Dr Sarah Bearchell 🌻

@sarahbearchell.bsky.social

3134 Followers 1816 Following

Science Writer, Presenter & Trainer. Oxfordshire, UK. Making multi-sensory interactive science accessible for all! Lapsed botanist #Inclusive #SciComm #Nature #Agriculture #Autistic childrens-science.co.uk Photo: making clouds for delighted children

A white woman with long dark brown hair is looking at a beautiful trophy which consists of a twist of metal. She's clearly in love with it!
A landscape. In the foreground is a long shadow, created by a hillside and the sky is dark threatening above, with bare tree branches silhouetted. In the mid-ground is a band of bare deciduous trees brightly lit by the late afternoon sun
A Zoom screenshot. The host of the call, Rod Hebden appears in a tiny window at the top, surrounded by a Festival of Tomorrow backdrop. Most of the screen is occupied by Dr Sarah Bearchell, a white woman with long straight brown-grey hair and round glasses wearing an emerald green jumper. She is accompanied by Oso, an orange muppet-type puppet with bushy eyebrows.
A transparent cylinder has a bowl of water at he bottom and a trapdoor halfway up. A child's hand holds the trapdoor, ready to open it. You can hear "3...2...1...AWESOME!" as the trap door opens and dry ice falls into a bowl of hot water to create a cloud. The anticipation and excitement are tangiable!
Two photos. The first shows an immature Elm, Ulmus procera, devoid of leaves on a February day. It is thin with an upright habit. The second shows a close up of a young lateral branch with regular, spherical pink buds. They look as if they'd have the texture of those liquorice sweets that are covered in hundreds and thousands.
The forecourt of an abandoned office block has become clogged with dead leaves and litter. In the cracks where the pavement meets the facade is a row of self-seeded butterfly bushes, Buddleja davidii. In February they are straggly and green, with the remnant of last year's flower heads.
A wall of grey engineering bricks meets a tarmac path. Growing at the interface is a ragged looking plant with clusters of tiny flowers, only noticeable when pointed out to you.
A photo taken through a window looking outwards. There's a blurry grey sky and treetops but in the centre of the frame, in sharp focus, is the silhouette of a ladybird walking across the window.
Video shows tiny, thin grey creatures about 2mm long jumping great distances
Video shows a shiny red-purple worm moving across stone. Its body reaches forvward, then the rest of the body follows ina concertina effect. It's mesmerising, especially if you like worms!
A close-up of small rosettes of long rounded leaves with coarse hairs on the upperside. One leaf has been removed to show the white felted underside.
A distant and close up shot of petty Spurge, Euphorbia peplus. You can see it's a short, lightly branches annual with rounded leaves. Up close there is a strange circular structure with eight horns around the outside. These are the glands.
Video shows Oso, an orange muppet-type puppet with matted fur, long arms and a big floppy nose. He sniffs out a box of broken biscuits and eats them cookie-monster style.
A rainy street scene in historic Oxford. There's Oriel College facing onto Oriel Square, a tarmacked street with a wide cobblestone boundary. This area is covered in electric scooters but there is also a permanent bike rack and the ground in this area is covered in grass and moss growing between the cobbles.
Debris at the side of the path includes leaf litter, young dandelion plants and over 20 sprouting sycamore seeds. You can see the remnants of the winged seed pods of some, but for most you can just see a root and the cotyledon leaves
The branch of a beech tree is silhouetted against a grey January sky. Last autumn's seed pods remain. They are covered in hooks and have a mouth-like opening so each looks like a hairy pac man! The long slender buds are growing for spring.
A shady wintry bank with a weak sun just dipping behind it. There are snowdrops bravely emerging from a covering of dead leaves
Clusters of tiny white flowers on the raised stems of a plant with lance-shaped leaves. You can also see heart-shaped seed pods.
Three photos: 1. A non-fiction shelf in a community library, red arrow points to one book. 2. The cover of The Future of Agriculture by Sarah Bearchell. 3. The book plate marking it as the property of Oxfordshire County Council
A small mound of mud in short wet grass. The mud has a lumpy, coiled look, as if it has been squeezed out of a toothpaste tube!
