Rob Knight (biologist)

{{Short description|New Zealand computational microbiologist}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2024}}

{{Infobox academic

| name = Rob Knight

| discipline = Computational microbiology

| image = Congreso Futuro 2020 - Rob Knight 01.jpg

| alt = Rob Knight wearing a light-coloured shirt, striped tie, and grey suit, standing onstage, holding a presentation remote controller in front of a shimmery, multicoloured background, appearing to speak into a headset microphone

| caption = Knight in 2020

| workplaces = University of California, San Diego

| birth_place = Dunedin, New Zealand

| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1976}}

}}

Rob Knight (born 1976–77){{cite news |url=http://www.nature.com/news/microbes-en-masse-the-sequencing-machine-1.10985 |title=Microbes en masse: The sequencing machine |work=Nature |first=Virginia |last=Gewin |date=11 July 2012 |quote=35-year-old, Knight}} is a computational microbiologist and professor at the University of California, San Diego. His research involves the development of laboratory and computational techniques to characterize the microbiomes of humans, animals, and the environment.

Knight completed a BSc in biochemistry at the University of Otago and a PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Princeton University in 2001,{{Cite web|url=https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-knight-65a1b5aa/|title=Rob Knight profile|last=|first=|date=|website=LinkedIn|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=}} where his thesis was "The Origin and Evolution of the Genetic Code."{{Cite web|url=http://jeffreybland.com/knowledgebase/june-2016-issue-rob-knight/|title=June 2016 Issue: Rob Knight|last=Bland|first=Jeffrey|date=June 2016|website=|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=24 November 2018}}{{cite web|last1=Gibb|first1=John|title=Prestigious award delights scientist|url=http://www.odt.co.nz/on-campus/university-otago/49848/prestigious-award-delights-scientist|website=The Otago Daily Times|accessdate=13 February 2016|date=April 2009}} Until 2014, he was a professor at the University of Colorado Boulder.{{cite news |url=http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2015/jan/11/ucsd-hire-knight/ |title=UCSD hires star biologist Rob Knight |work=The San Diego Union-Tribune | first=Gary |last=Robbins |date=11 January 2015}}

In 2015, he published the popular science book Follow Your Gut: The Enormous Impact of Tiny Microbes, together with science journalist Brendan Buhler.{{cite web|title=Ideas worth spreading about microbes: review of "Follow Your Gut" by Rob Knight|url=http://www.gutmicrobiotaforhealth.com/en/ideas-worth-spreading-microbes-review-follow-gut-rob-knight/|website=Gut Microbiota News Watch|date=11 May 2016 |accessdate=26 July 2016}}