Our Team
Dr. Jesse Dillon - Principal Investigator
![headshot_jesse_dillon.jpg Jesse Dillon](/sites/default/files/images/headshot_jesse_dillon.jpg)
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 CSULB 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.
- Katherine Yarbrough, 2018-2020
Thesis: Sulfur Metabolism Functional Potential Varies Across Prokaryotes - Rebecca Hernandez, 2016-2019
Thesis: Impact of Wave Action and Rainfall on Incidence and Antibiotic Resistance of Total Coliforms in Southern California Beaches - Ellie Wenger, 2014-2019
Thesis: Decomposer Community Response to Sea Level Rise in A California Salt Marsh - Michelle (Misha) Levish, 2013-2018
Thesis: Bacteria Associated with Microbialites at Pisa Pond, Death Valley National Park, California - Jessica Roussos , 2013-2017
Thesis: Spatial and Temporal Variation in White Point, Palos Verdes Hydrothermal Sulfur Vent Microbial Mat Community Structure - Priscilla Miranda , 2010-2015
Thesis: Tightly-Coupled Sulfur-Cycling Microbial Mats Of The White Point Hydrothermal Vent Field, Ca: An Analog For Deep-Sea Vents - Nathan Mclain , 2011-2015
Thesis: Effects of Sea Level Rise on Decomposers in a Restored Coastal Salt Marsh - Lindsay Darjany, 2009-2013
Thesis: Characterization of Salt Marsh Microbial and Invertebrate Carbon Cyclers Using Stable Isotope Approaches - Erin Schaadt, 2009-2012
Thesis: Seasonal Diversity and Salinity Tolerance of Cultivable Heterotrophic Marine Bacteria Along the Pacific Coast of North America - Meghan Rodela, 2008-2012
Thesis: Characterization of Halophiles and Phages from The Cargill Solar Salt Works, Newark, Ca - Karen Jackson, 2004-2011
Thesis: The Diversity and Activity of Sulfate-Reducing Bacteria in Relationship to Soil Salinity In A Drained Salt Marsh