Charlotte Weatherill

@ckweatherill

Lecturer in Environmental Politics Climate politics - vulnerability - islands Convener of @bisa-ecpwg.bsky.social Publications: Views are mine and represent me

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Charlotte Weatherill@ckweatherill· 9d

Last night of Paul's Brutus. Going to miss him a bit.

View from the Minack theatre seating. Roman style staging, with a backdrop of the sea and the Cornish coast.

Photo from a matinee earier in the week. Paul covered in blood from doing #thedeed.

Charlotte Weatherill@ckweatherill· 10d

A wildfire has broken out in Cornwall, looks really close.

thick smoke streaming across the horizon, people playing on the beach in the foreground

Charlotte Weatherill@ckweatherill· 13d

Paul is in dress rehearsal at the Minack today, so I walked the coastal path 'round to Sennen, via Land's End. Saw some incredible landscapes.

Srubby land in the foreground, I'm the background, craggy land sticks out, with two caves in the cliffs

Turquoise sea, a sailing boat, more rock formations

Me smiling because I didn't know yet how long it was going to take

Famous bit near Land's End, can't remember its name

Charlotte Weatherill@ckweatherill· 24d

"No" is, and always has been, an option.

"As easy as it is to forget the technologies that have been rejected - whether automated cloth-weaving devices, nuclear power plants, or contemporary facial-recognition tech - "No" is, and always has been, an option - whether by policy or by force." This is a quote from Blood in the Machine by Brian Merchant.

Charlotte Weatherill@ckweatherill· Jul 21

""No" is, and always has been, an option - whether by policy or by force." I'm finally reading Blood in the Machine by Brian Merchant and it's even better than I was expecting.

Photo of my kindle, showing the full quote, highlighted... End of quote reads, "Power looms did not return to West Houghton for thirty years."

Charlotte Weatherill@ckweatherill· Jul 18

Saying goodbye to my suitcase. This is what I dragged (noisily) around London, Paris, Barcelona, Cauterets, and back. Thanks for remaining draggable, pal.

very battered two wheel hand luggage suitcase. one wheel missing, one worn to almost nothing.

Charlotte Weatherill@ckweatherill· Jul 11

I've successfully propagated succulents and feel like a Bringer Of Life. Also have a spider plant assembly line going on, and multiple crab apple trees at various stages. Addicted to this process.

Potted succulent babies, one with its patent leaf still attached as it wouldn't let go.

Charlotte Weatherill@ckweatherill· Jul 9

Off we go then. Goodbye Barcelona. You've been so good.

Photo of Barcelona Sants, taken this morning, with the sun rising behind the building

Charlotte Weatherill@ckweatherill· Jul 8

Left Cauterets at 6am, took the terrifying road to Spain, got blocked by cows, stopped for a travel sickness break, now back at Lleida to get the train to Barcelona. Travelled a very long way in the wrong direction. Will be home by Friday!

cows blocking the road. they were utterly disinterested in moving. felt like a blockade.

Charlotte Weatherill@ckweatherill· Jul 7

Well I climbed, and slept on, a mountain. Most physically impressive thing I've ever done. Buzzing.

Me, smiling, about 1800 feet up. Still a long way to go.

The view of our refuge, taken after quite a difficult descent. This was still 1988m up.

Watched the sunrise from the refuge. Sun is emerging over the Pyrenees, a lake in the foreground.

Charlotte Weatherill@ckweatherill· Jul 6

L'autobus!

Bus to navette pont d'espagne, loading up in front of a mountain, that's just starting to get the sun

Charlotte Weatherill@ckweatherill· Jul 5

Proof. From our walk to Lac d'Estom. Also regard me getting sunburned on the way up.

Charlotte Weatherill@ckweatherill· Jul 4

Ainsa! Hotter here than Barcelona which I was not expecting. Into France tomorrow.

Landscape photo from Ainsa across to the Spanish Pyrenees

My friend sat in the shade in Ainsa. She lives in Spain but the heat here is astonishing

La Tarara. Vegan restaurant, reservation only, they serve you what they serve you. Incredible place.

Another La Tarara photo, they fly Palestine's flag and the inclusive pride flag.

Charlotte Weatherill@ckweatherill· Jul 4

First holiday in over a year 🥰

Charlotte Weatherill@ckweatherill· Jul 4

Lleida-Pirineus!

