office for training, research & education in the sciences · 2014-2015 otres scholars gave more...

Inside This Issue

1 From the Director

2 Accomplishments

3 NSF Fellowship Awards

4 Class of 2015

5 Mentors/SRTP

6 Summer Research

7-8 Congratulations Corner

9 Student Spotlight

10-13 Featuring OTRES Graduates

14 GPA 3.5 or Higher

14 OTRES Office Information

About OTRES Programs

The MARC and RISE Programs are

supported by the National Institutes of

Health; the LSAMP program is funded by

the National Science Foundation. These

programs identify and prepare eligible

students for graduate studies leading to

the Ph.D. by providing research training

and early scholarly experiences to

high-achieving undergraduate and

graduate CSUSM students.

From the Director

Dr. Keith Trujillo

California State University San Marcos www.csusm.edu/otres

Fall 2015 Newsletter

Office for Training, Research & Education

in the Sciences

It’s my pleasure to share the latest news about OTRES, and the impressive accomplishments of our current and former students. We’ve been working very hard to provide a supportive environment for CSUSM students, one that sets high expectations and celebrates success. To this end, we’ve been very fortunate over the past few years in our effort to stabilize funding for our student training programs. Our success includes key grant renewals for MARC ($1.47 million, 2015-2020), RISE ($3.08 million, 2014-2019), LSAMP ($330,000, 2013-2018), and Bridges to the Future ($1.06 million, 2013-2018; Denise Garcia, PI). These grants have fueled considerable growth in our ability to provide opportunities to students. Students engaging in OTRES activities have grown from 60 to more than 200 per year in the past five years. Accompanying this growth is a parallel growth in student accomplishments. During 2014-2015 OTRES scholars gave more than 100 presentations at scientific conferences and were coauthors on four publications in peer reviewed journals. In addition, 18 scholars engaged in summer research programs at some of the top research institutions around the country.

To date, 23 OTRES alumni have received PhDs and 37 are currently working on their doctorates. In addition, 71 OTRES alumni have received Master’s degrees and 10 more are currently working on their degrees. Our students have pursued graduate study at some of the top institutions in the country, including Stanford, Harvard, Yale, Cornell, University of Pennsylvania, several University of California campuses, and many more. And several have been selected for very competitive fellowships from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. In short, our students are well-situated to become not only well-trained researchers, but also future leaders in science and academia. I should also note that every one of these students is from an underrepresented minority and/or disadvantaged group, and most are first generation college students. In this context, CSUSM is having a national impact on diversity in science and academia.

Beyond our own projects, we’ve been very fortunate to collaborate with CSUSM faculty on other initiatives that support faculty and students in science training, research and education. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you’d like to discuss the opportunity for a new collaboration.

I would be remiss in failing to acknowledge the extraordinary work of faculty, staff and administrators who support OTRES, mentor students, and contribute in innumerable ways to OTRES Scholar success and to grant success. Thank you for your hard work and support!

http://www.csusm.edu/otres/marcprogram/index.html

http://www.csusm.edu/otres/riseprogram/index.html

http://www.csusm.edu/otres/lsampprogram/index.html

http://www.csusm.edu/otres


OTRES Fall 2015 Newsletter

OTRES Accomplishments

• OTRES students continue to demonstrate excellence in scholarship and research. During the 2014-2015 AY, OTRES students presented their research findings at several different national and student conferences. Among these are the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS), Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS), UCSD Summer Research Symposium, Symposium on Student Research, Creative Activities, & Innovation, Society for Neuroscience, and the Western Psychological Association (WPA), among others.

• During the 2014-2015 AY OTRES scholars made a total of 38 oral presentations and 66 poster presentations.

• 7 of the 2015 CSUSM Symposium on Student Research, Creative Activities & Innovation Finalists were OTRES students, and Anneke Boethius (LSAMP student) was a Statewide winner.

• Carlos Rosas (MARC Scholar) received Poster Presentation awards for his research at SACNAS & ABRCMS conferences.

