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Sebastian R.vH

@sebastianrvh.bsky.social

4.3K followers 1K following 450 posts

PhD Researcher using eDNA for wildlife conservation & forensics 🧬 🐾 University of Aberdeen 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 | QUADRAT DTP MSc² | he/him 🏳️‍🌈 | Views my own Getting back into photography after a 10 year hiatus | 📷 FujiFilm X-Pro1 https://linktr.ee/sebastianrvh

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Sebastian R.vH @sebastianrvh.bsky.social · Jan 11

Hello y'all! I wanted to take a beat and re-introduce myself;

👋, I’m a PhD student in Aberdeen 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 trying to make #wildlife conservation more accessible by using #eDNA and other methods 🧬🧪🧑‍🔬👇

More recently, I have rekindled my love with #photography & I'll be sharing my journey with my FujiFilm 📷 ✨

Picture of me, on the left, wearing a dark rain coat in front of a green, mossy floor. I am looking through my camera, trying to take a close up picture of mushrooms that are in front of me

A picture of a robin bird in the centre, with its distinctive red breast, surrounded by branches covered in heavy white snow

Poster header containing the title of one of my chapters: Next-generation diagnostic technologies for DNA based biosurveillance of non-native mussels in the South Atlantic. The picture contains logos of both the University of Aberdeen and the Environmental Research Institute of the South Atlantic, as well as the names of the researcher in question (Sebastian van Hellemondt) and collaborators and supervisory team. Another picture shows the map of South America, highlighting the island of the Falklands, combined with a picture of the target species the Blue Mussel (Mytilus edulis). Two textboxes, namely Introduction and Research Question, highlight the need for a rapid species identification method for the invasive blue mussel in the Falklands. This is being done by applying isothermal amplification and lateral flow assays.

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Reposted by Sebastian R.vH

andré @838carlisle.bsky.social · 28d

edited photo of a bear with a glamour shots background

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Alex Brighten @alexbrighten1.bsky.social · Sep 5

Reflecting on #BESMove2025, nice couple days chatting all things #MovementEcology and meeting friends old & new. Thank you @besmovesig.bsky.social and the meeting organisers for your hard work to deliver a stacked and smooth running schedule and fun socials. Looking forward to the next one!

Top left; UEA broad just after sunrise; top right meeting welcome sign; lower left reflections of a bridge; lower right my poster and me.

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Reposted by Sebastian R.vH

Tilly S Scott @tillysscott.bsky.social · Sep 2

Here are all the talks I attended and sketched at #ESEB2025 ! Only a fraction of the 642 speakers at the conference 😮

I had an absolutely amazing week chatting about lots of fascinating science

#sciart #eseb #esebcongress @eseb2025.bsky.social

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Alex Brighten @alexbrighten1.bsky.social · Aug 30

It’s already been a week since #EOU2025! Fun week meeting and chatting cool bird science & geeking out at the cool tech! Presented another poster made from my tent in Bulgaria. 😅 Even got work done on the 14hr train journey, 🌱 but France took my Leatherman; rookie error not checking my field pack! 🥲

Collage of photos from the European Ornithological Union (EOU) conference 2025. Clockwise from top left: an amazing plenary about robust avian science by Antica Culina with a slide on FAIR data; a tiny solar GPS transmitter, the Menai bridge at sunrise; me and my poster; Welsh flag with bonus Welsh jackdaw; Vogelwarte research group; first Guinness after 2.5 months in Switzerland; cool hummingbird mural on a house; and in the centre: Vogelwarte research group - Team Alpine Swift-Barn Owl-Dipper et al!

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Charlie T @agentlaughingperch.bsky.social · Aug 22

Very moving presentation from one of the recipients of the EUEA award from @eseb.bsky.social . As a trans academic myself, seeing effort being put into inclusivity has been refreshing. Thank you for platforming this topic and supporting people like this speaker 🏳️‍⚧️

Another presentation slide which contains some Qr code links to resources and some steps which academics could take to make space for trans academics. These steps are as follows:
- apply for DEI grants
- support LGBTQ+ scholarship funds
- learn about local medical/legal systems to offer newly-arrived colleagues guidance
- Avoid harmful rhetoric and behaviours

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Tilly S Scott @tillysscott.bsky.social · Aug 19

I'm excited for my @eseb2025.bsky.social presentation later today. I'm part of the symposium on the Genomic Basis of Evolutionary Innovations! I will have stickers to give out too (if bribery is required for attendance) 😁

#eseb2025 #sciart #eseb

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Tilly S Scott @tillysscott.bsky.social · Aug 18

I've had a wonderful 1st day at @eseb2025.bsky.social Here are the sketches from some of the talks I attended today. My highlights include Tristan on the adaptive genomics of colour spots on owls, Vicky on pearl mussel's response to climate change & Rebekah on firefly TEs & TE-induced mutations

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Charlie T @agentlaughingperch.bsky.social · Aug 18

Looking forward to presenting my poster later at ESEB 2025 🐸 board 166 come find me if you're here

A person standing in front of a scientific poster and smiling

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Ella Benninghaus @ellalillyy.bsky.social · Aug 17

I have been trying to make time for pottery alongside my PhD. I did my first official market last weekend at the Bowhouse. I was very nervous before but it was so lovely to speak to so many people about my work! I have added a few leftover pieces to my new website the-puffins-burrow.sumupstore.com 🐧

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Sebastian R.vH @sebastianrvh.bsky.social · Aug 13

ohhh, drop the folklore!!

