Michael H. Dickinson

Michael H. Dickinson is the Esther M. and Abe M. Zarem Professor of Bioengineering and Aeronautics, and Executive Officer for Biology and Biological Engineering at the California Institute of Technology. He holds a Sc.B. from Brown University (1984) and a Ph.D. from the University of Washington (1989). His research integrates neurobiology, fluid mechanics, and engineering to study insect flight, focusing on the neural and biomechanical mechanisms underlying flight control in Drosophila. The Dickinson Lab explores how sensory inputs are transformed into motor outputs, linking structure, function, and behavior.

His work is supported by grants from NIH Brain Initiative, NSF, Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, and others. Notable contributions include studies on wing hinge mechanics, neural control of flight maneuvers, and celestial navigation. Dickinson advises a team of graduate students and postdocs, with alumni holding academic and industry positions globally.

Lab members include staff scientists Ainul Huda and Will Dickson, postdocs like Amir Behbahani and Ysabel Giraldo, and graduate students such as Johan Melis and Tarun Sharma. The lab is located in Building BBB 204 on Caltech's campus.