• Mark Bartolo (MARC Scholar), was a co-author on two scientific publications in the Journal of Chemical Crystallography.

• Veronica Gutierrez, (Bridges Scholar, LSAMP Scholar) was a co-author on a publication in the Journal of Human Movement Science.

• Gary Simmons (former MARC Scholar) was a co-author from his work with Dr. Michael Burin in the Physics of Plasmas Journal.

• Carlos Rosas (MARC Scholar) was a co-coauthor on two submitted publications. One was submitted to the Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology and the second to the Journal of Adolescent Health.

• We have established a textbook lending library that is nearing 100 books and has provided 49 students in STEM courses with books in the last year.

• To date 23 OTRES Scholars have completed Ph.D. programs at top universities, including Yale, UCSD, Emory University, Ohio State University, University of Washington and others.

• To date 71 OTRES scholars have completed a M.A./M.S. degree with the intention of transitioning to Ph.D. Programs.

Accomplishments

Imelda Lopez, LSAMP StudentSRTP Poster Presentation

Carlos Rosas & Cristal Lopez, MARC Scholars

Poster Presentation ABRCMS 2014

From left: Stephanie Price, Jayme Temple, Anneke

Boethius, Robert Altamirano, Cindy Barba, Yesenia Cabrera, & Abraham

EscobedoCSUSM Symposium on Student

Research 2015 Finalists


http://www.abrcms.org/

https://sacnas.org/

NSF Fellowship/New Doctors!


Former MARC & RISE fellows awardedNSF Graduate Research Fellowships

In 2015, former MARC & RISE Scholars Carlos Gonzalez and Theo Crouch were awarded fellowships through the National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP). GRFP fellows receive three years of support, including $32,000 annual stipend, $12,000 cost-of-education allowance to the institution, and international research and professional development opportunities. This prestigious program recognizes outstanding graduate students who are pursuing research-based master's and doctoral degrees in science and engineering.


New Doctors in the House!

Congratulations to former OTRES Students who successfully completed their Ph.D. program or their Master’s degree.

Israel Alvarado, Ph.D. in Integrative Physiology from the University of Nevada Las Vegas.

Lissa Lim, Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

Jason Rodriguez, Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Johan Garza, M.S. in Biotechnology from California State University San Marcos.

Jehovani Lopez, M.S. in Biochemistry from California State University Los Angeles.

Sarah Lopez, M.S. in Biology from California State University San Marcos.

Megan Rice, M.A. in Psychology from California State University San Marcos.

Everardo Robles, M.S. in Biological Science from California State University Los Angeles.

Carlos GonzalezPh.D. Student

Stanford University

Theo CrouchPh.D. Student

UC Merced

Lissa Lim, Ph.D.Former RISE Scholar

Israel Alvarado, Ph.D.Former RISE, MARC &

Bridges Scholar


Where they Landed


Where they Landed

We would like to congratulate the 2015 cohort of graduate scholars. They have done many wonderful things during their time at CSUSM and are representing the MARC, RISE and LSAMP Programs well in their respective graduate programs.


Josephine GonzalesBiochemistry, Molecular & Cell

Biology Ph.D. program at Cornell University.

Jehovani Lopez Material Chemistry Ph.D.

program at New York University.

Colleen Lopez Physiology Ph.D. program at the University of Oxford, England.

Carlos Rosas

Ph.D. in psychology at the

University of Illinois,

Chicago.

Maria Cole

Master’s in Psychology at

California State University,

San Marcos.

Mark BartoloPhysics Ph.D. program at the

University of California, Merced.

Danny Armenta

Computer Science Ph.D.

program at the University

of California, Irvine.

Trey GilpinCellular and Molecular

Pathology Ph.D. program at

the University of Wisconsin,

Madison.


