iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Patrick R. Secor @prsecor.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

How about this one showing Borrelia bacteria

Patrick R. Secor @prsecor.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

I’ll soon be #Hiring a postdoc to join the Secor Lab at Montana State University. This NIH-funded position will investigate phage biology in Lyme disease spirochetes. The official ad will be available soon. Please share with anyone who might be interested! #MicroSky #PhageSky 🔬🦠🧪🧫

An engorged tick with fluorescent bacteria in its midgut

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Patrick R. Secor @prsecor.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

We said farewell to @dominickfaith.bsky.social last Friday with a float on the Yellowstone River with the Secor, Wiedenheft, and Jennings labs from Montana State University. Dom is off to do a postdoc with @pbollyky.bsky.social at Stanford and we wish him the best! #MicroSky #PhageSky 🔬🧪🦠🧫

The Secor, Wiedenheft, and Jennings labs from Montana State University on the banks of the Yellowstone River

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Patrick R. Secor @prsecor.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

Watching this wild fire burn during a rainstorm from my living room

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Patrick R. Secor @prsecor.bsky.social · 28/01/2026

Friends, please help spread the word about our microbiology REU program at Montana State University. www.montana.edu/mbi/reu/ Each student receives a stipend ($7000 for 10 wks). Travel compensation, room, and board are also provided. Details in the attached pic--Feb 14 deadline 🧫🧪🦠#microsky

This Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program is funded by the National Science Foundation to create "points of entry" for students interested in research. Students apply from across the country to spend 10 weeks in Bozeman, Montana this summer (May 26, 2026 - August 1, 2026). Admitted students are paired with a faculty mentor, who serves as an advisor for a student's summer project. Each student receives a stipend ($7000 for 10 wks). Travel compensation, room, and board are also provided.

Our program leverages MSU’s unique microbiology expertise, focusing specifically on microbes living with little or no oxygen (like those in the hot springs of nearby Yellowstone). Low oxygen microbes are essential to human and ecosystem health. They influence (or control) such processes as the breakdown of food in the GI tract, removal of toxins from our bodies and the environment, and production of greenhouse gases. They are also models for understanding the origins of life on this planet, and the potential for life on other planets.

A key goal of our program is to recruit students from schools with limited research infrastructure. Being in Montana, a state with a vibrant Native American community, we are particularly interested in applications from students at tribal colleges. However, ANYONE with an interest in microbiology - or biology/science in general - can and should apply.

If willing and able, please share/tweet/spread the word far and wide. Applications are due February 14, 2026. Full details can be found through our website http://www.montana.edu/mbi/reu/

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Patrick R. Secor @prsecor.bsky.social · 16/12/2025

Looking for a paid summer research experience? Apply to MSU’s Extreme Biofilms REU and work on cutting-edge biofilm science in extreme environments. No prior research experience needed. #MicroSky #PhageSky

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Patrick R. Secor @prsecor.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

Had our lab holiday party and this was one of the white elephant gifts 🤣🫡 @dominickfaith.bsky.social #microsky #phagesky

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Patrick R. Secor @prsecor.bsky.social · 25/11/2025

Want to see something that will fry your brain? Disappearing reappearing plaques on P aeruginosa @dominickfaith.bsky.social 🧫🦠🧪

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Patrick R. Secor @prsecor.bsky.social · 24/11/2025

Snowing at the lab today here at Montana State ❄️🦠🧫

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Patrick R. Secor @prsecor.bsky.social · 31/08/2025

Fall is creeping into the foothills. Montana State University viewed from the south looking north

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Patrick R. Secor @prsecor.bsky.social · 22/08/2025

My Far Side comic on the lab door is tripping people up. Pull hard!

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Patrick R. Secor @prsecor.bsky.social · 02/08/2025

Today along the banks of the Yellowstone River

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Patrick R. Secor @prsecor.bsky.social · 28/07/2025

Happy to report that both my house and I survived the weekend 🪚

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Patrick R. Secor @prsecor.bsky.social · 25/07/2025

We took the day off from the lab and spent all day in Paradise Valley, Montana on the Yellowstone River

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Patrick R. Secor @prsecor.bsky.social · 17/07/2025

On tonight’s ride: The Montana State Ag fields with mustard seed, barley, and beef!

