Highlights of an epic collaboration between my lab, Blue Indigo Foundation, Ecomares, UM Lowell, Croalina, and PIMS! We're testing new probiotic candidates ex situ if they can protect outplants from #SCTLD and if a promising one can protect corals in situ. The experiemts are currently running...

In just 5 days, we set up a massive experiment with >200 corals to test probiotics against SCTLD! With precise control over light, temp, and purified seawater, we’re ready to create solutions! Amazing teamwork between UNCW, Blue Indigo Foundation, Ecomares, UM Lowell, Croalina, and PIMS!

Yesterday was an event! Thanks to the tremendous help from the Blue Indigo and Ecomares personnel! We got a massive experiment set up with ~200 coral outplants and probiotic treatments set up in a single day!

My PhD student Erin Papke also trained our collaborators from The Perry Institute of Marine Science, Ecomares, and The Blue Indigo Foundation on making deployment bags for in situ coral probiotic treatments at San Andrés Island, Columbia. She'll be training them in the field next!

The past two days my PhD student Erin Papke and postdoc Jordan Ruiz have been working with the Blue Indigo Foundation and Ecomares to set up a coral testing AND microbiology lab on San Andrés Island for our mission of developing probiotics against SCTLD and help others to do the same!

Check out our recent preprint about our Coral Probiotics Discovery Platform! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Our latest paper on how the coral microbiome affects resistance to different Vibrio coralliilyticus strains, while also suggesting some regulatory proteins are for defense vs offense. enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

The Dept of Biology & Marine Biology at UNCW is offering 4 positions!!! A Distinguished Professor of Marine Science, an Assistant Professor of Invertebrate Biology, and two Lecturers of Biology. Plus, the UNCW Center for Marine Science is seeking a second Distinguished Professor of Marine Science!

An Asgard Archaeon (Lokiarchaeum ossiferum) growing and retracting its arms

We are hiring!! Biological Sciences as UNC Charlotte has a broad search for a new assistant professor. Apps reviewed 12/15. Please spread the word! 💚⛏️ #PlantSci 🧪🦠🧬 jobs.charlotte.edu/postings/65141

The UNCW Department of Biology & Marine Biology is hiring a TT Invertebrate Biologist position! Come work with us! jobs.uncw.edu/postings/37895

they look so ... orange cream mound like! Phlyctenactis www.inaturalist.org/observations...

Best. Name. Ever. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Warning. ⚠️ If you are writing an NSF GRFP, new this year, you need official transcripts to apply. Beware. They will not review applications without official transcripts. ‼️

When the lab surprises you for Halloween dressed as...you. 😂

😢 theconversation.com/2-iconic-cor...

It's been 10 years, but we're finally getting back into phages. Glorious enrichment assays from mud samples.

www.nature.com/articles/s41... #microsky

If you want to make a difference in the marine world 🌊🪸🐟... We are looking for a programme assistant (part time) based in in Berlin #OceanOptimism. ogy.de/6jtx

The Whitney lab at U FL is an interdisciplinary powerhouse of a scientific community. They're looking for a new faculty colleague in a VERY broad search in Marine Bioscience--link below. explore.jobs.ufl.edu/en-us/job/53...

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS NOW LIVE! 16th International Coral Reef Symposium Submit an abstract here: www.icrs2026.nz/call-for-abs... #coralreefs #symposium #newzealand #icrs #coralresearch #networking #coral #internationalcoralreefsociety #marinescience #marinebiology

Delighted to announce that The International Meeting on the Biology of Vibrios will be back next year! Vibrio2026 will be held in Berlin in September 13-16. See you there Vibriologists! event.fourwaves.com/vibrio2026/p...

Just a reminder - if you run/recruit or have anything to do with an ecology & evolutionary biology PhD program, check out our database and update your departments salary here: rhettrautsaw.app/shiny/Biolog...

A plasmid golden ratio? 🧬 Plasmid copy number ≈ 2.5% of chromosome size—consistent across bacterial species! pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC... @jerorb.bsky.social 🧪 #microbesky

The GRFP lives!! (due end of October) www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...

🎙️ Job Announcement: Penn State is seeking an ASSISTANT PROFESSOR in MICROBIOLOGY (any subdiscipline) in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Learn more and Join the Microbiome Jubilee: psu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/PSU_Ac...

Phage folks, does anyone have suggestions for cheaper alternatives for low melt agarose for phage plaque assays? Much appreciated!

Bleaching and tissue loss coral diseases get all the attention, but there's also growth anomalies. We don't know for sure what causes them. However, our lab is going to be looking at these Acropora growth anomalies (the growths in the middle of the branches) under TEM!

A 9-armmed sea star (Luidia senegalensis) from Florida. Don't worry, "Stuart" is alive and well. We just needed some baseline samples from healthy specimens 🤩

Corals, tunicates, and sea stars oh my! 🧪🔬🧫🌊 UNCW Ph.D. students Erin Papke, Grace Kennedy, and Kiah Gongaware were down at the Smithsonian Marine Station (some for a month!) working on various projects ranging from nitrogen cycling in corals, identifying new sea squirts, and sea star microbiomes!

"Flesh-eating bacteria [vibriosis] cases surge in Southeast, North Carolina reports 59 infections – WSOC TV" share.google/8NgvXmUokUnt...

We don't get color photos and articles in Newsweek very often; we sure appreciate this good science coverage. www.newsweek.com/starfish-sea...

A study in Nature Ecology & Evolution identifies a bacterial species as a cause of sea star wasting disease, which has been responsible for billions of sea star deaths since 2013 and widespread loss of kelp habitats. go.nature.com/46I4kx2 🌊 🧪

After a four-year investigation, a breakthrough study reveals the cause of sea star wasting disease (SSWD). A strain of the bacterium Vibrio pectenicida is the culprit behind the marine epidemic that has killed billions of sea stars since 2013. Read the study: 🔗https://tinyurl.com/4rcb3xpf

The mechanisms underlying seastar wasting disease #SSWD remain elusive, & this new preprint helps to fill this knowledge gap using data from a mosaic of infected & uninfected sunflower stars across Southeast Alaska to evaluate immune & microbial disruption. #Pycnopodia #MarineLife #Invertebrate 🦑🌊🧪🌎

Our paper demonstrating that within-species warfare interactions are ecologically important on human skin is now published in Nature Micro! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

UNC System joins Florida, Texas to form new accreditor | Raleigh News & Observer share.google/y6GgacZSpzgf...

Being able to get some good mandu-guk makes the long travel to the West Coast worth it...and a great conference. But, yeah know, food is important.

#ASMicrobe 2025 just ended, but session proposals are opening up on June 24th for 2026 in D.C.! Help shape next year's meeting by proposing the science you want to see!

#broaderimpacts. Great afternoon working with UNCW MarineQuest high school students on antibiotic discovery from coral microbiomes @uncw-cms.bsky.social . Part of our most excellent collaboration with Blake Ushijima’ s group @vibriosoup.bsky.social .

The neurotic guy in the Hawaiian shirt & clipboard running around #ASMicrobe is stepping down. After ~5 years on the #AES track planning committee, w/ last few as Track lead, it's time for a break. Thanks to tireless work from the committee members and admin that put on this meeting every year!

That's a wrap for #ASMicrobe 2025! Thank you to all the speakers as well as the movers and shakers that make this conference happen! #AES will see you next year with a new look and a new name!

For our last #AES Session, join us at 8:15 AM in 403B for AES-IDS-501 Microbiology of Mineral and Energy Resource Recovery. #ASMicrobe