Gerry Carter

Hiring for 3 positions: Research Assistant, Field Research Coordinator, and Postdoc I am looking to hire 3 people into my lab this year. I am still doing the paperwork to get the jobs officially posted but I want to send the word out and screen potential applications right away. R…

I am hiring a research assistant (vampire bats), a Panama fieldwork coordinator (vampire bats), and also considering postdoc apps (social behavior, any species): socialbat.org/2026/02/19/h...

pyecoacc: A python package for supervised learning of behavioural modes from accelerometer data Supervised learning of behavioural modes from body-worn sensor data, especially accelerometers, has become a transformative research tool in behavioural ecology over the past years. Due to the pop...

besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Replication studies: a win-win for early-career training and behavioral ecology Replicating previous research builds confidence that results are real and meaningful. But close replications are rare due to limitations in resources and d

How do we know our research results are REAL? We replicate them! Most folks agree but lament on how hard it is to publish these replications.

My dearest gentle reader, lament no more! Delighted to unveil: Replication Studies, a new section of Behavioral Ecology 1/

academic.oup.com/beheco/artic...

Photo shows a young girl with her cat

This is Maria, a 6-year-old detained by ICE last year.

She began to unravel soon after arriving at a detention center in Texas, wetting the bed after years without accidents, crying through the night and begging to breastfeed again.

Most of all, she wanted to be reunited with her cat, Milo. 1/

Job alert! The University of Zurich is hiring a professor for Evolutionary Anthropology and Primatology. Learn more here: www.appointments.mnf.uzh.ch/auth/Apply/0...

Uppsala in late autumn

Join us at the Evolutionary Biology Centre at Uppsala University. We’re searching for an Assistant Professor in Biology. www.uu.se/en/about-uu/...

Recruiting parakeet research technicians Recruiting parakeet research technicians!   The Hobson Lab at the University of Cincinnati is recruiting 2 research technicians on our Monk Parakeet sociality and cognition project at our rese…

I've updated the job link, this one is more stable! tinyurl.com/59rf8jcy

Graphical ad showing Hobson Lab Postbac position: parakeet sociality and cognition, with a graphic showing a flock of monk parakeets flying towards a social network, two unmarked monk parakeets perched, and examples of our individually color-marked birds showing their dye marks and color codes

I am recruiting postbacs for my parakeet sociality and cognition project, ideally to start in Feb/Mar this year. Help spreading the word would be appreciated! More information and application link available here: ornithologyexchange.org/jobs/board/s...

Socially integrated female chimpanzees have lower offspring mortality In humans and other social mammals, more socially connected females often have higher fitness. Yet evidence linking female sociality to offspring surv…

We have a new paper out in @cp-iscience.bsky.social reporting that more socially integrated female chimpanzees have lower offspring mortality 🧪 #evosky #primates #primatology #anthropology www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

course schedule as a table. Available at the link in the post.

I'm teaching Statistical Rethinking again starting Jan 2026. This time with live lectures, divided into Beginner and Experienced sections. Will be a lot more work for me, but I hope much better for students.

I will record lectures & all will be found at this link: github.com/rmcelreath/s...

Summer Undergraduate Research Experience | HHMI The Cech Fellows Program is a paid, nine-week summer research experience empowering the next generation of scientific leaders.

@hhmi.org Summer Undergraduate Research Experience - #CechFellows named in honor of Prof Tom Cech
Deadline to apply: 12/22/2025
Spend 9 weeks in a paid, mentored biomedical research experience in an HHMI lab. See you next summer!!!
www.hhmi.org/programs/cec...

“The Zukunftskolleg Konnect Fellowships support early career researchers from Africa, Asia and Latin America, who do research that fits to one of the thirteen departments at the University of Konstanz.” www.uni-konstanz.de/zukunftskoll...

Summer Undergraduate Research Experience | HHMI The Cech Fellows Program is a paid, nine-week summer research experience empowering the next generation of scientific leaders.

Calling all rising juniors & seniors: Interested in biological or biomedical research? Applications for our ’26 Summer Undergraduate Research Experience Program are now open! Nine weeks, hands-on research, & mentorship from some of the nation’s top scientists — learn more: bit.ly/CechFellows

Vocal convergence during formation of social relationships in vampire bats | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences In many group-living birds and mammals, the formation of affiliative relationships is hypothesized to cause vocal convergence (an increase in call similarity between individuals). However, testing this causal effect can be difficult, because it requires ...

