Summer Research Symposium

The Annual CSUMB Summer Research Symposium celebrates the research, scholarship, and creative activities of the undergraduate students in the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Center (UROC) and Monterey Regional Ocean Science Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Program. Over 100 students will present research conducted over the summer across 12 different academic disciplines and 14 grant-funded programs. To date, this symposium is the largest summer research program in the region. Check out what the Monterey County Weekly and our campus paper, the Lutrinae, have to say about the Summer Research Symposium.

In addition to a summer of research, undergraduate participants also attend over 20 hours of professional development workshops spanning topics like research communication, graduate school preparation, and mentor relationships.

This event honors their commitment to diving head-first, tackling some of the most difficult questions and working with stellar faculty mentors who guide the process of inquiry along the way.

2025 Summer Research Symposium

Mark your calendars and join us for the 12th CSUMB Annual Summer Research Symposium on Friday, August 15th, 2025, from 8:30 a.m. - 4 p.m. at the Tanimura and Antle Family Memorial Library. Representing over a dozen disciplines, students will present their research in either an oral format or a research poster. We hope to see you there!

Schedule

9:00 a.m. - Symposium begins
9:15 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. - Oral Presentations (Room 1188 and 1180)
12:00 - 1:00 p.m. - Research Poster Presentations (Odd posters)
1:00 - 2:00 p.m. - Research Poster Presentations (Even Posters)
2:00 - 3:00 p.m. - Otterly Curious Podcast Listening Party (Room 1188)
3:00 - 3:30 p.m. - Closing and Awards Ceremony (Room 1188)

Research Abstracts | Symposium Program

Oral Presentations Session 1: Room 1188 Moderated by Dr. John Banks

Time	Presenter	Presentation Title
9:15	Lauren Mallicoat	Investigating Sandy Intertidal Habitat and its Impact on Pismo Clam (Tivela stultorum) Burial Rate
9:30	Sofia Barajas	Exploring Interannual Variations in Adult Alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) Energy Conditions as a Proxy for Changing Environmental and Feeding Conditions in the Gulf of Maine
9:45	Author Moody	Significant Differences and Identifiers in Symptoms Across Gastrointestinal Conditions and Associated Diseases
10:00	Addison Ryne	Advancing Rapid Quantification of Microcystis Colonies in Freshwater Systems Using Digital Holography
10:15	Karla Buitrago-Yepes	Nature v Nurture: Gut Microbiome Compositions of Red Urchins, Mesocentrotus franciscanus, of Different Habitat Stable States Exposed to Various Algal Diets
10:45	Skye Cardoza	Assessing the Influence of Habitat on Juvenile Flatfish Feeding Behavior Along the Monterey Peninsula
11:00	Daniel Sambold	From Sensors to Scenes: Classifying White Shark Behaviors from Sensor Packages
11:15	Neil Elias	Influence of Kelp Detritus at the Temperate Reef-Sand interface on Habitat Utilization of Juvenile Rockfishes
11:30	Achsah Jojo	Investigating Student Strategies for Identifying and Correcting Defects Introduced by AI Code Completion Tools

Oral Presentations Session 2: Room 1180 Moderated by Natasha Oehlman

Time	Presenter	Presentation Title
9:15	Navid Amarlou	From Self to Sustainability: Environmental Attitudes, Identity, and Hope
9:30	Melanie Abarca	Breaking Up with Parents: Adult-Children's Perspective on Estrangement
9:45	Karissa Gralnick	Are College Students Workplace Ready? A Literature Review on the Development of Transferable Competencies
10:00	Heaven Smith	The Skills Employers Consider Important Were Refined by Some Students During the Pandemic
10:15	Mariah Moreno	Associations Between the MMPI-3 PSY-5 Scales and the PID-5 Brief Form in a Latinx College Student Sample
10:45	Galilea Bustos Ataide & Fatima Arellano	Auto-Ethnographies of Disability Justice Researchers in the Era of Pandemic Abandonment: Part One
11:00	Ivet Machuca & Iris Fuentes	Auto-Ethnographies of Disability Justice Researchers in the Era of Pandemic Abandonment: Part Two
11:15	Nancy Espitia	Differences in Facial Prominence of Women and Men on the Covers of Popular Mexican Magazines
11:30	Destiny Renero	Examining Overreporting Simulation Posttest Questionnaire Item Utility Using MMPI-3 Validity Scales
11:45	Latasha Neal	Sisterhood Across Oceans: Billie Holiday, Miriam Makeba, Rita Marley, and their Musical Activism

Guest Judges

All research poster presenters will be eligible for an Outstanding Research Poster Award. Below is our list of judges and their affiliations.

Rob Drezner, Ph.D., Retired Clinical Psychologist and Adjunct Faculty, Monterey Peninsula College
Bruce Delgado, Mayor of Marina
Fernando DePaolis, Ph.D., Faculty in the Environmental Policy & Management Program, Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey
Nina Alcaraz, Director of Policy, Advocacy, and Communications, First Five Monterey County
Sarah Hulick, Faculty and Program Chair, Cabrillo College
Monica Urias, Doctoral Student, UC Davis
Kelsey Nordstrom-Sanchez, J.D., MLIS,, Research and Instruction Librarian, Cal State Monterey Bay
Erin Ramirez, Ph.D., Associate Professor, College of Education and Leadership, Cal State Monterey
Kaiku Kaholoa'a Doctoral Student, Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University
Cassandra Burrier, Social Media Specialist, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
Bethany Schulze, Biological Science Technician, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
Manny Ezcurra, Curator of Fish and Invertebrates, Monterey Bay Aquarium
Nikole Babcock, Doctoral Student, University of Connecticut
Oscar Murillo Espinoza, Doctoral Student, Oregon State University
Rosa Acevedo-Duran, Doctoral Student, University of Oregon
Riley Moulton, Doctoral Student, UC Santa Cruz
Rafael L S Reis, Software Engineer, Alphabet Inc.
Nevan Bell, Doctoral Student, UC Santa Barbara
Cathi Draper Rodriguez, Ph.D., Professor, College of Education and Leadership, Cal State Monterey Bay

UROC Scholar, Alyssa Walter, presents her research on white shark mating habits.

UROC Researchers, Katelyn Huie and Sarina Regis, were recipients of an Outstanding Research Poster Award.

Koret Scholars, Alison Jenson, C Mazariegos, and Kyle Parker present research conducted during the summer.

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the 11th Annual Summer Research Symposium on Friday, August 9th, 2024, 8:30 a.m. - 4 p.m. at the Tanimura and Antle Family Memorial Library. We hope to see you again next year!

Congratulations to all the student presenters, including the recipients of an Outstanding Research Poster Award.

Presenter(s)	Poster Title	Mentor(s)
Alex Nite	AI Meets Immunology: Predicting TCR-pMHC Interactions	Vanessa Jönsson Ph.D.
Anastasia Swann	Genetic Species Identification of Sebastes Rockfishes in California	Elizabeth Alter, Ph.D. & John Carlos Garza, Ph.D
Jasmine Maciel	Community Dynamics in Bioremediating Bacteria	Mary Snook & Nathaniel K. Jue, Ph.D.
Amira Colón, Madi Loewen	Post-Pandemic Factors Influencing STAT250 Student Success at CSUMB	Judith Canner, Ph.D.
Denisse Emeterio	Comparing Brain Organoid Profiles from Different Embryonic Stem Cell Lines	Sofie Salama Ph.D.
Abraham Porras-Vargas	Predictive Habitat Modeling for the Endangered Ambystoma macrodactylum croceum	Elizabeth Alter, Ph.D.
Luis Ramirez-Espinoza	Evaluating Cover Crop Susceptibility to Impatiens Necrotic Spot Virus (INSV)	Daniel Hasegawa, Ph.D.
Matt Biermann	Validation of Fish Hematocrit Measurements Using an ABL90 Flex Blood Gas Analyzer	Cheryl A. Logan, Ph.D.
Lauren Mallicoat, Ryan Brady	Investigating the Current Population Status of the Pismo Clam (Tivela Stultorum) around the Monterey Bay	Olivia Beaudoin & Alison Haupt, Ph.D.
Ty Takahashi, Kaitlyn Alvarez	Sandy Beach Habitat Variability of Pismo Clam (Tivela stultorum) Populations in Monterey Bay	Olivia Beaudoin & Alison Haupt, Ph.D.
Eric Martinez	The Development of Seed Coatings to Improve Germination and Vigor	Ben Carter

