Will Allen
@wlallen.bsky.social
Associate Professor in Evolutionary and Sensory Ecology - Swansea University, Wales www.easelab.uk
co-Director @crocus-dla.bsky.social
Senior Editor @ecol-evol.bsky.social
co-Director @crocus-dla.bsky.social
Senior Editor @ecol-evol.bsky.social
Reposted by Will Allen
If you like genomics, speciation, and primates, this PhD position is for you! Unraveling the genomic architecture of speciation and gene flow in guenons, a diverse group of African monkeys. Funding through DTP. Do reach out with questions! #genomics #genome_assembly
evol.mcmaster.ca/brian/evoldi...
evol.mcmaster.ca/brian/evoldi...
October 23, 2025 at 3:11 PM
If you like genomics, speciation, and primates, this PhD position is for you! Unraveling the genomic architecture of speciation and gene flow in guenons, a diverse group of African monkeys. Funding through DTP. Do reach out with questions! #genomics #genome_assembly
evol.mcmaster.ca/brian/evoldi...
evol.mcmaster.ca/brian/evoldi...
📢🦋 Our paper ‘Global selection on insect antipredator coloration’ is out and featured on the cover of @science.org
We ran a huge experiment to find out how ecological context favours camouflage and warning colouration as antipredator strategies. 1/6
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
We ran a huge experiment to find out how ecological context favours camouflage and warning colouration as antipredator strategies. 1/6
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
September 25, 2025 at 6:26 PM
📢🦋 Our paper ‘Global selection on insect antipredator coloration’ is out and featured on the cover of @science.org
We ran a huge experiment to find out how ecological context favours camouflage and warning colouration as antipredator strategies. 1/6
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
We ran a huge experiment to find out how ecological context favours camouflage and warning colouration as antipredator strategies. 1/6
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Will Allen
Funded PhD position available 🎉 Come and work with me in Helsinki to uncover the pathways producing colourful tiger moth wings. Lots of options for genomics, CRISPR, fieldwork, behaviour experiments… Email with questions! jobs.helsinki.fi/job/Helsinki...
September 24, 2025 at 8:53 AM
Funded PhD position available 🎉 Come and work with me in Helsinki to uncover the pathways producing colourful tiger moth wings. Lots of options for genomics, CRISPR, fieldwork, behaviour experiments… Email with questions! jobs.helsinki.fi/job/Helsinki...
Reposted by Will Allen
Postdoc job alert! We are hiring a NYU-based postdoc to work on our project on the social and environmental determinants of aging. The 3 year post will be based in James Higham's lab and will focus on endocrine, immune, and inflammatory aspects of aging. Please share! apply.interfolio.com/173938
Apply - Interfolio
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apply.interfolio.com
September 22, 2025 at 9:32 AM
Postdoc job alert! We are hiring a NYU-based postdoc to work on our project on the social and environmental determinants of aging. The 3 year post will be based in James Higham's lab and will focus on endocrine, immune, and inflammatory aspects of aging. Please share! apply.interfolio.com/173938
Matt Sparks, my PhD student, and Roger Santer wrote a very interesting article for The Conversation on fly vision, and why understanding it better can help prevent human disease. theconversation.com/how-a-fly-se...
How a fly sees the world – and why understanding its vision can help prevent disease
Flies see things differently.
theconversation.com
September 22, 2025 at 8:41 AM
Matt Sparks, my PhD student, and Roger Santer wrote a very interesting article for The Conversation on fly vision, and why understanding it better can help prevent human disease. theconversation.com/how-a-fly-se...
Reposted by Will Allen
Super happy to share the first chapter of my PhD, published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface ✨🐀 royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
Iridescence in mammals is not as rare as we thought, but it’s all created in the same way!
Iridescence in mammals is not as rare as we thought, but it’s all created in the same way!
September 17, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Super happy to share the first chapter of my PhD, published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface ✨🐀 royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
Iridescence in mammals is not as rare as we thought, but it’s all created in the same way!
Iridescence in mammals is not as rare as we thought, but it’s all created in the same way!
Reposted by Will Allen
Confused writing is usually a symptom of confused thinking. As we struggle to clarify writing, we clarify our thoughts. AI writing aids rob us of that struggle, leaving clean-looking text and thoughts still confused for lack of inspection. Writing is not just a product; it is a diagnostic tool.
