Hanna Kokko
@kokkonut.bsky.social
A.v.Humboldt professor at the University of Mainz. Evolutionary ecologist. Runs a research group that once prompted the description "in this [coffee] room there's almost always someone who is at least partially fun". (Which we then translated into Latin.)
For a while (many years!) back, @eseb.bsky.social gave us €€€ to form a Special Topic Network. Formally, the network no longer exists, but informally for sure AND we can now pick the fruits of our labours! Here is one and the next post shows another... Thank you ESEB! 🙏
Modestly, we decided to review a century's worth of theories of balancing selection :) onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
A century of theories of balancing selection
Traits that affect organismal fitness are often highly genetically variable. This genetic variation is vital for populations to adapt to their environments, but it is also surprising given that natur...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
November 14, 2025 at 2:39 PM
For a while (many years!) back, @eseb.bsky.social gave us €€€ to form a Special Topic Network. Formally, the network no longer exists, but informally for sure AND we can now pick the fruits of our labours! Here is one and the next post shows another... Thank you ESEB! 🙏
Reposted by Hanna Kokko
Dorsilla Anono Katimbwa, an expert in Metabolism, Biochemistry, and Genetics of Microorganisms, encourages other Kenyan women in science to believe in themselves—and to apply for the Humboldt Research Fellowship as well.
Learn more about the programme here 👉 bit.ly/3Jhi7kU
Learn more about the programme here 👉 bit.ly/3Jhi7kU
November 5, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Dorsilla Anono Katimbwa, an expert in Metabolism, Biochemistry, and Genetics of Microorganisms, encourages other Kenyan women in science to believe in themselves—and to apply for the Humboldt Research Fellowship as well.
Learn more about the programme here 👉 bit.ly/3Jhi7kU
Learn more about the programme here 👉 bit.ly/3Jhi7kU
Reposted by Hanna Kokko
We have TWO post-doctoral fellowships in the Biodiversity Centre at UBC next year! Am happy to chat if you might want to be hosted in my lab. biodiversity.ubc.ca/training-and... Deadline January 15th!
November 3, 2025 at 5:16 PM
We have TWO post-doctoral fellowships in the Biodiversity Centre at UBC next year! Am happy to chat if you might want to be hosted in my lab. biodiversity.ubc.ca/training-and... Deadline January 15th!
Reposted by Hanna Kokko
As part of @react-enlight.bsky.social we have a public lecture next Thursday on the evolution of ageing across the tree of life by @yagmurerten.bsky.social, come along! 👇
October 31, 2025 at 12:44 PM
As part of @react-enlight.bsky.social we have a public lecture next Thursday on the evolution of ageing across the tree of life by @yagmurerten.bsky.social, come along! 👇
A young PI here in Mainz has a fabulous PhD position that will be filled soon! By you? Keywords: Social insects, ageing, gene expression. www.blogs.uni-mainz.de/fb10-evoluti...
Behavioural Ecology and Social Evolution
www.blogs.uni-mainz.de
October 29, 2025 at 8:36 AM
A young PI here in Mainz has a fabulous PhD position that will be filled soon! By you? Keywords: Social insects, ageing, gene expression. www.blogs.uni-mainz.de/fb10-evoluti...
Reposted by Hanna Kokko
🧬✨ It’s official!
EMPSEB31 is coming to Germany, June 2026!
Europe’s friendliest evolution meeting returns, organized by PhD students, for PhD students.
Expect inspiring research, new connections, and a mix of science + fun, the EMPSEB way!
📍Save the date & follow us for updates! Link in Bio 🌍
EMPSEB31 is coming to Germany, June 2026!
Europe’s friendliest evolution meeting returns, organized by PhD students, for PhD students.
Expect inspiring research, new connections, and a mix of science + fun, the EMPSEB way!
📍Save the date & follow us for updates! Link in Bio 🌍
October 23, 2025 at 3:48 PM
🧬✨ It’s official!
EMPSEB31 is coming to Germany, June 2026!
Europe’s friendliest evolution meeting returns, organized by PhD students, for PhD students.
Expect inspiring research, new connections, and a mix of science + fun, the EMPSEB way!
📍Save the date & follow us for updates! Link in Bio 🌍
EMPSEB31 is coming to Germany, June 2026!
Europe’s friendliest evolution meeting returns, organized by PhD students, for PhD students.
Expect inspiring research, new connections, and a mix of science + fun, the EMPSEB way!
📍Save the date & follow us for updates! Link in Bio 🌍
Reposted by Hanna Kokko
Applications for the MEME programme (www.evobio.eu
) are now open! MEME is a research- and mobility-oriented master’s in evolutionary biology (& I’m a proud alumna!), jointly run by the Unis of Groningen, Uppsala, Montpellier, and LMU Munich, with Harvard and Lausanne as partners. Spread the word!
