Dr. Lauren E. Fuess
@laurenfuess.bsky.social
2.3K followers 950 following 290 posts
#newPI @ TX State leading the Symbiommunity Lab. Eco-evo-immunologist interested in immune variation, host-symbiont dynamics 🐎 & 🐈 mom; Posts my own.
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laurenfuess.bsky.social
🚨🚨We’re hiring graduate students!🚨🚨

We are hiring 1-2 PhD students to start sometime in 2026 (Fall start dates preferred). Opportunities to work on a diversity of eco-evo-immuno and symbiosis projects!

Deadline Oct 15! Please share broadly!

Info here: tinyurl.com/y2abjsem
opportunities – Symbiommunity Lab
tinyurl.com
laurenfuess.bsky.social
In person guests are also more than welcome if you’re in the central TX area. Reach out if you need any info!
laurenfuess.bsky.social
Science friends and collaborators!! This week I will be giving my tenure review seminar! It will be available via zoom to accommodate some folks travel schedules.

So, if you’d like to hear more about what the labs been up to over the past five years please reach out and I will give you the link
A screenshot of a flyer with the Texas Stare Biology Logo on top. It lists the seminar title: “Symbiommunity: Understanding how host-microbe associations shape cnidarian immunity in a rapidly changing world”. It also details the speaker (Dr. Lauren Fuess), Date (Sept 26th), time (2pm), location (Supple 116), and host (Dr. Peggy Biga). A headshot of Lauren is also shown
laurenfuess.bsky.social
Science friends and collaborators!! This week I will be giving my tenure review seminar! It will be available via zoom to accommodate some folks travel schedules.

So, if you’d like to hear more about what the labs been up to over the past five years please reach out and I will give you the link
A screenshot of a flyer with the Texas Stare Biology Logo on top. It lists the seminar title: “Symbiommunity: Understanding how host-microbe associations shape cnidarian immunity in a rapidly changing world”. It also details the speaker (Dr. Lauren Fuess), Date (Sept 26th), time (2pm), location (Supple 116), and host (Dr. Peggy Biga). A headshot of Lauren is also shown
laurenfuess.bsky.social
5 years of hard work on this guys brain at shows has really paid off. He’s starting to feel like an old pro.

Did he try to kill himself in the trailer on the way over? Yeah. But did that bother him when he got there? Nope.

Set a first level PB & exceeded our 2nd level debut goal by 4 points!
A girl in a blue riding outfit with a red ribbon on her belt stands next to a brown horse with a shiny bridle in an indoor sand arena
laurenfuess.bsky.social
Guess I need to go through and swap genetic diversity for genetic variation in my proposal… ugh
davelevitan.bsky.social
NEW: NIH leadership has denied the existence of a list of banned words for grantmaking purposes, but I have seen such a list circulating among staff. It has lots of words relating to gender and diversity, of course. Also things like "climate change," "vaccine hesitancy," "ethnic origin," and others.
laurenfuess.bsky.social
One year ago today I pretty dramatically broke my wrist… and unofficially dislocated my elbow.

I still can’t fully lock that elbow; nor can I touch my thumb to my shoulder on that side… but 95% functionality gets you pretty far day to day and I’m lifting heavier than ever so I’ll take it!
laurenfuess.bsky.social
Despacito??? My other guess would be that old/silly “Charlie Bit My Finger” clip…
laurenfuess.bsky.social
Not 0 awards in Life Science in the original 1000, but as far as I know 0 from the additional 500 awarded this summer.
laurenfuess.bsky.social
Super behind on this but so excited to see this preprint out. Dan did an excellent job summarizing the science; I won’t duplicate efforts.

But on a personal note- I set out this summer with a goal to get my last postdoc MS done before submitting my tenure packet… mission accomplished!!
danielbolnick.bsky.social
When populations evolve different strategies to defend against a recently acquired parasite (e.g., tolerance, resistance), what sets of gene expression responses are conserved, or diverge? Using a vaccination experiment with #stickleback @laurenfuess.bsky.social reports some fun results...
laurenfuess.bsky.social
Currently unclaimed taxa (mostly inverts):

- ctenophores or sponges
- platyhelminths
- annelids
- crustaceans
- insects/arachnids
- chitons/gastropods/bivalves
- cephalopods
- amphioxus
- tunicates
- jawless fish
- birds
laurenfuess.bsky.social
Hey wild immunologists of blue sky… do you work on a non-model taxa???

Would you have 15 min to spare to zoom in and share your research with my comparative immunology class?

I’m looking to spotlight real research this semester. Please spread the word and reach out if you’re interested!
laurenfuess.bsky.social
🚨🚨We’re hiring graduate students!🚨🚨

We are hiring 1-2 PhD students to start sometime in 2026 (Fall start dates preferred). Opportunities to work on a diversity of eco-evo-immuno and symbiosis projects!

Deadline Oct 15! Please share broadly!

