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Lauren Brent

@ljnbrent.bsky.social
1.6K followers 631 following 81 posts

Social evolution, social aging & the benefits of social networks. Professor @crab-exeter.bsky.social, Dept. of Psych, Uni. of Exeter. Big team science collaborations: #MacaqueNet #CBRU. She/her. linktr.ee/laurenbrent

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Reposted by Lauren Brent
Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour (CRAB) @crab-exeter.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Thank you to everyone who signed our open letter, who sent individual letters, and supported us in many other ways. We feel incredibly privileged to be part of such an active and strong scientific community and we've written you a letter to express our thanks and to give an update on the outcome 🧡🦀
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Erin Siracusa @erinsiracusa.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Non-kin bonds were less stable (shorter-lived & more variable in strength). Younger females & those with fewer kin had more non-kin bonds. BUT females chose non-kin even when they had plenty of kin available. (3/5)
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Lauren Brent @ljnbrent.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Imagine this choice: Your best buddies can be your close relatives. Or they can be unrelated to you. Evolution would say 'choose family'. Rhesus macaque females often do that, but in this *new paper we show they often don't*. Why? Maybe nonkin provide them with things kin can't? More work needed!
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Exeter UCU @exeterucu.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
What a MAMMOTH result. 100% the product of everyone's efforts over the summer.
RECORD-BREAKING BALLOT RESULT
EXETER UCU VOTES FOR ACTION
90.53% VOTE YES TO STRIKE
73.85% TURNOUT
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Bibiana Rojas @biobiiana.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
So grateful to @jacobcdunn.bsky.social and @wascherclaudia.bsky.social for the invitation to be a plenary speaker at #ECBB2026 along with these rockstars (Chris Schell, Tim Caro, @ljnbrent.bsky.social @ahanaaurora.bsky.social [@mherberstein.bsky.social and @andyradford.bsky.social missed the 📸])!
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Gerry Carter @gerrycarter.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Please help spread the word: Wilkinson lab at U Maryland, College Park, is hiring a postdoc to join our collaborative ongoing NIH-funded project titled “Social stress, epigenetic and immune function across bat lifespans.” umd.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/UMCP/job/Uni...
umd.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com
Post-Doctoral Associate
Job Description Summary Organization's Summary Statement: The Wilkinson lab at the University of Maryland, College Park, is hiring a postdoc to join an ongoing NIH-funded project titled “Social stress...
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Hanna Kokko @kokkonut.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Come and work with us (the Kokkonuts) as a postdoc! Our research within (theory-evo-eco) is broad; let's say it's implicitly defined by the journal club papers we read. Which is why the application process includes a JC-related task, I hope it'll be a fun one for you! www.evoldir.net/brian/evoldi...
evoldir.net
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Alex Prichard @profalexp.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
A thread on the dispute at Exeter Uni. #ucu #defendexeteruni @ucu.org.uk On 15 June HR called Exeter UCU into a confidential meeting and informed us they would be putting over 500 colleagues at risk of redundancy and expected to loose around 200 staff. The number of c.150 you’ll have seen is FTE.
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Council for the Defence of British Universities @cdbu.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
CDBU’s Chair has penned an open letter to the new Prime Minister, read now on our blog: cdbu.org.uk/open-letter-...
cdbu.org.uk
Open Letter to the Prime Minister - CDBU
20 July 2026 Dear Prime Minister On behalf of the Council for the Defence of British Universities (CDBU), I request a meeting with you to discuss Higher Education. The sector needs a review of managem...
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Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour (CRAB) @crab-exeter.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
Thanks to our colleagues from around the world who signed the Open Letter against redundancies in CRAB. The letter surpassed 700 signatures in just over 1 wk. We hope execs will now see the harm they are doing to the University of Exeter's global reputation. sites.google.com/view/save-cr...
sites.google.com
Home
As of 2026-07-14, this open letter has been signed by 754 people Signatories include 198 Professors and members of 11 National Academies, including 12 Fellows of the Royal Society (FRS) Signatories a...
