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Andi Wilson, PhD

@drandiwilson.bsky.social
551 followers 412 following 106 posts

NNF-funded postdoc at UCPH 🍄🦗🌿🇩🇰 I post about Science🔬 & Chronic Migraine 💊 She/Her 🏳️‍🌈 Opinions are my own

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Andi Wilson, PhD @drandiwilson.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Officially here and registered for #SIP2026 🦗 Let me know if you're here and want to meet up, flying somewhat solo for a change! 😅
A photo of my name tag for the SIP2026 meeting
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Andi Wilson, PhD @drandiwilson.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Squeezed in a flash talk at #SMBE2026 ⚡️ A great opportunity to share some very new research from my postdoc, looking at what genes are important for plant-fungus interactions 🌾🍄 Also pretty cool that I got to present in the beautiful main hall ✨️
A photo of me presenting my presentation on root symbiotic entomopathogenic fungi
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Andi Wilson, PhD @drandiwilson.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
A career highlight at #SMBE2026 this week, co-hosting a popular symposium with @henriklicht.bsky.social & @agesiorska.bsky.social, starting off with an incredible talk by @danielcroll.bsky.social 🌾 Thanks to all our speakers, who made this a session to remember! 🧬
A selfie of me and Aleks, taken before starting session 1 of our symposium. A photo of Daniel Croll's first slide
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Andi Wilson, PhD @drandiwilson.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
#SMBE2026! Join us in Open Session 6, where I'll be giving a flash talk on the work @henriklicht.bsky.social and I have been doing on root-symbiotic entomopathogenic fungi, ie fungi that cause disease in insects and form symbioses with plants! 🦗🌾 It starts in the main hall in 10 mins!
A selfie in the main hall with the SMBE2026 logo on the screen in the background
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Reposted by Andi Wilson, PhD
Irene Gallego Romero @ee-reh-neh.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
I didn't get a chance to post about this properly, what with prepping for ESHG, but all of you over at #SMBE2026 might get a kick out of Lift&Add
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Andi Wilson, PhD @drandiwilson.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
Hey #SMBE2026! Come check out our symposium tomorrow at 10:20 and 13:20 in Lumbye 😊 We've got a great line up on large scale genomic changes & adaptive evolution, & @danielcroll.bsky.social as our invited guest! 🧬 See you there! Hosted by me, @henriklicht.bsky.social and @agesiorska.bsky.social
An image with text reading "S03 Genome plasticity and evolutionary innovation"
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Andi Wilson, PhD @drandiwilson.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
Summer conference season has started! 🧬 #SMBE2026 @official-smbe.bsky.social
A photo of the SMBE logo presented in the main presentation hall
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Reposted by Andi Wilson, PhD
Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution @official-smbe.bsky.social · 03/12/2025
SMBE2026 Symposium 3 | Genome plasticity and evolutionary innovation 📨 Abstract submission smbe2026.org/abstracts 📋 Programme details smbe2026.org/programme #SMBE2026
SMBE2026 Symposium 3 | Genome plasticity and evolutionary innovation
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Andi Wilson, PhD @drandiwilson.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
Thrilled to be hosting this session with @henriklicht.bsky.social and @agesiorska.bsky.social 🥳 Already looking forward to @danielcroll.bsky.social's talk and the other talks and posters that'll form part of this session! 🤩
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Andi Wilson, PhD @drandiwilson.bsky.social · 17/11/2025
Thanks, Jo! 🤩
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Reposted by Andi Wilson, PhD
Jo Rhodes @drjorhodes.com · 13/11/2025
A great genomics paper from my friend and colleague @drandiwilson.bsky.social on the expansion of heat stress related proteins in Rhizina undulata bmcgenomics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....
bmcgenomics.biomedcentral.com
Thermotolerance and post-fire growth in Rhizina undulata is associated with the expansion of heat stress-related protein families - BMC Genomics
Background Rhizina undulata is an important tree pathogen, infecting a wide variety of conifer species, including those in the genus Pinus. The fungus relies on heat shock-mediated activation of its a...
