Colleen Barrett

Colleen Barrett serves as a Senior Lecturer and Lab Manager at Chatham University, actively teaching multiple sections of the SEA-PHAGES program courses (BIO 143L and BIO 144L) since Fall 2022 with assignments extending through Fall 2025. She instructs both in situ (phage discovery/microbiology) and in silico (phage genomics/bioinformatics) courses across 15+ sections annually, managing laboratory operations for undergraduate research.

Her research centers on Microbiology and Genomics, utilizing bacterial hosts Arthrobacter globiformis and Microbacterium foliorum for phage isolation and characterization. As evidenced by her SEA-PHAGES involvement, she integrates Bioinformatics and Evolutionary Science into curriculum design, emphasizing hands-on genomic analysis for freshman cohorts.

Barrett mentors 200+ students annually through structured laboratory instruction, overseeing all technical aspects of the phage discovery pipeline. Her role as Lab Manager ensures program continuity across sequential academic terms, with consistent focus on microbial ecology and genomic annotation workflows for novice researchers.