Brenda Hammer

Brenda Hammer is a Lecturer in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh, actively instructing SEA-PHAGES program courses since 2019 with ongoing Fall 2025 sections scheduled.

Her expertise centers on bacteriophage genomics and microbiology, utilizing Gordonia terrae and Gordonia rubripertincta hosts for student research. She teaches integrated wet-lab (In situ) and computational (In silico) methodologies, providing authentic research experiences in phage discovery and genomic analysis.

Dr. Hammer maintains a substantial teaching load, instructing 4-8 sections annually with 14-20 students per section across multiple semesters. Her Fall 2019 term included 80 students across four BIOSC 0058 sections, while Spring 2019 involved 65 students in four BIOSC 0068 sections.

She collaborates with colleagues including Kristen Butela and participates in the national SEA-PHAGES network, contributing to HHMI-funded undergraduate research pedagogy in phage genomics.