Kate Jones 🦇

Ecology and environment predict spatially stratified risk of H5 highly pathogenic avian influenza clade 2.3.4.4b in wild birds across Europe - Scientific Reports Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) represents a threat to animal and human health, with the ongoing H5N1 outbreak within the H5 2.3.4.4b clade being one of the largest on record. However, it rem...

Very cool new paper by Sarah Hayes, @liambrierley.bsky.social and team - Ecology and environment predict spatially stratified risk of H5 highly pathogenic avian influenza clade 2.3.4.4b in wild birds across Europe: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Projected impacts of climate change on malaria in Africa - Nature Projected impacts of climate change on malaria burden in Africa by 2050 highlight the urgent need for climate-resilient malaria control strategies and robust emergency response systems to safeguard pr...

Climate change could lead to 123 million additional malaria cases and 532,000 deaths between 2024 and 2050. Extreme weather events are identified as the primary driver. The findings emphasize the need for climate-resilient malaria control strategies and robust emergency response systems.

Precision ecology for targeted conservation action - Nature Ecology & Evolution The fields of medicine and marketing use large data volumes and computational power to target individuals. This Perspective argues that applied ecologists should draw on such approaches to provide dec...

Meta-analysis is ubiquitous in ecology, but it is poor at determining which conservation interventions work in which contexts

That’s why we’ve developed Precision Ecology, using methods developed in, eg, medicine to inform precise, data-informed conservation

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🚨I have a new paper out! doi.org/10.1002/rse2...
How important is it to use top performing ML models when creating a classifier? We test this on two 📸 datasets from Kenya & Nepal and found that large, clean training sets are more important than ML architecture. Check it out!

Super new #OA meta-analysis, led by the terrific Grace Skinner and Joe Millard of @glitrs.bsky.social and out today in @natcomms.nature.com: effects of invasive alien species in insects doi.org/10.1038/s414...

AI-Integrated Network Ecosystem Models for Predicting Biodiversity Change 
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
Based at University College London
Supervision Team: Kate Jones (@profkatej.bsky.social), Oisin Mac Aodha, Drew Purves
Deadline Jan 19th

Tracing 2500 years of human betaherpesvirus 6A and 6B diversity through ancient DNA First ancient HHV-6 genomes reveal 2500 years of phylogenetic continuity and provide insights into the endogenization of HHV-6A.

New paper out in Science Advances:
Tracing 2500 years of human betaherpesvirus 6A and 6B diversity through ancient DNA
👉 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Ethical and equitable approaches in AI for vector-borne disease management - AI and Ethics Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly being incorporated into public health strategies for vector-borne disease (VBD) management, offering several advances in surveillance, prediction, and cont...

New paper out, a lovely way to finish 2025!✨“Ethical & equitable approaches in AI for vector-borne disease management”🦟A truly collaborative effort, this paper started as a conversation at the #InsectAI meeting, & was a joy to work on! Shout if you’d like the pdf🧪🌐🌍 link.springer.com/article/10.1...

(PDF) A list of sound producing European grasshoppers and the availability of their sounds in Xeno-canto PDF | On Dec 8, 2025, Baudewijn Odé and others published A list of sound producing European grasshoppers and the availability of their sounds in Xeno-canto | Find, read and cite all the research you n...

Check out this write-up on sound producing Grasshoppers in Europe, and their availability on XC www.researchgate.net/publication/... . #bioacoustics #grasshoppers #orthoptera

A timely new article by the co-chairs of the IPBES #NexusAssessment Pamela McElwee and Paula Harrison titled “Time to act across crises: Lessons from the Nexus Assessment for UNFCCC COP 30” is now available.

Read it here: https://journals.plos.org/climate/article?id=10.1371/journal.pclm.0000730

Just shows how awesome they are #teambat

Human transformation of past terrestrial ecosystems - Nature Reviews Biodiversity Human actions have shaped ecosystems for thousands of years, and have profound effects on biodiversity and environmental processes. This Review explores the ways that humans have modified past ecosystems and the methods available for researchers to study these changes, as well as indicating how understanding historic change can inform conservation strategies.

Human transformation of past terrestrial ecosystems @natrevbiodiv.nature.com #anthromes 🌍🌐
doi.org/10.1038/s443...

Fig 2 from Ecke et al 2025 in Nature Ecology Evolution. The figure legend reads "Zoonotic hazard as a function of habitat degradation and ecosystem restoration" and depicts 6 different habitat scenarios represented by a taiga forest in which habitat degradation, restoration and recovery can potentially influence the levels of zoonotic hazard

Adaptive ecosystem restoration to mitigate zoonotic risks www.nature.com/articles/s41...

This Perspective discusses essential considerations for how ecosystem restoration may influence spillover of zoonotic pathogens, and how such considerations may be integrated into restoration design 🧪

Variation in artificial light at night (ALAN) affects ecosystem functions: An experimental approach using plasticine caterpillar predation in an urban environment Artificial Light at Night (ALAN) is changing our nocturnal landscape. Recent research reveals the negative impacts on biodiversity, including individu…

New study 🎓 by @robinheinennl.bsky.social

Variation in artificial light at night (ALAN) 💡 affects ecosystem functions: An experimental approach using plasticine caterpillar 🐛 predation in an urban environment 🧪

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... 🔓

🎙️ New BBC podcast: Digital Dolittles – Talking to the animals? 🐘🦉

Featuring UCL’s Prof. Kate Jones @profkatej.bsky.social @ucl-pnl.bsky.social and UCL's PhD students, exploring how tech is changing the way we listen to nature 🌍✨

🔗 www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

The Tree of Life: Solving Science's Greatest Puzzle Buy The Tree of Life: Solving Science's Greatest Puzzle by Telford, Max (ISBN: 9781399806374) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.

