Sarah W. Davies Ph.D.

Machine learning reveals distinct gene expression signatures across tissue states in stony coral tissue loss disease | Royal Society Open Science Stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) has rapidly degraded Caribbean reefs, compounding climate-related stressors and threatening ecosystem stability. Effective intervention requires understanding t...

🎉 Exciting news! The last manuscript from my dissertation was just published in Royal Society Open Science!
And in a fun twist of fate, the cover of this issue happens to feature a Caribbean coral colony 🪸 (not from our study, but still serendipitous nonetheless!)

Cell type-specific immune regulation under symbiosis in a facultatively symbiotic coral Abstract. Many cnidarians host single-celled algae within gastrodermal cells, yielding a mutually beneficial exchange of nutrients between host and symbion

Very excited to have our first #singlecell data paper out in the world. Dr. Valadez Ingersoll worked so hard on this piece and we learned so much about #coral #symbiosis!

Cell type-specific immune regulation under symbiosis in a facultatively symbiotic coral url: academic.oup.com/ismej/articl...

Email from NSF just now:

“NSF will not implement [15%IDC] policy at this time”

Trump Has Cut Science Funding to Its Lowest Level in Decades (Gift Article) The lag in funding extends far beyond D.E.I. initiatives, affecting almost every area of science: chemistry, computing, engineering, materials and more.

NSF Physics was cut by 85%, basically wiping out most of its capacity for supporting research.

NSF Astronomy was cut by 53%

Undergrad education was cut by 71% and research on learning by 79%

Graduate education was cut by 100% to ZERO.

#GiftLink ⚛️🔭

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Having supported an application this round I can say that this feels like a slap in the face for these juniors researchers who are emerging post PhD. All of that work .....

Katie’s amazing and an incredibly thoughtful scientist. The MSC is a collaborative and vibrant academic community. Living in the North Shore of Boston is awesome.

A postdoc in Katie’s lab helped change the path of my career for the better.

This is a dream postdoc.

Rapid Response Bridge Funding Program In the face of recent abrupt shifts in federal funding for education research, including large-scale terminations of National Science Foundation (NSF) research grant awards, we have developed a rap...

The Spencer Foundation is offering rapid response bridge funding for those who lost NSF research grants.

www.spencer.org/grant_types/...

Stirling!

Marine Research Scientist Join us to Transform Ocean Science   The Gloucester Marine Genomics Institute (GMGI) is a pioneering research organization that uses genomic approaches to addressing critical challenges facing our oce...

Great job in MA! I love GMGI and attend their conference every year! Amazing opportunity for a marine genomics researcher!
gmgi.bamboohr.com/careers/69

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...

Cassiopea xamachana microbiome across anatomy, development, and geography The upside-down jellyfish holobiont, Cassiopea xamachana, is a useful model system for tri-partite interactions between the cnidarian host, the photosymbiont, and the bacterial microbiome. While the i...

Happy to share our work on jellyfish microbiomes across space and life history stages @akerwin.bsky.social
#Microsky #Symbiosky 🧪🌊https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0319944&?utm_id=plos111&utm_source=internal&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=author

Hi coral peeps! Anyone have any Caribbean spawning predictions for summer 2025? Please share so I can reach more people! Thanks :)

Know any soon to graduate or recently graduated undergrads interested in a full year, paid postbac research position in microbiome sciences? Have them join our zoom Q&A session on Friday, April 11, 11:30am-12:30pm PST. More info here: sites.google.com/berkeley.edu...

If you’re a Canadian Citizen with an opinion about the United States you need to vote.

You don’t have to wait until April 28th to vote.

If you’re in Canada: go to elections Canada or to an advanced poll.

If you’re outside of Canada: get your postal vote now.

#elbowsup #vote2025

Congrats Jeric “JK” Da-Anoy (member of the
sites.bu.edu/davieslab )
JK is a #Ph.D. #student fascinated by #evolution of #metazoan complexity. He received his Master’s at the Uni of the Philippines, exploring stress response & #evolutionary #neurobiology under Dr. Cecilia Conaco’s supervision.

