Talk:Adam Hart

Untitled

Date of birth is needed.--109.252.100.73 (talk) 12:19, 13 February 2021 (UTC)

Conflict-of-interest disclosure and request to update and shorten article

I am Adam Hart, the subject of this article, and am therefore declaring a conflict of interest. I have not edited the article directly. I would be grateful if an independent editor could consider the following factual correction and editorial changes.

Academic title

My academic title at the University of Gloucestershire has changed from Professor of Science Communication to Professor of Conservation Ecology. The University staff profile identifies my current position as “Professor of Conservation Ecology”:

https://www.glos.ac.uk/staff/profile/adam-hart/

I suggest replacing the sentence:

“Following a postdoctoral position examining conflict in social systems, he transferred to the University of Gloucestershire in 2005, where he is Professor of Science Communication.”

with:

“Following a postdoctoral position examining conflict in social systems, he moved to the University of Gloucestershire in 2005, where he is Professor of Conservation Ecology.”

The relevant citation to the University staff profile could be updated using the link above.

Length and balance of the article

I also believe the article has gradually become too long and detailed. It now includes many relatively minor professional activities and repeats several of the more important ones. In places it reads more like a comprehensive CV or institutional profile than an encyclopaedia article. I would welcome substantial pruning by an independent editor.

In particular, I suggest the following:

• Shorten the lead to two or three paragraphs covering the principal elements of the biography: academic work in ecology and conservation, major BBC broadcasting, books and the most significant awards. Details about individual series, publication dates and awards can then be covered in the body without being repeated in the lead.

• Condense the opening of the “Career and research” section. The present list of subjects on which I have published is very broad and catalogue-like. A shorter account could describe the main trajectory from research on social insects to citizen science, applied ecology and African conservation.

• Retain the principal research examples, including the citizen-science projects, thermal-imaging anti-poaching research and work on African conservation, but reduce the number of individual projects and associated press reports described in detail.

• Retain the discussion of criticism directed at the Big Wasp Survey and the response to it. I am not requesting removal of critical material and agree that this provides appropriate balance.

• Condense or remove the paragraph listing individual subjects on which I have commented in the media, including ladybirds, spiders, ants, tree diseases, banana disease and gut bacteria. A single neutral sentence explaining that I have contributed to national media coverage of entomology, ecology and conservation would be sufficient.

• Remove the personal quotation beginning “The scientific method is our greatest intellectual achievement”. It is not necessary to an encyclopaedic account of the career.

• Shorten the “Broadcasting” section. The major television programmes, presentation of Science in Action, Inside the Killing Jar and the Tooth and Claw series seem worth retaining, but the long list of subjects covered by individual radio documentaries could be reduced substantially.

• Shorten the “Writing and public speaking” section. The books should remain, but the lists of science-festival appearances, individual talks, hosted events and chaired discussions could be condensed into one or two sentences or removed. Examples that appear unnecessarily detailed include the lists of subjects discussed at particular festivals, hosting the EU COST Science Night, hosting the British Society for Immunology anniversary celebration, chairing a particular debate, launching the University public lecture series and delivering an AGM address.

• Remove repeated descriptions of The Life of Poo, Unfit for Purpose, The Deadly Balance, Trophy Hunting, Tooth and Claw and the Marsh Ecology Book of the Year award. Each needs to be described only once in the most appropriate section, with a brief summary in the lead if warranted.

• In the “Awards and honours” section, retain the principal distinctions: Fellowships of the Royal Entomological Society and Royal Society of Biology, the National Teaching Fellowship, Science Communicator of the Year, the Green Gown Award and the Marsh Ecology Book of the Year. Minor speaking engagements and professional or charitable associations do not need to appear as honours. In particular, being patron of Bees Abroad is not an award and could be removed from that section. The Students’ Union outstanding lecturer award could also be omitted from a selected list of major honours.

• Review promotional or evaluative wording such as “cornerstone publication”, “widely disseminated”, “high-profile articles”, “strong interest” and “significant impact on people’s everyday lives”. Where retained, these claims should be clearly attributed to an independent source; otherwise, more neutral factual wording would be preferable.

The aim of these suggestions is not to remove unfavourable material or to add promotional content. It is to make the article shorter, more balanced and more consistent with an encyclopaedic biography. I am content for an independent editor to decide exactly how much material should be retained and how the revised passages should be worded.

CconservationEcol (talk) 06:29, 19 September 2026 (UTC)