Research Abstracts | Symposium Program

Oral Presentations Session 1: Room 1180 Moderated by Dr. Sherry Palacios and Adam Paganini

Time	Presenter	Presentation Title
9:15	Summer Voth	Analysis of the Spatial and Temporal Patterns of Urchin Recruits on the Monterey Bay Peninsula
9:30	Julia Zapadka	Population-Specific Plasticity of Purple Sea Urchins
9:45	Nicole Foldi Martinez	Effect of Photoperiod on Reproductive Development in Strongylocentrotus purpuratus for Improved Roe Enhancement
10:00	Landen Parks	Behavioral Responses of a Marine Sponge to Water Flow
10:15	Maya Clarke	Temperature Impacts on the Abundance and Growth Rate of Pseudo-Nitzschia Species Local to Monterey Bay, California
10:45	Alex Washburn	LiDAR Estimates of Wave Reflection and Dissipation at the Steep Interface along Rocky Shores
11:00	Karl Ventayen	Development of Robust Software Aboard the Coastal Profiling Float
11:15	Maria Cecconello Lucas	Variation in Rockfish Reproductive Success in Relation to the El-Niño Southern Oscillation
11:30	Cloey Parlapiano	Analysis of the True Phylogenetic Relationship of the Aurora Rockfish (Sebastes aurora) Within the Genus Sebastes
11:45	Roxane Jaramillo	Emperor Penguin Dive Depths in Low Light Conditions
12:15	Mateo Longoria	Citizen Science Contributions to Understanding ENSO Phases and Anthropogenic Drivers to Pinnipeds in the Monterey Bay Peninsula
12:30	Noah Benasfre	Feast-Fast Lifestyle: Physiological Effects of Flexibility in Daily Foraging Effort of Blue Whales (Balaenoptera musculus)

Oral Presentations Session 2: Room 1170 Moderated by Dr. Jessica Bautista

Time	Presenter	Presentation Title
9:15	Josie Wrinkle and Megan Staton	Long term monitoring on the recovery of Pisaster ochraceus post Sea Star Wasting Disease: The Sequel
9:30	Sarah Schuster	Building a Large Scale Food Quality Index (FQI) of Monterey Bay
9:45	Wyatt Milam	Effects of Varying Temperatures on Regeneration of the Solitary Ascidian Species, Ciona intestinalis
10:00	Caleb Hernandez	Hungry Hungry Pycnos: Understanding Juvenile Diet Preferences and Diet-Specific Growth and Mortality in the Endangered Sunflower Sea Star
10:15	Lilah Wise	Social Association Analysis of Icelandic Killer Whale Population During Feeding Events as an Indicator of Social Network
10:45	Valerie Aring	Comparing Feeding Frequencies of California Condor Parents to Nesting Site Distance
11:00	Paola Cabezas and Hailey Christian	Modeling TSC Dependent LAM Using Drosophila Muscle Precursors
11:15	Hailie Milam and Lauren Maravilla	Mitochondrial Function Alteration Results in Age-Related Changes in Regenerative Capacity of Megakaryocyte Progenitor Cells
11:30	Sameer Dingore	Curated Dataset for Benchmarking of RNA Base-Pairing Annotations Tools
11:45	Efrain Ramirez	A Proposed Demonstration of the Creation and Utilization of Embedded Inconsistency Scales to Screen for Poor Online Self-Report Psychological Data

Oral Presentations Session 3: Room 1176 Moderated by Natasha Oehlman

Time	Presenter	Presentation Title
9:15	Diana Mendoza	Exploring the Role Cut Scores Play in the Assessment of Invalid Responding
9:30	Alison Jensen and Sofia Campos	What do CSUMB Psychology Alumni Have To Say To Current Undergrads? Take A Piece Of Advice From A Former Otter
9:45	Autumn Day	Analyzing Facial Prominence and Gaze in Portrayal of University Neuroscience Researchers: Gendered Stereotypes
10:00	Maria Corral Cervantes and Aislynne Chappell	Unveiling the Connection between Parents’ Education and Psychology Alumni Choice of Higher Education or Workforce
10:15	Yeritzi Victoria, Dolores Marquez, and Laura Flores	The Impact of Bilingualism on False Memory and Source Memory
10:45	Kiley Appleby	Representation in Literature: How Children's Book Choices Reflect in Their Social Attitudes
11:00	Levi Mahler	The Activists’ Choice: Ballot Initiatives As A Step Towards Pro-Choice Efforts
11:15	Latasha Neal	Sisterhood Across Oceans
11:30	Jhoana Morales-Lopez	Deliberately Unplanned! Exploring the Impact of Unplanned Events on Career Trajectories in Psychology Alumni
11:45	Berelim Bautista	How Does Auditor Tenure Affect Cybersecurity Risk?

Guest Judges

All research poster presenters will be eligible for an Outstanding Research Poster Award. Below is our list of judges and their affiliations.

Rob Drezner, Ph.D., Retired Clinical Psychologist and Adjunct Faculty, Monterey Peninsula College
Bruce Delgado, Mayor of Marina and Botanist, Bureau of Land Management
Fernando DePaolis, Ph.D., Faculty in the Environmental Policy & Management Program, Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey
Nina Alcaraz, Director of Policy, Advocacy, and Communications, First Five Monterey County
Amelia Olson, Wildlife Biologist, Padre Associates
Pam Marino, Staff Writer, Monterey County Weekly
Sarah Hulick, Faculty and Program Chair, Cabrillo College
Monica Urias, Doctoral Student, UC Davis
Colleen Courtney, Chief of Staff for Monterey County Supervisor Mary Adams
Kelsey Nordstrom-Sanchez, J.D., MLIS,, Research and Instruction Librarian, Cal State Monterey Bay
Erin Ramirez, Ph.D., Associate Professor, College of Education and Leadership, Cal State Monterey
Greg Pool, Former Director of Digital Transformation, Cal State Monterey Bay
Joy Kumagai, Doctoral Student, Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University
Taylor Triviño, Master's Student, University of Washington
Chris Green, Ph.D., Director of Exhibits and Collections, Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History
Arun Jani, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, College of Science, Cal State Monterey Bay
Paige Viren, Ph.D., Executive Director, Sustainable Hospitality & Tourism Management Program, Cal State Monterey Bay
Cassandra Burrier, Social Media Specialist, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
Cecilia Regalado Diaz, Plant Breeder Technician, Berry Sweet Research, LLC
Jissel Antonio, Master's Student, San José State University
Polly Goldman, Agricultural Research Science Technician, United States Department of Agriculture
Valarie Maestas-Chapel, Project Rebound Coordinator & METAS Grant Coordinator, Cal State Monterey Bay

Thank you to everyone who joined for the 10th Annual Summer Research Symposium on Friday, August 11th, 2023 at the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Science Building and the Tanimura and Antle Family Memorial Library where we celebrated the research, scholarship, and creative activities of the undergraduate students in the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Center & Monterey Regional Ocean Sciences Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program.