) are now open! MEME is a research- and mobility-oriented master’s in evolutionary biology (& I’m a proud alumna!), jointly run by the Unis of Groningen, Uppsala, Montpellier, and LMU Munich, with Harvard and Lausanne as partners. Spread the word!
October 23, 2025 at 12:15 PM
Applications for the MEME programme (www.evobio.eu
) are now open! MEME is a research- and mobility-oriented master’s in evolutionary biology (& I’m a proud alumna!), jointly run by the Unis of Groningen, Uppsala, Montpellier, and LMU Munich, with Harvard and Lausanne as partners. Spread the word!
) are now open! MEME is a research- and mobility-oriented master’s in evolutionary biology (& I’m a proud alumna!), jointly run by the Unis of Groningen, Uppsala, Montpellier, and LMU Munich, with Harvard and Lausanne as partners. Spread the word!
The ad below says "exciting", which is true, but does not mention another important fact - that the PI is a wonderful scientist and human being. Apply!
Exiting career-boosting opportunity for a a skilled and highly motivated postdoctoral researcher: We're hiring a Post-doctoral fellow in Evolutionary Biology!
Please apply no later than 31 October!
lu.varbi.com/en/what:job/...
Please apply no later than 31 October!
lu.varbi.com/en/what:job/...
October 22, 2025 at 9:57 AM
The ad below says "exciting", which is true, but does not mention another important fact - that the PI is a wonderful scientist and human being. Apply!
🚨🚨Job! 🚨🚨Permanent (75% time) job! We are a pretty awesome research group & seek a manager who deals with everything: personnel tasks, organizing retreats, preparing code for teaching / data structures for research... Fluency in German & English essential. stellenboerse.uni-mainz.de#/jgu/job/51527
stellenboerse.uni-mainz.de
October 17, 2025 at 7:38 AM
🚨🚨Job! 🚨🚨Permanent (75% time) job! We are a pretty awesome research group & seek a manager who deals with everything: personnel tasks, organizing retreats, preparing code for teaching / data structures for research... Fluency in German & English essential. stellenboerse.uni-mainz.de#/jgu/job/51527
Reposted by Hanna Kokko
Please RT!
🚨 4-year PhD position in my lab (Oct 2026 start) 🚨
Molecular and genomic insights to sexually antagonistic genes
Application deadline: Dec 2, 2025
biodtp.norwichresearchpark.ac.uk/projects/mol...
🚨 4-year PhD position in my lab (Oct 2026 start) 🚨
Molecular and genomic insights to sexually antagonistic genes
Application deadline: Dec 2, 2025
biodtp.norwichresearchpark.ac.uk/projects/mol...
Molecular and genomic insights to sexually antagonistic genes (GRIESHOP_U26DTP) | Doctoral Training Partnership
Why do harmful genes persist in populations instead of being removed by natural selection? One answer lies in sexual antagonism: when a genetic variant benefits males but harms females, or vice versa.
biodtp.norwichresearchpark.ac.uk
October 16, 2025 at 1:51 PM
Please RT!
🚨 4-year PhD position in my lab (Oct 2026 start) 🚨
Molecular and genomic insights to sexually antagonistic genes
Application deadline: Dec 2, 2025
biodtp.norwichresearchpark.ac.uk/projects/mol...
🚨 4-year PhD position in my lab (Oct 2026 start) 🚨
Molecular and genomic insights to sexually antagonistic genes
Application deadline: Dec 2, 2025
biodtp.norwichresearchpark.ac.uk/projects/mol...
What is sexual selection all about... definitionally and mathematically? A super talented PI, Jussi Lehtonen, is looking for a postdoc to work it all out! Deadline end of this month.
ats.talentadore.com/apply/postdo...
ats.talentadore.com/apply/postdo...
October 16, 2025 at 1:59 PM
What is sexual selection all about... definitionally and mathematically? A super talented PI, Jussi Lehtonen, is looking for a postdoc to work it all out! Deadline end of this month.
ats.talentadore.com/apply/postdo...
ats.talentadore.com/apply/postdo...
Reposted by Hanna Kokko
I just saw someone use the abbreviation “AI;DR” and I’ll be laughing for a while.
October 6, 2025 at 10:00 PM
I just saw someone use the abbreviation “AI;DR” and I’ll be laughing for a while.
