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Ally Phillimore

@allyphillimore.bsky.social
372 followers 308 following 8 posts

Phenology, adaptation and climate change. Based at University of Edinburgh. He/him www.phenoweb.org project. See also @phenoweb.bsky.social Programme director for Ecology, Evolution and Biodiversity MSc

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Reposted by Ally Phillimore
David López-Idiáquez @davididiaquez.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Our pre-print analysing the 1 std decline in mass in Wytham great tits has just been published in @animalecology.bsky.social check it out: besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... @biology.ox.ac.uk
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Early‐life environment drives long‐term decrease in adult body mass in a wild bird population
Using more than 90,000 body mass measures of adult and nestling great tits Parus major, we show that the 1 SD decline in adult mass between 1978 and 2024 is a consequence of changes in the environmen....
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Sal Keith (she/her) @salkeith.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Hi #ECBB2026 @ecbb2026.bsky.social 👋 I have 3 UKRI-funded Senior Research Associate positions live at the intersection of behaviour, conservation + AI (coral reefs/UK waters) 2x2yr9mth; 1x2yrs. More info here sallykeith.weebly.com/team.html Wish I was there!
sallykeith.weebly.com
Team
***Three new postdoc positions!*** Our team is growing! Join us to unlock animal behaviour as an early warning system, underpinned by mechanistic ecological understanding, delivering responsible and.....
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Rona Learmonth @rona-learmonth.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Excited to share this joint first-author paper with @andreaestandia.bsky.social, now out in @royalsocietypublishing.org! We combined translocations, common garden experiments and genomic analyses to test for local adaptation to individual tree phenology in winter moths 🌳🐛 doi.org/10.1098/rspb...
royalsocietypublishing.org
No evidence of fine-scale local adaptation of winter moths to variable tree phenology | Proceedings B | The Royal Society
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Paul Dufour @pauldufour80.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
🚨 Exciting news! The Swiss Ornithological Institute is starting a collaborative program that offers multi-sensor geolocators and analytical support for bird migration research, focusing on underrepresented species & regions. Interested? geopressure.org/GeoCollabForm/ Please share!
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James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Let’s embrace wildfires, droughts, floods and climate change that will get progressively worse and more destructive Let’s embrace ecosystem collapse, food shortages, threats to infrastructure and economic disaster
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Steve Thackeray @thackers.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Interested in water quality & citizen science? Then, you'll like our newly updated Bloomin' Algae app: www.ceh.ac.uk/our-science/... You can help us understand where and when blooms occur, and alert the community. #freshwater #CitizenScience #algae #UKCEH_AquaEco @ukceh.bsky.social 🧪🦠🌊🚣‍♀️👀🧪🦠🌊🚣‍♀️👀🧪
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Phenoweb project @phenoweb.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
1/🧵 Our 2026 Spring field season data is in! Here are some highlights from our long-term monitoring of blue tits, invertebrates & trees across 44 sites in Scotland👇🏼
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Katie Abson @katieabson.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Our paper is out! 📣 we find that molecular measures of genetic variation do not predict heritable genetic variation across species - important implications for the application of genomic data for conservation! www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
pnas.org
Nucleotide diversity is a poor predictor of short-term adaptive potential | PNAS
The capacity to adapt is essential for a population to avoid extinction in a changing world and is recognized as a global conservation priority. Ad...
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Ally Phillimore @allyphillimore.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
@jamiecweir.bsky.social‬'s huge #phenology mismatch experiment from his PhD is now a preprint (www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...). Quite a few surprising results that Jamie summarises in the thread below.
biorxiv.org
The impact of phenological mismatch varies across woodland food-web interactions
Climate warming is altering the timing of seasonal events across ecosystems, impacting the temporal synchrony of interactions among species (1, 2). For trophic interactions, the match-mismatch hypothe...
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Reposted by Ally Phillimore
Lesley Lancaster @lancasterlt.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
Funding-guaranteed PhD position in plant ecosphysiology and macroecology: data synthesis and tropical fieldwork opportunities. www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
findaphd.com
Plant thermal tolerances across scales: from a single tree to global trends at University of Aberdeen on FindAPhD.com
PhD Project - Plant thermal tolerances across scales: from a single tree to global trends at University of Aberdeen , listed on FindAPhD.com
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Phenoweb project @phenoweb.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
As the good weather continues, nest boxes are filling up quickly here in Scotland, with around 70% occupancy across the transect. Many nests are now at the incubation stage, and today (5th May) we recorded the first chicks of 2026 to hatch!