Congratulations to all the student presenters, including the recipients of an Outstanding Research Poster Award:

Student(s)	Poster Title	Mentor(s)
Lisa Irvine	Bathymetric Sedimentation Rates in Scott Creek Coastal Estuary Post 2020 CZU-Complex Lighting Fire (2020-2023)	James Guilinger, Ph.D.
Joseph Garcia	Evaluating the Pathogenicity of Pythium spp. Isolates from Lettuce Grown in the Salinas Valley	Harold Hickey and JP Dundore-Arias, Ph.D.
Denisse Emeterio	Investigating Essential Genes: Electroporation Optimization for TNSeq-Based Analysis in Malathion Degrading Bacteria	Mary Snook and Nathaniel Jue, Ph.D.
Matthias Milton	Tissue-Specific HIF-1a Expression in Adult Gopher Rockfish (Sebastes carnatus) Under Upwelling Stress in Central California	Dailyn Jones, Scott Hamilton, Ph.D., and Cheryl Logan, Ph.D.
Jonathan Ingan	Two-Year Effects of Rock Study Boxing Exercise in Parkinson's Disease	Maria Bellumori, Ph.D.
Riley Moulton and Paola Cabezas	Investigating the Role of Bantam MicroRNA in Promoting Drosophilia Muscle Precursor Homeostasis	Frank Macabenta, Ph.D.
Josie Wrinkle	Urchin Recruitment Dynamics, Reproduction, and Density	Alison Haupt, Ph.D.
Elise Vasquez	Longitudinal Study Comparing Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Broccoli on a Field Under Different Climate Smart Soil Management Practices Over Multiple Years and Crops	Arlene Haffa, Ph.D.
Mackenzie K. Caprino	Determining Symbiont Communities in Galápagos Pavona clavus	Katrina Giambertone and Cheryl Logan, Ph.D.
Sarina Regis and Katelyn Huie	Trend Identification of Historical Bullet Casing Chemical Compositions on Fort Ord, CA	McKenzie Floyd

Summer Research Symposium Sneak Peek

On Thursday, August 10th at 10:00 a.m. 6 students, representing marine science, psychology, and environmental science presented their summer research virtually.

Time	Presenter	Presentation Title
10:00am	Jourdan Garnier	"The Parking Situation is the Worst Part about CSUMB": The Psychological Burdens of Parking Fees
10:15am	Elizabeth Rivera	Sea-Surface Temperature Impacting Black Oystercatcher Fledging Success
10:30am	Caleb Hernandez	Investigating Mutual Interactions in Coral-Seaweed Cocultures
10:45am	Natalie Frontella	Recreational Fishing Effects on Northeastern Pacific White Sharks (Carcharodon carcharias)
11:00am	Lilah Wise	Urchin Recruitment Dynamics, Reproduction, and Density
11:15am	Zoe Schimnowski	Impacts of Agriculture on Freshwater Rivers’ and Streams’

Summer Research Symposium Schedule of Events

8:30 - 9:00am | Registration & Coffee
9:00 - 9:15am | Opening Remarks -- College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Science Building, Room 1401
9:15 - 11:45am | Oral Presentations -- Rooms 1204, 1301, 1302
11:30 - 12:00pm | Break
12:00 - 1:00pm | Poster Presentations (odd) -- Tanimura & Antle Library
12:45 - 2:45pm | Oral Presentations (CSUMB REU only) -- Room 1204
1:00 - 2:00pm | Poster Presentations (even) -- Tanumura & Antle Library
2:00 - 2:30pm | Transition
2:30 - 3:00pm | Closing Remarks, Mentor Recognition, & Poster Presentation Awards -- Tanumura & Antle Library, Room 1180

Oral Presentations Session 1: Room 1204 Moderated by REU Staff

Time	Presenter	Presentation Title
9:15am	Allie Van	Energy Density of Bay Ghost Shrimp (Neotrypaea californiensis) from Puget Sound, Washington
9:30am	Carissa Tinney	Impact of Polyethylene Agricultural Mulch Microplastics at Present and Projected Future Concentrations on Prorocentrum in Monterey Bay
9:45am	Eva Dellea	Climate Change's Impact on the Biological Processes in Disko Bay, West Greenland
10:00am	Tyler Morgan	Physical Environmental Controls on Giant Kelp Biomass in the California Current System between 1992 and 2017
10:15am	Hannah May	Measuring the Physiological Status on Nitrogen Uptake Through Gene Expression in Phaeodactylum tricornutum
10:30am	Bailee Guernsey	Physiological Responses of Monkeyface Pricklebacks (Cebidichthys violaceus) To Temperature Increases
10:45am	Yareliz Quintana	Effect of Temperature on Growth and Survival on Nanomia bijuga (Cnidaria; Hydrozoa; Siphonophora)
11:00am	Zeanna Graves	Recruitment and Survival of Pickleweed (Salicornia pacifica) Under Different Soil and Irrigation Conditions in a California Salt Marsh: Hester Marsh
11:15am	Wesley Moore	Determining Conditions for Pickleweed (Salicornia pacifica) Establishment in Recently Restored Salt Marsh
11:30am	Amanda Gaffney	Development of a Near Real-Time Autonomous Click Detector
11:45am	Zachary Ennis	Gravity Wave Interactions with the Seafloor in Rocky, Nearshore, Mixed Depth Environments
Lunch Break
12:45pm	Benjamin Torres	Drivers of Diversification in Rockfishes (Genus Sebastes)
1:00pm	Connor Rad	Species Composition of Phytoplankton Varies in Marine Heat Waves
1:15pm	Maaria Patel	Assessing the Impacts of Overfishing on Pismo Clams: Exploring Size and Age Dynamics
1:30pm	Valentina Montes	Abalone Recovery and Aggregation Patterns
1:45pm	Otto Martinez	Have Rocky Intertidal Algae Communities in Central California Been Impacted by Recent Storms
2:00pm	Maryam Krauss	Monitoring Changes in Species Composition Captured by Fishers and its Effect on Different User Groups during the El Niño to La Niña Transition Along the Central California Coast
2:15pm	Chinatsu Garey	The Effects of Floods on Benthic Macroinvertebrate-based Bioassessments of the San Antonio River
2:30pm	Claribel Alcantar	The Respirometry Response of Cnidarian Species to Elevated Temperatures as a means to Identify the Trigger to Coral Bleaching

Oral Presentations Session 2: Room 1301 Moderated by Natasha Oehlman

Time	Presenter	Presentation Title
9:15am	Berenice Lemus	Economic Contributions of Special Events: An Examination of Tourism and Visitor Spending
9:30am	Ashley Hinds	Is History Repeating Itself? The Link Between the Social Hygiene Movement and Roe v. Wade
9:45am	Yeritzi Victoria & Sara Jew	False Memory and Source Monitoring in Bilinguals
10:00am	Grace Quinowski	Preparing for a Career in Research, Scientific Writing, and Collaboration
10:15am	Jissel Antonio	Uniendo Nuestras Voces: A Study of Collective Experiences of Oppression in Schools
10:30am	Citlaly Jauregui and Michiel Breen	Wrist Wrap Type and Sex Impacts on Grip Strength, Pushup Power, Bench Press Muscular Endurance, Associated
10:45am	Levi Mahler	Gods and Bases: US Military Presence and Its Impacts on Japanese Spiritual Customs
11:00am	Oscar Murillo-Espinoza	Arithmetical Structures on Canoe Paddle Graphs

Oral Presentations Session 3: Room 1302 Moderated by Dr. Jessica Bautista

Time	Presenter	Presentation Title
9:15am	Alexandra Yokomizo	Polarity-based Focal Mechanisms of Earthquakes on the Westernmost Gofar Transform Fault at the East Pacific Rise
9:30am	Dylan Moran	Using UASs to Monitor Juvenile White Shark (Carcharodon carcharias) Thermal Habitat Selection in the Monterey Bay
9:45am	Alyssa Walter	Exploring the Where and When of Mating Scars in Female Great White Sharks
10:00am	Zachary Zirbel	Taxonomic Investigation of Deep Sea Carnivorous Sponges
10:15am	Jasper Tao	Assessing the Efficacy of Pythium Wilt Inoculation Methods
10:30am	Alma Leon	Genetic Diversity of Northeast Pacific Rockfish (Sebastes) and Analysis of Rhodopsin Gene
10:45am	Madison Moreno	California State University, Monterey Bay 2023 Sustainable Literacy Assessment Report

Guest Judges

All research poster presenters will be eligible for an Outstanding Research Poster Award. Below is our list of judges and their affiliations.