Mentors/SRTP


Dr. Kambiz Hamadani, BiochemistryDr. Sajith Jayasinghe, BiochemistryDr. Mathew Escobar, BiologyDr. James Jancovich, BiologyDr. Betsy Read, BiologyDr. Julie Jameson, BiologyDr. Bianca Mothe, BiologyDr. Jacqueline Trischman, ChemistryDr. Ahmad R. Hadaegh, Computer Science

Dr. Xiaoyu Zhang, Computer ScienceDr. Michael Burin, PhysicsDr. Stephen Tsui, PhysicsDr. Nancy Cain, PsychologyDr. Kimberley D’Anna-Hernandez, PsychologyDr. Heike Mahler, PsychologyDr. Wesley Schultz, PsychologyDr. Keith Trujillo, Psychology

OTRES Faculty Mentors

Thank you to the following CSU San Marcos faculty members who support OTRES Scholars by mentoring and directing research. OTRES would not be a successful program without their dedication.

2015 Summer Research Training Program

(SRTP)

Each summer Dr. Angelica Rocha (OTRES Assistant Director of

Student Support and Research Associate) leads the OTRES

Summer Research Training Program (SRTP) for students

interested in learning more about research. The program is

open to current or future MARC, RISE, Bridges and LSAMP

students. The goal of the SRTP is to introduce the entire

process of scientific research to prepare students for mentored

research with a faculty member. This past summer we had a

cohort of 8 participants. Each student conducted a laboratory

project that took them through the entire process of research,

including forming a research question, selecting appropriate

instrumentation, gathering data, analyzing results, and making

rational conclusions regarding the questions asked. SRTP

culminated in a symposium, at which the students presented

the results of their projects in poster presentations. Nearly 45

scholars, professors, family and friends attended this one day

event.

From Left- Back Row: Dr. Keith Trujillo, Bibiana Urquiza,

Josefa Gregorio, Francisco Fernandez & Dr. Angelica Rocha.

From left- Middle Row: Karina Guadalupe, Belen Avendano,

Imelda Lopez & Kassandra Sanchez. From Left- Front-Row-

Karen Guerrero & Michael Basham.



Summer Research



Erika B. Luis, RISE Scholar

Judith Flores (left), MARC Scholar

My REU experience at the University of Kansas was enriching as it provided me with research

experience as well as a memorable life experience that has affirmed my choice in

attending graduate school.

Summer 2015 Student Research Participation

A total of 18 Scholars participated in summer research opportunities across the nation.

Robert Altamirano, National Institute on Drug Abuse Summer Research Program at UC Irvine.

Cindy Barba, Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) at UT Southwestern Medical Center.

Yesenia Cabrera, Brenda Cisneros, Daisy Monsivaiz, Summer Training Academy for Research Success (STARS) at UC San Diego.

Tanya Espino, Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry Summer Program at Ohio State University.

Judith Flores, Research Experiences for Undergraduates at the University of Kansas.

Hector Galvez, Leadership Alliance Summer Program at the University of Chicago.

Cristal Lopez, Summer Program at the University of Pennsylvania.

Erika B. Luis, Institute for Strategic Enhancement of Educational Diversity (iSEED) summer experience program at the State University of New York.

Jocelyn Olvera, Plant Genomics Summer Program at Michigan State University.

Sharon Patray, Bio REU Program at Johns Hopkins University

Stephanie Price, Summer Research Opportunities Program (SROP), Michigan State University.

Aaron Porter, Center of Excellence for Learning in Education, Science and Technology (CELEST) at Boston University.

Remington Rimple, Leadership Alliance Summer Program at Tufts University.

Astrid Russell, Minority Access Program (MAP) at UC San Diego.

Consuelo Sauceda, Minority Access Program (MAP) Summer Program at the

University of Colorado

Cipriano Zuluaga, Summer Undergraduate Internship Program (SUIP)/Leadership Alliance program at the University of Pennsylvania.

Cindy Barba, MARC Scholar

My summer experience taught me a lot more than research techniques, I was able to live the

life of a graduate student for 10 weeks.

