Student Spotlight

“Mentors help you grow professionally, produce meaningful research, and ultimately help you become a competitive candidate for a PhD program.”

Karli's current research explores the parenting behaviors in Asian Americans and how they relate to their children's emotion regulation skills as adults. Additionally, she is interested to see if children would adopt their parents' style or not, if and when they have their own children. Additionally, her current research also includes topics such as parenting styles, mental health disparity, and ending taboo and stigma of mental health within Asian American communities. She plans to contribute to the research gap in literature of Asian Americans and mental health.

An obstacle Karli has faced is conducting research with the needed participants, adolescents, since it’s a challenge to work with school districts. The limitation has encouraged her to answer her research questions in other ways such as reading current literature done on Asian Americans' mental health. Karli says it is empowering to read existing research and working with mentors who support her research. By working closely with mentors, Karli has learned that mentors help you discover the passion behind the work you do, the drive you need for graduate school, and how to keep grounded when life throws you off the tracks.

After she graduates from Cal Poly Pomona, Karli plans to pursue a Ph.D. in either Clinical or Counseling Psychology. Through her research journey, Karli has become closer to finding her focus on her research for her career and wants to further explore how family relationships effect their mental health, which evidence-based practice is most effective,  and how to destigmatize mental health for Asian Americans.

Advice to Students

“I recommend students jump into research and find out if it’s right for them; they will never know until they try. Make meaningful connections with faculty who can potentially become your mentors or connect with someone who would be a good fit for you.”

“I hope to someday see my work make a positive impact on the lives of those who struggle with symptoms that have been caused from emotionally traumatic events.” 

Audriana is a current student and Psychology major at Cal Poly Pomona. She is a member of the McNair Prep Scholars program and an Early Career Research Assistant (ECRA) scholar. Additionally, she is part of the Brain Networks Research Lab under the mentorship of Dr. Robert Blumenfeld, who has provided her with endless guidance. Audriana has a built a network of individuals in these organizations who have become her core support group. With no prior research experience, Audriana was intimidated at first getting into research, but having supportive people around her on her research journey has helped her succeed.

Her current research deals with emotional memory encoding. Emotions have a powerful influence on memory formation, and it is believed that emotional events are remembered in greater clarity than unemotional events and experiences. Her study aims to identify how emotions influence memory encoding and brain regions associated with emotional memory formation. Audriana’s own life experiences have created a desire to learn more about the human brain and understand its complexity. Therapy has had a positive impact in her life and has helped her understand herself better.

Audriana’s goal as a researcher is to understand why traumatic events become imprinted into our memories so vividly into the human brain. She wants to find a way to permanently help people who struggle with PTSD symptoms instead of just providing temporary methods for coping with triggers. She hopes to see be a positive impact for those who struggle with symptoms and have experienced traumatic events. Her long-term goal is to obtain her Ph.D. in psychology and become a clinical psychologist.

Advice to Students

“My best advice would be to join undergraduate scholars and research programs. They supply you with an invaluable network of mentors and advisors that provide the guidance and support you will need to make your journey in research a successful and rewarding experience.”

“The process of working on this project has been long, but so far very rewarding.”

Guillermo is a Marketing major with a concentration in Marketing Research and is about to graduate Cal Poly Pomona this Spring 2020. His research is unique for business pedagogy and has an extension of psychology findings to persuade business faculty that classroom research study participation (e.g. survey taking) impacts student learning outcomes positively. Marketing faculty have the option to allow their students to be survey takers for studies that are for academic research on campus, or student-made surveys for an upper division class. Guillermo wants to provide evidence to business faculty of the positive impact of having students participate in research studies to reduce skepticism of those positive outcomes.

This project started with a survey creation, distribution of the survey, and extensive literature review. Writing the hypotheses and rationales was a challenge but taught him a great deal about the topic. Guillermo felt out of his comfort zone when he had to work with the data analysis, but these efforts taught him valuable knowledge on statistics and analysis. The overall process was wonderful for him and his teammates, and it became an experience he is grateful for.

Working with his mentor, Dr. Jae Min Jung, taught him many valuable skills. Being part of the Center for Customer Insights and Digital Marketing has made him have a closer bond to his mentor and everyone at the center. Dr. Jung has provided him with constructive criticism while nurturing his strengths. This research experience has provided Guillermo with the right skill set to do well in the market research industry and to become a competitive candidate for a master’s program in Applied Psychology.

Advice to Students

“My advice to students who want to get involved in research is to put any fears to the side and go for it. Find a professor who has knowledge pertaining to something you're interested in and ask for guidance. It can be intimidating when starting a project, but with the right effort you can overcome any obstacle.”

