Derrick Kamp
@kampamycin.bsky.social
Visualizing host-microbe interactions | Postdoctoral Fellow at UT Austin | he/they | derrickkamp.com
Looking to learn about career paths in microbiome research?
Come join a panel discussion hosted by the Microbiome Centers Consortium. We're talking to some great folks in diverse positions about how they explored their proffesional paths.
lnkd.in/e6WVziXY
Come join a panel discussion hosted by the Microbiome Centers Consortium. We're talking to some great folks in diverse positions about how they explored their proffesional paths.
lnkd.in/e6WVziXY
October 27, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Looking to learn about career paths in microbiome research?
Come join a panel discussion hosted by the Microbiome Centers Consortium. We're talking to some great folks in diverse positions about how they explored their proffesional paths.
lnkd.in/e6WVziXY
Come join a panel discussion hosted by the Microbiome Centers Consortium. We're talking to some great folks in diverse positions about how they explored their proffesional paths.
lnkd.in/e6WVziXY
Started using Fiji to estimate apartment sizes from Zillow images. Being a tall fella, you gotta prep for these things.
I am told this is "On Brand"
I am told this is "On Brand"
July 25, 2025 at 11:31 AM
Started using Fiji to estimate apartment sizes from Zillow images. Being a tall fella, you gotta prep for these things.
I am told this is "On Brand"
I am told this is "On Brand"
Learning about science is always rad. But as the Animal-Microbe Symbiosis GRC wraps up, I'm most excited about whom I get to do that science with.
June 20, 2025 at 1:18 PM
Learning about science is always rad. But as the Animal-Microbe Symbiosis GRC wraps up, I'm most excited about whom I get to do that science with.
The lady slippers are on their way out, but they're wonderful spots along the trail
June 1, 2025 at 12:44 AM
The lady slippers are on their way out, but they're wonderful spots along the trail
It's silly, but I kinda love it
Squid tissue looks like a stormy sea under the confocal
Squid tissue looks like a stormy sea under the confocal
May 31, 2025 at 8:41 PM
It's silly, but I kinda love it
Squid tissue looks like a stormy sea under the confocal
Squid tissue looks like a stormy sea under the confocal
Oh to be a bacterium nestled up in a pore of squid tissue on this #FluorescenceFriday
May 23, 2025 at 1:52 PM
Oh to be a bacterium nestled up in a pore of squid tissue on this #FluorescenceFriday
Stumbled across the first image I ever took of the hatchling bobtail squid light organ back in 2019.
For #FluoresenceFriday, I wanted to compare it to the last image I took.
As I focus on wrapping up my PhD, it's been affirming to have markers of this slow, yet present progress.
For #FluoresenceFriday, I wanted to compare it to the last image I took.
As I focus on wrapping up my PhD, it's been affirming to have markers of this slow, yet present progress.
May 9, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Stumbled across the first image I ever took of the hatchling bobtail squid light organ back in 2019.
For #FluoresenceFriday, I wanted to compare it to the last image I took.
As I focus on wrapping up my PhD, it's been affirming to have markers of this slow, yet present progress.
For #FluoresenceFriday, I wanted to compare it to the last image I took.
As I focus on wrapping up my PhD, it's been affirming to have markers of this slow, yet present progress.
On #FluorescenceFriday, I got distracted by tissue entirely unrelated to the things I actually wanted to image. I don't even know what it is, but I know it looks neat.
WGA and DAPI staining of squid tissue. Likely some mucus lining?
WGA and DAPI staining of squid tissue. Likely some mucus lining?
May 2, 2025 at 7:15 PM
On #FluorescenceFriday, I got distracted by tissue entirely unrelated to the things I actually wanted to image. I don't even know what it is, but I know it looks neat.
WGA and DAPI staining of squid tissue. Likely some mucus lining?
WGA and DAPI staining of squid tissue. Likely some mucus lining?
So many skunkers on my run this afternoon!
April 28, 2025 at 9:38 PM
So many skunkers on my run this afternoon!
It's #FluorscenceFriday!
Here's a stained section from developing squid tissue. I looooove how the orange stain ebbs and flows like a stream around the tubules and almost seems to pick up the cyan nuclei in the current.
Here's a stained section from developing squid tissue. I looooove how the orange stain ebbs and flows like a stream around the tubules and almost seems to pick up the cyan nuclei in the current.
April 25, 2025 at 1:05 PM
It's #FluorscenceFriday!
