Brandon Samuel Whitley
@brandonswhitley.bsky.social
1.1K followers 920 following 110 posts
PhD Fellow in Arctic plant diversity 🌿🌼 & pollination networks 🪰🐝, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen 🇩🇰. APECS❄️. Graduate of Erasmus Mundus Master Programme in Evolutionary Biology (🇸🇪🇫🇷🇩🇪🇳🇴). 🇨🇦🏳️‍🌈 Born @360ppm. Fieldwork in Greenland 🇬🇱.
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Reposted by Brandon Samuel Whitley
boldsystems.bsky.social
Do you use R and the Barcode of Life Data (BOLD) Systems?

🎉 BOLDconnectR is now on CRAN!

BOLDconnectR makes it easy to retrieve, transform, and analyze BOLD data—all in the Barcode Core Data Model (BCDM) format.

#RStats #OpenSource #DNAbarcoding #ResearchInnovation
brandonswhitley.bsky.social
Years ago during my BSc at @utrechtuniversity.bsky.social I had the honour of meeting Dr. Jane Goodall, one of my greatest role models in conservation. She has inspired countless people in countless ways to become more engaged with the incredible diversity on our planet. She will be globally missed.
Reposted by Brandon Samuel Whitley
ergabiodiv.bsky.social
#ERGAReads | A new statistic (IDrisk) to quantify how long runs of homozygosity (ROHs) and heterozygosity in non-ROH regions can be used to predict the risk of inbreeding depression in a population.
🔗 www.cell.com/trends/ecolo...

#conservation #genomics #inbreeding @sandiegozoo.bsky.social
Reposted by Brandon Samuel Whitley
nanitundra.bsky.social
🌲 Boreal-tundra species drive Arctic plant borealization 🌲

Our new study in #EcologyLetters quantifies tundra plant borealization, assesses its main drivers and identifies the species & traits contributing to borealization.

doi.org/10.1111/ele....

🧵 (1/6) 🌐🧪🌱🌍
Illustration of a branch of Betula glandulosa (Resin birch). Illustration by Alberto S. Ballesteros (@asbillustration.bsky.social).
Reposted by Brandon Samuel Whitley
iaptglobal.bsky.social
IAPT Webinar Series: Sharing taxonomic data with biodiversity and nomenclature databases! Join us on October 22nd to celebrate the International Day of Climate Action and World Sustainability Day! 🪸🍄🌸🎉 @barbarathiers.bsky.social @pjimmej.bsky.social @isabellarridon.bsky.social
Reposted by Brandon Samuel Whitley
niooknaw.bsky.social
We are looking for a postdoc for to use historical plant distribution data to investigate effects of urbanisation on plant species. Do you have a PhD in plant ecology, strong data handling and analysis skills, and a curious mindset? Respond by 26 September: nioo.knaw.nl/en/vacancies...
Postdoc: Effects of urbanisation on plant distributions
For a KNAW funded project we are looking for a postdoc to execute a pilot project on the use of historical plant distribution data to investigate effects of urbanisation on plant species. Based on ava...
nioo.knaw.nl
brandonswhitley.bsky.social
🚨New paper! Lead author Tiago Silva from @uni-graz.at worked with an interdisciplinary team to explore how bio-climatic indicators can be used to understand drivers of ecosystem change in Kalaallit Nunaat Greenland 🇬🇱. Check out our paper - link below! #Greenland

bg.copernicus.org/articles/22/...
Bio-climatic factors drive spectral vegetation changes in Greenland
Abstract. Terrestrial ecosystems (ice-free areas) in Greenland have undergone significant changes over the past decades, affecting biodiversity. Changes in near-surface air temperature and precipitati...
bg.copernicus.org
Reposted by Brandon Samuel Whitley
society4conbio.bsky.social
The 8th European Congress for Conservation Biology will take place in Leiden, NL! They will explore how #biodiversity can be safeguarded effectively in the long term. First call is open now! Check out: eccb26leiden.eu/calls/ for more info, we are looking forward to your contributions!
Reposted by Brandon Samuel Whitley
natalieahlstrand.bsky.social
A wonderful opportunity for a fully funded #PhD position in collections-based research at Natural History Musuem Denmark @nhmdk.bsky.social