September 5, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Confused writing is usually a symptom of confused thinking. As we struggle to clarify writing, we clarify our thoughts. AI writing aids rob us of that struggle, leaving clean-looking text and thoughts still confused for lack of inspection. Writing is not just a product; it is a diagnostic tool.
Depressing stich-up by the right-wing press. Rayner is an inspiration to everyone trying to get on in life after a difficult childhood, and for helping others to do the same. I hope she is back in Government soon.
![The Telegraph
Rayner tax scandal - £40k tax dodge - Statement
Angela Rayner dodges £40,000 stamp duty
Deputy Prime Minister reduces tax bill for Hove flat by declaring it as her main residence
[Photo: Angela Rayner pictured at the weekend in Hove, where she has just bought a flat Credit: Dan Charity/The Sun on Sunday]
Robert Mendick Chief Reporter. Amy Gibbons Political Correspondent
29 August 2025 8:57am BST](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2kf2qj56o2vq7jfaq4x4ogp6/bafkreihe5mm7nwmwvzhtgadmsafyvsaxhrufuai2d2j2rju5zt6g2lytea@jpeg)
![The Telegraph
Money > Property > Second homes
How to avoid tax on your second home
From stamp duty to council tax, shield your wealth from Labour's tightening net
[Photo of houses around a bay - Areas such as Cornwall have added a premium to council tax bills for second homes Credit: iStockphoto]
Fran Ivens Senior Money Writer
29 August 2025 1:21pm BST](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2kf2qj56o2vq7jfaq4x4ogp6/bafkreieuwgc2vsmyfcctmf4cnpcqckij2pqdk2gmzajpnihrsqyqmzyr5e@jpeg)
September 5, 2025 at 3:47 PM
Depressing stich-up by the right-wing press. Rayner is an inspiration to everyone trying to get on in life after a difficult childhood, and for helping others to do the same. I hope she is back in Government soon.
The genomics of discrete polymorphisms maintained by disruptive selection: Trends in Ecology & Evolution www.cell.com/trends/ecolo...
The genomics of discrete polymorphisms maintained by disruptive selection
Disruptive selection can lead to the evolution of discrete morphs. We show that particular
genetic architectures, in terms of dominance, epistasis, and linkage, are likely to
evolve to produce discret...
www.cell.com
September 5, 2025 at 7:53 AM
The genomics of discrete polymorphisms maintained by disruptive selection: Trends in Ecology & Evolution www.cell.com/trends/ecolo...
New paper @biolinvasions.bsky.social led by Sarah-Sophie Weil.
Can macroevolution inform contemporary invasion potential?
We outline the assumptions of this approach, assess support, then test if dispersal ability can proxy for naturalisation success in several tetrapod groups.
rdcu.be/eD9Tt
Can macroevolution inform contemporary invasion potential?
We outline the assumptions of this approach, assess support, then test if dispersal ability can proxy for naturalisation success in several tetrapod groups.
rdcu.be/eD9Tt
September 4, 2025 at 3:39 PM
New paper @biolinvasions.bsky.social led by Sarah-Sophie Weil.
Can macroevolution inform contemporary invasion potential?
We outline the assumptions of this approach, assess support, then test if dispersal ability can proxy for naturalisation success in several tetrapod groups.
rdcu.be/eD9Tt
Can macroevolution inform contemporary invasion potential?
We outline the assumptions of this approach, assess support, then test if dispersal ability can proxy for naturalisation success in several tetrapod groups.
rdcu.be/eD9Tt
Reposted by Will Allen
@riadsala.bsky.social and I have been spending a long time thinking about modelling visual foraging. v2 model glow up: 1) it can account for individual diffs in lots of summary stats 2) it can deal with 'outliers' really nicely and 3) it should be easier to use! osf.io/preprints/ps...
OSF
osf.io
September 1, 2025 at 9:03 AM
@riadsala.bsky.social and I have been spending a long time thinking about modelling visual foraging. v2 model glow up: 1) it can account for individual diffs in lots of summary stats 2) it can deal with 'outliers' really nicely and 3) it should be easier to use! osf.io/preprints/ps...
Reposted by Will Allen
📢 New in Ecology Letters: heterogeneity ≠ stability.
🌊🪨 3-yr rocky-shore experiment: 4 cascades canceled the classic heterogeneity–stability link.
📄 doi.org/10.1111/ele.70158
With @thefairchild.bsky.social , @MatthewPerkins, @JamesBull & @jngriffy.bsky.social — thanks to @NERC & @SwanseaUniversity.
