In this age of big data even scientists can struggle to keep up with the massive amounts of information available to them. With exponential advances in data storage and computation new fields of science are opening up and new types of scientific professionals are emerging. Bioinformatics is a rapidly growing field using computer programming to organise, analyse and interpret large scale datasets in new an exciting ways.

In an interview with In Situ Science, bioinformatician and marine ecologist Dr Tim Kahlke introduces us to the power of programming in science, but also talks openly about the responsible use of this power. Tim uses large datasets of bacterial genomes to understand the responses of microbial communities to climate change. He also makes a mean Knödel and is maybe a little bit freaked out about Skynet taking over the planet.

Follow Tim on twitter @TimKahlke and visit the Climate Change Cluster website.

Music: ‘Strange Stuff’ by Sonic Wallpaper – www.sonicwallpaper.bandcamp.com