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the Hoffman Lab @thehoffmanlab.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Co-authored by @rebeccachen.bsky.social, Bernice, @keesvanoers.bsky.social and Joe! The article is part of a special issue on ecological epigenetics, make sure to check it out!

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the Hoffman Lab @thehoffmanlab.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Both genetic variation and epigenetics can affect fitness, but how are the two expected to interplay? Can epigenetics buffer against the effects of deleterious mutations, or do they make their effects worse? Our latest Opinion Piece on this topic is now published! doi.org/10.1098/rstb...

doi.org

The interplay between epigenetic mechanisms and deleterious mutations: implications for fitness, evolution and conservation

Abstract. Understanding the causal effects of genetic mutations is essential for explaining fitness variation, forecasting evolutionary trajectories and as

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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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Reposted by the Hoffman Lab

Ane Liv @anelivb.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

Have you considered the role of epigenetic variation in niche individualization? We explored the interplay between interindividual phenotypic variation and epigenetic processes in a paper recently published in Trends of Ecology and Evolution 🧪 Read more here: www.cell.com/trends/ecolo...

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Reposted by the Hoffman Lab

Ane Liv @anelivb.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

Have you ever wondered about fine-scale predator-prey dynamics? 🧪 I used image data and a neural network to investigate this in Antarctic fur seals. Read more: royalsocietypublishing.org/rsos/article... #Ecology #AntarcticResearch Giant petrel stalking Antarctic fur seal pup, watercolour, ALB.

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Ane Liv @anelivb.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

Have you considered whether animals differ in their perception of density? We explored how differences in our senses, interpretation and past experiences shapes density perception, causing behavioral differences and affecting fitness outcomes. 🧪 nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

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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 · 20/02/2026

thehoffmanlab.com/wp-content/u... <- for more details

thehoffmanlab.com

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the Hoffman Lab @thehoffmanlab.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

Looking for a MSc thesis or a recent graduate project? The Hoffman Lab is looking for a motivated student to work on mutation load dynamics and inbreeding depression in female black grouse! We'll investigate how deleterious mutations affect key fitness traits. Check out our website for more info! 🧬

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the Hoffman Lab @thehoffmanlab.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

Looking for a PhD opportunity in molecular ecology or know of someone? We are hiring a new PhD candidate who will be working on mutation load dynamics in banded mongoose! 🧬Read more here: thehoffmanlab.com/opportunities/. Deadline for applications is January 30th! #phd #jobs #genetics #mutationload

thehoffmanlab.com

Join The Lab!

We warmly welcome applications from students or postdocs who would like to work in our group. If you are interested in any of the research topics described on our website or have your own ideas for…

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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

We found that viability selection targets exonic evolutionarily conserved mutations 🤔 Read more: doi.org/10.1016/j.cu...

doi.org

Redirecting

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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 · 10/10/2025

How can we make scientific events such as #conferences more #inclusive? Read about the study we conducted during #Behaviour2023 as a nice and concise summary in the press-release here 👉 aktuell.uni-bielefeld.de/2025/10/06/r...

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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 · 22/09/2025

For the full publication, check out Nature Ecology and Evolution @natecoevo.nature.com 👉 www.nature.com/articles/s41... 6/6

nature.com

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the Hoffman Lab @thehoffmanlab.bsky.social · 22/09/2025

We analysed if coding and non-coding mutations have different fitness effects, and showed that mutations in regulatory regions of the genome seem to play a disproportionate role in explaining lifetime reproductive success! 4/6

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the Hoffman Lab @thehoffmanlab.bsky.social · 22/09/2025

Black grouse aggregate on leks where males fight to defend non-resource holding territories. Their ability to attend leks during the lekking season is critical to secure matings with females, and we show that lek attendance indicates their underlying genetic quality. 3/6

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the Hoffman Lab @thehoffmanlab.bsky.social · 22/09/2025

