
Profiles
Dr Michael Collins
Teaching and Research Associate (TARA) (Marine Biology)
School of Biological and Marine Sciences (Faculty of Science and Engineering)
Biography
Biography
I am a marine ecophysiologist interested in how aquatic ectotherms function under natural and anthropogenic environmental change. In particular, I am interested in how organisms deal with the challenge of multiple interacting stressors and apply a multidisciplinary approach combining genomics, biochemistry and physiology to address this question. I am currently a Lecturer in Marine Biology where I teach across all stages of the undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. I previously completed a PhD in Marine Sciences at the University of Plymouth investigating integrated response of marine invertebrates to climate-driven hypoxia.
Qualifications
2020. PhD in Marine Sciences, University of Plymouth
2014. BSc(Hons) Marine Biology, University of Plymouth
Professional membership
2021. Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
Teaching
Teaching
Teaching interests
LECTURER ON...
- Marine Molecular Biology (module leader)
- Ecophysiology of Marine Animals (module leader)
- Conservation Physiology
Research
Research
Research interests
I am a marine biologist interested in the ecophysiology of aquatic ectotherms. I aim to integrate responses at different levels of organisation, combining whole organism physiology with -omics approaches, in order to better understand how organisms deal with environmental change. I am particularly interested in how aquatic organisms deal with the challenge of multiple stressors resulting from climate change, such as the combination of rising temperature and hypoxia.
Current PhD students:
- Ahmed Abbas "The challenge of securing future food production for aquaculture species: maternal, developmental and adaptational responses to multistressors"
Other research
I have supervised a range of undergraduate and masters students. Examples of project supervision include the following topics:
- Physiological responses of intertidal organisms to multiple abiotic stressors
- Transcriptomic mechanisms of development
- Physiological and biochemical responses to pollutants (e.g. microplastics, metals)
- Behavioural responses to environmental change
Grants & contracts
2023. Pilot Project Grant (ECR). NERC Environmental Omics Facility, PI
2021. Pump Priming Research Grant, University of Plymouth. Co-PI
2017. Company of Biologists travel grant
2015. Primerdesign Gold sponsorship
Publications
Publications
- Collins, M, Clark, MS and Truebano, M 2023 'The environmental cellular stress response: the intertidal as a multistressor model', Cell Stress and Chaperones, DOI:10.1007/s12192-023-01348-7
- Collins, M, Truebano, M and Spicer, JI 2022 'Consequences of thermal plasticity for hypoxic performance in coastal amphipods', Marine Environmental Research, 177, 105624 DOI:10.1016/j.marenvres.2022.105624
- McAndry, C, Collins, M, Tills, O, Truebano, M and Spicer, JI 2022 'Regulation of gene expression during ontogeny of physiological function in the brackishwater amphipod Gammarus chevreuxi', Marine Genomics, 177, 105624 DOI:10.1016/j.margen.2022.100948
- Collins, M, Peck, L and Clark, MS 2021 'Large within, and between, differences in marine cellular responses, Unpredicatability in a changing environment', Science of the Total Environment, 794, 148594 DOI:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.148594
Collins M, Truebano M, Verberk WCEP & Spicer JI 2021 'Do aquatic ectotherms perform better under hypoxia following warm acclimation?' Journal of Experimental Biology, 224, jeb232512 DOI:10.1242/jeb.232512
- Collins M, Clark MS, Spicer JI & Truebano M 2021 'Transcriptional frontloading contributes to crossâtolerance between stressors' Evolutionary Applications, 14, 577-587 DOI:10.1111/eva.13142
- Collins M, Tills O, Turner LM, Clark MS, Spicer JI & Truebano M 2019 'Moderate reductions in dissolved oxygen may compromise performance in an ecologically-important estuarine invertebrate' Science of the Total Environment, 693, 133444 DOI:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.07.250
- Truebano M, Tills O, Collins M, Clarke C, Shipsides E, Wheatley C & Spicer JI 2018 'Short-term acclimation in adults does not predict offspring acclimation potential to hypoxia' Scientific Reports 8, 3174 DOI:10.1038/s41598-018-21490-y
- Collins M, Tills O, Spicer JI & Truebano M 2017 'De novo transcriptome assembly of the amphipod Gammarus chevreuxi exposed to chronic hypoxia' Marine Genomics, 33, 17-19 DOI:10.1016/j.margen.2017.01.006