Holly Nance

Holly Nance serves as an Assistant Professor of Biology at the College of Coastal Georgia, actively teaching within the HHMI Science Education Alliance-Phage Hunters Advancing Genomics and Evolutionary Science (SEA-PHAGES) program. Her instructional focus spans both laboratory-based phage discovery and computational genomics coursework.

Her research interests center on phage biology, molecular microbiology, and genomic analysis, with specific expertise in host-pathogen interactions using Microbacterium foliorum, Arthrobacter globiformis, and Mycobacterium smegmatis bacterial hosts. She integrates authentic research experiences into undergraduate education through the SEA-PHAGES curriculum.

Dr. Nance has consistently taught multiple sections of BIOL 3500 (Phage Discovery) and BIOL 3501 (Phage Genomics/Bioinformatics) since Fall 2020, mentoring 9-24 students per section across junior and senior levels. Her courses involve intensive laboratory work (6 hours/week) or bioinformatics analysis (3 hours/week), contributing to national phage genomic databases through student-led research.