Yiwen Fang, Carl Urbinati and Gary Kuleck are mentoring 24 freshmen in a year-long authentic research project sponsored by an award from the the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Science Education Alliance (HHMI-SEA).
The 3-year SEA Phage Program involves freshmen in the isolation and characterization of bacteriophage from the Ballona Wetlands and vicinity. The research goals are to begin to understand the complex biology and ecology of the most abundant living entity on the planet. The didactic goals are to strengthen undergraduate education, promote careers in science and serve as a model for involving undergraduates in research at the earliest possible opportunity.