Nicole Pittoors
@npittoors.bsky.social
Using genomics to study benthic invertebrate reproduction and recruitment within the mesophotic and deep sea 🪸🐚🪱 | Ph.D. Candidate | NSFGRFP Fellow | https://linktr.ee/npittoors
Pinned
Nicole Pittoors
@npittoors.bsky.social
· Dec 11
Finally got around to finishing an illustration that has been on my mind for a while - anatomy of an Octocoral polyp (modeled after Swiftia exserta).
Reposted by Nicole Pittoors
Day 27 - Bounded #sciartseptember. In the deep sea a pair of shrimp will begin living in glass sponges and remain trapped inside the sponge once they get larger, the shrimp will be bound to the sponge for the rest of their lives.
September 27, 2025 at 10:02 PM
Day 27 - Bounded #sciartseptember. In the deep sea a pair of shrimp will begin living in glass sponges and remain trapped inside the sponge once they get larger, the shrimp will be bound to the sponge for the rest of their lives.
Reposted by Nicole Pittoors
Got a little busy today with work, so a little bit of a cheat, but for #sciartseptember prompt niche we have the various animals that call the hydrothermal vents there home, each filling a paticular niche.
September 8, 2025 at 11:59 PM
Got a little busy today with work, so a little bit of a cheat, but for #sciartseptember prompt niche we have the various animals that call the hydrothermal vents there home, each filling a paticular niche.
Reposted by Nicole Pittoors
The Deep Ones - I’ve been always thinking about a deep sea Cephalopod theme and here it is! Tentacles and appendages are so different when it comes to arranging the composition so it took me a good while, and hopefully it ends up well! 🦑🐙They’re just like from another world💙
August 11, 2025 at 7:16 PM
The Deep Ones - I’ve been always thinking about a deep sea Cephalopod theme and here it is! Tentacles and appendages are so different when it comes to arranging the composition so it took me a good while, and hopefully it ends up well! 🦑🐙They’re just like from another world💙
Reposted by Nicole Pittoors
Hundreds of thousands of people in Argentina have watched a livestream of a deep sea exploration, partly out of interest in nature and partly as a form of activism as President Javier Milei threatens to cut state-funded science. nyti.ms/45rOOmu
A Starfish Has Captivated Argentina. It Didn’t Ask to Be Political.
A livestream of an undersea project has captivated Argentina as President Javier Milei wields a chain saw on the budget for science.
nyti.ms
August 8, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Hundreds of thousands of people in Argentina have watched a livestream of a deep sea exploration, partly out of interest in nature and partly as a form of activism as President Javier Milei threatens to cut state-funded science. nyti.ms/45rOOmu
Reposted by Nicole Pittoors
#WHOI's Johanna Weston is part of a @schmidtocean.bsky.social research mission to investigate the biodiversity of a deep-sea canyon off of Argentina with her zooplankton sampler #DeepZoo!
📲Join millions of Argentinians following SOI’s next Divestream: youtube.com/@SchmidtOcean/streams
📲Join millions of Argentinians following SOI’s next Divestream: youtube.com/@SchmidtOcean/streams
August 6, 2025 at 9:59 PM
#WHOI's Johanna Weston is part of a @schmidtocean.bsky.social research mission to investigate the biodiversity of a deep-sea canyon off of Argentina with her zooplankton sampler #DeepZoo!
📲Join millions of Argentinians following SOI’s next Divestream: youtube.com/@SchmidtOcean/streams
📲Join millions of Argentinians following SOI’s next Divestream: youtube.com/@SchmidtOcean/streams
This would be a great entry for a coffee table book of on-the-fly field sampling innovations.
🧪🌊🌋⚒️ What do you do when a 2.5-km-deep Pacific Ocean volcano erupts (3rd time in 33 yrs) with the Alvin sub in the water? You pull Alvin fast, coat a weight in Crisco, toss it overboard with a wireline acoustic locator beacon, & pull up fresh lava chips the "old fashioned" way. Specimens on the way😍
May 14, 2025 at 12:45 AM
This would be a great entry for a coffee table book of on-the-fly field sampling innovations.
