bsky.social @bethbees.bsky.social apply by 13.01.