Vocal convergence during formation of social relationships in vampire bats royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

Graphic showing the paper title “Monk parakeets ‘test the waters’ when forming new relationships” in the journal Biology Letters. Also features photos of the co-authors (Claire, Annemarie, Gerry, and Liz) as well as the issue cover photo of two marked monk parakeets from Claire’s work grooming each other. Also shown are some of the main plots of the paper showing how the parakeets escalate their behaviors from low risk/low investment (like proximity) to higher risk/higher investment interactions (like preening/grooming)

In an increasingly divided world, how do strangers become friends? Parakeets might have something to teach us! New paper on formation of affiliative relationships, led by Dr. Claire O’Connell doi.org/10.1098/rsbl...

Monk parakeets ‘test the waters’ when forming new relationships | Biology Letters Initiating and developing social relationships with strangers can provide fitness benefits, but it is an inherently risky process. To mitigate potential risks and develop trust, strangers may ‘test the waters’ by gradually escalating the type of social ...

Monk parakeets ‘test the waters’ when forming new relationships doi.org/10.1098/rsbl...

Each dyad (a, b) moves through four discrete states over time, represented by coloured circles. The dyad remains in a given state for a certain duration, or "holding time", before transitioning to a new state according to state-specific transition probabilities, indicated by arrows showing all possible (non-zero) transitions. Paintings by Sofia M. Pereira & Judith von Nordheim.

New paper!

We propose a framework to empirically study animal social relationships by modelling social network (SN) data as time-series—that is, without the need to aggregate them over time.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

PhD project on the evolution of animal memory now available in my research group, through the TREES DLA: www.trees-dla.ac.uk/projects/evo.... Come and join us if you're interested in the evolution of animal minds and you want to do some cool experimental evolution!

More interesting data on Guinea baboons and more evidence of the diversity in social/mating systems among the awesome Papionins

POSITIONS default description

I am looking for a postdoc to work in our long-term system of food-caching mountain chickadees in the Sierra Nevada mountains. The expected start is April 2026. Please see details here: chickadeecognition.com/positions
If interested and qualified, please contact me directly (email on the website).

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute has just launched its newly updated policy for Immediate Access to Research! When HHMI scientists share CC BY licensed preprints, it allows others to immediately access and share cutting-edge science.

@asapbio.bsky.social

Student Scholars - Bat Conservation International Grow global capacity for bat conservation with scholarships and support for students

Last Chance! If you're a grad student don't miss your chance to apply for our 2026 Student Scholars program. The application deadline is a week away! Batcon.org/student-scholars

The Adaptive Relationships Framework illustrating how broad socioecological pressures shape the social solutions animals use to meet these challenges, and how these lead to social strategies and emergent structures that help them gain access to those solutions.

Social relationships are powerful predictors of fitness across social animals. But *why*?

In our new @cp-trendsecolevo.bsky.social paper, we outline testable predictions for why relationship quality and quantity adaptively vary across socio-ecological contexts.

tinyurl.com/55dnkeh7

ecoevojobs.net 2025-26

UPDATE: The 2025-2026 list of faculty and postdoc positions in ecology and evolutionary biology is out! Be sure to check out this active and helpful community run resources! docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

I’m a US citizen and a veteran. ICE arrested me for no reason. Jailed for three days without an explanation or ability to notify anyone, George Retes argues the only path to healing starts with the government taking accountability for its actions.

“I spent three nights and three days in federal custody. During that time, I was never told what I was charged with, was not allowed to shower despite being covered in tear gas and pepper spray, had no phone call to my family, and no access to an attorney.” - George Retes, U.S. citizen and veteran.

Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE

Has Your Scientific Work Been Cut? We Want to Hear.

Hey US scientists, the NY Times wants to hear from you if you've had your funding cut. 🌊🧪

HHMI Enacts “Immediate Access To Research” Policy For Its Scientists – ASAPbio The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) is requiring its scientists to post their research articles as preprints under an open license that allows

Going forward, preprints will form the basis of @hhmi.org assessments of its researchers’ work.💪

Starting January 1,2026, HHMI will require its scientists to post their research articles as preprints under an open license that allows unrestricted reuse (CC-BY-4.0).
buff.ly/rGFFmxB

“Terrible things are happening outside. Poor helpless people are being dragged out of their homes. Families are torn apart. Men, women, and children are separated. Children come home from school to find that their parents have disappeared.”

Diary of Anne Frank
January 13, 1943