Reposted by Nicole Pittoors
**BIG NEWS in the geology world!** For the first time, scientists spotted an active eruption along the mid-ocean ridge!!
They visited the hydrothermal vent the day before, where a vibrant ecosystem thrived in the sweltering water. The next day, everything was gone. ⚒️🧪
My latest for @nytimes.com
They visited the hydrothermal vent the day before, where a vibrant ecosystem thrived in the sweltering water. The next day, everything was gone. ⚒️🧪
My latest for @nytimes.com
Volcanic Eruption in Deep Ocean Ridge Is Witnessed by Scientists for First Time (Gift Article)
Researchers diving in a submersible in the eastern Pacific realized that the landscape they had studied the day before had been glassed over by fresh lava.
www.nytimes.com
May 2, 2025 at 5:03 PM
**BIG NEWS in the geology world!** For the first time, scientists spotted an active eruption along the mid-ocean ridge!!
They visited the hydrothermal vent the day before, where a vibrant ecosystem thrived in the sweltering water. The next day, everything was gone. ⚒️🧪
My latest for @nytimes.com
They visited the hydrothermal vent the day before, where a vibrant ecosystem thrived in the sweltering water. The next day, everything was gone. ⚒️🧪
My latest for @nytimes.com
Reposted by Nicole Pittoors
Very excited this part of my PhD is out 🎉 We describe vent viral and microbial traits that govern viral biogeography and contribute to mounting evidence that these communities are highly endemic, and thus likely vulnerable to disruptive activities like deep sea mining
#Microbiome #DeepSeaMining
#Microbiome #DeepSeaMining
Excited to share our lab's latest work led by PhD student
@maggielangwig.bsky.social
describing the ecology and evolution of viruses in globally distributed hydrothermal vents.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
@maggielangwig.bsky.social
describing the ecology and evolution of viruses in globally distributed hydrothermal vents.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Endemism shapes viral ecology and evolution in globally distributed hydrothermal vent ecosystems - Nature Communications
Viruses are pivotal players in deep-sea hydrothermal vents, shaping microbiomes by preying on key hosts. Through a global-scale analysis of vent viruses and their interactions, this study reveals that...
www.nature.com
May 5, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Very excited this part of my PhD is out 🎉 We describe vent viral and microbial traits that govern viral biogeography and contribute to mounting evidence that these communities are highly endemic, and thus likely vulnerable to disruptive activities like deep sea mining
#Microbiome #DeepSeaMining
#Microbiome #DeepSeaMining
Reposted by Nicole Pittoors
Attention Ocean Artists! 4Ocean is hiring an Art Director! Remote position.
sevenseasmedia.org/job/art-dire...
sevenseasmedia.org/job/art-dire...
Art Director — SEVENSEAS Media
About 4ocean 4ocean is a purpose-driven company on a mission to end the ocean plastic crisis. Through our direct cleanup efforts, product sales, and partnerships with organizations worldwide, we’re bu...
sevenseasmedia.org
April 17, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Attention Ocean Artists! 4Ocean is hiring an Art Director! Remote position.
sevenseasmedia.org/job/art-dire...
sevenseasmedia.org/job/art-dire...
Reposted by Nicole Pittoors
Harvard redid its whole homepage to push back against the administration’s demands. I mean, this is just a website but I think it’s kind of a great PR move: www.harvard.edu
Harvard University
Harvard University is devoted to excellence in teaching, learning, and research, and to developing leaders who make a difference globally.
www.harvard.edu
April 14, 2025 at 7:10 PM
Harvard redid its whole homepage to push back against the administration’s demands. I mean, this is just a website but I think it’s kind of a great PR move: www.harvard.edu
Hey, that’s my undergraduate advisor! Jill inspired me to take this path in biological oceanography and her phenomenal mentorship is how I got to where I am today.
With a fellow grad student Jill Leonard, I measured the metabolic rate of skate embryos in the egg capsule. They have to pump water through the capsule with the tail. This turns out to be energetically expensive. Making the passive flow from #MyFirstPaper more interesting.
🧪
www.researchgate.net...
🧪
www.researchgate.net...
April 9, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Hey, that’s my undergraduate advisor! Jill inspired me to take this path in biological oceanography and her phenomenal mentorship is how I got to where I am today.
Reposted by Nicole Pittoors
The second was led by Dr. Corinna Breusing with coauthors Michelle Hauer, @chemosymbiosis.bsky.social Johann Becker, Brennan Phillips, and @pgirguis.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Contrasting genomic responses of hydrothermal vent animals and their symbionts to population decline after the Hunga volcanic eruption
Genetic bottlenecks are evolutionary events that reduce the effective size and diversity of natural populations, often limiting a population's ability to adapt to environmental change. Given the accel...
www.biorxiv.org
March 3, 2025 at 2:48 PM
The second was led by Dr. Corinna Breusing with coauthors Michelle Hauer, @chemosymbiosis.bsky.social Johann Becker, Brennan Phillips, and @pgirguis.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Nicole Pittoors
Amidst all the bad news, I still want to share two new preprints from our lab group. The first is led by newly minted Dr. Michelle Hauer, in collaboration with @karthik-a.bsky.social @katiekliermicrobe.bsky.social and @maggielangwig.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Phage interactions may contribute to the population structure and dynamics of hydrothermal vent microbial symbionts
Deep-sea hydrothermal vent ecosystems are sustained by chemoautotrophic bacteria that symbiotically provide organic matter to their animal hosts through the oxidation of chemical reductants in vent fl...
www.biorxiv.org
March 3, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Amidst all the bad news, I still want to share two new preprints from our lab group. The first is led by newly minted Dr. Michelle Hauer, in collaboration with @karthik-a.bsky.social @katiekliermicrobe.bsky.social and @maggielangwig.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Finally got around to finishing an illustration that has been on my mind for a while - anatomy of an Octocoral polyp (modeled after Swiftia exserta).
