Marie Fogarty

Marie Fogarty is a Lecturer in the Biology department at Durham Technical Community College, actively teaching in the HHMI SEA-PHAGES program since 2015. She instructs laboratory sections for BIO 111 (General Biology), BIO 112, and BIO 280 (Phage Genomics), integrating authentic phage discovery and genomic analysis into undergraduate curricula.

Her research focuses on bacteriophage isolation using Gordonia hosts (G. terrae, G. rubripertincta) and Mycobacterium smegmatis, emphasizing educational applications in microbiology and bioinformatics. She develops hands-on protocols for student-led phage characterization and genomic annotation within the SEA-PHAGES network.

Fogarty has mentored over 200 undergraduate students across 15+ course sections, with class sizes ranging from 7-19 students per term. Her teaching model dedicates 4-8 weekly lab hours to SEA-PHAGES activities, including dual-enrollment high school participants through Durham Tech's Middle College program.

She collaborates with colleagues including Steven Leadon, Catherine Ward, and Alex Broussard within the HHMI-funded SEA-PHAGES consortium, participating in national workshops and symposia through 2026. Future engagements include Fall 2025 BIO111 sections and the 2025 Phage Genomics Workshop.