About Andy:
I am a postgraduate research student at Swansea University working to find methods to efficiently decipher the complex interactions of microalgal-associated microorganisms using automated robots, big data, and machine learning.
I am particularly interested in marine mycology, with a focus on the diversity of fungi present in different marine environments using both culture-dependent and culture-independent approaches, exploring their role in marine ecosystems, and potential in blue biotechnology. Outside of microbiology, I am also interested in coleoid cephalopods, marine invertebrates, and deep-sea ecology, and I am keen on working to make science more accessible and understandable to the general public.
Biography
I have obtained a BSc (Hons) Marine Biology at Swansea University and an MRes (Hons) Ocean Sciences at the University of Southampton in 2022. My research projects focused on exploring the diversity of the understudied marine fungal communities using amplicon sequencing as well as potential applications of marine fungi in biotechnology, such as their antimicrobial activity and bioremediation capabilities. I have also worked as a lab technician at Swansea University for the European project BMRex to optimise ways of extracting DNA and RNA for metagenomic and metatranscriptomic sequencing to hopefully aid in finding novel plastic-degrading enzymes.