F A L L 2 0 2 3

N e w s l e t t e r

Over the past several months, I have observed dozens of research presentations where students are doing exactly that: theorizing and enjoying every part of the process. Whether it’s examining mating scars in great white sharks or studying education through a decolonial lens, I am constantly in awe of what our CSUMB students continue to accomplish. And I am mindful that none of this would be possible without the support, guidance, and encouragement from the nearly 50 CSUMB faculty, graduate students, and field professionals in the UROC sphere. Finally, as the year comes to a close, I’d like to take this opportunity to praise the excellent work being done at UROC. Over the past year, UROC staff have worked tirelessly to support and prepare students for summer research programs, graduate school, and scholarship and fellowship applications, while also providing professional development. Keep up the great work!

Thank you all for an excellent 2023; I look forward to seeing you in 2024! !

John “Buck” Banks, Ph.D.

UROC Director

*pictures of Buck on the telly

Meet the New UROC Scholars /

McNair Scholars Cohort

Please join us in welcoming the newest cohort of UROC Scholars & McNair Scholars! 9 McNair Scholars and 10 UROC Scholars -- all from diverse disciplines and research areas -- will work with faculty research mentors to secure summer research positions at CSUMB and other institutions across the country; present research at academic conferences; and explore leadership opportunities to support their career and graduate school goals. We’re fortunate to have many returning faculty mentors to help our new cohort of Scholars through this journey and we’re thrilled to welcome several others -- Dr. Tolga Tezcan, Department of Social Science and Global Studies; Dr. Jeremias Zunguze, Department of Humanities and Culture; Dr. Justin Matthews, Department of Psychology; and Dr. Arlene Haffa, Department of Biology and Chemistry -- this year as well. 

This semester, we’re also joined by six students from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Genome Research Experiences to Attract Talented Undergraduates into the Genomics Field to Enhance Diversity (GREAT) program, who will spend their summer conducting research at the UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute. We are excited to be part of their academic journeys and look forward to their growth and development as scholars.

The Ronald E. McNair Scholars Program, funded by the U.S. Department of Education, prepares academically-talented and motivated undergraduates for doctoral studies, by providing research funding and other opportunities for scholarly advancement.

Welcome to the UROC and McNair family!

Fall Research Competition 2023

Congratulations to the winners of this year's Fall Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity Competition! Ten outstanding presentations represented six different disciplines to over thirty people in attendance and another fifty virtually. Visit our Fall Competition page for more details on all the student presenters. All presenters are encouraged to apply for the 38thg Annual CSU Student Research Competition hosted by Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, April 26-27, 2024.  Find out more about the competition. Thanks to everyone who joined us and we hope to see you next year!

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

Student Presenters 

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

Fall Competition Judges



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

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Fall Graduates

Congratulations to the following UROCers  who will begin new chapters in their lives as CSUMB Graduates! Be sure to keep in touch and join us at our upcoming spring year-end celebration in 2024.

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Celebrating Writing

Congratulations to the following newly published UROC alumni and their research faculty!

• Madison Heard, UROC Scholar: Excluded Identity Retention in STEM: A Roadmap for Inclusive Undergraduate Research Symposia. Oceanography

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2023 SACNAS NDiSTEM Conference

Nearly 40 CSUMB students, faculty and staff, attended the 50th Annual SACNAS National Diversity in STEM Conference in Portland, Oregon (not all pictured). The group included participants from the UROC Scholars/McNair Scholars program, UROC Researchers program, GREAT program, TRIO program, FAHN Sciences HSI Regional Pipeline program, and the CSUMB Ocean Science Research Experiences for Undergraduates program. From this group, 17 students presented research conducted in their respective summer research programs and two students, Oscar Murillo-Espinoza, McNair Scholar, and Cecilia Regalado Diaz, UROC Researcher, won Outstanding Research Poster Awards! Next year's conference will be held in Phoenix -- hope to see you there!

Gabe Curiel and Zachary Vayder prepare to travel to Portland, Oregon!

Oscar Murillo-Espinoza takes home an Outstanding Research Poster Award.

Cecilia Regalado-Diaz prepares to present. She also takes home an Outstanding Research Poster Award.

UROC Scholar Alum Lauren Kashiwabara and Jacob Green are spotted recruiting for Oregon State University and the University of Rhode Island.

Jessica Bautista had a great time collecting information to share with all our students back home.

