the Hoffman Lab

Early-Life Viability Selection Targets Deleterious Mutations in Exons Understanding how deleterious mutations affect fitness is fundamental to both evolutionary and conservation biology. However, most empirical studies rely on inb

Do you work on mutation load? 🔬🧬 Check out our new manuscript where we show that early-life viability selection primarily targets exonic mutations, in contrast to sexual selection which acts on mutations in promoters! 🧑‍🔬

Pre-print is available now: dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn... 🧪 #evolution #popgen

31.07.2025 13:47 — 👍 2    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0

Jonas wearing a black gown and his graduation cap which is decorated with pictures and has a lab tube for a tassel. He is standing inside Bielefeld University in front of the room where he defended his PhD thesis

Jonas Tebbe sitting in a small cart decorated with balloons and a sign that says "Dr Jonas". Jonas is wearing his graduation cap and a black gown. The cart is being pulled by his former supervisor Joe Hoffman. They are outside, some parts of Bielefeld University can be seen in the background

A massive congratulations to dr Jonas Tebbe, for successfully defending his PhD on chemical phenotypes in the Antarctic fur seal!! 🥳🎓🦭 We wish all the very best to Jonas!

28.07.2025 11:37 — 👍 3    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

EvoBio Crash Course 2025 | Registration Form The fourth edition of the EvoBio Crash Course has opened registration and we are very happy to have you! We are focusing on delivering a rich course on the basics of evolutionary biology so that stude...

There is still lots of time to sign up for our 2025 edition of the #EvoBioCC 🥳💚✨

It is a FREE, online course in Evolutionary Biology, made by students and for students! Please share widely and don't forget to register! 💚💚💚

docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

15.06.2025 01:46 — 👍 12    🔁 16    💬 0    📌 0

Cartoon of a female scientist wearing a lab coat and safety goggles. She is holding a PCR plate and stands in front of a bin filled with more plastic waste. The bin has a recycling logo in it. Behind the woman is written "Can we reuse laboratory items to reduce plastic waste?"

🧪 Lab plastic waste is a huge problem - but what can we do about it? 🥼

In our lab, we tested whether reusing and washing microtitre plates could help reduce waste.
In some cases, it works! ♻️ 🌍

Read more here: buff.ly/XOGSX0q

#greenlab #sustainability #openscience

14.07.2025 12:05 — 👍 4    🔁 2    💬 0    📌 0

Publication alert! ✨ Our recent paper in Ecology & Evolution addresses how to make conferences more inclusive. We collected observational and experimental data during Q&A sessions at the Behaviour 2023 congress hosted by Bielefeld University, and circulated a survey among conference attendees [1/4]

14.07.2025 08:25 — 👍 31    🔁 15    💬 2    📌 1

Frontiers | Skin, but not gut, microbial communities vary with social density in Antarctic fur seals Comparative studies of microbial communities occupying different body sites in wild vertebrates are scarce, but they are crucial for advancing our understand...

This article has been published under the research topic "Unraveling the Wildlife Gut Microbiome: The Crucial Role of Gut Microbiomes in Wildlife Conservation Strategies", an initiative that aims to bridge the gap between microbiome science and conservation practice.
Read more 👉 buff.ly/FjY6oXm 3/3

11.07.2025 12:01 — 👍 7    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0

However, gut microbial communities were not different between the colonies, suggesting that these are more tightly regulated by the host. This work shows that environmental factors can shape composition and diversity of microbial communities occupying different body sites in marine mammals. 🦭 2/3

11.07.2025 12:01 — 👍 2    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

Fresh publication alert 📃! Our paper about skin and gut microbial communities in Antarctic fur seals is now available in Frontiers in Microbiology. In this study, @ecopetridish.bsky.social and colleagues found that skin microbial communities were strongly influenced by the colony membership. 1/3

11.07.2025 12:01 — 👍 5    🔁 1    💬 1    📌 1

Woman with red hair and a black cape holding a graduation cap

Woman with graduation cap and gown sitting in a small cart being pulled by a man

Last week our lab member @annekep.bsky.social successfully defended her PhD and was rewarded a magna cum laude for her work! Congratulations dr. Anneke! 🥳🎓 Luckily we don't have to say our farewells yet, as Anneke will continue working on her Antarctic fur seal project as a postdoc in the group 🦭

07.07.2025 12:00 — 👍 8    🔁 2    💬 0    📌 0

Last week, the Hoffman Lab had its second lab retreat! Two full days of science, inspiring stories about field work, discussions about EDI in the lab and science communication, and a lot of team-bonding while enjoying the peace of the Teutoburg forest🍃

23.06.2025 10:46 — 👍 5    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Predicted deleterious mutations reveal the genomic mechanisms underlying fitness variation in a lekking bird Deleterious mutations are ubiquitous in natural populations and, when expressed, reduce fitness. However, the specific nature of these mutations and the mechanisms through which they impact fitness r...

Our preprint is out! We predicted deleterious mutations and reveal the genomic mechanisms underlying fitness variation in black grouse, a classic lekking bird. Check it out doi.org/10.21203/rs....

#genomics #popgen #genetics

11.12.2024 07:37 — 👍 7    🔁 3    💬 0    📌 0