Nick Cutler
@ncutler.bsky.social
Physical geographer interested in long-term ecological change, particularly in soil and plant communities, and the ecological impacts of volcanic processes. Often in Iceland.
Including me! Delighted to join the team.
Journal of Ecology@journalofecology.bsky.social · last wk.📣 We are excited to announce that following our recent open call, we have welcomed 63 new Associate Editors to Journal of Ecology, spanning 18 countries! 🌍️ 📰 Read the blog post to find out more about our new editors! 👉️ buff.ly/pkxtuSr
Short trip to Paris. Lovely in colour, obviously, but maybe even better in B&W?
Life hack for those forgetting their cufflinks on graduation day...
🚢 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗱 Newcastle geographers Christine Batchelor, Louise Callard, Andrew Henderson and Bridget Tiller have returned from a research cruise to Norway, where they mapped the seafloor and collected sediment cores with colleagues from Loughborough University, UCL and Aarhus University.
An unexpected spot, and a first for me: a white-letter hairstreak (?) in central Newcastle, taking a rest on the @newcastleuni.bsky.social building on Percy Street.
A patch of bee orchids (~20 individuals) appeared on Whitley Bay Links, on some disturbed ground by a path. I've never seen them before. They may not be particularly rare, but they are certainly exotic
My colleagues Dr Richard Streeter and Yajie Zhu (both from @uniofstandrews.bsky.social) present our work on tundra vegetation and microclimate at the @mebconf.bsky.social conference in Montpellier. My first outdoor poster session! Many thanks to POLARIN for supporting our work.
I guess if you're going to take one thing from Moby Dick, 'whale is important' would be it.
Seth Cotlar@sethcotlar.bsky.social · 2mo agoA friend of mine who was TA’ing for an AmLit course found a copy of Moby Dick a student had left behind. It had only one marginal annotation, around page 100, that simply said “whale is important.”
OTD 46 years ago: May 18, 1980 the bulging north flank of Mount St. Helens slid away in a massive landslide. The uncorked volcano exploded & blasted rocks horizontally. 9 hours of explosive volcanic activity ensued, killing 57 people & forever altering the landscape and what we know about volcanoes
Close encounter with a capercaillie in Abernethy Forest yesterday.
Beautiful weather yesterday for a trip to the Duddo Stones in northern Northumberland
Testing soil pH and had a sudden craving for espresso, for some reason...
A new paper: "Constructing tephrochronologies covering periods of landscape instability" doi.org/10.1016/j.qu... It turns out that interpreting tephra layers can be complicated when a) volcanic eruptions are frequent; b) there is lots of wind and c) humans are messing things up. Who knew?
I love Big Mollusc news. In this case, they aren't kidding: both the new and the mollusc are big.
Dr. Brendan Anderson@fossilsndcoffee.bsky.social · 3mo agoReally BIG mollusc news! 🧪🦑⚒️ 🐙 Earliest octopuses were giant top predators in Cretaceous oceans Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
First year physical geography field trip to the Lake District. A chance to teach some field techniques. Perhaps more importantly, to inculcate some less obvious skills: note taking, group work, resilience in the face of adversity (rain, mainly)
I’ve never used AI for any part of my writing process and I don’t want to use it. I love writing. Yes, it’s work, and sometimes it’s incredibly hard work, but it’s MY work, and that’s the point. I don’t even know how to access Chat GPT or whatever. I’d rather stick my hand in a toaster
John Scalzi@scalzi.com · 4mo agoWhy would I use "AI," I actually know how to fucking write
Our very excellent RA on our Urban Sensory Pollution project has got themselves a permanent lecturship, so we're hiring! We're looking for an independently-minded ecologist, env scientist, phys geographer or similar. Details: jobs.ncl.ac.uk/job/Newcastl... #ecology #geography #environmentalscience
Research Assistant/Associate (Sensory Pollution)
Research Assistant/Associate (Sensory Pollution)
jobs.ncl.ac.uk
New postdoc opportunity: We’re looking for an independently-minded postdoctoral Research Assistant/Associate in biogeography, ecology, environmental science or a related field to join our Leverhulme Trust funded project studying urban sensory pollution. jobs.ncl.ac.uk/job/Newcastl...
A part of me is glad we don't run the Easter field trip to Iceland anymore...
RÚV English (Unofficial)@ruvenglish-mirror.bsky.social · 4mo agoWhile we wait for #yellow #alerts to turn #orange in the next couple of hours, a reminder that #winter has already had much of #Iceland in its continuing grip. Here's the scene in #Seyðisfjörður, in east Iceland, on Tuesday afternoon (March 24).
Discuss. I suspect a lot of colleagues in academia like the first two stages, but find the writing tough. Personally, I like the middle part where nothing is fixed: ideas can form and be tested. But I also love the writing.
Ian Dunt@iandunt.bsky.social · 4mo agoI enjoy research and I *love* writing. But the bit in between, where the research has to be turned into material that you use in the writing, is the most godforsaken activity on earth. Like extracting marrow from your bones.
I enjoy research and I *love* writing. But the bit in between, where the research has to be turned into material that you use in the writing, is the most godforsaken activity on earth. Like extracting marrow from your bones.
Geography has today been ranked #22 in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, up from #36 in 2025 and #40 in 2024. This is the highest subject ranking of all disciplines at Newcastle University. Superb achievement!
Newcastle University@newcastleuni.bsky.social · 4mo ago📢 We're celebrating 10 subjects being ranked within the world's top 100 in the latest QS Rankings 🎉 It's a fantastic achievement and testament to the hard work and dedication from our staff and students. #WeAreNCL
