Quick fire big bean updates from the past few months: 1. Began demonstrating labs and running tutorials at UWA! Helping students in the same place I was 5 years ago has been extremely humbling and rewarding. 2. Proposal completed - I am now 0.5% closer to achieving my dreams of obtaining a PhD.

Great flash talk by Jackson Randell at #AES2025! @ceb-uwa.bsky.social

Great talk by Kim Wong at #AES2025 … this talk never gets old! @brainiants.bsky.social @ceb-uwa.bsky.social

Avantika Sharma showcasing her plans for her PhD on intrasexual selection in magpies at #AES2025. Great work Avantika! @mandyridley.bsky.social @ceb-uwa.bsky.social

Who doesn’t enjoy a good animal behaviour video at #AES2025? Andrea Piccinini surely had captured our attention by presenting his work on post-copulatory mating behaviour in mygalomorph spiders 🕷️ @austevolsoc.bsky.social

🐞 Ornaments Aren’t Just for Males 🏆 @hasbeanbeetle.bsky.social is studying female beetle ornaments, testing whether traits such as melanisation are used in mate choice, conflict, or resistance to harm — showcasing that ornaments may have functions beyond mate acquisition. 🐞👩‍❤️‍💋‍👨🥊 2/11

Presenting at the CEB ✅ Was awesome having a large and engaged crowd! More presentations and emotional-support beetles to come.

@brainiants.bsky.social discussed her PhD proposal this afternoon where she plans to study variation in intraspecific cognition & its relation to complex behaviors, specifically combat and group foraging in Western Australian ants. 🐜 @mandyridley.bsky.social @notthebestsam.bsky.social #LeighSimmons

Darwin came to town! @beetlebonking.bsky.social @brainiants.bsky.social @upama.bsky.social #UWAOpenDay #EvolBio #EnvironmentalScience