Natane Miles

Natane Miles is an Assistant Researcher at Northwest Indian College's Salish Sea Research Center (SSRC), serving as Additional Instructor for the HHMI Science Education Alliance-Phage Hunters Advancing Genomics and Evolutionary Science (SEA-PHAGES) Summer 2024 internship under Primary Instructor John Rombold. This intensive in situ program involves 5 students conducting phage discovery research using Microbacterium foliorum as host bacteria through 20 weekly hours of laboratory work.

Miles' research centers on bacteriophage isolation and characterization within Pacific Northwest marine ecosystems, integrating genomic analysis and evolutionary biology to explore viral biodiversity and host-pathogen dynamics. Their work directly contributes to national phage genomic databases while advancing environmental microbiology in the Salish Sea region.

No scientific awards were documented in the source materials.

As part of the SEA-PHAGES initiative, Miles mentors undergraduate students in hands-on microbiology techniques including phage isolation, DNA sequencing, and bioinformatic annotation. The program operates under HHMI funding to strengthen science education through authentic research experiences, with Miles facilitating critical skill development in genomic analysis.

Miles collaborates through the Salish Sea Research Center, which focuses on interdisciplinary environmental studies relevant to indigenous communities and coastal habitats of the Pacific Northwest.