Emma Harding

Hello bluesky! I'm a postdoc in evolutionary and computational virology. I'm interested in finding new viruses and tracing their evolutionary history using endogenous viral elements. 🧬🧑🏻‍💻 In general be posting about virology, popular science and life as a scientist.

Recently, there was quite a furore in Australia's parliament about invasive species management. It seemed to me there was some misunderstanding about terminology & the very important reasons for controlling some introduced & invasive species. So, I wrote this 👉 theconversation.com/calling-spec...

We're excited for this week's release of @astrokirsten.bsky.social new book 'Lost in Space' and are giving away five FREE copies to celebrate! @rami.spaceaustralia.com had a chat with Kirsten about this new exciting chapter: www.spaceaustralia.com/news/lost-sp... #SpaceAustralia

🌬️ New paper out in Environmental DNA! We developed a 3D-printable passive airborne eDNA sampler and tested practical sampling parameters. 🧬 Smaller filters performed better than expected! ⏰ Sampling duration matters! 📦 Signals are robust to short-term storage! 🔗 doi.org/10.1002/edn3...

🚨 #postdoc alert ❤️‍🔥 I'm looking for a postdoctoral researcher to join my group at @cpgsthlm.bsky.social and @stockholm-uni.bsky.social working on #woollymammoth genomics 🦣🦴🧬✨ Deadline: 30th Nov. +Info about the position 👉 www.su.se/english/divi... +info about CPG 👉 palaeogenetics.com RT pls

A clever new tool for building full icosahedral capsids from AlphaFold models — from the talented team behind ViperDB. FoldaVirus, a knowledge-based icosahedral capsid prediction tool using AlphaFold www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Excited to announce our newest paper 📚 where we explore alpharetrovirus envelopes co-opted multiple times across bat lineages 🦇

New preprint! We show that poxvirus gene repertoires are shaped by expansion-biased birth-and-death dynamics and genome architectural constraints. Led by Arnon Plianchaisuk (@chainorato) in our lab. Please share! (1/10) www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Are you an ecologist/evolutionary biologist looking for an ongoing academic position? Monash University’s School of Biological Sciences is hiring! Come join us in Melbourne, Australia! Details here: careers.pageuppeople.com/513/cw/en/jo...

Thrilled to be co-organising a symposium dedicated to Endogenous viral elements! Together with @thekatybrown.bsky.social , @rtarlinton.bsky.social and the Royal Society we will host a two day event in Birmingham, UK in February 2026. Register below to attend! royalsociety.org/science-even...

🚨The draft programme for EEID-AP is live! Check out our incredible lineup of talks and keynote speakers. Registration closes on the 27th of July, secure your spot below 👇 eeid-asiapacific.org #EEIDAP2026

Hi #TEsky, please remember that we have an amazing community in the TransposonsWorldWide slack channel (join.slack.com/t/transposon...), which I encourage you to join. Another great resource is tehub.org. Please share !

Very excited to share our paper (and first for my PhD) on RdRpCATCH in NAR Genomics and Bioinformatics! doi.org/10.1093/narg... Co-authors: @urineri.bsky.social, @ingrida.bsky.social, Justine Charon, @sho1.bsky.social, @xinhou.bsky.social, Dick de Ridder, Mark P. Zwart, and @annecmg.bsky.social

Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) in ants - several likely underpinning functional innovations, primarily by mediating immune-system adaptations or facilitating nutritional niche expansions academic.oup.com/gigascience/... #biodiversity #genomics

Excited to be in Stockholm this week for the International Conference on Palaeogenomics! 🧬🦴 #ICP2026 Looking forward to a week of talks on ancient DNA, human evolution 🚶🏼‍♂️, dental calculus 🦷 and more! @palaeogenomics.bsky.social

Until Friday, Australia was the only continent free from HPAI H5N1. Sadly, this is not the case - a 2344b confirmation in a Brown Skua, and a suspected case in a Northern Giant Petrel which turned up in WA. 👉 www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06... (1/x)

Are you looking for a postdoc in 2027? Are you passionate about using ecological theory to address real-world conservation issues? Take a look at this www.deakin.edu.au/research/our... and drop me a line!

Our two-part analysis of the current MV Hondius Andes virus outbreak is now live, including reconstruction of the outbreak molecular clock dating of the closest known ancestors of the outbreak lineage. Part 1: outbreak sequence reconstruction and rooting virological.org/t/molecular-...

The #ArtemisII crew has launched on their way to the Moon. Read what they'll do next and what is up with NASA's Moon base plans: www.nature.com/articles/d41... 🧪🔭

Need to catch up on #ArtemisII science ahead of today's launch attempt to the MOON? See our explainer at @nature.com 🧪🔭 www.nature.com/articles/d41...

It is almost five years since I first applied AlphaFold to a handful of viral proteins. Today, hundreds of thousands of predictions and many discoveries later, we are delighted to announce the integration of our Viro3D dataset into the @ebi.embl.org and Google DeepMind AlphaFold Database.