UROC Scholar, Zachary Vayder, enjoyed all the support received from his UROC Peers.

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Ronald E. McNair Highlights!

Catching up with Kaiku Kaholoa'a!

While visiting the Marshall Islands in October, Kaiku facilitated a workshop at the College of Marshall Islands that included an introduction to coral reefs and coral reef conservation, concluding with student group projects creating coral nurseries. See pictures below.



Kaiku presented at the 3rd Annual Cora Restoration Symposium (see right) in Hawaii in November, an opportunity for coral biologists and organizations to come together and explore ways to inform or support one another to maximize efforts in coral restoration and the revitalization of coastal ecosystems. Kaiku presented on the super reef project and CBASS-OTB, a local-community friendly system that allows people and students to thermally test their own coral reefs, alongside Tiara Stark from The Nature Conservancy’s Maui Marine Program.

Kaiku poses with his students from the College of Marshall Islands.

Kaiku teaching his students how to twist tie corals to pallets so they can create coral nurseries.

2nd Place!

Congratulations to Damaris Ispache, who was awarded 2nd place in the Undergraduate Research Symposium Poster Contest at American Society of Agronomy/Crop Science Society of America/Soil Science Society of American annual meeting in St.Louis, Missouri.

TEDx CSU Monterey Bay

Back for its 2nd year, Dan Burfeind, Student Engagement and Leadership, organized TEDx CSU Monterey Bay. This year’s theme, Voices of Change, students and community members of diverse backgrounds come together to share their inspiring stories and innovative ideas. Among those presenters were Damaris Ispache and Jhoana Morales-Lopez.

University of New Mexico McNair Conference

Jhoana Morales-Lopez, Maria Fernanda Corral Cervantes, and Yeritzi Victoria traveled to Albuquerque, New Mexico in September to give oral research presentations for work conducted over the summer. Yeritzi presented on false memory and bilingualism, while Jhoana and Maria presented on the link between college attendance and parents’ expectations.

Yeritzi Victoria

Jhoana Morales-Lopez and

Maria Fernanda Corral Cervantes

• • •

Barry Goldwater Scholarship

Campus Nominees, Selected!

Congratulations to five undergraduate researchers on their campus nomination for the Barry Goldwater Scholarship. The five nominees have been invited to submit their final application to the Goldwater Foundation in late January with an aim of winning a scholarship. 

•Karla Buitrago-Yepes, McNair Scholar, Marine Science

-Faculty Mentor: Dr. Cheryl Logan

•Annie Hansen, UROC Scholar, Marine Science

-Faculty Mentor:Dr. Sherry Palacios

•Oscar Murillo-Espinoza, McNair Scholar, Mathematics

-Faculty Mentor: Dr. Alison Lynch

•Efrain Ramirez, McNair Scholar, Psychology

-Faculty Mentor: Dr. Danielle Burchett

•Alyssa Walter, UROC Scholar, Marine Science

-Faculty Mentor: Dr. Alison Haupt

Goldwater Scholars are selected based on demonstrated potential for and commitment to a research career in mathematics, the natural sciences, or engineering and outstanding academic performance. Since 2015, every year, CSUMB students have been awarded  the Goldwater Scholarship or Honorable Mention—and in years 2016, 2020 & 2021, 5 CSUMB students were notably the only California State University students named as Scholars in their respective competition years.

Congratulations on this first round!

*picture of 5 Goldwater Nominees with Goldwater Scholar, Ingrid Martinson

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Research Competition: Apply Today! 

The CSU Student Research Competition is held each spring to promote excellence in undergraduate and graduate scholarly research and creative activity by recognizing outstanding student accomplishments across the 23 CSU campuses. Submit your application to compete in person at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, April 26-27, 2024. 

Application Due: Thursday, February 15, 2024 at 3pm. Apply Today!

Information Sessions on February 1st and 6th, 2024. Register on MyRaft. Contact uroc@csumb.edu for more information.

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Just Write, Winter!

Working on a summer research application, fellowship, scholarship, or research graduate school application? Come write with us! UROC will host a special 4-session series where you’ll get uninterrupted time to write; goal setting on your writing project; and opportunities to ask brief questions about your application or writing.  

Sessions run remotely from January 9 to January 18, 2024 from 11am-1pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Register on MyRaft.

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Winter [Break] is Here!

See you in 2024!