Vacancy for a #database and application engineer: do you have experience in #data engineering? You will help design, build, and maintain sustainable long-term data infrastructure by developing relational databases for ecological research. Interested? Apply by 23 August: nioo.knaw.nl/en/vacancies...

Database- and Application Engineer - NODE

Do you have experience in database engineering, and would you enjoy working in a vibrant, internationally-oriented ecological research institute? Then we're looking for you!

nioo.knaw.nl

I love that the size of a ground hornbill nestbox is essentially a small shed. #ornithology

FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology@africanornithology.bsky.social · 2w ago

Artificial nesting sites (nestboxes) can boost breeding opportunities for the Southern Ground-Hornbill. In South Africa, nestboxes increased the number of breeding groups, revealing their value as a conservation tool where natural nest sites are scarce. doi.org/10.1017/S095... #AfricanOrnithology

I generally prefer my evolution to be quantitative but this is pretty fabulous, with a wonderful ‘Bumpus today’ vibe

Simon Evans@sevans.bsky.social · 2d ago

“Shortly after the hurricanes, anoles on two of the islands in the Turks and Caicos group sported larger pads on their toes, longer forelimbs, and shorter hind limbs.”

“Shortly after the hurricanes, anoles on two of the islands in the Turks and Caicos group sported larger pads on their toes, longer forelimbs, and shorter hind limbs.”

Science Magazine@science.org · 2d ago

When hurricanes blow through Turks and Caicos, a silver key anole’s ability to hold onto its perch in strong winds can be a matter of life or death. A new study identifies a gene that might help these lizards get a better grip. Learn more: https://scim.ag/4hCj59O

I had a seizure a fortnight ago, which has severely impacted my short-term memory and my ability to think for prolonged periods. Sounds weird, but if I focus on a topic for a couple of hours I get so tired I have to nap. So I guess it’s like to be Boris Johnson. Without the philandering.

Last year was a bumper year for our apples, gooseberries & currants. All have been much more chaste this year, yet our plum tree has gone all in. This isn’t even the entirety of today’s harvest.

Very cool pair of papers demonstrating little link between amount of additive genetic variation and amount of nucleotide variation within species: journals.plos.org/plosbiology/... www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Levels of additive genetic variation vary substantially between species

Adaptive potential determines how populations respond to environmental change. This study compiles evolvability estimates from over 170 multicellular species, revealing substantial variation across th...

journals.plos.org

No rain here, but it came within a field or two. Close enough that we could hear the rain laughing, hear the rain handing out crisp new five pound notes, hear the rain praising home decoration choices of the houses it fell upon.

Nice podcast episode with Nature editor Magdalena Skipper on why she believes Metascience is an important young discipline that can help us to understand how to improve our science, and the lessons learned from the Replication Crisis. thehpspodcast.buzzsprout.com/2180146/epis...

S6 E1 - Magdalena Skipper on Scientific Publishing

This week, Thomas Spiteri speaks with Dr. Magdalena Skipper, Editor-in-Chief of Nature. Skipper has held the role since 2018, and has a background in the genetic sciences. She is also notably the…

pocketcasts.com

What are the conferences/meetings that plant evolutionary ecologists in the UK attend? It seems silly for us to be siloed by taxonomy, so I’m keen to explore how we can encourage greater discourse. Please RT.

.The very talented and fun Jonathan Henshaw has two positions to offer! If you like theoretical eco-evo questions, don't hesitate. Also, Freiburg is a very pretty place PhD: uni-freiburg.de/stellenangeb... Postdoc: uni-freiburg.de/stellenangeb...

"Listen to a random forest" is a really inviting prompt, unless of course you're a stats nerd and you think for a moment "why would I want to LISTEN to a random forest regression?" But once I got past that, this is lovely.

tree.fm – Tune Into Forests From Around The World 🌳🔈

People around the world recorded the sounds of their forests, so you can escape into nature, while in lockdown or unable to travel. Use this site to chill, meditate or do some digital shinrin-yoku.

tree.fm

The phrase "'time goes by'... is profoundly misleading. It implies that time rushes past like the wind, leaving no trace. It would be truer to say that time accretes. It gnarls, and then it gnarls around its gnarls, endlessly." @robertmoor.com's In Trees keeps giving w/ each close read. A delight.

BlueSky is such a wholesome place most of the time. Take these replies to the Chief Executive of the Met Office, reporting overnight weather in their location.

Prof Penny Endersby @pennyend.bsky.social · last wk.

Half a teaspoon of drizzle overnight. Not even enough to wet the bottom of the rain gauge. Last proper rain here was June 7th, none at all in July. None forecast here. Grim.