December 11, 2024 at 3:07 AM
Finally got around to finishing an illustration that has been on my mind for a while - anatomy of an Octocoral polyp (modeled after Swiftia exserta).
Exciting new work from Dr. Samuel Vohsen of the Herrera Deep-Sea Ecology and Evolution Lab: Discovery of deep-sea coral symbionts from a novel clade of marine bacteria with severely reduced genomes www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Discovery of deep-sea coral symbionts from a novel clade of marine bacteria with severely reduced genomes - Nature Communications
Corals and other marine invertebrates host diverse microbes that remain poorly characterized, especially in the deep sea. Here the authors discover a new clade of bacteria with uniquely streamlined ge...
www.nature.com
November 8, 2024 at 3:39 PM
Exciting new work from Dr. Samuel Vohsen of the Herrera Deep-Sea Ecology and Evolution Lab: Discovery of deep-sea coral symbionts from a novel clade of marine bacteria with severely reduced genomes www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Nicole Pittoors
Here is a deep-sea science starter pack for everyone. Please feel free to suggest deep-sea people I've missed. go.bsky.app/7o7ynVk
October 22, 2024 at 8:10 PM
Here is a deep-sea science starter pack for everyone. Please feel free to suggest deep-sea people I've missed. go.bsky.app/7o7ynVk
Reposted by Nicole Pittoors
Newest paper from the lab: Macrofaunal Biodiversity and Patch Mosaics on the Deep Gulf of Mexico Seafloor onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... #MarineLife #DeepSea #Science
Macrofaunal Biodiversity and Patch Mosaics on the Deep Gulf of Mexico Seafloor
The deep-sea benthos often exhibit exceptional biodiversity. The patch-mosaic hypothesis proposes that this deep-sea diversity arises from varied microhabitats with prolonged temporal persistence fil...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
October 29, 2024 at 3:51 PM
Newest paper from the lab: Macrofaunal Biodiversity and Patch Mosaics on the Deep Gulf of Mexico Seafloor onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... #MarineLife #DeepSea #Science
I figured it would be fitting for my first post on this platform to be for #invertefest, featuring some of the commissioned work I have done for scientific conferences. Looking forward to drawing many more inverts this year!
August 27, 2024 at 2:23 PM
I figured it would be fitting for my first post on this platform to be for #invertefest, featuring some of the commissioned work I have done for scientific conferences. Looking forward to drawing many more inverts this year!
Ascending after a very successful mesophotic dive at Desecheo Ridge! Puerto Rico has welcomed us with abundant and diverse corals and cryptofauna. Excited to see what other communities we will encounter during this expedition with @SchmidtOcean! #DiagnosingDeepCoral
November 9, 2024 at 5:43 PM
Ascending after a very successful mesophotic dive at Desecheo Ridge! Puerto Rico has welcomed us with abundant and diverse corals and cryptofauna. Excited to see what other communities we will encounter during this expedition with @SchmidtOcean! #DiagnosingDeepCoral
Expedition #DiagnosingDeepCoral is off to a beautiful start! @SchmidtOcean @lehighu
November 9, 2024 at 5:43 PM
Expedition #DiagnosingDeepCoral is off to a beautiful start! @SchmidtOcean @lehighu
That’s a wrap on the 2023 Lava Watch expedition to the East Pacific Rise! After my first Alvin dive and many fluid and biological samples, we meet our final challenge: returning to single digit temps in the Lehigh Valley.
November 9, 2024 at 5:44 PM
That’s a wrap on the 2023 Lava Watch expedition to the East Pacific Rise! After my first Alvin dive and many fluid and biological samples, we meet our final challenge: returning to single digit temps in the Lehigh Valley.
After a few completed Alvin dives, the @LehighU geochemistry team is getting into the rhythm of the night with many (!) successful vent fluid and biological samples. #LavaWatch23 #NSFfunded
November 9, 2024 at 5:44 PM
After a few completed Alvin dives, the @LehighU geochemistry team is getting into the rhythm of the night with many (!) successful vent fluid and biological samples. #LavaWatch23 #NSFfunded
Thrilled to be heading back to EPR 9 50N with @jillmmcd’s geochemistry team, and even more thrilled to be accompanied by HOV Alvin.
November 9, 2024 at 5:44 PM
Thrilled to be heading back to EPR 9 50N with @jillmmcd’s geochemistry team, and even more thrilled to be accompanied by HOV Alvin.