Attention ECRs! The next round of our ECR Research Exchanges is open for application! Up to €1400 for travel & accommodation for visits to groups with complementary research interests. You can find the application here: bit.ly/4ntSVY4 and more info on our website: www.wamestn.com/research-exc...

Parental nutrition: Do #milk and #mucus have things in common? Find out at the BYOF seminar on May 6th at 15:00–16:00 UK / UTC+1 | 16:00–17:00 Europe / UTC+2 | 10:00–11:00 US East / UTC-4 of our #SociallyTransferredMaterials network. Bring a beverage ☕️ as you prefer – with or without the milk!

Run, don’t walk, to Sara’s lab 🏃‍♀️

With Bart Pollux and @anikokorosi.bsky.social , I will chair the Focus session “Socially Transferred Materials" at NWO Life (28-29 May 2026) 🐜🐸🐌🐄🥚 Invites speakers are @sanjahakala.bsky.social , @pranasag.bsky.social, Peter Kwant and @melissahrowe.bsky.social @socialtransfernet.bsky.social

Weird sperm of the red-browed finch take the cover of @jevbio.bsky.social this month.

📣 Read our latest issue! 📘 academic.oup.com/jeb/issue/39/4 📸 Red-browed Finch (Neochmia temporalis temporalis), an Australian songbird with highly atypical sperm morphology. Most passerines have elongated, corkscrew-shaped sperm, this subspecies has 'tadpole-like' sperm. Photo Credit: Des Boorman

Sperm can “age” independently of the male, when stored in male or female reproductive tracts. Our meta-analysis finds widespread evidence across animals (including abstinence in men). Important consequences for fertility, sexual selection, haploid selection! doi.org/10.1098/rspb...

What do milk, seminal fluid, eggs, and regurgitates have in common? Find out during our Focus Session at NWO Life 2026 “Socially Transferred Materials: Connecting Physiology, Ecology & Evolution” (28-29 May 2026, Egmond aan Zee, NL) 🐜 🐸 🐌 🐄🥚 @socialtransfernet.bsky.social

Speakers: @sanjahakala.bsky.social (University of Helsinki), @pranasag.bsky.social (VU/KIT), Peter Kwant (WUR), @melissahrowe.bsky.social (NIOO-KNAW) Chairs: @joriskoene.bsky.social (VU), @anikokorosi.bsky.social (UvA), Bart Pollux (WUR)

Abstract submission may be closed, but it is not too late to sign up to attend the NLSEB Annual meeting. Great plenary talks and a great line up of talks and posters. And thanks to our sponsors NWO and @isme-microbes.bsky.social for helping making this meeting possible.

Don’t miss out. If you are in the Netherlands and consider yourself an evolutionary biologist then this is a must attend event!

I am proud to present our recent #neuroethology paper on #magnetoreception in #ants today on the #InternationalDayofWomenandGirlsinScience where all authors are #WomenInSTEM @chiaratenne.bsky.social 🤩👩‍🔬🧪🧠🐜🧭 Thanks to @sfb1372.bsky.social for featuring our research in a video 🤩 doi.org/10.1007/s003...

📣SUBMISSION DEADLINE APPROACHING: 📣 28th February Special Issue: Foundations of Internal Conflicts Guest Edited by @martijnschenkel.bsky.social, @arvidagren.bsky.social, @imprintedgene.bsky.social, Nina Wedell and Manus Patten For more info: academic.oup.com/jeb/pages/ca...

Heat can make #fruitfly males sterile at temperatures below their lethal limits. We explore if tissue-specific heat shock protein expression can explain why using 6 #Drosophila species: @chsmithson.bsky.social et al. @ejduncan.bsky.social @amandabretman.bsky.social doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

Special Feature: Can we predict the future of evolution? In this review, Jackson et al. dig into genomic analyses of change over time to determine if and when evolution can be forecast using genomic methods. Read now ahead of print! www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

Great to have @alexfig.bsky.social joining the team to work on reproductive microbiomes in house sparrows

Grateful for received #funding from @koneensaatio.fi for our project on impact of light pollution on the flux of insects between aquatic and terrestrial habitats. Will be looking for a #postdoc and a #PhD for 4 years – take contact if interested. koneensaatio.fi/apurahat-ja-...

Are you an evolutionary biologist? Would you like to support your society journal? We are looking for new editorial board members across the field of evolutionary biology: 🧬🌿🪰🐀🦀🔬🧫🦠🐟🐦🧑‍💻🪸🦎 Learn more and find out how to apply: jevbio.net/call-for-edi... DEADLINE 19th January 2026 📣

Congratulations to Yuting Dong and co-authors on another publication from Yuting's PD thesis. High temperatures have negative impacts on spiderling growth and survival. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Out now on the cover of @journal-evo.bsky.social! Led by Sarah Khalil, we took a genomic approach to investigate the hybrid zone between different-colored Red-backed Fairywren subspecies. We found some interesting candidate genes under selection. Check it out! academic.oup.com/evolut/advan...

Let’s talk about sperm. Almost all passerine birds have filiform sperm with corkscrew-shaped heads. Not the red-browed finch. This species has highly atypical sperm morphology. Check it out!

