Applications are open for a NERC funded PhD studentship (competition funded, so two rounds of selection, the second with the funder) on network inference, the nutritional and trophic ecology of ground beetles, and their provision of ecosystem services. This PhD will involve joining our (the Foraging Ecology Research Group) lively and growing group of PhD students hereContinue reading "PHD STUDENTSHIP: Assessing ecosystem service trade-offs in omnivorous generalist beetles using network inference, molecular dietary analysis and nutritional networks"
Congrats to Will for winning a presentation award at the Fera Symposium!
Massive congrats to Will for winning the Best Early Researcher Presentation Prize at the Fera Science Symposium! This was the first talk Will has given in his PhD, so he's off to a great start! Titled "Noisy eaters! Building belowground invertebrate trophic networks for soil health monitoring using metagenomics and ecoacoustics", Will's talk set outContinue reading "Congrats to Will for winning a presentation award at the Fera Symposium!"
New preprint: Identifying the Fusarium species involved in foot rot disease of faba beans in the UK using a combined molecular and microbiological approach
Check out this new preprint led by our very own Basem Attar: Identifying the Fusarium species involved in foot rot disease of faba beans in the UK using a combined molecular and microbiological approach! The foot and root rot disease complex is a devastating broad bean productivity globally, including in the UK (the third largestContinue reading "New preprint: Identifying the Fusarium species involved in foot rot disease of faba beans in the UK using a combined molecular and microbiological approach"
NEW PAPER: Prey nutrient content is associated with the trophic interactions of spiders and their prey selection under field conditions
Check out the latest paper from the group: Prey nutrient content is associated with the trophic interactions of spiders and their prey selection under field conditions! We show that the interactions of spiders relate to prey nutrient contents and this is likely driving prey preferences, which vary nutritionally between spider genera, life stages and sexes!Continue reading "NEW PAPER: Prey nutrient content is associated with the trophic interactions of spiders and their prey selection under field conditions"
Jordan’s visit to Stano Pekár and Masaryk University
Jordan has just returned from Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic where he gave a seminar and visited Stano Pekár's Terrestrial Invertebrate Research Group. It was an excellent and inspiring trip filled with brilliant science, fantastic conversations and many beautiful castles (and even some exceptional Czech beer)! Jordan got to visit Lednice park, where variousContinue reading "Jordan’s visit to Stano Pekár and Masaryk University"
Romuald Tcheutchoua’s visit for wasp gut analysis
The wonderful Romuald Tcheutchoua visited us for a couple of weeks from Seirian Sumner's group at University College London to analyse the guts of wasps from farms across Cameroon! Romuald is looking at the provision of ecosystem services like crop pest biocontrol by wasps in agricultural systems (particularly predation of the devastating fall army worm),Continue reading "Romuald Tcheutchoua’s visit for wasp gut analysis"
NEW PAPER: Networking nutrients: How nutrition determines the structure of ecological networks
Check out this exciting new paper! Networking nutrients: How nutrition determines the structure of ecological networks We provide a synthesis on the interface between nutritional and network ecology and demonstrate its potential for ecological research. Nutrients determine the frequency and identity of interactions, and ecosystem services and function. They therefore also play a significant roleContinue reading "NEW PAPER: Networking nutrients: How nutrition determines the structure of ecological networks"
Congrats to Ben for receiving an Open Research Commendation!
Massive congrats to Ben for being awarded an Open Research Commendation at Newcastle University's recent 2024 Open Research Awards! Ben wrote a case study and gave a presentation about his experience of adopting open research practices throughout his PhD so far, including his involvement in open datasets, open protocols, and the preprint and open accessContinue reading "Congrats to Ben for receiving an Open Research Commendation!"
NEW PAPER: Understanding trophic interactions in a warming world by bridging foraging ecology and biomechanics with network science
Check out this paper from a collaboration between Jordan, David Labonte (Evolutionary Biomechanics Group, Imperial College London) and Fred Windsor (Freshwater Networks Lab, Cardiff University): Understanding trophic interactions in a warming world by bridging foraging ecology and biomechanics with network science As average global temperatures increase, ecological processes are set to become increasingly disrupted andContinue reading "NEW PAPER: Understanding trophic interactions in a warming world by bridging foraging ecology and biomechanics with network science"
NEW PAPER: Ecology, natural history, and conservation status of Scolopendra abnormis, a threatened centipede endemic to Mauritius
Check out this new paper that Jordan contributed toward, led by long-time FERG collaborator Max Tercel: Ecology, natural history, and conservation status of Scolopendra abnormis, a threatened centipede endemic to Mauritius Dietary detections in the gut of Scolopendra abnormis. Scolopendra abnormis is an incredible scolopendromorph centipede endemic to two islands off the coast of Mauritius.Continue reading "NEW PAPER: Ecology, natural history, and conservation status of Scolopendra abnormis, a threatened centipede endemic to Mauritius"
Foraging Ecology Research Group 