We use mathematics & microscopy to study dynamic processes in biology. Dr Douglas Brumley: Senior Lecturer @unimelb, Postdocs @MIT @ETH_en, PhD @Cambridge_Uni.
Joined May 2020
- Tweets 112
- Following 509
- Followers 416
- Likes 210
11 Photos and videos
Douglas Brumley retweeted
New research in @PRX_Life shows how corals use their beating cilia to create tiny 3D vortices that help move oxygen, nutrients, and waste across their surfaces. 🪸
Read the paper: go.aps.org/3Pp3wH9
ALT A coral specimen sits inside a transparent experimental water chamber illuminated with blue and purple lighting. Tubes and scientific equipment surround the tank as researchers study fluid flow and transport processes around the coral surface.
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Douglas Brumley retweeted
Combining mathematical modeling and experiments. A great story by Antony Selvan and myself together with @BrumleyLab @MicroSensing and collaborators. Supported by @arc_gov_au @MooreFound #MSCA #coral #cilia
@PRX_Life
doi.org/10.1103/fhfw-f1nv
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Experimental measurements of cilia distribution and fluid flow at the surface of reef-building coral reveal the crucial role of ciliary orientation in modulating nutrient transport.
Learn more: go.aps.org/3Pp3wH9
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Douglas Brumley retweeted
How do corals use microscopic beating cilia to generate complex 3D fluid flows?
Honored to write an @APSphysics @PhysicsMagazine Viewpoint on beautiful new @PRX_Life work by Selvan, Brumley, and colleagues 😀
Viewpoint: physics.aps.org/articles/v19…
Paper: journals.aps.org/prxlife/abs…
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May 26
Experiments and mathematical theory reveal how cilia generate 3D flows and transport oxygen around reef-building corals. @PRX_Life @pacherres_co @MicroSensing @MCNDLab @uommedia. Supported by @arc_gov_au Future Fellowship and @MooreFound
journals.aps.org/prxlife/abs…
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Douglas Brumley retweeted
New research finds that heat stress can disrupt and eventually destroy corals’ cilia-based ventilation systems. scim.ag/3RCKBcp
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Douglas Brumley retweeted
Coral reefs are increasingly threaten by marine heatwaves, but what pushes corals past their breaking point?
New in @ScienceAdvances: we found that corals can lose the microscopic system that helps move oxygen around their tissues during heat stress 🪸
science.org/doi/10.1126/scia…
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May 21
Heat-stressed cilia increase coral deoxygenation. This collaborative work published in @ScienceAdvances with @pacherres_co @MicroSensing @SoerenAhm examines how microscopic currents generated by corals vary with water temperature. @arc_gov_au @MooreFound
science.org/doi/10.1126/scia…
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Apr 17
Congratulations to Vicky and Amelia for this review article, published in @TrendsPlantSci. This paper investigates dynamic interactions between microbes and root walls in plants.
cell.com/trends/plant-scienc…
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25 Nov 2025
Congratulations to PhD student Olle Pontén, whose talk on three-dimensional movement of dinoflagellates, won First Prize Student Talk at the 39th Annual Meeting of the Australasian Society for Phycology and Aquatic Botany. @SciMelb @UniMelb @ASPABites
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12 Nov 2025
Congratulations to Allison Mertin, who has successfully completed the PhD degree! Her thesis, co-supervised with Prof. Linda Blackall and Marlien Van Der Merwe, investigates the hidden world of microbes living in native Australian seeds. @SciMelb @UniMelb @BotanicSydney
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Douglas Brumley retweeted
23 Sep 2025
The viscous fingers formed during injection of low-viscosity fluid tend to retrace their original paths during withdrawal, especially where low-viscosity concentration peaks. Simulations show that the initial fingering regime governs the reversal dynamics.
go.aps.org/3KeQLfc
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23 Sep 2025
Congratulations to Tristan, whose work is published in @PhysRevFluids today. This paper examines the dynamics of miscible viscous fingers under repeated injection and withdrawal cycles. @SciMelb @UniMelb
journals.aps.org/prfluids/ab…
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13 Aug 2025
Congratulations to Antony Selvan for successfully completing all requirements of the PhD. His thesis, jointly awarded with @MCNDLab (co-supervised with Peter and Draga), developed new mathematical models for ciliary flows. @UniMelb @SciMelb @MelbMathBio
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13 Aug 2025
Congratulations to Nitay, whose work on viscoplastic flows has just been published in @JFluidMech. This paper, in collaboration with Ed Hinton, examines free-surface flows of viscoplastic material, both theoretically and experimentally @SciMelb @UniMelb
cambridge.org/core/journals/…
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7 Aug 2025
Congratulations to Rania Ismail for successfully completing all requirements of the PhD. Rania’s thesis, co-supervised with Prof. Linda Blackall, studied cyanobacteria in Australian freshwater streams and reservoirs. @SciMelb @UniMelb
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10 Jul 2025
I am thrilled to receive a Future Fellowship from @arc_gov_au. The project, "Understanding the role of microscale fluid dynamics in biology", aims to develop novel mathematical models and experimental tools for investigating microscopic fluid flows in biology. @SciMelb @UniMelb
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1 Jul 2025
Congratulations to Allison for the first paper from her PhD, published in Seeds this week. This work aimed to optimise methodologies for investigating seed microbiomes across diverse plant species. @SciMelb
mdpi.com/2674-1024/4/3/28
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3 Jun 2025
Congratulations to Olle Pontén for winning first prize, and Xinyi Yang and Matthew Walker for honourable mentions in the VicANZIAM meeting. @ANZIAMnews @SciMelb
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3 Jun 2025
PhD position with scholarship available! If you’re interested to work on mathematical models of biological adaptation in fluctuating environments with Dr Alex Browning (@a13xbrowning) and myself, please apply below. @MelbMathBio @UniMelb
findaphd.com/phds/project/ma…
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