Yes!!! Another 20 page response to reviewers for a 1000 word short communication.

Trying to figure out how to travel to New Zealand, Philippines, and Reunion, all within a 3 week period over the holiday period, while also spending at least two weeks in Australia, and carrying sampling materials for science, and keeping it under $3000.

Super proud of Dr Brayan Vilanova Cuevas for successfully defending his dissertation on Philaster diadema interactions. Well done, and watch out world!!

Deeply concerned about colleagues in #jamaica and elsewhere in the Caribbean. Stay safe!

Witnessing this in real time first hand along the Florida Reefs two years ago was extremely depressing. www.nbcnews.com/science/clim...

Museums are invaluable resources for science. Please help if you can! www.ithaca.com/news/regiona...

An amazing day in Southern California collecting Centrostephanus coronatus, the distant relative of Diadema antillarum for a microbiome sequencing project. Amazing weather and field assistants Mitch Johnson and Leo Wall. Let’s see how different these are to their tropical cousins…

Anyone have any recommendations for general references (ie a book perhaps?) on tropical coral reef structure, evolution, and biology?

#SouthAustralia is suffering from an ongoing and expanding harmful algal bloom (#HAB) but @flindersuniversity.bsky.social and @sagenomicscentre.bsky.social are sequencing the genome of the miscreant to help figure out how to control it #microsky #microbiome sahmri.org.au/news/researc...

Had to cancel on #ASLO2026 in Glasgow. Breaks my heart but with very high registration and travel costs, it’s just not possible on current funding levels. Look forward to #ISME20 in Auckland which I can do on personal funds on my way to/from Australia

Planning a field-based DNA detection protocol for a parasite. Anyone have any recommendations for one or two step DNA extraction protocols that might be compatible in conditions with limited equipment? #science

Fieldwork participating #marinescience friends- looking to put together some physical exercises/workouts to prepare folks for things like snorkeling, diving and boat work (nets, buckets, etc) as a way to prevent injuries and increase fitness. Anyone have any workouts they do to prepare?

Sometimes you just have to sit and enjoy… I can’t have the ocean here in Ithaca but I can have vast expanses over which to gaze

Fantastic to see so many new faculty in our college, including those affiliated with Cornell Oceans and the Department of Microbiology! cals.cornell.edu/news/2025/09...

What an amazing way to kick off our Diadema project in Brewers Bay, USVI. Four days of hard work underwater, followed by hard days in the lab processing. Two experiments, and over 500 individual samples.

Final (full) day in USVI for NSF Diadema kickoff. This morning was about training the amazing Moriah Sevier at UVI in urchin sampling, then terminating experiments. This afternoon the team stole a couple of hours to go for a snorkel survey of Diadema in waters we had not previously scanned!

Day 3 Diadema NSF kickoff. Today we tested out transect approaches and new high resolution visual transects on our second site on the western end of Brewers Bay. This afforded us the opportunity to sample additional Diadema at a second site. So many of them! Very encouraging to see!

Day 2 of Diadema kickoff. Today was all about Diadema itself (cf environmental parameters). We were excited to see so many apparently healthy animals in shallow water! We also set up an experiment to examine microbial participation in echinoderm tissue decay. Such a great start to this time series!

Day 1 of NSF sponsored Diadema antillarum scuticociliatosis time series in Brewers Bay, St Thomas, USVI with @drchriskellogg.bsky.social @viromegirl.bsky.social @aquaticmicrolab.bsky.social and Prof Marilyn Brandt at UVI. After months of planning it was time to figure out what makes sense from

Getting ready for my world famous swimming pool microbiology lecture for the intro micro for non majors class. Took samples before and after water polo class, as well as from my suit. Gross.

Running a little experiment right now to see how Vibrio responds to decaying echinoderm tissues. It’s always fun when you can see things on plates!

To give some perspective on the diversity of lectures and talks I give this week: 1) head lice and crabs; 2) underwater survey techniques and research cruises; 3) grad student funding opportunities and how to craft a proposal; 4) methods for surveying microbial diversity; 5) overview of marine jobs

Anyone got any tips for how to budget for science (or other) goods that are ordered through distributors? Not only are tariffs being requested when they arrive but couriers are tacking on “processing fees” for the collection of duties and tariffs.

Had my first taste of tariffs today. Bought some sporting gear from a website with a .com address; total cost $45. Shipper then contacted me to say I needed to pay $25 in “customs duties”. Looked at tracking and it came from Spain. JFC

Now to match this with animal density and average fecal nutrient concentration to estimate role of seabirds on pelagic microbial ecology and biological C pump. Awesome study! www.cell.com/current-biol...

Preparing for an experiment. My PhD advisor always said never throw anything out, so my freezers are full of samples. Turns out they’re useful 12 years on!

