Brendon

We want to invite you all to the opening night of the Annual Fall Lecture Series at Museum London! More details about this event, and the event series can be found on our website: www.rotman.uwo.ca/event/connec...

In a sea of brown lawns, why some natural gardeners are bringing messy back | CBC News To water or not to water? Turns out, that may not be the question. As abnormally dry weather sweeps across much of the country this summer, is it still responsible to maintain a grass lawn?

Glad this keeps getting news coverage. More native plants, less lawn, happy planet!

Good info included from @brendonstuff.bsky.social!

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Snowy owl labelled threatened by expert group — and humans are primarily to blame | CBC News The snowy owl, Quebec's majestic avian emblem and Harry Potter's iconic companion, is at risk of becoming endangered if action isn't taken to reverse the threats to its survival, an independent adviso...

COSEWIC has labelled the Snowy owl as Threatened in Canada. Next we wait for the government to respond. This article identifies the need for greater public education about anthropogenic factors in the Snowy owl’ decline and ways for our society to collectively reduce harms
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

repeat after me kids

There
Is
No
Such
Thing
As
“AI Art”

if we ever decided collectively to hold a day for recognizing and respecting women who don’t have kids, I would totally support that

How’s the site looking lately?

Proximity to Golf Courses and Risk of Parkinson Disease This case-control of older US adults examines risk of Parkinson Disease by proximity of residence to a golf course.

⛳🧠 Proximity to golf courses linked to Parkinson’s disease

A new study found living within 1–3 miles of a golf course was associated with higher Parkinson’s disease risk, likely linked to pesticide use and groundwater contamination.

🔗 doi.org/10.1001/jama...

#SciComm #NeuroScience 🧪

next time someone wishes me “happy Friday” in a virtual meeting I’m going to ask them why

North American bird declines are greatest where species are most abundant Efforts to address declines of North American birds have been constrained by limited availability of fine-scale information about population change. By using participatory science data from eBird, we ...

One of the biggest citizen science studies ever conducted — if you logged an eBird sighting in N. America in the last 14 years, this paper represents your work and this alarm is all of our responsibility to sound:

Avian life is slipping away.

🌎🧪
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Check out this new video featuring my PhD research! @westernu.bsky.social @westernuresearch.bsky.social

Similarly, what if polling stations were equipped with selfie booths? I think many more folks would engage through social media if encouraged to take pride in and communicate about what they’re doing, which inspires others to do the same. Voting is an important way for us to take care of each other.

Here’s my #electionday hot take: the “I voted” stickers no longer being circulated are an undervalued asset for bolstering voter turnout. They are a small, inexpensive yet highly visible positive incentive for voters to participate and demonstrate their values. We should make voting cool and normal!

I’m about done with “elbows up”. Can we do “eyes open” next?

I mentioned it in this interview but it didn’t make the cut: in addition to infringing on Ontarians’ rights under the Environmental Bill of Rights, Bill 5 is also an affront to treaty rights and Indigenous sovereignty. If passed, it will affect people and creatures in international lands and waters.

London environmentalists say Ontario's mining push puts endangered species at risk | CBC News Environmentalists in London and across the province say the Ontario government's push to cut so-called red tape to speed up the development of mining operations in the north could have dire consequenc...

Ontarians need to realize that our rights are being taken away, and we are being scammed for short-term profit.

Developing the economy versus protecting the environment through evidence-based regulation IS A FALSE DICHOTOMY.

“Red tape reduction” is marketing, not policy.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

perhaps today is a good day to die is written above a man ALT: perhaps today is a good day to die is written above a man

to reach the end of one’s life and use the final moments to speak truth to power… that is a meaningful way to cement a legacy

so the pope directly criticized the Trump administration’s policies on immigration, then met with the vice president and told him (a catholic) to his face that he is wrong, and then immediately died? kind of badass tbh. RIP

Whose file is it anyway? The feds, the provinces, and who controls what | TVO Today ANALYSIS: Can the federal government do that? Isn’t that a provincial thing? TVO.org breaks down how responsibilities get divided up — and what happens when there’s a conflict.

This TVO piece is from 2021; the faces and issues of the day have changed, but the legal basis for federal and provincial jurisdictions remain the same. A great read for folks trying to make sense of federal campaign promises that encroach on provincial responsibilities
amp.tvo.org/article/whos...

Global environmental plastic dispersal under OECD policy scenarios toward 2060 Global plastic pollution budget finds most historical plastic waste on land, indicating need for remediation policy instruments.

🌍🧪 Plastics will linger past 2060 – even with bold policy action

A new study finds that even under the most ambitious global plans, microplastics will keep rising due to legacy waste.

🔗 doi.org/10.1126/scia...

#Plastics 🧪 #SciComm

Creating new national parks and protecting 30% of lands and waters by 2030 is great, and there's also a whole lot else in this legislation that is urgently needed and not really being talked about during the campaign. There is an opportunity to strengthen the bill before it's reintroduced...

The Liberal Party under Trudeau introduced the Nature Accountability Act (Bill C-73) in 2024. The bill never made it past the first reading.
www.parl.ca/legisinfo/en...

Will @mark-carney.bsky.social bring back this critical legislation to uphold Canada's commitment to protect biodiversity?

Documents reveal Trump’s plan to gut funding for Nasa and climate science Critics say Nasa faces ‘extinction-level event’ with budget plan, with climate research funding also to be slashed

all the time and energy spent talking about celebrities on a joyride in space (subsidized by taxpayers) could have been used to make people aware of massive defunding of NASA that will set American space exploration and science back by at least a generation
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

Traffic Noise Provokes ‘Road Rage’ In Male Galápagos Warblers Yellow warblers near busy roads become increasingly aggressive when traffic drowns out their territorial songs, and noise pollution could trigger fights.

Relevant to your interests, @brendonstuff.bsky.social:
www.forbes.com/sites/grrlsc...

That time of year when you blink and accidentally drop $100 on native plants

Ah yes, we call this behaviour “wishcycling”

River Resources | Antler River Rally Resources to support engagement with the river and preventing litter.

www.antlerriverrally.ca/river-resour...

Litter Prevention | Antler River Rally Resources and strategies for preventing litter.

I did extensive research on the topic of structural sources of trash spills in the context of my community (London, Ontario) and compiled outreach resources to support litter prevention:

www.antlerriverrally.ca/litter-preve...

This photo of a dumpster is a great example. This is at a multi-unit residential building where the number of units using the bin appears to exceed the minimum volume capacity of the bin given under our local property standards bylaw. No surprise, trash overflows and blows everywhere.