Andy Foote
@andrewfoote.bsky.social
Evolutionary biologist using ancient and modern DNA to study evolution through time and space.
Pinned
Andy Foote
@andrewfoote.bsky.social
· Mar 26
The Evolution of Cetacean Societies
Edited by @darrencroft.bsky.social @ellengarland.bsky.social and.bsky.social @stephanielking.bsky.social and myself
Preorder available now
press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...
Will share more details closer to release date
#whale #dolphin #animalbehaviour
Edited by @darrencroft.bsky.social @ellengarland.bsky.social and.bsky.social @stephanielking.bsky.social and myself
Preorder available now
press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...
Will share more details closer to release date
#whale #dolphin #animalbehaviour
Reposted by Andy Foote
Our stellar 🤩 list of invited speakers #ExE2026: @danielbolnick.bsky.social Trine Bilde, Dan Nussey, @sevans.bsky.social @andrewfoote.bsky.social @cleliagasparini.bsky.social Sarah Knowles, @liamlachs.bsky.social, Lizy Mittell, @keesvanoers.bsky.social, Alex Popadopolous & Katja Räsänen. evoxeco.uk
Programme
We have a diverse programme, including plenary and keynote speakers, contributed talks and posters, excursions and conference dinner. Scientific programme There will be two parallel sessions, covering...
sites.exeter.ac.uk
February 13, 2026 at 10:06 AM
Our stellar 🤩 list of invited speakers #ExE2026: @danielbolnick.bsky.social Trine Bilde, Dan Nussey, @sevans.bsky.social @andrewfoote.bsky.social @cleliagasparini.bsky.social Sarah Knowles, @liamlachs.bsky.social, Lizy Mittell, @keesvanoers.bsky.social, Alex Popadopolous & Katja Räsänen. evoxeco.uk
Reposted by Andy Foote
Excited for this. Teaching popgen is one of my favourite parts of my job and I've wondered about doing an online version of the class for sometime. Teaming up with @jrossibarra.bsky.social to do this is wonderful.
Fun news! @gcbias.bsky.social and I are teaching a 2-week online population genetics workshop this summer to raise money for the Center for Population Biology at UC Davis. We're trying to gauge interest -- please fill this out if you might be interested! And please share broadly!
Davis Summer Population Genomics Program
Want to learn population genetics? Please fill out this form to indicate your potential interest in a 2-week intensive online summer population genetics course taught by Jeffrey Ross-Ibarra and Graham...
docs.google.com
February 10, 2026 at 6:04 PM
Excited for this. Teaching popgen is one of my favourite parts of my job and I've wondered about doing an online version of the class for sometime. Teaming up with @jrossibarra.bsky.social to do this is wonderful.
Reposted by Andy Foote
Proud supervisor moment. The last chapter of @annaselbmann.bsky.social PhD is now published, well done Anna!! 👏👏 Find out more👇
A top predator on the run! New paper on aversive responses of killer whales to the sounds of long-finned pilot whales – out now in Scientific reports – open access: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Below a short summary of the main results.
🔈🐳🤓
#bioacoustics #MarineMammals #whales
Below a short summary of the main results.
🔈🐳🤓
#bioacoustics #MarineMammals #whales
Aversive behavioural responses of killer whales to sounds of long-finned pilot whales - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - Aversive behavioural responses of killer whales to sounds of long-finned pilot whales
www.nature.com
February 5, 2026 at 7:42 AM
Proud supervisor moment. The last chapter of @annaselbmann.bsky.social PhD is now published, well done Anna!! 👏👏 Find out more👇
Reposted by Andy Foote
Join us Sat, Feb 7 for a FREE virtual book launch of 'The Evolution of Cetacean Societies'.
Live Q&A + cover BTS. 🕕 18:00 GMT / 10am PT
🎟️ Free with registration
🔗 www.eventbrite.com/e/book-launc...
Live Q&A + cover BTS. 🕕 18:00 GMT / 10am PT
🎟️ Free with registration
🔗 www.eventbrite.com/e/book-launc...
February 2, 2026 at 8:57 PM
Join us Sat, Feb 7 for a FREE virtual book launch of 'The Evolution of Cetacean Societies'.
Live Q&A + cover BTS. 🕕 18:00 GMT / 10am PT
🎟️ Free with registration
🔗 www.eventbrite.com/e/book-launc...
Live Q&A + cover BTS. 🕕 18:00 GMT / 10am PT
🎟️ Free with registration
🔗 www.eventbrite.com/e/book-launc...
