Friederike [freddy; she/her] Hillemann

@fhillemann.bsky.social

1800 Followers 1240 Following

. behavioural ecologist . Foraging Ecology And Social Ties (FEASTs) . von Humboldt postdoc fellow @ Durham . Preprint Editor ProcB . General Editor Hunter Gatherer Research 🌱♻️🌈🧠🌶️ ✊ally to 🏳️‍⚧️ and BLM fhillemann.github.io

screenshot of the app's website. text reads: The curtain is about to go up. Cast your 12 points. Give science a hand.
12 Points is a Eurovision Song Contest companion. Rate every entry, compare with your friends and the community, and opt-in to a citizen science project on musical taste and collective choice run by researchers at the University of Southern Denmark. Free to use, geeky and a little bit glittery.

Seven people standing outside Durham University's Department of Psychology, smiling for a group photo. Lab PI Sheina is on the right in wearing a mint green jumper; I am third from the left wearing a burgundy jumper

chaotic family photo in a wildflower meadow — Mellori in the foreground mid-bark, showing her front teeth in a cutesy way; Siro and Claudia blurred in the background, Siro sniffing the ground and Claudia’s head cut off. beautiful but slightly unhinged.

some fridge magnets including, centrally, a polaroid of two terriers in tall grass. next to it, out of focus, a photo of the same dogs from a few years ago. the black dog is a lot more grey now.

laptop a pub: presentation with title slide "Practical Skills for Teamwork and Reproducibility - Shifting from individual workflows to effective collaboration"

screenshot of a chat:
original post: photo of a raspberry croissant and a note saying „they are back!“
reply: on my way!! [half an our later] I had two

panel of five researchers plus and EHBEA president

talk title slide: Linking weather to day-to-day food production activities: a “Going-Out Model“. Background shows two Inuit people from behind, wearing hooded parka and holding harpoons outlooking the sea while standing in a snowy landscape

Heidi in front of a slide titled Building better causal foundations, shows a circular flowchart: Ethnography as hypotheses, not data > Causally explicit models > more informative data collection > more ethnographic fieldwork > back to Ethnography as hypotheses

composite image of 10 screenshots from the video summarising the garden watch results: photos of the ten most reported species and how much more or less they were reported in 2025 compared to 2024

screenshot of the RSPB website showing the Big Garden Birdwatch results. it's an interactive page, allowing to filter for year and region (UK-wide, or only England, Scotland, Wales, N.Ireland). Results for 2025 show that the top ten species didn't actually move much or at all from the previous year

Claudia next to Deborah Frances-White, author of "Six Conversations We're Scared to Have", holding up her newly released book

screenshot of a post on another social media platform, dated 30 Sep 2020. The post reads "My tweet about womensart being a TERF account is still making the rounds. If there's still any doubt in your mind after their repeated refusal to feature trans women, this is from their about page. Please stop promoting this trans-exclusive project, friends." and it shows a screenshot of the website womensartblog.wordpress.com: "specific exploration of the artwork of women has enabled insights into areas including capitalism, migration, class, globalization, ethnicity, disability and so on, from an unusual, uniquely female perspective. In doing so this has exposed a subtext of experiential and biological connections between women, as
issues relating to girlhood, motherhood, abortion, body image, pregnancy, infertility, social role, violence against women and so on, are highlighted as common historic and global themes in their work."

Pablo in front of his PhD defence title slide: VARIABILITY, RESOURCE DYNAMICS, AND THE HUMAN LIFE CYCLE, by Pablo J. Varas Enríquez

Abstract
Many-author non-empirical papers include recommendations or consensus statements, catalogs of ideas, roadmaps for future research, calls to action, or "how to" articles. These papers have great potential to change the conversation or address unmet needs within research communities. Large, diverse authorship teams can create valuable resources that no individual co-author could create independently. Achieving these goals, however, requires a very different approach than researchers typically use to prepare papers with fewer authors. A small team of lead writers typically leads the content generation and writing processes. Many co-authors collaborate to create content and provide feedback throughout the writing process. Lead writers face many challenges, including defining the content and structure of the paper, coordinating complex logistics, preparing themselves and co-authors for a unique writing experience, and managing high-volume feedback. Here, we outline ten simple rules for leading a many-author non-empirical paper. These rules guide readers through the content generation and writing processes and highlight practical solutions to common challenges. While these rules were developed by preparing non-empirical papers with at least 30 authors, some rules may apply to research papers, or non-empirical papers with fewer authors. Lead writers can also use our companion paper, which shares ten simple rules for being a co-author on a many-author non-empirical paper, to prepare co-authors for an efficient and effective collaborative process.