My Summer Research Experience at the State University of New York, University at Buffalo helped to consolidate my decision to pursue

graduate school and conduct research.


Congratulations Corner



Tanya Espino and Sharon Patray received a $1500 scholarship from the American Association of University Women (AAUW).

California State University San Marcos is a partner/member of the American Association of University Women. By virtue of this membership, a free AAUW electronic student affiliate membership is available to every CSUSM undergraduate student. To join visit: www.aauw.orgTanya Espino, RISE

Biochemistry Student

Sharon Patray, RISE

Biochemistry Student

MARC ScholarMentor: Dr. Heike Mahler

Josephine Gonzales, Ph.D. program at Cornell University

Carlos Rosas graduated with a Psychology degree and was awarded the President’s Outstanding Graduate Student Award and Dean’s Award, College of Humanities, Arts, Behavioral, and Social Sciences (CHABSS). Carlos received awards for best poster at the 2014 SACNAS conference and the 2014 ABRCMS conference. In Spring 2015 Carlos received a travel award to the Emory University STEM Symposium. He was a finalist at the Symposium on Student Research, Creative Activities and Innovation 2015. Carlos joined the MARC program in June of 2013 and made a total of 14 poster/oral scientific presentations at various conferences. He earned co-authorship on two summited publications. In addition, he received the Abraham Lincoln Fellowship at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) where he will be starting a Ph.D. program in Psychology.

The MARC program has been absolutely essential in my academic and personal development. Before joining MARC, my only goal was to earn a B.A. in psychology and to join the workface. However, the MARC faculty and staff showed me that getting into a graduate school was an

attainable goal. ~By Carlos Rosas~

Josephine Gonzales graduated with a Biology degree and was awarded the Dean’s Award from the College of Science and Math in recognition of her academic excellence, research endeavors and community outreach activities. Josephine was a STEM ambassador, learning assistant for the STEM center, Supplemental Instruction leader for Biostatistics and SACNAS vice president. She joined the LSAMP program in 2012. In Summer 2013 she participated in the Leadership Alliance Summer Program at the University of Miami. That same summer she was accepted into the competitive MARC program. Josephine received two travel awards from SACNAS for travel to national conferences. She presented her research findings at the American Association of Immunology conference in Pittsburg Pennsylvania, among others. Josephine is starting a Ph.D. Program in Biochemistry, Molecular & Cell Biology at Cornell University.

MARC ScholarMentor: Dr. Julie Jameson

Carlos Rosas, Ph.D. program at the University of Illinois at Chicago


http://www.aauw.org/

Congratulations Corner



Maylin CaldwellBridges Scholar, LSAMP ScholarBiology

Maylin transferred to CSUSM from Palomar College this fall and was selected as a Scholar in the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation Program. She is the recipient of several prestigious scholarships, including the 2015-2016 CSU Trustees’ Award for Outstanding Achievement ($6,000). She is among 10 students nationwide named as Phi Theta Kappa Hites Scholars ($7,500). In addition, she is the recipient of the Kiwanis Club of San Marcos Scholarship and the Hispanic Scholarship Fund. Maylin is a biology major and her academic goal is to earn a Ph.D. degree and pursue a career in research.

2015 SACNAS Travel Award Recipients

Hector GalvezMARC Scholar

Biology

Erika B. LuisRISE ScholarPsychology

Petrona GregorioRISE ScholarPsychology

Redd DriverRISE ScholarPsychology

Consuelo SaucedaRISE ScholarBiochemistry


In 2011, I graduated from UC Irvine receiving a B.A. degree in Anthropology with a minor in Education. After my experience with St. Jude’s hospital, I realized that my true passion was to pursue a career in the biomedical field. After graduating I instantly went back to school to Palomar to gain the necessary biology perquisite classes to pursue this dream. It was at Palomar in my Bio 200 class that I was first introduced to the Office for Training, Research & Education in the Sciences (OTRES)by Mr. Jim Gilardi. I was most interested in the program for the opportunity to do research. Little did I know just how much this program would impact my successes both educationally and professionally.

