Dr Rachael Miller (Harrison)

Extremely excited to start my 8-year @royalsociety.org Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship @uniexecec.bsky.social focussing on understanding the role of individual cognitive variation in reintroduction biology. With 2x 4-year Postdoc and PhD positions being advertised shortly - do get in touch if interested!

Exciting EPSRC-funded PhD opportunity to develop tech and software to record and understand wild animal behaviour. Based @uniexecec.bsky.social in beautiful Cornwall. Supervisors: Alex Thornton (@cornishjackdaws.bsky.social), @kjhockings.bsky.social & Monica Craciun Apply: tinyurl.com/v79p8en8

PhD at Swansea/Exeter investigating how urban living shapes reproductive decisions and success in herring gulls. Details: bpb-eu-w2.wpmucdn.com/blogs.bristo... How to apply: www.swbio.ac.uk/agriculture-... Please share. Supervisors listed below for more info.

Here's a video of @grahancock.bsky.social & I discussing our new butterfly motion confusion paper 🦋 www.youtube.com/watch?v=joos...

youtu.be/joosKZ3HygE?... @jtroscianko.bsky.social Has edited together this video of us explaining our butterfly research. I must admit I didn't quite realise how under the weather I was at the time. So forgive my slightly zombified appearance!

Are you a #NewPI in Ecology & Evolution? Would you like to meet with peers to chat about work, the future and life as a new PI? 🍪☕️ Then I have the form for you! 📋 Help us gauge interest in a new network/event by filling in this short survey: forms.cloud.microsoft/e/K4wUiuLuFn Please RT! 🙏

I'm so excited to finally see the special issue "Addressing Biases in Animal Behaviour" fully published: www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu.... Huge thanks to my brilliant co-editors @viveknityananda.bsky.social & @nicolakoyama.bsky.social. Special issue grew from @asab.org's 2024 Winter Meeting 🧵

#ECBB2026 We hope everyone had a fantastic time over these past four days! We would like to take a moment to thank our volunteers for their outstanding help and our organising committee for their monumental efforts! See you in Dublin for #ECBB2028

Congratulations to @drrmiller.bsky.social, who has been awarded a five-year £1.25 million Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant for a study entitled “Avian Minds: Investigating the Evolution of Executive Function" she'll be based in @uniexecec.bsky.social news.exeter.ac.uk/faculty-of-e...

#ECBB2026 Why is neophobia important? Well @drrmiller.bsky.social shares this and more in the second talk focusing on curiosity-like behaviour in animals!

Congratulations to the project “The Advantage of Big Team Science: Lessons Learned From Cognitive Science,” which received🏆2026 SIPS commendation! It offers a synthesis of strategies for successfully navigating the BTS landscape, including logistical, ethical, and epistemological challenges.

Erin M. Buchanan, Yu Fang Yang @ufangyang.bsky.social, Marta Kowal @martakowal.bsky.social, Kathleen Schmidt, Marta Topor @martatopor.bsky.social, Michal Misiak @misiak_mchl, Rachael Miller @drrmiller.bsky.social, John Protzko @protzko, Biljana Gjoneska, (2/5)

Ready to start planning your conference experience? We've got the #ECBB2026 programme outline available for download! www.aru.ac.uk/events/confe...

Very cool opportunity to chat about @themanybirds.bsky.social and big team science more broadly with Nic Fleming in this @natureportfolio.nature.com piece recently, alongside @jkileyhamlin.bsky.social, Michael Frank, Kelsey Lucca, @briannosek.bsky.social, Nico Alessandroni & @jespinosa.bsky.social

Congrats to @alexalaman.bsky.social for leading this paper using 38 years of data to investigate climate impacts on survival & reprod success of Arabian babblers in natural vs modified habitat. We found modified habitats buffered climate impacts: besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

My tribute to the one and only, Sir David Attenborough theconversation.com/from-fossick... Happy birthday!