Charlotte Weatherill@ckweatherill· Jun 30

I did the right thing.

photo of one of the beaches, but not the one I went to

Charlotte Weatherill@ckweatherill· Jun 29

I really love university buildings. The shabbier the better. I want exposed pipes, uncomfortable chairs.

classic university corridor, sparse but shabby, painted an ugly colour, ceiling that shows its workings

Charlotte Weatherill@ckweatherill· Jun 28

Hang on.

maps screenshot showing me near the border between Spain and Portugal

Charlotte Weatherill@ckweatherill· Jun 28

Lots of waterways, lots of waders and gulls.

photo from the train, lines of changing landscape types, the sea in the middle distance

Charlotte Weatherill@ckweatherill· Jun 28

We seem to have gone really far already. Mostly passed fields of cows sheltering in the shade of trees.

screenshot of Google maps and my location in relation to Paris. We're south west of Dijon.

Charlotte Weatherill@ckweatherill· Jun 28

I've picked people up as I go along! Has made it much nicer though.

Charlotte Weatherill@ckweatherill· Jun 28

RER was quick and easy, and we made it to the TGV! I have an upper deck window seat and I'm just the luckiest.

Blurry action-shot of Angela, Sam and I walking down the platform for our train to Barcelona.

Charlotte Weatherill@ckweatherill· Jun 28

I'm here 2 and a half hours early because I needed to get out of that hotel. But I'm not too groggy to appreciate.

A photo of St Pancras, red brick gothic against a pale blue, early morning sky

Charlotte Weatherill@ckweatherill· Jun 27

This is the trip booked by the university's travel company. Makes accessing tickets harder, as not connected to my accounts. Worse: London hotel tonight sounds awful. Reviews attached. If I booked this place now, myself, it would be £51. They paid £120 in April.

Charlotte Weatherill@ckweatherill· Jun 27

Delayed journey thanks to loads of cancellations, but finally... hopefully... setting off to London. Prevailing emotion is anxiety, but trying to remind myself why I'm doing this and how fun it'll be.

photo of the front of the train, pointing towards Manchester. Blue and cloudy sky.

Charlotte Weatherill@ckweatherill· Jun 26

Setting off to Barcelona tomorrow. Same as last time - first day, get to London. Second day, early Eurostar and all the rest of the way. Really excited about my Paris - Barcelona train. It's direct, I have a seat booking, and I'll see loads of France...

map of France, showing a red line that is my train route - goes from Paris to Barcelona, on an Eastern route, including a coastal bit that goes through Montpellier, Perpignan and Girona.

Charlotte Weatherill@ckweatherill· Jun 24

Alright, I allowed myself a one-page plan, now I really need to finish this article.

What the fuck are we doing
My university has gone all in on AI. It is integrated into staff laptops in a way that can’t be disabled or opted out-of. This infestation was not consented to, and feels like a violation. This same process was supposed to happen to students from September, but has been postponed thanks to the resistance action of colleagues.
I teach social science, specifically environment and climate politics. This is relevant to my opposition to the way that a violent technology is being forced upon us, but it isn’t the only reason I oppose it. In this blog I am laying things out in the hope that doing so will help me better express myself in future discussions.
Because writing is thinking. And if you take that away from me, you have taken away the part of myself that I most value.
Starting point: AI is violent
- Trained on workers in the Global South who have reported labour violations and psychological impacts
- Ownership and mass rollout – the politics of the tech bros, surveillance and militarism, lack of democratic consent
- Biases – gendered, racialised
- Environmental racism – where are the data centres going
- Climate change – we need to be reducing power use in the GN, not increasing it for what is a worthless technology that is solving no problem at all
- Water – fresh water is a scarce resource that again, in the GN we need to be reducing our use, not increasing it
Pedagogical concerns
To me, we have reached the end of the conversation already. However, the meetings in which I find myself have chosen a different starting point: that AI is inevitable, students will use it, the university wants them to use it, so we have to respond by changing our teaching practices.
- The essay is dead?
- Pedagogical decisions based on the ability of students to cheat
- Accessibility and inclusion being used selectively
- The solutions are already there, and they do not involve AI
What the fuck are we doing?
I consider this battle to be existen…

Charlotte Weatherill@ckweatherill· Jun 18

Setting off back, having had a really nice week at the University of Augsburg. Even nicer, will see everyone at POLLEN in less than two weeks!

Posed photo of four women, smiling in front of the trees. Angela, me, Alina, Johanna.

Charlotte Weatherill@ckweatherill· Jun 16

Augsburg campus is very beautiful.

Photo of a lake with lots of lily pads, surrounded by trees. Looks like a Monet.

Charlotte Weatherill@ckweatherill· Jun 14

I made it! Immediately connected to eduroam, lol. Now on the tram. But I think this method has worked - arriving fairly early has been much nicer than my awful 1am Hamburg arrivals.