News

Thanks to the construction of butterfly banks, Trumpington Meadows Nature Reserve in Cambridge is now a location for cutting-edge research into mitigating the effects of climate change on insects.The research, part of the Banking on Butterflies project, is a collaboration between our Insect Ecology Group led by Prof Ed Turner, the Wildlife Trust fo…

Last week we were delighted to celebrate the appointment of Prof Claire Spottiswoode FRS as Honorary Professor of African Evolutionary Ecology.Prof Spottiswoode’s inaugural lecture, entitled ‘The natural history of a human animal mutualism’ took place on Monday 6 October. It was great to see so many members of the department and friends fill our ma…

New research, published today in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, led by Dr Tiffany Ki, a Henslow Research Fellow in our Insect Ecology Group, has used innovative methods to show long term patterns in the species richness of tropical butterflies.Focussing on the swallowtail and satyrine butterflies, Dr Ki and colleagues integrated records fr…

We are deeply saddened to share the news of Professor Sir John Gurdon's death. He was a pioneering scientist in developmental and stem-cell biology and a Nobel laureate, as well as an 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 Plumme…

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 and hope, serving as an ins…

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 world without costing 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 Cambridge, the event hosted res…

Livestock ranching threatens aquatic insects, large-scale analysis findsA 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 an international project brin…

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 shift to government-incenti…

Adapted from text by Fiona Gilsenan (Corpus Christi College)Research into peacock spiders by an international team, including PhD 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 both at the Tree of Life Programme a…

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, agri-science and farmed anim…

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 redefining the landscape of …

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 a senior leadership positi…

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 Institute.  Authors based h…

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:"Future of Food tells the story of how human ingenuity has provided food for people over the last 1…