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Adam Rutherford @adamrutherford.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
I've signed and sent a letter - from authors, broadcasters, journalists, artists, scholars and performers - to express our deep concern at @exeter.ac.uk’s troubling plans to make mass redundancies within the Humanities Dept @uniofexeterhass.bsky.social. I would love it if you read and shared widely.
Dear Vice Chancellor, Provost, Pro-Vice Chancellor and Executive Dean for the Faculty of Humanities,
Arts and Social Sciences and Chair of Council (cc Director of Human Resources and Chief Financial
Officer)
We write, as authors, broadcasters, journalists, artists, publishers, academics and performers in the public
sphere, to express our deep concern at the University of Exeter’s plans to make redundancies within the
Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS). The cuts come at a point when Exeter is not in
deficit, and they are not distributed equally across the university. With 114 of the proposed 153 FTE
academic redundancies falling within HASS, the University is dismantling areas of established excellence
and international renown in a Russell Group University whose reputation is known to be outstanding in the
Humanities. Several of the disciplines subject to the proposed cuts, including Classics and Ancient History,
English and Creative Writing, History, and Theology and Religion are among the UK’s strongest according
to league tables, the Research Excellence Framework (REF), the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF),
and other recognised indicators, including QS World Rankings.
The extent of the proposed cuts is both shocking and misguided. Exeter is seeking to make up to 20
academics redundant in English and Creative Writing, out of a headcount of 62. In Languages and Visual
Culture upwards of 17 colleagues will be made redundant, decimating subjects including Art History and
Visual Culture, French, German, Italian, Hispanic Studies, Russian and Chinese. 5 posts will go or have
gone in Classics and Ancient History (2 academics have already left), out of a staff body of 20. In Theology
and Religion up to 5 academics will be made redundant out of a group of 13. In History over 17 colleagues
will be made redundant, out of a staff body of 53. In the Institute for Arab and Islamic Studies staff are
facing a headcount reduction of almost a third (6FTE out …
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Lauren Brent @ljnbrent.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Update from the Univ of Exeter redundancy front... disappointing reading from top to bottom
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
Something deeply troubling & shocking is happening at Exeter University*, where a mass cull of staff is planned, even though it's in surplus. No good justifications given. @jamesgdyke.info provides the details: www.technosphere.earth/the-bonfire-... *Disclosure: I have a Visiting Fellowship here. +🧵
technosphere.earth
The bonfire of the humanities
150 academic posts at the University of Exeter are to be cut, most in the humanities but also in social sciences, engineering and environmental sciences
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Adam Rutherford @adamrutherford.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
This is cultural suicide and intellectual vandalism. In an era where humanities-illiterate tech bros have unearned god-like powers, we need historians, philosophers, ethicists, classicists more than ever.
deplorable.is
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Lauren Brent @ljnbrent.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
The University of Exeter is not in budget deficit. Yet are proposing to cut 150 academic jobs. This include my job. Please sign and share the petition, write our Vice Chancellor, to your MP, and get the word out about the act of self harm this university is about to commit. c.org/yKcx6Zr29H
c.org
This campaign needs you now
Stop Redundancies at the University of Exeter
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Ben Phillips @benphillips1989.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
A statement from Exeter UCU branch @ucu.org.uk - please share far and wide.
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Exeter Green Party @exetergreens.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
Exeter Green Party stands in solidarity with the Exeter University and College Union in condemning the University of Exeter’s announcement of sweeping job cuts. These plans will recklessly imperil the University’s vital contributions to the social, cultural, and economic life of the city. 1/4
Graphic which reads: Statement of solidarity with Exeter University and College Union.
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Lauren Brent @ljnbrent.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
New paper where we explore social and environmental health correlates. We use a citizen science approach (Monkey Health Explorer on Zooniverse) to score ~2000 images of blood smears collected during annual health checks
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Lauren Brent @ljnbrent.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
My first ever croquet! My team didn't win the blue crab trophy but we win some sugar highs off cake and pimms. Success comes in many forms.