Nest box attached to a tree with a carpet of bluebells in the background. Blue tit nest with 7 eggs.
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Ally Phillimore @allyphillimore.bsky.social · 25/04/2026
Really enjoyed this paper. Super neat analysis and way of modelling how phenological shifts track a consistent thermal niche during breeding.
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Devi Satarkar @devisatarkar.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
Planning a nestbox temperature manipulation experiment in birds? We’ve just published a preprint that may be useful! 🪺🪶 We review 46 studies and also share our own blue tit pilot experiment from Wytham Woods, highlighting some very real practical challenges doi.org/10.32942/X25387
a blue tit peeking into a wooden nestbox
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Phenoweb project @phenoweb.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
The first egg for the 13th year of data collection along the Phenoweb Transect was laid on 12th April 2026! Looking like we’re in for a fairly ‘average‘ year up here in Scotland, with nest building and budburst progressing slightly slower than in 2025, especially in the North of the transect🪺🌳
One blue tit egg in a cozy looking nest lined with feathers. Plot showing the first egg date recorded for the project between 2014 and 2026.
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Sienna Rattigan @siennarattigan.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
1/🧵My first preprint!🐛🌡️ We examine how environmental effects experienced during one life-history stage persist and modulate environmental responses in later life-history stages. With Lea Beaupere, @sheldonbirds.bsky.social, @rona-learmonth.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
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Erik Postma @erikpostma.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
🚨 ABSTRACT SUBMISSION DEADLINE APPROACHING! 🚨 Only 1 week left to submit your abstract for #ExE2026! Submissions close April 1. All the details are at evoxeco.uk and below 👇
evoxeco.uk
Welcome
ExE 2026 is a 3-day conference aimed at evolutionary ecologists from around the world, hosted by the University of Exeter in beautiful Cornwall. It provides a friendly and inclusive platform for all c...
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Edward Grey Institute @egioxford.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
🚨🚨🚨 Field Assistant positions - four of them!! - working with the long-term Wytham project this coming spring. Details below. Previous year's field team - come and join us! Details below ⬇️
2025 Wytham Tit Project field team
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Jamie C. Weir @jamiecweir.bsky.social · 16/12/2025
If you're at the @britishecologicalsociety.org #BES2025 in Edinburgh and interested in #phenology, come and find me for a chat about how resource abundance modulates the impacts of the trophic #mismatch. My poster is A17.21 in the Cromdale Hall, and I'll be there from 6pm this evening! 🌳 -> 🐛 -> 🐦
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European Ornithologists' Union @eounion.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
Early-career ornithologists take note!! The next EOU Fledglings meeting will take place in Gdansk in March 2026. Please RT! #ornithology
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Natalie E. van Dis @disnatalie.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
📢4-year fully funded #PhD on seasonal timing of egg overwintering insects 🦋🦗🪳 🔬Identify universal mechanisms underlying #insect egg developmental time under #ClimateChange 📌@niooknaw.bsky.social @animalecol-nioo.bsky.social ℹ️ vacatures.knaw.nl/job-invite/2... ❗Application deadline: 7 December 2025
vacatures.knaw.nl
PhD Seasonal Timing of Egg Overwintering Insects under Climate Change - NIOO-KNAW - Wageningen
PhD Seasonal Timing of Egg Overwintering Insects under Climate Change - NIOO-KNAW - Wageningen
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BES Macro @besmacro.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
Interested in island life and arthropods? There's a new PhD project advertised at the University of Birmingham to study the evolution of 'island syndromes' in a chosen group of island arthropods, with both museum and fieldwork-based research are expected. More details at: centa.ac.uk/studentship/...
