Sean attended Carleton College for his undergraduate degree in Biology with a minor in Biochemistry. While in college, Sean got involved in summer research in fruit flies and plants and was hooked, deciding to pursue graduate school. He earned a Ph.D. from Stanford University working on the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae studying the interplay between epigenetics and metabolic signaling with Dr. Ashby Morrison. His postdoctoral work at the University of Georgia with Dr. David Garfinkel focused on the Ty1 retrotransposon in yeast. Sean currently investigates molecular mechanisms of transposition and restriction of Ty1 and how these insights apply to related transposons and viruses. Dr. Beckwith opens his lab in the Biology Department at Hope College in summer 2024.

If you are an undergraduate student interested in conducting research with Dr. Beckwith, please see the “Join Us” page.