Reposted by Andy Foote
I'll be talking about the use of genomic data for inferring and forecasting the spread of invasive pests 🐛 in conversation with Renata Retkute, who uses epidemiological models to tackle the same problem.
This Friday at 13:30, David Attenborough Building & online
www.tickettailor.com/events/globa...
This Friday at 13:30, David Attenborough Building & online
www.tickettailor.com/events/globa...
Register – The Dynamics of Agricultural Pests: leveraging data from genome to landscapes – David Attenborough Building
The Dynamics of Agricultural Pests: leveraging data from genome to landscapes – David Attenborough Building, Fri 30 Jan 2026 - Up to 40% of food crops are lost due to plant pests and diseases each yea...
www.tickettailor.com
January 28, 2026 at 11:32 AM
I'll be talking about the use of genomic data for inferring and forecasting the spread of invasive pests 🐛 in conversation with Renata Retkute, who uses epidemiological models to tackle the same problem.
This Friday at 13:30, David Attenborough Building & online
www.tickettailor.com/events/globa...
This Friday at 13:30, David Attenborough Building & online
www.tickettailor.com/events/globa...
Reposted by Andy Foote
Do you like your learned society and what it does for you and your research community? Then publish in their journal!
This paper by @nicolasgaltier.bsky.social & Co shows that it will only do good, and comes with a handy database of academy-friendly journals. 👇
This paper by @nicolasgaltier.bsky.social & Co shows that it will only do good, and comes with a handy database of academy-friendly journals. 👇
Responsible publication of your research!
To help you do this @nicolasgaltier.bsky.social and coauthors have put together a handy database of academia-friendly journals, DAFNEE. You can read about it in their article recently published in @jevbio.bsky.social:
doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...
To help you do this @nicolasgaltier.bsky.social and coauthors have put together a handy database of academia-friendly journals, DAFNEE. You can read about it in their article recently published in @jevbio.bsky.social:
doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...
Time to publish responsibly: DAFNEE, a database of academia-friendly journals in ecology and evolutionary biology
Abstract. The current economics of scientific publishing reveal a profound imbalance: academia pays prices far exceeding the actual costs of publication. R
doi.org
January 28, 2026 at 11:49 AM
Do you like your learned society and what it does for you and your research community? Then publish in their journal!
This paper by @nicolasgaltier.bsky.social & Co shows that it will only do good, and comes with a handy database of academy-friendly journals. 👇
This paper by @nicolasgaltier.bsky.social & Co shows that it will only do good, and comes with a handy database of academy-friendly journals. 👇
Reposted by Andy Foote
Last chance to apply - the deadline is tomorrow!
Check out this advertised professorship in Bern with my colleagues at the Institute of Plant Sciences! Please share widely to reach candidates from across the world and beyond our local academic bubbles. 🫧
#QueerInSTEM #DisabledInSTEM #BlackInSTEM #WomenInSTEM #CarersInSTEM #AcademicSky #HigherED
#QueerInSTEM #DisabledInSTEM #BlackInSTEM #WomenInSTEM #CarersInSTEM #AcademicSky #HigherED
🌿🌱 We’re hiring a tenure-track Assistant Professor (potentially open rank) at the Institute of Plant Sciences
@unibe.ch in Plant Population Ecology 🌻🌳
Be our colleague and join us in beautiful Bern, Switzerland
Apply by Jan 23 2026 👉 ohws.prospective.ch/public/v1/jo...
@unibe.ch in Plant Population Ecology 🌻🌳
Be our colleague and join us in beautiful Bern, Switzerland
Apply by Jan 23 2026 👉 ohws.prospective.ch/public/v1/jo...
January 22, 2026 at 8:05 PM
Last chance to apply - the deadline is tomorrow!
Reposted by Andy Foote
New paper on the social learning of bubble net feeding by humpbacks in British Columbia, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B 🐋
royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article...
#marmam @bcwhales.bsky.social @seamammalresearch.bsky.social @lrendell.bsky.social @uniofstandrews.bsky.social [1/5]
royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article...
#marmam @bcwhales.bsky.social @seamammalresearch.bsky.social @lrendell.bsky.social @uniofstandrews.bsky.social [1/5]
The diffusion of cooperative and solo bubble net feeding in Canadian Pacific humpback whales
Abstract. Animal culture, information and behaviours acquired and shared by social learning are a form of biodiversity with intrinsic and practical value.
royalsocietypublishing.org
January 21, 2026 at 11:52 AM
New paper on the social learning of bubble net feeding by humpbacks in British Columbia, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B 🐋
royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article...
