On the occasion of the International Day for Biological Diversity on 22nd May, the current issue of the university newspaper "wissen|leben" (no. 3, volume 13, May 2019) contains a special page on species extinction. The page includes an interview with MGSE PI Christoph Scherber from the Institute of Landscape Ecology on the situation of biodiversity in the Münsterland region. MGSE PIs Joachim Kurtz and Kai Müller were interviewed for the page as well and are featured in the accompanying article. PDF of the issue (in German)

The newest issue of The Eyebrow – the student magazine for and by PhD students of the MGSE and associated labs - has just arrived fresh from the printer. The Eyebrow spans a broad range of articles and essays as well as artwork. This issue features three PhD students answering the Up-goer 5 Challenge, a challenge to describe the topic of your PhD using only the 1000 most commonly used words in the English language. Copies are available in Hüfferstr. 1a and will also be distributed to all MGSE institutes. If you like to stay updated on The Eyebrow or are interested in contributing, follow The Eyebrow on Twitter or visit the website of the magazine.

Amongst others, MGSE PI Prof Norbert Sachser from the Department of Behavioural Biology at the WWU was interviewed for and is featured in a documentary on animal rights and animal welfare by German TV station 3Sat.

The full documentary (in German) is available in 3Sat's media library.

Sarah Schaack arrived in Muenster as the newest ETT Fellow on March 1st and will be here until April 30, 2019. She comes to the MGSE from Portland, OR where she is currently an Associate Professor on sabbatical from Reed College. Her research centers on mutation rates and mutation rate evolution, with a special focus on transposable elements and endogenous viruses. Her work on mutations and mobile DNA uses a combination of bioinformatic, comparative, and experimental approaches and a wide variety of organismal systems, ranging from snakes to Daphnia. Please feel free to contact Sarah if you are interested in discussing topics in evolution and genomics with her while she is here, her email address is schaackmobile(@)gmail.com.

On 18^th February 2019 the Science Pub resumed in its new location, the Ratskeller, with MGSE PI Joachim Kurtz.  This was the first Science Pub to be held after the sudden of death of Hans-Dieter Görtz who initiated the Science Pub and was the main organizer of the format. Moderator Monika Stoll remembered and appreciated Hans-Dieter Görtz' dedication to bring science to the broad public in her introduction. Afterwards, Joachim Kurtz introduced more than 70 interested listeners to the world of hosts and parasites and their coevolution while the Ratskeller catered for the avid listeners with refreshments and typically westphalian food. The event was covered in an article in the Westfälische Nachrichten that can be found here.

The next Science Pub will be held by Franz Goller from the University of Münster who will talk about songbirds as athletes. Further information and the full programme of the Science Pub can be found here.

Congratulations to Kevin Ferro who was awarded with his doctoral degree today. Kevin conducted his PhD studies at the Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity in the Animal Evolutionary Ecology group of Prof. Dr. Joachim Kurtz investigating the evolutionary significance and the underlying mechanisms of immune priming in Tribolium castaneum. We wish Kevin all the best for his future career!