Dr Kirsty Matthews Nicholass

I am a molecular ecologist interested in developing our understanding of interactions above and belowground between plants, microbes, fungi, and invertebrates by employing a range of field-based, lab-based and experimental approaches. My main research focus is centred on grassland ecology.

Throughout my early career in research I have learned a variety of approaches that allow me to take a holistic approach to my research and experimental design. This includes; international field work and collaborative research, metabarcoding and library preparation, CRISPR-cas9 genome editing, inorganic and analytical chemistry and behavioral assays . 

In my position at the University of Plymouth I will be researching the ecological role and evolutionary origin of psychedelic compounds in nature on the Leverulme Trust funded project 'Wherefore the magic?' in Dr Jonathon Ellis' research group. Very little is known about fungal-antagonist interactions in general and the role of fungal SMs is largely speculative. While Psilocybin producing fungi are a provocative and unorthodox study oraganism, their attractiveness in this project stems from the structural similarity between psilocybin and the animal neurotransmitter serotin which raises interesting questions surrounding its evolutionary origin.

To close the knowledge gap about the evolutionary role of psilocybin, and elucidate fungus-animal interactions in general, the application of eco-evo concepts, behavioural experiments, molecular and transgenic tools (CRISPR-cas9) will be applied. 

Lecturer in Biology 2024- present

Module lead for FYM003 - introduction to our natural world

Lecturer in Plants and Ecosystems January 2020 - June 2020

Delivered lectures, field, lab and computer based practicals for 1st year BSc Biological science students at the University of Essex.