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Danai Papageorgiou @danaipapageorgiou.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
In our new TREE paper, with M. Borgerhoff Mulder, S. Brosnan and E. Strauss we show that power in animal societies can be subject to control. When high-powered individuals use aggression to gain better access to resources, other group members can respond with "levelling". doi.org/10.1016/j.tr...
doi.org
Redirecting
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Lauren Brent @ljnbrent.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
New paper! We use simulations to test received wisdom on the observational sampling method to use and find that Altmann 1974 was right all along (never bet against Jeanne!). Focal follows capture rare, fleeting behaviours, scans captures long, common behaviours. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
sciencedirect.com
Observation methods in animal behaviour: a simulation study of performance
Most behavioural studies rely on systematic behavioural sampling, as observing and recording all behavioural events that occur is rarely feasible. Cho…
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Lauren Brent @ljnbrent.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
Congrats to MacaqueNet and thanks @sortee.bsky.social team for the recognition 🎉😊
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SORTEE @sortee.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
🎉 2025 SORTEE Commendation Award recipients: EcoEvoApps, Flipping the Script, JuliaPhylo, MacaqueNet, MorphoBank, and Virtual Australian Museum of Palaeontology (VAMP)! Congrats to all for advancing open, reliable, & transparent practices in ecology and evolution. 🔗 Learn more at sortee.org/awards/
The photo displays the logos of the 2025 SORTEE commendation award recipients
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Erik Postma @erikpostma.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
Interested in the interface of evolution 🧬 and ecology 🌳? Then you cannot miss #ExE2026! Hosted by @uniexecec.bsky.social in beautiful #Cornwall, this #conference has a stellar line-up of speakers and lots of pre-and post-conference workshops. Space is limited, so register now at evoxeco.uk!
ExE 2026
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Andy Radford @andyradford.bsky.social · 30/12/2025
🚨Roll up, roll up, fully-funded #PhD deadlines approaching... 6th Jan: tinyurl.com/aja54nr6 8th Jan: tinyurl.com/4jfy47pp Social monitoring & manipulation #meerkats #mongooses #macaques #fieldwork #long-termdata @patrick-kennedy.bsky.social @ljnbrent.bsky.social @bristolbiosci.bsky.social
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European Conference on Behavioural Biology @ecbb2026.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
Our call for symposia now open! We are now accepting submissions for symposia, with submissions for oral/poster presentations invited from 31 January 2026. For more info, or to download the proposal form, visit our conference page 👇 www.aru.ac.uk/science-and-...
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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Lauren Brent @ljnbrent.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
First ever quiz win! Very proud of my team made up of a random selection of my lab members + Sam for bringing home the Christmas-crab shaped CRAB trophy 🎉.
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Lauren Brent @ljnbrent.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
☺️
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Primate Behavioral Ecology @primbehavecol.bsky.social · 25/11/2025
Come and join our lab! We have TWO fully funded PhD positions AND a paid field assistant opportunity in our Behavioral Ecology group @uni-goettingen.de & @primatenzentrum.bsky.social. Projects will be part of @rtg2906-curiosity.bsky.social & @sfb1528.bsky.social!! Details in thread. Please re-post!
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Delphine De Moor @delphinedemoor.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
Excited to introduce the Latent Layers Framework – now out in @behavecol.bsky.social – to help think through when and why network differences confound inference in (comparative) social network analysis! 🧵 tinyurl.com/3k3yahwy
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Andy Radford @andyradford.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
📢Two fully-funded #PhD opportunities to work with us: Topic: Social monitoring & manipulation UK-domiciled black-heritage scheme: tinyurl.com/aja54nr6 NERC DLTP: tinyurl.com/4jfy47pp Cosupervisors: #PatrickKennedy @ljnbrent.bsky.social @bristolbiosci.bsky.social #bioacoustics #mammals #fieldwork
Meerkat pups in the Kalahari, South AfricaRhesus macaques in Cayo Santiago
Dwarf mongoose staring at a camera, South Africa.
