iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

the Hoffman Lab @thehoffmanlab.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

New paper: Antarctic fur seals are Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, but 47 yrs of data show South Georgia's population (96% of global total) has declined ~1.5M since 2007. Time for a global status reassessment! 🦭📉🧪 🔗https://authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S0006-3207(26)00317-4 📷: Oliver Krüger

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the Hoffman Lab @thehoffmanlab.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

A decade of dedication deserves a sweet celebration! 🍫👕 We recently surprised @annekep.bsky.social to celebrate her incredible 10-year anniversary with our research group. Thank you for your hard work and being an amazing colleague, Anneke! #Milestone #ResearchTeam #EmployeeAppreciation #10Years

Anneke showing the back of the tshirt that reads "10 years" and then lists current and former lab members

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the Hoffman Lab @thehoffmanlab.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Our Special Issue co-edited by @rebeccachen.bsky.social and Bernice is out now in JAB! Seven papers about a variety of topics, all addressing several knowledge gaps in avian epigenetics. Read the editorial here! nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

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the Hoffman Lab @thehoffmanlab.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

We conquered the heat at our lab retreat yesterday! 😎 Talked feedback, funding for PhDs/postdocs, growing the group, and plans for pursuing #MyGreenLab certification 🌱 Great energy all around! 🧪 #LabLife

Group picture of the lab members present at the retreat, everyone has their hands up and is smiling or making funny faces

Group picture of lab members having dinner outside

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the Hoffman Lab @thehoffmanlab.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

A massive congratulations to @anelivb.bsky.social who successfully defended her PhD thesis titled “Effects of density on Antarctic fur seals“! 🥳🎓🦭🧪

Freshly appointed dr Ane Liv Berthelsen, wearing a black graduation cap decorated with pictures and a bouldering figurine made of clay

Group picture of the Hoffman lab after Ane Liv's defence

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the Hoffman Lab @thehoffmanlab.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

A massive milestone deserves a massive shoutout! 🎓 @rebeccachen.bsky.social has successfully defended her PhD with a Summa cum laude! 🎉 We're thrilled to congratulate her and even more thrilled that she'll be staying with the group a little longer!🙏 #PhD #Congratulations #Academia

Rebecca smiling broadly after her PhD defence. She is wearing her decorated graduation cap after her PhD defence. The cap is decorated with a black grouse head made of paper mache and a big lyre made from feathers, a 3D printed DNA strand and many pictures. She is wearing a black graduation gown.

A group picture of the Evolutionary Population Genetics group in front of the Verhaltensforschung building at the Bielefeld University. In the picture are: Joe, Marcos, Ira, Anneke, Jutta, David, Noemi, Beril, Rebecca, Ane Liv and Etienne

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the Hoffman Lab @thehoffmanlab.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

What is responsible and rigorous science? @anelivb.bsky.social and @rebeccachen.bsky.social spent the last two days discussing this question at the #iScienceTBD workshop at @idiv-research.bsky.social. From EDI and science communication to HARKing, p-hacking, DAGs – lots of food for thought! 🌱🧠

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the Hoffman Lab @thehoffmanlab.bsky.social · 07/01/2026

Massive congratulations to @ramonammm.bsky.social for successfully defending her PhD thesis last December! 🎓🥳 We wish you all the best in your new job and adventures Down Under! 🦘 🐨 🐋

Ramona broadly smiling and holding her decorated graduation cap with both hands after her PhD defence. The cap is decorated with Christmas lights, pictures and whale figurines. She is wearing a black graduation gown.

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the Hoffman Lab @thehoffmanlab.bsky.social · 19/12/2025

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from the Hoffman lab! 🎄 May 2026 be a great year for science ✨ Illustrations made by Ane Liv Berthelsen

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the Hoffman Lab @thehoffmanlab.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

Publication alert! ❗ Do predicted deleterious mutations reduce survival? In our latest paper lead by @rebeccachen.bsky.social published in @currentbiology.bsky.social, we compared mutation load across different age classes in black grouse.

Cover of Current Biology Vol 35, number 23, Dec 2025. It shows a picture of a black grouse, its image mirrored in a pond it is standing next to.

