Also see the fantastic Sanger blog by Carmen Denman Hume sangerinstitute.blog/2025/07/03/e...

The Aquatic Symbiosis Genome (ASG) Project has now published the first chromosomal-level, whole nuclear genome of the giant barrel sponge, Xestospongia muta, and its accompanying microbial cohort. wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/10-...

We had a great time at the 2025 meeting of the FL Branch of the American Society for Microbiology (FLASM) at Florida Gulf Coast University, Ft Myers this weekend. One my students was awarded best grad student poster. #FLASM and lopez-lab.net/2025/03/30/m...?

We had a decent stand up for science event in S Florida. Thanks for showing up and all the friendly honks!!

I finished my dissertation in the MD/DC area, and enjoyed going to the capital Mall on special events. I was able to capture the moment serendipitously during a parade on Constitution Ave. I think it sums up our democracy; the words behind the people say "Eternal Vigilance is the Price of Liberty"

I finished my dissertation in the MD/DC area 30 years ago and loved visiting the nation's capital on special events. I took this serendipitous shot during a parade and believe it epitomizes our democracy. Hidden behind the people is "Eternal vigilance is the price of Liberty". So true now.

I had a great time participating in the last third of the Conservation Genomics 2025 course (conservationgenetics.org/congen2025/) held at the Cheetah Conservation Center in Otjiwarongo, Namibia. Thanks to Laurie Marker and CCF for hosting. I’m also happy to help the board plan the next workshop.

Surprising coral resilience after the 2023 marine heatwave in the Fl Keys. www.frontiersin.org/journals/mar...

Happy Holidays!! I like posting Christmas tree worm
(Spirobranchus giganteus) photos this time of year because they have so much phenotypic diversity, and sometimes ornamentation too, though I do have to rely on the public domain. Someone should sequence the nuclear genome.

On page 215: "...an interesting feature of NCBI Taxonomy that every taxon has been assigned a stable, unique numerical identifier, called the Taxon ID (TaxID). Wider recognition of this number across all biodiversity databases could go a long way toward greater federation and interoperability."

" The Biodiversity Genomics 2024 conference starts tomorrow! The Aquatic Symbiosis Genomics (ASG) Project starts at 11 AM EST and has a great slate of speakers - www.biodiversitygenomicsconference.org/%22

@invertebrates.bsky.social. The BG24 program is up. Register here: www.biodiversitygenomicsconference.org/registration...
Carlos Prada: University of Rhode Island, and GIGA president will present -"Speciation across depth gradients in reef corals"

I had a great time at this year's and my first American Malacological Society conference, preceded by a Kleptobiology & Photosymbiosis (KBP) Workshop. Pat Krug and his team organized a great meeting. Thanks for the invitation! ams.wildapricot.org/AMS-2024

Fantastic likely new species from southern hemisphere seamounts bsky.app/profile/inve...

Well, my first reference science book has now been published: Assessments and Conservation of Biological Diversity from Coral Reefs to the Deep Sea: Uncovering Buried Treasures and the Value of the Benthos. Single copies or a paperback/e-book bundle are available here - tinyurl.com/mryrh32u

Early Career outreach was accomplished at GIGA V with over 10 students from Colombia, Brazil and Chile supported with travel grants (underwritten by the American Genetics Association, Moore Foundation and one anonymous donor).

www.gigacos.org/index.php/me...

We had an excellent FL Branch of the ASM meeting in St. Augustine this year. NSU students gave some great presentations and also went home with a few awards. Congrats!! Thanks to Trent for the annular eclipse photo. www.flasm.org/2023-meeting...