A close up of a leaf-less winter hazel twig. There are rigid, closed male catkins - the large catkins which you can feel with your hands. There is and a bright flash of red-pink on a bud. These are the stigmas of the female catkins, just starting to appear - often missed by the sighted because they are so inconspicuous.
A neatly painted exterior wall. White with a black border. There is a crevice where the wall meets the damp paving slabs. In this gap grow three grass plants, the central one is flowering, its inflorescence contrasts bright green against the black.
An old limestone wall with a smear of green at the base. The photo was taken on a wet January day and a bare deciduous tree stands to the right.
Bright green patch of moss growing on the leaky joint of an urban downpipe
A view along the gryke (channel) of a limestone pavement. You can see some very dry moss, the soft leaves of a Yorkshire fog grass seedling and a patch of herb Robert. In the distance is a hill called Ingleborough (I think!). It's gloriously sunny.
The cover of SEN Magazine featuring a smiling white child with curly blonde hair. There is also a close up of the article with the words "I love it when audience members teach me new signs" and pictures showing how to sign moon: hold your dominant hand at head height with thumb and forefinger pinched together, then move them apart as you move your hand down, and back together again - it's like making a crescent moon.
A nice fluffy bumblebee with a buff coloured abdomen end is resting on the underside of a scarlet flowered ornamental Salvia flower.
Care instructions on cotton polyester sheet packaging. The highlighted text says "Due to the magnetic nature of polyester when in contact with fibres such as nylon, pilling may occur"
Veronica spicata is a perennial plant. It has spikes of tiny bright purple flowers. The tip of each inflorescence is almost neon green/yellow. Fascination has caused some to form with a flat end but the one in focus has an o-shape. It looks like a moth on top of a purple Muppet!
A backstage view of a packed audience at an outdoor festival. You can see a woman in a tartan dress and black cardigan from behind. She is making large bubbles. The audience facing her appear at first to be entirely children between toddlers and ten years old, but look closely and there are supportive adults in there too. The audience's faces are a mixture of awe, anticipation, delight and joy.
A stall at Great Exhibition Road Festval. A large yellow banner has the words "invisible warrior" on it. You can barely see it above the throng of people busy reading materials and chatting with the hosts.
A species rich "lawn" including a singular bright pink-purple orchid. The individual tiny flowers (about 0.5cm diameter) are arranged in a pyramid shape
A moth rests on broad grass leaves in the morning sun. Its wings are part-folded and are black with bright scarlet patches.
Beautiful five petalled, bright orange Geum flower, packed with pollen covered anthers at the centre. What looks (to me) like a tiny black bee is just taking off from it.
An inconspicuous brown beetle, with brwn makings on its elytra. It is similar in shape to a ladybird but a couple of millimetres larger. It is walking across a stone path taking a few steps then pausing, keeping up this rhythm across the path. Is it ponderous or terrified and about to do the rabbit poop thing?! The tension is not unbearable, it carries on its merry way.
A screenshot from The Atlantic's search of the LibGen database. It shows three extremely exciting journal articles about wheat diseases with SJ Bearchell as one of the authors. Check your material here: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2025/03/search-libgen-data-set/682094/
Red sticker in the shape of a drop of blood, stuck on a yellow notebook. The text says: I gave blood and helped save up to 3 lives #ThisIsAmazing..it also has the UK Blood Service logo of two hearts (not anatomical!) entwined with a circle at each heart dent to depict a human head and the words: Give Blood
A white woman with green eyes and long straight greying-brown hair. She's wearing round, silver framed spectacles which accentuate the lovely wrinkles round her eyes. She has a Mona Lisa-like smile. In front of her is a transparent cuboid-shaped award and inside it are etched The Impossibe Triangle illusion and the words "Beetlestone Award 2024, Sarah Bearchell, for leadership and legacy"
Two young teens wearing labcoats both have coloured sunglasses perched on top of their heads. The teen on the right is smiling, while holding an inflated balloon with the tips of their fingers. The teen on the left is looking at the balloon and you can see them is talking. In the background are two more people out of focus but you can see they are also wearing labcoats and coloured sunglasses.
