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Xav Harrison

@xavh.bsky.social
305 followers 183 following 34 posts

Molecular Ecologist at the University of Exeter. Interested in Wildlife microbiomes, disease, and statistics. xavharrison.github.io

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Reposted by Xav Harrison
Erik Postma @erikpostma.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
📣 Spread the news to any recent graduates who dare to dream big: Only 10 days left to apply to join #Mast-EER, a cohort of MbyRes students based at the @uniexecec.bsky.social in #Cornwall funded by @aria-research.bsky.social. Places are limited, so apply now!
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Emily Gilford @emilygilford.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
Crickets don’t just “get used to it” 🦗 In this new paper, we find context-dependent learning in wild field crickets: repeated disturbance led to trait-specific responses, with modest sensitisation in some behaviours, stable escape speed, and individual variation 🏃‍➡️ doi.org/10.1016/j.an...
Close-up of a cricket nymph, used in this study, at the entrance of a burrow in grassy soil, with a small yellow identification tag on its back and a ruler placed beside it to allow for escape speed measurements. Zoomed-out view of the experimental setup, showing a tripod-mounted GoPro, a tube for a ball to roll through, a marked burrow entrance, and a ruler for scale and escape speed measurements. The cricket nymph can be seen alongside the ruler.
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Mark A. Hanson @hansonmark.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Hi all, putting feelers out: folks looking for a job ASAP in the 🇬🇧 in Cornwall, or willing to move? Collaborating group hiring a couple roles with skills in any of: - insect injections (incl. gene edits) - machine learning for image analysis - experience with 🦋 a plus! Can email me at link below.
experts.exeter.ac.uk
Discovery
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Xav Harrison @xavh.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
Just under 2 weeks left to apply for this NERC-funded postdoc to study AMR transmission dynamics in migratory birds.
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Melissah Rowe @melissahrowe.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
Really excited to have this work out as a preprint. Great experiment with great colleagues, special shout out to the fantastic job done by Brian Trevelline and Andrew Moeller www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
Gut microbiota promote early-life digestive function in songbirds
The vertebrate digestive tract harbors complex microbial communities whose influences on phenotypes and fitness in non-model organisms remain poorly understood. Here, we show that colonization with gu...
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Reposted by Xav Harrison
Craig Primmer @fishcongen.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
Thanks to a couple of recent Ws on the funding front, we have 3 open postdoc positions in Helsinki, Finland in the field of salmonid fish ecological and evolutionary genomics. DL 7.8. More details in advert: jobs.helsinki.fi/job/Helsinki...
Basic details of the amazing post doc positions on offer with amazing image of a large Teno River salmon in background
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Xav Harrison @xavh.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
We are now recruiting for a 3 year NERC-funded postdoc to study the transmission dynamics of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in migratory birds. Based in the Wild Microbiome Lab @uniexecec.bsky.social in beautiful Cornwall.
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Xav Harrison @xavh.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
Looks like an awesome project Postdoc job klaxon 🚨
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Susan Johnston @susanjohnston.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
📣🧬 Postdoc Alert🧬📣 We are hiring a 2+ year NERC-funded postdoc at Edinburgh Uni investigating causes and consequences of sex differences in recombination in house sparrows in Norway. Informal enquiries welcome at Susan.Johnston@ed.ac.uk 🙂 Details here: elxw.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...
A female and male sparrow stand on a wooden post. Photo by Peter S. Ranke.
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Jon Slate @jon-slate.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
Fancy working with a massive amount of cool genomics, life history and TB-infection status data from a couple of thousand badgers? Here's the project for you then. careers.exeter.ac.uk/vacancies/84... New project and very multi-disciplinary team.
careers.exeter.ac.uk
Postdoctoral Research Associate / Fellow in Cornwall | University of Exeter
View details and apply for this Postdoctoral Research Associate / Fellow vacancy in Cornwall. Postdoctoral Research Associate / Fellow in Evolutionary Genomics This NERC Large Grant- funded ...