Doug Smith, Ph.D., Interim Dean of Graduate Studies and Research, CSU Monterey Bay
Sam Robinson, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Academic Senate Chair, CSU Monterey Bay
Kathlene Hanson, Librarian, CSU Monterey
Judith Canner, Ph.D., Professor, CSU Monterey Bay
Rob Drezner, Ph.D., Retired Clinical Psychologist and Adjunct Faculty, Monterey Peninsula College
Bruce Delgado, Mayor of Marina and Botanist, Bureau of Land Management
Fernando DePaolis, Ph.D., Dean of Academic Operations and Integration, Middlebury College
Nina Alcaraz, Director of Policy, Advocacy, and Communications, First Five Monterey County
Alicia Khuon, Wildlife Biologist, Environmental Services Agency
Celia Jimenez, Staff Writer, Monterey County Weekly
Sarah Hulick, Faculty and Program Chair, Cabrillo College
Korina McKinley, Master's in Social Work Graduate Student, CSU Monterey Bay
Manny Ezcurra, Curator of Fish and Invertebrates, Monterey Bay Aquarium

The 9th Annual Summer Research Symposium took place on Friday, August 12, 2022 at the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Science Building and the Tanimura and Antle Family Memorial Library where we will celebrate the research, scholarship, and creative activities of the undergraduate students in the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Center & Monterey Regional Ocean Sciences Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program. Over 100 students will present research conducted over the summer across 12 different academic disciplines and 14 grant-funded programs. See below for more details.

Congratulations to all the student presenters, including our inaugural group of Outstanding Research Poster Award recipients:

Student	Major	Research Mentor
Sonia Kortenkamp	Environmental Science, Technology, and Policy	Andria Greene, CSUMB
Katherine Martinez	Biology	John Dzimianski, UCSC and Jennifer Kato, CSUMB
Kiara Gable	Agricultural Plant and Soil Science	Jose Pablo Dundore-Arias, CSUMB
Pepper St. Clair and Sage Chavez	Biology	Gerardo Cortes-Cortes, UCSC and Simon Titen, CSUMB
Zachary Zirbel	Marine Science	Jaycee Lanza, Moss Landing Marine Labs
Axel Castellanos-Morales	Computer Science	Steven Kim, CSUMB
Nick Alessandro	Psychology	Zurine De Miguel, CSUMB
Juan Vargas	Biology	Daniel Hasewaga, USDA
Katie Herrmann	Environmental Science, Technology, and Policy	Gerick Bergsma, CSUMB
Valeria Rodriguez	Environmental Science, Technology, and Policy	Andria Greene, CSUMB

Thank you to our inaugural group of judges for volunteering their time to support student research:

Judith Canner, Professor, CSU Monterey Bay
Kathleen Godfrey, Associate Dean, CSU Monterey Bay
Arun Jani, Assistant Professor, CSU Monterey Bay
Rob Drezner, Professor, Monterey Peninsula College
Amelia Olson, Biologist / Permitting Analyst, Padre Associates Inc.
Manny Ezcurra, Curator of Fish and Invertebrates, Monterey Bay Aquarium
Sam Robinson, Associate Professor, CSU Monterey Bay
Sara Rubin, Editor, Monterey County Weekly
Bruce Delgado, Mayor, Botanist, City of Marina and Fort Ord National Monument

Summer Research Symposium Sneak Peek

On Thursday, August 11 at 10:00 a.m. 4 students, representing psychology, business, and computer science, will present their summer research virtually.

Time	Student	Presentation Title
10:00am	Kai Larrieu	Virus risk assessment for 10 common weedy species in California
10:15am	Angelica May Amita	Brand Reputation and Social Involvement: Consumers' response toward brand efforts in social advocacy
10:30am	Sofia Christofi	Employer and Student Discrepancies: Undergraduates’ Perceptions and Knowledge of Essential Skills in the Workplace
10:45am	Keshav Gupta	RNA Motif Subfamily Web Service

Summer Research Symposium Schedule of Events

8:30 - 9:00am | Registration & Coffee
9:00 - 9:15am | Opening Remarks -- College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Science Building, Room 1401
9:15 - 10:30am | Oral Presentations -- Rooms 1203, 1204, 1301, 1302
10:30 - 10:45am | Break
10:45 - 11:45am | Oral Presentations -- Rooms 1203, 1204, 1301, 1302
11:30 - 12:00pm | Lunch
12:00 - 1:00pm | Poster Presentations (odd) -- Tanimura & Antle Library
1:00 - 2:00pm | Poster Presentations (even) -- Tanumura & Antle Library
2:00 - 2:15pm | Transition
2:15 - 2:45pm | Oral Presentations -- Rooms 1204, 1301
2:45 - 3:00pm | Transition
3:00 - 3:30pm | Closing Remarks & Awards Presentation -- College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Science Building, Room 1401

Session 1: Room 1203 Moderated by Corey Garza

Time	Student Name	Presentation Title
9:15am	Manaal Iqbal	Investigating Northern Anchovy Growth & Age Patterns Through Otoliths
9:30am	Jonah Gier	Spatial Variation of Sea Star Recovery in Response to Sea Star Wasting Disease
9:45am	Ana Arosemena	Phylogenetics in Trematodes
10:00am	Matt Biermann	Quantifying symbiont communities within Galápagos Pocillopora corals
10:15am	Deo Scott	Physiological Processes and Energetics of Ostrea lurida During Brooding

Session 2: Room 1204 Moderated by Laura Good

Time	Student Name	Presentation Title
9:15am	Gabby Muniz	Distinguishing Phytoplankton Taxonomy Using Satellite Remote Sensing Along the California Coastal Region
9:30am	Daravuth Tep	The Effects of Microalgae Density on the Growth and Survivorship of Olympia Oyster Larvae
9:45am	Meg Shah	Survival and growth of Salicornia pacifica transplants in a Southern California salt marsh
10:00am	Holly Hoffbauer	Kinematic characteristics and energetic efficiency of underwater tail slaps from killer whales (Orcinus orca) in northern Norway
10:15am	Cris Ramos	Utilizing soil amendments to promote seed germination of Pickleweed (Salicornia pacifica) and observing present abundance in Hester Marsh

Session 3: Room 1301 Moderated by Natasha Oehlman

Time	Student Name	Presentation Title
9:15am	Nikole Babcock	A Systemic Endemic: The Harmful Impacts of Anti-LGBTQ+ Legislation in Educational Systems
9:30am	Paul Stephens	Neurophysiological Responses to Cognitive Load During Learning and Memory via Eye Tracking Technology
9:45am	Devon McCauley	How the Biopolitics of Settler Colonialism Results in the Dehumanization and Commodification of Adoptees
10:00am	Vasiliki "Kiki" Iden	Surveying Student Selection: A Guidebook for Representation

Session 4: Room 1302 Moderated by Alli Cramer

Time	Student Name	Presentation Title
9:15am	Lizbeth Amador	Purple Reign: Spatial variation of intertidal Strongylocentrotus purpuratus across the Monterey Bay Peninsula
9:30am	Chris Shenoy	Correlating Symbiont Community Makeup and Differential Expression of Genes Linked to Growth and Structure with heat and cold stress in Galapagos Pocillopora spp.
9:45am	Gabe Mercado	Developing Simplified Methods for Sampling & Analysing Freshwater Microplastics from Urban & Agricultural Sources in Monterey, CA
10:00am	Olivia Bible	The Force of Waves on Rock: “Substrate Mobility” as a Proxy for Surfgrass Distribution in Central California
10:15am	Miriam Moreno	Arundo donax removals affect ground-dwelling macroinvertebrate diversity within the Salinas River

Session 5: Room 1203 Moderated by Corey Garza

Time	Student Name	Presentation Title
10:45am	Hailey Greenleaf	Modeling the pathways and relative contributions of microplastics from oceanic and riverine sources in the Arctic Ocean
11:00am	Sarah Pierce	Examining shifts in carbon to nitrogen ratios of two brown seaweeds, Dictyota spp Halopteris scoparia under carbon dioxide gradient
11:15am	Ann Gobei-Bacaylan	Coral reef fish assemblages and grazing patterns in relation to shark abundance variation
11:30am	Ezekiel Santillan	The effects of deep sea mining on midwater organisms

