Jonathan Dickey Email & Phone Number

I am currently a post-doctoral scholar in the Jackrel Lab within the School of Biological Sciences at the University of California San Diego. Our lab focuses on a wide array of ecological and evolutionary based questions centered around the evolution of interactions between algae and bacteria. I’ve been able to work on characterizing plant-fungal interactions and their implications for carbon cycling. Much of my day-to-day work is very similar to the responsibilities of this position, including (1) develop, prepare, and training others on 16S, 18S, and ITS rRNA gene libraries for next-generation sequencing with Illumina platforms (2) customize and implement bioinformatic pipelines, and (3) and use novel multivariate statistical approaches as a tool to explain microbial composition, structure, and function. I am trained and familiar with handling microbial genomic, metagenomic, and transcriptomic data as well. I’ve had the opportunity to create and oversee numerous projects, taking them from initial conception to proof of-concept studies and, while customizing bioinformatic pipelines to handle our genomic datasets. These projects have given me experience at balancing input from multiple coauthors and making difficult “go/no go” decisions about research strategies. In this role, I have learned and excelled at coding in R, bash, and python languages while also successfully communicating novel statistical methods and results to collaborators and at national conferences. Further, I have had the opportunity to mentor numerous students on writing grants, designing experiments, to presenting results for a broad audience. Rising to meet the challenges throughout my academic experiences have improved my flexibility and comfort operating under pressure, both as a scientist and a project manager.I also see my role as a post-doctoral scholar as an opportunity to execute and practice leadership skills. It is a goal of mine to inspire and behave as a graduate student role model for my students. This is achieved by telling my own story in a relatable way and communicating positive aspects of scholarly research. I use this position to also communicate with undergraduate and graduate students that are interested in research opportunities and connecting them with collaborators within the San Diego region.