Undergraduate Research Opportunities Center

2024

Winners

• 1st Place: Ty Takahashi & Kaitlyn Alvarez, Marine Science
  • Project Title: Sandy beach habitat variability of Pismo clam (Tivela stultorum) populations within Monterey Bay. Faculty Mentor: Dr. Alison Haupt
• 2nd Place: Mahlon Rosenberg, Marine Science
  • Project Title: Impact of coastal upwelling on Sebastes carnatus growth via expression of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1). Faculty Mentor: Dr. Cheryl Logan
• 3rd Place: Sameer Dingore, Computer Science
  • Project Title: Curated dataset for benchmarking of RNA Base-Pairing Annotations Tools. Faculty Mentor: Dr. Shahidul Islam

Student Presenters

• Sofia Barajas, Marine Science
  • Project Title: La Niña Vs. El Niño: How Hypoxic Events Affect the Reproductive Output of Gopher Rockfish (Sebastes carnatus)
  • Faculty Mentor: Dr. Cheryl Logan
• Skye Cardoza, Marine Science
  • Project Title: Demystifying Stress: A model to identify and quantify stress in captive southern sea otters, Enhydra lutris nereis
  • Faculty Mentor: Dr. Cheryl Logan
• Hailey Christian & Paola Cabezas, Biology
  • Project Title: Modeling TSC dependent LAM using Drosphilla muselce precursor cells
  • Faculty Mentor: Dr. Frank Macabenta
• Audrey Longan, Environmental Science, Technology, and Policy
  • Project Title: The Effects of an Increase in Fine Sediment from Wildfire on Filter-feeding Stream Benthic Macroinvertebrates
  • Faculty Mentor: Dr. John Olson
• Sam Minard, Social and Behavioral Sciences
  • Project Title: The Interaction of Political Views and Extreme Weather in Shaping Climate Change Concern
  • Faculty Mentor: Dr. Tolga Tezcan
• Mariah Moreno, Psychology
  • Project Title: Identify Overreporting on the Personality Inventory for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (PID-5) Brief Form
  • Faculty Mentor: Dr. Danielle Burchett
• Abraham Porras-Vargas, Biology
  • Project Title: Creeping, Charging, and Cessant Hillslopes: Investigating Environmental Controls on Earthflow Occurrence and Activity near Hollister, CA
  • Faculty Mentor: Dr. James Guilinger

Judges Panel

• Dr. Jill Yamashita, Psychology Department
• Dr. Cindy Juntunen, Office of Graduate Studies and Research
• Dr. Erin Ramirez, College of Education and Leadership
• Dr. Arlene Haffa, College of Science
• Guest Judge: Dr. Gail Newel, County of Santa Cruz Health Services Agency (retired)
• Guest Judge: Dr. David MacFarlane, Michigan State University

2023

Congratulations to the winners of the 9th Annual Fall Research Competition held on Wednesday, November 8th.

Winners

• 1st Place: Alyssa Walter, Marine Science. "A Fin-tastic Comprehensive Assessment and Classification of Mating Scars on Female Great White Sharks in the Northeastern Pacific" Faculty Mentor: Dr. Alison Haupt, Department of Marine Science Research Mentor: Dr. Sal Jorgensen, Department of Marine Science
• 2nd Place: Connor Quiroz, Environmental Science, Technology, and Policy. "The California Red-Legged Frog R. draytonii Habitat: Defining and Predicting their Current and Future Ranges" Faculty Mentor: Dr. John Olson, Department of Applied Environmental Science
• 3rd Place: Sarina Regis & Katelyn Huie, Biology. "Trend identification of x-ray diffraction peaks of historic bullet casings from Fort Ord, CA" Faculty Mentor: McKenzie Floyd, Department of Biology & Chemistry

