California State University, Monterey BayUndergraduate Research Opportunities Center

Newsletter -Issue 3 Fall 2017

Dr. Gerick Bergsma with students in his spring 2017 research intensive course.

UROC students at the CSUResearch Competition

The CSU Student Research Competition is heldeach spring to promote excellence in undergraduateand graduate scholarly research and creative activityby recognizing outstanding studentaccomplishments across the 23 CSU campuses.

This year, the competition was held at Cal Poly SanLuis Obispo on April 28-29, 2017. CSUMB sent sixundergraduate researchers, representingpsychology, marine science, kinesiology, andbiology. The undergraduate delegates wereaccompanied by UROC faculty mentors Dr. DanielleBurchett and Dr. Brian Cook and UROC's OutreachSpecialist, Megan Bassett.

UndergraduateResearch Week 2017

On November 16, 2010 the U.S. House ofRepresentatives declared a week in April as"Undergraduate Research Week." UROC hostsmany events during the week to celebrateundergraduate research, scholarship, and creativeactivity at CSUMB

Read more about Undergraduate ResearchWeek at CSUMB...

Award Winning UROCers!

Two UROC Scholars(one current studentsand one alumni) and aUROC Researcherwere recognized bythe National ScienceFoundation's Graduate

Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) this pastspring.

From left to right: Dr. Brian Cook, Dr. DanielleBurchette, James Vongsaroj, Sarah Coffin, CeciliaGarcia, Char' Mane Robinson, Katrina Conen, JaymeLuna, and Megan Bassett.

Congratulations to UROC Scholar Char' ManeRobinson and UROC Researcher James Vongsarojfor their first place awards!

"The CSU SRC has been arewarding team experience thatboosted my confidence to continueresearching and pursuing anadvanced degree. A personal thankyou to the UROC program, myfaculty mentor, and professors forhelping me to achieve this award."

--Char' Mane Robinson

UROC Researcher James Vongsaroj and UROCScholar Char' Mane Robinson with their first placeawards at the CSU Research Competition.

Read more about the upcoming CSU ResearchCompetition at CSU Sacramento on May 4&5,2018...

UROC Ambassadors Connect

NSF received over 13,000 applications in 2017, andmade 2,000 award offers. This prestigious fellowshipprovides an annual stipend of $34,000 and a$12,000 cost-of-education allowance.

UROC would like to thank the Faculty Mentors andUROC Staff for their support of these UROCScholars. Congratulations to this year's honorees!

Patrick Carilli, Marine Science, CSUMB Mentor: DrCheryl LoganAwarded a $138,000 GRFP fellowship.

Juan Cerda, (McNair and LSAMP PROUDScholar), Biology, CSUMB Mentor: Dr. TimothyMiles Awarded: Honorable Mention

Nicole Barbour, Biology, CSUMB Mentor: Dr. CoreyGarzaAwarded: Honorable Mention

Kevin Johnson, Biology 2012, CSUMB Mentor:Aparna SreenivasanAwarded a $138,000 GRFP Fellowship

Read more about the GRFP recipients andhonorable mentions...

Two UROC Scholarsreceived HonorableMention forthe GoldwaterScholarship, awardedon behalf of BarryGoldwaterScholarship &Excellence inEducationFoundation.

Malachi Alexander(Mathematics,CSUMB Mentor: Dr. Alison Lynch) and BlakeHansen (Mathematics; CSUMB Mentor: Dr. JudithCanner) were the only students from the CSUsystem to receive recognition from Goldwater.

Read more about Maliachi and Blake...

Four CSUMB UROC students were selected asSally Casanova Pre-Doctoral Scholars for the 2017-18 academic year.

The three UROC Scholars and one UROCResearcher, whose research interested includehuman sexuality, medicine and epidemiology,environmental stress on marine populations andforensic anthropology, will each receive $3,000 insupport of pre-doctoral activities.

Pre-doctoral activities may include visits to doctorate-granting institutions, options for summer researchinternships or funds for other doctoral programrelated activities. In addition to this award, each SallyCasanova Scholar will be eligible to apply for aneight-week summer 2018 research experience at aUniversity of California campus or other doctoral-granting institution of their choice.

to Middle School Community

This summer, UROC continued to fosterpartnerships with the Los Arboles Middle School, anEarly College and Career focused school located inMarina, steps away from the campus.

UROC Scholar and Ambassadors, Flor Gomez,Blake Hansen, and Emma Haines worked with 9visiting Los Arboles middle school students inpreparation to attend the 2017 SummerUndergraduate Research Symposium. Studentsspent the afternoon having lunch and talking withthe UROC scholars about their CSUMB college lifeand their research as well as took part in aninteractive mock poster presentation workshop tolearn about the importance of messaging research ina poster before visiting many of the posterspresented that spanned three floors of the Tanimuraand Antle Family Memorial Library. "They left with the message that it is important tostudy what interests them and to find something thatthey are passionate about!" said Mr. Lueken. Thesymposium visit was the first in several ongoingsteps to engage students in academic research andcuriosity.

As a next step, UROC Scholar, Katie Brown willcollaborate with Los Arboles faculty Julie Haws toinclude a supplementary four- series workshopfocused on sustainable ecological development. Theinteractive, hands-on series led by Katie, as part ofthe UROC Ambassador Program, will support thelinked learning curriculum Los Arboles hasimplemented this year to "provide students with real-world and relevant learning experiences wherelessons integrate all of the content areas aroundthematic units" (See Los Arboles letter fromPrincipal Herrera). Katie's project titled SustainableCommunity Development Through ExperientialEducation: Collaboration betweenUndergraduate Research Opportunities Center(UROC) and Los Arboles Middle School and isher senior capstone project and presented at theCSUMB Senior Capstone Festival this past fall,

"They left with the message that it is important tostudy what interests them and to find something thatthey are passionate about!"-- Mr. Lueken, Los Arboles Middle School

Los Arboles students with their UROCs!

