Sarah du Plessis
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sduplessis.bsky.social
Sarah du Plessis
@sduplessis.bsky.social
190 followers 240 following 15 posts
Postdoc in EvoMorphoLab at University of Copenhagen | Carnivore population and conservation genomics | Otter specialist | She/her | @SarahduPlessi16
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Reposted by Sarah du Plessis
sagitaninta.bsky.social
Our Q&A article on inbreeding for conservation is out in BMC Biology!

We discuss some important key concepts related to inbreeding in the light of new genomic tools and what it means for conservation when we want to improve species survival.

#consgen

bmcbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....
Q&A: inbreeding and its implications for conservation - BMC Biology
Inbreeding depression plays a role in the decline, endangerment, and extinction of small populations, and thus inbreeding has received much attention in conservation biology. The term inbreeding is us...
bmcbiol.biomedcentral.com
October 22, 2025 at 6:20 AM
Reposted by Sarah du Plessis
irishrainforest.bsky.social
In Denmark if you're left-leaning or young, you're much more likely to understand that wolves are positive for ecosystems. If you're right-wing or older, the chances diminish substantially.

Why 40 wolves have shaken Danish politics.
share.google/R4cSBc5DSBgX...
Why 40 wolves have shaken Danish politics
Even this small number has sparked fierce debates over livestock and public safety in one of Europe's most intensively farmed countries
share.google
October 16, 2025 at 8:45 PM
sduplessis.bsky.social
Thanks for a brilliant visit to @amniotalab.bsky.social in @mfnberlin.bsky.social last week! Great to hear about everyones exciting projects and looking forward to working together in the future!
amniotalab.bsky.social Amniota Lab @amniotalab.bsky.social · Jul 24
Great to have @evomorpholab.bsky.social visiting us!
A fantastic few days of sharing ideas, methods, and common interests.
Looking forward to more collaboration ahead!
#EvolutionaryBiology #Paleobiology #AmniotaLab
July 28, 2025 at 8:42 AM
sduplessis.bsky.social
📣 I’m excited to be able to share our new publication! 📣 Our research on historical genomic variation 🧬 in Eurasian otters 🦦 (Lutra lutra) in Britain demonstrates the viability of hunting trophy specimens as sources of historical DNA.
doi.org/10.1007/s126...
Historical genomic variation of Eurasian otters (Lutra lutra) in Britain, from hunting trophies - Conservation Genetics Resources
Genomic data from historical specimens can provide insights into populations and processes no longer evident from modern samples. Identifying viable sources of historical DNA is key to this. Here we a...
doi.org
May 1, 2025 at 1:05 PM
Reposted by Sarah du Plessis
adamrutherford.bsky.social
Genes, money, status... and comics

New substack: I helped write @dr-appie.bsky.social's new paper about nature and nurture, genes and socio-economic status. We think it’s important and deserves a broad audience, so here it is in graphic novel format.

arutherford.substack.com/p/genes-mone...
Genes, money, status... and comics
This week we published a big paper about nature and nurture, genes and socio-economic status. We think it’s important and deserves a broad audience, so here it is in graphic novel format.
arutherford.substack.com
March 29, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Reposted by Sarah du Plessis
jazminrm.bsky.social
PhD position in bean palaeogenomics!🌱
Join our group at @hologenomics.bsky.social , U. of Copenhagen. The PhD, funded by Novo Nordisk Foundation, will study bean domestication and its coevolution with rhizobia using ancient and modern genomes.
Apply by March 16: tinyurl.com/24uzrj2f
Please share!
PhD fellowship in Evolutionary Biology at the Globe Institute
A PhD fellowship in Evolutionary Biology is being posted in the research team lead by Assistant Prof Jazmín Ramos Madrigal commencing 1 July 2025 or as soon as
tinyurl.com
February 12, 2025 at 9:59 AM
sduplessis.bsky.social
Build the bike lanes, and they will be used!
Bikeability and the induced demand for cycling - doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

Also - look at the extent of protected bike lanes in Copenhagen!
Bikeability and the induced demand for cycling | PNAS
To what extent is the volume of urban bicycle traffic affected by the provision of bicycle infrastructure? In this study, we exploit a large datase...
www.pnas.org
January 17, 2025 at 9:28 AM
Reposted by Sarah du Plessis
annamhew.bsky.social
📣 The final chapter of my PhD is now out in @evolletters.bsky.social !! 📣

🦌 Using genomic and fitness data from a long-term study of red deer we investigated the interaction between inbreeding depression and the environment (ID × E)

doi.org/10.1093/evle...
Fine-scale spatial variation in fitness, inbreeding, and inbreeding depression in a wild ungulate
Abstract. Environmental stress can exacerbate inbreeding depression by amplifying differences between inbred and outbred individuals. In wild populations,
doi.org
January 13, 2025 at 1:15 PM
sduplessis.bsky.social
Thanks to everyone who stopped to chat (even if it was just to look at our skull!) 💀🧬🐺
January 8, 2025 at 12:51 PM
sduplessis.bsky.social
Want to hear about wolf skulls? Come find my poster (hidden in the corner) at #PGG58 #PopGroup58
I can’t promise results (yet) but I do have a 3D printed skull and some cool visuals!
January 7, 2025 at 9:11 AM
Reposted by Sarah du Plessis
claudiafontsere.bsky.social
I'm super happy to share our newest preprint on whooping crane genomics 🐣🧬