Reposted by Hanna Kokko
Introducing BIRDBASE, which aims to be the world's most comprehensive avian trait ecology database. Article links to open access paper, & data in Excel spreadsheet. phys.org/news/2025-09... #science #environment #ecology #eco #biology #bird #birds #birding #birdwatching #openaccess #datascience
BIRDBASE dataset tracks ecological traits for 11,589 species of birds
Çağan Şekercioğlu was an ambitious, but perhaps naive graduate student when, 26 years ago, he embarked on a simple data-compilation project that would soon evolve into a massive career-defining achiev...
phys.org
October 4, 2025 at 12:21 PM
Introducing BIRDBASE, which aims to be the world's most comprehensive avian trait ecology database. Article links to open access paper, & data in Excel spreadsheet. phys.org/news/2025-09... #science #environment #ecology #eco #biology #bird #birds #birding #birdwatching #openaccess #datascience
Reposted by Hanna Kokko
Looking forward to this! A non-Elsevier alternative to Theoretical Population Biology / Journal of Theoretical Biology
Population Biology Modeling & Theory (PBMT) is a peer-reviewed journal reporting advances in modeling and theory within population biology. Its scope spans demography, ecology, epidemiology, evolutionary biology, population genetics, and phylogenetics. PBMT will be online soon.
October 7, 2025 at 2:42 AM
Looking forward to this! A non-Elsevier alternative to Theoretical Population Biology / Journal of Theoretical Biology
Reposted by Hanna Kokko
super cool study found human artifacts in Bearded vulture nests, incl. "weaponry like a crossbow bolt and wooden lance, decorated sheep leather, and parts of a slingshot....a shoe made from twigs and grass is ~675-years-old." link to paper: doi.org/10.1002/ecy..... www.popsci.com/environment/... 🧪🌍🦉
Multi-generational vulture nests hold 700 years of human artifacts
Crossbow bolts, sandals, slingshots, and more.
www.popsci.com
October 3, 2025 at 1:06 PM
super cool study found human artifacts in Bearded vulture nests, incl. "weaponry like a crossbow bolt and wooden lance, decorated sheep leather, and parts of a slingshot....a shoe made from twigs and grass is ~675-years-old." link to paper: doi.org/10.1002/ecy..... www.popsci.com/environment/... 🧪🌍🦉
@romanzug.bsky.social and @socialinsectlab.bsky.social thinking about colony dynamics! Resource variation can mask tradeoffs, but here we show that even if that *doesn't* vary, lucky starts in colony life can lead to better trajectories and if so, a tradeoff is often undetectable despite being real.
Why is it so hard to detect fecundity-longevity #trade-offs in social insects? And what does this have to do with the Gospel of #Matthew??
Find out in our new paper with @kokkonut.bsky.social and Susanne Foitzik @mainzuniversity.bsky.social!
doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...
Find out in our new paper with @kokkonut.bsky.social and Susanne Foitzik @mainzuniversity.bsky.social!
doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...
Luck can explain the positive link between fecundity and longevity: the Matthew effect in social insects and beyond
Abstract. The universality of the trade-off between fecundity and longevity in life-history theory is sometimes contested. Social insects present the argua
doi.org
October 3, 2025 at 8:14 AM
@romanzug.bsky.social and @socialinsectlab.bsky.social thinking about colony dynamics! Resource variation can mask tradeoffs, but here we show that even if that *doesn't* vary, lucky starts in colony life can lead to better trajectories and if so, a tradeoff is often undetectable despite being real.
Reposted by Hanna Kokko
#ResearchCareers: Just finishing your #PhD and wondering if the DFG’s Walter Benjamin Programme is a #funding option for your next step in academia? Come and find out in our digital info talk on 14 October. No registration, the meeting link will be published here:
➡️ www.dfg.de/en/research-...
➡️ www.dfg.de/en/research-...
October 2, 2025 at 10:23 AM
#ResearchCareers: Just finishing your #PhD and wondering if the DFG’s Walter Benjamin Programme is a #funding option for your next step in academia? Come and find out in our digital info talk on 14 October. No registration, the meeting link will be published here:
➡️ www.dfg.de/en/research-...
➡️ www.dfg.de/en/research-...
Reposted by Hanna Kokko
Why is it so hard to detect fecundity-longevity #trade-offs in social insects? And what does this have to do with the Gospel of #Matthew??
Find out in our new paper with @kokkonut.bsky.social and Susanne Foitzik @mainzuniversity.bsky.social!
doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...
Find out in our new paper with @kokkonut.bsky.social and Susanne Foitzik @mainzuniversity.bsky.social!
doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...
Luck can explain the positive link between fecundity and longevity: the Matthew effect in social insects and beyond
Abstract. The universality of the trade-off between fecundity and longevity in life-history theory is sometimes contested. Social insects present the argua
doi.org
October 2, 2025 at 9:59 AM
Why is it so hard to detect fecundity-longevity #trade-offs in social insects? And what does this have to do with the Gospel of #Matthew??
Find out in our new paper with @kokkonut.bsky.social and Susanne Foitzik @mainzuniversity.bsky.social!
doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...
Find out in our new paper with @kokkonut.bsky.social and Susanne Foitzik @mainzuniversity.bsky.social!
doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...
Reposted by Hanna Kokko
Just back from The Evolution of Ageing workshop — once again a fabulous meeting! Inspiring talks, great discussions, fun socials. Shoutouts to the organizers for making it happen again!