Cell cycle arrest in the cnidarian-dinoflagellate symbiosis.

Corals maintain stable populations of essential photosynthetic symbionts by controlling their cell cycle, not by eating them! Our new #PNAS paper monitored and modelled #aiptasia cell cycle, autophagy, and expulsion for over a year. #symbiosis #microbiology www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Microbial Depletion Is Associated with Slower Cnidarian Regeneration Synopsis. Microbiomes play an important role in physiology and development in cnidarians, but how these communities influence tissue regeneration is poorly

Excited to share JK Da'Anoy's first dissertation chapter published in @sicbjournals.bsky.social! What started off as a side project morphed into great work!
"Microbial depletion is associated with slower cnidarian regeneration"
LOTS of wondergrads made this happen!
Go team :)
doi.org/10.1093/icb/...

Postdoctoral Research Associate – Theoretical Ecological and Evolutionary Modeling Position Title: Postdoctoral Research Associate - Theoretical Ecological and Evolutionary Modeling. Department: Biology. Classification: Exempt. FTE: 1.0. Work Schedule: The standard 40-hour work sche...

Are you interested in marine larval dispersal? Come join us and investigate the plasticity of larval dispersal traits in response to variation in parental environments!
Position based at St. Olaf's in Minnesota (low COL!).
Please share widely!
shorturl.at/NYYXN

Xestospongia muta population structure. A Dendrogram of samples based on IBS matrix from ANGSD with matching site, depth zone, and depth (m) data and structure plots for K =2–5 for each X. muta sample. Colored points on dendrogram nodes represent Lineages Xm1 and Xm2 as well as putative hybrids (admixed samples). B Principal component analysis from pcangsd, where color represents sampling site and shape represents sampling depth zone. Larger, opaque shapes are sample population centroids and smaller, transparent shapes individual samples. CSame plot as B with samples colored by lineage assignment from K = 2 data set. D Same plot as C but for K = 4.

New preprint on *Xestospongia muta* population genetics across the Florida Reef Tract. www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-5...
🪸
🦑🧪

New preprint on BioRxiv! doi.org/10.1101/2025...

We investigate environmental drivers of genetic adaptation in two corals sampled across the Florida Reef Tract. @heatshok.bsky.social

🪸 We are hiring! 🪸
The Coral Reef and Ocean Health Research Group at the Harte Research Institute (HRI) is seeking a Postdoctoral Researcher to advance our understanding of coral reef resilience and health.

More of this!

Our unit at OIST is hiring two postdocs, one lab manager/technician, and one field technician! If you're passionate about exploring microbial and ecosystem ecology at the international institute on Japan's beautiful island, please apply by April 20! 🍄🦠🌳🌞
www.oist.jp/research/res...

Yay! Our BGSA is coordinating a group walking from BU!

I have an NSF annual report due but I cannot get into SciEnv because of the NIH website issues. It really feels like things are collapsing at our feet.

Map of Stand Up for Science events, with official SUFS events in Red and solidarity events in Blue

WHERE WILL YOU BE ON MARCH 7TH!?

Head to www.standupforscience2025.org/local-event-information/ or the link in our bio to find your closest event—or add one if you're hosting one!

#standupforscience2025

Francis Collins, the NIH Director for 12 years, led the Human Genome Project and other NIH efforts for 32 years, resigned today. Key words from his resignation letter
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/01/u...

Hi folks, we have a full time lecturer position in our department at BU!
academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/29783
We are a fun group of people, dedicated to creating an inclusive space!
Consider joining us!
Please share widely!

Florida elkhorn corals need active genetic help to handle climate change, they cannot do it on their own. The risk is far less than the risk of doing nothing. 🌏🧪https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14920439 @coralconsortium.bsky.social

Elkhorns corals (Acropora palmata) have been building Caribbean reefs for the past 100,000 years or more, but now are hanging on the brink of extinction.