Tell us a bit about yourself.
Hi, I’m Joseph Pennycook, and I’m going to be working with Chris Clements at the University of Bristol to test the function of genetically modified cyanobacteria in ‘ecological wind tunnels’: laboratory models where we will simulate the physical and biological conditions cells would encounter in the natural world. Most of my past research has focused on bacteria, but I’m really interested in ecology and evolution across all branches of the tree of life.
How did you end up working on the CYBER project?
After finishing my PhD research, I was looking for a role where I could continue to use experimental microbiology to study ecology and evolution directly, but I also wanted to be engaging with some of the real problems facing humanity. I have experience running experiments with model communities of microbes and studying the ways those microbes respond to changing environments, so the CYBER project is a great opportunity for me to apply my skills towards making a positive difference in the world.
What are you most excited about in your role?
I’m really excited to start culturing cyanobacteria and their protist predators, since I’ve never worked with either before and I’m always keen to expand my acquaintance to new kinds of microbes. On top of that, I’m looking forward to working alongside experts in a variety of fields from genetic analysis to measurement science, so that we can comprehensively investigate the results of our experiments from all angles.
What do you think is going to be the toughest challenge for CYBER?
In my role specifically, I expect that the hardest challenge will be balancing the design of the ‘wind tunnels’ to maximise their accuracy to natural environments while also keeping them simple enough that they remain useful tools. Across the whole project, I think that a vital part of the job will be balancing the considerations that engineered bacteria could do incredible good but also real harm in natural environments, and a key challenge will be effectively communicating both our excitement and our caution to the general public.
Where do you see yourself headed in the future?
I’d love to keep on working with ecology and evolution in microbes, both in terms of leading new discoveries and communicating those discoveries to the wider world. We still understand microbial communities so poorly, but their biology is entangled with so many of the pressing problems facing humanity today, from climate change to food security to human health. Learning about these communities and sharing that knowledge is going to be so important in the future, and I would love to be a part of it.
