Erica Harris is an African- and Native-American female (pronouns: she/her). Dr. Harris holds a B.A. in Biochemistry and Cellular Biology from Rice University and Ph.D. in Population Biology, Ecology and Evolution from Emory University. Dr. Harris’s current research interests in the role of animal microbiomes in parasitic resistance and kin recognition. Her current work is focused on the role of antibiotic resistant gene transfer between bacteria in microbial communities and STEM pedagogy. Dr. Harris enjoys helping students reach their full potential through various student-centered learning approaches. Her teaching philosophy is to cultivate a community of critical thinkers using evidence-based work. Dr. Harris’s work has been included into peer-reviewed journals, course curricula, STEM pedagogical workshops, community outreach and a children’s science book. At Agnes Scott College, she teaches the graduate program courses of: Integrative Biology I and II (BIO 510/BIO 510L and BIO 511/BIO 511L), Microbiology with lab (BIO 601) and Genetics of Human Diseases (MDS 611).