Shikhara Bhat
@shikharabhat.bsky.social
Theoretical evolutionary ecologist. Fond of math, coffee, natural history, and metal music. Kokkonut and PhD student at Uni Mainz, Germany.
Past: BS-MS at IISER Pune, India. MS thesis at CES, IISc, India.
Webpage: https://thepandalorian.github.io
he/him
Past: BS-MS at IISER Pune, India. MS thesis at CES, IISc, India.
Webpage: https://thepandalorian.github.io
he/him
Pinned
A new platform, a new thread. Here's a thread explaining our recent work on #evolution in finite populations, now available ahead of print in @asn-amnat.bsky.social 🧬🧪
Reposted by Shikhara Bhat
How do we know our research results are REAL? We replicate them! Most folks agree but lament on how hard it is to publish these replications.
My dearest gentle reader, lament no more! Delighted to unveil: Replication Studies, a new section of Behavioral Ecology 1/
academic.oup.com/beheco/artic...
My dearest gentle reader, lament no more! Delighted to unveil: Replication Studies, a new section of Behavioral Ecology 1/
academic.oup.com/beheco/artic...
Replication studies: a win-win for early-career training and behavioral ecology
Replicating previous research builds confidence that results are real and meaningful. But close replications are rare due to limitations in resources and d
academic.oup.com
February 10, 2026 at 7:42 PM
How do we know our research results are REAL? We replicate them! Most folks agree but lament on how hard it is to publish these replications.
My dearest gentle reader, lament no more! Delighted to unveil: Replication Studies, a new section of Behavioral Ecology 1/
academic.oup.com/beheco/artic...
My dearest gentle reader, lament no more! Delighted to unveil: Replication Studies, a new section of Behavioral Ecology 1/
academic.oup.com/beheco/artic...
Reposted by Shikhara Bhat
I made a map of 3.4 million Bluesky users - see if you can find yourself!
bluesky-map.theo.io
I've seen some similar projects, but IMO this seems to better capture some of the fine-grained detail
bluesky-map.theo.io
I've seen some similar projects, but IMO this seems to better capture some of the fine-grained detail
Bluesky Map
Interactive map of 3.4 million Bluesky users, visualised by their follower pattern.
bluesky-map.theo.io
February 8, 2026 at 10:59 PM
I made a map of 3.4 million Bluesky users - see if you can find yourself!
bluesky-map.theo.io
I've seen some similar projects, but IMO this seems to better capture some of the fine-grained detail
bluesky-map.theo.io
I've seen some similar projects, but IMO this seems to better capture some of the fine-grained detail
Reposted by Shikhara Bhat
🪿 Early-life stasis in partial seasonal migration is underpinned by among-cohort variation in migratory plasticity and selective disappearance
📖 Read the full paper here ➡️ buff.ly/9mleVea
📖 Read the full paper here ➡️ buff.ly/9mleVea
February 5, 2026 at 1:01 PM
🪿 Early-life stasis in partial seasonal migration is underpinned by among-cohort variation in migratory plasticity and selective disappearance
📖 Read the full paper here ➡️ buff.ly/9mleVea
📖 Read the full paper here ➡️ buff.ly/9mleVea
Some really cool work on what makes (and breaks) an evolutionary individual!
NEW PAPER with @arvidagren.bsky.social and Manus Patten on evolutionary reversions in individuality now out (as an advance article) at @jevbio.bsky.social (see academic.oup.com/jeb/advance-...). Thread below! [1/8]
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Evolutionary transitions and reversions in individuality
Abstract. Biological individuality exists in different forms—unicellular, multicellular, colonial, etc.—which have arisen through evolutionary transitions
academic.oup.com
January 28, 2026 at 5:49 PM
Some really cool work on what makes (and breaks) an evolutionary individual!
Reposted by Shikhara Bhat
How do temperature regimes shape trait diversity in communities? Does variability promote more specialists or more generalists?
Our new Nature Communications paper tackles this with eco-evo simulations + 653 moth species across latitudinal and elevational gradients.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Our new Nature Communications paper tackles this with eco-evo simulations + 653 moth species across latitudinal and elevational gradients.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Warmer environments harbor greater thermal trait diversity in moth assemblages - Nature Communications
Climate limits where insects can live and which species can coexist. Using thermal tolerances of 653 moths on Asian mountains, this study shows warmer temperatures broaden thermal tolerance traits div...
www.nature.com
January 28, 2026 at 10:23 AM
How do temperature regimes shape trait diversity in communities? Does variability promote more specialists or more generalists?
