Mark Brown
@markjfbrown.bsky.social
Bees, ants, parasites, and pollinator conservation for work. Professor at Royal Holloway University of London. Nature, opera, fantasy novels, family, and reading for play 🐜 🐝 🦠 🏳️🌈
Early winter evenings are beautiful, but it feels like it should be time to go home, when it’s clearly not…
November 25, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Early winter evenings are beautiful, but it feels like it should be time to go home, when it’s clearly not…
An amazingly positive and hopeful story www.theguardian.com/environment/...
‘It fully changed my life!’ How young rewilders transformed a farm – and began a movement
At Maple Farm, nature is returning in droves: nightingales, grass snakes, slowworms, bats and insects. All due to the vision of a group determined to accelerate its recovery
www.theguardian.com
November 25, 2025 at 9:10 AM
An amazingly positive and hopeful story www.theguardian.com/environment/...
I work with the best and most wonderful people. Our last lab meeting @rhulbiology.bsky.social after a wonderful 17 years, and I was surprised with the most fantastic cake. As you might guess, we love 🐝
November 24, 2025 at 7:37 PM
I work with the best and most wonderful people. Our last lab meeting @rhulbiology.bsky.social after a wonderful 17 years, and I was surprised with the most fantastic cake. As you might guess, we love 🐝
Another great @rhulbiology.bsky.social PhD student conquers their viva - congratulations 🥂 @rsmehlhausenfranks.bsky.social
Big congratulations @rsmehlhausenfranks.bsky.social on passing your viva today with minor corrections. It’s been a pleasure supervising you. Thank you to the examiners @rjpheathcote.bsky.social and @markjfbrown.bsky.social! And thank you Paul Devlin and @evolecollab.bsky.social for your help too!
November 20, 2025 at 9:21 AM
Another great @rhulbiology.bsky.social PhD student conquers their viva - congratulations 🥂 @rsmehlhausenfranks.bsky.social
Brilliant new 👹🐝 discovery courtesy of the great Dr Kit Prendergast www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
New 'Lucifer' bee with devil-like horns found in Australia
The native bee was found near a rare wildflower, prompting scientists to call for the area to be protected.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 11, 2025 at 9:04 PM
Brilliant new 👹🐝 discovery courtesy of the great Dr Kit Prendergast www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Mark Brown
A paper for the #eDNA crowd, in particular those using flies for terrestrial biomonitoring. We show that massive pooling works well, reducing costs + time, bringing us a step closer to scalable terrestrial eDNA biomonitoring. doi.org/10.1002/edn3...
An Exploration of DNA Extraction Methods of Fly iDNA for Scalable Biodiversity Monitoring
Metabarcoding of invertebrate-derived DNA (iDNA) is an excellent tool for assessing terrestrial mammal diversity, but the time and costs associated with sample processing constrain its wider adoption....
doi.org
October 30, 2025 at 11:47 AM
A paper for the #eDNA crowd, in particular those using flies for terrestrial biomonitoring. We show that massive pooling works well, reducing costs + time, bringing us a step closer to scalable terrestrial eDNA biomonitoring. doi.org/10.1002/edn3...
Wonderful to see this, and a hugely deserved honour. Dave was an inspiration to students and an amazing mentor and community builder @rhulbiology.bsky.social He is sorely missed since his retirement (which is also well-deserved!)
It is wonderful to see a new genus - Morrittospora - named after @rhulbiology.bsky.social's Professor David Morritt, to mark his recent retirement and in honour of his research career which included the study of invasive species in the Thames!
Meet Morrittospora corbiculae - a newly discovered microsporidian parasite of the invasive Asian clam Corbicula fluminea in the Thames. Evidence also suggests infection spillover to declining native Unio mussels. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
October 30, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Wonderful to see this, and a hugely deserved honour. Dave was an inspiration to students and an amazing mentor and community builder @rhulbiology.bsky.social He is sorely missed since his retirement (which is also well-deserved!)
Always fun to change up the commute - heading to Kew Gardens for our @royalholloway.bsky.social @rbgkew.bsky.social collaboration committee
October 30, 2025 at 9:29 AM
Always fun to change up the commute - heading to Kew Gardens for our @royalholloway.bsky.social @rbgkew.bsky.social collaboration committee
Fantastic phenotypic plasticity - flowering blackberries in the last week of October!
October 24, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Fantastic phenotypic plasticity - flowering blackberries in the last week of October!
Reposted by Mark Brown
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!
Reposted by Mark Brown
PhD applications are now open @treesdla.bsky.social for 2026 intake. Have a look at a project on effects of forest diversity on floral reward production for pollinators that we advertise with @philstevenson.bsky.social. Do apply/get in touch if you are interested! www.trees-dla.ac.uk/projects/eff...
