Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Ashleigh Griffin @asgriffin.bsky.social · 9h

Luckily Greta had my Uncle James on her team 🫶 www.sundaypost.com/fp/jim-griff...

Meet the Scots pensioner keeping the Gaza aid flotilla sailing

The retired marine engineer was only supposed to be in Barcelona to help prepare boats travelling as part of the international aid mission.

www.sundaypost.com

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Ashleigh Griffin @asgriffin.bsky.social · 2d

Just finished another year of LS8 panel duty for @erc.europa.eu CoG awards. Well done to everyone who applied. Even the task of putting something together for one of these is a huge achievement. 💪🏼 Ecology and Evolution is alive and kicking in Europe!

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Ashleigh Griffin @asgriffin.bsky.social · 2d

Exciting delivery waiting on my doorstep today! Thank you, @joanstrassmann.bsky.social

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Ashleigh Griffin @asgriffin.bsky.social · 22d

Join us in our swanky new pad... @biology.ox.ac.uk www.biology.ox.ac.uk/article/we-a...

We are hiring! Oxford biology has three associate professorships available as we move to new state-of-the-art facilities

www.biology.ox.ac.uk

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Ashleigh Griffin @asgriffin.bsky.social · 22d

Thats brilliant! Congratulations Rachel!

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Reposted by Ashleigh Griffin

Journal of Evolutionary Biology @jevbio.bsky.social · Aug 11

We will be in the exhibition hall @eseb2025.bsky.social!

✅ Meet our editors
✅ Support your society journal

@agonzalezvoyer.bsky.social @maxreuter.bsky.social @ebablab.bsky.social @vakirlis.bsky.social @arnaudlerouzic.bsky.social @francescaraffini.bsky.social @masahitotsuboi.bsky.social

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Ashleigh Griffin @asgriffin.bsky.social · Aug 22

This is wonderful news. Congratulations Cait and Salma!

Oxford Biology @biology.ox.ac.uk · Aug 22

We're delighted that Dr Cait Newport and Dr Salma Akter have been awarded Royal Society University Research Fellowships

Cait will explore how fishes navigate in turbid water, while Salma will explore how plants respond to environmental stresses like drought and flooding 👇
bit.ly/4mQ6nDL

Cait Newport and Salma Akter awarded Royal Society University Research Fellowships

bit.ly

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Reposted by Ashleigh Griffin

Erik Postma @erikpostma.bsky.social · Aug 22

With #eseb2025 coming to a close, it is time to start making plans for 2026. Interested in the interface of evolution 🧬 and ecology 🌳? Come to our #ExE conference hosted by @uniexecec.bsky.social in beautiful #Cornwall. Leave your email address at tinyurl.com/EvolxEcol to join our mailing list!

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Ashleigh Griffin @asgriffin.bsky.social · Aug 22

Wit, warmth and charm in presidential address from fellow Dundonian and Edinburgh alumnus Mike Ritchie. (Lovely shout-out to Aubrey Manning) Perfect ending to @eseb2025.bsky.social Support your society journal! @jevbio.bsky.social @journal-evo.bsky.social @evolletters.bsky.social

Mike Ritchie at podium in front of Alice showing St Andrews seascape

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Ashleigh Griffin @asgriffin.bsky.social · Aug 22

Evidence that lifestyle drives genome fluidity from @annadewar.bsky.social today. Keeping everyone going on last day of @eseb2025.bsky.social! Great talk Anna!

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Ashleigh Griffin @asgriffin.bsky.social · Aug 21

Brilliant plenary today from Carrisa de Bekker @zombieantdoc.bsky.social at @eseb.bsky.social conference. On her work funded by @erc.europa.eu CoG. Great example of inter-disciplinary collaboration to solve a mystery..

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Stu West @stuwest.bsky.social · Jul 24

Where are mycorrhizal fungi and are the protected? (spoiler alert - no, they aren't) www.nature.com/articles/s41... @tobykiers.bsky.social

Global hotspots of mycorrhizal fungal richness are poorly protected - Nature

Machine-learning algorithms trained on 25,000 geolocated soil samples are used to create high-resolution global maps of mycorrhizal fungi, revealing that less than 10% of their biodiversity hotspots a...

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Ashleigh Griffin

Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN) @spun.earth · Jul 23

Who lives underground?

Find out now in our new paper published in @nature.com.

Key finding: 90% of predicted mycorrhizal biodiversity hotspots lie outside protected areas.

