Thom van Dooren

Thom van Dooren | Biophilia Award in Environmental Humanities Philosopher Thom van Dooren receives the BBVA Foundation’s 7th Biophilia Award for what the committee describes as his “central role” in “understanding and addressing species extinction.”

I’m honoured to be the recipient of the BBVA Foundation’s 7th Biophilia Award in Environmental Humanities and Social Sciences www.biophilia-fbbva.es/en/noticias/... @seisydney.bsky.social @mitpress.bsky.social @usyd-humanities.bsky.social @columbiaup.bsky.social @mesh-research-hub.bsky.social

Celebrating the Life and Work of Elspeth Probyn Celebrating the Life and Work of Elspeth Probyn

Please join us for this event in November to honour Elspeth Probyn, an amazing scholar, friend, and mentor to so many people in cultural studies, gender studies, the environmental humanities, and beyond. She is sorely missed.

events.humanitix.com/celebrating-...

The decision to close Meanjin misunderstands its wider importance. Australian culture deserves better The decision to close Meanjin is the latest in a string of recent decisions that suggest universities are not safe harbours for priceless cultural institutions.

If Melbourne University Publishing doesn’t want to keep publishing Meanjin, they should hand over the journal to someone worthy of the responsibility. Me in The Conversation theconversation.com/the-decision...

Wishing I could be there in person. Looking forward to Zooming in to present on "Multispecies Storytelling for Catastrophic Times" (Sat morn in Europe, evening in Australia). Anyone interested can join the zoom! More info here: mesh.uni-koeln.de/events/meshw...

Looking forward to this wonderful #MESH conference in Kõln, with Kate Rigby, @franzkrause.bsky.social,
@thomvandooren.bsky.social and others.

Great speaking with you, Josh.

There’s No ‘Undo’ Button for Extinct Species

One of the many problems with "de-extinction": "The day Colossal released its promo video, Doug Burgum, the Trump administration’s secretary of the interior, wrote a long post on X celebrating the news as the first step in ending protections for endangered species." www.nytimes.com/2025/05/07/m...

‘De-extinction’ isn’t just misleading — it’s dangerous, ecologist says A biotech company in the United States made headlines last month by revealing photos of genetically modified gray wolves, calling them “dire wolves,” a species that hasn’t existed for more than 10,000...

"I think that the word is being misused. Extinction's forever. It's irreversible...I think it's a really dangerous precedent to claim we can fix some of these irreversible problems," @dieterhochuli.bsky.social says on the podcast.

The U. of Sydney ecologist unpacks what's wrong with 'de-extinction'

We congratulate the ALP on their election victory. This term of government will be critical for nature. We encourage @albomp.bsky.social to grasp the nettle on protecting our ecosystems and tackle Australia's failing environmental protection framework.”

biodiversitycouncil....

Dreaming Ecology: Nomadics and Indigenous Ecological Knowledge, Victoria River, Northern Australia Full volume of Deborah Bird Rose's posthumous book Dreaming Ecology: Nomadics and Indigenous Ecological Knowledge, Victoria River, Northern Australia.

New book on our Environment & Society Portal: Deborah Bird Rose's 𝘋𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘌𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 (ANU Press, 2024), edited by Darrell Lewis and Margaret Jolly. #EnvHum #CCBY

The Italian translation of Flight Ways is now out! A big thanks to the translator, Lorenzo Vetta, and to the publisher, Nottetempo (not least for a beautiful cover!). More information here: www.edizioninottetempo.it/it/in-volo @mitpress.bsky.social

Registration is open for our final 'Rethinking Fables' conference (May 22-24, 2025: University of Kent, Canterbury UK & online) with Profs Vinciane Despret and Susan McHugh as our keynote speakers. Please spread the word – and we'd be delighted if you can join us. research.kent.ac.uk/rethinking-f...