card saying „Join me in celebrating the accomplishments of feminist fights for gender equality and human rights!“

showing outline of four people holding up signs, photos of actual protest signs. one sign says „if your feminism doesn’t include trans people it’s trash“, another one says „if you trust me with a choice how can you trust me with a child“, another one says „equal rights for others doesn’t mean less rights for you. it’s not a pie“, the fourth sign says „science not silence“

corvid phylogenetic tree, i.e. graphical representation of the evolutionary relationships among species, showing the outcome of ancestral state analysis, with probability of classification as generalist cacher, specialist cacher, or non cacher shown as pie charts. Specialist caching was estimated to be the ancestral state of caching in corvids with a scaled likelihood of 69%, compared to generalist caching (31%) and non-caching (0%)

Europawahl 2024: Verbleibende AfD-Präferenzen nach Einbezug demografischer und ökonomischer Merkmale

"Abbildung 2 stellt die Verteilung der Residuen der OLS-Regression dar. Sie kann als jener Teil der regionalen AfD-Präferenz interpretiert werden, der nicht durch die verwendeten demografischen und ökonomischen Merkmale erklärt wird und daher möglicherweise als kulturelle Prägung einer Region betrachtet werden kann. In der Karte fällt auf, dass die Ost-West-Unterschiede zwar weiterhin bestehen, jedoch deutlich schwächer ausgeprägt sind."

Quelle: Bunte Karte, bunte Wahlen? AfD-Präferenzen jenseits von Ost und West. Von Alexander Kopka, Petrik Runst. 2024. Wirtschaftsdienst. Heft 9, S. 614–617

screenshot of my website in inspection mode. left pane shows the website’s header/contact section with social media link icons, the BlueSky butterfly icon is highlighted. right pane is the website source code with the svg path for the BlueSky butterfly icon

screenshot from "Publish your computer code: it is good enough" by Nick Barnes. highlighted section reads: That the code is a little raw is one of the main reasons scientists give for not sharing it with others. Yet, software in all trades is written to be good enough for the job intended. So if your code is good enough to do the job, then it is good enough to release — and releasing it will help your research and your field.

silhouette of a Carrion crow with plastic colour ring on a fence pole, cawing in golden hour light, fields and mountains in the distance

screenshot from the conference abstract booklet, summarising Rowan's presentation:

In the UK over 2,600 volunteers participate in bird ringing, which allows nature enthusiasts of various backgrounds to gain field-based skills that can benefit their professional aspirations. Anyone can participate, but trainees are supervised by licensed trainers, and obtaining a permit requires years of working closely with a trainer to learn proper handling and identification techniques; the trainer is also responsible for deeming trainees fit to obtain a permit. This hierarchy requires trainees to work in small groups with their trainers, often in remote locations, and in some areas there is only one trainer available. As a result, trainees who have negative experiences with their trainer or group may not have feasible alternatives to remain involved in ringing, and there is no clear process to report misconduct. We focus on LGBTQIA+ ringers to identify barriers and develop recommendations for a safer and more inclusive ringing environment, by developing and distributing a survey about LGBTQIA+ ringers’ experiences. Understanding barriers experienced by LGBTQIA+ ringers is imperative to addressing these issues and improving the accessibility of ringing and similar activities.

selfie with my favourite, large to-go coffee mug, featuring my design: a carrion crow wearing a crown, in bold letters underneath the pun “keep calm and carrion”. in front of a banner advertising ASAB with reasons to join the society

full lecture room for Antica Čulina's plenary on Doing credible science – why would you care? Slide show's how she struggled with her first meta analyses -- values don't match, missing information, unclear methods

two terriers, black/grey Siro and tri-colour Mellori, sitting next to each other on the red carpet in our home office, looking at our dog sitter who's sat at the desk and took the photo. dogs are clearly demanding attention, they're starring

welcome note in the lecture hall; the organising committee standing up for a well-deserved round of appreciation, in front of the meeting’s title slide: ASAB Winter 2024 Addressing Biases in the field of Animal Behaviour

Siro and Mellori caricature on my red sweater

another photo of Claudia and me wearing the jumpers with our dogs' faces on them, wearing them in another configuration though. We're sat on a sofa with a glass of bubbly and the dogs -- a cosy winters' evening