“Coming into college, I didn't even realize that I would be able to do research.”

Lauren’s current work involves creating a sustainable research project with Wands for Wildlife. The project consists of collecting mascara wands for research groups on campus that use them to remove eggs from rescued animals. Lauren was a Peer Mentor with the Achieve Scholars Program. For the past two years she has worked in neurobiological research labs where she learned time management, laboratory skills and etiquette, ethics, and how to work with others to assist in their projects. She loves staining brains!

An obstacle Lauren faced was when she got sick and had to have surgery. She had to stop assisting in neurobiological research lab. Since then, Lauren has returned to the lab, and because of her dedication and commitment to her research, she has since accepted many new roles on campus. Lauren is now the President for the new Research Scholars Association (RSA) and is also the Officer of Basic Needs for ASI. 

Advice to Students

"Reach out to faculty you have classes with or request time to meet with faculty in your department who match your research interests. They may have a spot available for you to assist in their research labs. I also encourage everyone to join the Research Scholars Association for additional resources and help and use the Office of Undergraduate Research resources."

"Research gave me a new perspective when it comes to science and discovery.” 

Giaky’s research over the summer involved using Spectral Energy Modeling (SED) to find Young Stellar Objects (YSOs) in the two Galactic infrared dark clouds G34.4 and "Nessie." Finding the young massive stars will allow researchers to investigate the previous understanding that the young stars are found in darker regions of the Milky Way and give a clue of where exactly stars are born in our galaxy. 

While working on this project, Giaky initially thought the research process was difficult, but now believes it has been one of the most rewarding and humbling experiences for her in college. Giaky’s mentor, Dr. Matthew S. Povich, helped her develop a good work ethic and gave her a sense of belonging. In addition, Giaky’s skills in coding, astronomy and physics have grown thanks to her mentor.

Giaky plans to continue working with Dr. Povich. The mentor and mentee plan to locate contaminating stars in the data set to directly observe stars within the nebulae. Giaky presented the research “Modeling for Star Information Rates in Two Infrared Dark Clouds” at this year’s CARS (Creative Activities & Research Symposium). 

Advice to Students

“Research is nothing like the work you do in your classes. It allows you to grow as a researcher and not only as a student. It is one thing to solve a problem in class that has the answer in the back of the textbook and it is another to be face to face with a problem you have to search for the solution for.  It is definitely one of the most rewarding experiences you can acquire.”

“Do work that matters to you, because when you're transcribing for hours on end, you're going to want that motivation to keep going.”

Jennette's research interests focus on intersections of race, gender, class, sexuality, and activism. Her current McNair research project "Drag Activism: The Evolution of the Gender Deviant Performer", explores how gender deviant performers use drag performance as a tool to create change in their local communities.

Jennette is a first generation college student. After serving in the U.S. Air Force she decided to return to school to pursue a degree in Gender, Ethnic, and Multicultural Studies. She will be applying to PhD programs this fall in American Culture and hopes to intervene in existing Queer History.

Advice to Students

“Find a faculty mentor in your department whose research interests aligns with your own and is excited to mentor you. Find a topic that is not only important, but important to you.”

Cindy’s research involves testing the immune response by inflammatory cells to experimental human prosthetic alloys. The new metals being tested contain different concentrations of boron which is known to increase the strength, durability, and corrosion resistance of the metals. She became involved in research through the SEES program. She plans to go into translational biomedical research in the future, where she will be conducting research and implementing her findings into clinical trials.

An obstacle that Cindy had to overcome throughout her education were financial circumstance which at times she was only able to take one class per semester to keep two jobs.

After graduation she plans to continue her education by completing a master’s program in biology and then applying for a PhD program.

Advice to Students

“Students preparing to participate in research should seek mentors with similar interest and never be afraid to seek help or guidance outside of their field.”

Jose’s research analyzes how demand for imported goods contributes to air pollution, making unsuspecting residents more vulnerable to health risks. He first got involved in research as a McNair scholar with the support and guidance of Dr. Amy L. Dao and Dr. James J.A. Blair from the Department of Geography and Anthropology. As a California Center for Ethics and Policy Fellow, he also learned how to connect research to policy, which is a skill he can use in future studies.

An obstacle that Jose had to overcome throughout his education was being a first-generation college student without a real sense for what college would be like. After graduation Jose plans to start a graduate program in anthropology at Purdue University, where he will continue to research issues that promote health and environmental justice. Jose aspires to earn a Ph.D. in order to achieve his goals of research and teaching.

Advice to Students

“Use the resources on campus and get to know a potential faculty mentor early. There are great programs and faculty in the university that are willing to help, as long as you are willing to put the work in.”