Session 6: Room 1204 Moderated by Alli Cramer

Time	Student Name	Presentation Title
10:45am	Michelle Moczulski	Blue Marlin Behavior Patterns in the Eastern Tropical Pacific
11:00am	Julia Rakowsky	Establishing a Framework for Stewardship-based Coral Reef Restoration
11:15am	Cannon Cline	Effects of Wave Force on Purple Sea Urchin (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus) Distribution in Central California
11:30am	Seth Staten	Spatial Changes in Sediment Composition in the Guaymas Basin

Session 7: Room 1301 Moderated by Jessica Bautista

Time	Student Name	Presentation Title
10:45am	Emilia Lepe	Pigment Specific Identification of Western Lake Erie
11:00am	Robert Hays	Does U2AF1S34F Ameliorate KRASG12V Oncogene Induced Senescence Within Human Bronchial Cells?
11:15am	Paige Siegel	Cannery Row: A refuge for Pisaster ochraceus
11:30am	Dominic Villarreal	Improving the design and user interface for a field-based coral thermal tolerance assessment system

Session 8: Room 1302 Moderated by Laura Good

Time	Student Name	Presentation Title
10:45am	Luke Najarian	Programming Design and Performance Evaluation of a New Seawater Nitrate and Nitrite Analyzer
11:00am	Cara Rankin	Using Passive Acoustic Monitoring of Sperm Whales (Physeter macrocephalus) to Characterize Vocal and Foraging Behaviors in Relation to Vessel Noise in Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary
11:15am	Trevor Thompson	Assessing the Impact of Climate Change On Harbor Seal (Phoca vitulina) Populations in Elkhorn Slough
11:30am	Chelsea Eakins	Changing Hydrology in Elkhorn Slough: Measuring Current Flow to Estimate the Modern-Day Tidal Prism

Session 9: Room 1204 Moderated by Alison Haupt

Time	Student Name	Presentation Title
2:15pm	Sofia Gluskin	Spatial Variation of Intertidal Sea Urchin Reproductive Capacity Across Hopkins Marine Station
2:30pm	Audrey Sarin	Sea Urchin Culling in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary

Session 10: Room 1301 Moderated by Morgan Raimondo

Time	Student Name	Presentation Title
2:15pm	Alexandra "Lexi" Yokomizo	Revealing how wildfires can affect river sediments and chemistry during droughts and after precipitation
2:30pm	Aleah Adame	Understanding the Biodiversity of Avian Species through the process of Bird Banding

We are excited for the 8th Annual Summer Research Symposium on August 13, 2021! Our second Virtual Research Symposium will consist of a morning and afternoon session each offering five different academic disciplines to choose from moderated by UROC Staff. The Symposium kicks off at 10:00 AM PST for the morning session and 1:00 PM PST for the afternoon session. Check back later for the schedule of student presenters.

Each undergraduate researcher will have 10 minutes to present their research live followed by a 5-minute Q&A. There will be a moderator for each session who will introduce presenters and monitor the chat throughout the presentation and during the Q&A. Presentations will not start early.

Special Presentations

The following presentations will be held on Instagram Live via UROC's Instagram page. Follow our Instagram at uroc_csumb to watch them.

Date & Time	Presenter	Presentation Title	Research Tagline
August 6, 3:00pm	Wendy Feng	Reframing Environmental Education to include Asian Americans	Understanding why Asian Americans have been left out of the environmental movement and how do we center their experience?
August 6, 6:30pm	Leta Dawson	Recovery of Black Abalone Populations in Monterey County	Are black abalone populations any closer to reaching the CA Fish and Wildlife criteria?
August 9, 2:00pm	Amelia Parker	Exploring COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in Seaside, CA, in college-aged Black and Latinx communities	Understanding causes of vaccine hesitancy in college-aged students to combat low rates of COVID-19 vaccinations
August 10, 5:15pm	Jordan Velasco	The Novel Application of Virtual Reality: Quantifying Patterns in the Distribution of Temperate Kelp Forest Fishes through VR and Traditional Underwater Visual Census	We've got the fish. Take a look around!
August 11, 6:00pm	Mary Sullivan	The issue with Film School	The failure to educate our future storytellers how to critically and creatively analyze and expand on our society

Morning Sessions

Session 1: Department of Biology & Chemistry

Time	Presenter(s)	Presentation Title	Research Tagline
10:10	Avalon Surratt	Bioremediation of Pesticides: Applying Molecular Genomic Techniques to Uncover Efficient, Eco-Friendly Methods of Cleaning Agricultural Waste	How can we clean toxic agricultural waste at a fast pace and be environmentally safe?
10:25	Rimki Barua	Harvesting of Fog Water	Spend wisely and harvest fog water
10:40	Robert Hays	Potential Biofuel Solutions Through the Isolation and Characterization of Novel Catalase Enzymes from Cow Rumen	Can cows bring the future of renewable energy?
10:55	Alma Leon	Observing Beaked Whale Foraging Behavior with Acoustic Localization	What do whales do when no one is watching?
11:10	Cassandra Tice	Assessing the Sensitivity of Indigenous Pythium spp. from the Salinas Valley to the Fungicide Mefenoxam	Are local populations of Pythium spp. susceptible to commercial fungicides?
11:25	Jade Betancourt	Effects of Hypoxia on the Physiology of Juvenile Flatfishes	Will lowered oxygen levels contribute to flatfish species abundance?

Session 2: Department of Computer Science; Department of Mathematics

Time	Presenter(s)	Presentation Title	Research Tagline
10:10	Daniel Jacoby	The Relationship between Computational Complexity and Energy Efficiency of Common Algorithms	We are going to save the world, by reducing the energy used by even the smallest of programs!
10:25	Keyoni Mcnair	Gauging Student Interest: Computer Science Interest Survey Results	What are students interested in Computer Science interested in?
10:40	Michael Haidar	EEG Data With Time vs Frequency Domains	An evaluation of EEG data in time vs frequency domains for the use of Brain-Computer Interface
10:55	Cobey Davis	African American Students and their Mathematics College Preparatory Readiness	Are African American students prepared for college mathematics through high school preparatory courses?

Session 3: Psychology Department

Time	Presenter(s)	Presentation Title	Research Tagline
10:10	Melissa-Ann Lagunas; Courtney Crouse; Claudia Rocha	Cannabis Use and Perceptions Among College Students in California	Students find relief using cannabis as a treatment or medication
10:25	Brooklyn Greene	Mental Health Education in Black Communities	Mental health education among Black youth is lacking, which results in the high statistics of poor mental health, and suicide rates. What does health education do to change these statistics? And what is the most effective way to implement these systems?
10:40	Gagandeep Choongh	Examining women's empowerment in India: Takeaways from conducting research and data collection abroad	A case study on conducting cross-cultural research in India
10:55	Angel Diaz	Decreased physical activity during the COVID-19 pandemic associates with increased stress, anxiety and impoverished academic performance in undergraduate students	This is your brain on exercise: a closer look at the impacts of stress, anxiety, and academic performance during the covid-19 pandemic
11:10	Spencer Winter	Exploring The Neural Processes of Perceptual Decision Making	How does our brain make decisions for us?

Session 4: Department of Marine Science

Time	Presenter(s)	Presentation Title	Research Tagline
10:10	Paige Siegel	Sea star species along the Monterey Peninsula	Trillions of stars in the universe, but how many sea stars are in the ocean?
10:25	Stephanie Stephens	Everyone’s Harvest Research Team: Summer Progress	Health education, food insecurity, farmers market, social safety net, COVID-19
10:40	Paulina Cadena	The role of symbiont community on Galapagos coral thermal tolerance	The symbionts on coral have a bigger role than you think
10:55	Emily Vidusic; Kaitlin Rooney	Rise of the Urchins: Monitoring size structure and population density along the Monterey Peninsula Intertidal	How has size structure and population density of purple sea urchins changed over time at various intertidal sites?