If you would like to connect with the UROCAmbassadors program, please email UROC aturoc@csumb.edu.

The California Pre-Doctoral Program is designed toincrease the pool of potential faculty by supportingthe doctoral aspirations of California State University(CSU) students who have experienced economicand educational disadvantages. The program placesa special emphasis on increasing the number ofCSU students who enter doctoral programs at one ofthe University of California (UC) institutions.

Congratulations to:

Julia Barnett, UROC Researcher,Psychology, Faculty Mentor: Dr. KevinGrobmanRobert Castro, UROC Scholar, Biology,Faculty Mentor: Dr. John GoeltzJacob Green, UROC Scholar, MarineScience, Faculty Mentor: Dr. Cheryl LoganHeriberto Marquez, UROC Scholar, Socialand Behavioral Sciences, Faculty Mentor:Dr. Ruben Mendoza

Read more about past awardees...

UROC Pilots Spring ResearchIntensives at CSUMB

Students inthe BIO 195:SpecialTopics:WildlifeResearchTechniquescourse gotfirst-handexperience in

wildlife biology over spring break by participating inone of two field research projects.

The first, led by Dr. Jenny Duggan, focused on thebehavioral ecology of ground squirrels, while thesecond project, led by Dr. Gerick Bergsma, focusedon the insect and spider communities living in andunder oak trees at the UC Fort Ord Natural Reserve.

Learn more about the spring researchintensives...

LSAMP Costa Rica ResearchTrip

This year more than a dozen CSU studentsparticipated in the CSU-LSAMP Summer Researchprogram in Costa Rica from 20 June – 24 July. Ateam from CSU Monterey Bay, consisting of Collegeof Science faculty members Drs. Diana & MiltonLieberman along with Drs. John “Buck” Banks andCarla Fresquez, staff from CSUMB’s UndergraduateResearch Opportunities Center (UROC), led theexpedition. Students in STEM majors from eightdifferent CSU campuses participated in the 5-weekprogram, living with local rural families andexperiencing Costa Rican culture and language first-hand, all while learning about tropical biodiversity,statistics and research methods.

Costa Rica 2017 Research Expedition in the coffeehighlands of Tarrazú.

Field excursions exposed students to a full range ofCosta Rica’s spectacular tropical ecosystems,including the lowlands and the coral reefs on thePacific coast, the central highland coffee-producingregion of Tarrazú, the rainforest village of Mastatal,and the cloud forests of the world-famousMonteverde region. In Mastatal, participants workedtogether to collect pilot data comparing the functionaland phylogenetic diversity of forests and ground-dwelling arthropods that was incorporated into agrant proposal aimed at providing more researchopportunities in the region. In addition to collectingdata together as a class, students designed andcarried out their own independent research projects,working solo or as part of a small group. As in pastyears, some of the students are planning to presenttheir results in regional and national conferences thiscoming academic year. Pura Vida!

Summer 2017 ResearchSymposium

The Summer Research Symposium hasbecome a key mark to the end of the summer atCSUMB. The 2017 Summer ResearchSymposium grew once again, taking up all threefloors of the Tanimura and Antle FamilyMemorial Library! . The symposium was acollaboration between UROC, the Monterey BayRegional Ocean Science Research Experiencefor Undergraduates program, the Naval PostGraduate School, and Hartnell CommunityCollege.

The symposium comprised of 25 oralpresentations (13 REU, 8 UROC, and 4 NPS)and 67 research posters (45 UROC, 20 NPS,and 2 Hartnell Community College).

Prior to the symposium, UROC partnered withCSUMB's Educational Opportunity Program'ssummer bridge to facilitate an interactive sessionon how to navigate and get the most out of aresearch poster. The day of the event EOP staffsent them on a scavenger hunt of researchposters!

UROC Scholar, Emily Smith (Social and

Behavioral Sciences) was highlighted in theCSUMB news for her research in pre-Incanarchaeology.

Read more about Emily's research...

Meet the UROC team!

Dr. Heather Haegeris the EducationalResearch Associate inthe UndergraduateResearch OpportunityCenter (UROC) atCalifornia StateUniversity, Monterey

Bay. She conducts research on educational equity inhigh-impact practices and the transition to graduateeducation. Heather is currently working with twoundergraduate researchers, Flor Gomez andCamille Smith, to assess UROC programs andexplore barriers to participation in research.

Heather is also serving as the AssessmentResearch Coordinator, a national fellowship from theCouncil on Undergraduate Research (CUR). Shehas worked to synthesize and organize previousresearch on undergraduate research, build researchpartnerships, and support CUR members inconducting assessment on their campuses includingdelivering a webinar with over 80 attendees.

Heather received herPh.D. in EducationPolicy, Studies andPractices from theUniversity ofArizona. From 2011-2014, she was anAssistant ResearchFaculty in the Centerfor Post-secondary Research at Indiana University.She worked on designing, testing, andadministering surveys on student engagementincluding the National Survey of StudentEngagement (NSSE) and the Law School Survey ofStudent Engagement (LSSSE).

When not researching, Heather loves to travel withher husband and 1 year-old son. She’s explored 45states in the US and hopes to make it to all 50 soon.

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