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Andi Wilson, PhD @drandiwilson.bsky.social · 14/11/2025
We hypothesize the expansions of: 1) HSP20 = good at surviving heat 🔥 2) GST = good at dealing with ROS generated during stress & in response to metabolism of PyOm ⚠️ 3) ACD = good at metabolising PyOm 🍽 Taken together, R. undulata survives fire and then thrives in post-fire environments!
A schematic describing what happens to R. undulata pre-, during, and post-fire and which genes it potentially uses to survive and germinate after fire
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Andi Wilson, PhD @drandiwilson.bsky.social · 14/11/2025
3 protein family expansions were discovered in R. undulata. The HSP20 expansion was present in the other fire-associates, but the 2 others were unique to R. undulata! This included GST and ACD enzymes. See below! 🔽
A figure showing the expansions of HSP20 and GST enzymes in R. undulata compared to other species
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Andi Wilson, PhD @drandiwilson.bsky.social · 14/11/2025
Excited to share our newest article, out in BMC Genomics! We looked at genomes of a bunch of Pezizomycetes without & without associations with fire to figure out how Rhizina undulata survives fire 🔥 R. undulata needs high temperatures for germination = fire is important for its life cycle 🔥
The different species considered in this study, including those with and without known associations with fire, particularly in post-fire environments.
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Andi Wilson, PhD @drandiwilson.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
Aww, that's bad timing! But good luck in the lab, I hope it goes well ✨️🧪
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Andi Wilson, PhD @drandiwilson.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
Attending the annual #PlantBiologicalsNetworkMeeting in Copenhagen today ✨️
A photo of my name tag in the auditorium.
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Andi Wilson, PhD @drandiwilson.bsky.social · 22/05/2025
The most elegant diagram to explain what the scientific process and the average research project looks like ✨️ So many side tracks that eventually don't make it into the final story, but are an integral part of the process. From Yanai & Lercher (2025) in Nature Biotech
A figure with three diagrams. The first is labeled "plan" and is a straight line of arrows from top to bottom. The second is labeled "process" and is a tree-like diagram, branching out from top to bottom, showing multiple different paths from one starting point to multiple end points. The third is labeled "publication" and is the same tree-like diagram from before, but with a single track highlighted to show what actually makes it into the publication
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Andi Wilson, PhD @drandiwilson.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
56 RNAseq samples done and ready to be shipped! 🥳🧬🧫🧪🔬
A photo of 56 eppendorf tubes in a red holder. Different coloured labels (blue, green, purple, pink, orange and yellow) are stuck on the lids of the tubes and indicate the sampleIDs
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Andi Wilson, PhD @drandiwilson.bsky.social · 02/05/2025
Seeing Jennifer Doudna speak this afternoon at the Black Diamond in Copenhagen 🧬🧫🔬 Appropriately dressed in my #CRISPREngineer shirt from @thermofishersci.bsky.social 🧬💁‍♀️
A selfie of me wearing a purple tshirt, with writing saying "CRISPR ENGINEER" and an image of a pair of scissors cutting a piece of DNA.
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Andi Wilson, PhD @drandiwilson.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
10 years ago, I published my first, first-author paper 🤩 In some ways, it feels like just yesterday and I'm still a baby masters student 🥹 In other ways, it feels like this was 100 years ago 👵 Either way, the joy of seeing your work published never goes away ❤️
A screenshot of a fb memory from 10 years ago, showing the publication of my first, first author paper in fungal genetics and biology. 
The title is "Unisexual reproduction in Huntiella moniliformis".
