Lynn Lewis

Lynn Lewis is a Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Mary Washington, actively engaged in the HHMI Science Education Alliance-Phage Hunters Advancing Genomics and Evolutionary Science (SEA-PHAGES) program since at least 2014. She teaches foundational courses in phage discovery and genomic analysis, mentoring hundreds of undergraduate students through authentic research experiences.

Her research focuses on:

• Microbial ecology using Bacillus thuringiensis as primary host system
• Phage isolation and characterization techniques
• Bioinformatics pipelines for phage genome annotation
• Evolutionary dynamics in bacteriophage populations

Professor Lewis has instructed 12+ sections of Biol 125 (In situ: phage discovery) and Biol 126 (In silico: bioinformatics) courses between 2014-2024, consistently teaching 6-hour weekly sessions with 16-20 predominantly freshman students. Her pedagogical approach integrates wet-lab microbiology with computational genomics through the national SEA-PHAGES framework.

As a core faculty member in this HHMI-funded initiative, she contributes to a collaborative network advancing undergraduate science education through authentic research. Her teaching methodology emphasizes hands-on phage hunting and genomic analysis, preparing students for advanced work in molecular biology and computational science.