Claudia Wascher and Friederike Hillemann at the train station, wearing matching jumpers with their dogs' faces

view onto Durham cathedral from a hillside

plenary speaker Tim Clutton-Brock and conference audience

SPI-Birds: Studies of Populations of individuals, connecting researchers working on populations of individually-marked breeding birds.
What do we do?
• aggregate metadata
• standardise data
• quality control
• facilitate cooperation

What's in it for you?
• visibility & findability
• preservation & re-use
• sharing & synthesis
• new collaborations

presentation slide says:

What don't we know?
• Most studies are done on humans or rodents...
> Do birds show the same tendency to prefer ultra-processed foods?
• Most studies on anthropogenic bird foraging compare urban to rural sites...
→ How do birds forage in suburban settings?
→ How effective are conservation efforts, such as sanctuaries, at affecting bird behavior?

Several positions are available on ASAB Council to begin in January 2025 (or earlier).

The positions are: Secretary of the Ethics Committee, Secretary of the EDIA Committee, Secretary of the Education Committee, Meetings Secretary and two Ordinary Members of Council (one of which should be an Early Career Researcher).

If you are interested in being nominated for one of these positions, and contributing the work of ASAB, please send a 150-word statement outlining your motivation, experience and suitability for the role, to the current ASAB Secretary, Sasha Dall (s.r.x.dall@exeter.ac.uk) by June 14th 2024.

Your nomination should be supported by at least two members of the Association, also by email to s.r.x.dall@exeter.ac.uk by June 14th 2024.
Nominated candidates will be put forward for an online election by the membership.

collage of rainbow street art: top image is a circular decal on a traffic light, showing a rainbow flag in the style of red and black "Antifaschist Action" decal, it says "No Techno For Facists". bottom image is a simple but messy black graffiti saying "chaos", a tiny rainbow decal next to it.

screenshot of the paper's abstract:
In the biological sciences, sexual behaviours in non-human animals are traditionally investigated in the context of reproduction and direct fitness benefits. While the evolutionary functions of non-conceptive sexual behaviours ('socio-sexual') remain less well explored, these interactions and displays have been suggested to be important for shaping and maintaining social relationships.
Here, we report an observation of a captive female carrion crow, Corvus corone corone, mounting her co-housed male partner. We highlight the importance of more systematic research and discussions of rarely observed behaviours in social evolution research, including considerations for behaviours that transcend binary or heteronormative frameworks, to provide a more comprehensive understanding of non-conceptive socio-sexual behaviours.

left: screenshot of a tweet by Crypty-Calli, handle: @ I will leave now:
to the tune of Destiny's Child's "Say My Name"
SPELL MY NAME, SPELL MY NAME IT'S RIGHT THERE IN THE EMAIL IT'S NOT A HIDDEN DETAIL THE SPELLING DOESN'T CHANGE

right: collection of screenshots showing my name misspelled in eight different ways, including "hello frankie"

screenshot showing a series of tweets by Szymek Drobniak, incluging a graphical summary of how study sites across the world contribute data to the SPI-Birds data hub, and how users can access the data

tweet #1: We’re slowly finalizing the administrative steps and soon will start our FAIRBiRDS project (with Warsaw University, Uni of Antwerp, Montpellier University, Univ Federal de Viçosa and NIOO-KNAW. Stay tuned for post-doc announcement @ Jagiellonian Uni + others smiley face @JagiellonianEco

tweet #2: We’ll bring @SPIbirds to a new level - making its rich data transparent, discoverable, and more usable. Hopefully more updates soon!
@m_e_visser @AnneCharmantier @antica_c + all of whom Twitter’s I do not know smiley face

tweet #3 explains the FAIRBiRDS acronym: FAIR is for the principles of findability, accessibility, interoperability, reusability, BiRDS is for
Bird Research Data and Software

Selfie in front of the the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) building in Wageningen, the Netherlands, where the pioneering SPI-Birds project is hosted.
SPI-Birds Network & Database, or the Studies of Populations of Individual Birds, is a grassroots initiative connecting those working on populations of individually-marked breeding birds.

