📢 I'm hiring! 3-year postdoc in theoretical evolutionary ecology at University of Helsinki 🇫🇮 Apply: jobs.helsinki.fi/job/Helsinki-Postdoctoral-Researcher-in-Theoretical-Evolutionary-Biology/1348955157/ #AcademicJobs #Postdoc #EvolutionaryEcology #TheoreticalEcology #ScienceJobs #AcademicChatter

Life-history traits as predictors of expected genetic contributions 15 years later in a cooperatively breeding bird https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.19.695490v1

Took me a year (😱), but I finally published a blog post about our article on the #quantgen variance partition of phenitypic plasticity with @lmchev.bsky.social, published in @peercomjournal.bsky.social. 🇬🇧 devillemereuil.legtux.org/quantitative... 🇫🇷 devillemereuil.legtux.org/fr/genetique...

So there you have it, twin study estimates were greatly inflated, and molecular data sets the record straight. I walk through possible counter-arguments, but ultimately the uncomfortable truth is that genes contribute to traits much less than we always thought.

A lot has happened since our first announcement of #ExE2026, an evolutionary ecology conference hosted by @uniexecec.bsky.social in #Cornwall from June 29 to July 3 2026. Have a look at our new website to see our confirmed plenary speakers, the mid-conference excursions, and more. 👉 evoxeco.uk 👈

POV: you are a young woman celebrating a recent academic success

1/6 In a new preprint we ask a question: Why do males and females so often age and die at different rates? We argue that sex-specific mutation accumulation may be the most parsimonious evolutionary explanation for sex-biased ageing: ecoevorxiv.org/repository/v...

This is terrifying. "[AI agents] can... infer a researcher's latent hypotheses and produce data that artificially confirms them." ... "We can no longer trust that survey responses are coming from real people" [email protected]

Join us for this interesting project on fitness consequences of early life experiences in humans 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 or elephants 🐘🐘🐘!!

**PhD opportunity at @uniexecec.bsky.social** How does host microbiome dynamics affect wildlife disease? Combine molecular techniques, statistical modelling, and field sampling to understand how microbiome dynamics in 🦡 affects their susceptibility to bTB. 🔬🦠🧪 Please repost! shorturl.at/q3OxV

Congratulations to Dr @euantheyoung.bsky.social who defended his PhD yesterday on 'Family matters: The role of trade-offs in shaping human life-histories and health' research.rug.nl/en/publicati... @rug.nl supervised with @erikpostma.bsky.social @lummaalab.bsky.social 🎉

We wrote the Strain on scientific publishing to highlight the problems of time & trust. With a fantastic group of co-authors, we present The Drain of Scientific Publishing: a 🧵 1/n Drain: arxiv.org/abs/2511.04820 Strain: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/... Oligopoly: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...

We have an open PhD position (application deadline 9 January 2026) in "Theory of fitness landscapes" at @unibe.ch 🤓⛰️📊👩‍💻🎓: banklab.github.io/positions/ Please share widely! #QueerInSTEM #DisabledInSTEM #BlackInSTEM #WomenInSTEM #CarersInSTEM #AcademicSky #HigherED

"Asynchrony of ageing among traits in a wild bird population" doi.org/10.32942/X27...

1/13 New paper out! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... Historical records across thousands of women showed that mothers with more children had shorter lifespans during a famine, fitting an evolutionary explanation for why we age @hannahdugdale.bsky.social @lummaalab.bsky.social @erikpostma.bsky.social

Back in Ingelheim for another Evolution of Ageing workshop (massive thanks to The Gutenberg Workshops in the Life Sciences for hosting). It’s set to be a great three days of talks and presentations!

Come & work with us - fully funded 4 year PhD on Social Ageing: Social environment effects on senescence, using an epigenetic clock www.rug.nl/about-ug/wor... @rug.nl @david-s-richardson.bsky.social @keesvanoers.bsky.social @seychelleswarbler.bsky.social photo: @charlisdavies.bsky.social

New in #ProcB - From policy to practice: Progress towards #data- and #code-sharing in ecology and evolution @asanchez-tojar.bsky.social @eivimeycook.bsky.social tell us more in our blog royalsociety.org/blog/2025/09...

Well that’s the “highlight” of my week for sure! Thrilled to see our recent paper covered in Nature’s Research Highlight: www.nature.com/articles/d41... Also see @markspa.bsky.social’s neat explainer below.

