About Dr. Taylor Crooks

Dr. Taylor Crooks earned his B.S. in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign and completed his Ph.D. in the Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology (MICaB) program at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. He joined Northern State University in 2025 as an Assistant Professor of Biology, where he teaches both introductory (MICR 231) upper-level (BIOL 331) microbiology courses.

Dr. Crooks’ research focuses on drug discovery and microbial gene responses, with an emphasis on understanding how human pathogens adapt to chemical stress and how those responses can be leveraged to identify new therapeutic strategies. He is committed to integrating undergraduate researchers into all stages of the scientific process.

Outside the lab, Dr. Crooks enjoys 3D printing, all things computer‑related, and maintaining a tea-drinking habit that his students insist qualifies as a controlled substance