Fiona J Whelan
@whelanfj.bsky.social
Senior Lecturer, Lister Prize Fellow, & UKRI Future Leaders Fellow at U of Manchester. Bioinf, microbes, evol bio, running, cycling, & pub chats. she/her 🇨🇦.
CBC’s long standing science podcast Quirks & Quarks did a 25 year anniversary special in 2000 predicting what kind of scientific advancements we’d see in 2025. It is amazing for so many reasons & well worth a listen:
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/q...
Bob’s 2-min monologue at the end alone is 🤯
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/q...
Bob’s 2-min monologue at the end alone is 🤯
Predictions about science in 2025, recorded 25 years ago
Podcast Episode · Quirks and Quarks · 25/12/2025 · 54m
podcasts.apple.com
January 16, 2026 at 4:59 PM
CBC’s long standing science podcast Quirks & Quarks did a 25 year anniversary special in 2000 predicting what kind of scientific advancements we’d see in 2025. It is amazing for so many reasons & well worth a listen:
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/q...
Bob’s 2-min monologue at the end alone is 🤯
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/q...
Bob’s 2-min monologue at the end alone is 🤯
Reposted by Fiona J Whelan
As you talk about Greenland, please make sure you are talking about the >56,000 Inuit who have called the Island their home for thousands of years. Here are 2 stories that include their voices, concerns, and hopes.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
canadiangeographic.ca/articles/buy...
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
canadiangeographic.ca/articles/buy...
‘Buying countries is Stone Age mentality:’ Inuit speak up on Greenland
Indigenous Greenlanders, who endured centuries of colonialism from Denmark, now face a new threat from Donald Trump’s United States
canadiangeographic.ca
January 16, 2026 at 11:22 AM
As you talk about Greenland, please make sure you are talking about the >56,000 Inuit who have called the Island their home for thousands of years. Here are 2 stories that include their voices, concerns, and hopes.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
canadiangeographic.ca/articles/buy...
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
canadiangeographic.ca/articles/buy...
Reposted by Fiona J Whelan
I was absolutely delighted to give a talk at the University of Manchester Ecology and Evolution day yesterday. An incredible collection of talks and posters were presented and we had some great discussions - thank you to @whelanfj.bsky.social and @knightjar.bsky.social for organising!
January 13, 2026 at 8:31 AM
I was absolutely delighted to give a talk at the University of Manchester Ecology and Evolution day yesterday. An incredible collection of talks and posters were presented and we had some great discussions - thank you to @whelanfj.bsky.social and @knightjar.bsky.social for organising!
Such a gorgeous poster @magdalenakurteu.bsky.social ! Sorry I didn’t get a chance to chat with you about it :)
Excited to learn and chat about ecology & evolution today at #UoM_EEday 🌱🧬
January 12, 2026 at 8:12 PM
Such a gorgeous poster @magdalenakurteu.bsky.social ! Sorry I didn’t get a chance to chat with you about it :)
Great to see Becky’s first poster of her PhD here at #UoM_EEday today 🎉
Presenting ideas for my PhD project at #UoMEEday and learning about all things evolution !
