Undergraduate Research

Opportunities Center

N e w s l e t t e r | W I N T E R 2 0 2 4

Meet the New UROC Scholars /

McNair Scholars Cohort

Please join us in welcoming the newest cohort of UROC Scholars & McNair Scholars! 15 McNair Scholars and 6 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. Jennifer Clickenbeard, Department of Mathematics and Statistics; and Dr. Steven Machek, Department of Kinesiology -- this year as well. 

Our partnership with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Genome Research Experiences to Attract Talented Undergraduates into the Genomics Field to Enhance Diversity (GREAT) program continues as well. The six students accepted into the GREAT program will join the new Scholars cohort and 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!

Nine new CSUMB student researchers join the Apple Scholars Program, a grant in partnership with California State University, Northridge (CSUN) and Apple to provide access to primarily Latiné students to bolster STEAM career opportunities through faculty-mentored research.  Now in its second year of continued funding, which includes access to Apple technology, scholars embark on developing their research identity, technology competency, and career goals while engaging in a tri-fusion of programming that includes curating a digital eportfolio; participating in an undergraduate research podcast; and conducting robust research. 

The upcoming build-out of the undergraduate research podcast this spring will provide a platform for student researchers to share their stories and make connections, bridging their diverse intersectional identities with their scholarly identity.  Two former Apple Scholars will join the team as peer mentors to support the cohort and co-facilitate the podcast.

A total of 20 Apple Scholars will continue to work with the Apple Professional Learning Team this spring for the duration of the grant as part of the partners in partnering initiative to support students’ build out of scholarly identity and a strong sense of belonging that bridges to their respective STEAM careers.

Fall 2024 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 May 2025.

Fall 2024 Research Competition Results

Congratulations to the winners of the 2024 Fall Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity Competition! The program consisted of ten outstanding presentations representing six different disciplines. The robust panel of judges consisted of three CSUMB professors, our Associate Provost & Dean of Graduate Studies and Research, and two guest judges: Dr. Gail Newel, formerly with the County of Santa Cruz Health Services Agency, and Dr. David MacFarland of Michigan State University. Visit our Fall Competition page for more details on all the student presenters. The judges awarded prizes to the following:

• 1st Place: Ty Takahashi & Kaitlyn Alvarez, Marine Science. “Sandy beach habitat variability of Pismo clam (Tivela stultorum) populations within Monterey Bay”. Faculty Mentor: Dr. Alison Haupt, Department of Marine Science
• 2nd Place: Mahlon Rosenberg, Marine Science. “Impact of coastal upwelling on Sebastes carnatus growth via expression of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1)”. Faculty Mentor: Dr. Cheryl Logan, Department of Marine Science
• 3rd Place: Sameer Dingore, Computer Science. “Curated dataset for benchmarking of RNA Base-Pairing Annotations Tools”. Faculty Mentor: Dr. Shahidul Islam, School of Computing and Design



All presenters are encouraged to apply for the 39th Annual CSU Student Research Competition hosted by California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, April 25-26, 2025. Find out more about the competition. Thanks to everyone who joined us and we hope to see you next year!

Left to Right: Mahlon Rosenberg, Sameer Dingore, Ty Takahashi, Kaitlyn Alvarez, and Provost Andrew Lawson

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CSU-LSAMP Costa Rica

Winter Research Expedition 2025

We’re back after completing another successful CSU-LSAMP Costa Rica Winter Research Expedition. Students from Chico State University, Stanislaus State University, Fresno State University, CSU Channel Islands, and CSU Monterey Bay embarked on a research expedition to the small village of Mastatal to investigate ecological interactions in cacao plantations. The team investigated plant-microbe-insect interactions, addressing real agricultural challenges while gaining skills in field sampling along with DNA extraction and sequencing. Students wrapped up the expedition with several days learning and honing their laboratory skills in Sarapiquí at La Selva Biological Station, a world renowned field station focused on tropical ecology and conservation research as well as education and citizen science. 

