Evolutionary biologist based in Oxford
Chance to join the incredible banded mongoose project! 🇺🇬❤️ 3 year postdoc on the mongoose project, working on the evolution and maintenance of group identity in animal societies. The closing date for applications is 16 June 2026. www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DRN272/p...
Excited to be part of this ambitious project newly published in BES. I hope we see microbes stealing a piece of this pie in ten years time! 🦠💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚 Thanks to @tcmbakker.bsky.social and James Traniello for the invitation and co-author @stuwest.bsky.social @biology.ox.ac.uk
Theo BakkerRead the vision of 39 prominent scientists to the future of behavioral ecology and sociobiology in our latest editorial. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 80:64. doi.org/10.1007/s002...
How social is social resistance? Check out our new mini-review, co-authored by Rosie Randall. Her first paper! 👏🏽 portlandpress.com/essaysbioche... Thanks to @friendlymicrobe.bsky.social and @rachelmwheatley.bsky.social for the invitation. @biology.ox.ac.uk @ilesla.bsky.social
How social is social resistance?Abstract. β-lactamases are central to bacterial resistance against β-lactam antibiotics and are often treated as a textbook example of cooperative resistance. The cooperative aspect of their action ar...portlandpress.comThe link comes with gorillas! 😂 Persister cells surprising us by forming at peak growth rate. What does this mean for our understanding of their function? tinyurl.com/3r4f97w5 @royalsocietypublishing.org @uphoff.bsky.social @biology.ox.ac.uk @oxfordbiochemistry.bsky.social @sarandavies.bsky.social
High growth rates can promote persister cell formation in Pseudomonas aeruginosaAbstract. Bacterial persister cells are characterized by arrested growth and survival in normally lethal antibiotic concentrations. Observations of persistroyalsocietypublishing.orgHappily recovering after three days celebrations: Congratulations with love 💚 @tobykiers.bsky.social @tylerprize.bsky.social
Tyler Prize for Environmental AchievementThe Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement names Toby Kiers as the 2026 Laureate. Her research reveals how underground fungal networks support life on Earth. Explore the hidden world beneath our feet: tylerprize.org/laureates/toby-kiers spun.earth/underground-atlas @spun.earth
Biologists Confirm Not Much Evolution Happened Today — theonion.com/biologists-c...
Biologists Confirm Not Much Evolution Happened TodaySTANFORD, CA—Calling it a “pretty slow one” as far as natural selection and genetic drift were concerned, biologists from Stanford University confirmed Tuesday that not much evolution happened today. ...theonion.comMarie Curie fellowship scheme open now! Get in touch if you are interested in comparative projects on social evolution. 🐒🐦⬛🐝🐜🐬🦚🌴🪸🍄🦠🧬 @biology.ox.ac.uk marie-sklodowska-curie-actions.ec.europa.eu/whats-new/ne...
marie-sklodowska-curie-actions.ec.europa.euOf course! I’m always delighted when one of my students mispronounce something because it means they found out about it by reading! 🤓
Steven Richi hate when people shame others for mispronouncing a word they’ve only ever read. correct them, fine, but like let’s give grace to readers to talk about what they read.
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41823315/
Monogamy is necessary but not sufficient for eusociality in African mole-rats (Rodentia: Bathyergidae) - PubMedEusociality, the highest level of social organization, is rare among vertebrates and is best exemplified by two African mole-rat species (Bathyergidae). The lifetime monogamy hypothesis suggests that monogamy enhances genetic relatedness within colonies, favoring the evolution of cooperative behavio …pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.govRead our perspective piece on a brilliant new piece of work out in @pnas.org studying public goods in an insect. Congratulations to the team! www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... @caritalindstedt.bsky.social @stuwest.bsky.social
An insect that cooperates like bacteria | PNASAn insect that cooperates like bacteriawww.pnas.orgHooray! This is so useful, thank you!
Enrico Sandro ColizziHow common is multicellularity in bacteria? And archaea? And how does it evolve? We wrote a short review "On the architecture and evolution of prokaryotic multicellularity". Preprint link: bit.ly/4ta06Gq Sharing and comments are much appreciated. 1/4
Great example of how an understanding of social interactions in bacterial infections can inform treatment strategies. (Also a really nice example of how to make a little film to communicate findings.) Congratulations to the team! @scelse.bsky.social @biology-unige.bsky.social
Nature CommunicationsSCELSE-NTU and UNIGE scientists find that silencing bacteria can worsen heart infections This video explains how disrupted quorum sensing drives aggressive biofilms in infective endocarditis — and what this means for future therapies @scelse.bsky.social
