Just had a fantastic time at @ces2026.bsky.social ! I got to present some of my PhD work and to engage in stimulating discussions about the scope of chimpanzee social learning and their cultural potential 🙌 Excited to come back in 2028 ✨ A huge thanks to the organizers! #CES2026

What I find particularly striking is the within-species between-group variation in rates of observed aggression... #BioAnth 🧪 doi.org/10.1126/scia...

🐵💥 After 2000+ hours of observing aggression across 189 zoo-housed bonobos and chimpanzees in 22 groups, we found that the two species are equally aggressive, yet differ in the distribution of aggression across the sexes ♂️♀️ Our study is out now, read more below ⬇️

Data from large number of captive groups support findings from studies of wild bonobos and chimpanzees: bonobos are more aggressive than we thought.

New publication, and first one as a first author for me! 🥳 Have you heard of the brutal chimpanzee and "hippie" bonobo dichotomy? ☠️🕊️ Today, we report similar aggression magnitudes in 22 captive chimpanzees and bonobos groups - be it all aggression or restricted to contact.

That's a wrap on the Culture Conference 2026! 🎉 Three days packed with fascinating ideas and research, and the kind of conversations you don't want to end. Thank you to every speaker—talks and posters alike—and to every attendee who joined us in Utrecht or online. You made it unforgettable! 🤩

What a pre-conference workshop on Bayesian statistical methods—a powerful toolkit for our community! 📊 Many thanks to Daniel Redhead and Ramona Roller for guiding us through STRAND and to Michael Chimento for the introduction to STbayes. And thank you to all participants for their energy! 🙌

Want to socialise ahead of the conference? Join the Early Career Researchers drinks on the evening of 25th/02! 🍻 An excellent opportunity to meet fellow researchers in a relaxed way. Contact us to join. Reminder: conference and workshop registration is still open (forms on our website) 🔎

🎄Early Christmas present: we still have a few presentation spots available! If you’d like to share your research at the Culture Conference but haven’t submitted yet, you can send us your abstract until this Friday, 19 December. Submission details are on our website (link in bio).

Registrations are now open 📢 Want to join the conference and/or the workshop? Head to our website: culture-conference.com/registration/ As every year, attendance at the conference is free 🎉 (the workshop has a small fee). Reminder: Abstract submission closes soon—submit yours before Monday!

I'm teaching Statistical Rethinking again starting Jan 2026. This time with live lectures, divided into Beginner and Experienced sections. Will be a lot more work for me, but I hope much better for students. I will record lectures & all will be found at this link: github.com/rmcelreath/s...

The Culture Conference is (once again) indulging in that grand old tradition of EXTENDING the submission deadline‼️ The new deadline for abstract submissions is December 15th. Registration will open very soon—stay tuned! culture-conference.com/abstract-sub...

Are you working on a project where you need to infer whether individuals are socially learning? pathways, correlates of, and individual variation in sensitivity to social transmission? Consider joining the hand-on STbayes workshop to learn about the latest update to the NBDA framework

Come join this exciting workshop on social network analysis and social transmission, all within a Bayesian framework!! 💻 And many thanks to @danielredhead.bsky.social and @mchimento.bsky.social for conducting it, I'm looking forward 🤩 More information below 👇

⏰ Reminder: 10 days left to submit your abstract for Culture Conference 2026! 🧠 Workshop details are now live! Join us for a hands-on day on cutting-edge tools for analysing social networks & social transmission (registration opens soon). Find all details here: culture-conference.com/workshop/

Last keynote announcement: Dr. Taylor Hersh! She explores how animal communication varies over space and time, with a particular focus on cetacean social communication and the cultural processes that shape group-specific vocal traditions. Discover her research here 👉 taylorhersh.weebly.com

Meet our 3rd keynote: Dr. Erin Wessling! Her work connects research on Pan behavioural ecology with conservation practice, with a focus on understanding and protecting chimpanzee cultures. Learn more about Erin’s work 👉 erinwessling.com

🎤 The lineup is here! We are delighted to introduce the keynote speakers for Culture Conference 2026 (26–27 Feb, Utrecht) - to be revealed over the coming days. Explore the growing list on our website: culture-conference.com/keynote-spea... 🧵And meet them below...

📢 The Call for Abstracts for Culture Conference 2026 is officially OPEN! 📢 🗓️ Deadline: 8 Dec 2025 We welcome submissions from all career stages and relevant disciplines. 🔎Details & submission info: culture-conference.com/abstract-sub... Keynote speakers & workshop details coming soon!

