Justin Anderson

Justin Anderson serves as Professor and Department Head of Biological Sciences at Southeastern Louisiana University, actively leading the institution's participation in the HHMI Science Education Alliance-Phage Hunters Advancing Genomics and Evolutionary Science (SEA-PHAGES) program. He directs multiple undergraduate course sections annually across both in situ (phage discovery/microbiology) and in silico (phage genomics/bioinformatics) tracks.

His research integrates experimental and computational approaches in microbial evolution, with primary focus on bacteriophage genomics using Arthrobacter globiformis and Microbacterium foliorum hosts. Current teaching assignments demonstrate sustained investigation into phage diversity, host-pathogen interactions, and genomic annotation techniques through structured laboratory and computational workflows.

As Department Head, Anderson oversees academic operations while maintaining direct instructional roles—teaching 14–18 students per section (primarily freshmen/sophomores) with 2–4 weekly contact hours across five documented terms (Fall 2023–Fall 2025). His SEA-PHAGES leadership involves coordinating phage isolation, sequencing, and annotation pipelines within national collaborative frameworks, mentoring cohorts in authentic research methodologies from discovery through genomic analysis.