iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Becky Boulton

EvoMob Stirling @evomob.bsky.social · 17/05/2026

Great day out at #falkirksciencefestival #wildscience learning about camouflage with some real stick insects and some pretend caterpillars. Also found a super Green longhorn moth on our #bugsafari. Big thanks to Sofia, Kath and Finlay for their help!

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Becky Boulton @bb-phd.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

Hi everyone. I'm going to be doing a pretty big walk in September in aid of the Mental Health Foundation. Panda won't be joining me as his legs are gubbed. It would be great if you could sponsor me! www.justgiving.com/fundraising/...

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Reposted by Becky Boulton

University of Stirling Biological and Environmental Sciences @uofstirling-bes.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

Next in our BES intros series is @bb-phd.bsky.social, a lecturer and ultimate frisbee fan! Becky was previously a BBSRC Discovery Fellow working on FeminEvo, a project that uncovered unexpected sexual reproduction in wasps thought to be asexual. She now runs an ADHD support group in BES! 🐝

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Becky Boulton @bb-phd.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

Are you an #undergrad at a UK University? Do you like insects and being outside? Do you like getting paid? If so, this summer studentship could be for you iapetus.ac.uk/wp-content/u... feat #insects #fieldwork #trees #scotland for more details and to apply: iapetus.ac.uk/new-rep-sche...

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Becky Boulton @bb-phd.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

To celebrate #internationalwomensday Stirling Uni alumni hosted a panel discussion with some women academics and let me talk about some of my favourite research (and other) topics #wasps and #TaylorSwift. Watch online here www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBRv...

youtube.com

International Women's Day Online Panel | University of Stirling | 11 March 2026

YouTube video by University of Stirling Alumni

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Becky Boulton @bb-phd.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

Happy #waspwednesday everyone! Here's the latest article from wasp HQ www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... In a nutshell - controlling crop pests using parasitoid wasps is evolutionarily resilient to resistance evolution in pests because parasitoids are cool #science #evolution #parasitoid

sciencedirect.com

Resistance evolution in parasitoid biocontrol: understanding the rule, managing the exceptions

In contrast to chemical pest control, biological control (biocontrol) is generally considered evolutionarily stable, with pests rarely evolving resist…

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Becky Boulton @bb-phd.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

happy belated #waspwednesday - here's a belated wasp update from wasp HQ from *Dr* Mia McGowan. #Biocontrol of #whitefly with #parasitoids is evolutionarily resilient because resistant whitefly lay fewer eggs with lower hatching success academic.oup.com/jee/advance-...

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Kirsty MacLeod @kjmacleod.bsky.social · 16/12/2025

These guides are a fantastic resource - I provide to all new grad students 🙏

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Becky Boulton @bb-phd.bsky.social · 17/12/2025

Happy #waspwednesday from me and the @evomob.bsky.social. Here is a picture of a mating pair of thynnid flower wasps I saw on my holiday to #TorresdelPaine national park in #Patagonia #Chile

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Elli Leadbeater @ellileadbeater.bsky.social · 06/11/2025

PhD project on the evolution of animal memory now available in my research group, through the TREES DLA: www.trees-dla.ac.uk/projects/evo.... Come and join us if you're interested in the evolution of animal minds and you want to do some cool experimental evolution!

trees-dla.ac.uk

Evolutionary ecology of animal memory | TREES DLA

This project seeks to explore how memory evolves in response to the ecological tasks that animals face in their natural environment. Associative memory exists in some form in almost all animal species...

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Becky Boulton @bb-phd.bsky.social · 07/08/2025

I've signed up to swim 20km in August to raise money for @wwf.org.uk. If anyone is able to sponsor me it would be much appreciated - link is here socialsync.app/fundraiser/c.... Donors will be rewarded with content featuring Panda 'helping' me with my swimming. Like this one...