From the first week, I took advantage of everything that the Bridge’s program had to offer. I started shadowing in four different CSUSM labs across a range of topics including ecology, plant pathology, genetics, and vaccine development. I wanted to learn as much as I could from all the different labs and mentors. After a year of gaining experience I finally settled down in Dr. Bianca Mothe’s lab, which deals with fundamental vaccine development for HIV and TB. This health topic sparked the most interest in me and I ended up loving the research so much I decided to continue on in the lab to get my Master’s degree. Shortly after becoming a graduate student at CSUSM, I was accepted into the Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement (RISE) Program.

The RISE program provided the necessary training, resources and support to create an optimal environment in which I could thrive. As a graduate student I became very involved. Through OTRES I became a Supplemental Instructor (SI) for Molecular Cell Biology (Bio 353) as well as STEM ambassador. RISE encouraged and supported me to attend 4 different professional conferences in which I had the opportunity to present my research in both oral and poster presentations. All of these experiences and opportunities helped me build leadership skills as well as exposed me to research opportunities.

I found the RISE weekly Thursday seminars very motivating and helpful. It was there that I came across two major opportunities in which I participated. The first of these was the Minority Health and Health Disparities International Research Training Program (MHIRT). Here, I was granted the opportunity to work in Dr. Kieran Clarke's lab at the University of Oxford, England during the summer of 2014. While there, I came to know the university and the staff quite well. As a result, I was able to create the necessary networking relationships that eventually helped me gain acceptance into their DPhil (Ph.D.) program in the department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics where I will be starting this October. The second opportunity that I took advantage of was a yearlong internship offered through the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) Bridge Program.Here, I was able to carry out biomedical stem cell research with Dr. Evan Snyder lab at the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute.

RISE also provided other valuable programs and training that allowed me to become a successful graduate student and Ph.D. candidate. For example, RISE offered the Puentes program to help improve my GRE scores as well as other numerous workshops on topics that are essential in my everyday scientific life. The OTRES family was the best support system I could have asked for over these past three years! I am extremely grateful and consider myself very fortunate to have been given the opportunity to participate in all of these programs. There are endless benefits to being a Bridges, RISE, or MARC scholar you just have to be proactive and chase down your dreams, because anything is possible. ~ By Colleen Lopez~

Student Spotlight



Colleen Lopez: From CSU San Marcos to Oxford

Former Bridges & RISE Scholar


Featuring OTRES Graduates


Cynthia Garcia defended her dissertation in June 2014 atWashington University in St Louis. As an undergraduate, sheworked in the laboratory of Dr. Keith Trujillo on a project aimedat understanding the behavioral effects of combining twopsychoactive drugs of abuse: ketamine and methamphetamine.She went on to join Dr. David Gutmann’s lab at WashingtonUniversity in St. Louis as a Ph.D. candidate. Her researchfocused on understanding the role of the Neurofibromatosis 2gene on neural stem cell function relevant to spinal cordtumorigenesis. During this time, she was awarded a Ruth L.Krischstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Fellowship(F31) and contributed to a manuscript published in NatureNeuroscience in April 2013. Dr. Garcia is also a volunteer for theYoung Scientist Program (YSP) and Youth Enhancing Science(YES), where she mentors middle school and high schoolstudents from underserved backgrounds.

Dr. Cynthia Garcia

Oriana Aragón completed her Ph.D. at Yale University and isnow a postdoctoral associate at Yale investigating scienceeducation. As an undergraduate MARC Scholar at CSU SanMarcos, she performed research in the Cognitive NeuroscienceLaboratory at the University of California, San Diego with Dr.Jaime Pineda. Her current research is at the intersection ofsocial, cognitive and neurosciences, with strong interests inhow we understand one another during live interactions.Another interest is in how we regulate our emotions. She isalso interested in the things that we do, in and outside of ourawareness that help us to maintain emotional homeostasis.While at CSUSM, Oriana participated in and won awards atCalifornia State Research competitions, and went on to win thePsychology Department’s Zimbardo dissertation prize at YaleUniversity.