#marmam @bcwhales.bsky.social @seamammalresearch.bsky.social @lrendell.bsky.social @uniofstandrews.bsky.social [1/5]
royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article...
#marmam @bcwhales.bsky.social @seamammalresearch.bsky.social @lrendell.bsky.social @uniofstandrews.bsky.social [1/5]
Reposted by Andy Foote
If you haven't already done so, do fill out this EU public consultation about the future of the European Research Area. Everything that matters to us is in there - funding, employment stability, AI regulations, open science, etc.
ec.europa.eu/info/law/bet...
ec.europa.eu/info/law/bet...
European Commission - Have your say
European Commission - Have your say
ec.europa.eu
January 19, 2026 at 8:03 AM
If you haven't already done so, do fill out this EU public consultation about the future of the European Research Area. Everything that matters to us is in there - funding, employment stability, AI regulations, open science, etc.
ec.europa.eu/info/law/bet...
ec.europa.eu/info/law/bet...
Reposted by Andy Foote
We developed/optimised the protocol to enrich low aDNA content libraries using Twist panels. 🎣🧬👩🔬
#aDNA #Labwork
#aDNA #Labwork
Lets Tweap again: Economic and SNP retrieval optimisation for target enrichment of ancient DNA https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01.15.699081v1
January 16, 2026 at 7:54 PM
Reposted by Andy Foote
In a new GBE Review, @david-peede.bsky.social et al. overview the SMC model and extensions, discuss examples of discoveries made with the help of SMC-based inference, and comment on the assumptions, benefits, and drawbacks of various methods.
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/gbe/...
#genome #evolution #compbio
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/gbe/...
#genome #evolution #compbio
Not Just Ne Ne-More: New Applications for SMC from Ecology to Phylogenies
Abstract. Genomes contain the mutational footprint of an organism’s evolutionary history, shaped by diverse forces including ecological factors, selective
doi.org
January 8, 2026 at 8:02 AM
In a new GBE Review, @david-peede.bsky.social et al. overview the SMC model and extensions, discuss examples of discoveries made with the help of SMC-based inference, and comment on the assumptions, benefits, and drawbacks of various methods.
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/gbe/...
#genome #evolution #compbio
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/gbe/...
#genome #evolution #compbio
Musings on museomics (doi.org/10.1073/pnas...) in a commentary on Clark et al. (doi.org/10.1073/pnas...) who compared genomes of museum specimens of ponyfish
collected in 1908, with samples collected in 2018, spanning anthropogenic habitat change. They found declines in genetic
diversity and Ne.
collected in 1908, with samples collected in 2018, spanning anthropogenic habitat change. They found declines in genetic
diversity and Ne.
January 8, 2026 at 7:28 AM
Musings on museomics (doi.org/10.1073/pnas...) in a commentary on Clark et al. (doi.org/10.1073/pnas...) who compared genomes of museum specimens of ponyfish
collected in 1908, with samples collected in 2018, spanning anthropogenic habitat change. They found declines in genetic
diversity and Ne.
collected in 1908, with samples collected in 2018, spanning anthropogenic habitat change. They found declines in genetic
diversity and Ne.
Reposted by Andy Foote
Please repost: 🚨Field assistant position 🐧
We offer a 14-months field assistant position through the French Polar Institute to work on king penguin ecophysiology and behavioral ecology.
Requirements: EU citizen < 30yo having experience with harsh fieldwork & wild bird/mammal handling/sampling.
We offer a 14-months field assistant position through the French Polar Institute to work on king penguin ecophysiology and behavioral ecology.
Requirements: EU citizen < 30yo having experience with harsh fieldwork & wild bird/mammal handling/sampling.
January 5, 2026 at 1:37 PM
Please repost: 🚨Field assistant position 🐧
We offer a 14-months field assistant position through the French Polar Institute to work on king penguin ecophysiology and behavioral ecology.
Requirements: EU citizen < 30yo having experience with harsh fieldwork & wild bird/mammal handling/sampling.
We offer a 14-months field assistant position through the French Polar Institute to work on king penguin ecophysiology and behavioral ecology.
Requirements: EU citizen < 30yo having experience with harsh fieldwork & wild bird/mammal handling/sampling.