Session 5: College of Business

Time	Presenter(s)	Presentation Title	Research Tagline
10:10	Eduardo Aparicio	Espoused organizational and team culture values as antecedents of protection motivation among IT employees	Impact of the dimensions of organizational culture and team culture on the cognitive ability of the employees to appraise threat and coping motivation associated with information security compliance
10:25	Athena Lee	Enforcing the Screen Time and Technology Usage of Children: Evaluating the Impact of Parental Perception of Technology, Locus of Control and Children Daily Usage of Technology	How does the parental perception of technology and locus of control impact their view on enforcement of screen time and technology usage by their children?
10:40	Zah-Rah La Tour	Coming soon!	Coming soon!
10:55	Erika Hernandez-Gonzalez	Green skepticism: Examining the role of social media influencers on consumer attitudes toward green brands	Impact of social media influencers on green brands
11:10	Saray Garcia	Business for 2030: A content analysis of firm’s statements on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)	Business Today: How are firms enacting sustainable development goals across countries?
11:25	Angelica May Amita	The Empowering Role of Anti-Domestic Violence Messages: Evaluating the Effectiveness of Public Service Announcements and Social Media Platforms	How do the roles of traditional vs. modern media play in social issues like Domestic Violence?

Afternoon Sessions

Session 6: Department of Biology & Chemistry

Time	Presenter(s)	Presentation Title	Research Tagline
1:10	Grace Hardy	Evaluation of Anaerobic Soil Disinfestation and Pathogen Suppressive Microbial Inoculants For White Rot Management	How can we save garlic fields without harmful chemicals and pesticides?
1:25	Vicky Ordaz Garcia	Raising Covid-19 Awareness for Teens	I got the SHOT
1:40	Morgan Raimondo	Optimization of Laboratory Methods to Isolate and Characterize Soil Streptomyces	Digging for the answers: How soil microbiomes can influence crop health
1:55	Chenelle Gueverra	Evolutionary processes that drive fur color in Chinchilla lanigera and other rodents	How does the gene mc1r influence the Chinchilla lanigera’s fur color?
2:10	Conor Rickard	Investigating functional redundancy among PLK receptor kinases in the Arabidopsis root	Digging into root growth

Session 7: Department of Applied Environmental Science

Time	Presenter(s)	Presentation Title	Research Tagline
1:10	Summer Alinaeem	Patterns of Longtime Fog Variability at Fort Ord National Monument	A foggy future: how fog patterns affect Monterey's natural biome
1:25	Alyssa Schaer	Indicator species composition depends on river salinity	What happens to freshwater bugs as salinity increases?
1:40	Lexi Yokomizo	Revealing how wildfires can affect river sediments and chemistry	Things are heating up: How wildfires affect watersheds
1:55	Monica Urias	The relationship between climate change concerns and women’s intention to have children	Climate change affects women and their desire to have children
2:10	Gretchen Wichman	The influence of salinity on leaf-litter breakdown rates in tidal streams	Aquatic microbes munching on fallen leaves in rivers connected to the ocean
2:25	Judah Young	Are small water systems within Monterey County really safe to drink?	Dirty drinking water? H 2 Oh Nooo!

Session 8: Psychology Department

Time	Presenter(s)	Presentation Title	Research Tagline
1:10	Nevan Bell	Major and minor differences in expression: How perceived emotions of students are influenced by styles of music and backgrounds	Does music change the way students perceive and express their emotions?
1:25	Jennifer Lopez	Abolitionist Practices in Social Work	How do social workers draw on the genealogies of abolition to center liberatory practices within the carceral context of their field?
1:40	Nikole Karis	Monterey County LGBTQ+ Historical Archives and Special Collections: A Virtual Exhibit	Unearthing Monterey County's rich, and often untold, LGBTQ+ histories during the late 70's to the mid 90's
1:55	Megan Dearie; Rodi Edil; Paul Dommert	What skills have you developed? Psychology Undergrads' Understanding of Their Major Learning Outcomes"	Psychology Undergrads - Are you ready for what comes after graduation?

Session 9: Department of Marine Science

Time	Presenter(s)	Presentation Title	Research Tagline
1:10	Mariah Daniel	Animal-Borne Video Analyses of Pursuit Strategies in White Sharks (Carcharodon carcharias)	How are visual cues perceived, responded to, and how does this interplay influence White shark predatory behavior?
1:25	Danielle Anderson	Detecting the Effects of Rising Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide on Ocean Carbon Dioxide in the California Current System using Satellite Remote Sensing Observations	Will climate change doom phytoplankton? Or make it KA-BLOOM?!
1:40	Vaughn Compas	Fog Detection: comparing efficiencies of methods	Is GOES imagery a sufficient method to detect fog?
1:55	Kaiku Kaholoaa	Spatial and Demographic Differences of the Hawaiian Coral Species: Porites lichen	How does latitude affect coral populations?
2:10	Maggie Seida	An Analysis of ROV External Lighting for 3D Modeling of Artificial Substrate.	N/A
2:25	Silvia Vasquez; Amalia Seigel	Endosymbiont communities affect coral thermal tolerance in American Samoa	Pollution and the Symbiont Shuffle: The dance of coral thermotolerance

Session 10: Department of Cinematic Arts & Technology; Schools of Humanities & Communication, Social & Behavioral Sciences, Global Studies, and World Langague & Cultures

Time	Presenter(s)	Presentation Title	Research Tagline
1:10	Lily Amador; Korina McKinley	Localization of History and Civics in Salinas Ethnic Studies Classrooms	Centering Community: Learning From and With the Students & Community of Salinas
1:25	Darchelle Burnett	Within the Blood Line: A Comparison of African American and Native American Educational History	Changing Indigenous Narrative by shedding a light on forgotten history
1:40	Chase Paparotti	Animation: A Credible Investment Education	Who taught you about the Stock Market?
1:55	Kelly Christensen	Coming soon!	Coming soon!
2:10	Hana Jacinto	The Effects of Training and Language Learning Background on Japanese Sound Recognition by English Native Speakers	How can we enhance English speakers’ skills to distinguish unique Japanese sounds?
2:25	Ulises Duenaz	“I want to get off”; Hookup motives among LGBTQ+ Young Adults	What motivates Queer and Trans Young to Adults hookup? Does it relate with heterosexual hookup research?

Session 11: Department of Kinesiology; Department of Health, Human Services and Public Policy; STEM Education

Time	Presenter(s)	Presentation Title	Research Tagline
1:10	Paula Beltran	Reproductive health challenges: The barriers to access and/or obtain an abortion	Your body, your choice, barriers and access to care
1:25	Jennifer Berberian	Erasing Anti-Black Racism: Critical Consciousness for Equity and Advocates	Raising awareness on anti-Black racism, bias, organized culture, and micro aggression
1:40	Viviana Vigil	Limiting Screen Time in STEM Education	Better living through limiting screen time in STEM education
1:55	Kenneth Tran	The Cost of STEM Education: How Much Should We Be Spending?	Exploring the costs of hands-on learning
2:10	Eric DeSoto	Variables that could lead the CSUMB Makerspace to new opportunities	The Benefits of Library-Based Makerspaces in Identity Formation in Higher Education

We are excited for the 7th Annual Summer Research Symposium 2020 on August 7, 2020! Our first every Virtual Research Symposium will consist of a morning and afternoon session each offering five different academic disciplines to choose from moderated by UROC Staff. The Symposium kicks off at 10:00 AM for the morning session and 1:00 PM for the afternoon session.

Each undergraduate researcher has submitted a 10-minute pre-recorded oral presentation and will be shown during each undergraduate researcher's assigned time followed by a live 5-minute Q&A. There will be a moderator for each session who will introduce presenters and monitor the chat throughout the presentation and during the Q&A. Presentations will not start early.