Student Presenters

• Matthias Milton, Marine Science. "HIF-1α expression in adult gopher rockfish (Sebastes carnatus) under upwelling and ocean acidification stress in central California" Faculty Mentor: Dr. Cheryl Logan, Department of Marine Science
• Oscar Murillo-Espinoza, Mathematics. "Arithmetical Structures on Canoe Paddle Graphs" Faculty Mentor: Dr. Alison Lynch, Department of Mathematics and Statistics
• Lexi Yokomizo, Environmental Science, Technology, and Policy.  "Analysis of Fire Retardant in Runoff" Faculty Mentor: Dr. John Olson, Department of Applied Environmental Science
• Levi Mahler, Japanese Language and Culture. "Gods and Bases: U.S. Military Presence and Its Impacts on Japanese Spiritual Customs" Faculty Mentor: Dr. Dustin Wright, School of World Languages and Cultures
• Marlenne Ortega, Environmental Science, Technology, and Policy. "Food Preference of the Eelgrass Sea Hares" Faculty Mentor: Dr. James Guilinger, Department of Applied Environmental Science, CSU Monterey Bay Research Mentor: Dr. Richelle Tanner, Schmid College of Science and Technology, Chapman University
• Madison Moreno, Environmental Studies. "2023 Sustainability Literacy Assessment for California State University, Monterey Bay" Faculty Mentor: Dr. Victoria Derr, Department of Applied Environmental Science
• Jissel Antonio, Humanities and Communication. "Uniendo Nuestras Voces: A Study of Collective Experiences of Oppression in Schools" Faculty Mentor: Dr. Chrissy Hernandez, Service Learning Institute

Judges Panel

• Dr. Meng-Hsien (Jenny) Lin, Associate Professor, College of Business
• Dr. Zurine De Miguel, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology
• Dr. Cindy Juntunen, Associate Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies and Research
• Stefanie Kortman, Senior Lab Technician, Department of Biology and Chemistry
• Guest Judge: Kate Daniels, Policy Advisor to State Senator John Laird

2022 

Congratulations to the winners of the the 8th Annual Fall Research Competition that was held Thursday, November 3, 2022 from 2:30 - 6 p.m. at the University Center Living Room.

Winners

• 1st Place: Pepper St. Clair, Biology. "Analysis of antibiotic pressure on conjugation efficiency of antimicrobial resistance genes in E.coli." Mentor: Dr. Simon Titen, Department of Biology and Chemistry
• 2nd Place: Paige Siegel, Marine Science. "Spatial Variability and Recovery of Sea Stars along the Monterey Peninsula Post Sea Star Wasting Disease."  Faculty Mentor: Dr. Alison Haupt, Department of Marine Science
• 3rd Place: Daran Towns, Marine Science. "The Effects of Giant Kelp on Ocean Acidification." Faculty Mentor: Matt Hess, Moss Landing Marine Labs

Student Presenters

• Kyle Parker & Maria Navarro, Psychology. "Exploring a post-pandemic world: How has COVID-19 impacted students' perceptions of specific knowledge, skills, and abilities learned during the pandemic?" Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jennifer Dyer-Seymour, Psychology Department
• Ingrid Martinson, Marine Science. "Oiled-marsh Restoration Study: The Reintroduction of Fauna into Systems." Faculty Mentor: Dr. Paul Pennington & James Daugomah
• Sonia Kortenkamp, Environmental Science, Technology and Policy. "Vegetative Cover and Water Quality in Summer  2022 at Tottino II Wetland in Moro Cojo Slough." Faculty Mentor: Andria Greene
• Brittany Zetko, Biology. "Exploring Antagonistic Competitive Interactions Among Soilborne Streptomyces from the TriCounty region." Faculty Mentor: Dr. JP Dundore-Arias
• Zachary Vayder, Marine Science. "The genetic mystery of Chelaethiops fishes of the Congo River." Faculty Mentor: Dr. Liz Alter
• Emily Locke-Paddon, Biology. "Genetic characterization of environmental Streptomyces spp." Faculty Mentor: Dr. JP Dundore-Arias
• Paul Stephens, Psychology. "Neurophysiological responses to cognitive load during learning and memory via eye tracking technology." Faculty Mentor: Dr. Zurine De Miguel