Reposted by Andy Foote
Apply for Sepkoski Grants $1000 USD if you are a paleontologist from Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, Central and South America, Africa, and Southeast Asia www.paleosoc.org/sepkoski-gra... deadline March 1 @paleosoc.bsky.social
www.paleosoc.org
January 7, 2026 at 1:32 PM
Apply for Sepkoski Grants $1000 USD if you are a paleontologist from Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, Central and South America, Africa, and Southeast Asia www.paleosoc.org/sepkoski-gra... deadline March 1 @paleosoc.bsky.social
Reposted by Andy Foote
This story is heartbreaking. Brenna Henn is a wonderful scientist, and the work their lab does is truly insightful. Anger and rage…
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/02/s...
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/02/s...
January 2, 2026 at 4:30 PM
This story is heartbreaking. Brenna Henn is a wonderful scientist, and the work their lab does is truly insightful. Anger and rage…
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/02/s...
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/02/s...
Reposted by Andy Foote
A new #ScienceAdvances study shows that commercial whaling in the Southern Ocean over the past century reduced the genetic diversity—and possibly the evolutionary fitness—of the region’s humpback whales. https://scim.ag/4anxPpM
Humpback whale genomes reflect the increased efficiency of commercial whaling
Humpback whale genomes reflect shifts in whaling practices and their potential impact on the animals’ adaptive capacity.
scim.ag
December 24, 2025 at 7:12 PM
A new #ScienceAdvances study shows that commercial whaling in the Southern Ocean over the past century reduced the genetic diversity—and possibly the evolutionary fitness—of the region’s humpback whales. https://scim.ag/4anxPpM
Reposted by Andy Foote
Happy to highlight an essay I wrote together with @marcdemanuel.bsky.social,
@natanaels.bsky.social and Anastasia Stolyarova, trying to think through what sets the mutation rate of a cell type in an animal species: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 1/n
@natanaels.bsky.social and Anastasia Stolyarova, trying to think through what sets the mutation rate of a cell type in an animal species: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 1/n
What sets the mutation rate of a cell type in an animal species?
Germline mutation rates per generation are strikingly similar across animals, despite vast differences in life histories. Analogously, in at least one somatic cell type, mutation rates at the end of l...
www.biorxiv.org
December 22, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Happy to highlight an essay I wrote together with @marcdemanuel.bsky.social,
@natanaels.bsky.social and Anastasia Stolyarova, trying to think through what sets the mutation rate of a cell type in an animal species: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 1/n
@natanaels.bsky.social and Anastasia Stolyarova, trying to think through what sets the mutation rate of a cell type in an animal species: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 1/n
Reposted by Andy Foote
demografr: A toolkit for simulation-based inference in population genetics https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.18.694482v1
December 19, 2025 at 7:31 AM
demografr: A toolkit for simulation-based inference in population genetics https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.18.694482v1
Reposted by Andy Foote
@cademirch.bsky.social @erikenbody.bsky.social TB Sackton & @russcd.bsky.social introduce Callable Loci And More (clam), a tool that leverages callable loci to accurately estimate population genetic statistics (π, dxy, and FST).
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf282
#evobio #molbio #compbio
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf282
#evobio #molbio #compbio
Efficient Estimation of Nucleotide Diversity and Divergence Using Callable Loci (and More)
Abstract. The increasing scale of population genomic datasets presents computational challenges in estimating summary statistics such as nucleotide diversi
doi.org
December 15, 2025 at 3:08 PM
@cademirch.bsky.social @erikenbody.bsky.social TB Sackton & @russcd.bsky.social introduce Callable Loci And More (clam), a tool that leverages callable loci to accurately estimate population genetic statistics (π, dxy, and FST).
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf282
#evobio #molbio #compbio
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf282
#evobio #molbio #compbio
Reposted by Andy Foote
🐬 Can friendship slow ageing?
In wild bottlenose dolphins, strong social relationships aren’t just important for social life — they may actually influence biological ageing.
@liviagerber.bsky.social
#ScienceCommunication #MarineMammals #Ageing #MAVELab
www.nature.com/articles/s42...
In wild bottlenose dolphins, strong social relationships aren’t just important for social life — they may actually influence biological ageing.
@liviagerber.bsky.social
#ScienceCommunication #MarineMammals #Ageing #MAVELab
www.nature.com/articles/s42...