Beneath Jackie Morris’s luminous kestrel, the notebook belonging to Gerard Manley Hopkins, open on the page where he’d written The Windhover. Along with Edward Thomas & Seamus Heaney (the latter I’d heard speak in the Sheldonian Theatre, when dreaming of getting to uni) I did my dissertation on. 4/

Other domesticated animals too: draught horses have lower life expectancies. I was taught in first year its because in large breeds we’ve pushed bodyplans to the maximum size they can support.

Dr Craig R McClain@drcraigmc.bsky.social · 2w ago

This is Julia, eight pounds. Across species bigger animals live longer, but within dogs it flips: Great Danes are lucky to see eight years, small dogs can hit sixteen. Meanwhile in the ocean the giants win, Greenland sharks pass 250. Julia likes her odds. #DogsOfBluesky #HowToBuildAGiant

A painstakingly researched and hard-hitting account of the dangers of pulling safeguards off science.

Matthew Cobb@matthewcobb.bsky.social · 2w ago

Tragic and - according to scientists quoted in the article — avoidable.

Did Thoreau encounter contagious cancer? A new study finds transmissible tumors in catfish--and raises questions about whether they could arise in humans someday. Gift link: nyti.ms/4whfi6v

Deep in This Lake, a Contagious Cancer Is Spreading (Gift Article)

Transmissible tumors have been reported in a handful of animal species, but never before among fish. Is it possible in humans?

nyti.ms

DSIT is dead, but UK science will be fine - writing in @theconversation.com, RoRI’s @jameswilsdon.bsky.social breaks down the UK government's latest Whitehall reorganisation and why the research community shouldn't be alarmed by closer proximity to business: theconversation.com/what-the-sud...

What the sudden demise of the UK’s department of science means for the future of research

If we want to be reminded what real damage to a science system looks like, we only need to glance across the Atlantic.

theconversation.com

Our Associate Editor @sarahjose.bsky.social reports back from #ExE2026 at @uniexecec.bsky.social. Key themes included microbiomes, ageing, behaviour, environmental change, long-term studies such as @soaysheep.bsky.social, and @plos.org focus area of Open Science. everyone.plos.org/2026/07/21/f...

From long-term field studies to wild microbiomes: themes from Evolution x Ecology 2026 - EveryONE

Image: Conference photo courtesy of Erik Postma (University of Exeter) This blog was written by PLOS One Associate Editor Sarah Jose, who…

everyone.plos.org

We’re very excited to confirm that Rosemary Grant will be giving our inaugural online webinar in September. It’s free to all, so please look out for details of how to sign up for tickets.

"So he's an academic lured by the promise of long-term funding for his research? What did you name him?" Crichton: "Dr. uh.....Dr. Grant."

This was such an amazing conference!! So well-organized and amazing speakers and venue! Looking forward to the next edition in Edinburgh!

Erik Postma@erikpostma.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Our stellar 🤩 list of invited speakers #ExE2026: @danielbolnick.bsky.social Trine Bilde, Dan Nussey, @sevans.bsky.social @andrewfoote.bsky.social @cleliagasparini.bsky.social Sarah Knowles, @liamlachs.bsky.social, Lizy Mittell, @keesvanoers.bsky.social, Alex Popadopolous & Katja Räsänen. evoxeco.uk

Wyndham's Oak - Silton, England A thousand years old Photo: Charles Finch

An important and beautiful paper on the central role of natural history in ecology and evolutionary biology.

American Naturalist / ASN 🐌@asn-amnat.bsky.social · 3w ago

Historical Perspective: Sridhar et al. use the backstories of famous scientific papers in Ecology and Evolution to uncover the background roles of natural history that are written out of papers. Available now ahead of print! www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

Wayne Williams highly acclaimed award winning photo of Crested Caracara x Scissor-tailed Flycatcher ! The brave little fly catcher is dive-bombing the much larger Caracara!

The Red-cheeked Cordon Bleu is a small, colourful African waxbill finch. 12.5 cm thrive in dry regions, open grasslands, areas near human habitation. They are primarily granivores that forage on grass seeds, millets, and cereal grains. breeding season eat tiny insects Only the male has red cheeks

Deborah Sandidge Photography "This young Roseate Spoonbill preens her beautiful pink feathers in the heart of the wetlands. Juvenile Roseate Spoonbills are pale pink compared to the adults, gaining their vibrant feathers at around three years." Nikon Z9/600mm f/4 TC lens, slow motion video.

Spotted in the Reading University Natural History Museum