Ibtissem Ben Fekih
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ibtissemfekih.bsky.social
Ibtissem Ben Fekih
@ibtissemfekih.bsky.social
Postdoc fellow at the University of Liège, Belgium. Research interests: Insect pathology, biological control strategies, ecology, and multitrophic interactions 🦋🍄🐝🐜🐛
Reposted by Ibtissem Ben Fekih
The perfect paper title doesn't exi... - wonderful work just out in Science from Hugo Merchant and team: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
November 30, 2025 at 1:10 PM
Reposted by Ibtissem Ben Fekih
Super excited to see the EU Delegation Act to monitor pollinators finally published: eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg_del/...
eur-lex.europa.eu
November 26, 2025 at 4:30 PM
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Our smart bees in Shaastra, a science and technology magazine published by the Indian Institute of Technology
November 22, 2025 at 1:16 PM
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Do bees see nothing? Primates with damage to the visual cortex have no conscious visual experience, but display adaptive visual behaviour (a phenomenon called blindsight). Here I team up with two primate researchers to ask if bee vision could be similar to blindsight. www.cell.com/trends/cogni...
November 17, 2025 at 9:55 AM
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Your regular reminder that by throwing away nature, we throw away *everything*.
November 7, 2025 at 7:16 AM
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A few years ago, I said yes to editing a book about fungal #parasites and #pathogens. After endless revisions, emails, and deadline reminders, it’s finally coming together. The book will be out in 2026, but 11 chapters are already online as #Preprints. www.dannyhaelewaters.com/preprints-of...
Preprints of book chapters
A few years ago, I was offered the opportunity to edit a book, named “Biodiversity and Evolution of Fungal Parasites and Pathogens” (Elsevier). This project has taken up countless hours writing to …
www.dannyhaelewaters.com
November 6, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Reposted by Ibtissem Ben Fekih
See last article on "The cognitive side of communication in social insects", just published in @TrendsCognSci . Free access under this link!
authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S...
September 10, 2025 at 7:18 AM
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New @royentsoc.bsky.social #ResearchHighlight available!

A new article examines which factors influence the growth of a parasitic fungus on an invasive ladybird.

Read more ⬇️
buff.ly/DVDCgIt

Video courtesy of article authors, videographer E. Liu.
October 16, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Reposted by Ibtissem Ben Fekih
New biology: stink bugs inoculate their eggs with a fungus that protects them from parasitoids

www.sciencemagazinedigital.org/sciencemagaz...
Science Magazine - Defensive fungal symbiosis on insect hindlegs
Tympanal organs have repeatedly evolved in diverse insects and were thought to be required for auditory perception (1).
www.sciencemagazinedigital.org
October 17, 2025 at 11:35 AM
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Too much bracken is a sign of severe ecological imbalance, caused by prolonged overgrazing. It can be a serious barrier to the return of trees and a richer, natural ecosystem like rainforest.

But it is a native fern, and turns a very beautiful blend of russets, oranges, and yellows in the autumn.
October 15, 2025 at 4:40 AM
Reposted by Ibtissem Ben Fekih
Calling all nature people and orgs, please consider adding your name to Naturalists for Palestine.

It's essential we recognise that ecocide and genocide are two sides of the same coin, and resist both.
share.google/gLPRtQzDGC3v...
Naturalists for Palestine
Naturalists for Palestine is a call from individuals and organisations in the UK nature sector to stand for an end to the genocide in Gaza, and to the suffering and oppression of the people of Palesti...
share.google
October 7, 2025 at 6:10 AM
Reposted by Ibtissem Ben Fekih
I’m sad to hear the news that the wonderful Jane Goodall is no longer in the world. Her work with chimpanzees at Gombe in Tanzania taught us to look at other apes - and ourselves - differently. I was privileged to meet her later in life and tell her what an inspiration she was to me.
October 1, 2025 at 7:10 PM
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Why might one use a hotdog roller in research? Have a read of this new #OpenAccess research in #RESEcolEnt and find out!

Effects of #temperature & #humidity on the presence & prevalence of a common fungal #parasite on an invasive ladybird
doi.org/10.1111/een.70014

Video courtesy of article authors
September 22, 2025 at 8:05 AM
Reposted by Ibtissem Ben Fekih
Which fungal 🍄 molecules cause zombie 🧟‍♀️ ant 🐜 behaviors? @williamycete.bsky.social has begun to answer this question! He found a peptide that binds to scramblase and affects important odor-dependent behaviors in ants. Spoiler: worms 🪱 played a key role in this research 🧐 doi.org/10.1101/2025...
The First of Us: Ophiocordyceps use a novel scramblase-binding peptide to manipulate zombie ants
Parasite-adaptive manipulation of behavior is a widespread natural phenomenon. While Ophiocordyceps zombie fungi are well-known for hijacking ant behavior to increase their fitness, functionally chara...
doi.org
September 23, 2025 at 12:30 PM
Reposted by Ibtissem Ben Fekih
🌿 Pulses and soils: a dynamic duo that sustain one another! 🌍

Pulses improve soil health and well-maintained soils allow pulses to thrive.

