Louis Bliard
@lbliard.bsky.social
Postdoc at Aarhus University. Social evolution, population ecology, ornithology. Data editor at Proc B.
Pinned
New preprint out with Michael Griesser and @ryangermain.bsky.social, for some comparative analyses in which we find that population growth rates of cooperative breeders are less sensitive to annual variation in precipitation and temperature doi.org/10.32942/X26...
Reposted by Louis Bliard
🚨Preprint alert! 🚨What if your study animal doesn't know the landscape yet? Standard movement models such as SSA assume it does. In our new study we let it learn instead, and put "learner" against "omniscient" head to head (1/4) doi.org/10.64898/202...
September 7, 2026 at 1:05 PM
🚨Preprint alert! 🚨What if your study animal doesn't know the landscape yet? Standard movement models such as SSA assume it does. In our new study we let it learn instead, and put "learner" against "omniscient" head to head (1/4) doi.org/10.64898/202...
Reposted by Louis Bliard
"Populations of cooperatively breeding birds are buffered against annual variation in precipitation and temperature" doi.org/10.32942/X26...
September 3, 2026 at 6:00 AM
"Populations of cooperatively breeding birds are buffered against annual variation in precipitation and temperature" doi.org/10.32942/X26...
Reposted by Louis Bliard
This is a really exciting piece of work with some fantastic analysis by @lbliard.bsky.social. Very excited to see it coming out!
New preprint out with Michael Griesser and @ryangermain.bsky.social, for some comparative analyses in which we find that population growth rates of cooperative breeders are less sensitive to annual variation in precipitation and temperature doi.org/10.32942/X26...
September 2, 2026 at 1:40 PM
This is a really exciting piece of work with some fantastic analysis by @lbliard.bsky.social. Very excited to see it coming out!
New preprint out with Michael Griesser and @ryangermain.bsky.social, for some comparative analyses in which we find that population growth rates of cooperative breeders are less sensitive to annual variation in precipitation and temperature doi.org/10.32942/X26...
September 2, 2026 at 8:22 AM
New preprint out with Michael Griesser and @ryangermain.bsky.social, for some comparative analyses in which we find that population growth rates of cooperative breeders are less sensitive to annual variation in precipitation and temperature doi.org/10.32942/X26...
Reposted by Louis Bliard
🚨Update: Our analysis of global APC expenditure has now been expanded to cover more publishers (7 -> 14) and more years (2019-2025).
We estimate $15B in APCs paid over seven years, $3.7B in 2025 alone. Elsevier crosses the $1B threshold by itself in 2025.
arxiv.org/abs/2608.16322 #ScholComm
We estimate $15B in APCs paid over seven years, $3.7B in 2025 alone. Elsevier crosses the $1B threshold by itself in 2025.
arxiv.org/abs/2608.16322 #ScholComm
August 31, 2026 at 1:16 PM
🚨Update: Our analysis of global APC expenditure has now been expanded to cover more publishers (7 -> 14) and more years (2019-2025).
We estimate $15B in APCs paid over seven years, $3.7B in 2025 alone. Elsevier crosses the $1B threshold by itself in 2025.
arxiv.org/abs/2608.16322 #ScholComm
We estimate $15B in APCs paid over seven years, $3.7B in 2025 alone. Elsevier crosses the $1B threshold by itself in 2025.
arxiv.org/abs/2608.16322 #ScholComm
Reposted by Louis Bliard
An interesting article here about publication costs: www.horizons-mag.ch/2026/06/04/t...
From 1 January 2027, @snsf.ch will cap the maximum publication fee at CHF 3,500, and will no longer cover fees that are higher than this, not even partially.
www.snf.ch/en/G2XqbkM4D...
From 1 January 2027, @snsf.ch will cap the maximum publication fee at CHF 3,500, and will no longer cover fees that are higher than this, not even partially.
www.snf.ch/en/G2XqbkM4D...
August 31, 2026 at 3:09 PM
An interesting article here about publication costs: www.horizons-mag.ch/2026/06/04/t...
From 1 January 2027, @snsf.ch will cap the maximum publication fee at CHF 3,500, and will no longer cover fees that are higher than this, not even partially.
www.snf.ch/en/G2XqbkM4D...
