Chris McKnight

Dr. Chris McKnight is a Research Fellow at the University of St Andrews' School of Biology, affiliated with the Sea Mammal Research Unit and Scottish Oceans Institute. His research focuses on marine mammal physiology, diving adaptations, and the application of biomedical engineering techniques like functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). He investigates oxygen perception in seals, hemodynamic responses in freedivers, and physiological impacts of animal tagging. McKnight has been awarded the Frederic Fairfield Memorial Award (2015 runner-up and 2017 winner) and the SMRU Consulting 10th Anniversary Prize.

Research Interests

• Marine mammal physiology and diving adaptations
• Optical technologies for non-invasive physiological monitoring
• Animal welfare and tagging impact mitigation
• Extreme environment physiology in humans and marine species

Key Projects

• Developed a self-calibrated pulse oximetry algorithm for freedivers
• Reduced tagging impacts using computational fluid dynamics
• Explored fNIRS applications in dolphin brain activation

His work bridges marine biology, engineering, and human performance, with over 28 peer-reviewed publications. He supervises PhD student Eva-Maria Bønnelycke and contributes to grants like the BBSRC-funded remote blood-sampling device project.