Fall Undergraduate Research, Scholarship, & Creative Activity Competition

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.

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
• 3rd Place (tie): 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. 
• 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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