Fernando Nieto

Fernando Nieto is a Professor of Biology in the Department of Biological Sciences at SUNY Old Westbury, actively teaching SEA-PHAGES program courses since 2017 through scheduled sections in 2025. He serves as primary instructor for both in situ phage discovery and in silico genomics/bioinformatics coursework.

His research specializes in:

• Microbial Ecology of bacteriophages
• Phage genomics and bioinformatics analysis
• Host-pathogen interactions using Mycobacterium smegmatis and Arthrobacter globiformis
• Undergraduate research education methodologies

Professor Nieto teaches BS211 Basic Biology II, BS2401 Phage Discovery, and BS4474 Microbial Ecology courses with weekly commitments of 3-6 hours. His sections accommodate 10-25 students per class, primarily freshmen in discovery courses and juniors/seniors in advanced ecology modules. Course formats alternate between laboratory-based phage isolation and computational genomic analysis.

He demonstrates consistent commitment to undergraduate research training through the SEA-PHAGES program, instructing over 300 students in hands-on phage characterization. His teaching spans multiple bacterial hosts and integrates both wet-lab and computational approaches to microbial ecology education.