iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Nigel Raine

FACETS Journal @facetsjournal.bsky.social · 04/12/2025

New 📰| Wild bee biodiversity in tallgrass prairie and oak savanna habitat in southern Ontario 🐝https://ow.ly/Hcpf50XATTc Explore how restoration and land management decisions can make a big difference for wild pollinators. Nigel Raine Janean Sharkey University of Guelph

A bee pollinating white cherry blossoms in spring sunlight, showcasing nature's harmony.

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Nigel Raine @nigeleraine.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Funded 4-year #PhD position studying the risks and impacts of exposure to soil #pesticide residues on soil dependent #bees based @uofguelph.bsky.social. For more details about the position and how to apply by 21 August: 1in3mouthfuls.org/join-the-team/ Please share & apply! #ProPollSoil #Pollinators

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Nigel Raine @nigeleraine.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

New study, led by Aaron Fairweather, provides a robust method to test impacts of #pesticide exposure on soil-nesting insects. We found substantive negative impacts on ants after soil drench applications of imidacloprid including behavioural changes & increased mortality: doi.org/10.1093/etoj...

Custom experimental nest design constructed from two 946 ml 100% food-grade bisphenol A-free polypropylene clear plastic containers with a 0.95 cm gap, filled with test soil, and provided with a cotton stoppered tube filled with 50/50 sugar-water solution and a cricket.

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Nigel Raine @nigeleraine.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

New study, led by Ellen Richard, assessing the non-bee strawberry flower visiting community using #metabarcoding. Our results suggest that non-bee species make considerable contributions towards overall strawberry pollination services. Read in full @basicapplecol.bsky.social: doi.org/10.1016/j.ba...

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Nigel Raine @nigeleraine.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

Huge congratulations to Dr. Kiera Newman on successfully defending her PhD thesis on the importance of milkweed for conservation of #pollinators besides Monarch butterflies. #PhDone #ProudSupervisor. Thanks to the excellent exam committee Sandra Rehan @shoshanahjacobs.ca Rob Corry & Neil Rooney!

Kiera Newman's PhD thesis defence exam committee: left to right - Rob Corry, Neil Rooney, Kiera Newman (candidate), Nigel Raine, Shoshanah Jacobs (and Sandra Rehan - not present in person).

Newly minted Dr. Kiera Newman enjoys a pint in her defence mug at the University of Guelph graduate lounge.

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Ryan Norris @ryannorrissci.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

🦋 PhD position! 🦋 Join a newly funded research partnership working to conserve endangered butterflies in Canada. Details can be found below. @onehealthuofg.bsky.social @uofguelph.bsky.social

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Elli Leadbeater @ellileadbeater.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

We've designed a short UCL summer course for students who are interested in future-facing ecological careers and want to learn more about them. If that's you, come and join us in September! www.ucl.ac.uk/life-science...

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Joanna Bagniewska @joannabagniewska.com · 20/05/2026

🧪 In a study, bumblebee queens were overwintered in refrigerated test tubes - but an experimental mishap led to four tubes accumulating water. 🐝 Now we know that bumblebee 👸 can survive being submerged for a week - which makes sense, because in the wild their burrows may get flooded. 🌍 #WorldBeeDay

Common eastern bumblebee, Bombus impatiens, on a plant. Photo by Mousebelt (Wikimedia Commons)

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Antonia 🦋🐞 @antoniag.bsky.social · 16/05/2026

@romtoronto.bsky.social opens today, May 16th, Bees: A story of Survival, an immersive exhibition using art & science to help you imagine life from a 🐝's perspective. From the National Museums of Liverpool & Wolfgang Buttress. I'm bee-side myself that my image was chosen for the ads #bees 🐝1/2

Add for Bees exhibition at the ROM. Bees: A Story of Survival. A large image of a Bicoloured Striped Sweat Bee (Agapostemon virescens) in flight. Wings down, metallic green thorax and head, black and white stripes on abdomen. Photo by Antonia Guidotti

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Nigel Raine @nigeleraine.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

If you're attending #CSEE2026 today, please check out Kiera Newman's talk on how milkweed cardenolides might mediate co-evolutionary trade-offs between medicinal benefits and toxicity in #honeybees in BA-2175 at 11:45am! @csee-scee.bsky.social @uofguelph.bsky.social

Host-pathogen interactions are shaped by ecological and evolutionary factors, including exposure to phytochemicals that function as both therapeutic and toxic agents. In honey bees (Apis mellifera), the microsporidian pathogen Nosema ceranae affects health and reduces survival, yet the role of phytochemicals in mediating disease remains poorly understood. Milkweeds (Asclepias spp.), planted to support Monarch butterfly conservation, produce toxic cardenolides that deter herbivores and parasites, and to which flower visitors can be exposed by consumption of nectar. We experimentally tested how consumption of ecologically relevant cardenolide concentrations in artificial nectar influenced Nosema ceranae infection, survival, and weight change in honey bee workers.

