Renee Geck

Renee Geck serves as an Assistant Professor of Biology at Gonzaga University, actively contributing to the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Science Education Alliance-Phage Hunters Advancing Genomics and Evolutionary Science (SEA-PHAGES) program. Her role focuses on integrating hands-on bacteriophage research into undergraduate curricula through nationally coordinated laboratory courses.

Her research interests span microbiology, phage genomics, and bioinformatics, with emphasis on experimental techniques using Mycobacterium smegmatis and Arthrobacter globiformis hosts. She develops pedagogical approaches that bridge wet-lab phage discovery with computational genomic analysis, fostering evolutionary science literacy among students.

Currently instructing BIOL.105L.04 (Fall 2025) and BIOL.207L.02 (Spring 2025), she guides 16 students per course through 3-hour weekly sessions covering phage isolation, genome annotation, and bioinformatics. As part of the SEA-PHAGES network, she participates in national workshops and symposia to advance collaborative undergraduate research models.

Scientific Awards: No awards documented in available sources.

Renee Geck mentors undergraduate researchers within the SEA-PHAGES framework, overseeing projects from phage discovery through genomic characterization. Her institutional support includes HHMI-funded program resources and access to national sequencing facilities, though specific grant details aren't published on her profile.

She operates within the SEA-PHAGES consortium's infrastructure, utilizing shared platforms like PhagesDB and Genome Exchange. Her teaching lab functions as a node in this national network, connecting Gonzaga University students with researchers across 150+ institutions for collaborative phage genomics projects.