iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Merops Field Centre @meropsfieldcentre.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

An excellent first day with our first ever joint group, we welcomed both staff and MSc students from ARU and the University of Lincoln. Looking forward to some interesting discussions as our conference-style week progresses. @aru-biology.bsky.social @g-iossa.bsky.social @hannah-wht-eco.bsky.social

A group of MSc students and staff stood in a meadow of purple flowers (Brown Knapweed).

Staff and students photographing plants along a woodland path.

Two students crouched down taking photos of a caterpillar on a plant.

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ARU-Biology @aru-biology.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

🌱 Exciting times in the lab! Last week, our students joined @euphrasiologist.bsky.social for our annual extra-curricular course on plant identification. 🔬 Students sharpened identification skills using a diverse range of specimens gathered right from the wilder areas of our Cambridge campus! 🌿

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Jacob C. Dunn @jacobcdunn.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

🚨Last chance to submit an abstract for ECBB!!🚨 Deadline 30th April..... Come and join us in Cambridge! For more information about topics, and how to submit, visit our Call for Abstracts page 👇👇 www.aru.ac.uk/events/confe... @ecbb2026.bsky.social

aru.ac.uk

Call for symposia/papers - ECBB 2026 - ARU

Find out how to propose a symposium, paper, or poster for the European Congress for Behavioural Biology (ECBB) at ARU in Cambridge, 1-4 September 2026.

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European Conference on Behavioural Biology @ecbb2026.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

We are delighted to announce that the 2026 Tinbergen Prize Winner (@ethoges.bsky.social) @ahanaaurora.bsky.social is joining our list of plenary speakers for #ECBB2026.

ECBB 2026
Tinbergen Prize winner

Left image: Dr Ahana Aurora Fernandez
Lower left: Dr Ahana Aurora Fernandez, University of Münster

Right side text: vocal communication in bats and hummingbirds

understand the mechanisms underlying vocal ontogeny and learning, and how factors such as the social environment shape these processes

how acoustic input and social interactions shape the success of vocal learning

long-term field study of wild bats in Panama

Bottom text: 1-4 September 2026 | Anglia Ruskin University

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European Conference on Behavioural Biology @ecbb2026.bsky.social · 19/12/2025

Missed our #ECBB2026 Plenary Speaker reveals? Not to worry! Here is a quick recap of all the excellent speakers we'll be welcoming at September's meeting!

Top text: ECBB 2026 Plenary Speakers

(Left) Image of Prof Laurent Brent, University of Exeter
(Centre) Image of Prof Tim Caro, University of Bristol
(Right) Image of Prof Mariella Herberstein, Leibnez Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change

Bottom text: 1 - 4 September 2026, Anglia Ruskin University

Top text: ECBB 2026 Plenary Speakers

(Left) Image of Prof Andrew Radford, University of Bristol
(Centre) Image of Dr Bibiana Rojas, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna
(Right) Image of Dr Christopher Schell, University of California, Berkeley

Bottom text: 1 - 4 September 2026, Anglia Ruskin University

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ARU-Biology @aru-biology.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

This week, our first year students took a trip down to explore Therfield Heath Nature Reserve - a 420 acre chalk grassland habitat famed for its population of rare and colourful pasqueflowers! #ARUProud #botany

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Claudia Wascher @wascherclaudia.bsky.social · 28/03/2026

Very happy to share this one: Dogs in UK schools – An evaluation of the status quo We highlight the urgent need for clearer national guidance on minimum standards for training, welfare assessment, and risk management to safeguard both children and animals #AnimalAssistedEducation #AnimalWelfare

sciencedirect.com

Dogs in UK schools – An evaluation of the status quo

Animal-assisted education describes activities with non-human animals in the education process, such as school and university environments, and has ga…

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ARU-Biology @aru-biology.bsky.social · 18/02/2026

Our second years braved the cold weather to visit Wicken Fen and start putting together their plan for surveying key species at this globally important SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest)

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ARU-Biology @aru-biology.bsky.social · 18/02/2026

Our students had an inspiring visit to @redwingsuk.bsky.social Sanctuary where they learned firsthand about equid welfare and welfare‑friendly firework practices. A huge thank‑you to the wonderful Redwings team for hosting and educating the next generation! 🙌 #EquidWelfare #AnimalWelfare

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Essex Birdwatching Society @essexbirdnews.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

Taking place on Anglia Ruskin Uni’s Chelmsford campus, our 2026 conference is just a few minutes’ walk from the train & bus station, & also has convenient free parking. Finding out about Essex’s key birds couldn’t be easier! More info & book your place at ebws.org.uk/2026conference #essexbirding

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Essex Birdwatching Society @essexbirdnews.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

Tonight's online talk is going to be a cracker, as Dr Rob Williams talks about Hummingbirds of the World! With lots of superb photographs and interesting information it's definitely worth tuning in to watch at youtube.com/live/g9ioCPr...

