Franca Eichenberger
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francae.bsky.social
Franca Eichenberger
@francae.bsky.social
Molecular & behavioural ecologist studying reproductive tactics & population structure in baleen whales. 🐋🧬
Postdoc at Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU) at University of St Andrews.
https://linktr.ee/franca.eichenberger
Pinned
New paper on "Patterns of paternity: insights into mating competition and gene flow in a recovering population of humpback whales." 🐋🧬
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

@emma-carroll.bsky.social @lrendell.bsky.social @ellengarland.bsky.social @seamammalresearch.bsky.social 1/8
✨ Exciting new work on the cooperative bubble netting of humpback whales in the North Pacific by the wonderful @eadinomahony.bsky.social 🐳 @seamammalresearch.bsky.social
January 21, 2026 at 3:45 PM
Holy cow! 🐄 and what a wonderful video abstract!
Cow Tools!

We have lived alongside cows for nearly 10,000 years.
We breed them and exploit them

It is now, only now, that we have discovered THEY CAN USE TOOLS

Here I describe our study

(paper) www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... in @currentbiology.bsky.social
with @auersperga.bsky.social
January 20, 2026 at 2:18 PM
Reposted by Franca Eichenberger
🚨Job alert! The ENDOW project is hiring a Research Officer in Research Database Management, to be based at @lsemethodology.bsky.social.

Oversee & expand our database & contribute to research on social & economic inequality.

Deadline 15 February. Share & reach out!
jobs.lse.ac.uk/Vacancies/W/...
January 15, 2026 at 11:13 AM
Reposted by Franca Eichenberger
It's that time of year! Please reach out if you'd like to give a (paid) guest lecture (on zoom) in my Primate class this semester :) Currently looking for speakers for 20 or 23 Feb!
I'm looking for guest speakers (paid, awaiting funding) for my Primate Behavior class. I'm hoping to find a couple people who work with primates in different settings (zoo, lab, field). Preference for in-country (field), historically excluded, & student/early career primatologists. Please reach out!
January 14, 2026 at 9:08 PM
Reposted by Franca Eichenberger
Job alert:
NOAA NWFSC & UW are looking for a postdoc (ASAP) in Seattle study foraging ecology of Cook Inlet beluga whales using eDNA. Genetics/ecology/eDNA experience preferred. Interested candidates reach out to kim.parsons@noaa.gov or rpkelly@uw.edu directly. #eDNA #ConsGen
January 14, 2026 at 6:43 PM
My favourite rainy Sundays. 📚🐈‍⬛☕🎶
January 11, 2026 at 12:41 PM
Reposted by Franca Eichenberger
Environmental journalism is under pressure — exactly where it’s needed most.

The Y. Eva Tan Conservation Reporting Fellowship by Mongabay will support at least 16 early-career journalists from tropical countries. Paid, remote, editor-led.

Apply Dec 15–Feb 1. Learn more: buff.ly/UI8X5ur.
December 24, 2025 at 1:01 AM
Reposted by Franca Eichenberger
Marine biologists are locked in what observers describe as “an academic slap fight” over whether sperm whales communicate using vowel-like patterns or whether researchers just need better microphones. Read more below...

#linguistics #Research #spermwhale #vowels #whale #OddNews
AI Studying Whale Songs Says It Thinks Whale Language Might Have Vowels
Where linguists hear “vowels,” skeptics hear “clicks,” and whales hear… absolutely none of this nonsense.
oddnews.com
November 14, 2025 at 9:59 PM
Reposted by Franca Eichenberger
🚨 Postdoctoral Opportunity for Female Scientists🚨

The University of Vienna is awarding at least 20 fully funded 4 year postdoctoral positions to outstanding female scientists

Interested? Get in touch via direct message
careers.univie.ac.at/en/postdoc/e...

#MicroSky 🧪

#PostDoc @univie.ac.at
December 19, 2025 at 12:24 AM
Reposted by Franca Eichenberger
🌊 🐟🦭🐋🐧 I have a PhD position available (4 years, start Mid-2026) at NRM Stockholm to work on the macrogenomics of sea warming.

Apply here:

recruit.visma.com/spa/public/a...

#PhD #MarineGenomics #ClimateChange #EvolutionaryBiology #PopGen #Bioinformatics #conservationgenomics
December 19, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Reposted by Franca Eichenberger
Stockholm University's Department of Zoology seeks an Associate Professor in Animal Ecology and Evolution. Deadline: Feb 28, 2026. More info: https://su.varbi.com/en/what:job/jobID:883922/where:4/ #job
Associate Professor in Zoology with focus on ecology and evolution
Associate Professor in Zoology with focus on ecology and evolution
su.varbi.com
December 17, 2025 at 5:50 AM
Reposted by Franca Eichenberger
Huge opportunity for marine scholarships! 🌊💸🧪

