I'm proud and grateful to be part of this exciting team diving to the bottom of social learning - Edwin van Leeuwen, Alex Rogers, Aurora Balaran, Peggy Motsch, Jake Brooker, and collaborators from Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage, Utrecht University, Durham University, and University of Southampton.

Read it to find out more about culture and its surprising non-instrumental expressions in chimpanzees. 🎉

brill.com/view/journal...

We are now reporting more of that tendency! Chimpanzees within the same sanctuary started engaging in grass-related behaviours, with strong signatures of social diffusion. Not only that, but grass fashion is reaching new highs (or lows? 👀) with a brand new variant of grass insertion.

You may have heard of chimpanzees inserting grass in their ear for no specific reason. These occurences may foster social bonds, but may also simply reflect a latent inclination to copy each other (and perhaps some aesthetic appreciation? 🙈)

First publication for me! 🥳

A large part of cultural studies in animals focus on instrumental behaviours such as chimpanzee nut-cracking 🥜. However there is much to learn about the evolution of culture from socially transmitted behaviours with no apparent benefits (non-instrumental culture). 🔎

🎉Welcome to the official Bluesky account for EFP 2026 !!! 🎉

Join us in sunny Montpellier from 29 June to 3 July 2026 for an unforgettable conference.

Follow us for updates, sneak peeks, and all things EFP! ☀️📅🌿

I also want to give a special shout-out to our very own students Connor Proudfoot and Johanna Bellue, who respectively won the much deserved lightning talk and poster student prizes!

Looking forward to seeing many of you again at the Culture Conference 2026!

In February, I had the incredible opportunity to be part of the Culture Conference 2025 organising team! A heartfelt thank you to my fellow organisers, the amazing student volunteers, all the brilliant speakers, and every attendee who created a vibrant and memorable atmosphere.

Laura Simone Lewis at @cultconf.bsky.social talking about curiosity, particularly cultural curiosity in children 👧👦🎁 @utrechtuniversity.bsky.social #cultureconference2025

Peering into chimp culture 🐵: Nora Slania on social learning in chimpanzees, from the Max Plank Institute of Animal Behaviour @cultconf.bsky.social @noraslania.bsky.social #cultureconference2025

"Hey, hey, you, you, I could be your girlfriend!" The final talk already of #cultureconference2025 on mate copying in wild Drosophilia simulans by Sabine Nöbel @cultconf.bsky.social @sabinenoebel.bsky.social

The Culture Conference 2025 is (already) finished after 2 days of amazing discussions!


Thank you to everybody for attending and presenting, either online or in person!
We hope you spent 2 wonderful and exciting days in Utrecht, full of (social) learning and fascinating science discussions 🥳

Out of mama's shadow, but not too far... Mawa Dafreville talking about vervet monkeys' socialisation @cultconf.bsky.social @mawadafreville.bsky.social #cultureconference2025

Day 2 begins for the fantastic Culture Conference at Utrecht University! Dr. Maleen Tiele kicking it off as a keynote speaker on the nature of joint attention 👀 @maleenthiele.bsky.social

#cultureconference2025

Today is the ‼️last‼️ day to register for the Culture Conference 2025.

Attendance is FREE.

Don’t miss out 🙌

⬇️⬇️
culture-conference.com/registration/

Indispensable, information rich talk from @kevinlala.bsky.social . Should be watched by anyone doing #genetics, #evolution, or race studies. Maybe I’ll share some thoughts later. #sts #philbio #hps

underline.io/lecture/1051...

So exciting to see MacaqueNet out into the world! 🤩

Learn about our global community & database centralizing standardized affiliative & agonistic data from 61 populations across 14 macaque species: doi/10.1111/1365...

Explore >600 networks & request data: macaquenet.github.io/database/

‼️ We are only one month away from the Culture Conference 2025 🗓️‼️

Still doubting if you want to join?

Hopefully the program will now convince you to attend this exciting interdisciplinary conference 🙌

Thanks to everybody for submitting your work and presenting 👏
See you in Utrecht, NL 🥳

Are you eager to socialise ahead of the conference?

Then join the Early Career Researchers drinks on the evening of 26th/02! 🍻
An excellent opportunity to meet fellow scientists and to kick off the conference in a relaxed way.

Contact us if you want to join, and plan your trip accordingly 😉

‼️Announcements‼️

👉 The 2025 edition of the Culture Conference has been awarded the "NWO Scientific Meetings and Consultations Domain Science WBO 2024" grant 🥳
Thanks NWO for financing this event!

👉 We announce a registration deadline: 14/02/2025. 
Please register soon so you don't miss out ‼️

🧐 Reminder: The registration for the Culture Conference (27 and 28th Feb 2025) in Utrecht is still open!

Attendance is FREE, in-person or online. Don’t miss out!

⬇️⬇️
culture-conference.com/registration/

The call for abstract is now closed, thanks for all your submissions 🙌
If you have submitted something, you will get an answer by the end of the week.

‼️ Now, it's time to open the registration‼️
And as every year, attendance is free 🥳

If you wish to attend: ⬇️⬇️
culture-conference.com/registration/

‼️The abstract submission deadline for the Culture Conference is in 3 days, don't forget to submit your work ‼️

Registration is also opening very soon, stay tuned 🙌

⬇️⬇️⬇️
culture-conference.com/call-for-abs...

The Culture Conference is now on BlueSky! 🙌

The next edition of this (free) interdisciplinary conference specialised in Cultural Evolution will take place on Feb 27th and 28th in Utrecht, NL.

Interested?
⬇️ Please submit your abstract before December 12th ⬇️
culture-conference.com/call-for-abs...