Jolyon Troscianko
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jtroscianko.bsky.social
Jolyon Troscianko
@jtroscianko.bsky.social
1.2K followers 820 following 26 posts
Visual ecologist at Exeter University. I study how visual information affects the ecology, behaviour, survival and conservation of many different animals. Areas of interest include camouflage, signalling, visual modelling and artificial light at night
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Reposted by Jolyon Troscianko
jon-aguinaga.bsky.social
Been using @jtroscianko.bsky.social 's BehaveAI for nearly a year now! Very powerful tool to automatically classify behaviors... and now orientation!

Great new update just in time for my #NSF #PRFB draft revision.
jtroscianko.bsky.social Jolyon Troscianko @jtroscianko.bsky.social · 11d
BehaveAI can now measure orientation. So now you can work out the behaviour of your animal in each frame as well as its direction - e.g. tells you which way animals are pointing or whether they're turning.

Video guide: youtu.be/FgmtHoardWg

Install: github.com/troscianko/B...
BehaveAI - orientation tracking - v1.4
YouTube video by Jolyon Troscianko
youtu.be
September 8, 2026 at 11:19 PM
jtroscianko.bsky.social
BehaveAI can now measure orientation. So now you can work out the behaviour of your animal in each frame as well as its direction - e.g. tells you which way animals are pointing or whether they're turning.

Video guide: youtu.be/FgmtHoardWg

Install: github.com/troscianko/B...
BehaveAI - orientation tracking - v1.4
YouTube video by Jolyon Troscianko
youtu.be
September 8, 2026 at 4:04 PM
Reposted by Jolyon Troscianko
grahancock.bsky.social
Well this is a big one the largest paper from my PhD is finally out! We show how direct lighting influences optimal camouflage! With shadows promoting the evolution of darker, striped patterns and countershading!!

journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
Shining a light on camouflage evolution: Using genetic algorithms to determine the effects of geometry and lighting on optimal camouflage
Visual camouflage evolution in animals depends on both light’s interaction with its surroundings and the limits of what the natural observers of the camouflage can see. Changes in lighting – such as t...
journals.plos.org
April 29, 2026 at 8:39 PM
Reposted by Jolyon Troscianko
plosbiology.org
Despite advances, quantifying complex motion info remains challenging. @jtroscianko.bsky.social @kevinjgaston.bsky.social &co present BehaveAI, a #video analysis tool that sees motion as color, tracking animals & classifying #behavior in complex natural scenes @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4kTF1wX
Illustration of the framework’s structure. Users can specify primary classes and secondary classes across both static and motion video streams (a–f). The right panel shows examples of static and color-from-motion frames from case studies. The color-from-motion trails create characteristic patterns that reveal movement and behavior. The grass moth (Crambidae) is nearly undetectable from still frames due to its color, and motion blur, but it is highly salient in the motion stream (g). The semaphore fly (Poecilobothrus nobilitatus) example shows how motion information can easily disentangle behaviors that are often identical from static frames (e.g., “fly” and “display” appear identical in the static frame, but different in motion). This example also showcases hierarchical classification, with secondary classifiers determining the sex of the flies (h). Sea slaters (Ligia oceanica) are highly camouflaged when static, and salient when moving, resulting in motion models that make far fewer errors (but cannot detect stationary individuals) (i). Human sperm have been classified based on their swimming movement with either symmetric (typically resulting in fast, straight movement), asymmetric (typically resulting in slow, circling, exploratory movement), or weak (twitching, vibrating etc…) strategies. These swimming strategies can be determined without tracking individuals, which is difficult in complex, debris-filled videos (j).
February 23, 2026 at 9:58 AM
jtroscianko.bsky.social
Eye-opening findings on how light suppresses moth activity. Light attracts moths, but what if we've been missing a much more pervasive effect where even sky-glow light levels make them freeze?

Paper: doi.org/10.1098/rspb...
@uniexecec.bsky.social @esbriolat.bsky.social @kevinjgaston.bsky.social
Moth perched on a streetlamp. Our work suggests that light suppresses activity in moths, so once attracted to a light they are prevented from escape.
February 21, 2026 at 9:30 AM
Reposted by Jolyon Troscianko
cornwall.exeter.ac.uk
Moths move significantly less when exposed to artificial nighttime light, new research from the Centre for Ecology and Conservation at the University of Exeter, Cornwall shows.
Read More: news.exeter.ac.uk/faculty-of-e...

@uniexecec.bsky.social #ExeterEcology
Artificial nighttime lighting is suppressing moth activity
Moths move significantly less when exposed to artificial nighttime light, new research shows. Moths’ attraction to artificial light, such as streetlights, is common knowledge and has been much studied...
news.exeter.ac.uk
January 28, 2026 at 11:25 AM
jtroscianko.bsky.social
Our BehaveAI paper has just come out!