Here we show that >90% of Paenibacillus encode a unique Spo0B with a transmembrane domain! TM domain helps it interact with its phosphorelay partners. Congrats to @isabellalin.bsky.social who left for grad school this week and her mentor @cassidyprints.bsky.social! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Guess I’m going to get some immunizations next time I’m in Australia…

Anyone have any recommendations on sites/vendors from whom to buy second hand -80 freezers? Mine got fried during construction by my institution and they won’t replace it…

Excited/petrified about teaching 3 classes as of tomorrow, and having a new NSF grant starting, and no technician.

Great to see a class I designed and initiated featured by Cornell. Though I’ve moved on to other teaching in marine science, awesome to know that it will continue to generate broader understanding of microbial ecology and scientific literacy cals.cornell.edu/news/2025/08...

Sea star wasting disease represents a suite of stress responses. Recent work by Prentice et al (2025) identified Vibrio pectenicida FHCF-3 as causing a SSW condition in Pycnopodia helianthoides. I investigated this bacterium’s autecology. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Oh oops… classes start on Monday!

Faculty search announcement 2025: Tenure-Track Assistant Professor in Microbiology at UT Southwestern. We seek candidates working in microbial pathogenesis (some preference may be given to bacterial pathogens). Come join our community! (1/5) www.utsouthwestern.edu/departments/...

Totally just felt the earthquake in Brisbane (est 5.2)

Amazing day today in Hawaii furthering our work on Diadema scuticociliatosis. Started the day collecting a further suite of diadematid urchins for microbiome studies, followed by SEM work at UH Manoa to study ciliate morphology. Grad student @brayan-vilanova.bsky.social killing it out here!

Successful day sampling one of the other Diademas, Diadema paucispinum (Wana) in Oahu. This species isn’t yet affected by scuticociliatosis, so we are trying to provide baseline info its microbiome. Learned the hard way that their spines are more venemous than their Caribbean counterparts, ouch!!

An ode to my dive booties, now departed. After 30 years, it is time to say goodbye. These have seen me through from early diving as a teenager in Australia, through fieldwork as an undergrad at UQ through intertidal work in California as a grad student, to recent work in the Caribbean and Florida.

Excited to see a session on marine diseases at the upcoming ASLO meeting in Glasgow!

Gearing up for more echinoderm disease fieldwork coming up in the next few weeks followed by fall semester (teaching 3 classes…). Whatever happened to summer?

Did it! 25 miles and change with 4 days to go!! So thankful to my sponsors! I’m going to keep going until Aug 1… www.gofundme.com/f/swim-5-mil...

Its that time again - the list of Ecology/Evolution/Marine Bio Labs recruiting grad students for Fall 2026 is live! PIs enter your position info here: forms.gle/2XTHBP6CZGEn... Prospective students (and PIs not recruiting) share the composite list: docs.google.com/spreadsheets... Please share! 🧪

Another 3500 today in Boulder; was going great splitting lane with another person until a slow poke wanted to circle swim. Oh well. Still got there 3000m to go before I meet my goal for the American Cancer Society! www.gofundme.com/f/swim-5-mil...

As part of a newly funded project we are seeking student in marine microbial ecology & urchin disease dynamics 🧫🌊🦠 PhD | Spring/Fall 2026 start Job Ad Here 👉 shorturl.at/fSMy9 Apply here 👉 forms.gle/gfMnHutijfqC... More: theaquaticmicrobiologylab.com @ianhewson.bsky.social @viromegirl.bsky.social

3500m today at altitude! 33500 of the 40200m goal for the month! Wasn’t easy dodging t’storms today but made it! www.gofundme.com/f/swim-5-mil...

Another 3100m at altitude today, which brings it to 30,000m out of the 40300m goal. Will I make it? www.gofundme.com/f/swim-5-mil...

Lots and lots of traffic today about Sea Star Wasting in Florida. This probably isn’t the same thing as in the Pacific, but speaks to the fact that there is no case definition, and that it’s very non specific and describes when stars fall apart. See www.frontiersin.org/journals/mar...

Altitude training for the next 5 days! In Boulder co, 5340ft. 2600m today, all free and water polo like with 5 people each lane! 26900 of the 40300 to go. Will try my best though the lack of 02 is def noticeable. www.gofundme.com/f/swim-5-mil...

Notice of Award is in! Join our team at NIU to study marine microbial ecology & disease dynamics in sea urchins 🧫🌊🦠 PhD | Spring/Fall 2026 start Job Ad Here 👉 shorturl.at/fSMy9 Apply here 👉 forms.gle/gfMnHutijfqC... More: theaquaticmicrobiologylab.com @ianhewson.bsky.social @viromegirl.bsky.social