centa.ac.uk
2026-B22 The island syndrome in arthropods – CENTA
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Michał Jezierski @jezierskimt.bsky.social · 21/10/2025
Do you like islands? And/or arthropods? Please get in touch with me (m.t.jezierski[at]bham.ac.uk) or another member of the supervisory team! We will help you study island evolution in arthropods with a (funded) PhD @unibirmingham.bsky.social. 🪲🏝️🦋 centa.ac.uk/studentship/... *Please share this!*
centa.ac.uk
2026-B22 The island syndrome in arthropods – CENTA
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Tim Barraclough @timbarra.bsky.social · 20/10/2025
I'm advertising a PhD project on the evolution of horizontal transfer. Interested in this or other topics in evolution and species diversity, please get in touch. www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
findaphd.com
The evolutionary costs and benefits of horizontal gene transfer in eukaryotes (TB01) at University of Oxford on FindAPhD.com
PhD Project - The evolutionary costs and benefits of horizontal gene transfer in eukaryotes (TB01) at University of Oxford, listed on FindAPhD.com
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Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 20/10/2025
Interested in a PhD in ornithology? Funding available for projects at the interface of ecology, behaviour & evolution from Oct '26 working on long-term population studies of tits at Wytham, based in @biology.ox.ac.uk in the new Life & Mind Building in Oxford www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
Examples of some recent papers from graduate students in my group - a full list of recent papers and preprints can be found here (https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?hl=en&user=pTdxVdIAAAAJ) and profile of the group here: https://egioxford.web.ox.ac.uk/membersThe annual Wytham Field Team Photo!Celebrating a successful field season with great food & good company - May 2025Front view of the Life & Mind Building, which opened in Oct 2025: The new home of Biology at Oxford
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Rona Learmonth @rona-learmonth.bsky.social · 16/10/2025
New preprint! 🌳🐛 We combined experimental and genomic methods to study local adaptation of winter moths to variation in oak budburst timing in Wytham Woods, UK. With @andreaestandia.bsky.social, Lea Beaupere, Ella Cole, and @sheldonbirds.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
biorxiv.org
Integrative analysis of fine-scale local adaptation of winter moths to variable oak phenology
For herbivorous insects whose fitness depends on tight phenological synchrony with host plants, spatial variation in plant phenology can impose strong selective pressures and promote local adaptation ...
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BTO | British Trust for Ornithology @btobirds.bsky.social · 13/10/2025
We're looking for Youth Reps for our BTO Youth team! ➡️ bit.ly/YouthRep25 If you love nature and would like to join our amazing team of volunteers (expenses paid) aged 16-24 then apply to become a BTO Youth Rep today!🐦 📝 Closing date: Sunday 9th November 2025.
A group of young people standing outside in a semi-circle listening to a member of the team talk. Wording reads: BTO Youth. Become a BTO Youth Rep! Scan the QR code to find out more and apply. A QR Code is in the bottom right of the image.
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Daniel Padfield @padpadpadpad.bsky.social · 16/09/2025
I have an MRC-funded PhD project available (www.exeter.ac.uk/study/fundin...) on how warming will change the problem of AMR. Join a small and friendly group (padpadpadpad.netlify.app/about) in (sometimes) sunny Cornwall. 🧪🦠 #microsky Please share the ad below with anyone who may be interested.
A teal flyer for a PhD opportunity to investigate how warming may change antimicrobial resistance. The project will use experiments on Klebsiella bacteria to answer questions about how temperature affects their response to antibiotics, plasmid transfer, and fitness costs. The research involves microbiology lab work, bioinformatics, and mathematical modeling. The flyer includes contact details for Dr. Daniel Padfield and the logos of the sponsoring institutions.
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Wayne Maddison @waynemaddison.bsky.social · 05/09/2025
Confused writing is usually a symptom of confused thinking. As we struggle to clarify writing, we clarify our thoughts. AI writing aids rob us of that struggle, leaving clean-looking text and thoughts still confused for lack of inspection. Writing is not just a product; it is a diagnostic tool.
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Ecology and Evolution of Interactions - EEI Group @aplantaginis.bsky.social · 25/08/2025
We are looking for Erasmus interns to help with our bird projects at Lammi Biological Station: www.helsinki.fi/en/research-... Apply here and specify that you are interested in the great tit project: www.lyyti.in/Application_...
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Toke Thomas Høye @tokehoye.bsky.social · 29/07/2025
As #climatechange becomes more extreme, organisms may no longer keep track in their phenology or seasonal activity e.g flowering, swarming or egg laying. @soerinegerlich.bsky.social led our study showing this is real for highly sensitive #arctic #arthropods royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
royalsocietypublishing.org
Keeping up with climate change: have Arctic arthropods reached their phenological limits? | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Many arthropods show earlier seasonal activity with warming, but these responses cannot continue indefinitely. Identifying such phenological thresholds is crucial for understanding limits to climate tracking and species persistence, but few studies test ...
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Ally Phillimore @allyphillimore.bsky.social · 29/07/2025
many thanks to @soerinegerlich.bsky.social for leading this study into phenological limits in Arctic communities. For me this collaboration was a real eye-opener into the potential for species to reach limits to their ability to respond plastically. Who knows what the consequences will be.