Selfie of me carrying a box of office stuff including dog toy and bowl (thanks for allowing me to bring my terriers to work!), including a monstera plant sticking out of my backpack. Taken in front of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany.

screenshot of website header: The Sanguatsiniq research project focuses on food security, economic change, cultural practices and values, and well-being in two Inuit communities in the Canadian Arctic, Kangiqsujuad and Ulukhaktok (left). The project name refers to turning in a new direction when traveling. For our community partners, the concept is a metaphor for having new ideas, with traveling set in contrast to being "stuck in one place, which is how Inuit often describe stressful experiences.
The project focus has emerged through extensive consultation and long-term collaboration and participant observation with the study communities, and combines longitudinal observational studies with community programming. Our theoretical aim is to develop new approaches to understanding processes of cultural adaptation and determinants of well-being in populations experiencing social and economic upheaval, including those related to climate change.

smiley selfie with snowflakes in my hair on the day I arrived

visual abstract for our paper on SOCIO-ECONOMIC CORRELATES OF INUIT HUNTING CHOICES AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS FOR RESILIENCE.
Includes an illustration of different harvest activities, e.g. marine winter hunting for seals on the ice floe edge, marine summer fishing and hunting for Beluga whale using larger boats, inland summer hunting for caribou and geese. Activities differ in their required inputs, success probability, and return. Climate stressors also increasingly affect access to subsistence resources. Understanding the relationships between socio-economic factors and foraging activities allows us to develop informed predictions about how people will be differently affected by changing conditions.

Also the main plot of the manuscript is shown: the probability of patch choice as a function of harvest success. We find that Inuit patch choice is affected by income and other socio-economic factors. Economic barriers to hunting may intensify socio-economic inequalities.

screenshot of a section from our paper „Postdoctoral researchers’ perspectives on working conditions and equal opportunities in German academia“, with some highlighted bulletpoints, summarised as:
While the need to address different forms of discrimination is stipulated in both the Basic Law and AGG, beyond gender, other aspects of diversity, such as race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation, continue to receive insufficient attention and action in Germany. Large academic institutions struggle to comprehend the personal concerns and challenges faced by each type of employee. Therefore, target-group networks and surveys provide benefit to researchers and institutions. However, we highlight some potential biases and concerns when using surveys.

Screenshot of Fig.1 of our paper: An overview of Git's core features. (a) Multi-faceted components allow for code writing, small data storage, manuscript writing, and project management to all be done in one place. CONTRIBUTING.md, LICENCE.md and README.md files allow new team members, or others wanting to use materials, to understand the project components and learn how they can engage with the project and existing team members. (b) Issues, Pull Requests, Discussions and Projects allow team members to ask for feedback, suggest fixes, discuss related ideas, and keep track of all the moving parts of a project. (c) All collaborators on a project can be a part of a single repository, with varying push privileges and responsibilities.

Individual-to-society-feedback: A generalised feedback loop between individual states and social structure considering that animals and their societies are linked. Bottom-up influences represent social decisions that contribute to the resulting social structure. Top-down influences are the effects of social structure (i.e. the distribution of social ties among individuals) on social and ecological processes that ultimately determine the state of the individuals. (b) Individual-to-society feedbacks illustrated for pathogen (top) and information transmission (bottom). Whether or not individuals are infected by a pathogen or parasite can influence the number of social connections they have, shaping social structure, which will define properties of spread in populations (including pathogen traits), and ultimately determine the future state of individuals (infected or healthy). Similarly, informed vs naïve individuals might have different social behavioural tactics.

Simulation of outcomes, i.e. arrival of individuals at empty feeder (left) and full feeder (right), under different information transmission scenarios: Affiliate model or random arrival model, and a comparison to the observed data.

Perfect transmission of social information about patch quality would result in a straight line along 0 for empty feeders (i.e. only unconnected individuals visiting the unprofitable patch). Instead, individuals' arrival to a feeder, empty or full, was strongly predicted by social connections suggesting that only information about the location of a potential resource was transmitted socially, and not information about the quality of the patch.

Paper title, authors, and brief summary:
Paper title: Diurnal variation in the production of vocal information about food supports a model of social adjustment in wild songbirds
Authors: Hillemann F, Cole EF, Keen SC, Sheldon BC, Farine DR
Proc. R. Soc. B 20182740
Brief summary: Attracting others to food decreases per-capita risk of predation, but increases competition. However, the value of recruiting an additional group member is not constant. Using a combined observational and experimental approach, we show that wintering songbirds make economic decisions about when to produce vocal information about food availability: as the day progresses and foraging group size increases, the costs of attracting others outweigh the benefits, causing birds to reduce vocal activity in the afternoon.

observing wild Barbary macaques' for oldschool behavioural data collection with pen and paper

portaits of Siro: October 2013 and recreated last year today, October 2022. the background (brown/golden leaves and a little stream) matches in both photos, the dog looks pretty different though because Siro has turned grey and gets groomed regularly now

me and the terriers Siro and Mellori posing for a portrait during an evening walk along a beach.
Baltic Sea, late summer 2023