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Andi Wilson, PhD @drandiwilson.bsky.social · 25/04/2025
Blood. Sweat. Tears. Locust & root media. 🧪🔬🧫 🦗🌾
A photo of 24 small flasks, 12 of which have a dark liquid orange medium in them and 12 of which have a light yellow medium in them
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Andi Wilson, PhD @drandiwilson.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
🧪🧬 We acknowledge support from FABI, UCPH, The Novo Nordisk Foundation, and the NRF! And I thank my co-authors for their contributions to this manuscript 🍄🤩
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Andi Wilson, PhD @drandiwilson.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
🧪🧬 We also provide a schematic and lots of in text details on how you can optimize this protocol for use in your own species! 🧬🧪
Flow chart representing the protoplast extraction protocol. Factors that may require
species-specific optimization are illustrated at each step, and optional steps that may improve
protoplast yield and quality are included in light grey boxes.
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Andi Wilson, PhD @drandiwilson.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
🧪🧬 Protocol 5 is for Sclerotinia sclerotiorum- the fungus with a host range of more than 400 plant species! 🌾🍀🌿🌳 This protocol uses immature mycelium as a starting point
Protoplasting of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. (A) Unpigmented mycelia from S.sclerotiorum
(CMW 60861) to be used as digestion starting material. (B) Extracted protoplasts after 3 hr of
digestion. Scale bar, 10 μm. Inset shows a zoomed-in protoplast (B).
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Andi Wilson, PhD @drandiwilson.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
🧪🧬 Protocol 4 is for Ophiostoma novo-ulmi, the Dutch elm disease pathogen 🌲🍄 This protocol uses a DTT-EDTA pre-treatment and uses conidia as the starting material ⚗️
Protoplasting of Ophiostoma novo-ulmi. (A) Conidia from O.novo-ulmi (CMW 10573) to
be used as the starting material for the digestion. (B) Protoplasts extracted after ∼3 hr of digestion.
Scale bars, 10 μm. Insets show a zoomed-in conidium (A) and a zoomed-in protoplast (B).
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Andi Wilson, PhD @drandiwilson.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
🧪🧬 Protocol 3 is for Metarhizium species- fungi that infect and cause death in insects, including various agricultural pests 🦗 The protocol uses mature mycelium as a starting point.
Protoplasting of Metarhizium species. (A) Conidia from Metarhizium acridum (ARSEF
3391). (B) Mature mycelium from Metarhizium brunneum (KVL 12-30) to be used as the starting
material for the digestion. (C) Extracted protoplasts from Metarhizium acridum (ARSEF 3391) after
∼1 hr; some cellular debris is also visible. Scale bars, 10 μm. Insets show a zoomed-in conidium
(A) and two zoomed-in protoplasts (C).
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Andi Wilson, PhD @drandiwilson.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
🧪🧬 Protocol 2 is for Fusarium circinatum- the notorious pine pathogen that causes devastation in natural and managed forests 🌲 This protocol describes extraction from a mixture of mycelium and conidia
Protoplasting of Fusarium circinatum. (A) A combination of conidia and mycelia from
F. circinatum (CMW 350) after a 36-hr incubation in potato dextrose broth. This is the material
to be used as the starting material for the digestion. (B) Extracted protoplasts after digestion for
∼24 hr. Scale bars, 10 μm. Insets shows two zoomed-in conidia (A) and a zoomed-in protoplast
(B), and arrows point at mycelium (A).
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Andi Wilson, PhD @drandiwilson.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
🧪🧬 Protocol 1 is for Ceratocystis species and describes the extraction of protoplasts from mycelium, using a density gradient to purify the protoplasts 🍄🌲
Protoplasting of Ceratocystis species. (A) Maturemycelia grown fromC.fimbriata (CMW
14799) conidia, to be used as the starting material for the digestion. (B) Sorbitol overlay of the protoplasts,
showing distinct layers. The region wherein the protoplasts are expected to settle (between
3 and 4 ml) is indicated by the white bracket. (C) Extracted protoplasts after ∼3 hr of digestion and
isolation. Scale bar, 10 μm. Inset shows a zoomed-in protoplast (C).
