Phoebe Chapman
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phoebechapman.bsky.social
Phoebe Chapman
@phoebechapman.bsky.social
1.3K followers 1.1K following 67 posts
🇦🇺 in 🇳🇿 at Uni of Otago using genomic approaches to explore diversity, microbes and parasites primarily in aquatic/marine ecosystems. Variously an ecologist, wildlife wrangler/photographer, diver/hiker/skier/etc 🐧 🐢 🐸 🧬 🌊 🏳️‍🌈
http://phoebeachapman.github.io
Posts Replies Media Videos
phoebechapman.bsky.social
Calling a spade a spade 🪏
Winner of top science prize blames ‘batshit’ Budget for brain drain
Dr Samuel Mehr says the Government values science, but their ‘idiotic’ approach to funding it will cost them their brightest.
newsroom.co.nz
October 29, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Reposted by Phoebe Chapman
antarctic.bsky.social
H5 strain of bird flu on Heard Island? Samples are yet to be tested. "The majority of mortalities were detected in elephant seal pups and in a small number of adults." — Dr Julie McInnes, wildlife ecologist with AAD and @imas-utas.bsky.social

▶️ www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10...

📸 Matt Curnock
October 24, 2025 at 5:06 AM
phoebechapman.bsky.social
The last paper from our project looking at the link between skin bacteria and a tadpole’s ability to regenerate its tail. A good summary in @frogsquisher.bsky.social’s comments!
October 17, 2025 at 8:46 PM
Reposted by Phoebe Chapman
sisyphusreturns.bsky.social
#BirdoftheYear 🇳🇿
September 20, 2025 at 8:49 AM
Reposted by Phoebe Chapman
larusnz.bsky.social
Parasite extinctions in threatened species may be far more prevalent than previous estimates suggest. Our new study of kākāpō dung spanning from ~1,500 years ago to present, finds >80% of parasite species were lost as the host species declined.
Long-term parasite decline associated with near extinction and conservation of the critically endangered kākāpō parrot
Boast et al. analyze a unique fecal record of the endangered kākāpō parrot to reveal >800 years of changing parasite communities. Parasite losses occur during the species’ decline to near extinction a...
www.cell.com
July 24, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Reposted by Phoebe Chapman
petrathepostdoc.bsky.social
You want to collect insects (and maybe other arthropods) for reference genome sequencing, but don't want to spend a fortune on dry ice shipping!

All you gotta do is SQUISH. THAT. BUG!

More details in our recent preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
a silly #SciArt redraw of the squish that cat meme, but it is a grey stickfigure squishing a mosquito (that looks like a little cat) with the text SQUISH THAT BUG!
July 7, 2025 at 9:00 AM
Reposted by Phoebe Chapman
firstdogonthemoon.bsky.social
Everyone knows about AMOC but have you heard about SMOC?! Stand by for extreme penguinity! www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Ocean current scientists are very upset and you should be too | First Dog on the Moon
It’s bad news for the Antarctic sea ice and everyone who relies on it being there (everyone)
www.theguardian.com
July 7, 2025 at 8:13 AM
phoebechapman.bsky.social
Saw this somewhere on the socials today, seems… relevant.
June 22, 2025 at 9:24 AM
phoebechapman.bsky.social
Better late than never for #worldpenguinday and #superseabirdsunday! Deadpan Gentoo had enough of my photography crap I reckon #marinelife 🦑 #birds 🪶
Portrait of a plump gentoo penguin from chest up, looking straight into camera. A white chest, black neck and head with white band/crown running behind eyes. Orange and black beak. In the background are large black pebbles.
April 28, 2025 at 9:15 AM
Reposted by Phoebe Chapman
philippbayer.bsky.social
My nightmare in #eDNA is to detect a rare or threatened species that turns out to be a false positive, so we set out to evaluate some of the commonly used taxonomic classifiers.

The results are finally out: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

1/3
A Comprehensive Evaluation of Taxonomic Classifiers in Marine Vertebrate eDNA Studies
Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding is a widely used tool for surveying marine vertebrate biodiversity. To this end, many computational tools have been released and a plethora of bioinformatic app...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
April 23, 2025 at 1:27 AM
Reposted by Phoebe Chapman
getcaughtliving.bsky.social
Plastic pollution along Australia’s coastline has dropped by more than a third over the last decade. Researchers recorded a 39% decrease in coastal debris density and a 16% increase in areas with “no plastic debris at all.”

