Ian Hewson
@ianhewson.bsky.social
PI of the Cornell Marine Mass Mortality Lab (CM3L). Views are my own. 🏳️🌈🇦🇺. 1st gen phd, immigrant. Swimming content at @oceansciswim.bsky.social lab site http//team-aquatic-virus.com travel blog @ianfliesplacez.bsky.social
Hmm maybe this is why my euk primers don’t work on some turf algal samples from St Thomas. Does anyone know what type of cyano this is? Lyngbya majuscula? It’s super purple…
November 14, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Hmm maybe this is why my euk primers don’t work on some turf algal samples from St Thomas. Does anyone know what type of cyano this is? Lyngbya majuscula? It’s super purple…
Ah Ithaca. Looking for the aurora that everyone else is reporting but alas, as usual, just clouds… for the next 5 months
November 12, 2025 at 2:56 AM
Ah Ithaca. Looking for the aurora that everyone else is reporting but alas, as usual, just clouds… for the next 5 months
Super proud of Dr Brayan Vilanova Cuevas for successfully defending his dissertation on Philaster diadema interactions. Well done, and watch out world!!
November 3, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Super proud of Dr Brayan Vilanova Cuevas for successfully defending his dissertation on Philaster diadema interactions. Well done, and watch out world!!
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…
October 20, 2025 at 1:51 AM
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…
But this is clearly wasting. Better let the authorities know that there is Vibrio pectenicida where you are. Close the beaches and bsl4 from now on
October 9, 2025 at 9:25 PM
But this is clearly wasting. Better let the authorities know that there is Vibrio pectenicida where you are. Close the beaches and bsl4 from now on
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
October 5, 2025 at 11:05 PM
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
Many thanks to Moriah Sevier, Marilyn Brandt, @aquaticmicrolab.bsky.social @drchriskellogg.bsky.social @viromegirl.bsky.social Bella Ritchie and Brayan Vilanova Cuevas for making this trip such a success!
September 30, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Many thanks to Moriah Sevier, Marilyn Brandt, @aquaticmicrolab.bsky.social @drchriskellogg.bsky.social @viromegirl.bsky.social Bella Ritchie and Brayan Vilanova Cuevas for making this trip such a success!
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.
September 30, 2025 at 5:17 PM
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!
September 30, 2025 at 1:22 AM
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!
September 29, 2025 at 1:05 AM
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!
@aquaticmicrolab.bsky.social @drchriskellogg.bsky.social @viromegirl.bsky.social and Prof Marilyn Brandt
September 28, 2025 at 12:28 AM
@aquaticmicrolab.bsky.social @drchriskellogg.bsky.social @viromegirl.bsky.social and Prof Marilyn Brandt
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!
September 28, 2025 at 12:28 AM
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!
A logistical and scientific standpoint. So lots of trial and error but in the end we achieved our goals! We were even able to set up experiments as part of the project to understand macroalgal exudates impact on parasite loads. A lot of work but incredibly excited to see this start!
September 27, 2025 at 1:39 AM
A logistical and scientific standpoint. So lots of trial and error but in the end we achieved our goals! We were even able to set up experiments as part of the project to understand macroalgal exudates impact on parasite loads. A lot of work but incredibly excited to see this start!
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
September 27, 2025 at 1:39 AM
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.
September 18, 2025 at 7:04 PM
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!
September 12, 2025 at 11:26 PM
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!
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!
August 29, 2025 at 1:53 PM
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!
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!
August 12, 2025 at 4:31 AM
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!!
August 11, 2025 at 4:13 AM
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.
August 7, 2025 at 6:13 PM
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!
August 6, 2025 at 12:58 AM
Excited to see a session on marine diseases at the upcoming ASLO meeting in Glasgow!
Just tallied up lab alumni (n=57) and their career paths post leaving my lab. Super proud of everyone!
June 25, 2025 at 12:40 PM
Just tallied up lab alumni (n=57) and their career paths post leaving my lab. Super proud of everyone!
Heading to Australia; the end of the path unclear on a family emergency. Soaking up the beauty and sounds of nature sooth.
June 5, 2025 at 7:05 PM
Heading to Australia; the end of the path unclear on a family emergency. Soaking up the beauty and sounds of nature sooth.