Knipovich graduated from the Saint Petersburg Imperial University in 1886 and went on to defend his master's thesis "Materials for the study of Ascothoracida" in 1892.

He then, in Autumn 1901, drew a chart of currents based on the data gathered on water temperature and salinity and identified several warm streams.

In 1902 he was the first to draw a conclusion on a relationship between distribution and migration of commercial fish in the Barents Sea and warm currents.

[5] His request to carry out a scientific and fisheries related expedition to the Azov Sea and secure the ship "Besstrashny" was approved by Lenin personally.

[7] Between 1926 and 1927 he was a major proponent of German-Soviet cooperation in the studies of the Barents Sea and was heavily involved in the Polar Commission of the USSR Academy of Sciences.