Our new Nature Communications paper tackles this with eco-evo simulations + 653 moth species across latitudinal and elevational gradients.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Our new Nature Communications paper tackles this with eco-evo simulations + 653 moth species across latitudinal and elevational gradients.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Shikhara Bhat
Please join us for a @smtpb.bsky.social panel discussion about publishing theory in biology w/ @joshuasweitz.bsky.social (Co-Chief Editor of J Theor Biol), Mark Lewis (Advising Editor for J Math Biol & Bull Math Biol), and me (Theor Pop Biol)
13 Feb 2026 9:00AM–10:00AM PST
smtpb.org/event-6520871
13 Feb 2026 9:00AM–10:00AM PST
smtpb.org/event-6520871
Society for Modeling and Theory in Population Biology - How the papers are made: look behind the scenes of publishing models and theory in population biology with current journal editors
smtpb.org
January 21, 2026 at 6:34 PM
Please join us for a @smtpb.bsky.social panel discussion about publishing theory in biology w/ @joshuasweitz.bsky.social (Co-Chief Editor of J Theor Biol), Mark Lewis (Advising Editor for J Math Biol & Bull Math Biol), and me (Theor Pop Biol)
13 Feb 2026 9:00AM–10:00AM PST
smtpb.org/event-6520871
13 Feb 2026 9:00AM–10:00AM PST
smtpb.org/event-6520871
Today's board work (ft. truly incredible Hagoromo chalk). Anybody wanna guess what @kokkonut.bsky.social and I are working on? ;)
(hint: it's a topic in population biology that many non-scientists spend a lot of time worrying about).
(hint: it's a topic in population biology that many non-scientists spend a lot of time worrying about).
January 21, 2026 at 8:52 PM
Today's board work (ft. truly incredible Hagoromo chalk). Anybody wanna guess what @kokkonut.bsky.social and I are working on? ;)
(hint: it's a topic in population biology that many non-scientists spend a lot of time worrying about).
(hint: it's a topic in population biology that many non-scientists spend a lot of time worrying about).
Reposted by Shikhara Bhat
Expressions of interest: Director at MPI EvolBio (f/m/d) — We invite expressions of interest from distinguished scientists in evolutionary biology with a bold, long-term research vision that complements our Institute. More information: www.evolbio.mpg.de/3856225/Dire...
Directors
www.evolbio.mpg.de
January 21, 2026 at 11:15 AM
Expressions of interest: Director at MPI EvolBio (f/m/d) — We invite expressions of interest from distinguished scientists in evolutionary biology with a bold, long-term research vision that complements our Institute. More information: www.evolbio.mpg.de/3856225/Dire...
Reposted by Shikhara Bhat
Postdoc in statistical ecology & evolution! Develop models bridging evolutionary theory with empirical data on sex differences in immunity and life history. Apply now!
#postdoc #statistics #evolution #academicjobs #ecology jobs.helsinki.fi/job/Helsinki...
#postdoc #statistics #evolution #academicjobs #ecology jobs.helsinki.fi/job/Helsinki...
Postdoctoral Researcher in Statistical Ecology and Evolution
Postdoctoral Researcher in Statistical Ecology and Evolution
jobs.helsinki.fi
January 14, 2026 at 9:08 AM
Postdoc in statistical ecology & evolution! Develop models bridging evolutionary theory with empirical data on sex differences in immunity and life history. Apply now!
#postdoc #statistics #evolution #academicjobs #ecology jobs.helsinki.fi/job/Helsinki...
#postdoc #statistics #evolution #academicjobs #ecology jobs.helsinki.fi/job/Helsinki...
The greatest addition to my CV so far: I am now officially part of The Luxuriant Flowing Hair Club for Scientists
improbable.com/2026/01/14/s...
improbable.com/2026/01/14/s...
Shikhara Bhat joins the The Luxuriant Flowing Hair Club for Scientists™ (LFHCfS)
Shikhara Bhat has joined the Luxuriant Flowing Hair Club for Scientists™ (LFHCfS). He says: I’m Shikhara Bhat, a theoretical evolutionary ecologist. I’m currently a PhD student at the Univer…
improbable.com
January 14, 2026 at 10:27 AM
The greatest addition to my CV so far: I am now officially part of The Luxuriant Flowing Hair Club for Scientists
improbable.com/2026/01/14/s...
improbable.com/2026/01/14/s...
Reposted by Shikhara Bhat
Me: surely at least the statistics literature has its house in order.
The stats literature:
The stats literature:
January 12, 2026 at 2:58 PM
Me: surely at least the statistics literature has its house in order.
The stats literature:
The stats literature:
👇 Exciting post-doc with a fantastic PI!