From 1 January 2027, @snsf.ch will cap the maximum publication fee at CHF 3,500, and will no longer cover fees that are higher than this, not even partially.
www.snf.ch/en/G2XqbkM4D...
Do social bird species have more stable demographic histories? We do not find this to be the case in our new preprint doi.org/10.32942/X2N...
Together with @ryangermain.bsky.social and many others
Together with @ryangermain.bsky.social and many others
July 13, 2026 at 9:37 PM
Do social bird species have more stable demographic histories? We do not find this to be the case in our new preprint doi.org/10.32942/X2N...
Together with @ryangermain.bsky.social and many others
Together with @ryangermain.bsky.social and many others
Reposted by Louis Bliard
What drives the variation in mutation rates between seals and walruses, gulls and pelicans? Maybe selection counteracting the burden of deleterious mutations- or maybe it is a spandrel, a neutral byproduct of the diversification of development and life-history academic.oup.com/evolut/advan...
Mutation rate variation as the neutral byproduct of developmental and life history diversification
Abstract. Understanding why species differ in their rates of mutation is central to explaining patterns of molecular and phenotypic evolution. Mutation rat
academic.oup.com
July 9, 2026 at 6:47 PM
What drives the variation in mutation rates between seals and walruses, gulls and pelicans? Maybe selection counteracting the burden of deleterious mutations- or maybe it is a spandrel, a neutral byproduct of the diversification of development and life-history academic.oup.com/evolut/advan...
Reposted by Louis Bliard
🚨 Exciting news! The Swiss Ornithological Institute is starting a collaborative program that offers multi-sensor geolocators and analytical support for bird migration research, focusing on underrepresented species & regions. Interested? geopressure.org/GeoCollabForm/ Please share!
July 6, 2026 at 7:36 AM
🚨 Exciting news! The Swiss Ornithological Institute is starting a collaborative program that offers multi-sensor geolocators and analytical support for bird migration research, focusing on underrepresented species & regions. Interested? geopressure.org/GeoCollabForm/ Please share!
Reposted by Louis Bliard
We are looking for two field managers‼️Starting end of August South Africa 🌍 If you have fieldwork experience and want a job with added responsibility of overseeing the field activities, see below for more information. 🐣 Deadline 15/06/2026
sociableweaverproject.com/recruitment/...
#fieldjobs
sociableweaverproject.com/recruitment/...
#fieldjobs
June 8, 2026 at 10:36 AM
We are looking for two field managers‼️Starting end of August South Africa 🌍 If you have fieldwork experience and want a job with added responsibility of overseeing the field activities, see below for more information. 🐣 Deadline 15/06/2026
sociableweaverproject.com/recruitment/...
#fieldjobs
sociableweaverproject.com/recruitment/...
#fieldjobs
Reposted by Louis Bliard
Are you interested in doing local ancestry inference (LAI) using imputed #aDNA? Take a look at our preprint, together with @bodkan.bsky.social:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Promises and limitations of local ancestry inference in imputed ancient genomes https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.05.19.725905v1
May 21, 2026 at 1:56 PM
Are you interested in doing local ancestry inference (LAI) using imputed #aDNA? Take a look at our preprint, together with @bodkan.bsky.social:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Reposted by Louis Bliard
🚨FULLY FUNDED PHD POSITION!🚨 If you are interested in trying to answer the question of "How did climate shape the movements, interactions, and evolution of
hominin populations?" Come join my lab at @humanorigins.bsky.social 🧬🧪 deadline 7th of June ⬇️
uni-tuebingen.de/universitaet...
hominin populations?" Come join my lab at @humanorigins.bsky.social 🧬🧪 deadline 7th of June ⬇️
uni-tuebingen.de/universitaet...
April 30, 2026 at 3:20 PM
🚨FULLY FUNDED PHD POSITION!🚨 If you are interested in trying to answer the question of "How did climate shape the movements, interactions, and evolution of
hominin populations?" Come join my lab at @humanorigins.bsky.social 🧬🧪 deadline 7th of June ⬇️
uni-tuebingen.de/universitaet...
hominin populations?" Come join my lab at @humanorigins.bsky.social 🧬🧪 deadline 7th of June ⬇️
uni-tuebingen.de/universitaet...
