Rate My Professor Jorge Bonilla

Jorge Bonilla is a Professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. He holds an M.S. and Ph.D. in Microbiology. Bonilla serves as a voting member at large on the Faculty Compensation Committee of the Faculty Senate for the 2023-2026 term. He teaches undergraduate courses such as BIOL 160 General Biology Freshman Research Focus and BIOL 312 Microbial Ecology. His academic profile on ResearchGate documents 55 publications and 1,512 citations. Research interests encompass molecular biology, parasitology, microbiology, water quality, and infectious diseases.

Bonilla's scholarly work includes serving as corresponding author for 'Quantification of Protozoa and Viruses from Small Water Volumes,' published in 2015 in the Journal of Environmental and Public Health, which describes a filtration-based method to concentrate and quantify microbial pathogens from small water samples for environmental monitoring. He co-authored 'Complete Genome Sequences of 38 Gordonia sp. Bacteriophages' in Genome Announcements in 2017, providing genomic data for novel phages isolated by students. Another key publication is 'Bacteriophages of Gordonia spp. Display a Spectrum of Diversity and Genetic Relationships,' published in Viruses in 2017, analyzing genetic diversity among Gordonia phages from the SEA-PHAGES program. Bonilla directs SEA-PHAGES sections in General Biology, guiding students in phage discovery from soil using alternate Actinobacteria hosts like Gordonia to increase isolation success and phage genomic diversity. His contributions support student research training and advance understanding of bacteriophage biology and environmental microbiology.