Jennifer Laing

Professor Jennifer Laing serves in the Biology Department at the Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC), Essex Campus, where she acts as Primary Instructor for the SEA-PHAGES course (BIOL 230) during Fall Semester 2025. She leads an in situ phage discovery program with 18 sophomore students using Arthrobacter globiformis as the host bacterium, conducting 6 weekly hours of laboratory instruction.

Her research centers on bacteriophage genomics and evolutionary science through the HHMI Science Education Alliance-Phage Hunters Advancing Genomics and Evolutionary Science (SEA-PHAGES) initiative. This program provides undergraduate students with authentic research experiences spanning phage isolation, genomic analysis, and bioinformatics, emphasizing hands-on microbiology education and scientific discovery.

Professor Laing actively participates in the national SEA-PHAGES network, with scheduled involvement in the 2025 Phage Discovery Workshops (June 21-28 and July 12-18) and the 2026 SEA Symposium (April 24-26) and Faculty Meeting (June 5-8). Her work supports the program's mission to integrate cutting-edge genomic research into undergraduate curricula while advancing bacteriophage science.