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Merops Field Centre @meropsfieldcentre.bsky.social · 21/07/2025

During our spring field courses, we had some excellent luck with camera trap sightings. This beautiful Roe Deer doe and her fawn were recorded by our visitors from @stir.ac.uk and we couldn’t be happier to get a glimpse of this little family @bb-phd.bsky.social @zarahpattison.bsky.social

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Merops Field Centre @meropsfieldcentre.bsky.social · 30/06/2025

We spent a fantastic week hosting @stir.ac.uk for their Mediterranean field course. We’d like to say thank you to all involved, especially the students for their engagement and enthusiasm with their projects. Good luck with the rest of your studies! @bb-phd.bsky.social @zarahpattison.bsky.social

A group of twelve people smiling at the camera. They are viewed slightly from above and there is an old Mediterranean building in the background with an open courtyard.

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Nonia Pariente @npariente.bsky.social · 27/06/2025

Too poor to science: how wealth determines who succeeds in STEM Thought-provoking read, especially in these times of questioning diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives 🧪

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Merops Field Centre @meropsfieldcentre.bsky.social · 27/06/2025

With the warm weather, there were many butterflies on the wing and students from @stir.ac.uk designed projects to survey their habitat preferences. Shady and sunlit meadows, plus an avenue of lavender in flower. They saw a real variety of species. @bb-phd.bsky.social @zarahpattison.bsky.social

Staff and students standing a long a river, holding a tape measure used to measure out a transect line.

Students surveying butterflies along a transect line following a row of lavender.

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Merops Field Centre @meropsfieldcentre.bsky.social · 27/06/2025

One student project from @stir.ac.uk involved assessing the behaviour of Pumpkinseed Sunfish in response to intrusion. Larger and smaller “males” approached the nest and the students monitored the nest-owner's response using our underwater cameras. @bb-phd.bsky.social @zarahpattison.bsky.social

Three students stood on a river bank, looking into the water. One is wading in.

A student in shallow water at the edge of a river, deploying a weighted camera next to a Pumpkinseed Sunfish nest.

A Pumpkinseed Sunfish nest viewed from above. There is an underwater camera aimed at it, and a fake Pumpkinseed Sunfish stimulus made of a printed and laminated cutout is being presented to it.

A male Pumpkinseed Sunfish inspecting a printed and laminated cutout of a Pumpkinseed Sunfish.

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Reposted by Becky Boulton

Sophie Mowles @sophiemowles.bsky.social · 21/06/2025

Always exciting to see the delicate first moments of emerging adult cicadas.

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Dr Rebecca Koomen @rebeccakoomen.bsky.social · 05/06/2025

🎊Fully funded PhD position on cooperative sustainability🌳 Are you curious about 🧒 developmental, 🌍 cross-cultural 🦧 species comparative research on cooperative sustainability? All info here or dm me with questions! career2.successfactors.eu/sfcareer/job... Please share! 🙏

career2.successfactors.eu

Career Opportunities: PhD position Cooperative Sustainability (14208)

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Reposted by Becky Boulton

Shawan Chowdhury @shawan-chowdhury.bsky.social · 25/06/2025

Please share. We have a fully-funded PhD position on animal migration. If interested, please apply by 27 July. More about us: shawanchowdhury.com. @idiv-research.bsky.social @monashbiol.bsky.social @uq-cbcs.bsky.social #PhDposition #Ecology #Conservation #Migration #Rstats #AcademicTwitter

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Becky Boulton @bb-phd.bsky.social · 25/06/2025

Wonderful week on the @stir.ac.uk field biology course at the amazing @meropsfieldcentre.bsky.social. Good bugs, good chat and good food. Students and staff all agree 10/10. Massive thanks to @sophiemowles.bsky.social and Fabrizio!

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Merops Field Centre @meropsfieldcentre.bsky.social · 21/06/2025

Day 1 with staff and students from @stir.ac.uk and we’ve fitted a lot in. We’ve toured the habitats, and trialled project ideas. Highlights were Black Arches moths in our moth trap, and newly emerging cicadas. It’s starting to get loud out here! @bb-phd.bsky.social @zarahpattison.bsky.social

A group of people examining something on the ground in a pine forest.

A Black Arches moth perched on a tree branch with green leaves in the background.

A newly emerged cicada sitting on its exuvium.

A group of people examining wild animal footprints at the edge of a river.

