Melissa Ramsay
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melissa-e-ramsay.bsky.social
Melissa Ramsay
@melissa-e-ramsay.bsky.social
1K followers 690 following 25 posts
PhD researcher at St Andrews' Centre for Biological Diversity and the Scottish Oceans Institute. Sensory ecology - animal (multi)sensory processing - intertidal - social foraging.
🦀🌊🐟🫧
EastBio Student/EDI Rep
(she/her)🌈🍉🌱
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melissa-e-ramsay.bsky.social
Already one month into my placement at Rothamsted Research and learning more and more about chemical ecology every day! 🌱
Three trays of oilseed-rape(OSR) plants The plants in the tray on the right are looking a lot healthier and larger than the other two. The Rothamsted Research site entrance, with a brick sign in front of a large tree and red-brick building.
October 2, 2025 at 4:52 PM
melissa-e-ramsay.bsky.social
After almost a year(!!) of my PhD, I am excited to start my 3-month placement at @rothamsted.bsky.social 🌱 I shall miss this lovely group at St Andrews @animalsdoingstuff.bsky.social @mikemwebster.bsky.social @lrendell.bsky.social but I'm sure I'll be back to the sea before I know it! 🌊🐟🦀
Five members of "team fish" in our waders and woolly hats in front of the main rockpool, with a grey sky behind us. Selfie on a sailboat Three members of "team fish" wading into a large rockpool carrying rigs and floats for data collection, with a blue sky and fluffy white clouds
August 28, 2025 at 3:28 PM
melissa-e-ramsay.bsky.social
Me: why do I always have a sore back?
Also me:
A photo of myself and a colleague hunched over sitting on buckets in the rockpools to count shell species.
July 25, 2025 at 9:16 PM
melissa-e-ramsay.bsky.social
A little moon jelly at the rockpools today🪼 @animalsdoingstuff.bsky.social
July 16, 2025 at 5:40 PM
melissa-e-ramsay.bsky.social
So many happy pollinators at Alnwick Garden today 🪻🌼🐝
Hoverfly on a yellow poppy Bumblebee on a purple sea holly Hoverfly on a cream-coloured rose
July 13, 2025 at 3:31 PM
melissa-e-ramsay.bsky.social
I really enjoyed presenting some preliminary results from my PhD work at the St Andrews Biology PGR conference today! It was great to see all the cool work coming out of our community as well 🦀🐟🔊 (thanks to @mikemwebster.bsky.social and @lrendell.bsky.social as always)
A picture of me standing in front of my slide showing preliminary results from my first PhD studies.
June 11, 2025 at 6:14 PM
melissa-e-ramsay.bsky.social
A very eventful five seconds 🦀🐟🫧
June 5, 2025 at 5:47 PM
melissa-e-ramsay.bsky.social
A really fun and insightful first day at our #eastbio25 symposium discussing research impact with excellent talks and workshops from Dr Ismar Haga, Dr Harriet Day, @viveknityananda.bsky.social, Dr Dave Blackbell, Prof Andrew Millar and William Smith!
Eastbio panel seated in front of our student and supervisor audience in the conference room. Dr Vivek Nityananda at the podium. Dr Dave Blackbell at the podium. Dr Harriet Day at the podium.
June 3, 2025 at 4:43 PM
melissa-e-ramsay.bsky.social
Had a great time hosting our #Eastbio thematic meeting today - with fantastic talks by @nakedprimate.bsky.social, @sheardcat.bsky.social and Dave Shuker! @louisekandler.bsky.social @mzworsley.bsky.social
Followed by some good old-fashioned rockpooling 🦀🐟
Six people walking across the rockpools covered in seaweed under a grey sky. Me presenting the rockpooling activity at the front of a seminar room. A black spotted sea hare under the water in a rockpool.
May 19, 2025 at 4:47 PM
melissa-e-ramsay.bsky.social
Another bright morning at the rocky shore with some members of 'Team Fish'🐟🦀☀️🌊 @animalsdoingstuff.bsky.social
Rocky shore with members of our research group searching in the rockpools and a clear blue sky above. A yellow-tipped red starfish. A nudibranch in the rockpool.
May 14, 2025 at 9:31 PM
melissa-e-ramsay.bsky.social
Always love a trip to the National Museum of Scotland, which has an entire floor dedicated to animal senses!! 🐍🦥🦉🐬
Animal Life section of the National Museum of Scotland. Rooftop view from the National Museum of Scotland with trees framing the roof of McEwan Hall and blue sky above
April 5, 2025 at 5:54 PM
melissa-e-ramsay.bsky.social
Weekend walks and reading, the latter courtesy of @ambikamath.bsky.social and Melina Packer - a very good read so far! 🌿📖
A willow tree next to the river Eden in Cupar, with sunlight streaming through the leaves. The front cover of Feminism in the Wild by Ambika Kamath and Melina Packer.
March 30, 2025 at 1:51 PM
melissa-e-ramsay.bsky.social
Another beautiful day on the rocky shore ☀️🌊🦀
Rockpools in the sun, blue sky and white fluffy clouds.
March 14, 2025 at 12:06 PM
melissa-e-ramsay.bsky.social
Excited to start properly thinking about some very cool public outreach work alongside my PhD! 🦈🐠🦐
February 14, 2025 at 1:43 PM
melissa-e-ramsay.bsky.social
Morning and evening views at the Scottish Oceans Institute 🌊
Landscape consisting of a path in the foreground, then a bench on some grass and the calm sea beyond, with a yellow/blue horizon and sky. The same landscape of a bench with the sea beyond, with frost on the ground and the sea coloured pink by the sunset sky.
December 12, 2024 at 5:36 PM
melissa-e-ramsay.bsky.social
I am starting to believe that St Andrews is indeed the most sunny place in Scotland! ☀️
A rockpool surrounded by high rocks and seaweed, with the sun shining on the rocks and a clear blue sky. A view of East Sands beach from the Scottish Oceans Institute, with grass in the foreground, a small strip of yellow sand, the sea behind, and a blue sky with a few white fluffy clouds. The low autumn sun shining through a large tree and onto a glass building, with a stone-walled building and flowers in the foreground. Very much golden hour. Trees with autumn leaves covering the floor, and a glimpse of blue sky through the leaves. The sun is shining on the leaves on the floor.
November 22, 2024 at 5:42 PM
melissa-e-ramsay.bsky.social
A very fun, cold, occasionally frustrating, but mostly successful few weeks of piloting at the rocky shore 🌊 🦀 🐟 🔊
November 22, 2024 at 5:23 PM
melissa-e-ramsay.bsky.social
Not quite fully thawed from fieldwork this morning 🥶 but what a BEAUTIFUL place to be! 🌊☀️🦀
Sandy and rocky shore with waves and clear blue sky in the background
November 18, 2024 at 4:30 PM
melissa-e-ramsay.bsky.social
Hello all! 👋
I'm Melissa. I have recently started my PhD at St Andrews in the @animalsdoingstuff.bsky.social lab. I am broadly interested in sensory ecology, and currently exploring how animals use socially transmitted acoustic cues to forage.

Please enjoy a picture of one of our field sites! 🦀
Rocky shore field site
November 12, 2024 at 5:40 PM