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ARU-Biology @aru-biology.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

🎉 Celebrate the International Day of Women and Girls in Science! Join the inaugural lecture by Prof @wascherclaudia.bsky.social — exploring how social worlds shape animal minds 11 Feb 26 • 18:00–19:00 GMT • Cambridge+Online Register: www.aru.ac.uk/events/inaug... #EveryVoiceInScience #WomenInSTEM

aru.ac.uk

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European Conference on Behavioural Biology @ecbb2026.bsky.social · 28/01/2026

January can be tough enough without an extra deadline looming. That's why we've extended our #ECBB2026 call for symposia to 15 February 2026! For more information and for the submission form click the link: www.aru.ac.uk/science-and-...

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European Conference on Behavioural Biology @ecbb2026.bsky.social · 15/01/2026

If you are organising a symposium related to animal cognition for #ECBB2026, and would like to develop/guest edit a special collection in the journal Animal Cognition to accompany it, please get in touch with us at ecbb2026@aru.ac.uk #academicconference #academicsky #animalbehaviour

Image background: a Javan slow loris in the jungle of Java, Indonesia on the right. Left hand is a close up blur of jungle greenery.

Text reads:
Organising a symposium related to animal cognition? If you would like to develop/guest edit a special collection in the journal Animal Cognition to accompany it, please get in touch with us at ecbb2026@aru.ac.uk

Conference dates at the bottom read 1-4 September 2026, Anglia Ruskin University

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European Conference on Behavioural Biology @ecbb2026.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

With ten days to go to submit your symposia proposal, we're here to answer your most burning question: What is the registration cost? #AcademicTwitter #Conferencechatter #ECBB2026

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ARU-Biology @aru-biology.bsky.social · 15/01/2026

Our lecturer, Dannielle Green, on leading research into how plastics affect ecosystems and wildlife. Danni's work shows recovery is still possible & we can make a real difference for our planet 🌏. Read more here 👇 www.aru.ac.uk/research/our... www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWXF...

youtube.com

ARU Connecting Worlds - Cleaner Environments

YouTube video by Anglia Ruskin University

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ARU-Biology @aru-biology.bsky.social · 15/01/2026

Check out this fantastic #ornithology conference at ARU Chelmsford campus!

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Claudia Wascher @wascherclaudia.bsky.social · 14/01/2026

📣 Delighted to share that my inaugural lecture, Social by nature, from animal social minds to inclusive science cultures, is coming up. 📅 11 Feb 2026, 18:00 GMT | 💻 Online & Cambridge (www.aru.ac.uk/events/inaug...). A fitting way to mark the International Day of Women and Girls in Science.

aru.ac.uk

Social by nature: from animal minds to inclusive Science communities - ARU

Inaugural lecture at ARU, Professor Claudia Wascher, explores what it means to be social in the animal kingdom and in the scientific community.

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Claudia Wascher @wascherclaudia.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

If you work on corvid ecology, behaviour, cognition, or conservation, this might be useful for you 👇 I’ve just published CORVIDATA in Scientific Data 🐦 doi.org/10.1038/s415... (1/4)

doi.org

CORVIDATA: A global dataset of morphology, ecology, sociality, and life-history in Corvidae - Scientific Data

Scientific Data - CORVIDATA: A global dataset of morphology, ecology, sociality, and life-history in Corvidae

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Jacob C. Dunn @jacobcdunn.bsky.social · 19/12/2025

🚨 New paper alert! "Honestly exaggerated: howler monkey roars are reliable signals of body size and behaviourally relevant to listeners" www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... We show that formants advertise body size and mediate social interactions in black and gold howler monkeys.

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ARU-Biology @aru-biology.bsky.social · 12/11/2025

This week our students braved the autumnal weather to head out to the woods to undertake some hands-on woodland management work - an important way to link theory to practice! This year the travel was kindly subsidised by the Ginpat Charitable Trust – it was a great day out in the fresh air!

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ARU-Biology @aru-biology.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

Field trip season is in full swing! This week our Level 7 students visited a local RSPB nature reserve to explore landscape-scale conservation, habitat connectivity, and taxon-specific identification,...