Dr. Oriana Aragón


Dr. Cynthia Garcia

MARC & RISE Alumnus

Dr. Oriana Aragon

MARC & RISE Alumnus



Theo Crouch, II

RISE & LSAMP Alumnus

Theo Crouch, II is in his third year as a graduate student pursuing his

doctorate degree at the University of California, Merced. As an

undergraduate, he obtained his Bachelor of Science degree in Computer

Science while doing research (bench work and data processing) in Dr.

Denise Garcia’s genetics research lab. The model specimen was

Litopenaeus stylirostris, western blue shrimp, for its innate immune

system. His work involved computationally analyzing biological data sets

to assist in the discovery of differentially expressed immune response

genes using Serial Analysis of Gene Expression (SAGE). He was also the

founding president of the CSUSM SACNAS chapter. He is currently a

graduate student under the advisement of Dr. Fabian Filipp in the

Systems Biology and Cancer Metabolism Group at UC Merced. His

research aim is to map transcriptional coactivation in prostate cancer.The Crouch Family

Analissa F. Sarno

MARC, RISE & LSAMP Alumnus

Analissa F. Sarno is beginning her third year at Arizona State University as

a Microbiology Ph.D. student. During her undergraduate education at

CSUSM, Analissa worked with Dr. Betsy Read on the marine

coccolithophore, Emiliania huxleyi. She contributed to the pan genome

analysis of E. huxleyi in collaboration with scientists from around the

world. This manuscript was published in Nature in June 2013. Analissa is

currently a NSF Graduate Research Fellow under the direction of Dr.

Hinsby Cadillo-Quiroz at the School of Life Sciences at ASU. She is

studying the microbial communities in northern peatlands and their

production of the greenhouse gasses, carbon dioxide and methane.

During the summer of 2014, she attended the Microbial Diversity course

at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. The

course is 6.5 weeks and focuses on metabolic, phylogenetic and genetic

approaches applicable to diverse microbes.

Analissa Sarno




Michael Santana is beginning his fourth year of graduate studies in the

Department of Mathematics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-

Champaign. He is currently researching extremal and structural

problems in graph theory under the supervision of his adviser, Prof.

Alexandr Kostochka. He has one publication and several papers in

process. Michael has spoken about his results at several conferences

and was invited to speak last fall at the graph theory seminar at the

University of Colorado Denver. In addition to research, Michael has a

passion for teaching, evidenced by his Departmental Teaching Award

and nomination for a campus-wide teaching award. He has sought to

better his teaching abilities by taking several courses from the

Department of Education and was awarded an M.S. in the Teaching of

Mathematics. When not “locked away” researching or preparing for

teaching, Michael spends his time being Dad to his three beautiful

daugthers, and Husband to his lovely wife, Sarah.


Jackie (Engel) Paquette is beginning her third year as a Ph.D. candidate at the

University of Utah. Jackie was first introduced to biomedical research as a Bridges

scholar at Palomar Community College. In pursuit of further scientific training,

Jackie transferred to CSU San Marcos and was selected as a MARC Scholar. She

worked in the laboratory of Dr. Matthew Escobar to identify novel auxin biosynthesis

genes in Agrobacterium tumefaciens, a classic plant pathogen. The unparalleled

training and support that she received as a MARC scholar enabled her to qualify for

prestigious summer internships and earn invitations to Ph.D. programs. In Summer

2010, Jackie participated in the Medical Scientist Training Program Summer

Undergraduate Research Fellowship (MSTP SURF) at UC San Diego. In Spring 2011,

she graduated from CSU San Marcos summa cum laude and spent the following

year tutoring at-risk high school students in math and science at Pikes Peak

Academy in Colorado Springs, CO. She is working in the laboratory of Dr. Janis Weis

investigating the molecular regulation of Type I IFN production in a mouse model of

Lyme Disease arthritis. Jackie is a committed advocate for minorities and women in

science.

