Matt Cato

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐨𝐬𝐲𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧? 🪸

Join us for a 3-year #Postdoc and help us find out! Our ERC-funded project at @hifmb.de offers excellent facilities and an international collaborative work environment.

Apply by April 1st: jobs.awi.de/Vacancies/21...

#ScienceJobs

Three weeks left to apply for our two PhD positions - come and join @lec-reefs.bsky.social to deliver applied research in restoration ecology and corporate sustainability! 🪸🐟🌳📊
Please do share amongst your networks, and I'm happy to meet with potential candidates to discuss the position further 👍

Bioengineering the coral holobiont: Evidence, hurdles, and pathways for rebuilding reefs At the frontline of climate impacts, coral reef ecosystems now increasingly depend on active intervention for their functional survival. Bioengineering the coral holobiont, comprising the host, algal ...

Feeling grateful to end this year by contributing to a commentary on bioengineering the coral holobiont. This is my first manuscript as a professor and a dream come true to team up with leaders in coral probiotics, Raquel Peixoto and @reefgenomics.bsky.social. 🪸🧪🧬🦠

www.cell.com/one-earth/ab...

🚨 Two funded PhDs (one int'l, one UK) - study coral restoration & corporate sustainability with us in Lancaster! Enquiries welcome, January 30, please share widely! 🚨

🪸🐠 Coral restoration (int'l): www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

🌴📊 Corporate sustainability (UK): www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

Huge thanks to everyone who made RCUK 2025 a success! We welcomed 120 delegates to Bangor University, with inspiring plenaries, workshops, 20 talks and 31 posters. Congratulations to our student prize winners, and thanks to PeerJ & ICRS for support. See you in London for RCUK 2026!! 🪸🐠

🚨 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐩𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫! 🚨 Open access here - onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.... - and summary below ⬇️

@lec-reefs.bsky.social

PhD position - Changing Ecological Role of Coral Reef Marine Protected Areas.

One of the new @exageo-dla.bsky.social advertised projects: www.exageo.org/phd-student-... - deadline for applications 9th January. International applications welcome.

Come and join us @lec-reefs.bsky.social

Interested in #Ecotoxicology ? Come and do a #PhD with me and colleagues at @HeriotWattUni in collaboration with Scottish Association of Marine Science and British Geological Survey, fully funded through the ECOWILD CDT ecowild.site.hw.ac.uk/2026-27-proj...

We're hiring! 🥳 Come and join our team in Lancaster - we're looking for two senior postdocs to work on corporate sustainability and restoration ecology. 🌳 🪸 ♻️ (1 of 2)
@lec-reefs.bsky.social @pentlandcentre.bsky.social @sci-tech-lancaster.bsky.social @lancasteruni.bsky.social

As a marine biologist I never thought I’d care so much about bird poop, but here we are! This was such a fun paper to write with a truly amazing group of co authors! Check it out in Holly’s post below🪶

Schematic diagram of the influence of seabirds on temperate and tropical near-shore marine systems. Temperatre systems: - Nutrient enrichment and predation on herbivorous invertebrates can lead to increased algal production - Phytoplankton communities change, featuring more large-celled species - Intertidal organisms incorporate seabird-enriched material by grazing on detritus and biofilm in tidepools - Macroalgae biodiversity and primary production are boosted Tropical systems: - Mangrove leaf nutritional quality increases - Corals recover faster after bleaching events - Fish biomass increases across different trophic groups - Pelagic and benthic consumers' foraging behaviour shifts - Parrotfish grazing and bioerosion rates increase - Fish grow larger

New in @natrevbiodiv.nature.com: our review of the influence of #seabirds, via their nutrient transfer, on islands & adjacent marine ecosystems 🐦🏝️🪸

We highlight knowledge gaps & future directions ✨

"The circular seabird economy is critical for oceans, islands and people": doi.org/10.1038/s443...

🪸 🪸 🪸 Postdoc position in my group at Bristol to study the role of venom in surviving environmental stress in corals! 🪸 Interested in venom biochemistry and coral ecology?Please apply by November 24!
@bristolbiosci.bsky.social
www.bristol.ac.uk/jobs/find/de...

Corals are disappearing, pushing Earth to its first major ‘tipping point’ A new report says Earth has reached a dire milestone with the widespread death of warm-water coral reefs. It's not too late to save what remains.

Corals are disappearing, pushing Earth to its first major ‘tipping point’

grist.org/oceans/coral...

#Ocean #Coral #Climate #Heat #Reefs #Environment

Indian women used to be afraid of the ocean. Now, they’re turning into its strongest defenders Along India’s coastline, a rising wave of women is healing our oceans, moving beyond the margins of shore-bound roles traditionally ascribed to them

@ruchakarkarey.bsky.social is in Vogue India! Great article about India's women marine defenders www.vogue.in/content/once...

Bleaching of Reef Organisms: Current Knowledge, Challenges, and Future Directions into the Anthropocene Coral reefs worldwide are threatened by climate change and other anthropogenic stressors. A global factor contributing to coral reef decline is the increasing frequency, duration, and intensity of bleaching events leading to extensive mortality of keystone species,...