Judges Panel

• Dr. Erin Ramirez, College of Education
• Dr. Jose Pablo Dundore-Arias, College of Science
• Dr. Kelly Medina-Lopez, College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Science
• Dr. Marylou Shockley, College of Business
• Dr. George Matsumoto, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute

2021

Winners

• 1st Place: Spencer Winter, Psychology. "Adult Neurogenesis in The Fish Model Speckled Sanddab." Faculty Mentor: Dr. Zurine De Miguel, Psychology Department
• 2nd Place: Morgan Raimondo, Biology. "Characterizing the Composition and Function of Soilborne Streptomyces from the Salinas Valley." Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jose Pablo Dundore-Arias, Department of Biology & Chemistry
• 3rd Place (tie): Alicia Del Toro, Marine Science. "Population Densities of Black Abalone Along the Monterey Peninsula." Faculty Mentor: Dr. Alison Haupt, Department of Marine Science; Eva Scrivner, Marine Science. "Discriminating Green, Benthic Endmembers in Coastal Systems Using Novel Hyperspectral Satellite Imagery." Faculty Mentor: Dr. Sherry Palacios, Department of Marine Science 

Student Presenters

• Avalon Surratt - Bioremediation of Pesticides: Applying Molecular Genomic Techniques to Uncover Efficient, Eco-friendly Methods of Cleaning Toxic Agricultural Waste. Faculty Mentor: Dr. Nathaniel Jue, Department of Biology & Chemistry 
• Jocelyn Chavez-Diaz - Bilingual Heritage Speakers and Their Formed Identity in the United States. Faculty Mentor: Dr. Lamar Graham, Department of Romance Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Saray Garcia - Business for 2030: A Content Analysis of Firm's Statements on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Faculty Mentor: Dr. Ishva Minefee, Gies College of Business, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
• Erika Hernandez-Gonzalez - Green Skepticism: Examining the Role of Social Media Influencers on Consumer Attitudes Towards Green Brands. Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jenny Lin, College of Business
• Lily Amador & Korina McKinley - Location of History and Civics in Salinas Ethnic Studies Classrooms. Faculty Mentor: Dr. Chrissy Hernandez, Service Learning Institute
• Alma Leon - Observing Beaked Whale Foraging Behavior with Acoustic Location. Faculty Mentor: Eric Snyder, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego

2021 Judges

• Dr. Meng-Hsien (Jenny) Lin, College of Business
• Dr. Erin Ramirez, Department of Education and Leadership
• Dr. Kelly Medina-Lopez, School of Humanities and Communication
• Dr. Jose Pablo Dundore-Arias, Department of Biology and Chemistry
• Mayor Yvette Brooks, City of Capitola

2021 Fall Research Competition Program

2020

Winners

• 1st Place: Amelia Parker & Jesus Orozco, School of Humanities & Communication. "Higher Education is Not Immune to Messaging Mishaps: A Qualitative Rhetorical Analysis of COVID-19 Messaging on U.S. Campuses". Faculty Mentors: Dr. Sam Robinson, Dr. Shantel Martinez, Dr. Kelly Medina-Lopez, CSUMB
• 2nd Place: Melissa-Ann Lagunas, Psychology. "Connectedness to Nature and Well-Being among First-generation College Students, Faculty, and Staff". Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jennifer Lovell, Department of Psychology, CSUMB
• 3rd Place: Darchelle Burnett, Social & Behavioral Sciences. "Comparison of Afro-Indigenous to African American and Native American Student Research Models in Higher Education". Research Mentor: Dr. Brian Corpening, Office of Inclusive Excellence, CSUMB