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Merops Field Centre @meropsfieldcentre.bsky.social · 23/06/2025

We spent day 2 with @stir.ac.uk exploring the Camargue. We were lucky to see 7 species of heron including Squacco Herons and even Little Bitterns in the reedbeds. Further south, we saw the famous flamingos and had great views of a European Pond Terrapin @bb-phd.bsky.social @zarahpattison.bsky.social

A student looking through a telescope in a reedbed.

A Squacco Heron on a fallen tree in a pond.

A student taking photos of Greater Flamingos with their mobile phone.

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Reposted by Becky Boulton

Merops Field Centre @meropsfieldcentre.bsky.social · 24/06/2025

We took staff and students from @stir.ac.uk to the Causse Méjean to experience this unique site. We had an impressive vulture fly-by as well as seeing a Booted Eagle carrying a lizard. On to the Przewalski Horse breeding area, where we had great views. @bb-phd.bsky.social @zarahpattison.bsky.social

A Booted Eagle carrying a Western Green Lizard.

Students and staff examining flowers in a short meadow.

Staff and students looking through telescopes and binoculars on a viewing platform. There is a cliff rising in the background.

A male Przewalski's Horse with some grass in its mouth.

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Becky Boulton @bb-phd.bsky.social · 30/05/2025

Warning - shameless self(wasp)-promotion coming up: On Wednesday I got to do a duet about wasps and how great they are with Greg James on the Radio 1 Breakfast show. You can listen here www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/... at about 38 minutes in.

bbc.co.uk

Radio 1 Breakfast with Greg James - 29/05/2025 - BBC Sounds

Morning nonsense, star listeners and All the Latest Things...

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Becky Boulton @bb-phd.bsky.social · 10/04/2025

Undergrad in the life sciences? Want to do a research placement over the summer but also need a job - NERC are running the REP scheme again, paid summer research placements to widen participation in the life sciences. Details here iapetus2.ac.uk/new-rep-sche...

iapetus2.ac.uk

REP Scheme

Summer Research Experience placements for current undergraduate students.Applications for 2025 are now open. Please see our list of projects and How to Apply, below, to start your application. Ov...

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Becky Boulton @bb-phd.bsky.social · 10/04/2025

iapetus2.ac.uk

REP Scheme

Summer Research Experience placements for current undergraduate students.Applications for 2025 are now open. Please see our list of projects and How to Apply, below, to start your application. Ov...

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ASAB @asab.org · 12/12/2024

Fascinating #ASABWinter2024 plenary talk this morning by Malin Ah-King, tracing the history of perception of females in evolutionary science. It took surprisingly long for researchers to discover active female sexual strategies♀️ Her book on the topic here: link.springer.com/book/10.1007...

Malin Ah-king in front of a slide reading Production of ignorance about females in sexual selection
A repeated pattern of male-centric investigations first
Loss of acquired knowledge
Undermining the authority of certain knowers
Widely acknowledged citation hierarchy/taxonomic ignorance

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Friederike [freddy; she/her] Hillemann @fhillemann.bsky.social · 12/12/2024

the fantastic Antica Čulina's plenary "Doing credible science – why would you care?" covering struggles with first meta analyses as a PhD student, issues with the current research and reward system, and challenges and benefits of transitioning to a new, open, and more reliable system #ASABWinter2024

full lecture room for Antica Čulina's plenary on Doing credible science – why would you care? Slide show's how she struggled with her first meta analyses -- values don't match, missing information, unclear methods

another slide summarising issues, including issues with data collection (incorrect control group, no blinding of data) etc

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Chiara Benvenuto @cbenvenuto.bsky.social · 13/12/2024

I was aware about language barriers in science, but not at the extent explained by @tatsuya-amano.bsky.social. Eye opening talk #ASABWinter2024, thank you so much! Great advises for publishers and conference organizers! @asab.org

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Dr Maria Vilain Rørvang @drmariarorvang.bsky.social · 13/12/2024

Global research shows that it takes non-native English speaking scientists 51% more time to write a paper! Barriers and biases in academia with respect to language. Thought-provoking plenary by Tatsuya Armano at #asabwinter2024 👏🏼 #biasesinscience #languagebarriers

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