My Life at CSUMB: Kiwi transplant finds her groove

By Mark Muckenfuss

Uma Vij says her love of life and the climate of Cal State Monterey Bay are a perfect fit. 

“There are so many opportunities here,” said Vij, a psychology major who transferred from Lake Tahoe Community College last spring. “The environment of Monterey is incredible … just being able to go to the beach and see fish and birds, and to walk in Big Sur.”

Vij is from an American family but grew up in Nelson, on New Zealand’s South Island. Her father, a native of India, moved back to the States in 2023, to take a job as director of the culinary and hospitality program at Lake Tahoe Community College. He was formerly a chef with the Cordon Bleu. Uma made the move with him in order to attend college.

“I didn’t want to go to a really huge school,” she said, reflecting on her decision to come to CSUMB. “I wanted to go somewhere that was really beautiful. And CSUMB has a good undergraduate research program.”

Vij wasted no time in getting involved once she arrived. She met early on with the Undergraduate Research and Opportunities Center’s Eric Barajas, who assisted her with attending a research conference. She quickly connected with psychology professor Jill Yamashita and joined her lab. She also spent the summer at the University of California, Irvine, working in a neuroscience lab.

Through the Service Learning Institute, Vij, who worked with incarcerated youth while in Lake Tahoe, has also been active with College Corps and doing work with the Ventana Wildlife Society. She recently became vice president of the Feminist Literature Club.

“There are so many cool programs,” Vij said. “And there are really important groups, like El Centro and Project Rebound, that make this place really special.”

During her summer at UCI, Vij said she worked with other researchers to look at the astrocytes and glial cells in the hippocampi of mice. 

“We were looking at how stress can disrupt memory,” she said. “We found there’s a big difference in how gender can affect that. We found estrogen caused the disruption.“

The work plays into her long-term goals.

“I’m really interested in being a researcher that contributes to the field of women’s health,” she said. 

At CSUMB, she said, she’s able to pursue her own ideas. 

“I’m investigating how urban versus natural environments can increase rumination [negative thoughts] and how that affects memory,” Vij said. “My hypothesis is that cityscapes increase rumination and that it will decrease memory retention.”

In Yamashita’s lab, she is using virtual reality equipment to immerse her subjects into the two environments. 

In addition to doing such research, she said, she wants to teach. 

“One of my long-term goals is to be a professor,” she said. “The professors here and at the community college have really inspired me.”

That inspiration, she said, is fueled by her own positive outlook. 

“I’m always up for an adventure,” she said. “I prefer to be joyful about things. I’ve been trying to adult, but I’m still down for playing on the playground.

“I was just on a swing this morning,” she added with a smile. 

She hopes other students will find the support and appreciation she has at CSUMB.

“The school has a really unique culture,” she said. 

And for those who are thinking of becoming an Otter, she advises getting involved and taking advantage of forming relationships with professors and mentors. 

“They really want you to have a better life,” she said.