Oliver Bossdorf

I like this place! Don't forget to drink a Schwarzbier

174,110 emails
52 per day
since April 2013

Just found out that my incoming emails are numbered. I am currently at #174,110. With approx. 3372 work days since my start at Uni Tübingen = 50 emails/day on average over 13 years! Wow! How is anybody able to handle such numbers? I am not good at it.

Ah the beauty of fresh Alliaria seedlings!

Part of a litter sample from one 1m2 plot (Harvard Forest, plot 100S, Macrosystems transect, 2013). These mites represent a "mesofauna" that is as daunting as it is fantabulous.

It takes a certain blend of self-confidence and derangement to study the ecology of oribatid mites.

The Tielbörger lab at @unituebingen.bsky.social is offering TWO PHD POSITIONS in rangeland ecology, as part of the sage-centre.org. It is about tipping points in Middle Eastern rangelands. A large interdisciplinary project with unique long-term experiments!

We are still looking for a PhD student to work on feedbacks between plant invasion and riverbank erosion, embedded in the @terra-cluster.org. In collaboration with geoscientists and modellers; cool combination of field work & experiments. Position is in the Tielbörger lab, in collab with our group.

"Sun dogs" (#parhelia) this morning on my way to work. Almost tripled sun (22° halo) caused by refraction of sun light by ice crystals in the air. Very strange, and weirdly blinding.

Es war die guuuude alde Zeeit! Und natürlich Hessi James!
RIP Gerd Knebel

Only 1 week left to apply for your #dreamPhD position on #GeneticDiversity of #Proteas! Amazing combination of field work, wet and dry lab, amazing collaborators in #FynFUN and @terra-cluster.org, and definitely one of the most beautiful study systems and common gardens in the world! Please RT.

Foto of an ancient beech tree, logos of Uni Freiburg and Biodiversity Exploratories, and short announcement text: "PhD position in Forest Genetics entitled "Genetic diversity of tree and shrub species in the Biodiversity Exploratories" 3 years (starting in April/May 2026), Apply now!"

🌳 PhD Position in Forest Genetics
@uni-freiburg.de
Join the BeGenDiv project to study genetic diversity of ~30 tree & shrub species across Germany’s Biodiversity Exploratories.
🧬 Fieldwork, lab work, bioinformatics & interdisciplinary collaboration
More info: uni-freiburg.de/stellenangeb...

WIR MÜSSEN UNS TRENNEN | #DIDit YouTube video by MarcUweKling

Super Initiative vom Känguru-Flüsterer: #DIDit #DUTgemacht
youtu.be/N77AoSweuVs?...

@eseb.bsky.social @sse-evolution.bsky.social @evoldir.bsky.social @mexpositoalonso.bsky.social @wslbiodiversity.bsky.social @unituebingen.bsky.social @sgn.one @unihohenheim.bsky.social

Please RT: we are looking for a PhD student to work on macrogenetics and quantitative genetics of South African proteas. Amazing collaborative project with @plantecology.bsky.social @debbiemleigh.bsky.social & others, embedded in @terra-cluster.org. Dream project if you love molecular biodiversity!

Time to publish responsibly: DAFNEE, a database of academia-friendly journals in ecology and evolutionary biology Abstract. The current economics of scientific publishing reveal a profound imbalance: academia pays prices far exceeding the actual costs of publication. R

Academia friendly peer-reviewed journals in EEB: academic.oup.com/jeb/advance-...

Das ist wirklich total gaga

An exciting PhD in plant invasion ecology, with lots of interdisciplinary collaboration, and a cool combination of field work & experiments? Check out this offer in the Tielbörger lab @unituebingen.bsky.social, with involvement of our group and several others, embedded in the @terra-cluster.org.

An exciting PhD project in conservation genetics? Check out the one below @uni-freiburg.de that will survey genetic diversity across species to understand the big picture - very important! In collaboration with many others (incl. our group) and the @bexplo.bsky.social community.

Theoretical biology out from Paul Klee's brushes

please RT! @gfoesoc.bsky.social @britishecologicalsociety.org @ecologicalsociety.bsky.social @evoldir.bsky.social @bexplo.bsky.social

15 open PhD positions in our @terra-cluster.org @unituebingen.bsky.social (with @unihohenheim.bsky.social and @sgn.one). All on biosphere-geosphere interactions, from eco-evo to soil science, hydrology, geology and paleontology. Check FUN01 and FUN04 if you want to work with us (detailed ads follow)

I am interested in working with an artist on a graphic novel on soil and/ or global environmental change. The lab would have money to fund this.

Do you know of any graphic artists that would be interested?

What a fabulous #BES2025 conference this has been! How friendly and modern and fun! So much great science, amazing keynote by Sandra Diaz, great party, good food. And Edinburgh is a very cool city.

The commitments in the SAFE Labs Handbook.

A new community-driven lab handbook for reducing conflict and creating more positive and equitable work environments gets strong support from a survey of 200 researchers.
buff.ly/K7CGFLV

Sandra Diaz on the stage, in front of a slide with trees that are bent and used over generations for making boats

What an amazing opening keynote by Sandra Diaz at #BES2025 - from the global plant phenospace to human drivers and use, to our relationship with plant species.

Wow

75 people?!

course schedule as a table. Available at the link in the post.

I'm teaching Statistical Rethinking again starting Jan 2026. This time with live lectures, divided into Beginner and Experienced sections. Will be a lot more work for me, but I hope much better for students.

I will record lectures & all will be found at this link: github.com/rmcelreath/s...

New study by @bmwildermuth.bsky.social et al. in @natecoevo.nature.com

They asked whether arthropod biomass declines due to species loss per se, or which species are lost, or because of shrinking abundances of persisting species. 🪲🕷️🐝🦗

doi.org/10.1038/s415...

Out now! 🌿🎙️ In this month's episode of #InsideBiodiversity, Prof Marten Scheffer explains critical transitions and tipping points.

Together with iDiv's Dr Volker Hahn, he explores whether local tipping points can be scaled up to a 🌍 biospheric planetary boundary.

🎧✨ insidebiodiversity.podigee.io