Social bonds decrease epigenetic age in male bottlenose dolphins - Communications Biology
Across 40 years of behavioural and epigenetic data, male dolphins with stronger social relationships show lower epigenetic ages and therefore appear to age slower compared to those with weaker social ...
www.nature.com
December 17, 2025 at 11:18 AM
🐬 Can friendship slow ageing?
In wild bottlenose dolphins, strong social relationships aren’t just important for social life — they may actually influence biological ageing.
@liviagerber.bsky.social
#ScienceCommunication #MarineMammals #Ageing #MAVELab
www.nature.com/articles/s42...
In wild bottlenose dolphins, strong social relationships aren’t just important for social life — they may actually influence biological ageing.
@liviagerber.bsky.social
#ScienceCommunication #MarineMammals #Ageing #MAVELab
www.nature.com/articles/s42...
Reposted by Andy Foote
📢 #PhD opportunity! Interested in #eDNA and protecting our #rivers? We are recruiting a PhD researcher to tackle a very topical challenge: Empowering citizen scientists with an eDNA toolbox to safeguard #freshwater fishes. Deadline: January 16th 2026. #PhDPosition #CardiffUniversity bit.ly/49bl4gO
December 15, 2025 at 12:57 PM
📢 #PhD opportunity! Interested in #eDNA and protecting our #rivers? We are recruiting a PhD researcher to tackle a very topical challenge: Empowering citizen scientists with an eDNA toolbox to safeguard #freshwater fishes. Deadline: January 16th 2026. #PhDPosition #CardiffUniversity bit.ly/49bl4gO
Reposted by Andy Foote
Our latest preprint revisits the classic model of mutation-selection balance.
Do human recessive genes fit Haldane's 100-year old model?
This work is by the wonderful @jonj-udd.bsky.social, and co-mentored by @jeffspence.github.io
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Do human recessive genes fit Haldane's 100-year old model?
This work is by the wonderful @jonj-udd.bsky.social, and co-mentored by @jeffspence.github.io
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Allele Frequencies at Recessive Disease Genes are Mainly Determined by Pleiotropic Effects in Heterozygotes
The classic theory of mutation-selection balance predicts the equilibrium frequency of genetic variation under negative selection. The model predicts a simple relationship between the total frequency ...
www.biorxiv.org
December 13, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Our latest preprint revisits the classic model of mutation-selection balance.
Do human recessive genes fit Haldane's 100-year old model?
This work is by the wonderful @jonj-udd.bsky.social, and co-mentored by @jeffspence.github.io
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Do human recessive genes fit Haldane's 100-year old model?
This work is by the wonderful @jonj-udd.bsky.social, and co-mentored by @jeffspence.github.io
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
A short note just published in Biology Letters with
@darrencroft.bsky.social, in which we build a hypothesis on the potential genomic underpinning of a mid-life female menopause in killer whales doi.org/10.1098/rsbl...
@darrencroft.bsky.social, in which we build a hypothesis on the potential genomic underpinning of a mid-life female menopause in killer whales doi.org/10.1098/rsbl...
December 10, 2025 at 5:23 PM
A short note just published in Biology Letters with
@darrencroft.bsky.social, in which we build a hypothesis on the potential genomic underpinning of a mid-life female menopause in killer whales doi.org/10.1098/rsbl...
@darrencroft.bsky.social, in which we build a hypothesis on the potential genomic underpinning of a mid-life female menopause in killer whales doi.org/10.1098/rsbl...
Reposted by Andy Foote
We are excited to share our recent work on the surprising robustness of Ancestral Recombination Graph (ARG) inference tools to computational phasing errors, now available on BioRxiv: biorxiv.org/content/10.1....
This work is co-advised by @yundeng.bsky.social and Rasmus Nielsen.
1/7
This work is co-advised by @yundeng.bsky.social and Rasmus Nielsen.
1/7
Robustness of Ancestral Recombination Graph Inference Tools to Phasing Errors
Ancestral Recombination Graphs (ARGs) are fundamental population genetic structures that encode the genealogical history of a sample of haplotypes along the genome. They have recently received substan...
biorxiv.org
November 26, 2025 at 5:09 PM
We are excited to share our recent work on the surprising robustness of Ancestral Recombination Graph (ARG) inference tools to computational phasing errors, now available on BioRxiv: biorxiv.org/content/10.1....
This work is co-advised by @yundeng.bsky.social and Rasmus Nielsen.
1/7
This work is co-advised by @yundeng.bsky.social and Rasmus Nielsen.
1/7