New publication: Host–#Microbiome Interactions as Moderators of Host Quality and #Biodiversity–#Disease Relationships, by @melissahrowe.bsky.social and others. doi.org/10.1093/icb/...

New publication: Simulated bacterial infection induces different changes in #DNAmethylation between introduced and native #housesparrows, by @melissahrowe.bsky.social and others. #passerdomesticus #stressresponse #epigenetics doi.org/10.1002/jav....

More great work coming out of a fantastic collaboration with Aaron Schrey and the Martin Lab and other. #sparrows Schrey - 2025 - Journal of Avian Biology - Wiley Online Library nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Woohoo! Well done STN leads!

Finally we have @dd10mz.bsky.social presenting his work on the colonization of the gut microbiome in offspring during development. He will show the influence of the nest microbial environment on this process. #EOU2025 (3/3)

TODAY!!!!!

hai eseb people ! come to my talk introducing the quantitative genetics of microbiome mediated traits :) 2:30-2:45 at S07.02 btw our ppr just got accepted at evolution ! amazing and challenging reviews ::)) revised pre-print here www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

marinamartinmaroto.bsky.social and especially the extensive and impressive PhD work from @jack-harper.bsky.social who sadly isn't here (he's writing up)!

Also, I'm talking at #eseb2025 on the evolutionary history of a commensal species at 2 pm on Monday in S51-02. Come along to hear about how cool house sparrows are and all the exciting work from the sparrow team @melissahrowe.bsky.social @eriksroeed.bsky.social @ruthfawthrop.bsky.social

Interested in host-associated microbiomes? Attending @eseb2025.bsky.social? Then come check out Symposium S07 on Monday August 18th and hear all about how microbiomes contribute to adaptation. Gut microbiomes, climate change, thermal physiology, behaviour, invasion biology, blood-feeding, and more!

We hope many of you will find it useful, and will continue to add data. Here's the preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... - hopefully coming soon to a NAR Database Issue near you 😅 Thanks to everyone in the @borklab.bsky.social @embl.org who contributed to this! 7/7

Excited to share my recent paper on the evolution of atypical sperm morphology in a passerine bird (the red-browed finch) in @jevbio.bsky.social with @danielmhooper.bsky.social and others. Check out their weird #sperm! academic.oup.com/jeb/advance-...

3.5-year #Postdoc position on avian microbiomes and reproduction @animalecol-nioo.bsky.social @niooknaw.bsky.social on a fully-funded ERC project focused on understanding the significance of reproductive microbiomes for host biology and fitness. Reach out for more info! nioo.knaw.nl/en/vacancies...

Getting excited for our symposium on host-associated microbiomes next week (Monday 18 August) @eseb2025.bsky.social. We have a great line up of talks covering plants, mice, honeybees, squirrels, nematodes, mites, Drosophila, leeches, muskox, cockroaches, birds, bats, butterflies, beetles, and bears!

Come and join us at the Groningen Microbiome Hub! We are seeking a motivated and enthusiastic PhD student with a focus on computational biology, bioinformatics, and microbiome analysis to join a fully funded project on the role of the gut microbiome in cancer and cancer immunotherapy. bit.ly/4fBt38H

We are looking for a postdoc to join our group to work on an ERC funded project on avian reproductive microbiomes. nioo.knaw.nl/en/vacancies... Please RT! #microbes #microbiomes #sparrows #postdoc

Advance access: The Tree of Sex consortium will integrate knowledge of eukaryotic reproductive biology to address the fundamental scientific questions outlined in this Perspective (and more!): doi.org/10.1093/jeb/... @treeofsex.bsky.social

Interested in publishing a Review or Target Review @jevbio.bsky.social? Find out more here and submit to your #societyjournal: academic.oup.com/jeb/pages/re...

We are seeking a full-time Managing Editor for our journal Animal Behaviour. This editor will be involved in all stages of the publication process & must have a general understanding of the topics covered. Position starts Oct 1, application deadline July 31. More details: www.asab.org/opportunities

Last week to apply! nioo.knaw.nl/en/vacancies...

Your regular reminder about why you should publish in @jevbio.bsky.social:

Looking for a PhD project on sexual selection? Join us at UZH! Application deadline: 9 June 2025. jobs.uzh.ch/job-vacancie...

Great opportunity

Now published! We examine how female competition shapes movement ecology. We provide the first genetic evidence of female philopatry and male-biased dispersal in a socially polyandrous bird species! doi.org/10.1093/evol... @journal-evo.bsky.social

#editorbio @melissahrowe.bsky.social joined #TeamJEB in 2023

PhD position alert! Fully-funded PhD in my group to work on avian reproductive microbiomes and immunity. Please RT! Deadline June 29th, reach out for more information. #microbiomes #sparrows #spermbiology

🚨 6 DAYS MORE! 🚨 ⏳ Time is tight, but we are giving you one last opportunity: 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐨 #ESEB2025! 🔗 Submit your abstract now: https://eseb2025.com/call-for-abstracts/

Extended deadline. Abstracts due May 5. So there is still time to submit an abstract to our ESEB 2025 symposium on host-associated microbiomes!

Today's office on Lundy Island. Sea, sheep, and #sparrows.