We are deeply saddened to share the news of the death of Professor Sir John Gurdon, pioneering scientist in developmental and stem-cell biology and Nobel laureate, inspirational colleague, teacher and leader. John Gurdon’s long and distinguished association with the University began in 1983 when he took up the John Humphry...

We are deeply saddened by the news that the world-renowned primatologist, conservationist and Zoology alumna, Jane Goodall has died at the age of 91. Prof Rebecca Kilner FRS, our Head of Department, said, ‘For years to come, Jane will be remembered for transforming scientific knowledge into a global force for conservation...

Our annual Alumni and Friends Open Day, last Saturday, 27 September was a great success. It was a pleasure to welcome so many old friends back to the Department. The packed programme included lab tours with Prof Nick Mundy, Dr Iris Hardege, Prof Howard Baylis, Dr William Foster and Dr Tiffany Ki, a lecture, 'Feeding the...

The second edition of BSFCON, the world’s first international conference dedicated exclusively to the black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens), was held here in Cambridge from Monday 8 to Wednesday 10 September 2025. Organised by insect industry leaders, Better Origin, FreezeM, and Innovafeed alongside the University of...

Livestock ranching threatens aquatic insects, large-scale analysis finds A paper published this week in Global Change Biology led by Lindsey Barnes and Andrew Bladon of our Agroecology Group , describes the effect of livestock farming and ranching on aquatic insects. The Group, led by Prof Lynn Dicks, has been involved in...

A major paper led by Iris Berger, a PhD student in our Agroecology Group , co-authored by group leader Prof Lynn Dicks, is published in Nature Ecology and Evolution today. The paper, entitled, "India's agroecology programme, 'Zero Budget Natural Farming'”, analyses one of the world’s biggest agroecological transitions; the...

Adapted from text by Fiona Gilsenan (Corpus Christi College) Research into peacock spiders by an international team, including PhD candidate candidate Jonah Walker and his doctoral supervisor Dr Joana Meier, featured on BBC One's breakfast programme this morning. Jonah is a member of Joana’s research group , which is based...

Last week, Daniel Zeichner, Minister of State for Food Security and Rural Affairs and MP for Cambridge, visited the University of Cambridge Sainsbury Lab for a series of research demonstrations which included work from this department. Mr Zeichner's portfolio includes Environmental Land Management (ELMS), food security...

We’re very pleased to announce that Professor Andrew Balmford FRS has won the inaugural Royal Society Environment Medal and Lecture for outstanding and sustained work in environmental science. The award recognises Andrew’s 'groundbreaking contributions to conservation science, having built transformative partnerships and...

We are delighted to announce that the Vice-Chancellor has appointed Professor Mark Brown to be the next Director of the University Museum of Zoology and Professor of Evolutionary Biology and Ecology. Mark is currently Professor of Evolutionary Biology and Conservation at Royal Holloway, University of London, where he holds...

New research has shown that some butterflies’ ability to smell others of the same species allows them to identify potential mates in areas where multiple species all look the same. The research was carried by a large international team including scientists based here in the Department of Zoology and at the Wellcome Sanger...

Research by members of our Agroecology Group features in a new exhibition Future of Food at the Science Museum in London. Prof Lynn Dicks, leader of the Group, spoke at the exhibition's opening event on Thursday 24 July and wrote the following summary...

The accelerating rise of AI-generated fraudulent academic papers is fuelling an existential crisis for evidence synthesis. But AI also presents hope - both in speeding up literature searches, and in detecting these very same phony papers. In a comment piece published in Nature today, Department of Zoology's Sam Reynolds...

The Janet Moore prize is awarded for the best supervisor for Part II Zoology students, nominated by the students themselves. Janet Moore held a long-term association with the Zoology Department, with a strong focus on undergraduate teaching. This year the Prize has been awarded to Conall Stanforth. Congratulations Conall...

Are you planning to submit a senior research fellowship application for funding competitions with deadlines after March 2026? We are seeking Expressions of Interest from early career researchers who wish to be sponsored for externally funded fellowships that will allow them to start an independent research group in our...

PhD student, Ritabrata Chowdhury, Insect Biomechanics Group, is first author of a recent paper in Biology Letters which uncovers a previously unknown interaction between plants, ants, and caterpillars in the rainforests of Borneo: kind of arms race between plants and insects. Macaranga trees house colonies of aggressive...

The University of Cambridge’s new Microscopy Bioscience Platform is unifying microscope facilities here in Cambridge. These advanced microscope technologies offer researchers essential tools to expand the frontiers of scientific discovery. The new Platform includes the confocal microscopes here in Zoology , operated by Dr...

We are delighted to share the news that Dr Eleanor Bladon, who is a postdoctoral research associate here in Zoology, has been awarded the Pathway to Independence Fellowship in Ecology and Conservation Biology at Clare College . The position drew over 50 high calibre applications internationally, and six applicants were...