Vicki Hird MSc FRES

Vicki Hird MSc FRES

@vickihird.bsky.social

Food, farming, environment policy, just transition, research, strategy, talks, writing, blogs, books. Passion for bugs Author - 'Rebugging the Planet' & 'Perfectly Safe to Eat?' Share≠agree https://linktr.ee/vickihird Works @WildlifeTrusts @britishwildlife

2.7K followers760 following647 posts

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Vicki Hird MSc FRES
@vickihird.bsky.social

An article by me in @theguardian.com - a teaser on what my next book is about.. -all those bug chats going on around us.. Also to celebrate #InvertebrateOfTheYear Do vote! www.theguardian.com/environment/...?

theguardian.comBugging devices: the astounding ways insects are talking and listening all around usFrom spiders tuning their silken listening tools, to the beetle’s heady perfume, hundreds of conversations are happening in languages we don’t understand

Vicki Hird MSc FRES reposted

Lucy Wheeler
@lucywheelertcv.bsky.social

I will have to read these - I always end up making curries with ours 😂

The Conservation Volunteers@tcvnational.bsky.social

Every Halloween, millions of pumpkins are carved & thrown away. We've scoured the internet for some of the highest-rated pumpkin recipes from UK food publishers, so you don't have to. From soups & curries to cakes & brownies, discover 10 delicious ways to use leftover pumpkin & reduce food waste.

buff.ly10 Delicious Ways to Use Leftover Pumpkin (And Reduce Food Waste)Food waste is one of the UK's biggest environmental challenges. According to recent estimates, the UK generates 10.2 million tonnes of food waste in a year, with households responsible for 58% of the…
Vicki Hird MSc FRES
@vickihird.bsky.social

Wow. What a guy

Charlie Warzel@cwarzel.bsky.social

70 percent of the internet was vulnerable yesterday to very bad security flaws inside a coding language. Turns out, *one volunteer* is mostly responsible for maintaining that code & helping push updates. Yesterday Ondřej Surý saved the internet. So I called him up www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...

theatlantic.comThe Man Who Saved the Internet YesterdayOndřej Surý was a relatively anonymous volunteer working on PHP security. Then the internet exploded.

Vicki Hird MSc FRES reposted

Nerd Nite London
@nerdnitelondon.bsky.social

Restless Women, Hull Werewolves and Undead Archeologists. So excited to be back for a spooky special #NerdNite on Oct 28 with Melanie Hyo-In-Han, @deborahhyde.bsky.social and @profchrisfrench.bsky.social. 👻🎃 Tickets going fast: www.designmynight.com/london/whats...

designmynight.comNerd Nite London - 28 October 2026Buy tickets for Nerd Nite London - 28 October 2026, London. Information on Nerd Nite London - 28 October 2026, Wednesday 28th October 2026 in London.

Vicki Hird MSc FRES reposted

Annie Leymarie
@annieleymarie.bsky.social

On 16 November, members of the UK Parliament will debate a petition on "holding a UK-wide briefing on climate and nature risks". It's still possible to sign the petition, so please do if you haven't yet! petition.parliament.uk/petitions/76...

petition.parliament.ukPetition: Hold a UK-wide briefing on climate and nature risksThe UK faces growing risks from climate and nature breakdown - from extreme weather to economic disruption and national security threats. Yet the public has never been given a clear national briefing ...

Vicki Hird MSc FRES reposted

Jenny Cohn
@jennycohn.bsky.social

😡😡😡 “Meta employees acknowledged in internal communications that the Instagram accounts of Brazilian ​President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva were hindered by ‌restrictions during [Brazil’s] election” & that Meta “recommended the profile ​of challenger…Flavio Bolsonaro” & “his ​WhatsApp channel…” 1/

Vicki Hird MSc FRES reposted

Doug Parr
@dougparr.bsky.social

Well, he’s right in the sense there’d be economic growth - 0.05% according to UK govt’s impact assessment. Not much Same assessment also said the cost-benefit analysis, accounting for pollution, health impacts of noise etc would be negative by tens of billions of ££ www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

bbc.co.ukExpansion of Heathrow Airport would drive growth, chancellor Healey saysIt comes after the prime minister refused to say whether he backed expansion.

Vicki Hird MSc FRES reposted

Chris Gooch
@chrisdg.bsky.social

A good read

Vicki Hird MSc FRES@vickihird.bsky.social

Blog on Doing Dairy Differently: how dairy farming can work better for farmers, rivers and wildlife from @the-wildlifetrusts.bsky.social www.wildlifetrusts.org/blog/policy/...

wildlifetrusts.orgDoing Dairy Differently: how dairy farming can work better for farmers, rivers and wildlife | The Wildlife TrustsDoing dairy differently means working with nature, not against it. Gemma Lane, Land Use Policy Manager, discusses what this means.