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Andi Wilson, PhD @drandiwilson.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
We present 5 protocols, each optimized in a different fungal genus, for species important in agriculture 🌾 & forestry 🌲 We use an enzyme from the wine industry, #Extralyse, to overcome the reliance on cost-prohibitive lab-grade enzymes whose availability is unreliable 🥲🧪🧬
Basic Protocol 1: Protoplast extractions from Ceratocystis eucalypticola and
Ceratocystis fimbriata
Basic Protocol 2: Protoplast extractions from Fusarium circinatum
Basic Protocol 3: Protoplast extractions from Metarhizium acridum, Metarhizium
brunneum, and Metarhizium guizhouense
Basic Protocol 4: Protoplast extractions from Ophiostoma novo-ulmi
Basic Protocol 5: Protoplast extractions from Sclerotinia sclerotiorum
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Andi Wilson, PhD @drandiwilson.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
Super excited to share our newest paper, out in Current protocols! A collab btwn FABI & UCPH, we put together protoplast extraction protocols for 5 different fungal genera! 🍄 With applications for genome editing & long read seq, we hope this will be super useful! 🧪🧬
A screenshot of the article title and author list: 
"Extracting Protoplasts from Filamentous Fungi Using Extralyse, An Enzyme Used in the Wine Industry"

Andi Wilson, Alida van Dijk, Bianke Marx, Deanne du Plessis,
Grant Terblanche, Simoné Bornman, P. Markus Wilken,
Tuan A. Duong, Henrik H. De Fine Licht, and Brenda D. Wingfield
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Andi Wilson, PhD @drandiwilson.bsky.social · 22/03/2025
It's taken a while, but I'm finally trying a #MigraineHat.. 😅 I've been an icepack girlie for a very long time, but this 360° cooling effect is 👌 Not to mention the sound and light dulling effect too 😎 #Migraine #ChronicMigraine
A selfie of me wearing a light blue migraine hat
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Andi Wilson, PhD @drandiwilson.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
And with that, another 4000-odd seeds have been sowed again 🌱💪
A photo of little piles of germinating barley seeds that are being transferred into ziplock germination pouches
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Andi Wilson, PhD @drandiwilson.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
Wednesday was the first sampling day and... my root and locust media was contaminated by this bacteria left 🧫 But after some tears and a restless night, I know what went wrong and how to fix it 💪 Hopefully with the added experience, setting up Round 2 won't take as long! 🤞
Three photos: 1) barley seeds germinating from ziplock bag germination pouches, 2) barley plants with their leaves and roots exposed in a germination pouch, 3) a bottle of root-infused liquidThree photos: 1) a locust sitting on a lettuce leaf, 2) freeze dried locusts in a glass beaker, 3) a bottle of locust-infused liquid
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Andi Wilson, PhD @drandiwilson.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
This little plate and its tiny bacteria left me heartbroken on Wednesday evening 💔 After months of planning and preparing, a pre-pilot trial and a pilot trial, I started my large RNAseq experiment last week 🥳 If everything went to plan, I'd be done by 28 March. But biology had other plans... 🧬
A photo of a green gloved hand holding a small petridish with bacteria growing all over it in tiny white colonies
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Andi Wilson, PhD @drandiwilson.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
Safety first ⚠️ #Mycology #MolecularBiology #RNAseq #LiquidNitrogen
A photo of open elevator doors. There is a liquid nitrogen flask on the floor and the safety tape closing the elevators.
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Andi Wilson, PhD @drandiwilson.bsky.social · 06/03/2025
And I can finally say that my pilot experiment starts tomorrow 💪🌱🦗 If everything goes according to plan, the full experiment starts week after next! Let's go! 🤩 #MycoSky #FungiSky #RNASeq
A photo of 12 flat bottom flasks in the LAF bench. They have varying colours of amber-coloured medium in them
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Andi Wilson, PhD @drandiwilson.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
The hardest ~35g I've ever worked for 😅🌱 Harvesting roots for this experiment has been a challenge 💪 Turns out that 360g of wet weight barley root = 36g dry weight 😂 But we've got the goods and the pilot experiment is underway!
