Hi
@Coles
I’m Dr Kit, native bee expert. My PhD research was on
#beehotels
, and I have published numerous articles both in journals and for the public, including being featured on Gardening Australia. These are terribly designed. 1/
@PhilippBayer
Whenever I hear of a theory of everything I’m like huh, pretty sure they’ve never done ecology where the answer to every question is “it depends”
The holes are inappropriately sized, the wrong bees are depicted. These should not be sold
If anyone wants to learn how to actually create bee and insect hotels, email me at kitprendergast21
@gmail
.com for a copy of Creating a Haven for Native Bees
#ripoff
#beewashing
Another day, another “scientists declare the bee the most important species on the planet” post. I’m a bee scientist and whilst I love bees, it’s not true. There’s also not “The bee”. There’s 20K species. Please stop sharing and liking these misinformed posts
#scicomm
2 years after my
#PhD
, and I've got a
#Hindex
of 9, published ~40 articles, won a Federal grant, been cited 520 times, described a
#new
pecies of bee and yet...I'm essentially unemployed next year, can't get any funding for native bee research, and can't find any postdocs 1/
"The
#Bee
Is Declared The Most
#Important
Living Being On The
#Planet
" Actually
#no
. I actually think this is a terrible piece of science communication. Firstly, what is "the bee"? There are 20,000 or so species of bees in the world.
ECR are EXPECTED to move countries numerous times before tenure. It's bad for
#ClimateChange
. It's bad for
#relationships
. It's impossible if you want to have a life, a family, pets or children. I hope that
#covid19
will make ppl realise it's not needed.
#AcademicChatter
Megachile aurifrons, female, in a home-made
#beehotel
.
To learn about the proper designs for bee hotels, the
#biology
of the
#species
that use them, and other ways to conserve
#bees
, refer to Creating a Haven for Native Bees. Email kitprendergast21
@gmail
.com
#AustraliaNativeBees
So much fomo being unable to afford to go to the
@Aust_Ent_Soc
#entsoc23
so to compensate I went to
@qldmuseum
InsectAgency exhibition. Such a beautiful display of insect biodiversity, thank you QLD museum for making this available for free to the public. 1/
#thestuggleisreal
important eg of why just grouping bees as “medium black bees” (some papers do 😒) is terrible practice . Read more about poor practices in
#bee
research & what we can do to prevent this in my paper
#taxonomy
#entomology
someone wrote a Wikipedia page on me . Mind blown 🤯🤩 it’s even referenced . And mentions Zephyr and my tattoo 😍
Thank you however did that . I feel a little bit spesh
#grateful
#Wikip
édia
#bees
#womeninSTEM
Oh let's make this a thing! I had rejections for my last 4 research grant applications and during a period in 2022 and 2023 I had eight straight paper rejections, across half a dozen papers (so a couple rejected twice).
Hang in there!
Just want to do a public appreciation for
@Acanthoplus
. Such a supportive supervisor not only during my
#PhD
but has remained a great mentor beyond, & also puppysit Shakira while I had a rent inspection, sat through many of my tears, celebrated my wins 🥹
#academicchatter
5th time in the last week people who don't know me have assumed I'm a guy based on knowledge of my profession or those who met me have been "I'd never guess you were a
#scientist
." Let's dismantle stupid
#stereotypes
of what scientists should look, act, or dress like.
#sexism
Wild bee surveys across 60 years reveal remarkable reduction of bee abundance in urban green areas in northern Japan - Nagamitsu - Ecological Research - Wiley Online Library
Thyreus waroonensis
A gorgeous black & blue polka dot bee that parasitises the nests of Amegilla
To learn how to ID
#AustralianNativeBees
check out my guide A Crash Course in Native Bee Taxonomy; email me at kitprendergast21
@gmail
.com
#Australia
has some of the tiniest
#bees
in the world. Euryglossinae is the most species-rich subfamily and almost all ~800
#species
occur only in Aus. Those white things - that's my sweepnet - you can see just how TINY this little fella is!
#ozpollinators
#wildbees
#nativebees
Latest article out for BirdKeeper in my column “About Birds”, this one all about bird brains - their structure, evolution and how this comparatively small brain results in cognitive abilities rivalling big brained apes 🧠
#birds
#birdbrain
#scicomm
#aves
#intelligence
Had an editor reprimand me for politely requesting a small fee for reviewing articles, esp since as an ECR without a salary, I can't volunteer spending hrs weekly reviewing. They then thought I was lying when I said I had no paid position at a uni
#AcademicChatter
now is the perfect time to start planting flowers and creating bee hotels in prep for spring ! You can learn about optimal bee hotel design and the best flowers for bees, based on published research , in my book Creating a Haven for Native Bees; email kitprendergast21
@gmail
.com
@MikeKaspari
You can put mesh to try and deter the birds - for more tips on making a safe & effective
#beehotel
refer to my book Creating a Haven for Native Bees; email me at kitprendergast21
@gmail
.com for a copy
Late to the party here, but apparently it was
#InsectButtWeek
(the internet is a weird and wonderful place). As someone who looks at insect butts a lot (
#ForScience
) I feel like I have a
#professionalopinion
: the
#bee
Nomia rubroviridis.
New paper in the journal
@SpringerNature
shows 85% increase in managed honey bee colonies globally since the 1960s. Some regional declines but overall increases in hives and hive products output. Honey bees are not in danger. Don’t fall for the
#beewash
Looking for a last minute Christmas gift ? Give the online ebook of Creating a Haven for Native Bees, delivered straight to their inbox on Xmas Day 🎄 everything you need to know about
#bees
,
#beehotels
,
#flowers
for bees +. Email me at kitprendergast21
@gmail
.com to order
This is not ok . Calling scientists “terrorists” who have no agenda (and don’t even get any money out of this) , whose aim is to educate and inform what the research has found and develop solutions to literally prevent native bee extinctions is just so bigoted and callous .
#sexism
: a friend got banned from the facebook group WA Insects for tagging me in posts with
#bees
to ID as the admin decided he was doing it just cos he had a crush on me. THIS is what being a
#womeninSTEM
is like -your
#expertise
gets questioned & you don't get taken seriously