Blake Ushijima, Ph.D.
@vibriosoup.bsky.social
Assistant Prof at UNCW | Microbiology | Vibrio coralliilyticus enthusiasts | Coral pathogens & probiotics 🪸🦠 | #SCTLD | Comments are my own | Hawaii born | he/him
https://www.ushijima-lab.com/
https://www.ushijima-lab.com/
When the lab surprises you for Halloween dressed as...you. 😂
November 1, 2025 at 3:04 PM
When the lab surprises you for Halloween dressed as...you. 😂
It's been 10 years, but we're finally getting back into phages. Glorious enrichment assays from mud samples.
October 21, 2025 at 1:58 AM
It's been 10 years, but we're finally getting back into phages. Glorious enrichment assays from mud samples.
Bleaching and tissue loss coral diseases get all the attention, but there's also growth anomalies. We don't know for sure what causes them. However, our lab is going to be looking at these Acropora growth anomalies (the growths in the middle of the branches) under TEM!
August 14, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Bleaching and tissue loss coral diseases get all the attention, but there's also growth anomalies. We don't know for sure what causes them. However, our lab is going to be looking at these Acropora growth anomalies (the growths in the middle of the branches) under TEM!
A 9-armmed sea star (Luidia senegalensis) from Florida. Don't worry, "Stuart" is alive and well. We just needed some baseline samples from healthy specimens 🤩
August 13, 2025 at 10:47 PM
A 9-armmed sea star (Luidia senegalensis) from Florida. Don't worry, "Stuart" is alive and well. We just needed some baseline samples from healthy specimens 🤩
Corals, tunicates, and sea stars oh my! 🧪🔬🧫🌊
UNCW Ph.D. students Erin Papke, Grace Kennedy, and Kiah Gongaware were down at the Smithsonian Marine Station (some for a month!) working on various projects ranging from nitrogen cycling in corals, identifying new sea squirts, and sea star microbiomes!
UNCW Ph.D. students Erin Papke, Grace Kennedy, and Kiah Gongaware were down at the Smithsonian Marine Station (some for a month!) working on various projects ranging from nitrogen cycling in corals, identifying new sea squirts, and sea star microbiomes!
August 13, 2025 at 10:34 PM
Corals, tunicates, and sea stars oh my! 🧪🔬🧫🌊
UNCW Ph.D. students Erin Papke, Grace Kennedy, and Kiah Gongaware were down at the Smithsonian Marine Station (some for a month!) working on various projects ranging from nitrogen cycling in corals, identifying new sea squirts, and sea star microbiomes!
UNCW Ph.D. students Erin Papke, Grace Kennedy, and Kiah Gongaware were down at the Smithsonian Marine Station (some for a month!) working on various projects ranging from nitrogen cycling in corals, identifying new sea squirts, and sea star microbiomes!
Being able to get some good mandu-guk makes the long travel to the West Coast worth it...and a great conference. But, yeah know, food is important.
June 24, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Being able to get some good mandu-guk makes the long travel to the West Coast worth it...and a great conference. But, yeah know, food is important.
#ASMicrobe 2025 just ended, but session proposals are opening up on June 24th for 2026 in D.C.! Help shape next year's meeting by proposing the science you want to see!
June 24, 2025 at 4:15 AM
#ASMicrobe 2025 just ended, but session proposals are opening up on June 24th for 2026 in D.C.! Help shape next year's meeting by proposing the science you want to see!
The neurotic guy in the Hawaiian shirt & clipboard running around #ASMicrobe is stepping down. After ~5 years on the #AES track planning committee, w/ last few as Track lead, it's time for a break. Thanks to tireless work from the committee members and admin that put on this meeting every year!
June 23, 2025 at 6:35 PM
The neurotic guy in the Hawaiian shirt & clipboard running around #ASMicrobe is stepping down. After ~5 years on the #AES track planning committee, w/ last few as Track lead, it's time for a break. Thanks to tireless work from the committee members and admin that put on this meeting every year!
That's a wrap for #ASMicrobe 2025! Thank you to all the speakers as well as the movers and shakers that make this conference happen! #AES will see you next year with a new look and a new name!
June 23, 2025 at 6:30 PM
That's a wrap for #ASMicrobe 2025! Thank you to all the speakers as well as the movers and shakers that make this conference happen! #AES will see you next year with a new look and a new name!