Vicki Hird MSc FRES reposted

Patrick Hill
@overhere.bsky.social

I've reposted this once before but it needs a wide audience. We don't need another #Brexit style battle but a reasoned approach that aims for - as much as possible- consensus.

Mike Galsworthy@mikegalsworthy.bsky.social

I wrote a thing - please read it. This is how Burnham could craft a wholesome, structured conversation on our relationship with Europe, in a manner which gets us well away from the divisiveness of 2016.

yorkshirebylines.co.ukBurnham has opened the door on Europe – now let the public inA citizens-led national conversation could help Britain decide what it wants from its future relationship with Europe

Vicki Hird MSc FRES reposted

Beyond Pesticides
@beyondpesticides.org

Is there an #environmental and #publichealth #benefit to #organic #apple #orchards when compared with conventional? 🍎 Researchers from Universität Kassel, in a new meta-analysis, find significant declines overall in #nitrate #pollution from organic operations. ➡️ Daily News: https://ow.ly/e7MT50ZY6Ks

ow.lyOrganic Apple Production Reduces Hazardous Nitrogen Pollution in Review of Field Studies - Beyond Pesticides Daily News BlogA new meta-analysis reviews 68 published studies and finds significant declines overall in nitrate pollution from organic apple operations.

Vicki Hird MSc FRES reposted

James Murray
@james-bg.bsky.social

Latest blog is on Burnham's promise of 'pragmatism' in the North Sea, why it's a weaselly word that is providing cover for deeply unpragmatic actions, and why the climate movement needs to talk more about the climate crisis. www.businessgreen.com/blog-post/45...

businessgreen.comWhat does true pragmatism look like in an age of climate crisis?Andy Burnham has promised a 'pragmatic' approach to North Sea drilling, but who gets to decide what that word even means?

Vicki Hird MSc FRES reposted

Damian Carrington
@dpcarrington.bsky.social

that's about £28m a day renewables have saved the UK sending to petrostates since the start of the US-Israel war in Iran

Simon Evans@drsimevans.carbonbrief.org

NEW ANALYSIS: Record wind and solar save UK from gas imports worth £5.9bn during Hormuz crisis 🌤️ wind/solar generation up 14% in 2026 to date 🏭 gas down ~10% 🚢 >100 LNG cargoes avoided

Vicki Hird MSc FRES reposted

Damian Carrington
@dpcarrington.bsky.social

Huge #ElNiño projected to cause 450,000 heat deaths in next six months - New report predicts a heavy toll from Nigeria to the US – and comes on top of existing impacts of the #climatecrisis Story by me www.theguardian.com/environment/...

theguardian.comHuge El Niño projected to cause 450,000 deaths in next six monthsNew report predicts a heavy toll from Nigeria to the US – and comes on top of existing impacts of the climate crisis
Vicki Hird MSc FRES
@vickihird.bsky.social

SFI all gone in less than a day. Makes it more critical government find more money in the next budget, for the huge scale of need, for nature, all farmers, not canibalise other scheme budgets (CS, LR) and recognise how essential the transition is for national security www.fwi.co.uk/business/pay...

fwi.co.uk£233m of SFI26 money all spent within matter of hours - Farmers WeeklyFears that the funds available for Window 2 of the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) would disappear quickly have come to fruition with all the money

Vicki Hird MSc FRES reposted

justtransitionw.bsky.social
@justtransitionw.bsky.social

www.theguardian.com/environment/... Sorry #DEFRA - this stinks. It suggests you had no plan. That you awarded grants on a 1st-come-1st-served basis, not on merit. It suggests that the biggest farmers with time to apply will have been awarded cash before working family farms even got online. Cont'd

theguardian.com‘Worse than the scramble for Oasis tickets’: England’s sustainable farming funds run out in just six hoursEntire £233m budget for 2026 allocated in less than a day, leaving thousands of farmers disappointed
Vicki Hird MSc FRES
@vickihird.bsky.social

Pioneering 12-year study by @suffolkwildlife.bsky.social at Broxted Estate & Solar Farm Suffolk shows renewable energy generation &biodiversity restoration can happen together via long-term management, monitoring,collaboration across wider landscape. www.suffolkwildlifetrust.org/news/new-rep...

suffolkwildlifetrust.orgNew report of Suffolk solar farm showcases ecological best practice | Suffolk Wildlife TrustPioneering 12-year study carried out by Suffolk Wildlife Trust at Broxted Estate & Solar Farm Suffolk demonstrates how renewable energy generation and biodiversity restoration can be achieved together...
Vicki Hird MSc FRES
@vickihird.bsky.social

Great review by @patrickbarkham.bsky.social of @derekvsderek film. this says much from derek the dairy farmer "We’re tied a bit by the price of milk, but we just keep going, we keep struggling on and we love what we do” Good for discussing future changes needed... www.theguardian.com/film/2026/se...

theguardian.com‘The man’s a psychopath when it comes to hedgerows’: Derek vs Derek, the unexpectedly heartwarming doc about farmers at warOne Devon farmer, called Derek, is committed to rewilding his land. His neighbour, also a Derek, tends cattle and crops. What happened when a film-maker decided to follow the bickering pair?

