Dr. Sazama graduated from the University of Sioux Falls in 2013 with a B.S. in Biology. He then spent the next year at Sanford USD Medical Center in the Medical Laboratory Science internship program where he worked on developing clinical skills while working in a hospital lab. From there he went to the University of South Dakota where he earned his Ph.D. in Biology while working on the presence and effects of Wolbachia on aquatic insects. Eric began working as an adjunct professor for USF in the summer of 2017. After a few years of adjunct teaching and working full time as a Medical Laboratory Scientist at Sanford in Sioux Falls, he was offered a full time faculty position at USF in the Fall of 2021. He currently lives in Sioux Falls with his wife Naomi, and their son Newton.