The Paquette’s

The Santana Family



Jackie Paquette

MARC Alumnus

Michael Santana

RISE & LSAMP Alumnus



David Vazquez is currently in his sixth year of the Cognitive Neuroscience Ph.D.program at the University of California Riverside. His research involves building3D reconstructions of human brains and analyzing cortical morphometricdifferences related to cognitive abilities. He is also interested in how motivationaldifferences relate to executive functioning differences between individuals. Davidattended Riverside Community College prior to transferring to CSU San Marcos in2007 where the MARC program help him earn Cum Laude honors in Psychologyin 2010. After a year on the Eugene Cota Robles fellowship at UC Riverside, Davidis receiving funding for his research from the National Science FoundationGraduate Research Fellowship Program.

Evelyn Mercado began graduate study in the Human Development and Family Studiesdoctoral program at Purdue University in 2010. After completing her Master’s degree atPurdue University she transferred to UC Davis, where she will complete her Ph.D. in thedepartment of Human Development and Family Studies. Evelyn obtained her Bachelor’sdegree in Psychology from CSU San Marcos in 2010. While at CSU San Marcos, she wasawarded a RISE scholarship to conduct research under the direction of Dr. Keith Trujilloexamining the developmental effects of opiates in a rat model. She also competed in theannual student research competition, was chosen as a finalist to represent CSU SanMarcos at the CSU wide research competition two years in a row, and received a statewideaward. At Purdue University, she was the recipient of the Outstanding Master’s StudentAward from the College of Health and Human Sciences. During her time at Purdue, sheworked with Dr. Leah Hibel examining the influence of work and parenting stressors ondiurnal physiological functioning in mothers and preschoolers. She also collaborated withDr. German Posada conducting studies on mother-child attachment relationships innaturalistic settings. At UC Davis she is continuing her work with Dr. Leah Hibel examiningthe effects of martial conflict on parenting behavior and parent-child stress physiology. Inaddition, she is collaborating with Dr. Paul Hastings assessing children’s emotional andphysiological regulation in response to emotion eliciting tasks. As a doctoral student shehas presented at several conferences including the Society for Neuroscience and theSociety for Research in Child Development. She has also attended the annual meeting forthe International Society for Developmental Psychobiology. After obtaining her Ph.D. shehopes to become a professor and run her own research program examining the effects offamily stressors on psychological and physiological well-being.

David Vazquez

Evelyn Mercado



David Vazquez

MARC Alumnus

Evelyn Mercado

RISE Alumnus



Spring 2015

Congratulations to the following Students who earned a 3.5 or higher GPA!

Robert AltamiranoElisandra Amparano

Cindy BarbaCarlos BetancourtYesenia CabreraMayra Camacho

Kenya CastellanosGabriella Chan

Brenda CisnerosLaDectric DriverDaysy EspinozaJudith FloresHector Galvez

Kassandra GilmourTrey Gilpin

Selina GonzalesKaren GuerreroMaria Gurrola

Ivan HernandezCristal LopezErika B. Luis

German MendozaJocelyn Olvera

Zurizaday PalaciosAna Patino

Sharon PatrayRemington Rimple

Abigail RiveraNathaniel Roscoe

Carlos RosasSamantha Simonsen

Kevin TenerelliBibiana Urquiza

Cipriano Zuluaga


OTRES Staff

Keith Trujillo, Ph.D.Director

Victor Rocha, Ph.D.Associate Director

Angelica Rocha, Ph.D.Assistant Director for Student Support

Suzanne Hizer, Ed.D.Director

Supplemental Instruction Program

Rita Cooper Executive Operations Manager

Celia MartinezProject Specialist

Perla Rivas, M.A.Academic Advisor & Coordinator

Office Information

Monday – Friday

8:00 AM to 4:30 PM

760-750-3680

www.csusm.edu/otres

[email protected]

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