🌊🪨 3-yr rocky-shore experiment: 4 cascades canceled the classic heterogeneity–stability link.
📄 doi.org/10.1111/ele.70158
With @thefairchild.bsky.social , @MatthewPerkins, @JamesBull & @jngriffy.bsky.social — thanks to @NERC & @SwanseaUniversity.
September 1, 2025 at 5:49 AM
📢 New in Ecology Letters: heterogeneity ≠ stability.
🌊🪨 3-yr rocky-shore experiment: 4 cascades canceled the classic heterogeneity–stability link.
📄 doi.org/10.1111/ele.70158
With @thefairchild.bsky.social , @MatthewPerkins, @JamesBull & @jngriffy.bsky.social — thanks to @NERC & @SwanseaUniversity.
🌊🪨 3-yr rocky-shore experiment: 4 cascades canceled the classic heterogeneity–stability link.
📄 doi.org/10.1111/ele.70158
With @thefairchild.bsky.social , @MatthewPerkins, @JamesBull & @jngriffy.bsky.social — thanks to @NERC & @SwanseaUniversity.
Sunrise at Refugio Juclar in Andorra. Hiking retreat after ESEB.
August 27, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Sunrise at Refugio Juclar in Andorra. Hiking retreat after ESEB.
Reposted by Will Allen
Pick an idiom: "more than meets the eye", "beauty more than skin [feather] deep" etc.
In work led by Rosalyn Price-Waldman, we describe a hidden (and ignored!) black or white layer found below the visible surface of bird feathers which helps make bird colours so striking!
🧪 🪶 #colsci
In work led by Rosalyn Price-Waldman, we describe a hidden (and ignored!) black or white layer found below the visible surface of bird feathers which helps make bird colours so striking!
🧪 🪶 #colsci
Songbirds play optical tricks to make their feather colors ‘pop’
Concealed black or white bands on feathers boost the vibrancy of bird plumage
www.science.org
August 13, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Pick an idiom: "more than meets the eye", "beauty more than skin [feather] deep" etc.
In work led by Rosalyn Price-Waldman, we describe a hidden (and ignored!) black or white layer found below the visible surface of bird feathers which helps make bird colours so striking!
🧪 🪶 #colsci
In work led by Rosalyn Price-Waldman, we describe a hidden (and ignored!) black or white layer found below the visible surface of bird feathers which helps make bird colours so striking!
🧪 🪶 #colsci
Reposted by Will Allen
Check out our perceptive on the Emerging uses of artificial intelligence in deep time biodiversity research www.nature.com/articles/s44...
#AI #paleontology
#AI #paleontology
Emerging uses of artificial intelligence in deep time biodiversity research - Nature Reviews Biodiversity
This Perspective explores the existing and potential applications of artificial intelligence in deep time biodiversity research as well as offer guidelines on equitable and ethical use of artificial i...
www.nature.com
August 11, 2025 at 7:51 AM
Check out our perceptive on the Emerging uses of artificial intelligence in deep time biodiversity research www.nature.com/articles/s44...
#AI #paleontology
#AI #paleontology
Reposted by Will Allen
Important things to consider before we outsource the research and writing process to machine proxies
July 21, 2025 at 3:12 AM
Important things to consider before we outsource the research and writing process to machine proxies
Haiku from today's bike ride:
fast car overtakes
oh no sleeping policeman
exhaust scrapes down road
fast car overtakes
oh no sleeping policeman
exhaust scrapes down road
July 4, 2025 at 1:51 PM
Haiku from today's bike ride:
fast car overtakes
oh no sleeping policeman
exhaust scrapes down road
fast car overtakes
oh no sleeping policeman
exhaust scrapes down road
Hot cats, cool linoleum floor.
July 3, 2025 at 7:46 AM
Hot cats, cool linoleum floor.
Reposted by Will Allen
Why do imperfect mimics (such as many hoverflies) exist? We created 3D printed replicas of flies, wasps and our own custom intermediates and then "asked" various predators what they thought of our 3D stimuli. Read all about it here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Mapping the adaptive landscape of Batesian mimicry using 3D-printed stimuli - Nature
Birds have an excellent ability to learn to discriminate harmless insects from those that they mimic on the basis of subtle differences in appearance.
www.nature.com
July 2, 2025 at 6:32 PM
Why do imperfect mimics (such as many hoverflies) exist? We created 3D printed replicas of flies, wasps and our own custom intermediates and then "asked" various predators what they thought of our 3D stimuli. Read all about it here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Will Allen
Do you have field work experience? Do you want more? Our team wants YOU to manage our field site studying Kinda baboons in Kasanka National Park, Zambia!