For our last #AES Session, join us at 8:15 AM in 403B for AES-IDS-501 Microbiology of Mineral and Energy Resource Recovery. #ASMicrobe
June 23, 2025 at 12:01 AM
For our last #AES Session, join us at 8:15 AM in 403B for AES-IDS-501 Microbiology of Mineral and Energy Resource Recovery. #ASMicrobe
Nothing is forever! Especially when it comes to the power of microbes! Come and learn more about this #AES session at 1:45 PM in 403B for AES-IDS-406 Discovery of "forever chemical"-degrading microorganisms. Are microbes our only hope for cleaning up our messes? Find out here! #ASMicrobe
June 22, 2025 at 6:01 PM
Nothing is forever! Especially when it comes to the power of microbes! Come and learn more about this #AES session at 1:45 PM in 403B for AES-IDS-406 Discovery of "forever chemical"-degrading microorganisms. Are microbes our only hope for cleaning up our messes? Find out here! #ASMicrobe
Last but not least, our final #AES Track Talk is today at 12:45! Come down to our Tack Hub for Dr. Skylar Carlson and her talk AES-TT-405 Algae Surface Associated Microbes & the language of location! Come learn about environmental microbes and their chemical signals! #ASMicrobe
June 22, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Last but not least, our final #AES Track Talk is today at 12:45! Come down to our Tack Hub for Dr. Skylar Carlson and her talk AES-TT-405 Algae Surface Associated Microbes & the language of location! Come learn about environmental microbes and their chemical signals! #ASMicrobe
Join #AES at 11:45 AM in our Track Hub for our last rapid fire session AES-RF-404 Microbial Pioneers: Colonizing Earth's Unique Habitats! Learn about microbes living in diverse environments. From freshwater streams to permafrost, microbes are everywhere! #ASMicrobe
June 22, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Join #AES at 11:45 AM in our Track Hub for our last rapid fire session AES-RF-404 Microbial Pioneers: Colonizing Earth's Unique Habitats! Learn about microbes living in diverse environments. From freshwater streams to permafrost, microbes are everywhere! #ASMicrobe
AI can be a useful tool for tracking diseases and wastewater management! Join #AES at out track hub Sunday at 10:45 AM for AES-TT-402 AI and Wastewater: Technologies, Community Disease Monitoring, and Future outlook by Dr. Stephanie Bachas-Daunert. #ASMicrobe
June 22, 2025 at 3:01 PM
AI can be a useful tool for tracking diseases and wastewater management! Join #AES at out track hub Sunday at 10:45 AM for AES-TT-402 AI and Wastewater: Technologies, Community Disease Monitoring, and Future outlook by Dr. Stephanie Bachas-Daunert. #ASMicrobe
My colleague @lebetimonas.bsky.social is presenting her work on culturing anaerobes from #SCTLD lesions during the #AES session AES-IDS-401 Anaerobes: new isolates and pathways! Learn about coral disease research during her talk during the session today at 8:15 in 403B. #ASMicrobe
June 22, 2025 at 2:38 PM
My colleague @lebetimonas.bsky.social is presenting her work on culturing anaerobes from #SCTLD lesions during the #AES session AES-IDS-401 Anaerobes: new isolates and pathways! Learn about coral disease research during her talk during the session today at 8:15 in 403B. #ASMicrobe
Follow here for highlights about the #ASMicrobe Applied and Evironmental Scieces track. #AES covers a wide range of different topics from food safety to anaerobes to synthetic biology!
June 22, 2025 at 5:03 AM
Follow here for highlights about the #ASMicrobe Applied and Evironmental Scieces track. #AES covers a wide range of different topics from food safety to anaerobes to synthetic biology!
Anaerobes are more than just microbes that don't like oxygen! They can include pathogens as well as beneficial microbes. Come learn about new isolates and uses Sunday morning at 8:15 AM in 403B for AES-IDS-401 Anaerobes: new isolates and pathways.
June 21, 2025 at 11:45 PM
Anaerobes are more than just microbes that don't like oxygen! They can include pathogens as well as beneficial microbes. Come learn about new isolates and uses Sunday morning at 8:15 AM in 403B for AES-IDS-401 Anaerobes: new isolates and pathways.