🚨Persistent genomic erosion in whooping cranes despite demographic recovery🚨 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Extremely thankful to @hernmoral.bsky.social and all co-authors!
#conservationgenomics #genomics #whoopingcranes
December 17, 2024 at 3:28 PM
sduplessis.bsky.social
Guess the species? Here is a recently microCT scanned specimen from Copenhagen Zoological Museum, but can you work out what it is...
@evomorpholab.bsky.social
December 10, 2024 at 12:16 PM
Reposted by Sarah du Plessis
jmergeay.bsky.social
As expected, the downlisting of the #wolf Canis lupus at the Bern Convention Standing Committee was approved. A thread on some ins and outs. 1/

ec.europa.eu/commission/p...
EU proposal to adapt protection status of the wolf adopted by Bern Convention, paving the way to more flexibility in managing wolf populations
Today, the Standing Committee of the Bern Convention voted in favour of the EU proposal to adapt the protection status of the wolf from ‘strictly protected' to ‘protected'.
ec.europa.eu
December 3, 2024 at 2:27 PM
Reposted by Sarah du Plessis
kguschan.bsky.social
If you like genomics, speciation, and primates, this PhD position is for you! Unraveling the genomic architecture of speciation and gene flow in a crazy group of monkeys at U of Edinburgh . Do reach out with questions!
evol.mcmaster.ca/brian/evoldi...
December 1, 2024 at 8:49 PM
Reposted by Sarah du Plessis
otterproject.bsky.social
We post mortem otters found dead in Wales, England, and Scotland. If you have found a dead otter please contact the relevant organisation below:
• Wales: Natural Resources Wales 0300 0653000
• England: Environment Agency 03708 506506
• Scotland: International Otter Survival Fund 01471 822487
Infographic on "Why is it important to report dead otters?": By reporting, you are contributing to vital scientific research on otters to investigate contaminants, disease, and population population across the UK. Have you found a dead otter? Please report it as soon as possible so that, with your help, we can continue our research. Please note the time, date, and National Grid Reference or what3words. Do not touch the otter. Infographic on "What happens are you report the otter?": The agency in your area will arrange to collect the otter. The otter will then be sent to Cardiff University Otter Project for post-mortem examination. Spatial, temportal, and biotic data is recorded in our database. This is why the information you provide is so important. We are able to ask questions about patterns across the UK, change over time, and differences between groups, such as sex, age, and reproductive status. We still need otters, no matter the cause of death! Although we aim to establish the cause of death (which is vehicle collisions in >80% of cases), this is not our main purpose of a post mortem. During the examination we collect data and samples which can provide information about ecological patterns and processes in wild populations. It is important that the otter is reported as soon as it is found. The freshness of the carcass allows the Otter Project to gain fundamental information and archive more samples for future research. Infographic explaining: "What otter samples do the otter project archive and why?" Since the beginning of the project in 1994, we have archived samples to retrospectively analyse when new questions arise, new methods are developed, and when funding becomes available. These are just a few examples of the tissue samples we retain and analyse for our research: Muscle samples are used for genetic analysis including research into landscape genetics and population genetics. Recent research from the project has revealed that although otter populations have grown, genetic recovery is lagging behind, and diversity remains low. Bones are used for morphometric analysis and heavy metal analysis. A recent collaborative study was published on the plasticity of the skulls which found morphometric variation between 3 distinct genetic clusters, coinciding to different diets and climates. Liver is analysed for chemical contaminants such as heavy metals, PBDEs, PFASs, PCBs, and OCs. PFASs are a large family of persistent synthetic "forever chemicals" and sample analysis revealed that otters are effective sentinels of PFAS pollution in the environment. Furthermore, we have found that chemical contaminants such as PCBs still exceeded toxic thresholds despite legislative controls being introduced decades earlier. Samples of gut content are taken near the rectum and retained for research associated with scent analysis, diet, and parasite screening. We have evaluated the effectiveness of metabarcoding methods as a tool for analysis of prey remains from faeces. Thank you for your continued support (featuring a picture of a eurasian otter on a river bank). For any further questions or if you'd like to read the research we have published, please visit our website: www.cardiff.ac.uk/otter-project
November 28, 2024 at 4:02 PM
sduplessis.bsky.social
Thanks to our speaker, Dr Anna Loy, for yesterdays Otter Youth Circle webinar on otter species' vulnerability to climate change! Thanks to both Otter Specialist Group and the rest of the Otter Youth Circle team. Let us know if you'd like details for the next in the series...
November 28, 2024 at 3:22 PM
Reposted by Sarah du Plessis
englishse.bsky.social
4-year funded PhD: Urban green space as refuge for people and disease vectors under climate change: a double-edged sword

Very interdisciplinary (topic, approach, team): vector ecology, human behaviour; mapping and modelling!

www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

Application deadline: 6 Jan 2025 (1/2)
Scene of lake in an urban context with sunset behind
November 25, 2024 at 11:53 AM
Reposted by Sarah du Plessis
juliajones.bsky.social
Please share our
new Erasmus-funded MSc programme GLOBE (Global Change Ecology & Biodiversity Management). Scholarships include 1400 E/month stipend. Spend time in Bangor (beautiful N. Wales), Madrid, Lisbon & Mexico!
globe-master.eu
November 17, 2024 at 7:47 AM
Reposted by Sarah du Plessis
markuseichhorn.bsky.social
Who should you nominate as reviewers for your manuscript? After a long chat with a post-grad it appears that there's a lot of misguided advice out there. Thread 👇
November 22, 2024 at 11:05 AM