‼️SAVE THE DATE‼️ We are excited to welcome you again in Utrecht, NL for the next Culture Conference on the 26th & 27th of February 2026! And surprise! We will also host a hands-on workshop on the 25th/02 🙌💻 So stay tuned for future announcements here & on the website 🔎 culture-conference.com

First publication for me! 🥳 A large part of cultural studies in animals focus on instrumental behaviours such as chimpanzee nut-cracking 🥜. However there is much to learn about the evolution of culture from socially transmitted behaviours with no apparent benefits (non-instrumental culture). 🔎

🎉Welcome to the official Bluesky account for EFP 2026 !!! 🎉 Join us in sunny Montpellier from 29 June to 3 July 2026 for an unforgettable conference. Follow us for updates, sneak peeks, and all things EFP! ☀️📅🌿

In February, I had the incredible opportunity to be part of the Culture Conference 2025 organising team! A heartfelt thank you to my fellow organisers, the amazing student volunteers, all the brilliant speakers, and every attendee who created a vibrant and memorable atmosphere.

Laura Simone Lewis at @cultconf.bsky.social talking about curiosity, particularly cultural curiosity in children 👧👦🎁 @utrechtuniversity.bsky.social #cultureconference2025

Peering into chimp culture 🐵: Nora Slania on social learning in chimpanzees, from the Max Plank Institute of Animal Behaviour @cultconf.bsky.social @noraslania.bsky.social #cultureconference2025

"Hey, hey, you, you, I could be your girlfriend!" The final talk already of #cultureconference2025 on mate copying in wild Drosophilia simulans by Sabine Nöbel @cultconf.bsky.social @sabinenoebel.bsky.social

The Culture Conference 2025 is (already) finished after 2 days of amazing discussions! 
Thank you to everybody for attending and presenting, either online or in person! We hope you spent 2 wonderful and exciting days in Utrecht, full of (social) learning and fascinating science discussions 🥳

Out of mama's shadow, but not too far... Mawa Dafreville talking about vervet monkeys' socialisation @cultconf.bsky.social @mawadafreville.bsky.social #cultureconference2025

Day 2 begins for the fantastic Culture Conference at Utrecht University! Dr. Maleen Tiele kicking it off as a keynote speaker on the nature of joint attention 👀 @maleenthiele.bsky.social #cultureconference2025

Today is the ‼️last‼️ day to register for the Culture Conference 2025. Attendance is FREE. Don’t miss out 🙌 ⬇️⬇️ culture-conference.com/registration/

Indispensable, information rich talk from @kevinlala.bsky.social . Should be watched by anyone doing #genetics, #evolution, or race studies. Maybe I’ll share some thoughts later. #sts #philbio #hps underline.io/lecture/1051...

So exciting to see MacaqueNet out into the world! 🤩 Learn about our global community & database centralizing standardized affiliative & agonistic data from 61 populations across 14 macaque species: doi/10.1111/1365... Explore >600 networks & request data: macaquenet.github.io/database/

‼️ We are only one month away from the Culture Conference 2025 🗓️‼️ Still doubting if you want to join? Hopefully the program will now convince you to attend this exciting interdisciplinary conference 🙌 Thanks to everybody for submitting your work and presenting 👏 See you in Utrecht, NL 🥳

Are you eager to socialise ahead of the conference? Then join the Early Career Researchers drinks on the evening of 26th/02! 🍻 An excellent opportunity to meet fellow scientists and to kick off the conference in a relaxed way. Contact us if you want to join, and plan your trip accordingly 😉

‼️Announcements‼️ 👉 The 2025 edition of the Culture Conference has been awarded the "NWO Scientific Meetings and Consultations Domain Science WBO 2024" grant 🥳 Thanks NWO for financing this event! 👉 We announce a registration deadline: 14/02/2025. 
Please register soon so you don't miss out ‼️

🧐 Reminder: The registration for the Culture Conference (27 and 28th Feb 2025) in Utrecht is still open! Attendance is FREE, in-person or online. Don’t miss out! ⬇️⬇️ culture-conference.com/registration/

The call for abstract is now closed, thanks for all your submissions 🙌 If you have submitted something, you will get an answer by the end of the week. ‼️ Now, it's time to open the registration‼️ And as every year, attendance is free 🥳 If you wish to attend: ⬇️⬇️ culture-conference.com/registration/

‼️The abstract submission deadline for the Culture Conference is in 3 days, don't forget to submit your work ‼️ Registration is also opening very soon, stay tuned 🙌 ⬇️⬇️⬇️ culture-conference.com/call-for-abs...

The Culture Conference is now on BlueSky! 🙌 The next edition of this (free) interdisciplinary conference specialised in Cultural Evolution will take place on Feb 27th and 28th in Utrecht, NL. Interested? ⬇️ Please submit your abstract before December 12th ⬇️ culture-conference.com/call-for-abs...