Aaron Mboma
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mbomaaaron.bsky.social
Aaron Mboma
@mbomaaaron.bsky.social
Zoologist (MSc): Butterfly Systematics, Biodiversity, Molecular Phylogenetics, Speciation, Evolutionary Genetics. ❤️ Cats. Malawian.
Pinned
I'm happy to announce that my paper, which makes a case for the enduring utility of taxonomy in biological research, has officially been published (open access). Gratitude to my mentor @oschwery.bsky.social who took time to read the initial drafts.
qubeshub.org/community/gr...
Reposted by Aaron Mboma
Join us Nov 13th for #YSF2026, a completely free, online conference where postgraduate students (and other early career researchers) present their work on systematics, taxonomy and/or phylogenetics.

Abstract submission closes Oct 24th!

REGISTER: tinyurl.com/bdzxt2ht

systass.org/young-system...
YSF2026 Registration Form
Welcome to the YSF2026 Registration and Abstract Submission form. This year the conference will be held online on Friday, November 13th 2026. We look forward to seeing old and new faces from across t...
tinyurl.com
September 15, 2026 at 12:06 PM
Reposted by Aaron Mboma
We just released a new open resource for studying evolution, ecology, colour, behaviour & biodiversity.

OzButterflies 🦋

✨ 4,000+ individuals
🌈 Visible + UV images
🧬 CO1 barcodes
📈 Spectral reflectance data
🏞️ 125 species

doi.org/10.1093/data...

@mherberstein.bsky.social @livuni-ives.bsky.social
July 28, 2026 at 1:48 PM
Reposted by Aaron Mboma
Want to join my Naturalists feed? 'Like' this post.

To join my second Naturalists Starter Pack, say "yes" in the comments. (Or post a cat pic. I'm not the boss of you. Either way, let me know.)

🌿

Please share. The more people this invitation reaches, the better.
September 1, 2026 at 4:24 AM
Reposted by Aaron Mboma
We are hiring a #postdoc to work on our NSF funded project on metabolic rate as a driver of individual variation in treefrog acoustic communication. Please spread the word to potentially interested candidates (or apply if you are one of them): jobs.okstate.edu/jobs/postdoc...
jobs.okstate.edu
August 21, 2026 at 7:38 AM
Reposted by Aaron Mboma
Planted dill weeks ago to attract Black Swallowtail caterpillars and it worked! Well, today they exited their chrysalis 🥰🦋🦋🦋

#butterflies #gardening
August 18, 2026 at 12:28 PM
Reposted by Aaron Mboma
A pipevine swallowtail on red bird of paradise 🪶
August 17, 2026 at 1:15 PM
Reposted by Aaron Mboma
MCB is hiring Assistant Professors across 3 divisions!:

🧪BBS: aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF05483
🧬GGED: aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF05481
🦠IMM: aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF05486

🗓️ Application Deadline: October 19, 2026

🔗 Click the links or scan the QR codes to learn more and apply
August 14, 2026 at 7:04 PM
Reposted by Aaron Mboma
I wrote about a reason not to use generative AI in your writing that I haven't seen anyone talking about. Once I realized this, banning GenAI in our lab's writing became a no-brainer. Feel free to share, I think this is probably useful especially for trainees: www.carlsonlab.bio/thoughts/the...
The only reason you’ll ever need not to write with AI — The Carlson Lab
Over the last year, our lab has been developing a policy on AI use. To do this, we did three main things: We read a lot of academic publications and tech news. We set up an #ai channel on our la...
www.carlsonlab.bio
August 10, 2026 at 4:43 PM
Reposted by Aaron Mboma
Huzzah! Today begins the Big Butterfly Count, a huge effort to collect data by @savebutterflies.bsky.social.

Need help understanding why study butterflies?

I interviewed @charlottewright.bsky.social co-lead of @projectpsyche.bsky.social and learned heaps.

sangerinstitute.blog/2025/12/11/f...
Five questions on butterfly and moth genomics with Charlotte Wright - Wellcome Sanger Institute Blog
Drawn to genomics like a moth to a flame, Wellcome Sanger Institute Postdoctoral Fellow, Dr Charlotte Wright, shares with us how she uses genomics to shed light on the evolutionary history of butterfl...
sangerinstitute.blog
July 17, 2026 at 12:17 PM
Reposted by Aaron Mboma
Take a few minutes to read. This is the next in my series about what we learn from evolutionary biology. Free to read, as always. open.substack.com/pub/profmcin...
July 24, 2026 at 6:24 AM
Reposted by Aaron Mboma
Added a small tweak to BOLD View that displays #datacitation for @boldsystems.bsky.social datasets, for example DS-ININD20 boldview.iphylo.org/recordset/DS... is cited by doi.org/10.1007/s110.... This provides context for a dataset (e.g., why did people do this barcoding?).
DNA barcoding of insects from India: Current status and future perspectives - Molecular Biology Reports
Insect fauna occupy the largest proportion of animal biodiversity on earth, but the assessment or quantification in terms of species diversity is far from complete. Several recent studies have demonstrated the rapid pace at which insect population decline is occurring. There is an urgent need to document and quantify the diversity of insect fauna for a proper understanding of terrestrial ecosystems. This can be achieved by using modern technology to identify species much faster than relying on traditional methods alone. In line with this, the molecular approach through DNA barcoding coupled with morphological identification needs to be focused and accelerated. The present paper describes the current status of barcoding of insect species in India along with the gaps that need to be remedied. This analysis shows that barcoded specimens cover a very meagre proportion of less than 3.73% of the known taxa/described species and the most represented orders are Lepidoptera and Hemiptera followed by Diptera and Coleoptera. There is a need to expedite insect species discovery and documentation in a collaborative mode between traditional taxonomists and molecular biologists, to accomplish the DNA barcoding of all known insect taxa from India.
doi.org
July 19, 2026 at 11:23 AM
Reposted by Aaron Mboma
Every day I think about this passage
April 1, 2026 at 7:04 PM
I'm happy to share our latest publication which records the first evidence of intraspecific variations in the venation of D. chrysippus. These variations are of taxonomic importance vis-a-vis the genus. doi.org/10.33307/ent...
July 11, 2026 at 3:50 PM
Reposted by Aaron Mboma
Bye-bye butterflies.