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Çağlar Akçay @caglarakcay.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

new preprint led by @alperyelimlies.bsky.social: Flexibility of territorial aggression in urban and rural Chaffinches www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... #ornithology

a male chaffinch on a branch (photo by Alper Yelimlies)

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Krishna Balasubramaniam @krishsubramaniam.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

‼️ Thrilled to share my first article on the Kalahari meerkats ‼️, in @animalecology.bsky.social! Group membership strongly influences gut microbiomes & especially the co-occurrence of beneficial bacteria, beyond animals' age or sex, disease status, or environmental exposure doi.org/10.1111/1365...

doi.org

Impact of animal socioecology on gut microbial communities: Insights from wild meerkats in the Kalahari

Our study addresses critical gaps at the nexus of animal and microbial ecologies, adding much-needed empirical support to recent theoretical frameworks that have conceptualised gut microbiomes as bei...

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ARU-Biology @aru-biology.bsky.social · 09/06/2025

Open Day at Home Farm - shout out to our fantastic Zoology BSc and Ecology and Conservation BSc students Katy Mae Cockburn, Patrick Silvester, Christian Upham, Caitlin Faber and Ella Burbridge for showcasing some biology related activities on the day

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Merops Field Centre @meropsfieldcentre.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

Day two with aru and we’ve been exploring the limestone landscapes of the garrigue. Highlights of this nutrient poor environment were orchids and Gladioli, as well as many butterflies. We even saw a Spanish Festoon butterfly ovipositing on its larval foodplant, 𝘈𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘢. @aru-biology.bsky.social

A group of students listening to a man talk in the field. The ground is scrubby with bare vegetation.

A Yellow Bee Orchid. The flowers are yellow with a brown and blue centre.

A female Spanish Festoon butterfly ovipositing on a Spanish Birthwort plant.

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Merops Field Centre @meropsfieldcentre.bsky.social · 14/05/2025

We spent a great day exploring the Camargue with our visitors from aru. In the northern reedbeds, we saw European Bee-eaters, treefrogs, and seven species of heron including this Squacco Heron that flew right over. Then on to the southern salt marshes for Greater Flamingos. @aru-biology.bsky.social

A pair of European Bee-eaters sat in the branches of a dead tree.

A group of students looking through binoculars at a flock of birds in a blue sky. There is a water body in front of them.

A woman reading about flamingos from an information panel. In the background is a large pond with some flamingos on it.

A Squacco Heron in flight. It has a chestnut breast and head, with white wings.

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Merops Field Centre @meropsfieldcentre.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

Yesterday our visitors from aru focussed on insect surveys. We set a moth trap over night and identified our species in the morning, then spent the afternoon surveying the meadows. We even fitted in a trip to the maquis to look at this acidic scrubland habitat. @aru-biology.bsky.social

A group of students looking through the contents of a moth trap.

A Cream-spot Tiger moth. It is black with cream spots.

A man holding a beating tray and a stick. He is hitting a tree to dislodge the insects.

Students receiving a briefing in the maquis. There are pine trees in the background. Broom is in flower and there are heathers on the ground.

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Merops Field Centre @meropsfieldcentre.bsky.social · 16/05/2025

With MSc students and staff from aru, we visited the Causse Mejéan. This limestone plateau hosts a huge diversity of orchids and other upland plants such as Pasqueflowers. We also stopped by the Przewalski’s Horse breeding area and watched some interesting social behaviours. @aru-biology.bsky.social

A group of students with binoculars and a telescope looking out across a rolling landscape of hills and short grasses.

A group of five Przewalski's Horses. Two are allogrooming while the others graze.

A Pasqueflower. It is bell-like with deep purple petals and bright yellow stamens.

Three students stood on a viewpoint with binoculars, looking up. Behind them is a wooded valley and steep limestone cliffs.

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Merops Field Centre @meropsfieldcentre.bsky.social · 17/05/2025

We’ve spent a fantastic week hosting MSc students from aru. We’d like to say a big thank you to everyone involved for making this field course work so well. Lots of valuable field skills learned, and amazing wildlife encountered. Good luck with the rest of your studies! @aru-biology.bsky.social

A group of people stood in front of an old Mediterranean building with exposed pale stonework and a terracotta tiled roof. There is a forested hill in the background.

A group of people posing together on a viewing platform. Behind them is a landscape of trees all the way to the horizon.

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Merops Field Centre @meropsfieldcentre.bsky.social · 12/05/2025

Our field course with MSc students from aru is off to a great start. We’ve explored the local habitats, finding some great animals and plants along the way. We’ve also had an acoustic analysis for bat id workshop, and deployed our camera traps. All in the first day! @aru-biology.bsky.social

A group of students crouched down taking a photo of a purple flower spike.

A close up of a purple flower spike from a Violet Birds Nest Orchid.

A well-camouflaged frog sitting in the grass.

An image of an historic building at the foot of a hill. There is a lavender-lined avenue leading up to it, with cypress trees along the way.

