How students balance school, work and life, reconcile competing visions of the Cuban Revolution and identify genes that regulate silk production in spiders are among the topics featured in the first issue of an online journal dedicated to showcasing the research of Cal Poly Pomona undergraduates.

The journal, Reach: Inspiring Creativity, Discovery and Innovation, features the academic research papers of 15 students representing disciplines ranging from science to history to engineering.

The publication is presented by the Office of Undergraduate Research and the University Library's Bronco Scholar, and is designed to highlight outstanding scholarship, creativity and research conducted under the mentorship of faculty members.

"The idea came from wanting to showcase excellent student work," said Winny Dong, director of the Office of Undergraduate Research and the McNair Scholars Program. "We wanted to gather all full-length papers and make a collection."

For several years, student research has been loaded into Bronco Scholar, the library's online repository. The repository differs from the online journal in that the repository accepts a broader range of items while the publication is for papers.

The fall 2017 issue features papers submitted in summer 2016 through spring 2017. The 2018 issue will be published next fall.