January 12, 2026 at 8:11 PM
Great to see Becky’s first poster of her PhD here at #UoM_EEday today 🎉
What a great, welcoming community for Amber’s first poster of her PhD! #proudPI #UoM_EEday
A very enjoyable day, finishing up with my PhD poster presentation. 🦠 #UoMEEDay
January 12, 2026 at 8:10 PM
What a great, welcoming community for Amber’s first poster of her PhD! #proudPI #UoM_EEday
Last but certainly not least @evol-molly.bsky.social speaking about genome-type and phenome-types at #UoM_EEday
January 12, 2026 at 3:14 PM
Last but certainly not least @evol-molly.bsky.social speaking about genome-type and phenome-types at #UoM_EEday
Last ECR talk of the day from Logan Sauers on IgA transcriptomics #UoM_EEday
January 12, 2026 at 2:54 PM
Last ECR talk of the day from Logan Sauers on IgA transcriptomics #UoM_EEday
Next ECR talk is from Priya Gordon on simulating gene exchange #UoM_EEday
January 12, 2026 at 2:34 PM
Next ECR talk is from Priya Gordon on simulating gene exchange #UoM_EEday
Full of a yummy vegan-based lunch, James Moura is kicking off the afternoon session discussing participatory and communicated based biodiversity monitoring. #UoM_EEday
January 12, 2026 at 2:10 PM
Full of a yummy vegan-based lunch, James Moura is kicking off the afternoon session discussing participatory and communicated based biodiversity monitoring. #UoM_EEday
PhD student @andrewhalls.bsky.social up next at #UoM_EEday speaking on protozoan infections in domestic and wild ungulates
January 12, 2026 at 12:44 PM
PhD student @andrewhalls.bsky.social up next at #UoM_EEday speaking on protozoan infections in domestic and wild ungulates
Next ECR talk from Postdoc Joesph Violet on Saccharomyces evolution #UoM_EEday
January 12, 2026 at 12:25 PM
Next ECR talk from Postdoc Joesph Violet on Saccharomyces evolution #UoM_EEday
Continuing on after a coffee break with Harry Walker speaking on intra-genotypic trait variation #UoM_EEday
January 12, 2026 at 12:04 PM
Continuing on after a coffee break with Harry Walker speaking on intra-genotypic trait variation #UoM_EEday
Last ECR talk before the coffee break is from PhD student Ed Tancredi on fungal hyphal networks. #UoM_EEday
January 12, 2026 at 11:11 AM
Last ECR talk before the coffee break is from PhD student Ed Tancredi on fungal hyphal networks. #UoM_EEday
Qiuyu Chen now telling us about their PDRA work on microbial-mediated soil orangish matter dynamics #UoM_EEday
January 12, 2026 at 10:54 AM
Qiuyu Chen now telling us about their PDRA work on microbial-mediated soil orangish matter dynamics #UoM_EEday
@bexlowrypalms.bsky.social up next speaking about her work on bdellovibrio #UoM_EEday
January 12, 2026 at 10:29 AM
@bexlowrypalms.bsky.social up next speaking about her work on bdellovibrio #UoM_EEday
So excited to have @szytynska.bsky.social kicking off our Evolution & Ecology day at @manchester.ac.uk today! #UoM_EEday
January 12, 2026 at 9:39 AM
So excited to have @szytynska.bsky.social kicking off our Evolution & Ecology day at @manchester.ac.uk today! #UoM_EEday
Reposted by Fiona J Whelan
This week we kicked off the new year with a great talk about endosymbiosis evolution by Dan Malumphy 🔬
Thank you to @microbesng.bsky.social for supplying us with snacks! 🍪
Thank you to @microbesng.bsky.social for supplying us with snacks! 🍪
January 9, 2026 at 12:28 PM
This week we kicked off the new year with a great talk about endosymbiosis evolution by Dan Malumphy 🔬
Thank you to @microbesng.bsky.social for supplying us with snacks! 🍪
Thank you to @microbesng.bsky.social for supplying us with snacks! 🍪
I gifted myself a week back in the lab before 🎄 to tie up some loose ends & - more importantly - remind myself why I fell in love with this job. In the bustle of deadlines & to do lists, I was surprised how many new ideas/creative thoughts sprung to mind whilst pipetting small amounts of liquid.
December 20, 2025 at 8:46 AM
I gifted myself a week back in the lab before 🎄 to tie up some loose ends & - more importantly - remind myself why I fell in love with this job. In the bustle of deadlines & to do lists, I was surprised how many new ideas/creative thoughts sprung to mind whilst pipetting small amounts of liquid.
Reposted by Fiona J Whelan
It’s official: we’ve been awarded a UKRI Engineering Biology Focal Award to train the next generation of microbial bioengineer PhDs. An exciting collaboration between @officialuom.bsky.social @liverpooluni.bsky.social
Projects will be advertised in February 2026!
www.ukri.org/news/ukri-do...