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Andy Radford @andyradford.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
🌟Fully funded #PhD🌟 Social monitoring and manipulation of cooperative exchanges. #NERC funding With @ljnbrent.bsky.social, #PatrickKennedy & me. Based in @bristolbiosci.bsky.social #LongtermData #Fieldwork #Mongooses #Macaques Deadline: 8th Jan 2026 Please share! www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
findaphd.com
Funded PhD NERC GW4+ DLTP - Social monitoring and manipulation of cooperative exchanges at University of Bristol on FindAPhD.com
PhD Project - Funded PhD NERC GW4+ DLTP - Social monitoring and manipulation of cooperative exchanges at University of Bristol, listed on FindAPhD.com
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Lauren Brent @ljnbrent.bsky.social · 17/11/2025
Apply now for a NERC-funded PhD position with @andyradford.bsky.social & Patrick Kennedy at @bristolbiosci.bsky.social (with me as friendly 2nd supervisor down the road in @crab-exeter.bsky.social). Network cognition, cooperation, competition...what's not to like? www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
findaphd.com
Funded PhD NERC GW4+ DLTP - Social monitoring and manipulation of cooperative exchanges at University of Bristol on FindAPhD.com
PhD Project - Funded PhD NERC GW4+ DLTP - Social monitoring and manipulation of cooperative exchanges at University of Bristol, listed on FindAPhD.com
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Sean Rands @seanrands.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
Decision-making in slime moulds! Competitively funded PhD project in the UK (lead supervisor Andy Higginson in @crab-exeter.bsky.social, with co-supervisors in Bristol, Exeter and Macquarie, including me!), open to students worldwide. Deadline 3rd December 2025 www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
findaphd.com
The influence of variability and information on decision-making at University of Exeter on FindAPhD.com
PhD Project - The influence of variability and information on decision-making at University of Exeter, listed on FindAPhD.com
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Richard McElreath 🐈‍⬛ @rmcelreath.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
Behavioral data can be very detailed but are usually aggregated and normalized in ways that smother the dynamics. Ben wrote a continuous-time Markov model to improve on this, and also wrote simulations for exploring and validating pipelines. All the code is here: github.com/BenKawam/ASN...
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Andy Radford @andyradford.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
Looking for a #PhD? Interested in #SocialBehaviour #BiologicalMarkets #Fieldwork? Want to be based in #Bristol? Check out this project with me, @ljnbrent.bsky.social & #PatrickKennedy: tinyurl.com/aja54nr6 For UK-domiciled Black-heritage applicants Get in touch for more information Please #share
findaphd.com
Funded PhD open to UK-domiciled, home fee applicants of Black African, Black Caribbean or other Black or mixed Black heritage - Biological market monitoring and manipulation in social animals at Unive...
PhD Project - Funded PhD open to UK-domiciled, home fee applicants of Black African, Black Caribbean or other Black or mixed Black heritage - Biological market monitoring and manipulation in social an...
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Lauren Brent @ljnbrent.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
the IUCN have passed the Longevity Conservation motion put forward to them by @kellerfish.bsky.social and @pili-scotland.bsky.social and based on the paper we wrote on the value of older individuals in animal societies. www.cdu.edu.au/news/global-...
cdu.edu.au
Global body adopts policy to protect Earth’s old, wise and large animals | Charles Darwin University
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has recognised Charles Darwin University-led research into the Earth’s oldest animals with the adoption of the ‘Longevity Conservation’ global...
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Darren Croft @darrencroft.bsky.social · 22/10/2025
MSc by Res opportunity - developing behavioural indicators to inform killer whale conservation with @exeter.ac.uk @whaleresearch.bsky.social @seadocsociety.bsky.social People from underrepresented groups in marine science encouraged to apply. Deadline 19Dec www.exeter.ac.uk/study/fundin...
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Lauren Brent @ljnbrent.bsky.social · 16/10/2025
For what seems like forever, I've wanted to know what benefits we get from our friends - or in other words, why these relationships evolved. tinyurl.com/55dnkeh7
tinyurl.com
Quality, quantity, and the adaptive function of social relationships
Affiliative social relationships have clear links to fitness in many species, yet exactly why that is the case remains elusive. We unify theory from socioecology and network science to set forth testa...
