Hello! 👋

I'm Joe, a PhD student in the Institute for Condensed Matter and Complex Systems (ICMS) at the University of Edinburgh.

With my supervisors Wilson Poon, Gavin Melaugh and Dave Fairhurst, I am investigating the protist organism Labyrinthula. The species was first described over a century ago and has since gained significant research relevance for its ecological association with seagrass. 🌱

Perhaps the most fascinating feature of Labyrinthula colonies (especially from a complex systems and physics perspective) is the unique network morphology adopted by cells under certain environmental conditions. Labyrinthula cells are associated with a secreted extracellular environment, the ectoplasmic net, within which cells are confined and move through. My PhD work aims to elucidate the structure and function of this and other morphologies exhibited by Labyrinthula and how they relate to the species natural marine environment.

  Adapted from Pew Charitable Trusts

What do I do?

As an experimental biophysicist, I employ a range of lab, microscopy and computational techniques to study this fascinating marine protist. These include, but are not limited to:

  • Microscopy
  • Image Processing
  • Coding
  • Literature Review
  • Wet Lab
  • Collaboration

Publications

Check back here for my publications.

Contact Me

Interested in what I do? Reach out!

Joseph.Knight@ed.ac.uk