Lauren Brent

All this thinking about the thing I've always wanted to know in science wouldn't have been possible without the support of the @erc.europa.eu to my FriendOrigins project. Long may funding for fundamental and blueskies science continue

After 5 yrs of thinking, debating and endless schematic doodles, we came up with the Adaptive Relationships Framework, published in @cp-trendsecolevo.bsky.social
We hope it's useful, and even if turns out to be wrong, that it encourages new conversations about the evolution of social structure.

Delphine and I thought it made sense to merge ideas from behavioural ecology with ones from network science. We reasoned this would allow us to predict what types of relationships are best suited to solve the different challenges animals face.

So I became a behavioural ecologist, dabbled in network science, and found some likeminded scientists who wanted to know this too, like @delphinedemoor.bsky.social.

Quality, quantity, and the adaptive function of social relationships Affiliative social relationships have clear links to fitness in many species, yet exactly why that is the case remains elusive. We unify theory from socioecology and network science to set forth testa...

For what seems like forever, I've wanted to know what benefits we get from our friends - or in other words, why these relationships evolved.

tinyurl.com/55dnkeh7

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

@biodiversityguy.bsky.social @euanritchie.bsky.social @ljnbrent.bsky.social @pili-scotland.bsky.social @chrisjolly.bsky.social @charlesdarwinuni.bsky.social @rarlinghausfish.bsky.social @shoalorg.bsky.social @sharkscience.bsky.social @amfisheriessoc.bsky.social @fishconserve.bsky.social

MOTION 113

If you are a voting member of the IUCN - please consider supporting our motion (113) for Longevity Conservation at the Congress this week
@iucnshark.bsky.social @aciucn.bsky.social @iucn-bctf.bsky.social @sscmarine.bsky.social

iucncongress2025.org/assembly/mot...

Postdoc job alert! We are hiring a NYU-based postdoc to work on our project on the social and environmental determinants of aging. The 3 year post will be based in James Higham's lab and will focus on endocrine, immune, and inflammatory aspects of aging. Please share! apply.interfolio.com/173938

Are you studying animal sociality? Confused about the "non-independence" of social network data: what on earth are they? are they threatening your results? should you attempt to get rid of them?

A thread summarising a part of our new paper (ecoevorxiv.org/repository/v...).

Survey alert! If you're a social behavioural ecologist, please fill in our survey aimed at gauging interest in, barriers and solutions to, comparative social behaviour research. Thanks! forms.gle/KZJDMtLCJhvY...

😎😎 symposium and discussion on comparative studies in animal behaviour, organized by @delphinedemoor.bsky.social, @ljnbrent.bsky.social & Anindya Sinha at @behaviour2025.bsky.social ! Was a pleasure to be part of a 👌 speaker lineup, & present my work on interspecific variation in 🐵 social behaviour!

Animal Behaviour from Exeter and Bristol, plus some of our alumni, went to @behaviour2025.bsky.social in Kolkata and had mountains of rice. @crab-exeter.bsky.social @bristolbiosci.bsky.social @uniexecec.bsky.social

Looking forward to another gathering of MacaqueNet! In India no less, home of the best ever macaque: the rhesu....haha just kidding, the lion-tailed, obviously.

Hope to see lots of you there!

ahhh thanks Cory! ☺️

Spicy

Going to @behaviour2025.bsky.social in Kolkata? Join us for Weaving the MacaqueNet 3.0, our third workshop for this big team science & community initiative behaviourindia2025.in/workshops.html. Members + non-members welcome! Get your very own sticker and be as happy as @macaelaskelton.bsky.social!

I learned a lot working on this new paper with this group of network scientists, sociologists, anthropologists and behavioural ecologists. We're hoping it helps anyone who feels (understandably!) lost in the animal social networks weeds.

Opportunities — ASAB

the journal Animal Behaviour, which is run by @asab.org, is looking to hire a new Managing Editor. Please share advert with folks with a Life Sciences degree (ideally postgrad) who might be interested www.asab.org/opportunities

Postdoc job alert! I'm hiring a 3-yr postdoc to work on our Social Modifiers of Primate Lifespans grant. Job info and how to apply below. Deadline June 1. Pls share! jobs.exeter.ac.uk/hrpr_webrecr...

Less than 2 weeks left to apply for this! Come join us in @crab-exeter.bsky.social and as part of team MacaqueNet, to do some comparative social network and life-history research 🤩

Ecology needs a causal overhaul Ecology has yet to embrace causal inference, yet most questions in ecology are causal. Despite the common use of terms that imply causation, such as “shapes”, “drives”, or “impacts”, many studies shy...

I'm guessing this is probably very well worth the read! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....

How good is it to get work with this lovely group of people in @crab-exeter.bsky.social every day? Answer: really really good!

#VoxPrimato #postdoc
offre de postdoc "Social Modifiers of Primate Lifespans" pour 3 ans à l'Université d'Exeter au Royaume-Uni avec Lauren Brent et collègues du Centre de Recherche pour le Comportement Animal
date limite 01/06/2025
👇

Extended information about the post and what you can expect from the role and working in @crab-exeter.bsky.social is here: docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Postdoc job alert! I'm hiring a 3-yr postdoc to work on our Social Modifiers of Primate Lifespans grant. Job info and how to apply below. Deadline June 1. Pls share! jobs.exeter.ac.uk/hrpr_webrecr...

Well done @macaelaskelton.bsky.social, our MacaqueNet technician extraodinaire 💚

Come do a 1-year Masters course on Animal Behaviour in @crab-exeter.bsky.social in Exeter! Taught components + a research project with a member of staff. It's great fun!

bison-team bisonR · Discussions Explore the GitHub Discussions forum for bison-team bisonR. Discuss code, ask questions & collaborate with the developer community.

Using the BISoN R package to analyse your social networks? Have a question? Post in our new bisonR github, in the Discussions section.
github.com/bison-team/b...

oof. excellent question. let me know where you land with it so I know for next time I'm writing a letter for a US colleague