Beth MacDougall-Shackleton
@bethmacshack.bsky.social
My job is birds. Views expressed are definitely not those of my employer.
Big news at Western Bio … job ad coming soon! news.westernu.ca/2026/09/grae...
Graeme Gibson Chair in Avian Biology created at Western Western News -
A $1-million gift from Margaret Atwood in honour of her longtime partner will create the Graeme Gibson Chair in Avian Biology at Western.
news.westernu.ca
The Research Showcase (11-2 at the Great Hall) also features short, engaging talks on animals. Learn how cell phones can help track the migratory journeys of monarch butterflies, and what female chickadees are looking for in a mate! (3/3)
Stop by our Research Showcase between 11-2 at the Great Hall (Somerville House). There are interactive displays for all ages, featuring animal tracking, wildlife conservation, bee colonies, animal-themed card making with our Artist in Residence, and more! Also refreshments! (2/3)
It’s fall and animals are on the move! Come check out our Fall Festival on @westernu campus, Saturday September 26th. (1/3) #WesternU #WesternHoco
Our second annual fall festival of Animals on the Move is coming up this weekend! There are still a few slots for bird banding demos and bird walks, and the science showcase doesn't have a cap, so please come and join us!
Me stepping up to the microphone at a local community meeting where the residents are already losing their collective minds over the removal of three parking spots:
Great news for scientists everywhere! #ornithology #bioacoustics
🇨🇦👠OhHellNoCanada👠🇨🇦@ohhellnocanada.bsky.social · 4w agoWildlife Acoustics from Massachusetts is shifting production to CANADA, as it will be 30 PERCENT CHEAPER for them to build their wildlife recorders here in beautiful CANADA Canada 1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1 USA 0 🇨🇦VIVE LE NASTY CANADA🇨🇦 🤣🤣🤣🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🤣🤣🤣 🇨🇦🇨🇦ELBOWS UP
Migration season is pretty great, but I’m already at my limit of people sending me photos of window-killed birds :(
I feel like the kids who did poorly in science and history class are trying to get revenge on the kids who did well at science and history class and now we’re all going to die
If the boycott of US goods & services by Canadians was bad already, I have a feeling they haven’t seen anything yet. I feel for the many US businesses and folks who oppose Trump, but Trump and his cronies are waging economic war on Canada and other countries, and they have given us no other choice.
Brent Toderian@brenttoderian.bsky.social · 2mo agoThe whole world needs to stand up to this out-of-control, corrupt, narcissistic bully and criminal, who literally doesn’t care that he’s imploding the US economy, hurting countless families and businesses, and dragging the entire global economy down with him. It actually may be his specific intent.
@westernu.ca received over $10M in research support funds (RSF) last year, and that’s not even counting indirect costs to grants. Those funds are meant to support infrastructure that allows tri council research to proceed. Why the inability to prepare for power outages?
Beth MacDougall-Shackleton@bethmacshack.bsky.social · 2mo agoDay 6 without power and crickets from dean and VPR (apparently this is above, or below, their pay grades). What about the Chem building, also without power? Lots of volatile substances that need fumehoods and temp control to be safe. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
'Irreplaceable' samples destroyed in latest power outage at Western University in London, Ont. | CBC News
Irreplaceable research samples have been destroyed, experiments delayed and lab access cut off after a four-day power outage at Western University in London, Ont., left biology researchers scrambling ...
cbc.ca
Day 5 in the dark here but in the news! www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Western biology department faces research delays, sample losses after 4-day power outage | CBC News
Irreplaceable research samples have been destroyed, experiments delayed, and lab access cut off after a four-day power outage at Western University left biology researchers scrambling to protect years...
cbc.ca
Day 4 of no power. We’ve had an unsettling number of multi day power outages @WesternU over the last few years but this is the longest yet I think. Do other Canadian universities deal with this too?? It’s going to be a nightmare to handle the aftermath whenever we’re out of the dark.
