New book on effects of plant diversity on plant-herbivore interactions edited by @xmoreira.bsky.social et al. is out! Juri Felix and I have contributed a chapter on role of tree traits in mediating effects of forest diversity on herbivores: link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...

I am delighted to share that @clavedec.bsky.social's latest paper on the association between DNA methylation and cuticular hydrocarbons in Timema stick insects has now been published in Phil Trans of the Royal Society B #speciation #epigenetics #matechoice royalsocietypublishing.org/rstb/article...

Genomic regions exhibiting divergent DNA methylation patterns co-vary with loci associated with sexual signalling traits in a stick insect

Abstract. The evolution of signalling traits can affect local adaptation, mate choice and the development of reproductive isolation between diverging popul

royalsocietypublishing.org

An amazing couple of days at the 12th International Conference of Poeciliid and Goodeid Biologists (PoGoBio2026) in Padova, Italy, last week with my MSc and PhD students, who did an excellent job at presenting their research.

Excited to share out latest work on how industrial and domestic #pollution affects #guppy life histories in #Brazil @rhulbiology.bsky.social #fish www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Divergent life-history strategies of invasive guppies (Poecilia reticulata) along a water pollution gradient

Life-history theory considers differential allocation of time and energy into somatic maintenance, growth and reproduction. Because time and energy ar…

sciencedirect.com

New in JFB: Alfaro huberi must have one of the strangest mating behaviors among poeciliid fishes. #TeamFish #FishSci Paper: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... Corresponding video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKWA...

I am excited to share that @hannahmcgx.bsky.social's first PhD chapter (with @amydeacon.bsky.social and Francesco Santi) on how oil pollution influences male guppy ornamentation just got published in @ecol-evol.bsky.social @rhulbiology.bsky.social onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Oil Things Bright and Beautiful? How Hydrocarbon Pollution Impacts Guppy Ornamentation

Spatial variation in crude oil pollution in Trinidad leads to differing levels of pollutant exposure in connected guppy populations. Male guppy ornamentation is an important sexually selected trait a...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Excited to share our new paper, led by Brazilian collaborators, on male coloration of guppies in response to urban pollution: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... @rhulbiology.bsky.social

Big congratulations @rsmehlhausenfranks.bsky.social on passing your viva today with minor corrections. It’s been a pleasure supervising you. Thank you to the examiners @rjpheathcote.bsky.social and @markjfbrown.bsky.social! And thank you Paul Devlin and @evolecollab.bsky.social for your help too!

It was a fun day indeed and great to hear what everyone is working on or thinking about :)

Royal Holloway Biology@rhulbiology.bsky.social · 10mo ago

Today we had research day @rhulbiology.bsky.social. Many thanks to @devotolab.bsky.social for organizing! Lots of interesting presentations and discussions and great attendance

Such an amazing honour for an amazing person and colleague!

Royal Holloway Biology@rhulbiology.bsky.social · 10mo ago

It is wonderful to see a new genus - Morrittospora - named after @rhulbiology.bsky.social's Professor David Morritt, to mark his recent retirement and in honour of his research career which included the study of invasive species in the Thames!

📣 Excited to advertise a new @treesdla.bsky.social CASE PhD project exploring the effects of forest diversity on soil fauna with ecoacoustics. Supervised by me, @evolecollab.bsky.social and Carlos Abrahams @soilacoustics.bsky.social. Apply by December 17th! 🌳🌲🐜🎧🎤 www.trees-dla.ac.uk/projects/nov...

Applications for PhD Studentships with @treesdla.bsky.social now open for 2026 intake. @kratina.bsky.social and I offer a PhD project on trophic ecology of invasive mosquitofish in Italy, France, and Spain (www.trees-dla.ac.uk/projects/tro...). Please get in touch if you are interested.

Congratulations to Dr Walter Lucchesi and Dr Becky Thomas (@beckythomas.bsky.social) who have been awarded Senior Fellowship of @advancehe.bsky.social (formerly the Higher Education Academy). This reflects their leadership in education both within and beyond @rhulbiology.bsky.social 🎉👏

One of @rhulbiology.bsky.social UG students, Alice, attended @britishecologicalsociety.org summer school this year and shared these lovely phots. She befriended many like-minded ecologists, networked with people from different environmental sectors, and studied a wide range of topics & organisms

First of the two @rhulbiology.bsky.social presentations at today's @ceevol.bsky.social Autumn Symposium is by @hannahmcgx.bsky.social who presents her PhD work on effects of oil pollution on guppy colouration

Our 3rd year students are having great time at Borneo fieldcourse expedition setting camera traps, doing behavioural observations and participating in tree planting for the Regrow Borneo project

Great post from our alumna Izzy Frey reflecting on her own journey from receiving unexpected #ALevelResults to her current job as an ecologist at Tetra Tech and why studying biology @royalholloway.bsky.social ended up the best decision she ever made www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...

#alevelresultsday | Izzy Frey

Now that the dust of the much-anticipated (and often dreaded) #ALevelResultsDay this week has begun to settle, having heard mentions of it all over the news, radio and TV, it has me sat here on a Sund...

linkedin.com

I recently wrote about a cool new paper by another research group on Antarctic leopard seal communication for The Conversation; it was fun to focus on some #bioacoustics again for a change. 😃 theconversation.com/antarctic-le...

Antarctic leopard seal ‘songs’ are surprisingly similar to nursery rhymes

The fact that animals don’t use words makes it hard to decode their communication. But technology is starting to make it easier.

theconversation.com

Congrats to Danny Hodgson on successful PhD viva today! On the left is Danny with her supervisors after viva and on the right Danny is shown working at home during COVID lockdown in a specially constructed desktop clean room to prevent sample contamination. Incredible resilience and determination!

@evolecollab.bsky.social lab cleaned up at the RHUL biology PGR symposium 🐟💪 best MSc talk (Ella) + runner up (Rebecca) and best PhD poster (yours truly)😎

Happy 99th birthday to the man who gave voice to the wild. 🎉 Sir David Attenborough, thank you for a lifetime dedicated to the natural world, and for sharing its story with wisdom, wonder, and grace. You've inspired generations to fall in love with nature.