1. My first ever paper is out! With @euantheyoung.bsky.social @lummaalab.bsky.social @erikpostma.bsky.social @hannahdugdale.bsky.social How do older siblings, and their sex and age, affect the survival of younger siblings? Find out by checking below. royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10....

With #eseb2025 coming to a close, it is time to start making plans for 2026. Interested in the interface of evolution 🧬 and ecology 🌳? Come to our #ExE conference hosted by @uniexecec.bsky.social in beautiful #Cornwall. Leave your email address at tinyurl.com/EvolxEcol to join our mailing list!

**Postdoc opportunities**👇👇 Find me at poster 302 today between 17:30-18:00 for a chat. 🦡🦠🔬🧬 #eseb2025

What do you think, can we forecast evolution❓ @sevans.bsky.social and I would love to hear your thoughts, so if you are going to #ESEB2025, submit a talk to our symposium (S24: Forecasting evolution in natural populations) and join @colingarroway.bsky.social and Patrik Nosil! Deadline April 25.

👋 Interested in working on the evolution of genetic architecture 🧬 of complex traits using linked-read sequencing of thousands of common lizards 🦎 from a wild population and common garden experiment? #evolution #genetics Well, I have a PhD offer for you 👇 devillemereuil.legtux.org/erc-funded-p...

Reminder - the deadline for abstracts is in less than a month's time! #openscience

The SPAAM has organized a virtual speed-networking event between PIs and young researchers (MSc/PhD/Postdocs)! When? Wednesday April 9th 11.00AM-01.00PM CET. Registration deadline: April 2nd. Grab your slot! For more information and registration, check:

Congratulations Dr. Chik on defending your PhD thesis yesterday on "The evolutionary and ecological drivers of senescence in two wild passerine systems" 👏🎉 doi.org/10.33612/dis...

Do you have a project in ecology and evolution that exemplifies open science? If so nominate the project for a SORTEE Commendation Award: More details about the SORTEE Commendation Award:

To be, or not to be, part-time in academia? This is a tricky question that has faced many of us and in @elife.bsky.social we discuss the benefits and challenges of being part-time. With @emiliapsantos.bsky.social and a fantastic, interdisciplinary team! elifesciences.org/articles/106...

1/11 New preprint out with @hannahdugdale.bsky.social, @lummaalab.bsky.social, and @erikpostma.bsky.social: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... Why do we age? And can a “natural experiment” during the Great Finnish Famine with long-term data help provide some answers?

🚨 New preprint alert! More siblings, fiercer competition, extra food—but stunted growth! 🐦🍕📏 In zebra finches raised in large broods, increased energy spent on begging—not less food—causes reduced growth. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Want to use a unique dataset to study the spatial and temporal dynamics of genomic diversity and its drivers in a wild bird population? Apply for this #NERC #PhD position @uniexecec.bsky.social @animalecol-nioo.bsky.social. www.exeter.ac.uk/study/fundin... 🐦🌍🧪🧬 #ExeterCEC #Vlieland #NIOO-KNAW

* NEW #PhD * #Evolution #Ecology of Immune #Senesence in Wild Badgers - exciting project with me, @btschirren.bsky.social & our awesome collaborators @ APHA. Based at @exetercec.bsky.social in Cornwall, UK. !PLEASE SHARE! See www.animalsocieties.org and apply: www.exeter.ac.uk/study/fundin... 🌏 🧪 🦑

Age x G effects in telomere length in a wild bird! How cool is this? Another excellent paper by one of our PhD students, Janet Chik! doi.org/10.1093/evle...

The Economist covered our "Strain on scientific publishing" paper. What is this all about? We collectively churn out more & more papers *per scientist*, an increasing pace, in a rapidly changing publication landscape. Why? How? Want to make sense of this? 🧵 www.economist.com/science-and-...

I had a fab week in Montreal at #Evol2024. For those that missed it, my talk examining the genetic basis for how life-history traits shape breast cancer risk among Dutch women is available now on YouTube: youtu.be/CBHrGi9t4Ps?... Happy to answer questions or hear feedback!

This Sunday I’ll be doing the Edinburgh Marathon to raise money and awareness for Empty Kitchens: an amazing charity providing meals to those who need it using surplus food. Any donations would be greatly appreciated and you can do so here: www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding... Thanks!

Happy to see this paper w/ @erikpostma.bsky.social finally out there! Low interspecific variation and no phylogenetic signal in additive genetic variance in wild bird and mammal populations - doi.org/10.1002/ece3... Big thanks to everyone who helped with revisions and gave their encouragement.