Info here: tinyurl.com/y2abjsem
opportunities – Symbiommunity Lab
tinyurl.com
laurenfuess.bsky.social
Been thinking a lot about the many grant programs with institutional gate keeping (HHMI, Packard, etc). In a world of reduced funding opportunities, those of us at “lesser than” unis will be increasingly boxed out. This plan would not help…

Good science can be done at all kinds of places!
daylab.bsky.social
-Dr. Bhattacharya mentioned idea of making K awards an institutional mechanism instead of a PI-initiated mechanism. Institutions that hire new faculty could give them K award, move that to next faculty when the first hire gets first grant.
laurenfuess.bsky.social
Yall some company is making equestrian jumpsuits and I can’t even….. who in their right mind??? 🤮🤮🤮
A woman in a black one piece equestrian jumpsuit (long pants and long shorts) with a front zipper walks next to a brown horse in a red bonnet
laurenfuess.bsky.social
Hey wild immunologists of blue sky… do you work on a non-model taxa???

Would you have 15 min to spare to zoom in and share your research with my comparative immunology class?

I’m looking to spotlight real research this semester. Please spread the word and reach out if you’re interested!
laurenfuess.bsky.social
🚨🚨We’re hiring a postdoc!🚨🚨

Min two year contract; start in 2026 (flexible) & contribute to this project focused on understanding the link between bleaching recovery and disease in cnidarians!! Opportunities to work on side projects too!

Deadline Nov 1!

Info here: tinyurl.com/y2abjsem
laurenfuess.bsky.social
Anyone else absolutely drowning in review requests this summer? I’ve been getting multiple a day.

Meanwhile we’ve been waiting FIFTEEN weeks and still no reviews on a MS submitted at the end of May. Last news was they were “waiting on a reviewer”… that was a month ago.
laurenfuess.bsky.social
Full ad and application info coming soon, but putting it out into the social media-verse that we will be hiring 1 postdoc and 1-2 graduate students in 2026 to work on this or another ongoing project in lab (super flexible).

Reach out or check out our webpage for more info: fuesslab.wp.txstate.edu
Reposted by Dr. Lauren E. Fuess
doctorzen.net
Teaching this fall?

Here is a handy webpage that will help you generate a list of the days your course(s) meet:

wcaleb.rice.edu/syllabusmake...
Generic Syllabus Maker
wcaleb.rice.edu
Reposted by Dr. Lauren E. Fuess
ben-parker.bsky.social
The Parker Lab at UNC Biology is hiring a postdoc to work on insect–microbe interactions.

Support available for multiple years from startup; we are open to a range of project ideas. Come join us to study symbiosis in a supportive, collaborative environment!

unc.peopleadmin.com/postings/303...
Post-Doc Research Associate
The researcher will be primarily responsible for carrying out investigations related to our lab's research, using an insect model system (aphids) to address mechanistic and evolutionary genetic questi...
unc.peopleadmin.com
Reposted by Dr. Lauren E. Fuess
msobol.bsky.social
🚨 I’m hiring a postdoc for Fall 2025 with experience in microbial ‘omics data analysis and phylogenetics/genomics. Projects will be centered around ancient microbial ecology & evolution. Click here for more information: bpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/wp.txstate.e...

Please share, thank you 🙏🏻
laurenfuess.bsky.social
It absolutely helped that we hit the wildlife jackpot… saw a moose as soon as we entered the park & the rest of the “big four” (Dahl sheep, bears, caribou) by the time we left.

Then there was the lynx, marmot, tons of ground squirrels & pica, & even a snowshoe hair sighting. Absolutely incredible.
A picture of Teklanika River with two brown bears show swimming in different parts (bears appear small, a good distance from the photographer) An arctic ground squirrel (which looks like a prairie dog) stands on its hind legs looking at the photographer. A mouse grazes in tall grass by the side of the road A marmot climbs across rocks moving towards a grassy area on an alpine ridge
laurenfuess.bsky.social
Still processing what an incredibly special place Denali National Park truly is.

I’ve never been anywhere like it… when I first read that the park was mostly trail-less I was so intimidated, but after visiting and experiencing I am already plotting a proper trip back for some true off-trail hiking.
A stand of spruce trees is reflected in the blue-green water of Horseshoe lake. View from the top of Savage Alpine Ridge trail. Arctic tundra stretches out in the foreground, full of lush green grass/plants, with Savage River winding through it and the Denali Park road cutting across the right side. The foothills of the Alaskan mountain range are in the background. A selfie of a woman and a man standing atop a ridge overlooking Denali national park, with tundra in the foreground and mountains in the background Teklanika River winds through a valley with tundra mountains stretched out behind.
laurenfuess.bsky.social
Although I did also say in my talk for this job in particular that I’d be setting up to study ctenophore host-parasite interactions…. Hahahahah no.
laurenfuess.bsky.social
When I look back at old job talks + notes from the early days I am actually shocked by just how many we are actually doing… maybe 50%??

This one dates back to my PhD times (as does one that I’m prepping for my MIRA)

I credit neurspicy hyperfixation and an inability to say no.
laurenfuess.bsky.social
Yall I opened up a job talk from 5 years ago (yikes…) looking for something random, but the future directions caught my eye…

Five years later we’re wrapping up NSF funding to do exactly this, and the concept is basically the foundation of my funded CAREER. 🤯🤯

#promisesmadepromiseskept
A screen shot of PowerPoint text that reads: “2. Post bleaching surveys: investigation of the effects of changes in symbiotic state on disease susceptibility”