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Jen Gill @jengill.bsky.social · 18/07/2025
This is a huge mistake. My experience on NERC panels is that resubmissions score higher and are more likely to be funded: the review process improves good proposals that should not be lost (along with the time spent on them).
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Markus Melin @markusmelin.bsky.social · 07/06/2025
Researchers! 📢 We (@luke.fi) are hiring: Principal Scientist in Wildlife Ecology Permanent position ✅️ Finland, you'll love it ✅️ Flexible hours, proper holidays ✅️ Great colleagues and atmosphere ✅️ Relocation services ✅️ Value to objective research ✅️ #Canada #USA, you have boreal wildlife too 😉
valtiolle.fi
Principal Scientist, Wildlife Ecology - Natural Resources Institute Finland
Open job: Principal Scientist, Wildlife Ecology, Natural Resources Institute Finland - Find all jobs in Valtiolle.fi
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Andreas Nord @cyanistesnord.bsky.social · 22/05/2025
I am looking for a postdoc wanting to use functional genomics to understand why birds 🐦 struggle with climate warming in @erc.europa.eu project #HotLife. Ideal candidate is a molecular evolutionarybiologist. Join us at @biologylu.bsky.social. Details 👇 shorturl.at/wijEq Would appreciate a re-post!
lu.varbi.com
Post-doctoral fellow in functional genomics and ecophysiology
Subject description The goal of the project is to uncover the mechanisms explaining why global warming and heatwaves reduce reproductive success and cause excess mortality in wild and domesticated war
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Owen Jones @jonesor.bsky.social · 26/04/2025
🚨We’re hiring a postdoc in Woodland Phenology & Climate Change at Uni Southern Denmark!🚨 Combines fieldwork (Sweden & Denmark), remote sensing (drone/camera) & genetics to study phenological response to climate. Link: fa-eosd-saasfaprod1.fa.ocs.oraclecloud.com.mcas.ms/hcmUI/Candid... Pls share!
An aerial view of a Danish woodland
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Phenoweb project @phenoweb.bsky.social · 19/04/2025
Happy Easter weekend to all who celebrate! While you're out hunting for chocolate eggs, our team is busy monitoring the breeding progress of our blue tits. 🪺 As of today, we have eggs in 73 nests, with several females already incubating. In contrast, on this day last year, only 2 nests had eggs!
One of our Field Assistants, Charlotte, checking on the progress of a blue tit nest inside of a woodcrete nest box that is attached to a tree. 

Photo: Megan ThompsonA clutch of 7 blue tit eggs in a nest in a woodcrete nest box. 

Photo: Ally Phillimore
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The Linnean Society of London @linneansociety.bsky.social · 11/04/2025
This year’s John C Marsden Medal winner is Dr Jamie C Weir! Jamie’s work considers a fundamental question: how resilient are organisms to a warming climate? Focusing on woodland food-webs, his research suggested an array of buffering mechanisms. @jamiecweir.bsky.social www.linnean.org/the-...
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MASTS @mastscot.bsky.social · 08/04/2025
🚨 #fullyfundedPhD ❓ #Ecosystem effects of shipping under present and future #climate and Shared Socioeconomic Pathways 📍Uni of Strathclyde 👨‍🔬Dr Jack Laverick 🗓️Oct 25 start 💷UK/Home fees, stipend ⏳Mon 5 May #PhD #Glasgow #Scotland #Marine #Ecology #MathematicalModelling #Coding
findaphd.com
Ecosystem effects of shipping under present and future climate and Shared Socioeconomic Pathways at University of Strathclyde on FindAPhD.com
PhD Project - Ecosystem effects of shipping under present and future climate and Shared Socioeconomic Pathways at University of Strathclyde, listed on FindAPhD.com
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Pierre de Villemereuil @pdevillemereuil.bsky.social · 08/04/2025
👋 Interested in working on the evolution of genetic architecture 🧬 of complex traits using linked-read sequencing of thousands of common lizards 🦎 from a wild population and common garden experiment? #evolution #genetics Well, I have a PhD offer for you 👇 devillemereuil.legtux.org/erc-funded-p...
devillemereuil.legtux.org
ERC-funded PhD position available – Pierre de Villemereuil
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Jamie C. Weir @jamiecweir.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
It's an incredible honour to be awarded the John C. Marsden medal from the @linneansociety.bsky.social for my PhD research on phenology, moths... and some very hungry caterpillars 🌳🐛 Thanks to all my friends and mentors at @edinburgh-uni.bsky.social, but especially @allyphillimore.bsky.social!