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Nigel Raine @nigeleraine.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

If you're attending #CSEE2026 tomorrow, please check out Dr. Sabrina Rondeau's talk on the independent and combined effects of winter warming and soil pesticide exposure on diapausing #bumblebee queens in BA1240 at 14:30 @csee-scee.bsky.social @uofguelph.bsky.social @uottawa.ca

In temperate regions, bumblebee (Bombus spp.) queens overwinter underground, where they can be simultaneously exposed to pesticide-contaminated soils and warming winter temperatures. Soil insecticide exposure might affect post-hibernation performance and colony establishment, while warmer overwintering temperatures increase energetic demands and could alter temperature-dependent pesticide detoxification processes.

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Reposted by Nigel Raine

Samantha Brennan @samanthabrennan.bsky.social · 02/05/2026

Bumblebees are buzzing with Bluetooth trackers at the Arboretum Fifty queen bees are being tracked with Bluetooth technology as part of a research project to determine behavioural differences between commercial and wild bees www.guelphtoday.com/grounded/bum...

guelphtoday.com

Bumblebees are buzzing with Bluetooth trackers at the Arboretum

Fifty queen bees are being tracked with Bluetooth technology as part of a research project to determine behavioural differences between commercial and wild bees

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The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation @xercessociety.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

Think you don’t have enough space for native plants? Think again! Join us to explore what a small habitat can look like and the steps people can take to build their own miniature pollinator haven! 🪴🦋 🗓️Apr 30 at 10am PT / 1pm ET 🔗Register for this free event: us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

“Creating Habitat in Yards, Containers, and Other Tiny Spaces” A hoverfly perched on small yellow flowers, and a planter pot full of native plants, including the flowers the fly is on.

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FACETS Journal @facetsjournal.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

🐝 How does grassland management affect bee #biodiversity and ecosystem health? Read Lightburn et al.'s review in #FACETS ➡️ ow.ly/QCnw50YN9sW #Pollinators 📷 Mark Ashford

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Nigel Raine @nigeleraine.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

Les reines bourdons peuvent survivre et respirer sous l'eau pendant des jours. Découvrez comment Sabrina Rondeau a découvert ce phénomène et ses récentes recherches révélant la physiologie qui permet aux reines de survivre immergées sur @theconversation.com: theconversation.com/comment-les-...

Une reine bourdon accumule des réserves nutritives en prévision de l’hivernage. Lucas Borg-Darveau

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Nigel Raine @nigeleraine.bsky.social · 16/04/2026

Calling all Guelphites! If you're walking, running or cycling at the University of Guelph @uofguelph.bsky.socialArboretum please make sure you have Bluetooth enabled on your phone. Doing this will really help us to collect data on the movement patterns of radiotagged bumble #bee queens #Pollinators

Bluetooth for bees! Help us track bumble bees by turning on your Bluetooth on your mobile phone when you are walking, running, or cycling at the University of Guelph Arboretum.

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Nigel Raine @nigeleraine.bsky.social · 16/04/2026

Calling all Guelphites! If you're walking, running or cycling at the University of Guelph @uofguelph.bsky.social Arboretum please make sure you have Bluetooth enabled on your phone. Doing this will really help us to collect data on the movement patterns of radiotagged bumble #bee queens #Pollinators

Bluetooth for bees! Help us track bumble bees by turning on your bluetooth on your mobile phone when you are walking in the University of Guelph Arboretum.

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Nigel Raine @nigeleraine.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

Grassland management & wild #bee biodiversity: conservation lessons from native & non-native systems in S Ontario. New review, led by Kyr Lightburn, discusses the importance of integrating incentive-based management & targeted restoration in working lands to enhance habitat: doi.org/10.1139/face...