Morning Session

College of Science: Biology and Chemistry, Moderated by Dr. Corin White

Time	Student Presenter	Presentation Title
10:00am	Introduction	Introduction
10:10am	Emma Teall	Environmental DNA as a tool for wildlife conservation
10:25am	Saul Garcia	Wildlife impacts from recreational activity in response to Covid-19
10:40am	Kaiki Kaholoaa	Species-Specific Vital Rates in Hawaiian Corals Pocillopora ligulata and Porites lichen
10:55am	Karla Jasso	Optimization of transparent synthetic soil protocols for in situ visualization of plant infection with soilborne pathogens
11:10am	Nicholas Heyer	An Investigation of The Intronic Regions of NOTCH2NL a Human Specific Neocortical Gene

College of Science: Biology and Chemistry, Mathematics, Computer Science; College of Business, Moderated by Dr. Jessica Bautista

Time	Student Presenter	Presentation Title
10:00am	Introduction	Introduction
10:10am	Gabriel Chavez	A Generating Function For f λ(m) given only the λ and gcd (n, m) of a SYT
10:25am	Saray Garcia	The Effects of Identity-Congruent Messages on Sustainable Food Consumption
10:40am	Michael Haidar	Using EEG and convolutional neural network for information retrieval
10:55am	Emily Beasley	Bioinformatics and Pathway Analysis on the Aging Brain

College of Arts, Humanities and Social Science: Psychology, Moderated by Dr. Heather Haeger

Time	Student Presenter	Presentation Title
10:00am	Introduction	Introduction
10:10am	Trevor Stevens	Being homeless: Using virtual reality to generate empathy in college students
10:25am	Selina Espinoza	Cannabis Perceptions of Risks, Benefits, Spirituality, and Impact of COVID-19 Among College Students and Veterans
10:40am	Maria Reyes	Does fatalism moderate the relation between a Culturally Adapted Cognitive-Behavioral Stress Management Intervention and Aspects of Benefit Finding among Spanish-Speaking Latina Breast Cancer Survivors?
10:55am	Natassia Aleman	Caregivers' Effect on the Amount of Time Children Spent at Gender-Typed Exhibits in a Children's Museum

College of Science: Marine Science, Moderated by Eric Barajas

Time	Student Presenter	Presentation Title
10:00am	Introduction	Introduction
10:10am	Maxwell Rudelic	Effects of combined acidification and hypoxia on fast-start response in juvenile rockfish
10:25am	Melissa Vezard	Comparing Changes of Vital Rates for Corals in Maui Over Time
10:40am	Maria Rocha	Classification and Mapping of Marine Habitats Using Drone Data
10:55am	Maggie Seida	Caño Island biological reserve
11:10am	Laney Klunis	Size Matters: Variation in Phytoplankton Biovolume Observed in Remote Sensing Imagery Across a Putative Gradient Nearshore to Offshore of Southern California
11:25am	Casey Juliussen	Effects of S. purpuratus on kelp forest recovery

College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences: Humanities & Communication, Social & Behavioral Sciences, Moderated by Natasha Oehlman

Time	Student Presenter(s)	Presentation Title
10:00am	Introduction	Introduction
10:10am	Angela Steele	Climate Change in National and State Parks of the Monterey Bay Region: How Small, Everyday Acts Can Make a Big Difference
10:25am	Amelia Parker and Jesus Orozco	Higher education is not immune to messaging mishaps: A qualitative rhetorical analysis of COVID-19 messaging on U.S. campuses
10:40am	Sebastian Mireles	Pornography and Capitalist Ideology: The Commodification of Sex
10:55am	Melyssa Spandri	Hurricane Preparedness Planning for Low-Income/Homeless Citizens During the COVID-19 Pandemic
11:10am	Darchelle Burnett	Comparison of Afro Indigenous to African American and Native American student research models in Higher Education
11:25am	Xenia Enriquez	H2A Guest Workers in the Salinas Valley and Central Coast Valley during the Covid-19 Pandemic

Afternoon Session

College of Science: Biology & Chemistry, Applied Environmental Science, Moderated by Dr. Corin White

Time	Student Presenter	Presentation Title
1:00pm	Introduction	Introduction
1:10pm	Silvia Vasquez	Coral thermotolerance
1:25pm	Jada Carter	The Genetic Variation Underlying the Salt Stress Response in Oryza glaberrima Plant Evolutionary Genomics
1:40pm	Carlos Rosas	Investigating the roles of LIP1 and LAC1 in the early G1 phase of Saccharomyces cerevisiae
1:55pm	Hannah Carrell	Correlation between California bat activity and hexapod activity at a site along the Salinas River
2:10pm	Rebecca Munster	Algebraically predicting percent compositions of eutectic solutions: can the perfect solution be predicted before we make it?
2:25pm	Alicia Khoun	The Breeding Phenology of Wildlife on The Santa Lucia Preserve

College of Science: Applied Environmental Science, Moderated by Dr. Jessica Bautista

Time	Student Presenter(s)	Presentation Title
1:00pm	Introduction	Introduction
1:10pm	Sarah Munro-Kennedy	SARS-CoV-2 and Larus occidentalis: How the CoronaVirus Pandemic has Affected Western Gull Behavior and Foraging in Monterey
1:25pm	Ekatarina Patrice	The role of epiphytic lichens in facilitating arthropod and avian communities within oak woodland habitat cascades
1:40pm	Conor Rickard, Wendy Feng, Alan Sevin	Analysis of small-scale, spatial variability within high-density arrays of passive fog collectors to determine the optimal location for for collection
1:55pm	Armando Flores	Effects of anaerobic soil disinfestation on volatile organic compound production in strawberry fields
2:10pm	Trinity Gomez	CSUMB Botanical Garden Project: A Framework for Learning Laboratories on Campus
2:25pm	Gretchen Wichman	Make it rain: Nutrient dynamics of riparian and stream ecosystems during simulated rainfall events
2:40pm	Ahtziri Carranza-Medrano, Chris Shatto	Climate adaptation planning in an agricultural community: Results from Pajaro Valley outreach

College of Arts, Humanities and Social Science: Cinematic Arts & Technology, Psychology, Moderated by Dr. Heather Haeger

Time	Student Presenter(s)	Presentation Title
1:00pm	Introduction	Introduction
1:10pm	Stephany Barrera	The Making of Emotional Cut Out Animation
1:25pm	Gagandeep Choongh	Motivating responsible behaviors during COVID-19 through effective messaging: Perspective from CLT
1:40pm	Danielle Flores	LGBTQ+ Casual Sex: Foundational Investigations for Improving Health and Well-being of Vulnerable Populations
1:55pm	Zaida Lopez, Lea Carrasco	Association between MMPI-2-RF Somatic/Cognitive Scales and medical diagnoses among forensic psychiatric inpatients
2:10pm	Angel Diaz	Interaction of Physical Fitness, Inflammation and Cognitive Performance in Healthy Young Adults
2:25pm	Cameron Battersby	Learning Outcomes Help Students Understand What They Learned

College of Science: Marine Science, Moderated by Eric Barajas

Time	Student Presenter	Presentation Title
1:00pm	Introduction	Introduction
1:10pm	Emilia Lepe	Monitoring microphytobenthos biodiversity in intertidal mudflats of the San Francisco Bay
1:25pm	Jennifer Grossman	The Range of Arm Flexibility of Octopus vulgaris in the Field
1:40pm	Ally Morris	Testing the fidelity of global biogeochemical algorithms in the California Current System to study carbon cycling
1:55pm	Jordan Velasco	The Novel Application of Virtual Reality: Quantifying Patterns in the Distribution of Temperate Kelp Forest Fishes through VR and Traditional Underwater Visual Census
2:10pm	Maite Gato-Fuentes	Coral symbiont mediation of the effects of sedimentation and water flow on corals
2:25pm	Jasmin Johnson	Effects of crown-of-thorns, Acanthaster planci, predation of corals on the survivorship of reef fishes

College of Health Sciences & Human Services: Kinesiology, Collaborative Health & Human Services; College of Science: STEM Education, Moderated by Natasha Oehlman