What grows in the dry crust of the Earth? Find out at the #AES Track hub at 4:00 PM for AES-TT-304 Biocrust Microbiomes - the guardians of drylands.
June 21, 2025 at 7:54 PM
What grows in the dry crust of the Earth? Find out at the #AES Track hub at 4:00 PM for AES-TT-304 Biocrust Microbiomes - the guardians of drylands.
Explore new technologies using microbes to enhance food nutrition and reducing food waste at the next Track Talk at the #AES Track Hub AES-TT-306 Utilizing Microbes and bioactive compounds to SDG zero-hunger goal. Join us at 12:45 PM on Saturday.
June 21, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Explore new technologies using microbes to enhance food nutrition and reducing food waste at the next Track Talk at the #AES Track Hub AES-TT-306 Utilizing Microbes and bioactive compounds to SDG zero-hunger goal. Join us at 12:45 PM on Saturday.
Looking for some extreme science? Then look no further for some extremophiles! Come on over at 1:45 PM in room 403B for AES-IDS-307 Applications of Extremophiles! These microbes living in harsh environments can have a variety of uses for humans.
June 21, 2025 at 6:01 PM
Looking for some extreme science? Then look no further for some extremophiles! Come on over at 1:45 PM in room 403B for AES-IDS-307 Applications of Extremophiles! These microbes living in harsh environments can have a variety of uses for humans.
When you think of renewable energy you might think of wind or solar energy, but what about microbes? If that's of interest to you, then come by 404AB at 1:45 PM for AES-IDS-308 Biomass Conversion to Bioenergy and Bioproducts (BCBB)!
June 21, 2025 at 5:55 PM
When you think of renewable energy you might think of wind or solar energy, but what about microbes? If that's of interest to you, then come by 404AB at 1:45 PM for AES-IDS-308 Biomass Conversion to Bioenergy and Bioproducts (BCBB)!
Come on down to the #AES Track Hub at 11:45 for our Saturday Rapid Fire Session AES-RF-305 Where the Wild Things Are: Tracking Microbes in the Environment! This themed session will focus on how researchers are developing new methods to track microbes.
June 21, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Come on down to the #AES Track Hub at 11:45 for our Saturday Rapid Fire Session AES-RF-305 Where the Wild Things Are: Tracking Microbes in the Environment! This themed session will focus on how researchers are developing new methods to track microbes.
Need more microbes and Mars from #AES? Well, come back to 403B for PART 2 of AES-MS-303 Microbes and Mars (Part2): Applications of Microbiology for Deep Space Exploration! Featuring Dr. Scott Perl presenting for our sequel session on microbes and deep space exploration.
June 21, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Need more microbes and Mars from #AES? Well, come back to 403B for PART 2 of AES-MS-303 Microbes and Mars (Part2): Applications of Microbiology for Deep Space Exploration! Featuring Dr. Scott Perl presenting for our sequel session on microbes and deep space exploration.
You think bacteria and archaea are in charge? Think again! Come join us and Dr. Matthew Sullivan at the #AES Track Hub at 10:45 AM on Saturday for AES-TT-390 Planetary Virology: Are Viruses the Real Microbiome Puppet Masters?
June 21, 2025 at 2:32 PM
You think bacteria and archaea are in charge? Think again! Come join us and Dr. Matthew Sullivan at the #AES Track Hub at 10:45 AM on Saturday for AES-TT-390 Planetary Virology: Are Viruses the Real Microbiome Puppet Masters?
Concerned/interested in microbial contamination of produce and the resulting outbreaks? Then come to the #AES Saturday symposium at 8:15 AM (in 404AB), AES-IDS-302
Pre-Harvest Produce Contamination: How Microbial Research Facilitates an Understanding of Outbreaks.
Pre-Harvest Produce Contamination: How Microbial Research Facilitates an Understanding of Outbreaks.
June 21, 2025 at 12:05 AM
Concerned/interested in microbial contamination of produce and the resulting outbreaks? Then come to the #AES Saturday symposium at 8:15 AM (in 404AB), AES-IDS-302
Pre-Harvest Produce Contamination: How Microbial Research Facilitates an Understanding of Outbreaks.
Pre-Harvest Produce Contamination: How Microbial Research Facilitates an Understanding of Outbreaks.