Grassland habitats in Southern Ontario illustrating the diversity of vegetation structure and ﬂoral communities across
various sites. Panels (a)–(d) show non-native rotationally grazed pastures, while panels (e)–(h) show non-grazed, native grassland
habitats. Panel (b) shows blue vane traps in ﬁeld for bee surveying. Photos (e)–(h) courtesy of Janean Sharkey.

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Nigel Raine @nigeleraine.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

Anthropogenic stressors drive microbiome assembly: a global meta-analysis of #bumblebees. Exciting research, led by Christine Macpherson @uofguelph.bsky.social, reveals the impacts of human-altered environments in shaping the communities of microorganisms in #bee guts: doi.org/10.1016/j.sc...

Bumble bees (Bombus spp.) play a vital role in the provision of ecosystem services that benefit humans through crop pollination and supporting natural plant biodiversity. While their ecological function is well studied, the microbial communities within their gut are only beginning to be recognized for their contributions to bee health and resilience. To better understand these communities, we conducted a meta-analysis of 814 gut samples from 15 studies across 9 countries. This analysis confirmed Snodgrassella, Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, Bombilactobacillus, and Gilliamella as core gut taxa, and proposed the addition of Neisseriaceae_unclassified and Orbaceae_unclassified. Human-altered environments were identified as the most influential factor shaping microbiota composition, with indoor versus outdoor rearing showing the strongest effect. Outdoor bees collectively hosted 253% more genera and exhibited higher microbial richness, connectivity, and stability. In contrast, indoor bees showed reduced diversity and the loss of multiple environmentally-associated taxa. Based on these patterns, we propose a “captivity-sensitive core” of twelve taxa, including Frischella, Apilactobacillus, Staphylococcus, and Acinetobacter. These findings establish a robust reference for the bumble bee gut microbiome and highlight how anthropogenic environments alter microbial community structure, with implications for insect pollinator health, management, and conservation.

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Nigel Raine @nigeleraine.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

Queen #bumblebees can survive & breathe underwater for days. Read about how Sabrina Rondeau happened upon this phenomenon & her recent findings (with Charles-Antoine Darveau) revealing the physiology explaining how queens are able to survive submerged in @theconversation.com: doi.org/10.64628/AAM...

Common eastern bumblebee (Bombus impatiens) queen visiting a flower (photo Lucas Borg-Darveau).

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Reposted by Nigel Raine

Cory S. Sheffield 🇨🇦🐝🌺📸🎸🎨 @corysheffield.bsky.social · 28/03/2026

A descent sized #nesting #aggregation of Anthophora occidentalis in the Avonlea badlands of #Saskatchewan

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Cory S. Sheffield 🇨🇦🐝🌺📸🎸🎨 @corysheffield.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

Did you know that there are over 1030 #species of #bee recorded from #Canada? We keep a tally and catalogue here: www.beesofcanada.com

beesofcanada.com

Bees of Canada, a Royal Saskatchewan Museum Initiative

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Mark Brown @markjfbrown.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

Here’s a great PhD opportunity in the crossover between humanities and natural history- please repost 🙏 www.ccc.cam.ac.uk/initiatives/...

ccc.cam.ac.uk

Cambridge University Library, University Museum of Zoology and the University of Cambridge - Collections Connections Communities

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Nigel Raine @nigeleraine.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

Delighted to announce that Grace McKinney passed her PhD qualifying exam with flying colours today. Fantastic work, well done! #ProudSupervisor. Thanks to your excellent exam committee @soilmicrocanada.bsky.social @emmaallen-vercoe.bsky.social @faisal-moola.bsky.social & Ernesto Guzman

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Metabarcoding and Metagenomics @mbmg.pensoft.net · 23/02/2026

5,000 #students across Canada help map the secret lives of solitary cavity-nesting #bees and #wasps. 🐝This study used #community #science & #metabarcoding to reveal hidden insect interactions. 👇See what they found here: doi.org/10.3897/mbmg... #citizenscience #hymenoptera

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Sarah Arnold @sejarnold.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

As the last few years have seen some serious yield challenges in West African cocoa, leading to global price volatility (and noticeable increases in the price of chocolate bars, changes in recipes, etc.), let's think about just one part of this system: pollination. A thread 🧵 [1/]

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The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation @xercessociety.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

Join us to get advice straight from Xerces staff that have built a pollinator haven in their yards. We’ll cover all the basics, as well as the unexpected lessons that come from years of experience! 🗓️Feb 12 at 10am PT / 1pm ET 🔗Register for this free event: us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

“Building a Pollinator Haven at Home: Tips & Lessons Learned” A backyard with a large patch of asters, all in bloom.