Projects will be advertised in February 2026!
www.ukri.org/news/ukri-do...
UKRI doctoral training investment set to power UK growth
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) invests in next-generation doctoral training to boost UK innovation and economic growth.
www.ukri.org
December 19, 2025 at 8:26 PM
It’s official: we’ve been awarded a UKRI Engineering Biology Focal Award to train the next generation of microbial bioengineer PhDs. An exciting collaboration between @officialuom.bsky.social @liverpooluni.bsky.social
Projects will be advertised in February 2026!
www.ukri.org/news/ukri-do...
Projects will be advertised in February 2026!
www.ukri.org/news/ukri-do...
Reposted by Fiona J Whelan
Congratulations to Dr Rana Alruthaya, who successfully defended her PhD today on AMR diversity in Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates from non-CF bronchiectasis patients. She's the 10th PhD student from MERMan. Well done Rana! @dannagifford.bsky.social @brockhurstlab.bsky.social @knightjar.bsky.social
December 18, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Congratulations to Dr Rana Alruthaya, who successfully defended her PhD today on AMR diversity in Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates from non-CF bronchiectasis patients. She's the 10th PhD student from MERMan. Well done Rana! @dannagifford.bsky.social @brockhurstlab.bsky.social @knightjar.bsky.social
Reposted by Fiona J Whelan
Congratulations to PhD student Zahraa Albaqsami @zahraaalbaqsami.bsky.social for successfully defending her PhD today! Zahraa's thesis looked at thermal adaptation and mutation in the archaeon Sulfolobus acidocaldarious.
Thanks to examiners @rokkrasovec.bsky.social and Thorsten Allers!
Thanks to examiners @rokkrasovec.bsky.social and Thorsten Allers!
December 17, 2025 at 8:13 PM
Congratulations to PhD student Zahraa Albaqsami @zahraaalbaqsami.bsky.social for successfully defending her PhD today! Zahraa's thesis looked at thermal adaptation and mutation in the archaeon Sulfolobus acidocaldarious.
Thanks to examiners @rokkrasovec.bsky.social and Thorsten Allers!
Thanks to examiners @rokkrasovec.bsky.social and Thorsten Allers!
Reposted by Fiona J Whelan
I've spent all day struggling to write a single page of a popular science article. I bang away at a word processor; give up; start diagramming on paper. Take some notes; draft a few sentences in pen; return to the computer...and very slowly I figure out what I was trying to say in the first place.
December 16, 2025 at 11:41 PM
I've spent all day struggling to write a single page of a popular science article. I bang away at a word processor; give up; start diagramming on paper. Take some notes; draft a few sentences in pen; return to the computer...and very slowly I figure out what I was trying to say in the first place.
I am, of course, very grateful that these travel grants exist to allow ECRs to attend events like the @microbiologysociety.org annual conference. But I’m less thrilled that the opening/closing dates mean that a lot of microbiologists will be working over the holidays.
December 15, 2025 at 9:26 AM
I am, of course, very grateful that these travel grants exist to allow ECRs to attend events like the @microbiologysociety.org annual conference. But I’m less thrilled that the opening/closing dates mean that a lot of microbiologists will be working over the holidays.
Reposted by Fiona J Whelan
I'm teaching Statistical Rethinking again starting Jan 2026. This time with live lectures, divided into Beginner and Experienced sections. Will be a lot more work for me, but I hope much better for students.
I will record lectures & all will be found at this link: github.com/rmcelreath/s...
I will record lectures & all will be found at this link: github.com/rmcelreath/s...
December 9, 2025 at 1:58 PM
I'm teaching Statistical Rethinking again starting Jan 2026. This time with live lectures, divided into Beginner and Experienced sections. Will be a lot more work for me, but I hope much better for students.
I will record lectures & all will be found at this link: github.com/rmcelreath/s...
I will record lectures & all will be found at this link: github.com/rmcelreath/s...