Postdoc Opportunity! 4-year @royalsociety.org funded post @uniexecec.bsky.social: “Understanding the role of individual cognitive variation in reintroduction biology”. Closes: 5 June 2026. More info & to apply: careers.exeter.ac.uk/vacancies/78... Wt: @paradiseparkhayle.bsky.social & Wildwood Trust

What is the role of social learning in adopting novel food? Study of urban #cockatoos by @julia-penndorf.bsky.social @clevercockierp.bsky.social &co shows that they rapidly adopt novel food via #SocialLearning, with juveniles showing conformist preferences @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4uq6NVq

New paper out, which started during hackathons at the Big Team Science Conferences. A pleasure to be a part of this - big thank you to the whole authorship team, particularly to the leads @vaidis.bsky.social @epronizius.bsky.social @mamsmandrill.bsky.social

@vaidis.bsky.social J. Miranda, E. Buchanan, @ufangyang.bsky.social, @martakowal.bsky.social, K. Schmidt, @martatopor.bsky.social, @misiakmichal.bsky.social, @drrmiller.bsky.social , @protzko.bsky.social, B. Gjoneska, @jeremykmiller.bsky.social, A. Exner, @flavioazevedo.bsky.social, ...

Culture was assumed to be unique to humans, but recent scientific discoveries have revealed that it's in fact widespread in the animal kingdom. This #PhilTransB issue is the first to present a comprehensive picture of the science & implications of this: royalsocietypublishing.org/rstb/issue/3...

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...

Save the date for the next European Conference on Behavioural Biology! Animal Behaviour in the Anthropocene, 1-4 September 2026 at Anglia Ruskin University. Watch this space for updates on speakers, plenaries, and calls for abstracts! #AcademicSky #UpcomingConferences

If you work on corvid ecology, behaviour, cognition, or conservation, this might be useful for you 👇 I’ve just published CORVIDATA in Scientific Data 🐦 doi.org/10.1038/s415... (1/4)

In this blog post, Guest Editor @rachkendal.bsky.social discusses their #PhilTransB issue, 'Transforming cultural evolution research and its application to global futures': royalsociety.org/blog/2025/12...

What are the causes & consequences of behavioural diversity loss in a changing world? And how do we harness this knowledge for conservation? New open access paper led by @odedberger-tal.bsky.social with David Saltz and @mrmic1.bsky.social #BobWongLab royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article...

Enjoyed giving an invited research talk today for the Behaviour & Ecology Research Group at @uniofhull.bsky.social - thanks very much for inviting and hosting me, @drblakemorton.bsky.social :)

You know those labs that keep harming students, again and again? Some reflections on why it's so hard to stop this from happening and where our responsibilities lie. scienceforeveryone.science/bad-mentors-... 🧪

New amazing open Postdoc position, w/t opportunities to 1) get closely involved in our next @themanybirds.bsky.social study on innovation and problem-solving; 2) work with @ecobird.bsky.social on avian innovation, cognition & invasiveness. Advert: www.ugent.be/en/work/scie...

New amazing open Postdoc position, w/t opportunities to 1) get closely involved in our next @themanybirds.bsky.social study on innovation and problem-solving; 2) work with @ecobird.bsky.social on avian innovation, cognition & invasiveness. Advert: www.ugent.be/en/work/scie...

Amazing opportunity for a PhD position with the wonderful Dr Megan Lambert in Vienna and her fascinating kea parrots! 10/10 recommend working with Dr Lambert. See advert linked below for more info.

🐦 EcoBird is hiring a Postdoc in animal cognition! Join us + @themanybirds.bsky.social to investigate innovation & problem-solving in birds. 📅 Start: as early as Jan 2026 🌍 Funded through UGent’s international mobility scheme More info & how to apply ↓ www.ugent.be/en/work/scie...

Our new paper offers an explanation for the universal law that "under carefully controlled conditions.... an animal behaves as it damn well pleases." We explore how stochastic mechanisms may play an underappreciated role in generating individuality. (1/7 🧵) www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

The MBirds paper is out! Congratulations to all collaborators on this major accomplishment 🧪 The study found interesting differences in neophobia between migratory and non-migratory species: doi.org/10.1371/jour...

Fear of novelty varies across species & individuals, impacting adaptability & survival. @themanybirds.bsky.social @drrmiller.bsky.social &co assess #neophobia in 1400 subjects from 136 #bird species, identifying phylogenetic influences & broad ecological drivers @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4haLEsN

It was such an incredible, enriching, and fun experience — I learned so much ❤️ So thankful to the amazing leadership team who welcomed me! @drrmiller.bsky.social @vedranaslipogor.bsky.social @nomascus.bsky.social @stephanreber.bsky.social @cds-york.bsky.social Megan Lambert & Claudia Mettke-Hofmann

So excited that our first major empirical @themanybirds.bsky.social paper is now out in @plosbiology.org! Leading this big team science project, with our excellent core leadership team, is a labour of love for me, delighted to see our hard work over the past 4 years has reached this milestone!