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Abolition is an elusive concept, which allows people with various political views to identify with the idea. This Article unpacks some of the conceptual features that lead to its elusiveness. This imprecision has empowered some to point out the diverse—if not inconsistent—positions that self-identified abolitionists take when articulating the contemporary abolition movement’s demands. The question then becomes whether the movement could protect itself from being a rootless position with insufficient tools to guide change. I suggest that it can. Rather than getting caught up in debates about abolition’s ends, I propose that more attention be paid to abolition’s grounds. By focusing on what grounds abolition, we see that the threat to the movement does not come from those who stop short of absolutism (that is, those who do not advocate abolishing our penal systems altogether); rather, it comes from those who ground their absolutism in principles inconsistent with the positive features necessary to achieve an abolition democracy. A consequence of this view is that the lines between abolition and reform become blurry. Some abolitionists argue that this blurriness is reason to reject reformist proposals. However, I suggest that this ambiguity is not a problem—and, indeed, may be beneficial. I point out that most abolitionists are out to reform something, and the primary source of disagreement within the movement is about what must be reformed. This, however, doesn’t mean that we should, as many suggest, distinguish abolitionism by its pursuit of non-reformist reforms (or “abolitionist steps”) instead of reformist reforms. Rather than being a helpful way to separate abolitionism from less progressive reforms, I argue that the appeal to non-reformist reforms substitutes one elusive term (abolition) for another (non-reformist reforms), rejects legitimate reforms that benefit persons currently suffering in our legal systems, and advances a conception of progressive change that forecloses valuable opportunities to mobilize the least well-off. More people are engaging with abolitionist thinking than ever before. This Article is an attempt to shift the discourse around abolition so that the concept primarily serves its political mission and allows abolitionists to avoid getting bogged down in debates that have little upshot today. In other words, it’s a call to reform abolition.

The rapid advancement of environmental DNA (eDNA) science in the past two decades has inspired a concomitant growth in the development of eDNA sampling and analytical methods. However, these methods are often developed by individual laboratories or institutions, which can isolate protocols within programmes, agencies or regions and prevent the beneficial exchange of data and ideas. Recent efforts to advance national and international coordination have resulted in a groundswell of standardisation efforts, but there is still considerable confusion around the role of formal standards for regulatory or research applications. With this commentary, we hope to provide clarity on the terminology used in standardisation discussions, including the differences between formal standards and best practice guidelines. Additionally, we discuss how eDNA method choice may be informed by environmental management scenarios and review examples of formal eDNA method standards being used to inform management action. The eDNA community now has an opportunity to develop a roadmap for method development to help close standardisation gaps, advance eDNA method adoption and accelerate our ability to monitor biological life at the scales our current environmental challenges demand.

This paper addresses the potential for technology to support husbandry and enrichment opportunities that enhance the welfare of zoo and sanctuary-housed nocturnal and crepuscular species. This topic was investigated through the medium of a multidisciplinary workshop (Moon Jam) that brought together species experts, zoo designers, Animal-Computer Interaction researchers and post-graduate students in collaborative discussions and design sessions. We explain the context through an examination of existing research and current practices, and report on specific challenges raised and addressed during the Moon Jam, highlighting and discussing key themes that emerged. Finally, we offer a set of guidelines to support the integration of technology into the design of animal husbandry and enrichment that support wellbeing, to advance the best practices in keeping and managing nocturnal and crepuscular animals.

The Sustainable Development Goals for creating sustainable, resilient cities and addressing human impacts upon coastal waters and marine environments create a mandate for coastal cities to empower local communities to value city seascapes. One key way to achieve this is through more inclusive pathways to connect to the sea using participatory methods. This research used a participatory co-design approach in Plymouth—the UK’s first national marine park—to explore the potential for place-based digital engagement to connect people with the sea, especially for deprived neighbourhoods. We sought to answer the research question of whether place-based digital technologies can engage communities with marine spaces and make coastal areas more accessible. Using the collaborative community-led concept of a city marine park, we explored the requirements for digital technologies needed to create marine citizenship and address the challenge of building coastal resilience. We describe a participatory action research study that took place in an urban coastal community, run in collaboration with a local organisation, the Rockpool Project, over a period of six months. Through a baseline survey, we identified some of the barriers to accessing the sea and ways in which the sea was perceived as a space in the city. We also ran a series of co-design workshops using creative prototyping with local families to help define the requirements for a digital toolkit that could enable them to access the sea. The results found that by enabling access to temporal and biodiverse marine spaces such as rocky shores, place-based digital technologies can create new ways for communities to access and engage with the sea. Place-based digital technologies have the potential to create marine citizenship by building a connection between people and marine environments to care for the sea as a shared resource. We propose this can help establish a sense of place and contribute to marine stewardship in coastal communities.

Wildfires are an increasing concern due to rising temperatures and incidence of droughts associated with changing climate, poor land management, and direct human interference. Most studies of the impact of fire on temperate heathland and bog examined the consequences of controlled or prescribed burning. Less is known about the impacts of uncontrolled wildfires on sites designated for their conservation value. We examined the initial impact and short‐term trajectory (3.5 years) of cool temperate peatland plant and arthropod communities on designated upland sites in Northern Ireland following wildfires, that is, unplanned with respect to where and when they occur, severity, and duration. These near simultaneous wildfires were often due to a failure to control prescribed burns. Wildfires were associated with a loss of blanket bog and heath indicator species. Broad vegetation groups showed initial recovery characterized by a decrease in bare ground and increasing cover of shrub species and bryophytes. However, at a species level, Sphagnum spp and bryophyte communities, which are central to peatland ecosystem functioning, showed no sign of recovery to prefire composition. Rather, bryophyte communities became more divergent over the course of the study and were mainly characterized by increased abundance of the alien pioneer acrocarp Campylopus introflexus. Similarly, composition of arthropod communities (ground beetles and spiders) differed between burnt and unburnt areas and showed no evidence of a return to species composition in unburnt areas. The nationally rare beetle Carabus nitens was more common in the aftermath of wildfire. Synthesis. Whilst, long‐term recovery was not investigated, these short‐term changes suggest enduring detrimental impacts on the distinctive communities associated with peatlands, primarily through the loss of Sphagnum spp., affecting ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration and water and soil retention. It may not be possible to restore exact prefire species composition of plant and animal communities. We suggest a precautionary approach involving management of upland vegetation, public education, and vigilance, to prevent further wildfires and protect these key upland habitats. Wildfires affect richness and abundance in moorland plant and arthropod communities. Critically, peat‐forming, Sphagnum communities, showed no sign of recovering pre‐fire composition.

Jeffrey Epstein, a wealthy, white, billionaire child rapist, ran an international sex trafficking ring. Rather than prosecute Epstein, Alex Acosta, a former United States Attorney, brokered a deal with Epstein's defense attorneys coined, \"the sweetheart deal of the century.\" When Acosta abdicated his role as a state functionary and allowed Epstein's defense attorneys to dictate the terms of Epstein's freedom, Acosta gave the power of the State to private parties to protect a recidivist child rapist.