Vicki Hird MSc FRES reposted

Doug Parr
@dougparr.bsky.social

UK Government climate change advisers say expanding Heathrow airport is incompatible with climate targets To make it so, the aviation industry should pay for carbon removals & sustainable aviation fuel Trouble is neither of those meaningfully exist www.theguardian.com/environment/...

theguardian.comAirlines should pay for CO2 removal if Heathrow expands, say climate advisersClimate Change Committee says government cannot expand airport without requiring aviation industry to clean up its emissions

Vicki Hird MSc FRES reposted

paulusthewoodgnome
@paulusthewoodgnome.bsky.social

Also worth noting. '100% of the recycling and component retention took place within the UK, supporting domestic green jobs and at least 10 supply chain companies.' bsky.app/profile/mike...

Mike Sowden@mikeachim.bsky.social

Now THIS is incredible. 26 decommissioned wind turbines from Scotland's first commercial wind farm were - wait for it - 99.9% recycled? Less than 0.1% of their materials into landfill: www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/uk-fi... Blimey.

newcivilengineer.com‘UK first’ sees decommissioning of ScottishPower wind farm demonstrate turbine circularity | New Civil EngineerHagshaw Hill Wind Farm in South Lanarkshire opened in the mid-‘90s and was decommissioned in 2023 before being repowered and brought back onstream in late

Vicki Hird MSc FRES reposted

justtransitionw.bsky.social
@justtransitionw.bsky.social

www.theguardian.com/politics/202... You don't give £36million without something in return. Expect nothing but Trumpian sleaze, corruption and the destruction of democracy if the oligarch donors succeed in buying the election for Reform.

theguardian.comReform UK given record £36m donation by British crypto billionaireBen Delo was convicted in US for failing to implement adequate anti-money laundering controls but pardoned by Trump
Vicki Hird MSc FRES
@vickihird.bsky.social

Went to the London premiere of @derekvsderekdoc - it was wonderful, funny, moving, and full of invertebrates.. And shows the cheap food dilemma at heart of food system.. Go see it when it comes to cinemas in Oct #imwithderek

Vicki Hird MSc FRES
@vickihird.bsky.social

Where is the evidence?’ More than 20 leading organisations challenge Government plans for poultry expansion @RiverActionUK riveractionuk.com/news/where-i...

riveractionuk.com‘Where is the evidence?’ More than 20 leading organisations challenge Government plans for poultry expansion - River Action UKCoalition urges Environment Secretary Angela Eagle to reject further industrial poultry expansion and deliver a regenerative poultry strategy More than 20 leading environmental, animal welfare, food a...

Vicki Hird MSc FRES reposted

Adam Vaughan
@adamvaughan.bsky.social

UK prime minister Andy Burnham has confirmed he will attend #COP31, the climate conference in Nov. Interesting he chose to announce it early, to avoid any "will-he-won't-he" stories as has happened with previous PMs. Also deliberate bit of climate leadership as he could've just sent Miliband.

Vicki Hird MSc FRES reposted

#CarbonReckoning (Andrew Boswell)
@drandrewboswell.bsky.social

🧵1/ Lobbyists for carbon capture and storage (CCS) are trying to give Andy #Burnham a deceptively neat-looking get-out-of-jail-free card to drill Rosebank and Jackdaw - read more here substack.com/@graceblakel... Or click into the post below for 🧵 that explains its flawed carbon accounting

substack.comThe CCS Escape Hatch for North Sea DrillingSupporters of CCS technology say we can mitigate the climate impact of drilling in the North Sea. The science says otherwise.
#CarbonReckoning (Andrew Boswell)@drandrewboswell.bsky.social

2/ CCS promoters are pressing Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh to link new North Sea licences to paying for CCS. Plan sounds simple: make North Sea polluters pay to store a rising share of the carbon dioxide (CO2) their oil and gas would produce. Read their pitch web.archive.org/web/20260823...

web.archive.orgNorth Sea Conditional LicensingPlease fill out the form fields below to add your signature to a letter to the Secretary of State for the Department of Energy Security & Net Zero calling for North Sea oil and gas licenses to be cond...