Dr. Jill Felker serves as an assistant teaching professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Penn State Berks. Her research focuses on emerging contaminants in the environment and their impact and relationship with environmental microbial communities. She uses her diverse background in environmental science, biology, microbiology, biochemistry, and engineering to develop new approaches, models, and techniques to help study antibiotic-resistant pathogens in the Blue Marsh Watershed in Reading, Pennsylvania.
Her primary research focuses on environmental antibiotic resistance and the anthropogenic drivers that may pressure ecological conditions to favor antibiotic-resistant pathogens. Dr. Felker examines water quality and uses molecular and microbiological techniques to determine if bacterial isolates can be classified as superbugs (bacteria resistant to multiple antibiotics). She also studies toxic algae blooms and microplastics found in the environment. Most of her research findings can have human health implications, and she prioritizes documenting and sharing those findings with the scientific community and the public.