Our PhD candidate @rebeccachen.bsky.social showed that predicted deleterious mutations, both in homo- and heterozygosity, are associated with lower lek attendance in black grouse males, which reduces their mating success. 2/6

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the Hoffman Lab @thehoffmanlab.bsky.social · 22/09/2025

Do predicted deleterious mutations explain fitness variation in wild populations? Our recent publication addresses exactly this question in black grouse, a lekking Galliform. 1/6

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the Hoffman Lab @thehoffmanlab.bsky.social · 15/09/2025

We have a brand new genome for porcini mushroom! First chromosome-scale, haplotype-resolved reference genome for Boletus edulis. A great resource for fungal genetics, and the rest of Etienne's PhD!

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the Hoffman Lab @thehoffmanlab.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

DNA as street decoration? Of course! Our very own @k-hench.bsky.social made some beautiful pictures of the @eseb2025.bsky.social street decorations at the “Festes de Gràcia”. Check out some of his pictures and read more about why we were there: thehoffmanlab.com/2025/09/05/e...

thehoffmanlab.com

ESEB 2025

Four of our lab members presented their work at the Congress of the European Society for Evolutionary Biology (ESEB 2025) in Barcelona in August. Beril presented a pilot study linked to her multi-p…

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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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Amanda Bretman @amandabretman.bsky.social · 20/08/2025

@annekep.bsky.social shows us a super impressive long term study in Antarctica fur seals to explore interactions between inbreeding and climate change 🦭

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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 · 19/08/2025

How do deleterious mutations affect male black grouse fitness? Find out at @rebeccachen.bsky.social's presentation today at @eseb2025.bsky.social 2:00 PM-2:15 PM, meeting room 131 🧬

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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 · 14/08/2025

“Exploring the link between epigenetics and deleterious mutations” by @rebeccachen.bsky.social on Thursday 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM Poster Session 3 (P03.085) #ESEB2025 #MutationLoad #InbreedingDepression #Epigenetics #MarineMammals #BlackGrouse

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the Hoffman Lab @thehoffmanlab.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

“Inbreeding-mediated individual responses to climate change in Antarctic fur seals” by @annekep.bsky.social on Wednesday 12:00 PM 12:15 PM (meeting room 115)

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the Hoffman Lab @thehoffmanlab.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

“Dynamics of Mutation Load in the Antarctic Fur Seal (Arctocephalus gazella)” by @k-hench.bsky.social on Tuesday 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM Poster Session 2 (P02.355)

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the Hoffman Lab @thehoffmanlab.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

“Genetic architecture of male reproductive success in a lekking bird: insights from predicted deleterious mutations” by @rebeccachen.bsky.social on Tuesday 2:00 PM 2:15 PM (meeting room 131)

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the Hoffman Lab @thehoffmanlab.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

“Tracing genomic consequences of historical sealing in South American fur seal populations” by Beril Yildiz on Monday 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM Poster Session 1 (P01.266)

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the Hoffman Lab @thehoffmanlab.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

Working on mutation load, inbreeding or bottlenecks and attending ESEB2025 Congress of the European Society for Evolutionary Biology next week? Check out our lab's talks and posters 😁 Looking forward to chat with you!

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the Hoffman Lab @thehoffmanlab.bsky.social · 13/08/2025

They explain what passive acoustic monitoring is and how we can use it to learn about the icy underwater world of the Arctic simply by listening. Check it out: www.arcticwwf.org/the-circle/s... @wwf.de @awi.de

arcticwwf.org

Eavesdropping on the Arctic Ocean - WWF Arctic

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the Hoffman Lab @thehoffmanlab.bsky.social · 13/08/2025

Our very own Ramona Mattmueller @ramonammm.bsky.social and her colleague Karolin Thomisch from AWI wrote an article for the Circle Stories of the WWF Global Arctic Program.

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the Hoffman Lab @thehoffmanlab.bsky.social · 11/08/2025

Check out our new publication on mutation load dynamics in black grouse! Published today in Nature E&E 👇

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