A photo of three schott bottles, each of which has barley roots soaking in water
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Reposted by Andi Wilson, PhD
Clement Tsui PhD 🇭🇰 🇨🇦 @clementsui.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
Genomic divergence across the tree of life | PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/full/10....
pnas.org
Genomic divergence across the tree of life | PNAS
Nucleotide sequence data are being harnessed to identify species, even in cases in which organisms themselves are neither in hand nor witnessed. Bu...
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Andi Wilson, PhD @drandiwilson.bsky.social · 03/03/2025
Hard relate. Decided not to go for good reasons, but the fomo is still real- especially when I know so many of my favourites fungi people are there! 🍄
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Andi Wilson, PhD @drandiwilson.bsky.social · 03/03/2025
Same!!
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Johannes Debler @jwdebler.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
Know anything about mycoviruses or fungal plasmids? Come see me at #ECFG17 and help me figure out what this circular element is I keep finding in Ascochyta pathogens of lentil and chickpea.
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Andi Wilson, PhD @drandiwilson.bsky.social · 03/03/2025
Never gonna get bored of : 1) "Dear Dr Wilson" 2) "... accept your manuscript" 🥳🥳 Happy Monday! 😅
Dear Dr.  Wilson:

It is a pleasure to accept your manuscript entitled "Extracting protoplasts from filamentous fungi using Extralyse, an enzyme used in the wine industry" in its current form for publication in Current Protocols.
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Kelly @broadwaybabyto.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
When you’re chronically ill, it can be incredibly hard to maintain a baseline. There’s so much pressure to pretend that you’re better. To smile and deliver a convincing “I’m fine”. To play through the pain. Sometimes the best thing you can do for your body is rest, yet it’s so hard to do:
disabledginger.com
It's Time to Throw Away the 'Coulda, Woulda, Shouldas' and Practice Radical Rest
When you're chronically ill you can't push your body the way non disabled people do. You have to learn to rest. There's few words more damaging to us than the 'coulda, woulda, shouldas'
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Albert Vilella, PhD. @albertvilella.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
The world of #RNA #academicsky #scisky #bluesci
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Jason Stajich @hyphaltip.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
Two open positions for a lab manger and a laboratory technician. Applications from displaced federal employees are welcome. Lab manager position: www.ugajobsearch.com/postings/410... Lab tech position: www.ugajobsearch.com/postings/391... Please email zlewis@uga.edu if you have questions
linkedin.com
Zachary Lewis on LinkedIn: Laboratory Research Technician
We have open positions for a lab manger and a laboratory technician. Applications from displaced federal employees are welcome. Lab manager position:…
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Riccardo Baroncelli @riccardobaroncelli.bsky.social · 18/02/2025
🌿✨ We are excited to announce that the official website for the 1st International Summer School on Plant PathoGenomics is now online! ✨🌿 Explore the details & apply now: www.2p4s2f.com #PlantPathology #Genomics #Bioinformatics #ResearchTraining #2P4S2F
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Natasha Joseph @tashjoeza.bsky.social · 20/02/2025
Do you know what never fails to improve my mood? Talking to someone really smart about a thing they know really well, and learning about that thing from them.
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Andi Wilson, PhD @drandiwilson.bsky.social · 20/02/2025
Scary to think how little we understand about a condition that literally affects 1 billion people Scary to think it wasn't long ago when doctors thought it was psychological. No wonder effective treatment plans have taken so long and are still a long way off for a lot of us 💔
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Andi Wilson, PhD @drandiwilson.bsky.social · 20/02/2025
Interesting Nature News Feature on Migraine and treatments 🧠 Happy that researchers have recognized that the CGRP meds aren't the be all end all, and that they'll be looking into other pathways too ✨️ Just hope I don't need to wait until I'm 70! www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Migraine is more than a headache — a radical rethink offers hope to one billion people
Drugs that can prevent or relieve migraine attacks are only effective for some people. Research is starting to untangle the reasons why.
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Andi Wilson, PhD @drandiwilson.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
Living our best lives near Tromsø 🌌
My husband and I, standing on a snowy landscape with the northern lights in the background.
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