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Nigel Raine @nigeleraine.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

New DNA metabarcoding results show the distribution of cavity nesting #bees & #wasps, & their food sources, from schools across 🇨🇦. This community science work, led by Sage Handler, reveals network links among plants, #pollinators, parasites, predators & prey doi.org/10.3897/mbmg... @mbmg.pensoft.net

Leafcutter bee visiting a pink flower to collect nectar (photo taken by Sage Handler)

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Vivek Nityananda @viveknityananda.bsky.social · 03/02/2026

New PhD alert! We'll be applying animal welfare ideas to look at how stress affects bees, looking at the effect on bee brains with @lenariab.bsky.social, and working with @sensibee.bsky.social developing new monitoring methods. Please spread the word! #bees #PhD 🧪 www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

findaphd.com

The effect of stress on pollinator behaviour at Newcastle University on FindAPhD.com

PhD Project - The effect of stress on pollinator behaviour at Newcastle University, listed on FindAPhD.com

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Butterfly @butterfly-project.bsky.social · 30/01/2026

Have a look at the brand new website of our sibling project, ProPollSoil! www.propollsoil.eu

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Phil Stevenson @philstevenson.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

New paper alert! Sterol content of pollen directly influences solitary bee development & indicates that Osmia larvae are efficient in accumulating sterols or can biosynthesise or modify them, which challenges previous studies. @rbgkew.bsky.social www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

sciencedirect.com

Pollen and sterol content differentially affect solitary bee development

Pollen sterols are essential micronutrients for bees, with roles as membrane components, hormone precursors and for regulating gene expression. It is …

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Nigel Raine @nigeleraine.bsky.social · 02/12/2025

Cognitive tasks could be biased towards generalists: a lesson from wild non-eusocial #bees. In this work, led by Tovah Kashetsky, specialist 🐝s were more hesitant to continue interacting with novel stimuli. Check out the #OA paper in @behavecol.bsky.social: doi.org/10.1093/behe... #ProudCoSupervisor

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Mario Vallejo-Marin @nicrodemo.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

We are looking for a very short (6 mo) researcher post for helping us to do experiments with bees, flowers and tiny robots,! The post would be suitable for a recently graduated PhD student or someone between jobs. The post will be announced formally in the new year. Informal queries welcome by email

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Nigel Raine @nigeleraine.bsky.social · 28/11/2025

Our survey of #bees & #wasps visiting #soybean flowers is out: doi.org/10.4039/tce..... This work shows most 🐝s visiting soy🌼s carried soy pollen. #Bumblebees & ground-nesting 🐝s were the most common 🌼visitors suggesting that management practices supporting these #pollinators will benefit 🇨🇦growers

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Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery @naturerecovery.bsky.social · 17/11/2025

We're really looking forward to this talk from Serian Sumner this Friday. Join us online or inperson, with a book signing and drinks reception aftwards. @waspwoman.bsky.social Reserve your seat now! bookwhen.com/oxfordbiodiv...

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Ben Hafner @benscharmin.bsky.social · 29/10/2025

🐝 PhD Opportunity @tum.de Explore how soil health & structure shape habitats for ground-nesting pollinators in the Horizon Europe project ProPollSoil. Join our interdisciplinary team in Soil Biophysics & Environmental Systems 🌿 🔗 Details: www.lss.ls.tum.de/sbe/offered-...

lss.ls.tum.de

Doctoral Candidate Soil–Pollinator Interactions and Soil Health

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Jeremy Hemberger @jhemberger.bsky.social · 08/11/2025

For #EntSoc2025 folks interested in insect responses to extreme weather, Neal Williams and I are hosting a session, "Hot Bees" in D133/134. We'll focus the methods and tools we can use to understand how heat waves impact wild pollinators across ecological scales. Join us! 🌡️🐝💨🌼

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Grant Museum of Zoology @uclgrantmuseum.bsky.social · 05/08/2025

Our recently opened World of Wasps exhibition hopes to reveal the unseen lives of wasps. Speaking to @cnn.com, Professor Seirian Sumner (@waspwoman.bsky.social) gave her top five reasons why we should all love wasps as much as she does.

edition.cnn.com

Everyone hates wasps. But this scientist wants us to love them. | CNN

If you think wasps only exist to spoil summer picnics, Professor Seirian Sumner is here to set you straight.