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Patrick R. Secor @prsecor.bsky.social · 10/07/2025

The Montana Biofilm Meeting is off to a strong start! #MicroSky #PhageSky

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Patrick R. Secor @prsecor.bsky.social · 03/07/2025

Thrilled to welcome @ortizdeora.bsky.social to the Secor Lab! 🧬 Her recent paper in Nat Micro (www.nature.com/articles/s41...) introduces Phollow, a powerful tool to track phage-host interactions. We'll use it to study phages in the tick microbiome + Lyme disease spirochetes.

Image of the cover of Nature Microbiology showing colorful individual bacterial cells with individual phage virions within and without

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Patrick R. Secor @prsecor.bsky.social · 13/06/2025

Our summer REU student Brady Ward gave a great talk about filamentous phage today at Montana State University

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Patrick R. Secor @prsecor.bsky.social · 30/05/2025

We are now growing Leptospira biofilms... #MicroSky

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Patrick R. Secor @prsecor.bsky.social · 07/05/2025

🚨New paper! A prophage-encoded sRNA limits lytic phage infection in adherent-invasive E. coli. Huge thanks to members of the Round Lab, @duerkoplab.bsky.social, Wiedenheft Lab, and phage legend Sherwood Casjens. #microsky 🦠🧫🧪🧬 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

An E. coli cell being lysed by bacteriophages

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Patrick R. Secor @prsecor.bsky.social · 06/05/2025

Happy Cinco de Mayo from Montana

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Patrick R. Secor @prsecor.bsky.social · 22/04/2025

Hey y'all, please join me in welcoming Montana State University's Center for Biofilm Engineering to BlueSky! @cbe-biofilm.bsky.social biofilm.montana.edu #MicroSky 🦠🧫🧪🧬

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Patrick R. Secor @prsecor.bsky.social · 20/03/2025

🚨 The Department of Microbiology & Cell Biology at Montana State University invites applications for an Assistant Professor tenure-track faculty position in the field of environmental microbiology. Happy to answer any questions! 🧫🧪🧬 #microsky jobs.montana.edu/postings/45680

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Patrick R. Secor @prsecor.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

🚨Postdocs & new faculty! Apply for the Young Investigator Award and present your research at our upcoming Montana Biofilm Science & Technology Meeting July 9–11, 2025 at Montana State University in Bozeman, MT. 🦠🧫🧪🧬 Apply by April 1, 2025 www.biofilm.montana.edu/news/article...

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Patrick R. Secor @prsecor.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

Update on NIH study section: 🦠🧫🧪🧬

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Patrick R. Secor @prsecor.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

Another one bites the dust :( 🧪🧫🧬🦠

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Patrick R. Secor @prsecor.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

You inspired me to measure the snow in our backyard here in Montana. 27” !

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Patrick R. Secor @prsecor.bsky.social · 17/02/2025

I was asked to be a mail in reviewer for ODCS Feb 27-8. Last contact with SRO was Feb 3 assuring us it was on. Don't see it listed in the registry...still submitted my reviews Also don't see the upcoming PCMB Feb 20 meeting in the registry, which is supposed to review my grant submitted last Oct :(

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Patrick R. Secor @prsecor.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

Today, to distract myself from [waves hands around], we dissected engorged ticks. They make a satisfying pop 🧪🧬🦠🧫

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Patrick R. Secor @prsecor.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

Published on my birthday 🎉 Another paper in collaboration with @themaxwelllab.bsky.social Phage reprogramming of Pseudomonas aeruginosa amino acid metabolism drives efficient phage replication doi.org/10.1128/mbio... 🦠🧫🧪🧬

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Patrick R. Secor @prsecor.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

Filamentous phages (viruses) spontaneously align into liquid crystals that protect the bacteria within from antibiotics, desiccation, and the immune system 🦠🧫🧪🧬 www.cell.com/cell-host-mi...

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Patrick R. Secor @prsecor.bsky.social · 26/01/2025

Structure fire to the west makes for an ominous and cold sunset

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Patrick R. Secor @prsecor.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

It is snowing hard here in Montana today. @dominickfaith.bsky.social is on his way to the lab after having a nice breakfast with the lab 🦠🧫🧬🧪

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