Will Bugg
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wbuggiii.bsky.social
Will Bugg
@wbuggiii.bsky.social
Liber Ero Fellow
PhD from the University of Manitoba.
Postdoc with UBC and PSF.
Conservation and physiological responses to environmental stressors.
From NC -> AL -> MB -> BC.
Pinned
Hi everyone! I’m a postdoc with the University of British Columbia and the Pacific Salmon Foundation and my research focuses on the impacts of cumulative stressors on the early marine survival of Pacific Salmon 🐟🐠🧪
Reposted by Will Bugg
ice continues to kidnap, torture, and murder human beings across the US and right now, especially in Minneapolis

proceeds from this sticker to mutual aid funds in MN

abolish ice

👩🏻‍🔬🧪🌎🦑 🐟

www.madisonearhart.com/product-page...
January 24, 2026 at 10:29 PM
Reposted by Will Bugg
What’s happening on the Bathurst calving grounds?

We found strong spatiotemporal overlap between grizzlies and caribou during calving, highlighting potential risk during this sensitive period. Deeply grateful to the collaborators who made this work possible!

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
January 18, 2026 at 5:10 PM
Reposted by Will Bugg
yooo everyone!!

will did a super cool study with big implications for salmon!!

He was able to create biomarkers using teeny tiny pieces of gills (non lethal) to identify if a salmon is food limited or not

this means they can go in the wild and determine if, when and where salmon are starving 🧪🌎👩🏻‍🔬
New research out in @conphysjournal.bsky.social We use RNA sequencing to identify gill markers for food deprivation in Chinook salmon.

academic.oup.com/conphys/arti...

We will deploy these markers with panels for other stressors and pathogens to evaluate impacts on survival of wild salmon
PSF scientists, led by @wbuggiii.bsky.social, recently published a research breakthrough on identifying food deprivation in wild salmon.

Learn more: academic.oup.com/conphys/arti...
January 13, 2026 at 7:43 PM
New research out in @conphysjournal.bsky.social We use RNA sequencing to identify gill markers for food deprivation in Chinook salmon.

academic.oup.com/conphys/arti...

We will deploy these markers with panels for other stressors and pathogens to evaluate impacts on survival of wild salmon
January 13, 2026 at 6:47 PM
Reposted by Will Bugg
PSF scientists, led by @wbuggiii.bsky.social, recently published a research breakthrough on identifying food deprivation in wild salmon.

Learn more: academic.oup.com/conphys/arti...
Identification of food deprivation in salmonids using gill biomarkers
Abstract. Risk assessments have identified prey limitation as one of the strongest risk factors for juvenile salmon survival under climate change. In Briti
academic.oup.com
January 13, 2026 at 6:09 PM
Reposted by Will Bugg
newwwww illustration below :) check out this sturgeon paper!!!
What underlies plasticity and persistent enhanced growth following warm temperature exposure?

We sequenced lake sturgeon muscle tissue to find out

A variety of molecular mechanisms and cellular changes work together to increase muscular development across timescales

🧪🌎🌐🐠

tinyurl.com/mr2n2cvb
November 26, 2025 at 6:07 PM
What underlies plasticity and persistent enhanced growth following warm temperature exposure?

We sequenced lake sturgeon muscle tissue to find out

A variety of molecular mechanisms and cellular changes work together to increase muscular development across timescales

🧪🌎🌐🐠

tinyurl.com/mr2n2cvb
November 26, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Reposted by Will Bugg
sometimes I do field work in the most gorgeous water (Harrison river, BC) and you can see the sturgeon swim away forever 🥹

this is a nice close up of the scutes that cover sturgeon for protection, they have several rows of these bony plates that can be really sharp!

#sturgeonsaturday 🧪👩🏻‍🔬🌎🌐
November 23, 2025 at 2:47 AM
Reposted by Will Bugg
did you know we had ~80 huge sturgeon die this year (that we know of) in 2
BC rivers? These deaths occurred during the summer when the sockeye salmon were returning

sturgeon eat many salmon at once, and this may be overloading their metabolic capacity during hot summers 😱

#sturgeonsaturday 🧪👩🏻‍🔬🌎🌐
November 15, 2025 at 11:41 PM
Reposted by Will Bugg
Wildlife deserves more than minimum viable populations.
Conservation should aim for ecosystems where species can thrive, not just survive. 💥🦬🌲

👉 Read more:
Wildlife recovery means more than just survival of a species
Current laws that deem species safe from extinction ignore their ecological role, geographic range and genetic diversity, as well as their relationships with people.
theconversation.com
November 4, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Reposted by Will Bugg
releasing these huuuuge sturgeon and watching them swim away is the best part of my job 🫶🏼

another week in the field complete, and one step closer to finding out what is harming these ancient fish 🧪👩🏻‍🔬🌎🌐🦑

#sturgeonsaturday
November 9, 2025 at 1:16 AM
Reposted by Will Bugg
climate change is causing larger temperature variations BUT we know very little about how variable temperatures impact sensitive, developing fish

in this new study with @tblanchard.bsky.social & @trishschulte.bsky.social we found surprising impacts during development and after hatch!!