💸 2x £30k scholarships available
🎓 Available to black British students
🐟 Eligible courses: MSc Marine Environmental Management or MSc Marine Vertebrate Ecology & Conservation

www.exeter.ac.uk/study/fundin...
@exetermarine.bsky.social
December 16, 2025 at 9:32 AM
Reposted by Franca Eichenberger
So chuffed for the newly minted Dr @eadinomahony.bsky.social who crushed their viva this week at @seamammalresearch.bsky.social and gave an awesome seminar to boot! Many thanks to @tangeolsen.bsky.social for years of support! 🐳🦑🧪
December 14, 2025 at 8:15 PM
Reposted by Franca Eichenberger
Great talk by @izzylangley.bsky.social of @seamammalresearch.bsky.social at #BES2025 on intraguild predation and UK seal population trends. Check the paper here: doi.org/10.1111/1365...
December 18, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Reposted by Franca Eichenberger
New PhD studentship opportunity in my lab & with collaborators from the Pinniped Genomes Consortium. Come help us unravel the genomics of seal physiological super powers! Closing date 7th January 2026 🧪🦭🧬🌍🦑🐳 #marine #mammals
#consgen #popgen #phylo #molevol #evolution
yes-dtn.ac.uk/research/the...
The evolutionary genomics of life-history adaptations in pinnipeds - Yorkshire Environmental Sciences • Doctoral Training Network
Project summary Pinnipeds (seals, sea lions, fur seals and walrus) are keystone marine predators, and sentinels for marine ecosystem health. Advances in genomic technology open up the possibility to u...
yes-dtn.ac.uk
November 10, 2025 at 8:23 AM
Reposted by Franca Eichenberger
🐬 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...
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
Reposted by Franca Eichenberger
If you need a happy science story today - another piece how male dolphins who bond better with their mates* age slower

@aunz.theconversation.com piece by @liviagerber.bsky.social @kjpeters.bsky.social and Lee Rollins

*Aussie dolphins, so the Aussie meaning of mates
🐳🦑🧪
Friendship is magic: male dolphins with close friends age more slowly
Like friendship itself, the slower ageing is more than just skin deep.
theconversation.com
December 16, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Reposted by Franca Eichenberger
📑 #NewStudy by Bizzozzero et al. combine different methods to provide a detailed location-based assessment of fish diversity at Shark Bay, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

👀 Read the full study: doi.org/10.1111/ddi....
November 23, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Reposted by Franca Eichenberger
We are hiring: #PhD fellow in Ecosystem-based management and marine connectivity🐋🧪🛰️

Want to work with tracking data from migratory species to identify ecological corridors and help inform biodiversity conservation priorities?
Apply by Dec 7th!
@bioprotectproject.bsky.social
tinyurl.com/ytfmfhfc
PhD Fellow in Ecology/Ecosystem-Based Management (289259) | UiT The Arctic University of Norway
Job title: PhD Fellow in Ecology/Ecosystem-Based Management (289259), Employer: UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Deadline: Sunday, December 7, 2025
www.jobbnorge.no
November 20, 2025 at 12:19 PM
Reposted by Franca Eichenberger
Don't just take my word for it ... @stephanielking.bsky.social and Denise Herzing provide insightful comments in this piece: www.sciencenews.org/article/ai-n...
November 14, 2025 at 9:46 AM
Reposted by Franca Eichenberger
Exciting PhD opportunity to develop tech and software to record and understand wild animal behaviour. Fully funded by EPSRC DLA. Based at @uniexecec.bsky.social; co-supervised by Alex Thornton (@cornishjackdaws.bsky.social), @kjhockings.bsky.social and collaborators. Apply: tinyurl.com/5fr73snt
November 14, 2025 at 12:53 PM
Reposted by Franca Eichenberger
🚨Who wants to work with Kalahari meerkats? A MSc project with @mathildemartin.bsky.social at the University of Zurich.
#bioacoustics 🧪
November 10, 2025 at 3:41 PM
Reposted by Franca Eichenberger
🎉 Excited to share the 2nd chapter of my PhD!

From 270 eDNA samples across Shark Bay (🇦🇺), we identified 106 fish species and mapped their diversity with remote sensing — all non-invasively! 🌊🐠

A scalable framework for characterising marine biodiversity

🔗 doi.org/10.1111/ddi.70074
Integrating Environmental DNA Metabarcoding and Remote Sensing Reveals Known and Novel Fish Diversity Hotspots in a World Heritage Area
Aim Shark Bay, a UNESCO World Heritage site in Western Australia, is highly vulnerable to climate change, yet its fish biodiversity remains poorly understood at fine spatial scales. We integrated en...
doi.org
November 3, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Reposted by Franca Eichenberger
🐠💥2 year postdoc in fish sensory ecology!! 💥🐟
If you’re into animal colour, collective behaviour, predator-prey interactions, enjoy behavioural experiments and fieldwork, please apply! Based in Oxford with fieldwork in northwest Thailand (and elsewhere). Please repost! www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DNM294/p...
June 13, 2025 at 6:50 AM
Reposted by Franca Eichenberger
Open call for 3-5 month Early Career Fellowships at the Wissenschaftskolleg Berlin

https://www.wiko-berlin.de/en/becoming-a-fellow/wiko-early-career-calls/early-career-call-life-and-natural-sciences

deadline Nov 1
Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin: Early Career Call Life and Natural Sciences
www.wiko-berlin.de
September 25, 2025 at 4:42 PM