Kieren 🌿 Topp Media

People feel hopeless reading the news because it's all about problems. But few people engage with positive news. Constructive journalism reports on issues AND solutions, allowing people to feel more hopeful. @liammannix last night at the @auscicomm Melb event. @scienceinpublic

I also learned a lot! Keeping muscles active during a coma (@Austin_Health), Aussie efforts to get a rover on the moon (@elo2au), we might need to address cardiovascular risk earlier in life (early childhood) (@MCRI_for_kids), plus much more (@ARC_OzGRav @Swinburne @BionicsInst).

Had a fascinating day with @Ha_Tanya training scientists: how to pitch your science, what media releases are, building your research profile. TV, radio & print journos showed us media behind-the-scenes. Thanks @LanaMurphy @donnademaio @rolfep. @scienceinpublic

Fact bombing by experts doesn’t change hearts and minds theconversation.com/fact-bombing-b…

Just wrapped another successful science communication workshop for transport ecologists at #ANET2023 in New Zealand with @rodvdr. After, we had a great discussion about how to deal with negative engagement and "pile-ons" when communicating controversial science. @TransEcoInfo

An estimated 9 million dead mammals every year in Brazil alone. The @IUCNRedList does not consider roadkill a threat to most mammals. However, “roadkill is having a greater impact on wildlife survival than previously thought,” says Dr Fernando Pinto. transportecology.info/research/asses…

Had a fun time assisting the media training of researchers from @MonashBusiness last week. They developed their research into easy to understand stories for the media & practised TV & radio interviews. I learned a lot! @LanaMurphy @reid_butler9 @jameseroyce @donnademaio @rolfep

Seals show scientists an unknown antarctic canyon; dust killed the dinosaurs; science's fake paper problem; beating heart cells in a test tube. Our @Ha_Tanya talks science at 1.15pm today on ABC Radio Melbourne with Trevor Chappell

An enlightening evening picking the minds of some of Aus' greatest science communicators at the ASC career night. Thanks all! @pembertonfilms @sciencebelinda @CatrionaNR @DrRachelNowak @Simon_Scientell @scidocmartin @auscicomm

@Twitchathon @kyliesoanes @BirdlifeOz 99,924! We're getting closer! #AussieBirdCount @BirdlifeOz

With less than 2 hours of daylight left in eastern Australia, it might be up to our friends in WA to ensure we pass the 100,000 checklist and 3.5 million birds mark for this year’s @BirdlifeOz #AussieBirdCount

I just saw my first Hooded Plover! Spend 15min contributing to the great #AussieBirdCount. It's for science!

*taps sign* It's rubbish that goes everywhere and stays there. Birds like wagtails and honeyeaters will stuff it in their nests or think it is spiderwebs. They get entangled (reports coming in now). Their chicks get entangled. Other birds will then find it - and so on so forth

Gravity, earthquakes, forceful winds - buildings withstand many forces of nature. Impressive structures around the world are designed to ensure they keep standing tall. This song breaks it down (or builds it up?) 👷‍♀️ @scienceworks_mv @museumsvictoria ft. @astro_stephi @ToppMedia1

@MagpiejonesD shares lessons learned from $500mil upgrade protecting Aus native animals: Effective and transparent engagement with community groups is essential. While political interference can undermine even the most successful project. Read more: transportecology.info/case-studies/i…

Had a bit of fun with this tweet 😂 Press play for a Mission Impossible spider stunt. Also, tune into ABC Radio Melb at 1:15pm today to hear @Ha_Tanya talk about this story and more

Excited to soon be co-running a workshop at #ACLIE2023 in Nairobi, teaching ecologists and linear transport experts how to communicate their science effectively. With @rodvdr, Peter Ndung'u, Steve Béga. @TransEcoInfo @AnimexInt @ACLIE2021 #Ecology #LinearTransport

More than half of Americans believe GMOs are not good for you. Yet, they're hidden in many of the foods we eat every day. So, it's essential to understand both sides of the arguments for and against GMOs, to make informed decisions. Objective Standard buff.ly/3LerfV6

The Leichhardt's Grasshopper, Australia's most beautiful insect. 🧡 Today is National Threatened Species Day and I want to take a moment to reflect on the conservation of invertebrates in Australia. 🔎☀️ Australia is one of the most biodiverse places on earth, but also boasts an unfortunately high amount of threatened species. Many of these listed threatened species include charismatic larger animals such as mammals and birds, but did you know that hardly any invertebrates are listed? 🪲🐛❌ Many of the invertebrates you see me post are extremely understudied, many without even names let alone anything known about their ecology! ✏️ Invertebrates are the building blocks of all our eco-systems, acting as nutrient cyclers, a food source for all larger animals and extremely important pollinators. We depend on them for our own survival. 👊 The Leichhardt's Grasshopper is unfortunately a great example of an insect in decline. Like many invertebrate species, it only occurs in a small area which pushes its risk of disappearing. Only living and feeding on Pityrodia shrubs on the escarpments of Arnhem Land, population sizes have declined due to a changed fire regime, with some populations now locally extinct. 🔥 These grasshoppers are also culturally significant to the Indigenous people of the Western Arnhem Land. 'Alyurr' is the name given to this hopper, a child of the lightning man Namarrgon, with its appearance sparking the start of the annual wet season. ⛈️ The Leichhardt's Grasshopper is a spectacular species and we still have lots to learn about it and even though it is declining, is not on the threatened species list. How many other invertebrates who aren't as big and colourful are disappearing before our eyes and we haven't even blinked?

Always and everywhere, the real danger comes not from speaking out and offending power, but from falling into line. theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

The latest rate of warming is very concerning.