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Xav Harrison @xavh.bsky.social · 28/03/2026
Such a cool paper! ‘…blurring the bacteria-organelle boundary.’
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Xav Harrison @xavh.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
@blongdon.bsky.social @hansonmark.bsky.social 👀
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Xav Harrison @xavh.bsky.social · 08/12/2025
PhD on #microbiomes, #AMR and #migration open for applications until Jan 9th. Part of #NERC GW4+ DLTP Fieldwork in Iceland on a fantastic model system for behavioural and microbial ecology - the mighty Brent goose! Send me an email for informal enquiries.
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Xav Harrison @xavh.bsky.social · 17/11/2025
Fully funded NERC GW4+ PhD Opportunity - *Understanding The Spread of Antimicrobial Resistance by Migratory Birds* Supervised by me, @stubearhop.bsky.social (Exeter) & Patricia Brekke (ZSL). Application deadline 8th January. Please get in touch for more info www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
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Xav Harrison @xavh.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
New preprint to round off 2025, wrapping up work I did @zslscience.bsky.social and continued @uniexecec.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... We studied skin bacterial community diversity in Palmate Newts from the Isle of Rum. Pic: dramatic AI newt emerging from (hovering on?) a pond
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Xav Harrison @xavh.bsky.social · 01/12/2025
Next up in our WAME Seminar series this Thursday 4th December we have 2 exciting talks on Wild Animal Mycobiomes 11am GMT / 12pm CET. Zoom link below
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Andrew King @shoalgroup.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
PhD opportunity: MOVE Details: blogs.reading.ac.uk/crocus-dla/c... Deadline: 12/01/26 Supervisors: @shoalgroup.bsky.social, @inesfuertbauer.bsky.social, @wlallen.bsky.social, @nhcooper123.bsky.social, @marinapapa.bsky.social Apply: blogs.reading.ac.uk/crocus-dla/p...
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Alison Wright @alielw.bsky.social · 17/11/2025
Join us! 🧬🪰🎉🔬 We are currently advertising two #PhD projects to study the #evolution, #development and #genomics of sexual traits in stalk-eyed flies. Deadline for applying is Wednesday, January 7, 2026. Get in touch for more info!
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Xav Harrison @xavh.bsky.social · 17/11/2025
Fully funded NERC GW4+ PhD Opportunity - *Understanding The Spread of Antimicrobial Resistance by Migratory Birds* Supervised by me, @stubearhop.bsky.social (Exeter) & Patricia Brekke (ZSL). Application deadline 8th January. Please get in touch for more info www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
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Xav Harrison @xavh.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
Super cool work Jolyon at al!
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South West Biosciences Doctoral Training Partnership (SWBio DTP) @swbiodtp.bsky.social · 04/11/2025
We have just launched our projects for #phd studentships starting in Sept 26 🙌 ⏰Application deadline: Midday, Wed 3 Dec 25 Come and see the (wide!) range of #bioscience projects 👉 tinyurl.com/3m9um286
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Ines Fürtbauer @inesfuertbauer.bsky.social · 04/11/2025
PhD studentship on antimicrobial resistance in wild baboons! Fully-funded by @swbiodtp.bsky.social Application deadline: Wed 3 Dec 2025. More details: bpb-eu-w2.wpmucdn.com/blogs.bristo.... Apply here: www.swbio.ac.uk/programme/ho... @inesfuertbauer.bsky.social @xavh.bsky.social
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Xav Harrison @xavh.bsky.social · 04/11/2025
Several opportunities to join the Wild Microbiome Lab in 2026 to do a PhD! Details below #phd #ecology @uniexecec.bsky.social
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Ben Longdon @blongdon.bsky.social · 28/10/2025
Work with myself + ⭐ team @xavh.bsky.social & @darrenobbard.bsky.social on the 'Ecological and Evolutionary determinants of the bacterial microbiomes of UK moths'. Please get in touch if you are a Chinese student who likes host-pathogen interactions and would like to live in beautiful Cornwall.