Student Presenters

• Kaiku Kalohoaa - Species-Specific Vital Rates in Hawaiian Corals Pocillopora ligulata and Porites lichen
• Saul Garcia - Wildlife impacts from recreational activity in response to COVID-19
• Claudia Rocha & Isabel Mendoza* - Youth Research and Action: The Impact of COVID-19 on Gonzales Youth
• Melyssa Spandri - Hurricane Preparedness Planning for Low-Income/ Homeless Citizens with COVID-19 as an added Variable
• Ally Morris - Testing the fidelity of global biogeochemical algorithms in the California Current System to study carbon cycling
• Trevor Stevens - Becoming homeless: Using virtual reality to generate empathy in college students
• Melissa Vezard - Estimating Vital Rates Across Species for Corals in Maui, Hawaii

*Gonzales Youth Council member

Judges Panel

• Dr. Meng-Hsien (Jenny) Lin, College of Business
• Dr. Erin Ramirez, Department of Education and Leadership
• Dr. Kelly Medina-Lopez, School of Humanities and Communication
• Dr. Jose Pablo Dundore-Arias, Department of Biology and Chemistry
• Douglas McKnight, 90.3FM KAZU

2019

Winners

• 1st Place: Nicholas Heyer. "Identification of Novel Alleles of a Human-Specific Neocortical Gene, NOTCH2NL Associated with Neurodevelopmental Disorders". Faculty Mentor: Dr. Sofie Salama, UCSC
• 2nd Place: Frederick Siglar. "Psychological Well-Being: Do Connectedness to Nature and Spirituality Play a Role". Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jennifer Lovell, CSUMB
• 3rd Place: Crystal Loke. "The Role of Sustainable Knowledge in Consumers' Willingness to Stay at a Sustainable Hotel". Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jenny Lin, CSUMB

Student Presenters

• Abigail Correa - Campus Connectedness is Associated with Less Suicidal Ideation
• Zoey Kriegmont - Computational Analysis of Language Relationships: Native Northwest Coast of North America
• Kameron Strickland - Variable Microhabitat Associations and Body Orientations of Kelp Rockfish (Sebastes atrovirens) along the Reed-Sand Interface at Central California Reefs
• Lauren Kashiwabara - Microplastic Concentration in Surface Seawater of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary
• Selina Espinoza - Cannabis Use and Perceptions Among Veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
• Ally Morris - The Impact of Shallow Groundwater Discharge on the Moro Cojo Slough
• Selena Velasquez - "It just reminds me of home": Holistic Peer Support Strengthens Self-Efficacy and Belonging for Black and Latinx Engineers Amidst Faculty Indifference

Judges Panel

• Dr. Jenny Lin, Marketing
• Dr. Kelly Medina-Lopez, Humanities and Communication
• Dr. John Olson, Applied Environmental Science
• Dr. Erin Ramirez, Education and Leadership
• Mark Stone, Assemblymember of the 29th District

2018

Winners

• 1st Place: Caitlyn Barrera, Environmental Studies - Santa Lucia Preserve Detection of California Tiger Salamanders (Ambystoma californiense): Comparing eDNA and Traditional Net-Based Survey Methods for Maximum Sensitivity. Faculty mentor: Dr. Christy Wyckoff
• 2nd Place: Lauren Kashiwabara, Marine Science - CSUMB Short-Term Effects of Extreme Upwelling on Ventilation Rates in Gopher Rockfish (Sebastes carnatus). Faculty Mentor: Dr. Cheryl Logan
• 3rd Place: Gabriella Kalbach, Marine Science - All Things Kelp: A Characterization of Macrocystis pyrifera and its Role in the Environment. Faculty mentor: Dr. Kerry Nickols, CSU Northridge

Judges Panel

• Danielle Burchett, Psychology
• Jenny Duggan, Biology
• Kelly Medina-Lopez, Humanities & Communication
• Steven Kim, Mathematics & Statistics
• Jo Morrisey, Kinesiology
• Ignacio Navarro, Health, Human Services & Public Policy

