Jordan Parker

Education

B.S. Microbiology, Cal Poly, SLO
Ph.D. Molecular Biology, UCLA

Research Interests

bacteriophage biology, microbiology, microbial genomics, environmental microbiology, microbial ecology, host-microbe interactions, biology education research, scientific literacy

Research

My research program is centered on environmental microbiology, using microbial genomics, metagenomics, and phage–microbe interactions to explore fundamental ecological and evolutionary questions. Environmental microbes drive nutrient cycling, plant–microbe interactions, carbon turnover, and ecosystem stability. Bacteriophages further shape these communities through predation, lysogeny, and horizontal gene transfer. Together, microbial communities and their phages represent a powerful, interconnected system for investigating biodiversity, genome evolution, and microbial ecology. 

My vision at Cal Poly is to establish a student-centered research group that integrates phage genomics, environmental microbiology, and microbial community sequencing, positioning students as active contributors to publishable science while advancing the university’s applied, interdisciplinary strengths. 

In parallel, I conduct biology education research that examines how students learn microbiology and genomics through authentic research experiences. My scholarship focuses on developing and evaluating instructional approaches that promote scientific literacy, critical thinking, and evidence-based decision-making while expanding access to meaningful undergraduate research opportunities.

Publications

https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=bBc9TGgAAAAJ