Will Oestreich
@will-oestreich.bsky.social
US NSF postdoc at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
Incoming Group Leader at University of Zurich (www.woestreich.com)
I explore the ecology of collective behavior in dynamic ecosystems.
Posts about ecology, evolution, waves, music, etc.
Incoming Group Leader at University of Zurich (www.woestreich.com)
I explore the ecology of collective behavior in dynamic ecosystems.
Posts about ecology, evolution, waves, music, etc.
Reposted by Will Oestreich
INVITED IDEA:
Integrating space, time, and culture in animal conservation practice
#AnimalBehavior #AnimalCulture #ConservationInterventions
doi.org/10.1093/behe...
Integrating space, time, and culture in animal conservation practice
#AnimalBehavior #AnimalCulture #ConservationInterventions
doi.org/10.1093/behe...
November 25, 2025 at 12:23 PM
INVITED IDEA:
Integrating space, time, and culture in animal conservation practice
#AnimalBehavior #AnimalCulture #ConservationInterventions
doi.org/10.1093/behe...
Integrating space, time, and culture in animal conservation practice
#AnimalBehavior #AnimalCulture #ConservationInterventions
doi.org/10.1093/behe...
Reposted by Will Oestreich
🧵1/9 There are 35,000+ fish species, but we have formal social-behaviour classifications for a tiny fraction. Most knowledge lives in the experience of researchers, fishers, divers, aquarists, naturalists, and Indigenous communities, but almost none of it is centralised. So we built ShoalBase.org.
ShoalBase | Join, Explore, Contribute Now
ShoalBase offers a global database on fish social behaviour, supporting research, conservation, and ecology through community contributions and visual data mapping.
ShoalBase.org
November 25, 2025 at 1:11 PM
🧵1/9 There are 35,000+ fish species, but we have formal social-behaviour classifications for a tiny fraction. Most knowledge lives in the experience of researchers, fishers, divers, aquarists, naturalists, and Indigenous communities, but almost none of it is centralised. So we built ShoalBase.org.
Reposted by Will Oestreich
Great presentation today by Melissa Chapman on 'Designing equitable strategies to meet global conservation and restoration targets' in the IED Seminar at ETH Zürich @milliechapman.bsky.social @usyseth.bsky.social
Homepage Environmental Policy Lab: epl.ethz.ch
Homepage Environmental Policy Lab: epl.ethz.ch
November 20, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Great presentation today by Melissa Chapman on 'Designing equitable strategies to meet global conservation and restoration targets' in the IED Seminar at ETH Zürich @milliechapman.bsky.social @usyseth.bsky.social
Homepage Environmental Policy Lab: epl.ethz.ch
Homepage Environmental Policy Lab: epl.ethz.ch
Final version is now online and open access!
"Integrating space, time, and culture in animal conservation practice"
w/ Dawn Barlow & @taylorhersh.bsky.social
🧪
"Integrating space, time, and culture in animal conservation practice"
w/ Dawn Barlow & @taylorhersh.bsky.social
🧪
What role(s) can non-human animal culture play in conservation? Much has been written on this topic in recent years, but Dawn Barlow, Taylor Hersh, & I offer some new perspectives: "Integrating space, time, and culture in animal conservation practice" @behavecol.bsky.social
tinyurl.com/bdfe9k3j
tinyurl.com/bdfe9k3j
Integrating space, time, and culture in animal conservation practice
Recent theoretical integration of the spatiotemporal and cultural elements of animal behavior has led to increasing calls to incorporate animal culture int
academic.oup.com
November 18, 2025 at 9:57 AM
Final version is now online and open access!
"Integrating space, time, and culture in animal conservation practice"
w/ Dawn Barlow & @taylorhersh.bsky.social
🧪
"Integrating space, time, and culture in animal conservation practice"
w/ Dawn Barlow & @taylorhersh.bsky.social
🧪
Reposted by Will Oestreich
2. The norm of reference letters creates massive power asymmetry btw faculty and PhDs/postdocs. We want people to speak out about toxic PIs, but we tie their hands by supporting the norm of reference letters
Every other sector does without such letters. We should too
Every other sector does without such letters. We should too
November 14, 2025 at 9:30 PM
2. The norm of reference letters creates massive power asymmetry btw faculty and PhDs/postdocs. We want people to speak out about toxic PIs, but we tie their hands by supporting the norm of reference letters
Every other sector does without such letters. We should too
Every other sector does without such letters. We should too
Reposted by Will Oestreich
Let me use this as an opportunity to talk about Jordi et al's very cool paper, now out in PNAS 🧪:
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
You can read our news and views here: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
You can read our news and views here: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
November 13, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Let me use this as an opportunity to talk about Jordi et al's very cool paper, now out in PNAS 🧪:
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
You can read our news and views here: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
You can read our news and views here: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Reposted by Will Oestreich
Vocal convergence during formation of social relationships in vampire bats royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
Vocal convergence during formation of social relationships in vampire bats | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
In many group-living birds and mammals, the formation of affiliative relationships is hypothesized to cause vocal convergence (an increase in call similarity between individuals). However, testing this causal effect can be difficult, because it requires ...