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the Hoffman Lab @thehoffmanlab.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

Last week a very happy (and presumably very tired 😁) @ramonammm.bsky.social handed in her PhD thesis titled "Comparing Polar Ocean Soundscapes" 🥳🥳 🥳 Congratulations with this huge milestone! Looking forward to the defence and of course the celebrations afterwards!

Ramona smiling broadly and holding her thesis in front of her

A picture of the front of Ramona Mattmueller's thesis titled "Comparing Polar Ocean Soundscapes"

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the Hoffman Lab @thehoffmanlab.bsky.social · 21/08/2025

The genome and epigenome are not independent, so why analyse them separately? 🤔 Come and discuss our hypotheses on the interplay between deleterious mutations and epigenetic mechanisms today with @rebeccachen.bsky.social at #ESEB2025 poster number 85! 🧪🧬

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the Hoffman Lab @thehoffmanlab.bsky.social · 20/08/2025

Do inbred females suffer disproportionately from climate change induced changes in selection pressure? Come and find out in @annekep.bsky.social's talk today at the @eseb2025.bsky.social conference 12:00 PM - 12:15 PM in meeting room 115 #ESEB2025

Title slide of the presentation. The left side has a blue background with in white the title: "Inbreeding-mediated individual responses to climate change in Antarctic fur seals" by David Vendrami, Anneke Paijmans, Emily Humble, Ane Liv Berthelsen, Jaume Forcada and Joe Hoffman. On the right side there is a picture of a Antarctic fur seal female with light grey/brown fur coloration and a darker colored pup on her right side

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the Hoffman Lab @thehoffmanlab.bsky.social · 19/08/2025

Interested in the temporal and spatial dynamics of mutation load? Come find @k-hench.bsky.social who is investigating this in Antarctic fur seals! Poster session 2, S44 355 5-7PM tonight @eseb2025.bsky.social #eseb2025

Kosmas pointing to his scientific poster titled "dynamics of mutation load in the Antarctic fur seal" at the ESEB2025 conference

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the Hoffman Lab @thehoffmanlab.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

Interested in the genomic consequences of commercial sealing? Check out Beril's poster (number 266) tonight at #ESEB2025 where she presents her study on differences in genomic inbreeding levels, bottleneck strength, and genetic load in two populations of South American fur seals 🦭🧬🧪

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the Hoffman Lab @thehoffmanlab.bsky.social · 28/07/2025

A massive congratulations to dr Jonas Tebbe, for successfully defending his PhD on chemical phenotypes in the Antarctic fur seal!! 🥳🎓🦭 We wish all the very best to Jonas!

Jonas wearing a black gown and his graduation cap which is decorated with pictures and has a lab tube for a tassel. He is standing inside Bielefeld University in front of the room where he defended his PhD thesis

Jonas Tebbe sitting in a small cart decorated with balloons and a sign that says "Dr Jonas". Jonas is wearing his graduation cap and a black gown. The cart is being pulled by his former supervisor Joe Hoffman. They are outside, some parts of Bielefeld University can be seen in the background

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the Hoffman Lab @thehoffmanlab.bsky.social · 14/07/2025

🧪 Lab plastic waste is a huge problem - but what can we do about it? 🥼 In our lab, we tested whether reusing and washing microtitre plates could help reduce waste. In some cases, it works! ♻️ 🌍 Read more here: buff.ly/XOGSX0q #greenlab #sustainability #openscience

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the Hoffman Lab @thehoffmanlab.bsky.social · 07/07/2025

Last week our lab member @annekep.bsky.social successfully defended her PhD and was rewarded a magna cum laude for her work! Congratulations dr. Anneke! 🥳🎓 Luckily we don't have to say our farewells yet, as Anneke will continue working on her Antarctic fur seal project as a postdoc in the group 🦭

Woman with red hair and a black cape holding a graduation cap

Woman with graduation cap and gown sitting in a small cart being pulled by a man

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the Hoffman Lab @thehoffmanlab.bsky.social · 23/06/2025

Last week, the Hoffman Lab had its second lab retreat! Two full days of science, inspiring stories about field work, discussions about EDI in the lab and science communication, and a lot of team-bonding while enjoying the peace of the Teutoburg forest🍃

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