Reposted by Louis Bliard
🚨New (very special) preprint! 🚨"What is the human germline mutation rate? methodological innovations, challenges, and evolutionary implications" doi.org/10.32942/X2T... The product of many coffees & pains au chocolat with @hhydrochaerus.bsky.social debating the knows and unknowns about mutations 🧬🧪
April 8, 2026 at 7:37 AM
🚨New (very special) preprint! 🚨"What is the human germline mutation rate? methodological innovations, challenges, and evolutionary implications" doi.org/10.32942/X2T... The product of many coffees & pains au chocolat with @hhydrochaerus.bsky.social debating the knows and unknowns about mutations 🧬🧪
Reposted by Louis Bliard
Ecological harshness has a weak influence on reproductive trade-offs in a #greattit population:
@lbliard.bsky.social et al. 2026:
doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...
@lbliard.bsky.social et al. 2026:
doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...
Ecological harshness has a weak influence on reproductive trade-offs in a great tit population
Abstract. Lack’s seminal work on bird clutch sizes has spurred expansive research on reproductive trade-offs, especially focusing on offspring quantity–qua
doi.org
March 18, 2026 at 2:10 PM
Ecological harshness has a weak influence on reproductive trade-offs in a #greattit population:
@lbliard.bsky.social et al. 2026:
doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...
@lbliard.bsky.social et al. 2026:
doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...
Reposted by Louis Bliard
In a sea of opinions about the role of LLMs in academics I offer my own.
Apart from being harmful, exploitive plagiarism machines, LLMs rob us of the opportunity to experience the gift of friction in writing, which changes how we think.
We must not give away that gift.
doi.org/10.1002/fee....
Apart from being harmful, exploitive plagiarism machines, LLMs rob us of the opportunity to experience the gift of friction in writing, which changes how we think.
We must not give away that gift.
doi.org/10.1002/fee....
Thinking like a mountain in the age of AI
Click on the article title to read more.
doi.org
March 16, 2026 at 2:16 PM
In a sea of opinions about the role of LLMs in academics I offer my own.
Apart from being harmful, exploitive plagiarism machines, LLMs rob us of the opportunity to experience the gift of friction in writing, which changes how we think.
We must not give away that gift.
doi.org/10.1002/fee....
Apart from being harmful, exploitive plagiarism machines, LLMs rob us of the opportunity to experience the gift of friction in writing, which changes how we think.
We must not give away that gift.
doi.org/10.1002/fee....
New paper out in @jevbio.bsky.social
Using 58 years of data, we look at the effect of environmental variation on reproductive trade-offs in great tits.
With @jsmartin.bsky.social, @dzchilds.bsky.social, Ella Cole, @sheldonbirds.bsky.social, @paniw.bsky.social & Arpat Ozgul
doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...
Using 58 years of data, we look at the effect of environmental variation on reproductive trade-offs in great tits.
With @jsmartin.bsky.social, @dzchilds.bsky.social, Ella Cole, @sheldonbirds.bsky.social, @paniw.bsky.social & Arpat Ozgul
doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...
Ecological harshness has a weak influence on reproductive trade-offs in a great tit population
Abstract. Lack’s seminal work on bird clutch sizes has spurred expansive research on reproductive trade-offs, especially focusing on offspring quantity–qua
doi.org
February 20, 2026 at 8:52 AM
New paper out in @jevbio.bsky.social
Using 58 years of data, we look at the effect of environmental variation on reproductive trade-offs in great tits.
With @jsmartin.bsky.social, @dzchilds.bsky.social, Ella Cole, @sheldonbirds.bsky.social, @paniw.bsky.social & Arpat Ozgul
doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...
Using 58 years of data, we look at the effect of environmental variation on reproductive trade-offs in great tits.
With @jsmartin.bsky.social, @dzchilds.bsky.social, Ella Cole, @sheldonbirds.bsky.social, @paniw.bsky.social & Arpat Ozgul
doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...