Check out our Instagram page to see more details about our adventures!

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McNair Scholar Highlights

A dedicated section for everything McNair Scholars, both current and alum!

Congratulations to McNair Scholars Oscar Murillo-Espinoza and Caleb Hernandez on their Outstanding Research Poster Award at the 2024 SACNAS NDiSTEM Conference in Phoenix, AZ. With over 1,000 presentations, this is a huge accomplishment for both Oscar and Caleb. This also marks the second time Oscar has been recognized at the annual SACNAS conference; he also received an award at the 2023 SACNAS meeting in Portland, OR.

Congratulations to Dr. Lydia Jennings, Class of 2011, who accepted the position of Assistant Professor of Environmental Science at Dartmouth College. Good luck, Professor Jennings!

Thank you to everyone who joined us for our McNair Holiday Dinner. It was a fantastic way to celebrate our graduating McNair Scholars – Oscar Murillo-Espinoza, Sarina Regis, Samantha Ulloas, and Damaris Ispache – and reflect on the year.

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Celebrating Publishing

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

Alyssa Walter, UROC Scholar, with K. Roy and L. Gardner, Moss Landing Marine Labs. 2024. Shell Loss Syndrome in Red and White Abalone (Haliotis refescens and Haliotis sorenseni). Journal of Shellfish Research 43(2):213-216.

Melissa-Ann Lagunas, Koret Scholar, with J. Lin, C. Widman, and P. Rivera. 2025. Internationalization of help-seeking stigma and the moderating role of familism among Latine adults with chronic pain. Journal of Health Psychology.

Sarah Gonzalez-Coffin, UROC Researcher, with P. Buckley, C. Gust, S. Aikawa, C. Steeger, and F. Pampel. 2025. Applying an Equity Lens to Evidence-Based Preventive Interventions: a Systematic Review of Subgroup Findings from Experimental Evaluations. Prevention Science

Natasha Oehlman, Writing and Professional Communication Associate, with H. Haeger and R. Christiaens. 2024. Claiming Space in the Academic Landscape: Negotiating Spatial Belonging in Undergraduate Research. Scholarship and Practice of Undergraduate Research (SPUR) 7(4).

John E. Banks (UROC Director), with H. Haeger, R. Christiaens, and R.L. Amador (former UROC/McNair Scholar). 2024. Steps towards decolonizing study abroad: Host communities’ perceptions of change, benefits, and harms from study abroad. Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad 36(1): 81–102.

John E. Banks, Natasha Oehlman, and Jessica Bautista (UROC Research Associate). 2024. Case Studies: How Institutions Have Incorporated COEUR: Undergraduate Research Opportunities Center. In Dong, W., Echegoyen, L.E.,  Longmire-Avital, B., and J. Mekolichick (Eds) Characteristics of Excellence in Undergraduate Research 2.0, Council on Undergraduate Research.

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We Wrote a Book!

We are proud of the fact that with its inception in 2009 UROC was the first centralized campus undergraduate research center within the California State University system. Over the years we have regularly received queries from faculty, staff, and administrators at institutions around the country about starting an undergraduate research program. Several of us have now published a book on this very topic; the team hopes the newly-published “Designing and Implementing a Successful Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity Program” (available from Routledge) will help others wishing to start their own programs! 

The book is co-authored by Dr. John Banks, Director of UROC, along with former UROC staff Dr. Holly Unruh (currently Executive Director of the Arts Research Institute at UC Santa Cruz), and Dr. Heather Haeger (currently Assistant Professor of Educational Policy Studies & Practice and Research Director, STEM Learning Center at the University of Arizona); and Dr. Winny Dong, Professor of Chemical and Materials Engineering and Faculty Director for the Office of Undergraduate Research at Cal Poly Pomona.

Read more about it on CSUMB News.

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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 California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, April 25-26, 2025! 

Due: Thursday, February 13, 2025, at 3 pm.

https://csumb.edu/uroc/csu-student-research-competition/

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