 “I will be truly grateful for all the mentors and teachers that helped me along the way and for my parents for being supportive and trusting me with making the right decisions.”

Grazziela’s current research is on the corrosion of medical implants. She is specifically looking into the effect of the purity of nitinol heart valve frames on its corrosion susceptibility and amount of nickel ion release. Grazziela got involved with research through her senior project, she enjoyed it and decided to pursue a master's degree in materials engineering.

Grazziela wants to work in the biomedical industry, and her current research is providing her with the hands on experience that is very relevant in the medical device industry. Some of her obstacles through her education has been mastering a new language with her arrival to the United States in high school. Balancing a part-time job while being a student took time away from studying has helped her manage her time.

She will be moving to Washington, DC after graduating to start her fellowship the FDA provided to her.

Advice to Students

“Start as soon as you can and build a great relationship with your advisor.”

Cristina is a member of the Kellogg Honors College, Lambda Pi Eta Communication Studies Honor Society, Latino Business Students Association, and was also a PolyTeach Student Representative. Cristina has been recognized as the Outstanding Graduating Senior for the Communication Department.

Cristina's research focuses on how Uber responds to crisis situations. She analyzed Uber's newsroom articles and press releases to discover how this organization navigated crises from October 2014 to October 2016. Last week, Cristina received the award for the Best Undergraduate Research Project by the University Library: Click here to read more!

Fun Fact about Cristina: After graduating from Cal Poly Pomona, she would like to pursue a career in student affairs!

Under the faculty mentorship of Dr. Mario Guerrero, she is currently working on using survey results that examine advertisements from the 2012 Presidential election. Her undergraduate thesis seeks to examine the effectiveness of fact-checking in impacting voter perception but also examine its limitations. Her thesis also suggests ways that fact-checking approaches can be shifted to better influence politicians to be more honest.

In addition to her research, Ashling has also been a member of the Kappa Delta Sorority since 2013 and was the acting President in 2016 and the Vice President of Finance in 2015. She's also been involved in Mock Trial as the Executive Vice President and Team Capitan from 2013 to 2016. Currently, Ashling is a delegate to the Model United Nations.

Fun fact about Ashling: She will be attending law school at the University of Southern California this fall!

Jacob participated in the Southern California Conferences for Undergraduate Research and presented a poster titled, "Designers Role on Eco-Labeling". Jacob's faculty mentor is Dr. Chitra Dabas.

The purpose of Jacob's research was to test Eco-Labels to determine and compare their influence on consumers' intention to purchase a product. Jacob found that participants in his study were more likely to purchase products with "Designer Self-Declared" credibility than by a "Third Party Certification Company".

Fun Fact about Jacob, he has established a business called Apparel Conscious, LLC. He and his partner Holly Skinner are currently working with a renowned rocket scientist to produce customizable dog vests and harnesses for the service, therapy, and family dog owner markets.

Alex is currently conducting research under faculty mentor Dr. Ali Ahmadi and is studying the different ways to reduce drag on an NACA 0012 wing. In his research, shark riblet tape was used in the wind tunnel testing and achieved a 4% drag reduction.

His interest in engineering doesn't end in the lab. Alex is a member of the American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics (AIAA) as well as the Undergraduate Missiles, Ballistics, and Rocketry Association (UMBRA).

Fun Fact about Alex: He is currently interning at Edwards Air Force Base!

Under the faculty mentorship of Dr. Navid Nakhjiri, she is currently working on analyzing the macroscopic and microscopic radiation effects on materials by determining the number of displacements after irradiation through Jupiter's radiation model. By the end of this research project, her goal is to be able to determine the best material that can be used for space radiation protection for deep space and long duration missions.

In addition to her studies and her research, Shannen is involved in many extracurricular activities. She is a current member and last year's president of Undergraduate Missiles, Ballistics, and Rocketry Association (UMBRA). Shannen is also a part of the Achieve Scholars Program (ASP) and the Engineering Scholars Program (ESP).

Fun fact about Shannen: she is currently trying to attain a Level 1 certification in order to buy higher power rocket motors!

Under the faculty mentorship of Dr. Nancy E. Buckley, he is currently working on investigating the effects that garlic (Allium sativum) has on the immune response of immortalized and primary murine macrophages that have been challenged with either lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or Candida albicans.

Outside of the lab, Benjamin is currently a part of the Kellogg Honor College and a Biological Sciences Learning Assistant. He is also a member of Alpha Sigma Lambda, the College of Science RISE Program, and the Science Educational Enhancement Services Program (SEES).

Fun fact about Benjamin: He enjoys creative writing and has a textbook collection of over 100 textbooks!