Brett Wisniewski Joins Department of Biological Sciences

Brett Wisniewski aims to raise students' interest in biological sciences.

"I feel gratified when I'm able to teach or mentor or help other people learn things," said Wisniewski, special faculty in biological sciences at Carnegie Mellon University. "You see someone come into the lab not knowing how to hold a pipette or do experiments, and then you see them get some really cool data and have their own project a year later. It's so rewarding."

Wisniewski's interest in teaching started as an undergraduate peer tutor. He became more involved in education as a Ph.D. student at Northwestern University, where he investigated the mechanics of mitochondria, organelles which provide energy for cells, in yeast cells. He also mentored undergraduate students and taught multiple courses, including one on human genetics for students who were not biology majors.

"I enjoy courses where I can take topics and make them interesting and appealing to a more general audience," Wisniewski said. "It was a really fun challenge taking a subject that I think is fascinating and framing it in a way that keeps it true to the science but makes it exciting to someone who might not otherwise be interested in biology."

Wisniewski joined the Carnegie Mellon Department of Biological Sciences in fall of 2023, where he co-taught modern biology, an introductory course for non-majors, with Gordon Rule, professor of biological sciences and Adam Linstedt, professor of biological sciences. He also assisted with the accompany lab, working with Assistant Teaching Professor Lynley Doonan and Special Lecturer Amber LaPeruta. In spring of 2024 he added co-teaching cell and development with Associate Teaching Professor Emily Drill. The upper-level course focuses on methods such as microscopy and real-time polymerase chain reaction, which is used to investigate genes.

In the future, Wisniewski said he plans to create a course that predominantly focuses on microscopy and microbiology, where he would bring in some of his past experiences investigating yeast and mitochondria.

"I know a lot of students interested in microbiology, especially in the Health Professions Program, so I think tying together microbiology, yeast and microscopy would be really great," Wisniewski said. "If I was able to show people how to do live cell imaging and look at organelles over time, that would be even better."

Wisniewski hopes to develop a science writing course tailored to students with primary majors in the Mellon College of Science. He said the experience would help students communicate with their fellow scientists and non-scientists.

Veronica Hinman, department head of biological sciences and Dr. Frederick A. Schwertz Distinguished Professor of Life Sciences, said that Wisniewski's teaching will benefit the department.

"It's been wonderful to have him here," Hinman said. "We have a lot of teaching needs, and he's teaching modern biology, a really important course. I want engineers and computer scientists out in the world knowing what biology is, and Brett is helping to make sure that happens."