People
The Dickinson Lab strives to uphold the UC San Diego Principles of Community. We support all people, no matter their background, and we believe that everyone has a fundamental right to equality, justice, life, liberty, happiness, and the scientific pursuit of truth. We have astounding challenges to address over the next several decades: curing deadly diseases, feeding a rising global population, preventing extinction of species, developing new technology, and understanding the natural world. Solving these complex problems will not be possible without building a strong community that supports scientists from all walks of life. We are committed to sharing our core values and doing the important work needed to develop and sustain a fair and thriving scientific community.
Alexandra Jazz Dickinson
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
Jazz Dickinson received her PhD in chemistry from University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill. She conducted her post-doctoral research in developmental plant biology with Prof. Philip Benfey at Duke University. She has also served as a visiting scientist at Stanford University and is a recipient of the Arnold O. Beckman Postdoctoral Fellowship Award, the Boka W. Hadzija Award for Distinguished University Service at UNC-CH, and the Ruth L. Kirschstein Graduate Fellowship Award. She joined the UCSD faculty in 2020 to pursue research in small molecule regulation of development.
Jie Chu
POSDOCTORAL SCHOLAR
Jie is a postdoctoral scholar in the Biological Sciences department at UC San Diego. She earned her PhD from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2024. Jie is interested in using chemical imaging to discover novel small molecules that regulate plant stem cell development.
Olivia Ottone (they/them)
POSDOCTORAL SCHOLAR
Olivia is a postdoctoral scholar in the Biological Sciences department at UCSD. They earned their PhD from Thomas Jefferson University in 2024, studying the mechanisms of, and intervention strategies to mitigate, intervertebral disc degeneration. Olivia is currently investigating small molecules that promote growth in crop species and retinal signaling.
Nathan Stutzman
PhD CANDIDATE
Nathan is a PhD candidate in the department of biological sciences at UC San Diego. Nathan is interested in uncovering the mechanisms of de novo root organogenesis in Arabidopsis as a response to wounding.
Abigail Tripka
PhD CANDIDATE
Abby is a Chemistry PhD candidate in the chemistry and biochemistry department at UC San Diego. Abby is working to uncover the chemical regulators controlling plant root development.
Andrea Sama
PhD CANDIDATE
Andrea is a PhD candidate in the Biological Sciences at UC San Diego. Andrea has a bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry from Wellesley College. She is interested in understanding the mechanisms of root development, and is focusing on how environmental stress impacts metabolite profiles in Maize and Arabidopsis roots.
Gabrielle Meza
PhD CANDIDATE
Gabrielle is a PhD candidate in the Biological Sciences department at UC San Diego. She received her B.S in Genetics and Plant Biology from UC Berkeley in 2020. Gabrielle is utilizing algae to uncover the biosynthesis and regulation of the small molecule, retinal, within plants to better understand the growth and development of root systems in plants.
Katreena Gundran
STAFF RESEARCH ASSOCIATE
Katreena is a staff researcher and lab manager at the Dickinson lab, receiving her B.S. in General Biology from UC San Diego. She is working to understand how abiotic stresses and various small molecules have an affect on plant growth and development in Setaria viridis (Green Foxtail), Maize, and Arabidopsis.
Gerardo Carrera Castaño
VISITING SCHOLAR
Gerardo is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Global Research Fellow based between the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid and UCSD. The aim of his current Fellowship is to elucidate novel signalling mechanisms governing nutrient balance. He completed his doctorate in 2023 on mechanisms and strategies to fine-tune seed vigor and stress tolerance at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid under the supervision of Prof. Luis Oñate Sánchez. Following this, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher investigating methylation readers in flowering and stress responses in the group of Drs José Antonio Jarillo and Manuel Piñeiro in collaboration with Dr. José Antonio Abelenda at the Spanish National Research Council.
Stephanie Encarnacion
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHER
Stephanie is a third year undergraduate pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Microbiology. Stephanie is interested in understanding metabolite impacts on plant root responses to abiotic stresses such as salinity. She plans to later pursue a PhD in vaccine research.
Claudia Ling
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHER
Wendy Cui
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHER
Richard Nguyen
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHER
Past Members
Thank you for all your work!
Postdocs/Graduate Students
Tao Zhang
POSTDOC
Rupak Timilsina
POSTDOC
Casey Cheng
MASTER’S STUDENT
Amman Klair
MASTER’S STUDENT
Visiting Scholars/Staff
Shihong Luo – Staff Researcher
Samantha Dyer – Staff Researcher
Adriana Garay Arroyo – Visiting Scholar (2023)
Joseph Stagg – Lab Manager