royalsocietypublishing.org
November 13, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Vocal convergence during formation of social relationships in vampire bats royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
Reposted by Will Oestreich
Watson and Crick elucidated the structure of DNA. Stop saying that they discovered DNA! This was done by another guy you probably haven't heard of! And therein lies a story. academic.oup.com/genetics/art...
Before Watson and Crick in 1953 Came Friedrich Miescher in 1869
Abstract. The story of genetics typically omits the original discovery of the molecular nature of DNA: Friedrich Miescher's 1869 discovery of the substance
academic.oup.com
November 8, 2025 at 7:54 AM
Watson and Crick elucidated the structure of DNA. Stop saying that they discovered DNA! This was done by another guy you probably haven't heard of! And therein lies a story. academic.oup.com/genetics/art...
Reposted by Will Oestreich
🧪📍🌊 🦑🍎 @mbarinews.bsky.social is now accepting applications for our 30th summer internship program www.mbari.org/about/career...
Internships • MBARI
Applications for the 2026 MBARI Summer Internship program will open in fall 2025. This 10-week internship allows college students and educators to work on a research or outreach project at MBARI.
www.mbari.org
October 30, 2025 at 11:29 AM
🧪📍🌊 🦑🍎 @mbarinews.bsky.social is now accepting applications for our 30th summer internship program www.mbari.org/about/career...
Reposted by Will Oestreich
Happy to say one of my dissertation projects was accepted for publication in Movement Ecology!
We evolved small neural controllers to show how forager perception (visual v. tactile) and target signals generate different movement patterns during pursuit.
Pre-print: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We evolved small neural controllers to show how forager perception (visual v. tactile) and target signals generate different movement patterns during pursuit.
Pre-print: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
November 3, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Happy to say one of my dissertation projects was accepted for publication in Movement Ecology!
We evolved small neural controllers to show how forager perception (visual v. tactile) and target signals generate different movement patterns during pursuit.
Pre-print: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We evolved small neural controllers to show how forager perception (visual v. tactile) and target signals generate different movement patterns during pursuit.
Pre-print: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
What role(s) can non-human animal culture play in conservation? Much has been written on this topic in recent years, but Dawn Barlow, Taylor Hersh, & I offer some new perspectives: "Integrating space, time, and culture in animal conservation practice" @behavecol.bsky.social
tinyurl.com/bdfe9k3j
tinyurl.com/bdfe9k3j
Integrating space, time, and culture in animal conservation practice
Recent theoretical integration of the spatiotemporal and cultural elements of animal behavior has led to increasing calls to incorporate animal culture int
academic.oup.com
November 3, 2025 at 11:07 AM
What role(s) can non-human animal culture play in conservation? Much has been written on this topic in recent years, but Dawn Barlow, Taylor Hersh, & I offer some new perspectives: "Integrating space, time, and culture in animal conservation practice" @behavecol.bsky.social
tinyurl.com/bdfe9k3j
tinyurl.com/bdfe9k3j
Lucky to have spent a couple of hours with this Tamandua the other day. They have a unique grace in moving through dense foliage, fascinating to watch
October 27, 2025 at 12:51 PM
Lucky to have spent a couple of hours with this Tamandua the other day. They have a unique grace in moving through dense foliage, fascinating to watch
This was a fascinating, uncomfortable episode!
Many fear that AI companions will lead to widespread social "deskilling," particularly in young people. But could we harness these bots for "upskilling" instead?
Just one of the topics discussed in our latest episode, w/ Dr. Henry Shevlin!
Listen: disi.org/the-age-of-s...
Just one of the topics discussed in our latest episode, w/ Dr. Henry Shevlin!
Listen: disi.org/the-age-of-s...
October 16, 2025 at 3:36 PM
This was a fascinating, uncomfortable episode!