📢 I'm hiring! 3-year postdoc in theoretical evolutionary ecology at University of Helsinki 🇫🇮 Apply: jobs.helsinki.fi/job/Helsinki-Postdoctoral-Researcher-in-Theoretical-Evolutionary-Biology/1348955157/
#AcademicJobs #Postdoc #EvolutionaryEcology #TheoreticalEcology #ScienceJobs #AcademicChatter
#AcademicJobs #Postdoc #EvolutionaryEcology #TheoreticalEcology #ScienceJobs #AcademicChatter
Postdoctoral Researcher in Theoretical Evolutionary Biology
Postdoctoral Researcher in Theoretical Evolutionary Biology
jobs.helsinki.fi
January 8, 2026 at 8:13 PM
👇 Exciting post-doc with a fantastic PI!
I'll admit I don't usually worry about whether my fitness functions are Lipschitz or merely α-Hölder, but a really nice idea here (I've only skimmed it) is that extreme ruggedness ⟹ loss of Lipschitz continuity ⟹ diff. eq. solns can be non-unique because no more Picard-Lindelöf ⟹ contingency
Cool!
Cool!
A great article (which I was lucky reviewing) which shows the importance of our assumptions on the geometric properties of fitness landscapes. Non-Lipschitz continuous dynamics and punctuated evolution.
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
🧪 #Geology #Paleobio #EvoBio
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
🧪 #Geology #Paleobio #EvoBio
December 26, 2025 at 8:04 PM
I'll admit I don't usually worry about whether my fitness functions are Lipschitz or merely α-Hölder, but a really nice idea here (I've only skimmed it) is that extreme ruggedness ⟹ loss of Lipschitz continuity ⟹ diff. eq. solns can be non-unique because no more Picard-Lindelöf ⟹ contingency
Cool!
Cool!
Reposted by Shikhara Bhat
Not for academics it isn’t. You learn by reading and by following citation chains and talking to other people in the field. Letting the AI do the summary is abdicating your job.
December 21, 2025 at 3:10 AM
Not for academics it isn’t. You learn by reading and by following citation chains and talking to other people in the field. Letting the AI do the summary is abdicating your job.
Reposted by Shikhara Bhat
excited to announce v2 of my stochastic eco-evo framework is up ! main text now clarifies links w prev werk and points to an emp test of gen corrs result . supp greatly expanded to include worked derivations and further explanation of mathematical foundations !! hope u enjoi ;)
tinyurl.com/stecoevo
tinyurl.com/stecoevo
STOCHASTIC ECO-EVOLUTIONARY DYNAMICS OF MULTIVARIATE TRAITS: A Framework for Modeling Population Processes Illustrated by the Study of Drifting G-Matrices
I derive a novel stochastic equation for the evolution of the additive genetic variance-covariance matrix G in response to mutation, selection, drift, and fluctuating population size. Common wisdom ho...
www.biorxiv.org
December 20, 2025 at 11:56 AM
excited to announce v2 of my stochastic eco-evo framework is up ! main text now clarifies links w prev werk and points to an emp test of gen corrs result . supp greatly expanded to include worked derivations and further explanation of mathematical foundations !! hope u enjoi ;)
tinyurl.com/stecoevo
tinyurl.com/stecoevo
Reposted by Shikhara Bhat
Before 2025 closes out, I wanted to make a thread on my proudest recent paper! (Ok, it's from 2024, but I haven't done a bluesky thread on it before).
Allen et al. (2024) "Nonlinear social evolution and the emergence of collective action", PNAS Nexus
academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...
Allen et al. (2024) "Nonlinear social evolution and the emergence of collective action", PNAS Nexus
academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...
Validate User
academic.oup.com
December 12, 2025 at 8:34 PM
Before 2025 closes out, I wanted to make a thread on my proudest recent paper! (Ok, it's from 2024, but I haven't done a bluesky thread on it before).
Allen et al. (2024) "Nonlinear social evolution and the emergence of collective action", PNAS Nexus
academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...
Allen et al. (2024) "Nonlinear social evolution and the emergence of collective action", PNAS Nexus
academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...
Reposted by Shikhara Bhat
A new (and improved) version of the fantastic BES’s reproducible code guide is now live.
Seriously amazing resource for those wanting to produce code that enables reproducible research.
Featuring some SORTEE members and also code review!!
@sortee.bsky.social
Seriously amazing resource for those wanting to produce code that enables reproducible research.
Featuring some SORTEE members and also code review!!
@sortee.bsky.social
Excited to launch the new improved Reproducible Code guide from @britishecologicalsociety.org @methodsinecoevol.bsky.social FREE online here! www.britishecologicalsociety.org//wp-content/... Amazing work by some very talented ECRs. We hope it’s useful!
December 16, 2025 at 6:43 PM
A new (and improved) version of the fantastic BES’s reproducible code guide is now live.
Seriously amazing resource for those wanting to produce code that enables reproducible research.
