By Isabel Smallegange & Matty Berg. Originally published in Amsterdam Science 11(3). Climate variability is increasing. How will this affect different plant and animal species? The answer to this question is important to inform conservation strategies. Our research shows that we should not rely solely on big-data research to find the answer. Instead we should…
Author: Isabel Smallegange
I am a Senior Lecturer in Population Biology at Newcastle University.
A podcast on mites, mantas and eco-evolutionary dynamics – with The Human Odyssey
Jamie and Skander from The Human Odyssey interviewed me to discuss population dynamics around bulb mites, beach hoppers and manta rays, as well as what it means for certain individuals to evolve certain traits. A very enjoyable chat! You can listen to it here.
Annual consultations: the good, the bad, and … strategic personnel planning?
The University of Amsterdam (UvA) is implementing a revised annual consultation system that has shifted focus from performance assessment to staff development. Yet, it will also take centre stage in strategic personnel planning. Below I reflect on the opportunities it offers employees, but wonder how it can be used in strategic personnel planning without shifting…
Big data also need big concepts
Big data In biology, data on species abundance, diversity and traits are collected within large, international collaborative projects, citizen science projects, and permanent monitoring stations. These data are made openly available in big biodiversity databases: big data. Below I highlight some problems that big data approaches can have, which is particularly worrying if analysis outcomes are…
Resolving the conflict between conferences and care duties
[originally posted on the official blog of Functional Ecology, a British Ecological Society journal] Conference season is about to start again. For many this is a chance to present latest research results, connect with peers, and establish new contacts and networks. But what if your resource of time is poor? What if you have care…
What is a Works Council?
A Works Council in the Netherlands is: an internal body of a company representing employees, has consultation rights in respect of certain significant proposed management decisions, and has approval rights in respects of intended decisions regarding certain employment policies. The Works Council of the Faculty of Science at the University of Amsterdam has 15 seats….
Lovers and fighters, and the difficulties of understanding their coexistence
Myriad species exist where males within the same population display alternative morphologies, often referred to as minors and majors (“lovers and fighters”), that are associated with different ways of gaining access to mates. Their coexistence is typically explained using sexual selection theory. However, other explanations exist, but they have not been explored in great depth…
Peering behind the curtain: how genetic context and fluctuating environments help to maintain alternative mating tactics
A blog post by Kathryn Stewart (@Kat_A_Stewart) on our paper “ The role of genetic diversity in the evolution and maintenance of environmentally-cued, male alternative reproductive tactics” by Stewart et al. (2019), published in BMC Evolutionary Biology. 19:58. Philosophers, psychologists, sociologists, and scientists have pitted nature vs. nurture against one another for a long time. In fact,…
How can you be Chair if you cannot … (go to after-work events because I have care duties)
“How can you be Chair the Faculty Works Council if you cannot go to after-work drinks?” A (male) colleague from another faculty asked me this a few weeks ago. It totally blew me. I did not know what to say in reply. I am an elected Chair of the Faculty Works Council, one of which…
Lovers and fighters, and how their coexistence affects their evolution within an eco-evolutionary feedback loop
To contribute towards integrating the field of eco-evolutionary dynamics and move the field forward, scientific journals from the British Ecological Society, including the Journal of Animal Ecology, have just published a cross-journal special feature entitled “Eco-evolutionary dynamics across scales”, edited by Franziska Brunner, Jacques Deere, Martijn Egas, Christophe Eizaguirre and Joost Raeymaekers. How evolutionary changes…
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