Explore this complementary relationship with @fao.org  ⤵️
#SaveSoil
September 20, 2025 at 8:30 AM
Reposted by Ibtissem Ben Fekih
Paper just out, a review paper written together with the group of Fang Wang at ISS-CAS, Nanjing

Microplastics and antibiotics in agricultural soil: mechanisms and implications of co-contamination

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Free share link: authors.elsevier.com/c/1loaZ7spEi...
Microplastics and antibiotics in agricultural soil: mechanisms and implications of co-contamination
The co-contamination of agricultural soils by microplastics (MPs), antibiotics, and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) is an emerging environmental co…
www.sciencedirect.com
September 20, 2025 at 12:17 AM
Reposted by Ibtissem Ben Fekih
Leicestershire & Rutland Wildlife Trust (one of my WT employers) is recruiting for an Assistant Reserve Officer at Rutland Water.

An amazing opportunity to work at one of the UK's most well-known and loved nature reserves.
Assistant Reserve Officer | Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust
To assist with habitat management, reserve maintenance and species monitoring at Rutland Water Nature Reserve ensuring appropriate and safe visitor access
www.lrwt.org.uk
September 19, 2025 at 11:54 AM
Reposted by Ibtissem Ben Fekih
🚀The Future is Fungi Award is back—ready to back the next wave of fungi innovators! 
The awards' mission is to catalyze groundbreaking fungal innovations that address some of humanity’s biggest environmental challenges—and to support the startups and science entrepreneurs pioneering these solutions.
September 13, 2025 at 8:02 AM
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🍄Working in fungal conservation? Call for papers for our upcoming special issue in Fungal Ecology 'Fungal conservation: from knowledge to actions' ! Deadline 31 January 2026 www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu...
Fungal Ecology | ScienceDirect.com by Elsevier - Fungal Ecology | ScienceDirect.com by Elsevier
Read the latest articles of Fungal Ecology at ScienceDirect.com, Elsevier’s leading platform of peer-reviewed scholarly literature
www.sciencedirect.com
September 10, 2025 at 12:48 PM
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📢🍄Job alert🍄📢
The Department of Plant Biology at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is hiring an Assistant Professor in Mycology/Plant-Fungal Interactions. Deadline to apply: 31 October 2025.
illinois.csod.com/ux/ats/caree...
Assistant Professor- Department of Plant Biology
Duties & Responsibilities
illinois.csod.com
September 13, 2025 at 4:05 PM
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The French version of The Mind of a Bee is now available- 13 translations already! 😊
August 23, 2025 at 12:26 PM
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📣🍄🦇🍄🦇🍄📣
I am looking for a postdoctoral researcher for my lab in Ceske Budejovice, Czechia. We study biodiversity monitoring, ecology, conservation, and microbiology. Some of our work deals with bats, most with fungi! Email at danny dot haelewaters at gmail dot com if interested. #TeamLaboul #newPI
August 14, 2025 at 8:40 PM
Reposted by Ibtissem Ben Fekih
We are looking for a Postdoc (up to 5 years) who wants to study neural mechanisms of spatial memory in honeybees.

This includes tetrode recordings in behaving honeybees.

Application Deadline is 1st of October 2025.

More details:
www.biozentrum.uni-wuerzburg.de/en/services/...
Postdoctoral Position (f/m/d) at the Chair of Behavioral Physiology & Sociobiology
Biocenter of the University of Würzburg Am Hubland 97074 Würzburg
www.biozentrum.uni-wuerzburg.de
August 1, 2025 at 8:44 AM
Reposted by Ibtissem Ben Fekih
This #NationalMothWeek, help the pollinators on the night shift!
🦋Avoid pesticide use in your garden
🌸Plant a diversity of native plants
💡Reduce artificial lighting at night
🍂Leave a little wild space for moths to shelter and grow
Get started at xerces.org/resources
July 27, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Reposted by Ibtissem Ben Fekih
In this blog post, Yunhui Liu and team share insights from their recent global meta-analysis on how cover crop mixtures can enhance agricultural sustainability by promoting multiple ecosystem functions 🌱💭

appliedecologistsblog.com/2025/07/24/c...
Cover crop mixtures enhance multiple ecosystem functions: A global meta-analysis
In this blog post, Yunhui Liu and team share insights from their recent global meta-analysis on how cover crop mixtures can enhance agricultural sustainability by promoting multiple ecosystem funct…
appliedecologistsblog.com
July 24, 2025 at 10:03 AM