AASA 2025: Centring Animals Across The Disciplines | Australasian Animal Studies Association

We're thrilled to announce our CALL FOR PAPERS for the 2025 AASA Conference: "Centring Animals Across the Disciplines"!
📆 5th Nov. - 7th. Nov. at the University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Australia
⏰ Proposals due 20 June 2025
#animalstudies #academia
animalstudies.org.au/aasa2025-cen...

The Australian Environmental Humanities Hub is now on Bluesky. Follow for news, events, and more.

Japanese book cover

My book A World in a Shell is now available in Japanese translation. A big thanks to the publisher and translator, and to the wonderful team at @mitpress.bsky.social. It's so nice to see these snail stories out in the world in this new way. www.seidosha.co.jp/book/index.p...

can register here --> forms.office.com/e/rfKrvjTnE2

Lots of fascinating questions in the dialogue (or lack there of) between natural and social sciences. Much of the work in biology is refreshingly non dogmatic about what culture might be (even if grounded in some constraining assumptions). I'm hopeful that there is space for good discussion here.

Thanks Warwick. Yup, lots of discussion by Darwin and other naturalists of things we might call culture. Fewer focused efforts to define and study how those modes of life take shape and are shared.

Australian Environmental Humanities Hub Visit the post for more.

In Australia, a lot of EH/STS events and other news items are posted here www.aehhub.org

Dear MSM journos writing about #nuclear today…weekend…

Take 8min to listen to the first part of this podcast @reneweconomy.com.au

Frontier Economics has completely trashed its credibility with this “real costs” costings of Dutton’s concept of a nuclear plan. That’s the real story today!! #auspol

Our new article is out now: "Animal Cultures at the Edge of Extinction" (open access). It takes a critical #envhum approach to biological research on animal cultures and asks how humanities scholars might contribute to these discussions in a time of extinctions.

journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

SEI's summer reading guide From oil palm plantations in West Papua and the vanishing flight paths of the Regent Honeyeater to practical guides for emergency preparedness and powerful podcasts, SEI has you covered this summer. E...

Another thoughtful summer reading guide from @seisydney.bsky.social.

www.sydney.edu.au/sydney-envir...

Migrating here from Twitter, to learn, discuss and share all things related to the eucalypts, Australia's iconic and most dominant group of native plants.

This bark mosaic illustrates bark diversity in 12 of the 845 known eucalypt species.

Researchers studying body of largest great white shark caught on a Queensland drumline A 5.62-metre great white female shark carrying four young pups was found dead on a regional Queensland drumline in August. She was the size of a dual-cab ute and scientists are now doing genetic studi...

This makes me so sad and angry at the same time. We have no right to treat such wonderful and ecologically important animals this way. Drum-lines and shark-nets are an abomination. www.abc.net.au/news/2024-11...

Circular blue Logo with Collective Atmospheres conference information

Check out the CFP, and calls for panels, for the ASLE 2025 Biennial Conference "Collective Atmospheres" July 8-11, 2025 at Univ of Maryland. Deadline for submissions is Jan. 3, 2025. Please share! #envhum #environmentalhumanities
www.asle.org/conference/b...
www.asle.org/conference/p...

Substitution Substituting one thing for another–things, people, habits–happens all the time. Substitution is so mundane that it can easily be taken for grante...

Excited that this series on substitution, co-edited by Alice Rudge, Véra Ehrenstein, and myself, is now live. “Substitution constitutes a method for tracing continuities amid seeming change, disruption amid seeming continuity, and possibility within constraint.” culanth.org/fieldsights/...

Wow! I’ve never seen one outside of captivity. Hope you’re well.

I’m thrilled with the final product of this multimedia essay we made on the critically endangered regent honeyeater. It can’t be viewed on a phone but if you’re near a big screen, check it out: www.curatorium.au/taja-journal...

Cover of the book, Sounds Wild and Broken, an image in three layers: humpback whales at the bottom, then treefrogs, then an American robin singing against a background of the mountains.

Take your ears and imagination on a journey with me into the sonic riches and brokenness of our world. Music, nature, listening. A Pulitzer and PEN finalist. Now out in paperback.
🦜💚🎵🐸🎻🏙️⚖️