Featuring some SORTEE members and also code review!!
@sortee.bsky.social
Seriously amazing resource for those wanting to produce code that enables reproducible research.
Featuring some SORTEE members and also code review!!
@sortee.bsky.social
Woohoo! Congratulations, @kokkonut.bsky.social !! 🎉🎉
Congratulations to Hanna Kokko for receiving this year’s ASAB medal! Hanna has done extraordinary work and we are so pleased to honour her at #ASABWinter2025
December 16, 2025 at 11:34 AM
Woohoo! Congratulations, @kokkonut.bsky.social !! 🎉🎉
Reposted by Shikhara Bhat
Abstract submission is now open for the 2026 ISEEC Conference (21st-24th May in Crete). The theme is human-tech cooperation for the evolutionary management of cancer but we welcome submissions on all topics related to evolution, ecology and cancer. Submit abstracts by 10th Jan via www.evocancer.com
ISEEC
The International Society for Evolution, Ecology and Cancer
www.evocancer.com
December 15, 2025 at 9:55 AM
Abstract submission is now open for the 2026 ISEEC Conference (21st-24th May in Crete). The theme is human-tech cooperation for the evolutionary management of cancer but we welcome submissions on all topics related to evolution, ecology and cancer. Submit abstracts by 10th Jan via www.evocancer.com
Reposted by Shikhara Bhat
Join me Tuesday with authors J. Arvid Agren and Manus M. Patten for the launch of their book The Paradox of the Organism: Adaptation and Internal Conflict.
December 14, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Join me Tuesday with authors J. Arvid Agren and Manus M. Patten for the launch of their book The Paradox of the Organism: Adaptation and Internal Conflict.
Reposted by Shikhara Bhat
Join us on Tuesday!
Join me Tuesday with authors J. Arvid Agren and Manus M. Patten for the launch of their book The Paradox of the Organism: Adaptation and Internal Conflict.
December 14, 2025 at 9:28 PM
Join us on Tuesday!
Reposted by Shikhara Bhat
🧬✨ It’s official!
EMPSEB31 is coming to Germany, June 2026! Link in Bio 😉
Europe’s friendliest evolution meeting returns, by PhD students, for PhD students.
📍Oberwiesenthal, Germany
📅8–12 June 2026
🚨Save the date & follow us for updates!
#EMPSEB31 #EvoBio #PhDLife #ScienceCommunity #EMPSEB
EMPSEB31 is coming to Germany, June 2026! Link in Bio 😉
Europe’s friendliest evolution meeting returns, by PhD students, for PhD students.
📍Oberwiesenthal, Germany
📅8–12 June 2026
🚨Save the date & follow us for updates!
#EMPSEB31 #EvoBio #PhDLife #ScienceCommunity #EMPSEB
December 11, 2025 at 11:00 AM
🧬✨ It’s official!
EMPSEB31 is coming to Germany, June 2026! Link in Bio 😉
Europe’s friendliest evolution meeting returns, by PhD students, for PhD students.
📍Oberwiesenthal, Germany
📅8–12 June 2026
🚨Save the date & follow us for updates!
#EMPSEB31 #EvoBio #PhDLife #ScienceCommunity #EMPSEB
EMPSEB31 is coming to Germany, June 2026! Link in Bio 😉
Europe’s friendliest evolution meeting returns, by PhD students, for PhD students.
📍Oberwiesenthal, Germany
📅8–12 June 2026
🚨Save the date & follow us for updates!
#EMPSEB31 #EvoBio #PhDLife #ScienceCommunity #EMPSEB
Reposted by Shikhara Bhat
Up to 10 doctoral positions at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology now open for application!
Start date September 2026.
More info here: www.evolbio.mpg.de/imprs
Start date September 2026.
More info here: www.evolbio.mpg.de/imprs
December 10, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Up to 10 doctoral positions at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology now open for application!
Start date September 2026.
More info here: www.evolbio.mpg.de/imprs
Start date September 2026.
More info here: www.evolbio.mpg.de/imprs
Reposted by Shikhara Bhat
The 2026 Guarda Summer Course in Evolutionary Biology is now accepting applications. Amazing place, amazing course, amazing opportunity for early grad students.
tb.ethz.ch/education/gu...
tb.ethz.ch/education/gu...
Summer school:<br> Evolutionary Biology in Guarda
Information about the annual summer school Evolutionary Biology in Guarda
tb.ethz.ch
December 10, 2025 at 2:24 PM
The 2026 Guarda Summer Course in Evolutionary Biology is now accepting applications. Amazing place, amazing course, amazing opportunity for early grad students.
tb.ethz.ch/education/gu...
tb.ethz.ch/education/gu...