Beth MacDougall-Shackleton@bethmacshack.bsky.social · 2mo agoDay 3 of no power for @WesternU Biology buildings. This costs us irreplaceable samples, $$ reagents and jeopardizes animal welfare. Modernize the infrastructure!
But sure, let’s put up a bioconvergence mega building and a pathogens research facility instead of maintaining the infrastructure we already have.
Beth MacDougall-Shackleton@bethmacshack.bsky.social · 2mo agoThe vibe from admin is very much “eh, if the power is out Friday through Sunday just run your little experiment next week” without recognizing that prolonged power outages and freezer thaws can cost some of us years, not days. And lab animals are kept behind card readers which require power to work!
The vibe from admin is very much “eh, if the power is out Friday through Sunday just run your little experiment next week” without recognizing that prolonged power outages and freezer thaws can cost some of us years, not days. And lab animals are kept behind card readers which require power to work!
Beth MacDougall-Shackleton@bethmacshack.bsky.social · 2mo agoDay 3 of no power for @WesternU Biology buildings. This costs us irreplaceable samples, $$ reagents and jeopardizes animal welfare. Modernize the infrastructure!
Day 3 of no power for @WesternU Biology buildings. This costs us irreplaceable samples, $$ reagents and jeopardizes animal welfare. Modernize the infrastructure!
So much for SDCC’s anti-AI policies — I’ve been complaining to show management about this booth for three days.
Riding bikes is 10X more important than electric cars for reaching net-zero cities. And that’s just the climate emissions. Doesn’t include the massive public & personal cost difference, the air & noise pollution difference, the massive space difference, etc, etc…Via @theconversation.bsky.social
Cycling is ten times more important than electric cars for reaching net-zero cities
Active travel can help tackle the climate crisis earlier than electric vehicles – even if you swap the car for a bike for just one trip a day.
theconversation.com
Y'all remember how they were going to put an AI teacher robot into a high school serving the Seneca Nation of Indians? OF COURSE it was built by a sexbot company. Gift link.
Sally the Robot Was Coming to a New York School. Then the Plug Was Pulled. (Gift Article)
Students helped design the A.I.-powered creation as a young female with dark hair and an upbeat personality. Then came the outrage.
nytimes.com
In case it isn't obvious, it is not coincidence that this school serves Native America students. Julie Carpenter's whole thread is worth reading. h/t @primalux.thedeadbird.club
Julie Carpenter, PhD@jgcarpenter.com · 3mo agoThat's not incidental. Under-resourced districts are easier sells for "innovative" tech and harder places to say no when a company frames it as closing an opportunity gap. Rural and Indigenous communities keep getting cast as the beta testers for whatever Silicon Valley wants to normalize next. 4/
To carry 50,000 people per hour in each direction, a city needs a 175m wide road for cars. Even if those cars are electric. And then there’s all the parking. OR a city can move A LOT MORE people in a lot less space, with A LOT LESS public money, emissions, pollution, noise etc. Choices. Simple.
Listen to our very own Beth MacDougall-Shackleton interviewed on BBC's Unexpected Element talking about Song Sparrows engaged in rap battles! Click link and skip to the 14:00 min point! www.bbc.com/audio/play/w... @westernu.ca @isbe2026.bsky.social
BBC Audio | Unexpected Elements | Bald caps, sparrow raps and lightning claps
A record at a Pitbull concert has us exploring baldness, fireballs, and rapping sparrows.
bbc.com
I propose a new rule, you can’t build any NEW buildings unless you can also keep the power on pretty reliably in your EXISTING buildings
let's be clear about what's happening: donald trump and benjamin netanyahu, whose countries have been committing genocide in gaza since 2023, unilaterally started a war with iran, and are now threatening genocide there.
i think if you tweet "a whole civilization will die tonight" you shouldn't go to the hague, the hague should get to come to you
