Amanda Hopes

Amanda Hopes serves as a Senior Research Associate at the School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, where she conducts cutting-edge research on diatoms, particularly those adapted to polar marine environments. Her work bridges molecular biology, genomics, and ecological adaptation mechanisms in marine microorganisms.

Dr. Hopes specializes in marine phycology with particular expertise in diatom biology. Her research spans molecular evolution, synthetic biology applications for diatom engineering, and understanding cold-adaptation mechanisms in polar ocean ecosystems. She has established herself as a leading researcher in polar diatom genomics, focusing on model organisms like Thalassiosira pseudonana and Fragilariopsis cylindrus. Her work frequently addresses how these microorganisms adapt to extreme environments through genetic and molecular mechanisms.

Analysis of her recent publications reveals a strong trajectory toward integrating advanced molecular techniques with ecological questions. Her research demonstrates increasing sophistication in applying CRISPR-based gene editing, ribosome profiling, and computational protein analysis to understand diatom adaptation. These studies collectively advance our understanding of how polar diatoms contribute to marine ecosystem productivity under changing environmental conditions, with particular emphasis on iron limitation and temperature adaptation.

Dr. Hopes has successfully secured competitive research funding, including a Leverhulme Trust grant for 'Molecular underpinnings of adaptive evolution in diatoms of polar oceans' (2018-2022) and an NRP Science Links Seed Fund project on 'Modification of codons as a SynBio tool for diatoms' (2017-2018). These projects highlight her leadership in developing molecular tools for diatom research and understanding evolutionary adaptation in extreme environments.

She maintains active collaborations with researchers across multiple institutions, as evidenced by her extensive co-authorship network. Her work has attracted significant attention in the scientific community, with multiple publications appearing in high-impact journals including Nature Microbiology and New Phytologist, and garnering attention from news outlets, social media, and academic platforms.