Reposted by Louis Bliard
We have published a new pre-print showing a decline in great tit adult and nestling mass of around 1 gram in 47 y. [rate of approx. -0.040 Hadanes] With @ellafcole.bsky.social, @devisatarkar.bsky.social, Sam. Crofts, @mcmahok.bsky.social & @sheldonbirds.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
February 15, 2026 at 5:07 PM
We have published a new pre-print showing a decline in great tit adult and nestling mass of around 1 gram in 47 y. [rate of approx. -0.040 Hadanes] With @ellafcole.bsky.social, @devisatarkar.bsky.social, Sam. Crofts, @mcmahok.bsky.social & @sheldonbirds.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Reposted by Louis Bliard
How do we know our research results are REAL? We replicate them! Most folks agree but lament on how hard it is to publish these replications.
My dearest gentle reader, lament no more! Delighted to unveil: Replication Studies, a new section of Behavioral Ecology 1/
academic.oup.com/beheco/artic...
My dearest gentle reader, lament no more! Delighted to unveil: Replication Studies, a new section of Behavioral Ecology 1/
academic.oup.com/beheco/artic...
Replication studies: a win-win for early-career training and behavioral ecology
Replicating previous research builds confidence that results are real and meaningful. But close replications are rare due to limitations in resources and d
academic.oup.com
February 10, 2026 at 7:42 PM
How do we know our research results are REAL? We replicate them! Most folks agree but lament on how hard it is to publish these replications.
My dearest gentle reader, lament no more! Delighted to unveil: Replication Studies, a new section of Behavioral Ecology 1/
academic.oup.com/beheco/artic...
My dearest gentle reader, lament no more! Delighted to unveil: Replication Studies, a new section of Behavioral Ecology 1/
academic.oup.com/beheco/artic...
Reposted by Louis Bliard
I am looking for a PhD student to join my new Socio-Eco-Evo group, hosted in Katie Peichel's Evolutionary Ecology Division @ University of Bern. We're offering a fully funded 4-year position, studying social plasticity and behavioral adaptation among stickleback in Greenland. Please share around!
February 2, 2026 at 12:01 PM
I am looking for a PhD student to join my new Socio-Eco-Evo group, hosted in Katie Peichel's Evolutionary Ecology Division @ University of Bern. We're offering a fully funded 4-year position, studying social plasticity and behavioral adaptation among stickleback in Greenland. Please share around!
Reposted by Louis Bliard
🚨 PhD offer (please share)
Fascinated by bird migration and movement ecology? 🦜🌍 Join us at @vogelwarte.bsky.social to study annual cycle energetics with multi-sensor loggers in multiple species
Deadline: 20 Feb 2026
Starting: June 2026
Supervision: Martins Briedis & me
Info: tinyurl.com/2dbv9nzh
Fascinated by bird migration and movement ecology? 🦜🌍 Join us at @vogelwarte.bsky.social to study annual cycle energetics with multi-sensor loggers in multiple species
Deadline: 20 Feb 2026
Starting: June 2026
Supervision: Martins Briedis & me
Info: tinyurl.com/2dbv9nzh
January 15, 2026 at 1:31 PM
🚨 PhD offer (please share)
Fascinated by bird migration and movement ecology? 🦜🌍 Join us at @vogelwarte.bsky.social to study annual cycle energetics with multi-sensor loggers in multiple species
Deadline: 20 Feb 2026
Starting: June 2026
Supervision: Martins Briedis & me
Info: tinyurl.com/2dbv9nzh
Fascinated by bird migration and movement ecology? 🦜🌍 Join us at @vogelwarte.bsky.social to study annual cycle energetics with multi-sensor loggers in multiple species
Deadline: 20 Feb 2026
Starting: June 2026
Supervision: Martins Briedis & me
Info: tinyurl.com/2dbv9nzh
Reposted by Louis Bliard
We've got ISSUES. Literally.
We scraped >100k special issues & over 1 million articles to bring you a PISS-poor paper. We quantify just how many excess papers are published by guest editors abusing special issues to boost their CVs. How bad is it & what can we do?
arxiv.org/abs/2601.07563
A 🧵 1/n
We scraped >100k special issues & over 1 million articles to bring you a PISS-poor paper. We quantify just how many excess papers are published by guest editors abusing special issues to boost their CVs. How bad is it & what can we do?
arxiv.org/abs/2601.07563
A 🧵 1/n
January 13, 2026 at 8:27 AM
We've got ISSUES. Literally.
