Chloe Skinner (UWM ’24), a Biology major and Chemistry minor, has been a microbiology research assistant in Dr. Alita Burmeister’s lab in the Biological Sciences Department since the Fall of 2022. In Dr. Burmeister’s lab, Chloe has been working on bacteriophage resistance in Escherichia coli. Bacteriophage or “phage” are viruses that infect bacteria. Phage could be a potential alternative to antibiotics, but some bacteria can be resistant to phage. Specifically, Chloe has been researching the resistance mechanism known as mucoid and how it may impact phage therapy. She presented her research in the UWM Undergraduate Research Symposium and the UWM Biological Sciences Symposium where she won Best Undergraduate Poster Award in Microbiology. Chloe has been a SURF recipient since her junior year of college. As a SERA recipient, she looks forward to sharing her excitement for undergraduate research with other students. This has been one of Chloe’s greatest accomplishments since being a student at UWM. Feel free to reach her at skinne34@uwm.edu if you have any questions regarding Biology and undergraduate research. If she is not working with phage or preparing for medical school, you can find her reading a book outside.