People
Shaun McKinnie
2004 - 2008 B.Sc. in Biochemistry (Honors) - University of Alberta
2010 - 2015 Ph.D. Organic Chemistry - University of Alberta (with Prof. John C. Vederas)
2016 - 2019 Postdoctoral Scholar - Scripps Institution of Oceanography,
University of California, San Diego (with Prof. Bradley S. Moore)
2019 - present Assistant Professor - University of California, Santa Cruz
Jackson Baumgartner
PhD student
Hometown: San Luis Obispo, California
Degrees: Biochemistry B.S. and History B.A. - Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo
Chemistry M.S. - San Francisco State University (with Prof. Misty Kuhn)
Program: PBSE, CB3 track
About Jackson: enjoys nature walks, baking bread, and tinkering; believes spontaneous puns are the height of human achievement
Email: jabaumga [at] ucsc.edu
Jennifer Cordoza
PhD student
Hometown: Murrieta, California
Degree: Biochemistry B.Sc - Point Loma Nazarene University (with Prof. Katherine Maloney)
Program: PBSE, CB3 track
About Jenny: enjoys being outside, strategy games, and going to museums; aspires to learn something every day.
Email: jcordoza [at] ucsc.edu
Austin Hopiavuori
PhD student
Hometown: Rochester, New York
Degree: Biochemistry B.Sc - University of Rochester
Program: PBSE, CB3 track
About Austin: enjoys tennis, playing various instruments, and digital music production; loves cold weather
Email: ahopiavu [at] ucsc.edu
Radcliff Huffman
PhD student
Hometown: Albuquerque, New Mexico
Degrees: Allied Health, B.S. Minors in Biology and Biochemistry - Manhattan College, New York City
Program: PBSE, CB3 track
About Radcliff: enjoys swimming, olympic weight lifting, and playing the violin, still doesn't understand why he can't see when he closes his eyes
Email: trhuffma [at] ucsc.edu
Lia Lozano Salazar
PhD student
Hometown: San Diego, California
Degree: Chemistry B. Sc. - Point Loma Nazarene University (with Prof. Katherine Maloney)
Program: Chemistry Ph.D. track
About Lia: I enjoy open-ocean swimming, running, and rowing as well as doing the NYT crossword puzzle
Email: llozanos [at] ucsc.edu
Manasi Natu
Junior specialist
Hometown: Folsom, California
Degree: Chemistry B.S. - University of California, Santa Cruz
About Manasi: enjoys reading and playing video games with friends. Big fan of cats and overly sugary coffee.
Email: mnatu [at] ucsc.edu
Mel Jones
Undergraduate researcher
Hometown: San Jose, California
Major: Biochemistry major, politics minor
About Mel: enjoys playing the violin, writing poetry, PC gaming, traveling, and learning new things about mathematics, biology, chemistry, and philosophy! They are a social activist in their spare time for access to healthcare and housing as a human right.
Gabriel Lefebre
Undergraduate researcher
Hometown: Oakland, California
Major: Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology
About Gabe: enjoys cooking, spending time with animals and nature, looking under a microscope (someday an electron one too!) and wants to relearn the trombone.
Meron Mesgun
Undergraduate researcher
Hometown: San Francisco, California
Major: Chemistry B.S. with a Biochemistry concentration
About Meron: enjoys summertime and adventuring with friends. Loves to explore new things, especially trying new foods!
Lukas Varga
Undergraduate researcher
Hometown: San Leandro, California
Major: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Bioinformatics minor
About Lukas: enjoys playing the cello, the occasional jog, and spending time with family and friends; is invested in expanding his biological and chemical repertoire, and discovering fields of interest!
Lab Alumni
Graduate students
Karina Campos Salazar - MSc volunteer researcher - 2021 - 2022
Visiting researchers
Alondra Maranon Rodriguez - summer ACCESS undergraduate student (Hartnell) - 2022
Linnea Blaustein - summer ACCESS undergraduate student (Cabrillo) - 2021 - 2022
Hanna Fleming - summer undergraduate researcher (UC Los Angeles) - 2021
Undergraduate students
Amelia Smyth - undergraduate researcher - 2020 - 2022
Griffin May - undergraduate researcher - 2019 - 2021
Mehrzad Mohaddess - undergraduate researcher - 2019 - 2021
Ethan Bales-Dagemjian - undergraduate researcher - 2019 - 2021
Joshua Marquez - undergraduate researcher - 2019 - 2021
Mano Ranaweera - undergraduate researcher - 2019 - 2020
Elise Rogotzke - undergraduate researcher - 2019 - 2020
Rotation students
Jason Guerrero - PBSE CB3 rotation student - 2023
Robert Shepherd - UCSC chemistry rotation student - 2023
Olivia Matsumoto-Elliott - PBSE CB3 rotation student - 2022
Adam Lentz - PBSE METX rotation student - 2022
Sarah Levy - UCSC chemistry rotation student - 2022
Leila Parker - UCSC chemistry rotation student - 2022
Addis Getahun - UCSC chemistry rotation student - 2022
Casey Heaney - PBSE CB3 rotation student - 2021 - 2022
Allyson McAtamney - UCSC chemistry rotation student - 2021
Zhilian Liu - UCSC chemistry rotation student - 2021
Panpan Zhang - PBSE CB3 rotation student - 2021
Cristobal Morfin - PBSE CB3 rotation student - 2021
We are looking for students and postdocs with interests in organic chemistry, natural products chemistry, protein biochemistry, and molecular biology to join us!
Click here for more information!