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paulinecouper.bsky.social
Geographer. Epistemic pluralism, knowledges of nature, esp. geomorphology, geographical thought. Assoc Prof & Head of dept, York St John Uni, UK. CGeog. #academicsky #geosky
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Behind the scenes as the uni marketing team do some filming in our geoscience lab. Always fascinating to see how the magic is made! 🧪⚒️

Note to self: ask the uni library to order this today! 🤩

'A comprehensive study of graduate outcomes conducted by UCL and the Nuffield Foundation found that graduates from a low socio-economic background were 32 per cent less likely to receive a job offer than those from more wealthy backgrounds.' 1/3

The crisis in British higher education is acute + painful right now. If you are in it you already know this, but for those who are not I want to share what is going on. As strikes start at Newcastle Uni + others will doubtless follow, now is a time for solidarity + resistance

Just as I'm mid-way through re-coding interviews for new analysis, just out in Area: 'No more Nvivo! Dealing with coding frustrations in a study of contemporary Cambodian dance' by @amandahoperogers.bsky.social. Saved for reading later this week! rgs-ibg.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Mood

This is worth reading (as in, I read it yesterday & it's stayed with me). On genAI in politics.

Very pleased that @floodskinner.games has joined us as Visiting Fellow at YSJ Geography! Looking fwd to working together.

'In 2025, we find that the student use of AI has surged in the last year, with almost all students (92%) now using AI in some form, up from 66% in 2024, and some 88% having used GenAI for assessments, up from 53% in 2024.' 1/3https://www.hepi.ac.uk/2025/02/26/student-generative-ai-survey-2025/

As promised, here are the slides I shared with students to convince them to NOT use chatGPT and other artificial stupidity. TL;DR? AI is evil, unsustainable and stupid, and I'd much rather they use their own brains, make their own mistakes, and actually learn something. 🪄

Two Weeks In The Death Spiral Of Cardiff University, by an anonymous academic. This is truly shocking read. The Cardiff executive board should hang their heads in shame. voice.cymru/two-weeks-in...

When the work in front of you feels a bit overwhelming, and the world beyond is full of political strife and untruths, splashing through puddles can help. 🚴‍♀️💦 (Notes: 1. Unless they're concealing potholes. 2. Privilege: my employer is not currently being dismantled by billionaires.)

Map wars in the Middle East: How cartographers charted and helped shape a regional conflict theconversation.com/map-wars-in-... #geosky #gischat

"To have to make a map is by far the best way of appreciating its limitations, aa well as its strengths." Nice piece by James Cheshire on map-making, Geography and its public image. 🗺 rgs-ibg.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

The Guardian on UK HE finances: "A new settlement is desperately needed – one that properly restores a sector that delivers a public good to the public realm."

A gentle reminder, the deadline for abstracts for this call for papers is this coming Friday. #geomorphology #science ⚒️🧪

This sort of thing is why I always am very quick to redirect folks doing physical geography/quantitative work when I’m talking about research ethics in Geography. Just because you’re not working directly with humans doesn’t mean you can’t be unethical.

@hywelgriffiths.bsky.social and I are looking forward to running a session on art-science collaborations in the geosciences at this year's @rgsibg.bsky.social Annual International Conference. Learn how to contribute to our session in the flyer below, with more info at www.rgs.org/research/ann... ⚒️🧪

Happy 5th "Large boulder the size of a small boulder" anniversary! #Geology ⚒️

Shhh, say it quietly... I'm loving marking the geographical thought essays this year. Maybe particularly it's not just that the 'good' essays are good: it's also seeing in the 'OK' essays what students have gained from it; the sense they've made, the connections they've come up with. 💚🥹

🚨New post!🚨 Fieldwork in high mountain Nepal. Fieldwork diary by Gunjan Silwal, detailing her recent challenging expedition to chart the loss of glaciers here. Evocative, thoughtful and compelling, and details the challenges of working in these areas. www.antarcticglaciers.org/2025/01/fiel...

In the last few years, I’ve started to think that “excellence” in academic life is the enemy of the good, and is actually harmful to peoples’ well-being, and also a hindrance to people doing good quality, impactful and rewarding work …Seems I’m not the only one scholar.google.com/scholar_look...

Lovely day for an impromptu fieldwork recce. The Hole of Horcum, North York Moors.

Apparently 'Geographer' is among the highest paid jobs with the least stress, according to Resume Genius. Always good to see the value of a Geography degree recognised, but as a geographer... 🤔 #Geosky www.independent.co.uk/life-style/j...

Clinical research is totally outside of my field, but this festive piece explaining research design & data handling considerations is fab. 🎅🦌🥕🥧

On the inseparability of #science & #humanities: "Yes, we live in challenging economic times, but this framing ignores an unavoidable truth: our challenges are social and human. The humanities puts the “human” into knowledge..."

Many of these useful lists have pretty stark gender & linguistic biases. Let's diversify them by passing on & recommending colleagues! Squeal if you broadly self-identify as political geographers @mhoussayh.cpesr.fr @lunavives.bsky.social @emelinefourment.bsky.social @elisabethvallet.bsky.social

In the middle of a particularly difficult week, 2 hours of absolute delight: the Network of Women Doing Fieldwork asked me to speak as part of an online seminar. Such a collegiate, collaborative network, trying to envision a different future for academia. 🙏 womendoingfieldwork.org

For those prepping Earth Science courses (or anybody who likes geology) --please check out my site www.geologypics.com to view and/or download Earth Sci images for free --all at resolutions good for power point. Site offers 5000+ images, all searchable. Here are three recent uploads.

Tip for writers, especially academics . . .

Call for papers for a session at the RGS-IBG conference, Aug 2025 (Birmingham, UK): 'The scientific nature of #geomorphology?' - considering geomorphology's purposes & contents, practices & representations, contexts & consequences. If you haven't seen the cfp via mailing lists, DM me.

Having an admin overload day. 😵‍💫 Anyone else feeling like they could really do with a secretary? #AcademicSky

Our survey of experiences of #precarity within UK higher education #geography departments was completed by 11.4% of geographers working in the UK today. For a more detailed break down of our sample, check out the survey page on our website www.statesofprecarity.co.uk/the-survey

Hi Bluesky! We are BWEEMS, Black Women in Ecology, Evolution and Marine Science. A non-profit dedicated to amplifying and supporting Black women in EEMS spaces! It's nice to be here! 🐟 🪴 🐊 www.bweems.org

Self-reflection Sunday Post #1: 1. What’s my role in this statistics? 2. What can I do about it? #AcademicSky #Inclusion www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Finally made the jump to BlueSky, hoping to connect with all the Geoggers again from X. #Geographyteacher

'Elon Musk' has apparently followed me, for the third time 🤔. Welcome to the real people who have connected recently! 👋

'Sector leaders expected more than 100 of the UK’s 140-odd universities to be making redundancies by the start of 2025, in what has been described as a “cataclysmic” situation where “everything is on the table”.'

We strongly suggest that academic publishers and other platforms that host research rapidly implement a Share to Bluesky button for their articles. Here's how: docs.bsky.app/docs/advance... #AcademicSky #HigherEd #Altmetrics

If you haven't seen it, Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story really is worth the time. Stunning filming and gentle storytelling. Magic. silverbackfilms.tv/shows/billy-...

My recent article reflecting on some seriously weird experiences studying isolation as a BA student. doi.org/10.24043/001...

go.bsky.app/LaF8njG

I succumbed again to Routledge's offer of payment-by-books in return for reviewing a proposal recently. Very glad I did, as the first of my selection has arrived today. Looking fwd to getting into this.