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Delphine De Moor @delphinedemoor.bsky.social · 16/10/2025
Social relationships are powerful predictors of fitness across social animals. But *why*? In our new @cp-trendsecolevo.bsky.social paper, we outline testable predictions for why relationship quality and quantity adaptively vary across socio-ecological contexts. tinyurl.com/55dnkeh7
The Adaptive Relationships Framework illustrating how broad socioecological pressures shape the social solutions animals use to meet these challenges, and how these lead to social strategies and emergent structures that help them gain access to those solutions.
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Keller Kopf @kellerfish.bsky.social · 12/10/2025
@biodiversityguy.bsky.social @euanritchie.bsky.social @ljnbrent.bsky.social @pili-scotland.bsky.social @chrisjolly.bsky.social @charlesdarwinuni.bsky.social @rarlinghausfish.bsky.social @shoalorg.bsky.social @sharkscience.bsky.social @amfisheriessoc.bsky.social @fishconserve.bsky.social
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Keller Kopf @kellerfish.bsky.social · 12/10/2025
If you are a voting member of the IUCN - please consider supporting our motion (113) for Longevity Conservation at the Congress this week @iucnshark.bsky.social @aciucn.bsky.social @iucn-bctf.bsky.social @sscmarine.bsky.social iucncongress2025.org/assembly/mot...
iucncongress2025.org
MOTION 113
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Lauren Brent @ljnbrent.bsky.social · 22/09/2025
Postdoc job alert! We are hiring a NYU-based postdoc to work on our project on the social and environmental determinants of aging. The 3 year post will be based in James Higham's lab and will focus on endocrine, immune, and inflammatory aspects of aging. Please share! apply.interfolio.com/173938
apply.interfolio.com
Apply - Interfolio {{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio
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Ben Kawam @benkawam.bsky.social · 04/09/2025
Are you studying animal sociality? Confused about the "non-independence" of social network data: what on earth are they? are they threatening your results? should you attempt to get rid of them? A thread summarising a part of our new paper (ecoevorxiv.org/repository/v...).
ecoevorxiv.org
Five misunderstandings in animal social network analysis
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Lauren Brent @ljnbrent.bsky.social · 31/08/2025
Survey alert! If you're a social behavioural ecologist, please fill in our survey aimed at gauging interest in, barriers and solutions to, comparative social behaviour research. Thanks! forms.gle/KZJDMtLCJhvY...
forms.gle
Comparative Social Behaviour Survey
We'd like to gauge interest, openness and perceived barriers to cross-species comparative research in social behavioural ecology. Please respond to questions below - should take no more than 5 minutes...
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Krishna Balasubramaniam @krishsubramaniam.bsky.social · 30/08/2025
😎😎 symposium and discussion on comparative studies in animal behaviour, organized by @delphinedemoor.bsky.social, @ljnbrent.bsky.social & Anindya Sinha at @behaviour2025.bsky.social ! Was a pleasure to be part of a 👌 speaker lineup, & present my work on interspecific variation in 🐵 social behaviour!
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Lauren Brent @ljnbrent.bsky.social · 27/08/2025
Animal Behaviour from Exeter and Bristol, plus some of our alumni, went to @behaviour2025.bsky.social in Kolkata and had mountains of rice. @crab-exeter.bsky.social @bristolbiosci.bsky.social @uniexecec.bsky.social
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Lauren Brent @ljnbrent.bsky.social · 19/08/2025
Looking forward to another gathering of MacaqueNet! In India no less, home of the best ever macaque: the rhesu....haha just kidding, the lion-tailed, obviously. Hope to see lots of you there!
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Lauren Brent @ljnbrent.bsky.social · 07/08/2025
Going to @behaviour2025.bsky.social in Kolkata? Join us for Weaving the MacaqueNet 3.0, our third workshop for this big team science & community initiative behaviourindia2025.in/workshops.html. Members + non-members welcome! Get your very own sticker and be as happy as @macaelaskelton.bsky.social!
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