We scraped >100k special issues & over 1 million articles to bring you a PISS-poor paper. We quantify just how many excess papers are published by guest editors abusing special issues to boost their CVs. How bad is it & what can we do?
arxiv.org/abs/2601.07563
A 🧵 1/n
We scraped >100k special issues & over 1 million articles to bring you a PISS-poor paper. We quantify just how many excess papers are published by guest editors abusing special issues to boost their CVs. How bad is it & what can we do?
arxiv.org/abs/2601.07563
A 🧵 1/n
Reposted by Louis Bliard
Happy to hare that the preprint I was advertising below has been published by the Journal of Evolutionary Biology:
academic.oup.com/jeb/advance-...
Thanks @jevbio.bsky.social for supporting responsible publishing!
academic.oup.com/jeb/advance-...
Thanks @jevbio.bsky.social for supporting responsible publishing!
December 9, 2025 at 9:57 AM
Happy to hare that the preprint I was advertising below has been published by the Journal of Evolutionary Biology:
academic.oup.com/jeb/advance-...
Thanks @jevbio.bsky.social for supporting responsible publishing!
academic.oup.com/jeb/advance-...
Thanks @jevbio.bsky.social for supporting responsible publishing!
Reposted by Louis Bliard
Our paper in the PNAS Special Feature on 🐕 is out!
We demonstrated the accuracy of imputing ancient canid genomes, looked at inbreeding levels over the past 10,000 years and found genomic regions resistant to ROH which were enriched for immunity and chemosensory genes.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
We demonstrated the accuracy of imputing ancient canid genomes, looked at inbreeding levels over the past 10,000 years and found genomic regions resistant to ROH which were enriched for immunity and chemosensory genes.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Imputation of ancient canid genomes reveals inbreeding history over the past 10,000 years | PNAS
The multi-millennia-long history between dogs and humans has placed them at the forefront
of archaeological and genomic research. Despite ongoing e...
www.pnas.org
December 1, 2025 at 11:00 AM
Our paper in the PNAS Special Feature on 🐕 is out!
We demonstrated the accuracy of imputing ancient canid genomes, looked at inbreeding levels over the past 10,000 years and found genomic regions resistant to ROH which were enriched for immunity and chemosensory genes.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
We demonstrated the accuracy of imputing ancient canid genomes, looked at inbreeding levels over the past 10,000 years and found genomic regions resistant to ROH which were enriched for immunity and chemosensory genes.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Reposted by Louis Bliard
I’m excited to announce the launch of my lab at EPFL in Jan 2026 🎉. We’ll combine evolution & synthetic biology to study and (re)engineer bacterial communication.
I’m recruiting PhD students to start in the first semester of 2026.
Apply via EPFL PhD programs by Nov 1
drive.google.com/file/d/1cm-t...
I’m recruiting PhD students to start in the first semester of 2026.
Apply via EPFL PhD programs by Nov 1
drive.google.com/file/d/1cm-t...
October 20, 2025 at 6:14 PM
I’m excited to announce the launch of my lab at EPFL in Jan 2026 🎉. We’ll combine evolution & synthetic biology to study and (re)engineer bacterial communication.
I’m recruiting PhD students to start in the first semester of 2026.
Apply via EPFL PhD programs by Nov 1
drive.google.com/file/d/1cm-t...
I’m recruiting PhD students to start in the first semester of 2026.
Apply via EPFL PhD programs by Nov 1
drive.google.com/file/d/1cm-t...
Reposted by Louis Bliard
Interested in a PhD in ornithology? Funding available for projects at the interface of ecology, behaviour & evolution from Oct '26 working on long-term population studies of tits at Wytham, based in @biology.ox.ac.uk in the new Life & Mind Building in Oxford
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
October 20, 2025 at 7:44 PM
Interested in a PhD in ornithology? Funding available for projects at the interface of ecology, behaviour & evolution from Oct '26 working on long-term population studies of tits at Wytham, based in @biology.ox.ac.uk in the new Life & Mind Building in Oxford
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...