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PiedFly.Net @piedflynet.bsky.social · 30/03/2025
First male Pied Flycatcher singing this morning at East Dartmoor. Second earliest arrival recorded on the reserve. #phenology
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Markus Eichhorn @markuseichhorn.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
The @besmacro.bsky.social group is one of the most active, dynamic and necessary networks in the @britishecologicalsociety.org. They're recruiting a new committee chair: could it be you?
britishecologicalsociety.org
Macroecology Group Committee Chair - British Ecological Society
Applications are open for the next Chair of the Macroecology Group
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Led By Donkeys @ledbydonkeys.org · 17/03/2025
Thousands of people are ditching Tesla. Here’s one of them with a message you can see from space. Location: Black Rock Sands, Wales, UK Led By Donkeys is 100% funded by small donations.
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Tom Lansley @tomlansley.bsky.social · 07/03/2025
I am delighted to share my first PhD paper! We found that Key Biodiversity Areas cover the distributions of the world’s terrestrial birds excellently, representing 99.7%. #KBAs are incredibly useful for conservation planning and policy. 🧪🦤🦉🌍🌐 conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....
Picture of the paper title, author and abstract. All information can be found in the link: https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/cobi.70000
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Keith McMahon @mcmahok.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
We're hiring a fieldworker to help with some of our projects in Wytham Woods this spring. Wonderful place to work (and live), especially in the spring. Get in touch if you'd like to know more.
We are seeking to appoint a fulltime field assistant to work on the Wytham Tit Project for 4-8 weeks in spring 2025. Duties will include (i) collecting standardised data from nest-box breeding populations of tits, (ii) setting up equipment to monitor foraging behaviour of great tits (e.g. cameras, proximity loggers), (iii) fitting proximity tags and accelerometers to adult great tits (iv) inputting data collected in the field. The start date and duration of this position is flexible, depending on availability of the successful candidate. The post could last up to 8 weeks, starting in mid-April, or c. 4 weeks, starting in early May. All fieldwork will take place in Wytham Woods, near Oxford. The work is variable in intensity and will at times require long days in the field, and working some weekend days, but this will be balanced out by a quieter period at the start and end of the season. Successful candidates must have (or be qualified to obtain) a BTO permit to ring adult great tits, be able to demonstrate skill and enthusiasm for biological research as well as experience of fieldwork under arduous conditions, and both lone work and working as part of a team. Due to the short-term nature of these posts, successful applicants must already have the right to work in the UK.
Salary & Accommodation: Field assistants will be paid at grade 5.2 (£17.02/hour) and responsible for finding their own accommodation. It will be possible to hire accommodated at the Wytham Chalet, a research station within Wytham Woods. Alternatively, field assistants can find private accommodation locally and use their own transport to commute to the woods (approx. 30 min by car or bike, depending on location).
Please submit an application, consisting of (1) a covering letter explaining relevant experience and motivation, (2) a CV (max 2 pages), and the names of two people who can be contacted as referees, by Tuesday 11th March 2025 to eleanor.cole@biology.ox.ac.uk. Inquiries to same email.
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Theresa Crimmins @theresacrimmins.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
Things are so chaotic and stomach-churning in our world right now. I find a lot of solace out in nature. I want to share a tiny slice of that with you. My book, #Phenology is available today! You can purchase it for 30% off *today only* with code MITP30 through penguinrandomhouse.com
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Megan Thompson @meganjthompson.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
Our common garden experiment with urban and forest great tits is out early view in Evolution! doi.org/10.1093/evol... @denisreale.bsky.social @annecharmantier.bsky.social
Visual representation of common garden procedure.
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Rebecca Lovell @rebeccalovell.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
🦋 New paper out in @funecology.bsky.social! 🦋 Using the Orange-tip butterfly in the UK🦋, we test a key assumption of many species’ distribution models (SDMs): that climate effects on species’ distributions are equivalent over space🌍 versus time⏰ doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.70005 🧵👇
doi.org
Testing space‐for‐time transferability of climate effects on occupancy and abundance
Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.
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Ally Phillimore @allyphillimore.bsky.social · 12/02/2025
Fieldwork opportunity: We're looking to hire a field assistant for the www.phenoweb.org project starting 1 April. Please repost. #phenology #fieldwork #birdringing
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