Easy & effective tracking & behavioural classification, even with tiny (2px), fast moving, camouflaged objects.

Paper: doi.org/10.1371/jour...
Download: github.com/troscianko/B...

@uniexecec.bsky.social @kevinjgaston.bsky.social @jimamclgalloway.bsky.social
February 21, 2026 at 9:02 AM
Reposted by Jolyon Troscianko
biosulc.bsky.social
Many thanks to all authors, namely to @scienceanna.bsky.social, @lisandrinamari.bsky.social, @jtroscianko.bsky.social, V. Jelínek and T. Albrecht, to all participants that played the egg game, to our research institute @ivb-cas.bsky.social of @czechacademy.bsky.social. And of course, to all BIRDS!
November 26, 2025 at 6:13 PM
jtroscianko.bsky.social
The final schedule for Winter ASAB is finalised, and we've got an absolutely fantastic line-up.

We had 176 talk abstract submissions and just 24 slots - can't wait to see them.

asabwinter.github.io/2025/schedule/

@asab-meetings.bsky.social
Talk schedule
asabwinter.github.io
November 20, 2025 at 2:35 PM
jtroscianko.bsky.social
This grass moth is often invisible in still frames, but easy to see in motion. BehaveAI can use this motion to track tiny & camouflaged moving objects in complex scenes. Its semi-automated annotation workflow also means this moth-tracker took only an hour to make.

Preprint: tinyurl.com/BehaveAI
November 7, 2025 at 2:06 PM
jtroscianko.bsky.social
BehaveAI can tell you who is doing what in each video frame. This example classifies behaviour from movement and sex from static appearance such as wing markings.

Preprint: tinyurl.com/BehaveAI
Git: tinyurl.com/BehaveAIgithub
Video: tinyurl.com/BehaveAIintro

@uniexecec.bsky.social
November 7, 2025 at 12:23 PM
jtroscianko.bsky.social
BehaveAI is live!

Our biologically inspired video analysis tool sees motion as colour. Track animals or objects, classify their behaviour, and handle complex natural scenes with ease.

Semi-supervised annotation, no GPUs required, user-friendly, free & open source.

Pre-print tinyurl.com/BehaveAI
November 6, 2025 at 10:09 AM
jtroscianko.bsky.social
Winter ASAB @asab.org on *Sensory Ecology* register and submit your abstracts now (abstract deadline just a month away)!

I'm organising the conference this year with @lauraakelley.bsky.social and Innes Cuthill

Register & get more info here: asabwinter.github.io/2025/
Winter ASAB 2025 - 15th-16th of December in Edinburgh - with a special theme of "How sensory information affects behaviour". Register at https://asabwinter.github.io/2025/ deadline for abstract submission 29th of August.
July 29, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Reposted by Jolyon Troscianko
coszan.bsky.social
✨Out Now✨ The outcome of my 1st ever #guppy experiment (from 2021!) w @ccioannou.bsky.social & @jtroscianko.bsky.social

We asked: How detectable are guppies to visual predators under different env. conditions?👇
academic.oup.com/beheco/artic...

#ISBE #fish #behaviour @bristolbiosci.bsky.social
🧵1/9
Enhanced conspicuousness of prey in warmer water mitigates the constraint of turbidity for predators
Abstract. Changes in environmental conditions impact predator-prey interactions by altering behaviour through sensory and non-sensory (e.g. metabolic or co
academic.oup.com
July 14, 2025 at 12:01 PM
jtroscianko.bsky.social
Just a few days left to sign up for our light pollution & insect declines workshop - FREE registration & meals - deadline for registration March 21st, and deadline for expert scan suggestions 22nd.

www.visual-ecology.com/events/
moth being attracted to a streetlight
March 17, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Reposted by Jolyon Troscianko
jmappes.bsky.social
@jtroscianko.bsky.social visited us @aplantaginis.bsky.social in #viikki and gave a fantastic talk about #ALAN and its implications on nocturnal #moths. Packed lecture room and lots of fun discussion. Thanks so much for visiting!
February 18, 2025 at 5:03 PM
jtroscianko.bsky.social
We are delighted to host an RCN symposium on light pollution as a driver of insect declines. May 12th-14th, Penryn. We will draw on academics, industry, planners & NGOs to explore issues & seek solutions. Free registration, but limited places!