Start date is this August 2025 so apply ASAP!
Job ad here: tinyurl.com/KindaBaboon
Start date is this August 2025 so apply ASAP!
Job ad here: tinyurl.com/KindaBaboon
July 1, 2025 at 2:55 AM
Do you have field work experience? Do you want more? Our team wants YOU to manage our field site studying Kinda baboons in Kasanka National Park, Zambia!
Start date is this August 2025 so apply ASAP!
Job ad here: tinyurl.com/KindaBaboon
Start date is this August 2025 so apply ASAP!
Job ad here: tinyurl.com/KindaBaboon
Can macroevolutionary indices be used to inform contemporary extinction risk? We explore this question in an Ecology Letters review out today. Led by Sarah-Sophie Weil and Laure Gallien, it should be a useful resource for anyone using these approaches. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Can Macroevolution Inform Contemporary Extinction Risk?
We investigate the underlying assumptions of the idea that macroevolutionary indicators for large groups of species, such as rates of extinction, diversification or niche evolution, can inform specie...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
June 30, 2025 at 11:08 AM
Can macroevolutionary indices be used to inform contemporary extinction risk? We explore this question in an Ecology Letters review out today. Led by Sarah-Sophie Weil and Laure Gallien, it should be a useful resource for anyone using these approaches. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Reposted by Will Allen
Excited (& a bit terrified) to officially share our #R #package with the world 🤩 swaRmverse provides a pipeline to analyze #collective #motion #data, promoting more comparative work across the Swarm-Verse 🐐🦬🐦🐒🐟 🦖🐑🕸️
With @sjmgarnier @SHOALgroup 🙏
With @sjmgarnier @SHOALgroup 🙏
June 13, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Excited (& a bit terrified) to officially share our #R #package with the world 🤩 swaRmverse provides a pipeline to analyze #collective #motion #data, promoting more comparative work across the Swarm-Verse 🐐🦬🐦🐒🐟 🦖🐑🕸️
With @sjmgarnier @SHOALgroup 🙏
With @sjmgarnier @SHOALgroup 🙏
Reposted by Will Allen
🐠💥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...
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
🐠💥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...
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...
Reposted by Will Allen
Nightjars are truly remarkable birds. Ground-nesting and masters of camouflage, they rely on their incredible natural patterns to protect their eggs and chicks from predators.
This stunning moment, captured by one of our team members on a NatureSpy cam, shows a female blending Nightjar blending in
This stunning moment, captured by one of our team members on a NatureSpy cam, shows a female blending Nightjar blending in
June 8, 2025 at 8:03 AM
Nightjars are truly remarkable birds. Ground-nesting and masters of camouflage, they rely on their incredible natural patterns to protect their eggs and chicks from predators.
This stunning moment, captured by one of our team members on a NatureSpy cam, shows a female blending Nightjar blending in
This stunning moment, captured by one of our team members on a NatureSpy cam, shows a female blending Nightjar blending in
Reposted by Will Allen
1/3
www.swansea.ac.uk/postgraduate...
PhD studentship! Comparative Analysis and Modelling of Collective Behaviour in Natural and Artificial Systems.
**this scholarship for UK residents only, as defined by UKCISA regulations**
Details below! Please RT
(AI-generated image)
www.swansea.ac.uk/postgraduate...
PhD studentship! Comparative Analysis and Modelling of Collective Behaviour in Natural and Artificial Systems.
**this scholarship for UK residents only, as defined by UKCISA regulations**
Details below! Please RT
(AI-generated image)
June 3, 2025 at 9:22 PM
1/3
www.swansea.ac.uk/postgraduate...
PhD studentship! Comparative Analysis and Modelling of Collective Behaviour in Natural and Artificial Systems.
**this scholarship for UK residents only, as defined by UKCISA regulations**
Details below! Please RT
(AI-generated image)
www.swansea.ac.uk/postgraduate...
PhD studentship! Comparative Analysis and Modelling of Collective Behaviour in Natural and Artificial Systems.
**this scholarship for UK residents only, as defined by UKCISA regulations**
Details below! Please RT
(AI-generated image)