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Dr. Jesse Dillon - Principal Investigator

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Professor of Biological Sciences, Department Chair

Dr. Dillon received his B.A. in Environmental Sciences from Wesleyan University in 1994 and his Ph.D. in Microbial Ecology from the University of Oregon in 2000 working in the laboratory of Dr. Richard Castenholz. He was a Postdoctoral Fellow in Microbiology & Astrobiology working with Dr. David Stahl at the University of Washington until joining the É«ÖÐÉ« faculty in January, 2004.

Dr. Dillon currently teaches a variety of courses including Microbial Ecology, Marine Microbiology and General Biology. Starting Fall 2022, he is also Department Chair of the Biological Sciences Department.

His research interests include the study of the diversity, physiology of Bacteria and Archaea in habitats ranging from coastal salt marshes and sulfur vents to hypersaline lakes and salterns. In particular his research has focused on photosynthetic and chemosynthetic microbial mats and halophilic prokaryotes and the viruses that infect them.

Associated Faculty

Dr. Shereen Sabet

Research Scientist and Lecturer

Dr. Sabet received her Ph.D. in Microbiology & Immunology from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2003, was a post-doctoral research at University of California, Irvine and was an NSF Minority Postdoctoral Fellow in the Dillon lab. Her research focuses on the viruses that infect halophilic prokaryotes. Dr. Sabet has taught a variety of courses in biology, including microbiology, virology, and immunology.

M.S. Biology/Microbiology Students

• Natalie Cokel
• Lauren Cross

Undergraduate Students

Meghan Winzler

Meghan is a Microbiology major and former RISE Associate and Fellow. Her project focuses on characterizing halophilic viruses isolated from extreme aquatic environments and classifying their physico-chemical properties.

Cecilia Heredia

Cecilia is a Microbiology major a past participant in the HSI-STEM Summer Bridge to the Beach Program, and currently a BUILD Program Scholar. She is co-leading the salt marsh sediment amendment impact study in the Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge.

Alexis Guardiola

Alexis is a Microbiology major and RISE Fellow. She is co-leading the salt marsh sediment amendment impact study in the Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge.

Miguel Ramirez

Miguel is a Biology (Molecular, Cell Biology & Physiology) major and LSAMP Fellow. His project focuses on characterizing halophilic viruses isolated from extreme aquatic environments and classifying their physico-chemical properties.

Victor Flores

Victor is a Microbiology major and BUILD Fellow. His project is taking a bioinformatic approach where I am looking at antibiotic resistance genes from known isolates and cross referencing them and their analogs across different databases. 

Meleia Vyrak

Meleia is a Microbiology major and BUILD Fellow. She is characterizing antibiotic resistant coliform bacteria isolated from local beaches and tidal channels using biochemical and molecular sequencing approaches.

Lindsay Park

Lindsay is a participant in the UROP program and is assisting with the salt marsh sediment amendment impact study in the Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge.