Congratulations to Dr. Lee Hughes, associate professor of biology and Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies in the UNT College of Science, who was recently awarded the 2024 Carski Award from the American Society for Microbiology.

"I have always been grateful for the supportive and welcoming community of microbiology educators fostered by the American Society for Microbiology," said Dr. Hughes. "I am very honored to be recognized for my education work by my peers."

A proud first-generation college student, Dr. Hughes earned his bachelor's degree in English, a master's degree in Biology, and a doctorate in Microbiology, all from UNT. He joined the faculty here in 2000 and has regularly taught introductory biology and microbiology courses throughout his career in higher education. He consistently seeks to improve the learning environment for his students and has incorporated active learning strategies in his face-to-face classes and has also developed fully-online microbiology lecture courses.

The ASM Carski Award for Undergraduate Education recognizes an educator for outstanding teaching of microbiology to undergraduate students and for encouraging them to subsequent achievement. The award is given in memory of Theodore Carski (1903-2003), who founded the Baltimore Biological Laboratory, Inc. in the 1930s. The lab was later acquired by the engineering firm Becton Dickinson. Carski served as ASM Treasurer from 1970-1975, and in 1964, he and his wife established a foundation and an endowment to support this award.

Dr. Hughes believes in the importance of early research experiences for biology majors and serves as director for UNT's Phage Hunters Advancing Genomics and Evolutionary Science (PHAGES) program, an affiliate of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science Education Alliance. His research activities include both biology education research and microbiology research on bacteriophages that infect the genus Streptomyces.

Dr. Hughes got his start in biology education research through the ASM Scholars-in-Residence Program. He is a past organizing committee chair for ASMCUE, a former ASM Distinguished Lecturer, a past-president of the Texas Branch-ASM, and the recipient of the 2022-2023 Eugene and Millicent Goldschmidt Faculty Education Award from the Texas Branch-ASM. He is a currently a member of the ASM MicroBio-LEAP Task Force.