The University of Helsinki seeks a postdoctoral researcher for a 3-year role in statistical ecology and evolution, focusing on sex-specific differences in immunity and life history. Apply by Feb 28, 2026. More in… https://www.helsinki.fi/en/faculty-science/faculty/mathematics-and-statistics #postdoc

Proposing targetted culls of sharks is a nonsense & demonstrates Dr Adam Smith is ignorant about shark life history, ecology & behaviour, & changing the statistical probability of exceedingly rare events. Sharks behave nothing like kangaroos, koalas & starfish. au.news.yahoo.com/calls-grow-f...

Open Senior Bioinformatician position at @sangerinstitute.bsky.social Tree of Life, to work on the Biodiversity Cell Atlas initiative with @marakat.bsky.social and me. 📅 Apply by January 18 🔗 sanger.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Wellco... Please share with anyone who might be interested!

I've slowly been reformatting notes from my population and conservation genetics course at Montana State University into a web book—a rough draft is now live here: elinck.org/popgen_conge...

🔬 Call to create junior research groups at the Institut Pasteur Focus: Infectious diseases, host-microbe interactions, vaccines Special interest: AI methodologies 📅 Deadline: Feb 9, 2026 👥 2-12 years post-PhD Apply now 📝 research.pasteur.fr/en/call/crea... #JobOpportunity #Research

Are you excited about pangenomics? If so, join us in Edinburgh on 8-9th June to discuss the latest methods & insights from using these approaches across biodiversity! More details here: royalsociety.org/science-even... Organised together with @henrylnorth.bsky.social & @joanameier.bsky.social!

Save the date - don't miss out! The 72nd Australian Mammal Society Conference will be held in Canberra (Shine Dome) from 5th - 10th July 2026! This very special conference will be jointly held with the #australasianbatsociety - ECR workshops on 5th - focussed #bat and #dasyurid symposia on 6th 🦇🐾🐭🐨

I taught (and co-taught) a course on human population genetics from 2000-2024. Having retired, I'm now making all the course materials public: github.com/alanrogers/p... #popgen #evbio

Studying penguin virology in #Antarctica: @arizonastateuni.bsky.social researchers lead in discovery of new viruses in Antarctic penguins, expanding knowledge of polar ecosystems @viralnomad.bsky.social news.asu.edu/b/20251124-s...

Registration is now open for SMBE 2026! Head over to the registration page to find all the details and secure your spot 🏃‍♀️ 📝 smbe2026.org/registration 🐦 Early-bird deadline: March 31, 2026 If you are an active member of the SMBE you can register for the meeting with discounts. #SMBE2026

Come join the Workshop on Phylogenomics in Cesky Krumlov, Czechia, from January 25 through February 7, 2026! Applications close November 15! #phylogenetics #evolution #genomics #ai evomics.org/apply-worksh...

One of astronomy's most inspiring figures, Dame Prof. Jocelyn Bell Burnell was in Sydney this week. @cosmicrami.com sat down for an interview with her, discussing the impact of her discovery and community advocacy legacy. www.spaceaustralia.com/feature/inte... #SpaceAustralia 📸 Uni. of Cambridge

Now published: EnVhogDB, a large database of viral protein family HMM profiles to help functional annotation of new phage genomes - peercommunityjournal.org/articles/10....

Haunted lately by @galaxyproject.bsky.social CO₂e estimates for jobs. This one MEGAHIT assembly: ~450g CO2e. I've run this ~150k times on HPC, ~75 tonnes of CO2e 😬. Perhaps ARC/NHMRC would accept Australian Carbon Credit Units as part of the grant cost for offset? What others are doing in AUS/INT?

🦴🧬🦴🧬🦴 Abstract submission is now open for the 1st International Conference on Palaeogenomics! June 23–26 2026, in Stockholm. Join researchers from across the field for 4 days and >100 talks (+ poster sessions)! Submit abstracts here 👉 icp2026.palaeogenomics.org/abstracts/ Deadline: Nov 30th

📢 The Call for Symposia for SMBE2026 is now open. We warmly invite you to submit a symposium proposal and help shape the scientific content of our annual meeting. 🗓️ Key dates Call for symposia: Sep. 1 - Oct. 15 Announcement of accepted symposia: Nov. 3 More information: smbe2026.org/symposia

🚨 Proceedings B is recruiting new Data Editors! Join our editorial board to help ensure data/code transparency across biology. 🗓 Term: 3 yrs from Jan 2026 📩 Apply by 30 Sep 2025 with a 2-page CV + cover letter: proceedingsb@royalsociety.org 🔗 Info: jackbrand.work@gmail.com /dylan.ge.gomes@gmail.com

There’s been a bunch of new approaches looking at deep viral evolutionary history. We’ve put together a mini review highlighting some recent advancements in structural phylogenetics and time-dependent rate models and what they could do for the field 🦠 🔗 journals.asm.org/doi/full/10....