October 2, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Just back from The Evolution of Ageing workshop — once again a fabulous meeting! Inspiring talks, great discussions, fun socials. Shoutouts to the organizers for making it happen again!
Reposted by Hanna Kokko
A fantastic few days of ageing talks, great people, and excellent food!
Massive thanks to (Hanna!) @kokkonut.bsky.social, Margaux Bieuville, Victor Ronget, and the fantastic people at The Gutenberg Workshops in the Life Sciences
Massive thanks to (Hanna!) @kokkonut.bsky.social, Margaux Bieuville, Victor Ronget, and the fantastic people at The Gutenberg Workshops in the Life Sciences
October 2, 2025 at 2:04 PM
A fantastic few days of ageing talks, great people, and excellent food!
Massive thanks to (Hanna!) @kokkonut.bsky.social, Margaux Bieuville, Victor Ronget, and the fantastic people at The Gutenberg Workshops in the Life Sciences
Massive thanks to (Hanna!) @kokkonut.bsky.social, Margaux Bieuville, Victor Ronget, and the fantastic people at The Gutenberg Workshops in the Life Sciences
Reposted by Hanna Kokko
I love the way science used to be written. Is it necessary to know that the author was pushing his baby in a pram while making observations of insects? Perhaps not, but it provides delightful context, while assuming the reader is familiar with his previously published baby-wheeling-related work.
September 26, 2025 at 1:24 PM
I love the way science used to be written. Is it necessary to know that the author was pushing his baby in a pram while making observations of insects? Perhaps not, but it provides delightful context, while assuming the reader is familiar with his previously published baby-wheeling-related work.
My expression should be suppl mat for @evornithology.bsky.social's "what's the deal with birds?" - thanks @aksulehikoinen.bsky.social I had a fantastic time witnessing how these great bird datasets come into existence! & 1 nice non-bird too & classy puns that deserve a data repository of their own.
September 17, 2025 at 5:24 PM
My expression should be suppl mat for @evornithology.bsky.social's "what's the deal with birds?" - thanks @aksulehikoinen.bsky.social I had a fantastic time witnessing how these great bird datasets come into existence! & 1 nice non-bird too & classy puns that deserve a data repository of their own.
Reposted by Hanna Kokko
New paper out! 🤩 "Shrinking to bird size with dinosaur-level cancer defences: Evolution of cancer suppression over macroevolutionary time" with @kokkonut.bsky.social and @marcanthonytollis.bsky.social. doi.org/10.1371/jour... A short thread:
Shrinking to bird size with dinosaur-level cancer defences: Evolution of cancer suppression over macroevolutionary time
Author summary Humans are not the only species suffering from cancer, yet cancer does not impact all life equally. Body size is relevant because maintaining a large number of cells in a tumour-free st...
doi.org
September 16, 2025 at 11:51 AM
New paper out! 🤩 "Shrinking to bird size with dinosaur-level cancer defences: Evolution of cancer suppression over macroevolutionary time" with @kokkonut.bsky.social and @marcanthonytollis.bsky.social. doi.org/10.1371/jour... A short thread:
Reposted by Hanna Kokko
Come and work with us! Three new academic posts (including Animal Behaviour) and superb facilities in the new Life & Mind Building
Oxford Biology is growing 📢
We’re appointing 3 Associate Professors in:
🌱 Plant Sciences
🦉 Animal Behaviour
🔬 Molecular Cell Biology
3 fields. 3 opportunities. One new home for Oxford Biology.
Learn more 👉 bit.ly/41S2Tc7
Apply now 👉 bit.ly/488CNW3
We’re appointing 3 Associate Professors in:
🌱 Plant Sciences
🦉 Animal Behaviour
🔬 Molecular Cell Biology
3 fields. 3 opportunities. One new home for Oxford Biology.
Learn more 👉 bit.ly/41S2Tc7
Apply now 👉 bit.ly/488CNW3
September 15, 2025 at 12:54 PM
Come and work with us! Three new academic posts (including Animal Behaviour) and superb facilities in the new Life & Mind Building
Reposted by Hanna Kokko
Job Alert! The University of Tübingen is hiring a FULL PROFESSOR (W3) in FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY! Come and join our institute, and maybe our new excellence clusters @terra-cluster.org and @greenrobust.de. @gfoesoc.bsky.social @britishecologicalsociety.org @ecologicalsociety.bsky.social Please repost!
September 10, 2025 at 9:33 AM
Job Alert! The University of Tübingen is hiring a FULL PROFESSOR (W3) in FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY! Come and join our institute, and maybe our new excellence clusters @terra-cluster.org and @greenrobust.de. @gfoesoc.bsky.social @britishecologicalsociety.org @ecologicalsociety.bsky.social Please repost!