Festive tidings from all at FERG! As the darker days sweep in, we've been getting cosy at conferences, writing retreats and our desks to present, prepare and publish some really exciting things over the coming months! Check out some of the highlights of our November below! New FERGers Welcome, Dheeraj, who has just started hisContinue reading "FERG News December 2025"
FERG News November 2025
We hope you had a great Arachtober (on a seasonal note, see Jordan's failed attempt at reproducing the FERG logo on the side of a pumpkin below)! Over the last month, many of us have been settling into lab work for the winter or getting stuck into the new academic year. There are still plentyContinue reading "FERG News November 2025"
PHD STUDENTSHIP: Integrating molecular dietary analysis, nutritional ecology and network inference to assess ecosystem service trade-offs in omnivorous beetles
Do you want to use dietary DNA metabarcoding, micro-scale nutritional analysis, ecological field surveys and cutting-edge network inference and analysis methods to enhance our ability to predict the trophic interactions and ecosystem services of omnivorous ground beetles? Then check out this PhD opportunity! Applications are open for this NERC-funded PhD studentship (competition funded, so twoContinue reading "PHD STUDENTSHIP: Integrating molecular dietary analysis, nutritional ecology and network inference to assess ecosystem service trade-offs in omnivorous beetles"
FERG News October 2025
Happy Arachtober! Given the various spider-related projects we have underway in FERG, it's always a special time of year (and great for bizarre spider merchandise like the infuriating trend of shops selling 'spider skeleton' Halloween statues). We've had a busy month at conferences and workshops, and the new academic year has meant we have aContinue reading "FERG News October 2025"
Jordan secured NERC-FAPESP funding with Raul Costa-Pereira to kickstart new UK-Brazil collaborative research!
Great news! Over the next two years, FERG will be building collaborative research with the Intraspecific Diversity Lab, Raul Costa-Pereira's research group at Unicamp, Brazil! This is a really exciting project funded by the UK's Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and Brazil's São Paulo Research Foundation, FAPESP. This project will involve exchanges between the twoContinue reading "Jordan secured NERC-FAPESP funding with Raul Costa-Pereira to kickstart new UK-Brazil collaborative research!"
Happy Peer Review Week!
It's Peer Review Week this week (15th-19th September 2025), and, here in FERG, we are big advocates of the importance of peer review! Peer review is one of the most vital pillars upholding scientific rigour and excellence, but it takes a community to keep it alive! Alongside encouraging and supporting one another to engage inContinue reading "Happy Peer Review Week!"
Max Tercel’s visit from Cibio, Portugal!
We had the immense pleasure of hosting long-term FERG collaborator Max Tercel here in Newcastle! Max came to visit for EcoNet (which you can read all about in our recent post, including Max's help running the molecular workshop) and Ento 2025 in Glasgow. Jordan and Max have worked closely together for most of their careersContinue reading "Max Tercel’s visit from Cibio, Portugal!"
FERG joined NEG in hosting EcoNet 2025!
Following the last Symposium on Ecological Networks (EcoNet) in Israel in 2023 (which was the topic of one of our first blog posts), Darren Evans of the Network Ecology Group (NEG) was approached to host the next EcoNet. Darren asked Jordan, Katherine Baldock of Northumbria University, Madeleine Fabusova from NEG and Shai Pilosof from theContinue reading "FERG joined NEG in hosting EcoNet 2025!"
FERG News September 2025
Another month of fieldwork and fun here in FERG! Alongside all of the various field experiments well under way, we've had some exciting adventures to conferences and courses, some new articles and protocols, and even a new (non-human) member of the group! New FERGers Welcome to our new trusty fieldwork trolley, Selina Go-mez! She's beenContinue reading "FERG News September 2025"
Jordan awarded RES Alfred Russel Wallace Award
Jordan has been awarded the Royal Entomological Society's Alfred Russel Wallace Award for his PhD thesis, submitted in 2020! The award is for post-graduates who have been awarded a PhD, and whose work is considered by their supervisory team to be outstanding. The research involved should be a significant contribution to the science of entomology. TheContinue reading "Jordan awarded RES Alfred Russel Wallace Award"
Foraging Ecology Research Group 