Kristen Butela

Kristen Butela serves as a Laboratory Course Developer at the University of Pittsburgh, specializing in bacteriophage research education through the HHMI Science Education Alliance-Phage Hunters Advancing Genomics and Evolutionary Science (SEA-PHAGES) program. She has been the primary instructor for over 40 course sections since 2014, teaching both wet-lab phage discovery (BIOSC 0058) and computational genomics (BIOSC 0067/0068) courses across multiple academic terms through Summer 2024.

Her research and teaching expertise centers on Microbiology and Phage Genomics, with significant contributions to Bioinformatics education and Microbial Genetics methodologies. She specializes in host-pathogen interactions using Gordonia terrae, Mycobacterium smegmatis, and related bacterial hosts, guiding students through complete phage characterization pipelines from isolation to genomic annotation.

Dr. Butela has mentored over 500 undergraduate students across diverse academic levels, with course sections typically enrolling 10-24 students meeting 1-3 times weekly. Her instructional approach integrates authentic research experiences into curriculum design, emphasizing hands-on techniques in phage discovery, host range determination, and genome analysis within the SEA-PHAGES framework.