Time	Student Presenter(s)	Presentation Title
1:00pm	Introduction	Introduction
1:10pm	Maximillian Gastelum-Morales	Exercise is Medicine® On Campus: Employee Circuit Training Course Increases Physical Activity
1:25pm	Tzu-Ling Tseng	Qualitative study of cancer screening utilization among Latinos in a remote agricultural community
1:40pm	Eric De Soto	Variables that affect the success of first generation college students in a Geoscience STEM REU Program
1:55pm	Lily Amador, Krysta Malech, Viviana Vigil	Successful Online Transitions: How Instructors Supported Students during COVID-19
2:10pm	Mackenzie Price, Vicki Meraz	Assessment of student work in a chemistry course series
2:25pm	Matthew Dunham	The relationship between student attitudes and their conceptual understanding of statistics
2:40pm	Paulina Cadena	Creating Educational Animated Videos and Comic Strips for Use in Introductory Oceanography Classes

Summer Research Symposium August 9, 2019

8:30 - 9:00 | Registration & Coffee

9:00 - 9:15 | Opening Remarks

9:15 - 10:30 | Oral Presentations - Session 1: REU, Session 2: UROC

10:30 - 10:45 | 15-minute Break

10:45 - 12:30 | Oral Presentations - Session 3: REU, Session 4: UROC

12:30 - 1:15 | 45-minute Lunch

1:15 - 2:15 | Oral Presentations - Session 5: NPS

2:15 - 2:45 | Mentor Appreciation, Acknowledgements, & Closing Remarks

2:45 - 4:00 | Poster Presentations - UROC, NPS, and Hartnell STEM Interns

Expand each section below for a detailed schedule of each oral presentation

Oral Presentation Full Abstracts

Poster Presentation Full Abstracts

Session 1: REU

Location: Room 1188

Title	Presenter, Mentor, and Title
9:15	Rebecca Alisandratos & Dr. Gitte McDonald. "The Effects of Dive Behavior on the Heart Rates of Northern Elephant Seas."
9:30	Nicholas Anaya-Licea & Dr. Chris Lowe. "The organization of the nervous system in a Hemichordate species, Saccoglossus kowalevskii."
9:45	Morganne Borsh & Dr. Alison Haupt. "Implications of purple sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus) population dynamics on giant kelp forests in Southern California."
10:00	Kelsey Nichols, Dr. Jim Barry, & Dr. Steve Litvin. "The effect of predator presence and environmental conditions on the metabolic rate of red abalone, Haliotis Rufescens.."
10:15	Lucero Dorantes & Dr. Jamie MacMahan. "Wave Energy Reflection at a Rocky Coast."

Session 2: UROC

Location: Room 1180

Time	Presenter, Mentor, and Title
9:15	Juan Pacheco Marcial, Matthew Murphy, & Dr. Mrinal Sinha. "You belong here: How Latinx college students use Community Cultural Wealth."
9:30	Sonia Olmos, Andrea-Teresa Arenas, Eloisa Gómez, Yolanda Garza, & Paul Hedges. "The Latina Task Force. A Lost Piece of U.S. History."
9:45	Bryant Taylor, & David Reichard. "Demeter: A Closer Look at the History of Lesbian Feminism on the Monterey Peninsula."
10:00	Sarah A. Ricks, Meng-Hsien (Jenny) Lin, Shwadhin Sharma, & Akshaya Vijayalakshmi. "Social Media Use of Mothers in India: Empowering Mother’s Spending on Children’s Education."
10:15	Sebastian Mireles, & Mridula Mascarenhas. "What Should I Do? : A Look Into the Discourse of Morality from Contemporary Americans."

Session 3: REU

Location: Room 1188

Time	Presenter, Mentor, and Title
10:45	Ciara Dorsay & Dr. Tom Murphee. "Predicting Wildfire Favorable Conditions in California at Sub Seasonal Lead Times Using Remote Predictors."
11:00	Cindy Matuch & Dr. Larry Crowder. "Life history patterns and spatio-temporal shifts in the diets of albacore tuna (Thunnus alalunga) from a global literature analysis."
11:15	Samantha Champ & Dr. Arlene Haffa. "Testing for Water and Sediment Contamination in the Monterey Peninsula and Salinas Watershed for Select Persistent Organic Pollutants."
11:30	Hayden Smith & Dr. Jeremy Goldbogen. "The Physics of Whale Movement: Drag and Thrust Calculations to Measure Whale Efficiency."
11:45	Norman Sween, Dr. Ken Smith, & Dr. Crissy Huffard. "Munidopsis Density Relating to Particulate Organic Carbon Flux Events between Time Periods [1989-2010] to [2011-2017]."
12:00	Cami Wilson & Dr. Holly Bowers. "Detection of Harmful Algal Bloom Species On Site Through Optimal DNA Extraction Methodology Coupled with qPCR."

Session 4: UROC

Location: Room 1180

Time	Presenter, Mentor, and Title
10:45	Kayla Chapman, Jessica Turner, Dr. Lopez-Littleton, & Dr. John Olson. "An exploratory analysis of socioeconomic, environmental and behavioral factors affecting infant mortality."
11:00	Kameron Strickland & James Lindholm. "Variable Microhabitat Associations and Body Orientations of Kelp Rockfish (Sebastes atrovirens) Along The Reef-sand Interface At Central Californian Reefs."
11:15	Megan Salomonson & James Lindholm. "Microhabitat associations of post-settlement juvenile rockfishes: utilization of transient drift kelp extending from the kelp forest boundary."
11:30	Elya Kandahari, Parker J. Smith, & John C. Goeltz. "Workshop in Methodology in Training Undergraduates in Electrochemistry."
11:45	Marisa Thompson, Wendy Morrison. "Let’s shed some light on the situation: Assessing the effectiveness of net illumination as a bycatch reduction solution for sustainable fisheries."

Session 5: NPS

Location: Room 1188

Time	Presenter, Mentor, and Title
1:15	Andrew Reyes & Dr. Andrew Nieto. "Synthesis and Characterization of Bulk Boron Nitride Nanoplatelets."
1:30	Patrick Aceves, Nathalie Daoud, David Cardenas, Dr. Claudia Luhrs, & Dr. Richa Agrawal. "Improving The Conductivity of Carbon Nanotubes and Synthesizing Graphene Foam For Use in Supercapacitors."
1:45	Erik Skalnes & Dr. Neil Row. "Application of Poker AI to Military Mission Strategy and a Novel Method for Detection of Unknown Unknowns Therein."
2:00	Yousef Al-Shinnawi, Felix Fagan, Cathy Hsu, & Dr. James Newman. "Space Systems Academic Group: High Altitude Balloon and Satellite Communication Systems."

Undergraduate Research Opportunities Center

Summer Research Symposium

2025 Summer Research Symposium

Guest Judges

Guest Judges

Summer Research Symposium Sneak Peek

Summer Research Symposium Schedule of Events

Guest Judges

Summer Research Symposium Sneak Peek

Summer Research Symposium Schedule of Events

Special Presentations

Morning Sessions

Afternoon Sessions

Morning Session

College of Science: Biology and Chemistry, Moderated by Dr. Corin White

College of Science: Biology and Chemistry, Mathematics, Computer Science; College of Business, Moderated by Dr. Jessica Bautista

College of Arts, Humanities and Social Science: Psychology, Moderated by Dr. Heather Haeger

College of Science: Marine Science, Moderated by Eric Barajas

College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences: Humanities & Communication, Social & Behavioral Sciences, Moderated by Natasha Oehlman

Afternoon Session

College of Science: Biology & Chemistry, Applied Environmental Science, Moderated by Dr. Corin White

College of Science: Applied Environmental Science, Moderated by Dr. Jessica Bautista

College of Arts, Humanities and Social Science: Cinematic Arts & Technology, Psychology, Moderated by Dr. Heather Haeger

College of Science: Marine Science, Moderated by Eric Barajas

College of Health Sciences & Human Services: Kinesiology, Collaborative Health & Human Services; College of Science: STEM Education, Moderated by Natasha Oehlman

Summer Research Symposium August 9, 2019

Session 1: REU

Session 2: UROC

Session 3: REU

Session 4: UROC

Session 5: NPS

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