And available in the UK RIGHT NOW of course.
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1399806378

My book "The Tree of Life" has been selected as one of Apple Books most anticipated books of the fall! Out in the USA November 11th. Available for Preorder now!
www.amazon.com/dp/1324065427

🦟" #OneHealth approach uncovers emergence and dynamics of #Usutu and #WestNile viruses in the #Netherlands 🇳🇱" by ‪ @emmanuellemunger.bsky.social, @marionkoopmans.bsky.social et al. @erasmusmc.bsky.social in @natcomms.nature.com

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Identifying the climate sensitivity of infectious diseases: a conceptual framework Infectious diseases pose a substantial threat to public health, affecting billions and straining health-care systems worldwide. There is growing concern over how anthropogenic climate change might agg...

Identifying the climate sensitivity of infectious diseases: a conceptual framework #climate #health #disease #policy www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Terrestrial and mobile laser scanning for national forest inventories: From theory to implementation Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) has emerged as an important data source for monitoring forest resources. Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) and Mobi…

Sure, 3D forest surveys sound cool, but how would you go about actually doing them? We have a new paper for that. 🌳🌲🧪🌏

Planetary system evolution and the extended biosphere: we humans are products of Earth’s biosphere; we have become its co-creators; can we be its regulators? | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences The energy balance of a planet is set by the sunlight entering and the heat radiating back from it. Earth’s biosphere adds new complexity as energy flows through global marine and terrestrial ecosystems altering physical and chemical systems, including ...

So pleased to be part of this special issue following a wonderful meeting at @royalsociety.org on Chance and Purpose in the Biosphere last year. Do check it out

Wasps (and me!) in @thesundaytimes.bsky.social today. Thanks @ben-spencer.bsky.social for championing wasps!

Get involved with #WaspPicnicSurvey and #BigWaspSurvey!
#SummerOfWaspLove
Links below!
@uclcber.bsky.social @uclnews.bsky.social
@adamhartscience.bsky.social

UCL People and Nature Lab are looking for partner organisations in the conservation sector for Nature Smart Challenge 2026! Could you be one of them?
#UCL @freshwaterizzy.bsky.social

Really excited to see our perspective on how urbanization affects species interactions out in Nature Cities, hoping to inspire more research on this topic. Hard team work led by former postdoc Pablo Moreno-García. Feel free to discuss! rdcu.be/eyjBj www.nature.com/articles/s44...

Synchronized seasonal excretion of multiple coronaviruses coincides with high rates of coinfection in immature bats - Nature Communications Bats harbor diverse coronaviruses but temporal dynamics are less well studied. Here, the authors analyzed coronaviruses in Australian flying foxes over 3 years showing peak shedding and co-infections ...

🦇 NEW RESEARCH: Our 3-year study of Australian flying foxes identified six co-circulating coronaviruses, with highest rates of infection and co-infection in young bats, and evidence of circulating recombinants 🧪🌏 🧵

Available open access in @natcomms.nature.com

📄 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Frontiers | Citizen science in river monitoring: a systematic literature review of the whys and hows River monitoring is a prevalent focus within citizen science projects. Despite numerous reports and institutional manuals detailing the monitoring techniques...

New paper alert: Citizen science in river monitoring: a systematic review of the whys and hows. Led by the incredible @uclgeography.bsky.social undergrad Gabrielle, it guides new citizen science projects to commonly used approaches that align with their goals. www.frontiersin.org/journals/env...

Robotics-assisted acoustic surveys could deliver reliable, landscape-level biodiversity insights Terrestrial remote sensing approaches, such as acoustic monitoring, deliver finely resolved and reliable biodiversity data. However, the scalability of surveys is often limited by the effort, time and...

📢 I have a new pre-print out with @sarabssethi.bsky.social, where we show that robotic-assisted #acoustic monitoring can deliver automated #biodiversity surveys. 🐒🦜 Drone assisted #PAM works well for coarse patterns of biodiversity, but less well for species-specific details.
doi.org/10.1101/2025...

📢 Just out in @nature.com: Oxford Uni, UNDP‬ & others propose a 'Nature Relationship Index', a bold new metric to track how well people & nature thrive together. A hopeful framework to reimagine progress beyond GDP.
🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09080-1 #NatureRecovery @ox.ac.uk @undp.org

Seasonal Fattening Among Bat Populations Globally: Storing Energy for Survival in a Changing World Bats fatten to cope in environments with seasonal energy shortages, gaining more weight in seasonally cold climates and in tropical climates with highly seasonal rainfall. In cold climates, females l...

Seasonal Fattening Among Bat Populations Globally: Storing Energy for Survival in a Changing World - Wu - 2025 - Ecology Letters - Wiley Online Library onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Building networks for biodiversity and food system transformation Nature Reviews Biodiversity, Published online: 16 June 2025; doi:10.1038/s44358-025-00063-8The global food system accelerates biodiversity loss, which in turn undermines the resilience and sustainability of food production. Strategic, coordinated action across the food system’s diverse actors and networks is essential to drive structural change and reverse biodiversity loss.

ICYMI: New online! Building networks for biodiversity and food system transformation