Reposted by Will Oestreich
Whoa! New predator-prey interaction just dropped!
Scientists suspected that Europe’s largest bats snack on migrating songbirds when they can, but a stunning newly published observation proves it
Bat vs. Robin—Scientists Capture Real-Life Audio of Midair Hunt
Scientists suspected that Europe’s largest bats snack on migrating songbirds when they can, but a stunning newly published observation proves it
www.scientificamerican.com
October 10, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Whoa! New predator-prey interaction just dropped!
I dislike using social media to dunk on science, but it's appropriate to call out deeply misguided opinions published in our most-read journals. "human ingenuity is expressed through the machines we create." An incredibly & disturbingly narrow perception of humanity's collective ingenuity.
Lol the Nobels can't even acknowledge women's contribution to discovery. But sure let's acknowledge The Machines.
October 10, 2025 at 4:12 PM
I dislike using social media to dunk on science, but it's appropriate to call out deeply misguided opinions published in our most-read journals. "human ingenuity is expressed through the machines we create." An incredibly & disturbingly narrow perception of humanity's collective ingenuity.
Very interesting paper and a very informative thread
This is an awe-inspiring and fascinating study that I thoroughly enjoyed reading. However, the overall framing in terms of "innate versus learned” is unnecessary. The innate versus acquired dichotomy is outdated and has been for a long time. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Learned use of an innate sound-meaning association in birds - Nature Ecology & Evolution
Over 20 species of geographically and phylogenetically diverse bird species produce convergent whining vocalizations towards their respective brood parasites. Model presentation and playback experiments across multiple continents suggest that these learned calls provoke an innate response even among allopatric species.
www.nature.com
October 9, 2025 at 12:27 AM
Very interesting paper and a very informative thread
Reposted by Will Oestreich
🦅PhD position 🦅 in my new group at @fbm-unil.bsky.social in Switzerland, studying how the social and resource landscapes shape the learning process for soaring flight. Deadline: Oct 30. Pls repost! career5.successfactors.eu/career?caree...
October 6, 2025 at 5:56 AM
🦅PhD position 🦅 in my new group at @fbm-unil.bsky.social in Switzerland, studying how the social and resource landscapes shape the learning process for soaring flight. Deadline: Oct 30. Pls repost! career5.successfactors.eu/career?caree...
Reposted by Will Oestreich
⭐PhD position available!⭐
Come join us @imprs-qbee.bsky.social to study communication and collective behavior in animal groups! We're looking for someone excited to use computational approaches to tackle biological questions, using our full-group tracking datasets
imprs-qbee.mpg.de/121465/analy...
Come join us @imprs-qbee.bsky.social to study communication and collective behavior in animal groups! We're looking for someone excited to use computational approaches to tackle biological questions, using our full-group tracking datasets
imprs-qbee.mpg.de/121465/analy...
Analysis of communication and collective behavior in animal groups
imprs-qbee.mpg.de
October 3, 2025 at 7:40 AM
⭐PhD position available!⭐
Come join us @imprs-qbee.bsky.social to study communication and collective behavior in animal groups! We're looking for someone excited to use computational approaches to tackle biological questions, using our full-group tracking datasets
imprs-qbee.mpg.de/121465/analy...
Come join us @imprs-qbee.bsky.social to study communication and collective behavior in animal groups! We're looking for someone excited to use computational approaches to tackle biological questions, using our full-group tracking datasets
imprs-qbee.mpg.de/121465/analy...
Reposted by Will Oestreich
At the 26th annual Roger Revelle Commemorative Lecture, MBARI’s Chris Scholin explored how robotics and AI are revolutionizing marine science and emphasized why developing technology and maintaining a persistent presence are critical to understanding our changing ocean: bit.ly/oceanography...
October 1, 2025 at 8:19 PM
At the 26th annual Roger Revelle Commemorative Lecture, MBARI’s Chris Scholin explored how robotics and AI are revolutionizing marine science and emphasized why developing technology and maintaining a persistent presence are critical to understanding our changing ocean: bit.ly/oceanography...
Reposted by Will Oestreich
Take note, repost far and wide. The Dechmann Lab are hiring ✨
PhD Alert! 😍 Our lab is hiring a PhD student to study how shrews shrink in winter and grow in spring. Yes, you read that right!
tinyurl.com/shrinkingshr...
Join us at the @mpi-animalbehav.bsky.social, study a super cool animal, and join the @imprs-qbee.bsky.social community!