Reach out if interested in a PhD project in #peatland #sedges, #aquatic plants, or #ferns! 🌿🍂🌾

#globalchange #eco-evo

employment.ku.dk/phd/?show=16...
PhD fellowship in collection-based Natural History Research
employment.ku.dk
brandonswhitley.bsky.social
Check out the Polar Early Career World Summit Synthesis Report, a summary of the input from 238 early career researchers. We were invited to co-create shared priorities relating to polar research planning, generating ideas leading up to the Fifth International Polar Year.

zenodo.org/records/1699...
Polar Early Career World Summit Synthesis Report
This report presents the synthesized priorities of polar early career community members, gathered from the Polar Early Career World Summit (PECWS) and multiple modes of online engagement before and af...
zenodo.org
brandonswhitley.bsky.social
It was a pleasure to attend the EcoNet2025: VII Symposium on Ecological Networks, hosted by the School of Natural and Environmental Sciences at Newcastle University, United Kingdom. My talk was titled ‘Tundra in Bloom: Pollination Network Properties Across (Southwestern) Kalaallit Nunaat Greenland’.
Reposted by Brandon Samuel Whitley
mariadance.bsky.social
Publication alert 🚨 doi.org/10.1111/mec.... Our new study in Molecular Ecology shows dwarf birch genetic diversity has been shaped by shifting ice sheets and climate transitions over the last 2.6 million years. This history may hold clues to how tundra shrubs face today’s rapid climate change ❄️🌱🧬🌡️
brandonswhitley.bsky.social
In the dead of night, the podocarp forest of Zealandia Te Māra a Tāne is full of the piercing calls of Kiwi Pukupuku little spotted kiwis (Apteryx owenii) emerging from their burrows. We were very lucky to get to see 3! While only 2100 individuals remain, protected populations are slowly growing.
brandonswhitley.bsky.social
Their population growth at sites like these is a major success story in the often stark realities of the conservation world, and offers hopeful and evidence based results to the value of conservation work.
brandonswhitley.bsky.social
Today there are an estimated 10,000 Kākā, most of which thrive on offshore islands around the mainland where no predators have reached (or where they have been eradicated), and some now on the mainland in and around key predator exclusion sites like the Zealandia Te Māra a Tāne Eco-Sanctuary.
brandonswhitley.bsky.social
While predation by invasive mammal (especially stoat) and land use change significantly reduced their population size, the species has shown remarkable recoverability when mammals are excluded from their habitat.
brandonswhitley.bsky.social
The Kākā (Nestor meridionalis) is one of mainland Aotearoa New Zealand’s three endemic parrots.They are critical pollinators of endemic plant species such as Kōwhai and Rātā. With their beaks, they also strip bark off trees to access grubs, or to tap into rich sap resources in some tree species.
Reposted by Brandon Samuel Whitley
dinobiancolini.bsky.social
So excited to share our massive review on #alienspecies, now published! It was an honor to collaborate with a team of 65 authors on this project. We show how #biologicalinvasions are accelerating globally and what we still need to learn to halt them. 👾
#BiologicalReviews #Ecology #IPBES
Biological invasions: a global assessment of geographic distributions, long‐term trends, and data gaps
Biological invasions are one of the major drivers of biodiversity decline and have been shown to have far-reaching consequences for society and the economy. Preventing the introduction and spread of ....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Reposted by Brandon Samuel Whitley
society4conbio.bsky.social
SCB’s 2025 Graduate Student Research Awards are open!
Ten $1,000 grants for grad students advancing #biodiversity conservation. You can use the funds for travel, field gear, or materials. Apply now + read guidelines: conbio.org/mini-sites/s...
#grants #conservation #studentawards
Blue background, picture of a wombat and text that says Apply now! 2025 SCB Graduate Student Research Awards. Deadline 15 September, 2025. SCB logo.
brandonswhitley.bsky.social
The Tasman Glacier & its proglacial lake - Aoraki Mt. Cook National Park, Aotearoa New Zealand.

Currently 23km long, the Tasman Glacier has retreated by ~5km since 1990. While undoubtedly beautiful, the meltwater lake is a stark reminder of the scale at which climate change is altering our world.