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Xav Harrison @xavh.bsky.social · 22/09/2025
@nakedprimate.bsky.social Driving to London listening to you on the BBC Inside Science podcast. Awesome stuff !
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Xav Harrison @xavh.bsky.social · 18/06/2025
New preprint out from the lab, led by PhD student Tasha Meadows, and the culmination of many years collaboration with APHA and Woodchester Park Here we look at spatial and within-individual dynamics of faecal bacterial communities in European Badgers ecoevorxiv.org/repository/v...
ecoevorxiv.org
Faecal microbiome varies with social group, age and bovine tuberculosis infection in the European Badger (Meles meles)
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Andrew King @shoalgroup.bsky.social · 03/06/2025
1/3 www.swansea.ac.uk/postgraduate... PhD studentship! Comparative Analysis and Modelling of Collective Behaviour in Natural and Artificial Systems. **this scholarship for UK residents only, as defined by UKCISA regulations** Details below! Please RT (AI-generated image)
AI generated image showing flock of sheep, shoal of fish, flock of birds and swarm robots
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Xav Harrison @xavh.bsky.social · 21/04/2025
Delighted to be involved in this work just out in @currentbiology.bsky.social led by the awesome @acbowland.bsky.social and @kjhockings.bsky.social
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University of Exeter CEC @uniexecec.bsky.social · 16/04/2025
Want to be a field assistant in Sweden this summer?! 📑 Applications should include a motivation letter (1 page), a CV (detailing relevant experience), and contact information of two references. Send the above as a single PDF to b.tschirren@exeter.ac.uk by May 1st 2025. 🌍 #ExeterCEC #Internship
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Ben Longdon @blongdon.bsky.social · 02/04/2025
Just out "Making sense of the virome in light of evolution and ecology" doi.org/10.1098/rspb... from super ⭐ team @meganawallace.bsky.social @duckswabber.bsky.social @jemmageoghegan.bsky.social @ryanmimrie.bsky.social @eddieholmes.bsky.social @xavh.bsky.social in Proc B @royalsocietypublishing.org
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Coralie Palmer @coraliejp.bsky.social · 20/02/2025
phys.org/news/2025-02...
phys.org
Scientists call for efforts to protect habitats of critically endangered shark species
A critically endangered species of shark could be forced to adapt to new habitats—or face extinction—as a result of changes in the ocean predicted to occur as a result of climate change, a new study h...
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Kieran Bates @kieran-bates.bsky.social · 29/01/2025
Deadline extended for a 3 year #postdoc in my lab exploring the amphibian skin #microbiome and colonisation resistance to chytrid fungi www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DLN634/p...
jobs.ac.uk
Post-Doctoral Research Associate at Queen Mary University of London
Apply for the Post-Doctoral Research Associate role on jobs.ac.uk, the top job board for academic positions in higher education. View details and apply now.
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Brendan Godley @brendangodley.bsky.social · 28/01/2025
SCHOLARSHIPS for international students seeking to join us in Sept 2025 for MSc in @exetergses.bsky.social . The deadline to apply is 27 February 2025. 🧪🌎🦑🐟🦤 Scholarships: www.exeter.ac.uk/study/fundin... Degrees: www.exeter.ac.uk/study/gses/ @uniexecec.bsky.social @uniofexeteresi.bsky.social
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Andrew King @shoalgroup.bsky.social · 27/01/2025
Recruiting a #PhD student to work on collective behaviour in real and artificial systems. Oct 2025 start. Working with @shoalgroup.bsky.social, Rob Heathcote, @willallennz.bsky.social, @joefresna.bsky.social, @marinapapap.bsky.social Advert: www.swansea.ac.uk/postgraduate... Deadline: 24.02
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Xav Harrison @xavh.bsky.social · 28/01/2025
New PhD opportunity with me, Mirjam Schilling @aphapublichealth.bsky.social and Klara Wanelik at U. Surrey This project will use metagenomics to study fox microbiome dynamics 🦊 and investigate their potential to act as sentinels of disease spread. t.co/FdjT15LgLf
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