Shows a close-up of a panel in Aquila Magazine. Text contains a pun about toes made out of potatoes which your text reader might not cope with. Sorry. Text reads: What happened there then? During pickling, water moves out of the (pota)toes by osmosis and the pickling liquid diffuses in to replace it, preserving the spuds. Vinegar makes the pickling liquid acidic, and the teabag releases tannins - conditions a bit like a peat bog! There is a picture of five toes, sculpted from potato (complete with potato skin nails), which are slightly wrinkly and brown stained. The caption below the picture says 1 week later - brown and wrinkly - and stinky! The edge of the next panel is included as a teaser, it says: Taking it further: Horrify your family.
Shows a close-up of a panel in Aquila Magazine. Text contains a pun about toes made out of potatoes which your text reader might not cope with. Sorry. Text reads: What happened there then? During pickling, water moves out of the (pota)toes by osmosis and the pickling liquid diffuses in to replace it, preserving the spuds. Vinegar makes the pickling liquid acidic, and the teabag releases tannins - conditions a bit like a peat bog! There is a picture of five toes, sculpted from potato (complete with potato skin nails), which are slightly wrinkly and brown stained. The caption below the picture says 1 week later - brown and wrinkly - and stinky! The edge of the next panel is included as a teaser, it says: Taking it further: Horrify your family.
Photo of a laptop screen, MS Word. You can see the bottom left corner, where it says "Page 1 of 98. 37807 words". There is also a little sunshine and clouds weather icon.
A panel of people in front of a large projected slide saying "Transforming tomorrow together"
A branch with fan shaped leaves where the veins branch in equal halves as they fan out. Leaves are almost luminous yellow but they grey London day is not helping!
Sparkly photo of a transparent acrylic cuboid award. Cleverly etched inside are an image of The Impossible Triangle and the words "Beetlestone Award 2024. Sarah Bearchell. For Leadership and Legacy"
A photo taken on the westbound platform of the Metropolitan Line on the London Underground (Tube). From the foreground to the background: tiled floor, dot textured floor, painted yellow danger line, weird ribbed textured floor that you can only feel through Converse, then white line and edge of platform. On the other side of the tracks is an iconic tube sign saying Kings Cross Saint Pancras.
A canva-type image for "The Little Event 2025", hosted by BIG, the STEM Communicators Network, 16 and 18 January on Zoom. It says: Our popular introductory training sessions for people new to STEM communication. Members £50, Non-members £85, which includes one year of membership. Quote from attendee "This was the first SciComm event I ever attended, and it was so useful! Highly recommend to anyone getting started, and wanting to know more!" Applications are now open for The Little Event Bursary. Apply today for a free place at this year's Little Event. If you are in the first 5 years of your career in STEM and haven't attended one of BIG's events before, you can apply. The bursary is worth £85 and includes a year's membership to BIG. Deadline for applications is 9 December. www.big.uk.com
A small black dog with a red tartan collar is sleeping in total abandonment on a pale greyish brown fluffy blanket. She just looks incredibly content. The dog is a Patterdale Terrier crossed with other terrier types. She has a ribcage like a whippet, spindly yet muscular legs and short hair.
Photo of a laptop with an MS Word document which reads "Chapter 5 Innovation in Cultivation" and then a big page of nothingness.
Photo shows an audience of adults in a lecture theatre. A white bubble is drifting down towards them. Everyone is smiling and watching it, but those in the drop zone are reaching to catch it. One woman , who weirdly seems to be highlighted, is straining to reach it from a distance. She's completely lost in the moment and it is joyful!
A screenshot of my main feed on BlueSky. It shows a random post but circled in the top left corner is the menu button referred to in the text.
screenshot of BlueSky Accessibility Settings. The "Require alt text before posting" is checked
Dr Sarah Bearchell, a white woman with long mid-brown/grey hair is holding a box in front of Suw Charman-Andersen (a white woman with long blonde hair), founder of Ada Lovelace Day. Both are wearing red, because Ada Lovelace Day is a celebration! There is a dry ice cloud coming from the box and Suw is smiling in anticipation at touching it.
A screenshot of the BBC Weather app. Apparently Oxford will have "hurricane force winds" 8°C and a 60% chance of rain.
An almost luminous green background with a sticker saying "Superstar Bubble Mix" and "Dr Sarah Bearchell". It also shows the hazard symbol for "Don Not Drink", an image of a tap over a liquid-filled cup which has a red circle around it, with a red bar through it.