2017

Winners

• 1st Place: Emma Haines, Environmental Science, Technology, & Policy - Assessing the Ecological Health of Dry Phase IRES System Using Beetles. Faculty Mentor: Dr. John Olson
• 2nd Place: Lauren Castañon, Marine Science - Assessment of Sources of Chromophoric Dissolved Organic Materials to Galveston Bay via Excitation Emission Florescence. Faculty Mentor: Dr. John Goeltz
• 3rd Place (tie): Jennifer Hatch, Psychology - Cognitive symptom trajectories among forensic inpatients diagnosed with psychotic disorders with and without comorbid depressive disorders and Gabriela Medrano & Logan Bennett - East of Los Angeles

Student Presenters

• Louis Mutter, Mathematics - Transformation of categorical variables to numeric variables to increase statistical power. Faculty Mentor: Dr. Steven Kim
• Kasie Talbot, Mathematics - Water From Thin Air: Fog Water Collection. Faculty Mentor: Dr. Steven Kim
• Kyle Starling, Kinesiology - Reaction time differences across female college sports. Faculty Mentor: Dr. Maria Bellumori
• Bryan Sierra-Rivera - The role of antibiotics in modulating secondary metabolite production of Streptomyces grown in co-culture. Faculty Mentor. Dr. John Goeltz
• Joseph Silva, Marine Science - Different algal uptake rates of ammonium within the kelp forest community. Faculty Mentor: June Shrestha, Dr. Scott Hamilton, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories
• Hanna Kim, Kinesiology - Changes in Perceived Student Gains of Collegiate Club Rugby Players. Faculty Mentor: Dr. George Beckham, Dr. Maria Bellumori, Dr. Eric Martin, Dr. Alana Unfried

Judges Panel

• Danielle Burchett, Psychology
• Lipika Deka, Mathematics
• Ryan Luke, Kinesiology
• Tim Miles, Biology
• Jo Morrissey, Kinesiology
• Sam Robinson, Human Communication

2016

Winners

• 1st Place: Nicole Barbour - Spatial and temporal variability on the Monterey Bay sandy continental shelf. Faculty Mentor: Dr. Corey Garza
• 2nd Place: Gina Dabbah - Ascospore dissemination in mummified blueberries. Faculty Mentor: Dr. Tim Miles
• 3rd Place: Jacob Green - Juvenile rockfish enzymatic response to ocean acidification. Faculty Mentor: Dr. Cheryl Logan

Learn more about the winners.

Student Presenters

• Philip Engelgau - Functional characterization of the tomato sugar transporter SWEET10
• Blake Hansen - A comparison of different machine learning algorithms for predicting gene essentiality in cancer. Faculty Mentor: Dr. Lipika Deka
• Zane Mortensen, Mason Leandro, Alyson Carpenter, Alexandra Ball, Mason Fernandez - An examination of elevated nitrate concentrations on microbial denitrification rates and populations. Faculty Mentor: John Silveus
• Cecilia Garcia - RNA interference control of whitefly, Bemisia tabaci MEAM1. Faculty Mentor: Dr. Henrik Kibak
• Jordan Collignon - Using partial differential equations to measure lead propagation in mammals. Faculty Mentor: Dr. Lipika Deka
• Steven Villaneda & Kyle Starling - A speed-based group exercise program improves physical function and perceived health in older adults. Faculty Mentor: Dr. Ryan

Judges Panel

• Danielle Burchett, Psychology
• Lipika Deka, Mathematics
• Ryan Luke, Kinesiology
• Tim Miles, Biology
• Sam Robinson, Human Communication