October 21, 2025 at 11:17 AM
PhD applications are now open @treesdla.bsky.social for 2026 intake. Have a look at a project on effects of forest diversity on floral reward production for pollinators that we advertise with @philstevenson.bsky.social. Do apply/get in touch if you are interested! www.trees-dla.ac.uk/projects/eff...
Reposted by Mark Brown
🎵 The woods are alive with amazing fungi 🍄🟫 #WildWebsWednesday
October 15, 2025 at 11:25 AM
🎵 The woods are alive with amazing fungi 🍄🟫 #WildWebsWednesday
Reposted by Mark Brown
Lovely footage of some mammals at @royalholloway.bsky.social campus captured by one of @rhulbiology.bsky.social students as part of their final year research project 🦡 🦌 www.linkedin.com/posts/royal-...
What's that in the woodlands? 🦡
It's not just students, staff and the local community who enjoy the greenery and scenery of our Egham campus.
We're lucky to have been sent this footage b...
What's that in the woodlands? 🦡
It's not just students, staff and the local community who enjoy the greenery and scenery of our Egham campus.
We're lucky to have been sent this footage by one of our...
www.linkedin.com
October 15, 2025 at 11:56 AM
Lovely footage of some mammals at @royalholloway.bsky.social campus captured by one of @rhulbiology.bsky.social students as part of their final year research project 🦡 🦌 www.linkedin.com/posts/royal-...
Reposted by Mark Brown
Postdoc Opportunity - Interested in plant scaling, quantitative botany, or theoretical plant biology? join our group to explore how plant form, function & scaling principles connect across levels of organization
www.simonsfoundation.org/grant/simons-postdoctoral-fellowships-in-plant-biology🧪🌾🌐
www.simonsfoundation.org/grant/simons-postdoctoral-fellowships-in-plant-biology🧪🌾🌐
Simons Postdoctoral Fellowships in Plant Biology
Simons Postdoctoral Fellowships in Plant Biology on Simons Foundation
www.simonsfoundation.org
October 14, 2025 at 12:27 PM
Postdoc Opportunity - Interested in plant scaling, quantitative botany, or theoretical plant biology? join our group to explore how plant form, function & scaling principles connect across levels of organization
www.simonsfoundation.org/grant/simons-postdoctoral-fellowships-in-plant-biology🧪🌾🌐
www.simonsfoundation.org/grant/simons-postdoctoral-fellowships-in-plant-biology🧪🌾🌐
Always nice to have an excuse for a lab lunch off campus - thanks @morganmorrison73.bsky.social
October 14, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Always nice to have an excuse for a lab lunch off campus - thanks @morganmorrison73.bsky.social
Reposted by Mark Brown
Research assistant + postdoc position on a NERC funded project working w @darrenobbard.bsky.social and collaborating with @savebutterflies.bsky.social on the ecological and evolutionary drivers of the virome of UK moths @uniexecec.bsky.social. Descriptions below and links here benlongdon.com/join/
October 7, 2025 at 2:47 PM
Research assistant + postdoc position on a NERC funded project working w @darrenobbard.bsky.social and collaborating with @savebutterflies.bsky.social on the ecological and evolutionary drivers of the virome of UK moths @uniexecec.bsky.social. Descriptions below and links here benlongdon.com/join/
Reposted by Mark Brown
UPDATE: The 2025-2026 list of faculty and postdoc positions in ecology and evolutionary biology is out! Be sure to check out this active and helpful community run resources! docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
ecoevojobs.net 2025-26
docs.google.com
September 19, 2025 at 9:47 PM
UPDATE: The 2025-2026 list of faculty and postdoc positions in ecology and evolutionary biology is out! Be sure to check out this active and helpful community run resources! docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
Apple robots at work @restpoll.bsky.social
October 8, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Apple robots at work @restpoll.bsky.social
Industrial apple washing @restpoll.bsky.social
October 8, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Industrial apple washing @restpoll.bsky.social
Pink Lady apples in smart fresh storage - they can keep for a year in this low oxygen low temperature environment - this is one way we have apples in supermarkets all year round
October 8, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Pink Lady apples in smart fresh storage - they can keep for a year in this low oxygen low temperature environment - this is one way we have apples in supermarkets all year round
The Cambridge crew living their best lives and enjoying the @restpoll.bsky.social 🍎 🍏 production tour @camzoology.bsky.social @zoologymuseum.bsky.social @globalfoodcamb.bsky.social
October 8, 2025 at 2:05 PM
The Cambridge crew living their best lives and enjoying the @restpoll.bsky.social 🍎 🍏 production tour @camzoology.bsky.social @zoologymuseum.bsky.social @globalfoodcamb.bsky.social
Fascinating to learn about the integration of biodiversity with apple production in Spain as part of the RestPoll Living Labs @restpoll.bsky.social AGM
October 8, 2025 at 12:16 PM
Fascinating to learn about the integration of biodiversity with apple production in Spain as part of the RestPoll Living Labs @restpoll.bsky.social AGM
Reposted by Mark Brown
@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.