🧪👩🏻‍🔬 🐠 🌎 🌐👇🏼
Atlantic killifish are robust little fish, but now @tblanchard.bsky.social & co reveal that fluctuating temperatures while the embryos are developing in the egg can have beneficial and damaging consequences

journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/...
October 1, 2025 at 8:58 PM
Reposted by Will Bugg
Atlantic killifish are robust little fish, but now @tblanchard.bsky.social & co reveal that fluctuating temperatures while the embryos are developing in the egg can have beneficial and damaging consequences

journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/...
September 29, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Reposted by Will Bugg
Excited to share another paper from work I did during my PhD with @trishschulte.bsky.social and @madisonearhart.bsky.social. We looked at how fish embryos respond differently to constant and fluctuating temperatures! 🐟
Atlantic killifish are robust little fish, but now @tblanchard.bsky.social & co reveal that fluctuating temperatures while the embryos are developing in the egg can have beneficial and damaging consequences

journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/...
October 1, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Reposted by Will Bugg
#sturgeonsaturday 🧪👩🏻‍🔬🌎🌐

the last 2 years i’ve been investigating why these giant fish are dying across BC

and i’ve started to identify the stressors that could be driving mortality!!

if you want to learn more, check out this video: tinyurl.com/4m4xxrkh

tldr; it’s getting hot out here yall 🥵
September 27, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Reposted by Will Bugg
in the field for #sturgeonsaturday

ive spent the last 2 yrs investigating what is killing BC white sturgeon

unfortunately, these deaths continue & we’ve had over 50 adult sturgeon die in the fraser river in the last ~6 weeks

every fish i sample is another step closer to solving the mystery🧪👩🏻‍🔬🌎🌐
September 20, 2025 at 10:31 PM
Reposted by Will Bugg
hiiiii i’ve been mia for a bit but im back with looooots of field work photos - we’re doing some really cool sturgeon science this summer!!

here i am, in my element holding my fave creature, trying to save the dinosaurs one sturgie at a time 🫶🏼

#sturgeonsaturday everyday 🧪👩🏻‍🔬🐟🌎🌐
August 19, 2025 at 9:59 PM
Reposted by Will Bugg
out of pure rage for the obliteration of science funding i made a sticker

cuts are disproportionately impacting EC scientists & women~particularly Black women and women of color

25% of proceeds will go to @standupforscience.bsky.social to keep fighting! 🧪👩🏻‍🔬🌎

plz share widely
tinyurl.com/5n7kjbwt
July 23, 2025 at 10:04 PM
Reposted by Will Bugg
i was recently interviewed by @csz-sczofficial.bsky.social about my phd, science, art, really all things 👩🏻‍🔬🧪🐠🌎

still over the moon i got this award, sometimes i am still reminding myself that i did a phd 🥲

check it out! 👇🏼

blog.csz-scz.ca/2025/06/30/s...
July 7, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Reposted by Will Bugg
the horrors persist, but so do closeups of baby sturgeon

everyone say hi to the cutest fish alive!!

#sturgeonsaturday 🧪👩🏻‍🔬🌎🌐
July 5, 2025 at 9:52 PM
Reposted by Will Bugg
everyone! look at this baby sturgeon!

literally the cutest creature to ever exist but unfortunately we have less and less of them in BC

with juvenile recruitment issues it’s always so awesome to find lil untagged bbs - this trip 5/14 of our sturgeon were untagged!

#sturgeonsaturday everyday🧪👩🏻‍🔬🌎🌐
June 30, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Reposted by Will Bugg
we’re so back baby!!

an excellent start to the sturgeon field season today :)

here’s a 7ft sturgeon being released

#sturgeonsaturday everyday 🧪👩🏻‍🔬🌎🌐🦑
June 28, 2025 at 12:22 AM
Reposted by Will Bugg
have yall ever seen a 1day old sturgeon?? right out of the egg?

WELL NOW YOU HAVE

barely any eyes, no gills, just vibes & yes that tube is their beating heart 💓

(microscope vid so plz forgive the lighting)

#sturgeonsaturday everyday 🧪👩🏻‍🔬🌎

(p.s. get some sturgie stickers tinyurl.com/3dd65s4p)
June 5, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Reposted by Will Bugg
it’s #sturgeonsaturday👩🏻‍🔬🌎🧪🌐

did you know there are 8 sturgeon species in N. America?

spread across the continent, they are found in rivers, estuaries & the sea

i made stickers for each sturgie that lives here, so you can always have your fave fish with you

www.madisonearhart.com/category/sti...
May 31, 2025 at 6:38 PM