Here's a stained section from developing squid tissue. I looooove how the orange stain ebbs and flows like a stream around the tubules and almost seems to pick up the cyan nuclei in the current.
Here's a stained section from developing squid tissue. I looooove how the orange stain ebbs and flows like a stream around the tubules and almost seems to pick up the cyan nuclei in the current.
In all, we have a better understanding about how the ANG performs its symbiotic functions. Tubules converge mix bacteria with egg jelly, and we suggest that by splitting up bacterial populations, the squid is able to house a community of bacteria that otherwise wouldn't get along with each other.
April 15, 2025 at 1:59 PM
In all, we have a better understanding about how the ANG performs its symbiotic functions. Tubules converge mix bacteria with egg jelly, and we suggest that by splitting up bacterial populations, the squid is able to house a community of bacteria that otherwise wouldn't get along with each other.
But it wasn't as simple as we initially expected: some of the tubules contain mixed populations of bacteria across taxonomic levels. Some tubules contain different phyla, while others contain mixed genera. Some even only contain a single genus of bacteria.
April 15, 2025 at 1:59 PM
But it wasn't as simple as we initially expected: some of the tubules contain mixed populations of bacteria across taxonomic levels. Some tubules contain different phyla, while others contain mixed genera. Some even only contain a single genus of bacteria.
Most tubules only contain one type of bacteria, and the amount of tubules containing each type of bacteria mirrors the abundance of that bacteria in the organ: compartmentalization governs how much of each bacteria lives in the ANG.
April 15, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Most tubules only contain one type of bacteria, and the amount of tubules containing each type of bacteria mirrors the abundance of that bacteria in the organ: compartmentalization governs how much of each bacteria lives in the ANG.
We used light sheet microscopy to image entire organs and show that the ANG is a composite organ of many tubules. Each tubules converges at the top of the gland where it's able to dispense it's bacteria and mix with squid jelly to coat the eggs.
April 15, 2025 at 1:59 PM
We used light sheet microscopy to image entire organs and show that the ANG is a composite organ of many tubules. Each tubules converges at the top of the gland where it's able to dispense it's bacteria and mix with squid jelly to coat the eggs.
Female squid have an accessory nidamental gland (ANG), a network of tubules that contain bacteria. The squid puts these bacteria on her eggs, where they defend the eggs from harmful microbes. But we wanted to know how the bacteria get there, and see how the bacteria are arranged in the organ.
April 15, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Female squid have an accessory nidamental gland (ANG), a network of tubules that contain bacteria. The squid puts these bacteria on her eggs, where they defend the eggs from harmful microbes. But we wanted to know how the bacteria get there, and see how the bacteria are arranged in the organ.
Some mucus-stained tubule cross sections glowing like smoldering embers for this weirdly chilly #FluorescenceFriday
April 11, 2025 at 1:48 PM
Some mucus-stained tubule cross sections glowing like smoldering embers for this weirdly chilly #FluorescenceFriday
I got the dumbest bumper sticker.
April 3, 2025 at 11:31 PM
I got the dumbest bumper sticker.
Guys, what a good day for music
March 28, 2025 at 12:40 PM
Guys, what a good day for music
Raising animals once again in the lab, and somehow they just capture your heart strings and fascinations every single time
March 8, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Raising animals once again in the lab, and somehow they just capture your heart strings and fascinations every single time
Now more than ever.
February 15, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Now more than ever.
On days like today, I turn to Fiona Apple. This album has such a righteous, pointed indignation while never ignoring the systems that perpetuate the pain, nor -most importantly- forgetting about the people afflicted and fighting for good.
February 12, 2025 at 1:42 PM
On days like today, I turn to Fiona Apple. This album has such a righteous, pointed indignation while never ignoring the systems that perpetuate the pain, nor -most importantly- forgetting about the people afflicted and fighting for good.
For #FluorescenceFriday: A pic of hemocytes, which are squid immune cells. They were congregating around a something. Not sure what, but a depth coded image makes them look neat.
December 13, 2024 at 10:33 PM
For #FluorescenceFriday: A pic of hemocytes, which are squid immune cells. They were congregating around a something. Not sure what, but a depth coded image makes them look neat.
It's the most wonderful time of the year: when folks share the music they liked most from the past year.
Love hearing about what others loved!
Love hearing about what others loved!
December 3, 2024 at 6:57 PM
It's the most wonderful time of the year: when folks share the music they liked most from the past year.
Love hearing about what others loved!
Love hearing about what others loved!