Read here: buff.ly/WmDqAP3 🧵

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Reposted by Ashleigh Griffin

Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN) @spun.earth · Jul 25

SPUN is featured in @science.org in a piece written by @humbertobasilio.bsky.social. Learn where some of the most unique fungal communities exist, such as West Africa’s Guinean forests, Tasmania’s temperate rainforests, and Brazil’s Cerrado savanna.

Read here: www.science.org/content/arti...

Most of Earth’s critical underground fungus is unprotected

First global map of mushrooms that form beneficial relationships with plant roots reveals 90% live outside of conservation areas

www.science.org

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Reposted by Ashleigh Griffin

Stu West @stuwest.bsky.social · Jun 27

3/3 Funding for the workshop provided by iTHEMS & JSPS. @asgriffin.bsky.social and I used the exercises from 'Scientific Papers Made Easy' with @queensoxbiology.bsky.social: global.oup.com/academic/pro...

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Reposted by Ashleigh Griffin

Stu West @stuwest.bsky.social · Jun 27

2/3 Some great science posters by attendees, plus a superb online lecture by @tatsuya-amano.bsky.social‬ on language barriers in scientific communication - both the challenges and the solutions. Link for a previous talk he gave at ‪@linneansociety.bsky.social‬: www.youtube.com/watch?v=DS08...

One-Way Mirror in the Room: How Language Barriers Impede Conservation | Tatsuya Amano

YouTube video by Linnean Society

www.youtube.com

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Reposted by Ashleigh Griffin

Stu West @stuwest.bsky.social · Jun 27

1/3 I was just lucky enough to get to do a couple of sessions on scientific writing in a DEI & Writing Workshop at Riken, Tokyo. Huge thank you to @ryosukeiritani.bsky.social for organising such an open and supportive workshop, and all the attendees for being so engaged and interactive.

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Ashleigh Griffin @asgriffin.bsky.social · Jun 27

The scientific writing sessions were run with @stuwest.bsky.social and based on his and Lindsay Turnbull @queensoxbiology.bsky.social book - "Scientific paper writing made easy" by @oupacademic.bsky.social

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Ashleigh Griffin @asgriffin.bsky.social · Jun 27

The DEI workshop session I ran was based on an interactive format that I designed with the wonderful Amy Hinks of the EDU @ox.ac.uk. Please get in touch if you would like to swap tips about how best to run something like this. I'd love to hear from you.

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Ashleigh Griffin @asgriffin.bsky.social · Jun 27

Thank you to everyone attending the "Writing and DEI Workshop" at RIKENS, organized by @ryosukeiritani.bsky.social. Gender equality in STEM is a global issue and we need to share our experiences and learn from one another. Thank you for sharing your stories and enthusiasm! 🙏 and @ITHEms, @JSPS 🇯🇵❤️

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Ashleigh Griffin @asgriffin.bsky.social · Jun 23

Read about Jun’s incredible work solving melitobia’s mysteries here: www.pnas.org/doi/pdf/10.1...

PNAS

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...

www.pnas.org

Ashleigh Griffin @asgriffin.bsky.social · Jun 23

Family field trip with Jun Abe 🫶to trap parasitoids and wolbachia-infected butterflies on Kyushu Island. Hard to imagine science being more fun. Big thank you to Kanagawa University and JSPS Kakenhai for supporting the trip; Ethan and Olive for doing most of the catching! 👐💛 @stuwest.bsky.social

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Reposted by Ashleigh Griffin

Rob Heathcote @rjpheathcote.bsky.social · Jun 13

🐠💥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...

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Reposted by Ashleigh Griffin

The Royal Society @royalsociety.org · Jun 13

In his #ParentCarerScientist case study, Professor Ben Sheldon FRS talks about navigating crises at home and at work, and why it's important for leaders to set an example when it comes to balancing work with caring responsibilities: #CarersWeek #AndAScientist royalsociety.org/about-us/who...

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Ashleigh Griffin @asgriffin.bsky.social · Jun 14

Thank you to our host, Hisashi Ohtsuki at the Research Centre for Integrative Evolutionary Science, SOKENDAI, for hosting us this week. We felt so welcome and loved hearing about your work. (And learning to make okonomiyaki!) @stuwest.bsky.social

Ryosuke Iritani, Stuart West, Ashleigh Griffin, Hisashi Ohtsuki

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