Since 1991, more than half of Europe's grassland butterflies have vanished, according to the European Environment Agency's grassland butterfly index.

europeancorrespondent.com/en/r/byebye-...
Bye-bye butterflies
Summer has returned to Europe. The butterflies, less so. Since 1991, more than half of Europe's grassland butterflies have vanished, according to the
europeancorrespondent.com
June 26, 2026 at 5:02 PM
Reposted by Aaron Mboma
Springer Nature has removed two studies by Max Planck. A bot may be to blame.

www.science.org/content/arti...
Why have papers by one of history’s most famous physicists been retracted?
Springer Nature has removed two studies by Max Planck. A bot may be to blame
www.science.org
June 26, 2026 at 5:05 PM
Reposted by Aaron Mboma
BHL is featured in @theguardian.com's Age of Extinction series.

The article highlights the extraordinary value of BHL and the urgent need to ensure it remains free and open into the future.

Please read and share:
www.theguardian.com/environment/... 🧪 🌎 📖 🔗 🐟 💚
A bonanza for fans of the natural world: the digital library sharing 64m pages of scientific knowledge with everyone
The Biodiversity Heritage Library is an invaluable online archive of historic texts on species living and lost supplied by the world’s leading museums and universities. Now its future is in doubt
www.theguardian.com
June 18, 2026 at 10:12 AM
Reposted by Aaron Mboma
Just start writing. My new post:

substack.com/home/post/p-...
June 15, 2026 at 1:52 AM
Reposted by Aaron Mboma
Duke of Burgundy numbers in Kent have increased 9000% over the last two decades thanks to nature recovery efforts!
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Rare butterfly population increases by 9000% in Kent in 20 years
A record number of Duke of Burgundy butterflies were recorded in Kent last year, a charity says.
www.bbc.co.uk
June 11, 2026 at 9:41 AM
Reposted by Aaron Mboma
I've been keeping this quiet for a while, but now's as good a time as any to announce:

I have a book contract for a new textbook, Applied Evolutionary Medicine, with Princeton Univ Press.

Core theme: "What, if anything, do medical practitioners do differently when they understand evolution"?
June 10, 2026 at 8:54 PM
Reposted by Aaron Mboma
Our team at @arcadiascience.com is hiring!

We're looking to hire a computational evolutionary biologist interested in asking how and why protein sequences/structures/functions differ across the tree of life 🧬

jobs.lever.co/arcadiascien...

Please share widely!
Arcadia Science - Platform Scientist: Comparative Protein Evolution
A Bit About Us: We're Arcadia Science, an evolutionary biology company founded and led by scientists. Our mission is to turn natural innovations into real-world solutions by developing systematic and ...
jobs.lever.co
June 8, 2026 at 11:28 PM
Reposted by Aaron Mboma
🎉 Big news! Our WG4's first meeting report is now published in Evolutionary Applications!

A milestone for our working group, check it out 👇
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

#LepEU #10KLepGenomes #Genomics #Lepidoptera
LepEU: A Consortium to Study the Population Genomics of Butterflies and Moths Across Europe
LepEU, the European Lepidopteran Population Genomics Consortium, was launched in 2023 to coordinate continental-scale collections and generate population-level genomic data for butterflies and moths ...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
June 4, 2026 at 11:05 AM
Reposted by Aaron Mboma
academics trying to normalize acceptance of AI hallucinated citations in their field: do you seriously expect me to show my work and check my work

me, baffled, a naïf, a fool: yes that’s why it’s called *your* *work*
May 20, 2026 at 11:53 AM
Reposted by Aaron Mboma
This series of crow portraits, with others showing the nictitating eye lid in operation, were really satisfying.

#BirdOfTheDay #ScrollBack #Favourites #Crows #Birds #Photography #Wildlife #Nature
May 19, 2026 at 6:25 AM
Reposted by Aaron Mboma
PhD Funded Position in Medical Entomology at University of Basel, Switzerland

A fully funded PhD in Medical Entomology at Swiss TPH offers hands-on research in mosquito ecology, vector control strategies, and global public health. Ideal for biology and epidemiology graduates.
PhD Funded Position in Medical Entomology at University of Basel, Switzerland
A fully funded PhD in Medical Entomology at Swiss TPH offers hands-on research in mosquito ecology, vector control strategies, and global public health. Ideal for biology and epidemiology graduates.
agristok.net
May 1, 2026 at 9:22 PM
Reposted by Aaron Mboma
Open #PhD #position on “Projecting the #human #impact on #biodiversity” (fully funded 4 years position) in my group @University Zurich & @eawag.bsky.social 🌐 🌍 📈 🦀 🐟 🌳

All #details & application instructions 🎯:
apply.refline.ch/673277/1356/...

❗Thx for spreading the word / apply now!
April 30, 2026 at 3:09 PM