Reposted by Sebastian R.vH

georgia 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 @blahttodea.bsky.social · Jul 16

the big butterfly count starts this friday! all you have to do is spend 15 mins outside and log your butterfly/day-flying moth sightings. it's super easy to log your sessions on the website or app (click the link in the below post) and they have id guides to help too! 🦋

Butterfly Conservation @savebutterflies.bsky.social · Jul 2

Here are just a few of the brilliant butterflies and moths to look out for in your gardens and green spaces this month! 🦋🌻🌿
See how many you can spot in the Big Butterfly Count from 18 July - 10 August 👉 bigbutterflycount.org

Butterflies and moths to see in July. 9 species are shown including the common blue, painted lady, peacock and garden tiger.

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Sebastian R.vH @sebastianrvh.bsky.social · Jul 3

Thank you! That makes sense. Doing a trial test will be difficult as I've never used these filters before, and I won't know if it's not working because of the expiration date or because it's not suitable for my experiment. Contacting the manufacturer is a good, shout, though!

Sebastian R.vH @sebastianrvh.bsky.social · Jul 3

The man nearly died in a whirlpool and then wrote 1984. I don't see the connection in the themes of the book and the whirlpool, but I'm sure it's there

Sebastian R.vH @sebastianrvh.bsky.social · Jul 3

It's called the Strait of Corryvreckan, between the islands of Jura and Scarba. George Orwell lived on Jura for three years until he got tuberculosis and had to leave, but you can still stay in the house he rented! Also, look at that whirlpool!!

A picture of a large white spiralling whirlpool in the sea. The spiral shape is very distinct. In the background are hills that meet the sea.

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Sebastian R.vH @sebastianrvh.bsky.social · Jul 3

why did nobody tell me that there is a small strait between two small islands off the westcoast of Scotland that has the worlds THIRD largest whirlpool, which also caused George Orwell (YES THAT ORWELL) to shipwreck with his 3-year old son

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Sebastian R.vH @sebastianrvh.bsky.social · Jul 2

I’m so sorry to see you had to delete the account! I hope you can make a new one, and continue with what you love to do! 💙

Reposted by Sebastian R.vH

Chloe Cargill (She/Her) @meta-kittiwake.bsky.social · Jul 2

Using #genetics to sex #Seabirds? 👉 New #openaccess #Methods note published today (optimize don't reinvent👍). No PhD student is an island: huge thanks to co-authors, collaborators and funders. #ornithology @ukri.org @uniofaberdeen.bsky.social doi.org/10.1007/s126... @springernature.com

A modified primer-pair designed for the molecular sex identification of black-legged Kittiwake (Laridae: Rissa tridactyla) - Conservation Genetics Resources

In studies of avian populations accurate sex identification facilitates the study of sex-linked behaviour, ecology, social structure, decision-making, and life histories. To improve molecular sex iden...

doi.org

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Sebastian R.vH @sebastianrvh.bsky.social · Jul 2

#Question! For the #eDNA crowd.

My lab has polyethersulfone membrane filters, but the expiration date is December 2023. Does anybody know if I can still use these filters? They're still sealed etc.

#PhDSky #AcademicSky #environmentalDNA 🧪🧬

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Sebastian R.vH @sebastianrvh.bsky.social · Jun 27

I think I got told it’s the Indohyus. New archnemesis

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Rowan Kuminski @rowankuminski.bsky.social · Jun 27

At the end of #Pride every year I post this because I would not be where I am without the friends, mentors, and Allies who have gotten me through the hardest years of my life at Aberdeen. Happy Pride to those who provide me with support, safety, and hope so I can do what I love, study seabirds 💙

A light pink background with a digital drawing of several seabkrds standing together in a group: the bird in the front center is a fulmar, which has the colours of the non-binary flag (yellow, white, purple, black); the birds behind it are seabirds (gulls, auklets, penguins, terns, and a guillemot) in their normal colours

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Sebastian R.vH @sebastianrvh.bsky.social · Jun 27

I never did zoology in undergrad so this hit me like a sack of bricks 😭

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Sebastian R.vH @sebastianrvh.bsky.social · Jun 27

“Just because you lost the condition the clade is named for doesn’t mean you don’t belong” is somehow profoundly poetic

Thanks for explanation! My colleagues wouldn’t say more than “but they are”

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Sebastian R.vH @sebastianrvh.bsky.social · Jun 27

Whales don’t ruminate. They don’t have hooves. WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY ARE UNGULATES

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Sebastian R.vH @sebastianrvh.bsky.social · Jun 27

I just got informed that whales are considered as ungulates. I am unhappy.

(please don’t ask me to elaborate I still don’t fully understand)

#phylogeny #whales #ungulates

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Reposted by Sebastian R.vH

Laura McBride @gallowayselkie.bsky.social · Jun 26

Got to hang out with a bunch of cool people from Biota Trace testing out an automated sampler (lovingly known as my wee robot pal) to collect water samples from Loch Craignish. @seawilding.bsky.social were also kind enough to let us use their shed and kept us company 😁 🐟 🤖

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