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Dara Stanley @darastanley.bsky.social · 13/06/2025

We're hiring two PhD and two postdoc positions! Interested in pollinators, soils, agroecology, pesticides? Then come and work with us and with collaborators and all over Europe! stanleyecologylab.org/vacancies #findaphd Please share!

stanleyecologylab.org

Vacancies | ecology

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Cory S. Sheffield 🇨🇦🐝🌺📸🎸🎨 @corysheffield.bsky.social · 20/05/2025

Today is #WorldBeeDay, which is a real reason to celebrate these wonders of nature! #Canada is a very large, diverse country. Our efforts have confirmed almost 1030 species (www.beesofcanada.com/species), and this list continues to grow.

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Prof. Jeff Ollerton @jeffollerton.bsky.social · 12/03/2025

In a review led by Spanish researchers David Peris and Ricardo Pérez-de la Fuente, we explored why a deep time perspective on insect pollination is relevant to our current understanding of plant-pollinator relationships. Read more here: jeffollerton.co.uk/2025/03/12/e... #pollinators #biodiversity

jeffollerton.co.uk

Evolutionary implications of a deep-time perspective on insect pollination – a new review just published

When we think of pollination, we often picture bees buzzing around flowers or butterflies flitting from bloom to bloom. This relationship between plants and pollinators is one of the most well-know…

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Kimiko Shibata @eslfairy.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

No voter card? No problem! Here’s what you can use instead to vote.

If you don't have a voter information card, bring one piece of ID with both your name and home address.
Government-issued
• Ontario driver's licence
• Ontario motor vehicle permit (plate or vehicle portion)
• Ontario photo card
• Property assessment notice from Municipal Property
Assessment Corporation
• Child tax benefit statement
• Income tax notice of assessment
• Social Insurance Number confirmation letter
• Statement of Employment
Insurance Benefits Paid T4E
• Statement of Old Age
Security T4A (OAS)
• Any document showing both your name and home address issued by the Government of Canada/Ontario
Educational or financial
• School admission letter
• School transcript or report card
• Tuition/fees statement
• Bank account or credit card statement
• Cancelled personalized cheque
• Cheque stub, pay receipt or
T4 issued by a person's employer
• Insurance statement
• Residential mortgage, lease, or rental statement
• Signed loan or financial agreement with a financial institution
• Document showing campus residence issued by the office or officials responsible for student residence at a post-secondary institution
Other
• CNIB card or card from another registered charitable organization that provides services to persons with disabilities
• Hospital records showing a person's name and home address
• Letter of Confirmation of
Residence
• Utility bill (hydro, water, gas, telephone, cable TV, public utilities commission)
• Property tax assessment or bill from a municipality in
Ontario
• Any other document showing both your name and home address issued by:
• a municipality
• a government agency
• or certified by a court in
Ontario

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Alexandra Klein @naturealexk.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

Postdoc Opportunity in #Pollination Research The @uni-freiburg.de is hiring a Postdoc for the EU project VALOR, exploring the ecological and economic values of pollinators. 📅 Deadline: March 1, 2025 📅 Start date: June 1, 2025 💰 Salary: TV-L E13 (100%), 3 years 🔗 uni-freiburg.de/stellenangeb...

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Shoko Sugasawa @shokosugasawa.bsky.social · 24/02/2025

🚨Fully-funded PhD studentship on insect behaviour, cognition & muscles with me & @viveknityananda.bsky.social at @newcastleuni.bsky.social 🐝🍀🎓🙌Application deadline April 30, start date in September. Drop me an email if you have questions! www.ncl.ac.uk/postgraduate...

Image of a PhD position advert entitled "PhD studentship in Brain, Brawn, and Bugs: cognitive and physical factors of insect dexterity" with images of a praying mantis and a bumblebee foraging.

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Nigel Raine @nigeleraine.bsky.social · 21/02/2025

Exciting opportunity to bee-come the new Assistant or Associate Professor in Apiculture/Honey #Bee Biology @uofguelph.bsky.social 🇨🇦. Assessment of applications will begin on April 16. Full info about the faculty position & application process: careers.uoguelph.ca/job/Guelph-A... Please share widely!

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