2015

Winners

• 1st Place: Emily King, Marine Science - Do interspecies interactions trigger the cellular stress response in porcelain crabs? Faculty Mentor: Dr. Cheryl Logan
• 2nd Place (tie): Aidan Shands, Biology - First report of Phytophthora cinnamoni causing root rot of Southern Highbush Blueberry in California. Faculty Mentor: Dr. Tim Miles
• 2nd Place (tie): Caitrin Wendt, Marine Science - European Green Crab distribution as an effect of eutrophication in the Elkhorn Slough. Faculty Mentor: Dr. Steve Moore, CSUMB & Dr. Kerry Nickols, CSU Northridge
• 3rd Place: Jordan Collignon, Math - An agent-based model simulating the reintroduction of the extinct Passenger Pigeon under varying resource availability. Faculty Mentor: Dr. Lipika Deka

Student Presenters

• Pedro Guerreo, Julissa Garcia, & Laura Medrano, World Languages & Cultures - Linguistic and pragmatic characteristics of the Spanish spoken in Monterey County. Faculty Mentor: Dr. Gabriela Zapata
• Veronica Jones, Kinesiology - Validation and accuracy of Fitbit® charge: A pilot study. Faculty Mentor: Dr. Lisa Leininger * Dr. Brian Cook
• Jesse Yamagata, Biology - Detection of Erysiphe necator fungicide resistant alleles in environmental and air samples using a TaqMan assay. Faculty Mentor: Dr. Tim Miles
• Isabella Romero, Psychology - Mapping MMPI-2-RF substantive scales onto internalizing, externalizing, and thought dysfunction dimensions in a forensic patient setting. Faculty Mentor: Dr. Danielle Burchett
• Juan Cerda, Biology - Identification of mitochondrial genomics-based detection assay for Rhizoctonia solani anastomosis groups
• Elizabeth Hensley, Human Communication - Culture, place, and tradition: cultivating community-based art in Berks County, Pennsylvania. Faculty Mentor: Dr. Sam Robinson

Judges Panel

• Danielle Burchett, Psychology
• Lipika Deka, Mathematics
• Ryan Luke, Kinesiology
• Tim Miles, Biology
• Jo Morrissey, Kinesiology
• Sam Robinson, Human Communication
• Gabriela Zapata, World Language and Cultures

Presentation Format & Abstract Resources

Presenter Selection Process

A maximum of 10 students will be selected to give presentations at this event.

Abstract submissions will evaluated by a minimum of two members of the Faculty Review Committee. Each abstract will be evaluated using the following criteria:

• Is the motivation for the research project or statement of the problem clear?
• Is the methodology clear?
• Are the results of the study/product of learning evident?
• Is the conclusion or implication clear?
• Is the abstract free of grammatical errors or typos?

Judges Panel

CSUMB Faculty representing different disciplines are asked to serve in the Judges Panel. We also invite a community member to serve as a special guest judge.

Presentation Awards & Presentation Evaluation Criteria

Presenters will be competing for cash prizes which will be awarded to the first, second, and third place presenters.

Evaluation criteria are based on the same criteria used to evaluate student presentations at the system-wide CSU Research Competition. All applicants are strongly encouraged to apply as a delegate to present their research at the CSU Student Research Competition held every spring at a CSU campus.

Abstract Submission Guidelines & Application

Abstract Submission must include the following:

• Applicant name, email, major, and phone number
• Research category (Behavioral and Social Sciences; Biological and Agricultural Sciences; Business, Economics, and Public Administration; Creative Arts and Design; Education; Engineering and Computer Science, Health, Nutrition, and Clinical Sciences; Humanities and Letters; Physical and Mathematical Sciences; Interdisciplinary)
• Title
• Synopsis (25 words or fewer)
• Abstract Submission (max 250 words)
• "Statement of support" from Faculty Mentor. This "statement of support" is submitted by the student acknowledging that the 1) faculty mentor is aware the research and application are both being submitted and 2.) if selected to present, the student will keep the faculty mentor apprised of all practice presentations and event rehearsals and 3.) faculty mentor will help the student through the preparation process from inception to execution.