🌟 New book chapter alert!

🪸 Coral reefs are threatened by climate change, especially by mass ‘bleaching’ events. Bleaching is caused by the loss of photosymbionts under stress, resulting in a white – ‘bleached’ - phenotype.

link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...

#SymbioSky #MicroSky

📣 Abstract Submission Deadline Extended!
Great news for reefsearchers and students interested in reef conservation, the deadline to submit your abstract for the 2025 Reef Conservation UK Conference has been extended to Thursday, 19th September at 2 PM!

Submit your abstract here: lnkd.in/eNVygyra

Thousands of tonnes of toxic landfill liquid added to sewage and spread on English farms Exclusive: Leachate is tankered to treatment works where it mixes with sewage and industrial effluent

EXCLUSIVE: England’s farms are being fertilised with a cocktail of toxic landfill juice + sewage sludge.

750,000 tonnes of landfill leachate tankered to sewage works every year → mixed into sewage → spread on farmers' fields. 1/

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

NEW CORAL RESEARCH: Thermally resistant coral Stylophora pistillata survives but does not thrive under chronic elevated baseline temperature (Open Access)

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

#coralreefs #coralresearch #climatechange #coralbleaching #supercorals #coralreefecology #marineresearch

Fungi and Fungi-Like Entities Coral microbiology research has long focused on the composition and functional roles of prokaryotic organisms, but microeukaryotic communities, including the enigmatic fungi remain a poorly understood "black box" within coral and other holobionts. Here,...

How microbial therapies are reshaping coral reef restoration? 'Fungi and Fungi-Like Entities' chapter of 'Coral Reef Microbiome' explores the science behind microbial-based interventions to combat coral bleaching and ecosystem degradation. bit.ly/472kO39 @cpogoreutz.bsky.social

Species-specific retention vs. recovery of coral thermal tolerance following nursery propagation - Communications Biology Standardized acute thermal assays (CBASS) of Acropora species reveal that nursery-reared corals either retain or recover thermal tolerance over time, suggesting adaptive traits are...

New paper: Do corals keep their thermal tolerance in nurseries? #CBASS assays show A. cytherea lose then recover, while A. florida retain tolerance=>To inform restoration, screening should be conducted prior to nursery propagation www.nature.com/articles/s42... @uni-konstanz.de @coralku.bsky.social

Please share and repost. Make sure to also follow the new RCUK social media page!

Had an incredible time at #SETACVienna this past week. So much impactful toxicological work going on! Being a volunteer meant I could aid all the hard work of SETAC staff. Getting to know and spend time with volunteers, SETAC staff, and ECORISC students during the week made my time even more special

Great week with the @fieldstudiesc.bsky.social team at Dale Fort supporting their Marine Science Camp. Students spent time learning about seabirds, rockpools, plankton and even let me ramble on about coral reefs. Thank you @thembauk.bsky.social for giving me this opportunity. Anemones are so cool!

We examined the microbiome of Madracis aurentenra, an urban coral off the coast of the Colombian Caribbean. Interesting dynamics between Endozoicomonas and Vibrionaceae 🧪🪸 #MicroSky peerj.com/articles/192...

ECORISC CDT - 2025 Conference Venue: Conference Aston Location: Aston University, Aston St, Birmingham B4 7ET Start Date/Time: 10:30 Wednesday 11th June 2025 Finish Date/Time: 15:00 Thursday 12th June 2025

In June my CDT will be running a conference in Birmingham tailored for ecotoxicologists. We’ll be showcasing our research projects as well as generating discussions surrounding the environmental risk of chemicals in the environment. Please register soon if interested!

Been waiting on this one 🙌🏻 will be using this like a bible for the next few years to come. Fantastic effort from all involved!

💡 Did you know, #corals exposed to #LightPollution at night are spawning one to three days outside of their optimum reproductive periods.... which could reduce the likelihood of coral eggs being fertilised and surviving to produce new adult corals 🪸

Sunscreen’s potential impact on marine life needs urgent investigation, new study reveals The chemicals found in sunscreens are becoming an increasing presence in our ocean. But there are still significant gaps in our understanding of how they might affect marine ecosystems, according to a

A #NewStudy, led by Anneliese Hodge (PhD researcher at PML and @plymuni.bsky.social / @plymbiomarsci.bsky.social), highlights that an estimated 6,000-14,000 tonnes of #sunscreen is released into coral reef zones annually: pml.ac.uk/news/sunscre...

Calling coral reef scientists, oceanographers, isotope ecologists: new post-doc at Lancaster Environment Centre with me @lec-reefs.bsky.social @renatoamorais.bsky.social @remotereefs.bsky.social @drmanateena.bsky.social

Deadline 28 Feb | Apply👇 | 🦑 🧪 🌊 🌍
hr-jobs.lancs.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx...

Chemicals in sewage sludge fertilizer used on farms pose cancer risk, EPA says Environmental Protection Agency officials warn of toxic PFAS found in sewage often spread on pasture

www.theguardian.com/environment/...