www.sbs.com.au/news/podcast...
Australia making a dent in plastic packaging pollution on coastlines, CSIRO finds
Plastic pollution along Australia’s coastline has dropped by more than a third over the last decade. That’s according to new research from Australia’s national science agency CSIRO, published in the M...
www.sbs.com.au
April 17, 2025 at 4:37 AM
Reposted by Phoebe Chapman
tylerfromtheinternet.com
Two children at school in uniforms and it looks like Japan, both of them look like girls or femmes. One is holding a giant tuba so that it's stuffed over the face of the other one that's pinned up against the wall. The one holding the tuba is labeled every company. The tuba is labeled unwanted AI And the one against the wall is labeled me
April 13, 2025 at 6:40 PM
phoebechapman.bsky.social
For this week’s #superseabirdsunday - hoiho / yellow-eyed penguin, Enderby Island
#seabird #birds 🪶 #naturephotography #penguin #newzealand
A black penguin, turning back to look at the camera. The penguin has a pink beak and light coloured eye, with a yellow band running between its eyes around the back of its head. In the background are green ferns and tall reeds. The foreground is light green lush grass, obscuring the bottom half of the bird.
April 13, 2025 at 7:46 AM
Reposted by Phoebe Chapman
indivisible.org
SAVE THE PENGUINS.
STOP TRUMP’S TARIFFS.
April 3, 2025 at 5:59 PM
Reposted by Phoebe Chapman
heardislandgov.bsky.social
If you’re new here, welcome. Our Antarctica Nudist Colony Government was formed after Seal hunters left our land around 1920. We occasionally allow scientists to study our 29 mammals, multiple seabirds, and limited flora, but have no permanent human settlement. Australia partially protects us 1/2
April 4, 2025 at 2:24 AM
Reposted by Phoebe Chapman
ottoenglish.bsky.social
Even when it's just the two of them, in an otherwise empty Oval office, Trump and Musk still aren't the smartest guys in the room.
"Trade war with penguins": Trump places 10% tariff on uninhabited Antarctic islands Planned tariffs shared by the White House included a 10% duty on imports from the barren Heard and McDonald Islands
April 3, 2025 at 6:27 AM
Reposted by Phoebe Chapman
maddmac.bsky.social
Thought I'd revisit Star Wars.

Just in case anyone forgot what starts the whole saga: it's a #TradeWar about #tariffs
March 29, 2025 at 12:06 PM
phoebechapman.bsky.social
Three Southern Royal albatross sharing a juicy piece of gossip on Enderby Island (NZ sub-Antarctic)

#seabirds #superseabirdsunday #marinelife #wildlifephotography #naturephotography #birds
Three large albatross, predominantly white with black mottled wings and light pink bills. The centre bird faces away from the camera, and the birds on either side face inwards towards it; all three have their heads together as if discussing something. They stand on a hill covered in yellow, green and red herbs, mosses and grasses.
March 29, 2025 at 11:08 PM
phoebechapman.bsky.social
A bit of Saturday science - our new paper out this week is the first published record of a myxozoan parasite in Murray River turtles (Emydura macquarii) in Australia @vgonzaleza.bsky.social
#parasitology 🪱 #herpetology #turtle 🐢
Renal myxosporidiosis by an unknown Bivalvulidan myxozoan parasite in Murray River turtles (Emydura macquarii) in Australia
This case series provides the first published record of a myxozoan parasite in Murray River turtles (Emydura macquarii) in Australia. Thirteen turtles…
www.sciencedirect.com
March 29, 2025 at 1:48 AM
phoebechapman.bsky.social
Not much a skua won’t fight over. Enderby Island, sub-Antarctic New Zealand #birds #marinelife #seabirds #birdphotography
Two medium sized mottled dark brown birds having a tug of war over a long piece of brown kelp on a sandy beach.
March 23, 2025 at 7:45 AM
phoebechapman.bsky.social
Back from two weeks aboard the HMNZS Canterbury as one of the scientists on the 2025 Blake Expedition to the NZ sub-Antarctic Islands. Will progressively drop photos and commentary here as I go through them #marinelife #naturephotography #sealion #pinniped
March 18, 2025 at 9:27 AM
phoebechapman.bsky.social
2025 Blake Expedition on Operation Endurance with the NZ Navy. Off to the sub-Antarctic Campbell and Auckland Islands to do some sciencing and inspire the next generation!
February 28, 2025 at 8:43 PM
phoebechapman.bsky.social
Next step… takahē world (or maybe just NZ) domination 🤞🪶
Takahē released to grow wild population
Efforts to expand a wild population of takahē near Queenstown began yesterday with the release of 18 birds in the Rees Valley.
www.doc.govt.nz
February 12, 2025 at 10:24 PM
Reposted by Phoebe Chapman
mcuban.bsky.social
This is the most relevant article to NIH and research cuts I’ve seen.

Imagine if this was today , how many people would be saying “Why are we studying Gila Monsters and their impact on diabetes ? That’s wasted money !”

globalnews.ca/news/9793403...
How a Canadian scientist and a venomous lizard helped pave the way for Ozempic - National | Globalnews.ca
In 1984, Dr. Daniel Drucker, an endocrinologist from the University of Toronto, discovered a hormone that helped pave the way for popular diabetes drugs such as Ozempic.
globalnews.ca
February 9, 2025 at 9:58 PM
phoebechapman.bsky.social
New tool for estimating prey size and energy content from animal-worn camera footage 🐧🦐
Revealing underwater secrets with new technique
Scientists from the University of Otago – Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka are hoping their new research technique will help unlock underwater secrets of marine wildlife.
www.otago.ac.nz
February 5, 2025 at 3:39 AM