Phage Education Resources
Jump to: Undergrad Application | High School Application | Teacher Workshops | Phage in a Box | Classroom Resources | SciEd Research
Lectures
Dr. Graham Hatfull's iBio Seminar: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
Phagehunting Opportunities
Undergraduate Students
Undegraduate students can discover and characterize novel bacteriophages in the research lab of Dr. Graham F. Hatfull as members of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professorship Phagehunting Program. As students characterize their bacteriophages, they can develop critical skills that allow them to investigate questions of interest about the phages and their hosts. To be considered, students are asked to complete the application linked here and return it, along with school transcripts to Debbie Jacobs-Sera (djs@pitt.edu), Program Coordinator.
Key research and educational goals are described in the paper, Exploring the Mycobacteriophage Metaproteome: Phage Genomics as an Educational Platform.
Key Program Features:
Undergraduate Student Application
High School Students
High school students can discover and characterize novel bacteriophages in the research lab of Dr. Graham F. Hatfull as members of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professorship Phagehunting Program. Students can volunteer after school for the program beginning in mid-September and running through the school year. To be considered, students are asked to complete the application linked here and return it, along with school transcripts to Debbie Jacobs-Sera (djs@pitt.edu), Program Coordinator.
Refer to this article for more information about the program, its research process, and its educational goals. The program allows students to work in the lab a minimum of one afternoon a week, Monday – Thursday, with an undergraduate mentor. Checkout the key features at the undergraduate level for more information.
High School Student Application
UPDATE — 9.26.2011 — While completed applications are continuously accepted, the Fall 2011 program is currently at capacity. New applicants' names will be placed on a waiting list, and applicants will be notified if and when positions open up.
Phagehunting Teacher Workshops
Since 2005, the Phagehunting Program has hosted workshops to encourage teachers to engage in the science of mycobacteriophage biology. Through these workshops teachers have learned to find phages and analyze their genomes. Our 2011 Workshop ran from June 27 - July 1, 2011, and had more than 25 teachers attend. Look for our 2012 dates, coming in January!
Classroom Opportunities
Phage in a Box
We have made some modifications to the "Phage in a Box" program. Teachers who have attended our Summer Teacher Workshops are eligible. Phage in a Box will include materials to process 35 samples. The rationale for limiting the number of samples is to provide you the opportunity to find at least one phage each year while minimizing supply costs. In order to maximize 35 sample processing power, you will need to develop strategies for high yield opportunities. Those strategies could include pooling of samples, collection of samples from "high yield" sources, or sampling criteria such as time of year, depth of soil, or incubation time. Our next intiative is to utilize the new techniques and products available for you to establish a mini-lab in your classroom to purify, amplify, and extract DNA from your phage so that it may be seqeunced.
Requests for Phage in a Box will be handled on a first come-first served basis this year. Requests are found at the link below and require a research plan for how you will maximize phage yield and student participation. A minimum of three weeks from the date we receive the request is required.
Teacher Resources
Here you can find the PowerPoint presentation we use when we visit schools for outreach activities. It introduces the rationale for the phagehunting program, and describes some details of the phagehunting process.
Intro PowerPoint as .pptx | Intro PowerPoint as .ppt
Follow the link below to browse our available protocols related to the phagehunting process. Protocols are being revised and updated, so new information will be posted regularly.
Science Education Research
The PHIRE program (PhageHunting - Integrating Research and Education) applies the same rigor from our scientific goals to our educational goals.