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Jacob C. Dunn @jacobcdunn.bsky.social · 11/04/2025

A reminder that we have a full PhD scholarship open at ARU in Cambridge, UK, open to candidates of any nationality. The project is on "the comparative anatomy of the mammalian larynx" and links to bioacoustics, evobio, anatomy, socioecology, etc. Please r/t and reach out with questions.

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ARU-Biology @aru-biology.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

This week our students took a trip up to Hampton Nature Reserve in Peterborough in the company James McAdie of Froglife to complete their commercial amphibian surveying training!

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Çağlar Akçay @caglarakcay.bsky.social · 06/04/2025

a bit belated but here's an article in the Guardian about our research paper led by Leon Hohl and @alperyelimlies.bsky.social with @klf-univienna.bsky.social on the effect of noise in Galapagos Yellow Warblers www.theguardian.com/science/2025... article link (open access): doi.org/10.1016/j.an...

a female (left) and male (right) Galapagos yellow warbler

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Çağlar Akçay @caglarakcay.bsky.social · 06/04/2025

a nice write-up of the Floreana restoration project that I am privileged to be involved in!

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ARU-Biology @aru-biology.bsky.social · 04/04/2025

This week our first year Animal & Environmental Biology students took a trip out to the Devil’s Dyke Nature Reserve near Burwell! With compass clinometers, pin quadrats and plant identification guides our students surveyed this unique archaeological earthwork.

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Max Brown 🌱 @euphrasiologist.bsky.social · 04/04/2025

We are mid Daffodil (Narcissus) season in the UK. Go out and see what you can find, these daffs are across 3 divisions but there are 12 to find :)

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ARU-Biology @aru-biology.bsky.social · 28/03/2025

Spring is upon us, and talented natural history photographer and MSc Applied Wildlife Conservation student - Andrew Smith - has been out and about in Cambridge to record the cities wildlife! #urbanwildlife #Cambridge

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Jacob C. Dunn @jacobcdunn.bsky.social · 27/03/2025

We are delighted to advertise a 3 year fully funded PhD, generously funded by @camphilsoc.bsky.social on the evolution of the mammalian larynx, hosted @angliaruskin.bsky.social Full details here: findaphd.com/phds/project... Please pass it on!

findaphd.com

The comparative anatomy of the mammalian larynx at Anglia Ruskin University ARU on FindAPhD.com

PhD Project - The comparative anatomy of the mammalian larynx at Anglia Ruskin University ARU, listed on FindAPhD.com

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Hannah White @hannah-wht-eco.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

Great to have our special feature out on Intraspecific Variation in Ecology and Evolution - the irony of the diversity of papers included is not lost! From genes to populations, demography to behaviour, we've got it all. A pleasure editing this issue with @ju-morimoto.bsky.social and Marlène Gamelon

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ARU-Biology @aru-biology.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

Check out the special feature on 'Intraspecific Variation in Ecology and Evolution' by our lecturer and guest editor @hannah-wht-eco.bsky.social out now in the Journal of Animal Ecology by @britishecologicalsociety.org #ARUproud besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Special Feature: Intraspecific variation in ecology & evolution

Click on the article title to read more.

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ARU-Biology @aru-biology.bsky.social · 27/02/2025

Our lecturer @wascherclaudia.bsky.social will be talking about corvid vocal communication and cognition in @braincoustics.bsky.social seminar series.

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Krishna Balasubramaniam @krishsubramaniam.bsky.social · 27/02/2025

Excited to share that MacaqueNet is now out in @animalecology.bsky.social ! Great platform brilliantly put together by @delphinedemoor.bsky.social and the core team, that should launch the next phase of comparative studies in behavioural ecology. Very fortunate to have been a part of this effort!

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ARU-Biology @aru-biology.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

New paper by former student @coloeus.bsky.social and our lecturer @wascherclaudia.bsky.social on corvid caching behaviour published in Animal Cognition

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ARU-Biology @aru-biology.bsky.social · 21/02/2025

This week our students were treated to a Biodiversity Net Gain masterclass by Senior Nature Advisor Nicole King from PJA Consulting! Nicole showcased the Statutory Biodiversity Metric and also explained how this can be better framed for greater certainty for wildlife conservation outcomes.

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ARU-Biology @aru-biology.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

Best of luck to out team 'First things first, Amaryllis' competing in the The Botanical University Challenge. Watch live: www.youtube.com/watch?v=SazH... #BUC2025 #ARUproud

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ARU-Biology @aru-biology.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

Our students ventured out for a ‘live brief’ challenge last week in partnership with St Andrew’s Healthcare in Northampton. Working alongside our wonderful host – Net Zero Sustainability Manager Danielle Bird – students were able to undertake a supervised ecological assessment.

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