www.visual-ecology.com/events/
@uniexecec.bsky.social
Insect populations are undergoing significant declines, and artificial light at night has been identified as a potentially major – but often poorly understood – threat to insect biodiversity and ecosystem functions. Our international symposium, the first of its kind, aims to bring together leading researchers, conservationists, policy makers, NGOs, and those working in industry, both locally and globally. We will aggregate existing knowledge concerning the direct and indirect consequences of artificial light at night for insect biodiversity and will use workshops and an expert scan of future research priorities to explore new avenues to reduce the ecological impact of light pollution.
February 17, 2025 at 10:10 AM
Reposted by Jolyon Troscianko
caitlyncardetti.bsky.social
New open-source hyperspectral imager you can 3D print for less than $450 from
@jtroscianko.bsky.social. The HOSI system can take panoramic hyperspectral images that meet the difficult requirements of artificial light at night (ALAN) research.
bmcbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.... #BMCBiology
Photo of 3D printed hyperspectral open-source imager (HOSI) connected to an Android phone with a readout of an image of butterflies, with pinned/taxidermized butterflies in background.
January 7, 2025 at 7:59 PM
jtroscianko.bsky.social
Hyperspectral Imager paper out! High sensitivity UV to nearIR, full-field panoramas, radiance & reflectance, runs from a smartphone. Build the system for about $450 from 3D printed parts & off-the-shelf components.

Paper: doi.org/10.1186/s129...

Intro video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=9q8l...
Hyperspectral Open Source Imager (HOSI) introduction
YouTube video by Jolyon Troscianko
www.youtube.com
January 8, 2025 at 11:59 AM
Reposted by Jolyon Troscianko
englishse.bsky.social
Exciting PhD opportunity with @neeltjeboogert.bsky.social , @padpadpadpad.bsky.social (Exeter) and myself (Bristol) on gulls, their microbiomes, and role in transmitting disease.

Details below - deadline 13 January!
Poster of PhD advert about role gulls play in spreading disease and antimicrobial resistance. More info: https://www.findaphd.com/phds/project/what-role-do-gulls-play-in-spreading-disease-and-anti-microbial-resistance-nerc-gw4-dtp-phd-studentship-for-september-2025-entry-ref-5431/?p178297
January 6, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Reposted by Jolyon Troscianko
rosemarymosco.com
Another thing I made this year: Real and implied birds.
A six-panel cartoon titled "real and implied birds". In the two panels in the top row, there's a rough legged-hawk sailing through the sky, next to a smooth legged hawk, which has smooth human legs. In the second row, there's a great-crested flycatcher looking dapper, next to an ok-crested flycatcher that has just a slightly less nice crest. In the third row, there's a mountain chickadee standing up on stones, next to a valley chickadee peeking out from a dip between stones. In the fourth row, there's a least bittern standing in some reeds, next to a most bittern that is enormous and stomping through a city, with people running in fear, helicopters overhead, and an overturned car on fire.
December 20, 2024 at 6:52 PM
Reposted by Jolyon Troscianko
nickdesnoyer.bsky.social
In one year, I genetically engineered the boring Arabidopsis into a beautiful ornamental flower 🧬🌹

Here is how and why I gave this model organism a visual upgrade 🧵(1/7)
December 12, 2024 at 11:24 AM
Reposted by Jolyon Troscianko
padpadpadpad.bsky.social
JOB OPPORTUNITY! I am hiring a postdoc for 18 months to investigate the links between temperature and antibiotic resistance. Ecoevo microbiology, plasmids, and some super fun stats, modelling, and bioinformatics. To starts in Feb 2025. Please share!
#exetercec

jobs.exeter.ac.uk/hrpr_webrecr...
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jobs.exeter.ac.uk
December 12, 2024 at 11:11 AM
Reposted by Jolyon Troscianko
exetergses.bsky.social
Tomorrow is the Conservation Christmas Lecture!🎄🌍🦤🧪

This year the focus will be 'feeding the world at least cost to the planet' hosted by @kjhockings.bsky.social @uniexecec.bsky.social

Guest talks aren't recorded so make sure you're on campus! One not to miss...
A poster with a decorated christmas tree in the background and a circle shaped photo of Professor Andrew Balmford. It reads: CEC Presents, Christmas Conservation Lecture. "Feeding the world at least cost to the planet". December 11th, 2024. 14:00 - 15:00. DDM LTA followed by drinks in the ESI.
December 10, 2024 at 10:50 AM
Reposted by Jolyon Troscianko
reallymccoy.bsky.social
New paper out! We show that heart cockles use bundled fiber optic cables to transmit light through "skylights" in their shell for their photosynthetic algae. The skylights filter out harmful UV radiation. These coral analogues are cool critters!! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Heart cockle shells transmit sunlight to photosymbiotic algae using bundled fiber optic cables and condensing lenses - Nature Communications
Some bivalves have evolved photosynthetic symbioses. Here, the authors show that heart cockles transmit light through their upper shell to internal photosynthetic symbionts, using mineral fiber optic ...
www.nature.com
December 9, 2024 at 2:45 PM