DM me for questions!
tinyurl.com/shrinkingshr...
Join us at the @mpi-animalbehav.bsky.social, study a super cool animal, and join the @imprs-qbee.bsky.social community!
DM me for questions!
Seasonal size change and aging in shrews
imprs-qbee.mpg.de
September 29, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Take note, repost far and wide. The Dechmann Lab are hiring ✨
Reposted by Will Oestreich
this matters because 'AI', like any technology, is designed, owned, operated by companies that make choices.
In other tech - iPhones, TikTok - we quickly attribute design choices to specific companies. But we still discuss "AI" as if it was some disembodied discovery, more uranium than software.
In other tech - iPhones, TikTok - we quickly attribute design choices to specific companies. But we still discuss "AI" as if it was some disembodied discovery, more uranium than software.
September 28, 2025 at 8:07 PM
this matters because 'AI', like any technology, is designed, owned, operated by companies that make choices.
In other tech - iPhones, TikTok - we quickly attribute design choices to specific companies. But we still discuss "AI" as if it was some disembodied discovery, more uranium than software.
In other tech - iPhones, TikTok - we quickly attribute design choices to specific companies. But we still discuss "AI" as if it was some disembodied discovery, more uranium than software.
Reposted by Will Oestreich
New article out in Geo: Geography and Environment with an interdisciplinary dream team of coauthors: “From maps to models: Participation and contestability in the dynamic management of natural resources.”
doi.org/10.1002/geo2... (open access)
doi.org/10.1002/geo2... (open access)
September 27, 2025 at 12:22 PM
New article out in Geo: Geography and Environment with an interdisciplinary dream team of coauthors: “From maps to models: Participation and contestability in the dynamic management of natural resources.”
doi.org/10.1002/geo2... (open access)
doi.org/10.1002/geo2... (open access)
Reposted by Will Oestreich
I get that the news cycle is packed right now, but I just heard from a colleague at the Smithsonian that this is fully a GIANT SQUID BEING EATEN BY A SPERM WHALE and it’s possibly the first ever confirmed video according to a friend at NOAA
10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)
10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)
September 24, 2025 at 8:30 PM
I get that the news cycle is packed right now, but I just heard from a colleague at the Smithsonian that this is fully a GIANT SQUID BEING EATEN BY A SPERM WHALE and it’s possibly the first ever confirmed video according to a friend at NOAA
10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)
10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)
Sperm whale echolocation loud & clear on the @mbarinews.bsky.social hydrophone live stream right now!
www.mbari.org/project/soun...
Amazing to have live audio from the deep sea streaming online... & this long-term data enabling discoveries about these cryptic animals' lives tinyurl.com/58a5jefp
www.mbari.org/project/soun...
Amazing to have live audio from the deep sea streaming online... & this long-term data enabling discoveries about these cryptic animals' lives tinyurl.com/58a5jefp
Soundscape Listening Room • MBARI
Access a live stream and a library of sounds recorded using a hydrophone (underwater microphone) off the Central California coast.
www.mbari.org
September 23, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Sperm whale echolocation loud & clear on the @mbarinews.bsky.social hydrophone live stream right now!
www.mbari.org/project/soun...
Amazing to have live audio from the deep sea streaming online... & this long-term data enabling discoveries about these cryptic animals' lives tinyurl.com/58a5jefp
www.mbari.org/project/soun...
Amazing to have live audio from the deep sea streaming online... & this long-term data enabling discoveries about these cryptic animals' lives tinyurl.com/58a5jefp
Reposted by Will Oestreich
We're hiring! My lab is seeking a 2-yr Postdoc in 🌊 marine ecology + 🛰️ remote sensing. You'll work with a big team (including @albertruhi.bsky.social @cgerleinsafdi.bsky.social) to study the impacts of changing rainfall on marine freshwater plumes + coastal organisms. aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF05114
Postdoc Scholar - Marine ecology – ESPM The Coastal Climate Resilience Lab - MCECO - ESPM Ecosystem Sciences Div - Carlson Lab
University of California, Berkeley is hiring. Apply now!
aprecruit.berkeley.edu
September 22, 2025 at 11:58 PM
We're hiring! My lab is seeking a 2-yr Postdoc in 🌊 marine ecology + 🛰️ remote sensing. You'll work with a big team (including @albertruhi.bsky.social @cgerleinsafdi.bsky.social) to study the impacts of changing rainfall on marine freshwater plumes + coastal organisms. aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF05114