Symposium on Student Research, Creative Activities, & Innovation

What is the Symposium on Student Research, Creative Activities, and Innovation (SRCI)? 

CSUSM hosts an annual internal competition to select ten SRCI projects that will represent CSUSM at the system-wide CSU Student Research Competition. During this internal competition, undergraduate and graduate students from all disciplines present their research conducted as part of a CSUSM-sponsored project. 

2025 CSUSM Symposium

Join us for the 2025 Symposium on Student Research, Creative Activities, and Innovation, where we will select the top ten projects to represent CSUSM at the 39th annual CSU Student Research Competition, hosted by California State Polytechnic University, Humbolt, on April 25-26, 2025. 

• Date: February 28, 2025
• Times: 1:15 pm - 5:00 pm 
• Deadline to apply: January 31, 2025 by 5:00 pm
  • There are limited presentation slots, so submissions will be reviewed in the order they are received.
• Organized by: The Office of Graduate Studies and Research (OGSR) and Committee for Undergraduate Research (CUGR)

Guests: Support your peers, witness innovative research, and celebrate the achievements of our talented CSUSM students. All members of the campus community and supporters are invited to attend. If parking is required, please notify ogsr@csusm.edu.

Participants: Showcase your research, creative activities, and Innovation. Gain valuable experience and have the opportunity to represent CSUSM on a statewide stage. Submit your project and be part of this incredible journey! 

Application Information

• Application Process
  • Read the Participation Criteria: Ensure you understand the requirements. 
  • Log into InfoReady: If you don't have an account, you'll be prompted to create one. 
  • Complete the Application: Include your written summary. Ensure your submission is the most updated version, as it will be considered final.
  • Use Your School Email: Check it regularly for all correspondence.
  • Group Submissions:
    • Designate one person to submit. Each group should choose one member to handle the submission process. 
    • Include the names and emails of all group members in the application. Ensure spelling is correct. 
    • Select one person from your group to be the travel representative. Only one represesntative from the winning group will travel as a CSUSM delegate.   
• Written Summary Guidelines

  Haven't written a project summary/abstract before? 

  Different disciplines have different approaches for the organization of the project narrative/description (or "body" of the paper). One common approach is the IMRaD format, but this may not be the format most common in your discipline. 

  • • Introduction – what is the topic; why study it? (may include a thesis statement and/or research question)
    • Materials & Methods – how was the research conducted?
    • Results – what was found in the research?
    • Discussion & Conclusions – what do the findings mean?

  Check-out: 

  • University of Wisconsin-Madison: Writing an Abstract for Your Research Paper (includes sample abstracts from the humanities, social sciences, and sciences)
  • SACNAS: How to Write a Successful Abstract (Webinar) 
  • Published papers in your discipline that have a project summary/abstract
    
• Faculty Mentor Approval

  Upon submitting your application, your faculty mentor will receive an email notification.

  Faculty mentors must approve submissions within three days by responding to the email.

  Check with your advisor to ensure they receive the confirm your submission.

  Once approved, you will receive a confirmation email with event details.

• CSUSM Winners

  Winners of this event will receive a cash award and the opportunity for one representative from the winning  project to travel to the CSU Student Research Competition.

  This prestigious competition celebrates excellence in undergraduate and graduate scholarly research and creative activity by recognizing outstanding student achievements across 23 campuses of the California State University (CSU).

Judges & Mentors Needed!

Interested in volunteering at the Symposium?

Be a part of something special by volunteering as a judge or moderator! Your involvement can make a huge difference in our student's success. It's a fantastic opportunity to engage with innovative, creative activities, and research while supporting our talented students. 

Volunteer Sign Up Page

• Judge Details

  Judge Information Video

  For judges, we are seeking a commitment to the following: 

  Before the event: Review the participants' papers in your assigned room.

  During the event: Proceed over their oral presentations and choose a finalist and runner-up from your room.

  If this sounds right for you, please sign up. 

  Note: Juror's areas of expertise may not necessarily align with the specific disciplinary category they are evaluating.

• Moderator Details

  Moderator Information Video

  Primarily responsibilities:

  Timekeeping: Ensuring that each presenter adheres to their allotted time for presentations.

  Room Management: Facilitating smooth transitions between sessions and maintaining order within the presentation rooms.

  Introductions: Welcoming attendees, introducing judges, and presenting each student presenter.

  If this sounds right for you, please sign up.

Participant Information

• Prep Session

  Prior to the event, we will be hosting a session to help you better prepare with tips on presentation, PowerPoint dos and don’ts, logistics, and event statewide competition guidelines.  

  Date:  February 18, 2025

  Time: 12:00-12:50 pm 

  Location: Mark 103 

  Presenter:  Page Davis

• Resources

  Resource Page

  Participation Criteria

• Event Agenda

  Oral Presentations: TBD

  Reception: TBD   

  Awards Ceremony: TBD       

• CSUSM Delegate Coaching Session
  We will offer individual 20-minute coaching sessions to the ten student delegates. We know you will practice with your research mentor, and this would be an additional opportunity to help make your presentation sparkle. Details will be sent to student email. 

Symposium Sessions: Sessions to be announced

Judging Rubric

• Session 1: Location TBD

  Times to be announced

  3:00-3:15 PM: Samantha Terauds

  Prior Acute Exercise Restores Post-Prandial Fat Oxidation in Active Cannabis Users

  3:15-3:30 PM: Troy Tektonopoulos

  Estimating the Impact of a Menthol Flavor Ban on Cigarette Pack Purchase Behavior 

  3:30-3:45 PM: Madison Mower

  Cardiometabolic Response to High Intensity Functional Training versus Rowing-Based High Intensity Interval Training

  3:45-4:00 PM: Zara Mendivil

  Are health-marketed drinks better for hydration than their ordinary counterpart?

  4:00-4:15 PM: Robert Sturdy

  Effect of Kettlebell Complexes vs. High Intensity Functional Training on the magnitude of Excess-Post Exercise Oxygen Consumption

• Session 2: Location TBD

  3:00-3:15 PM: Nicholas Morales

  The association between tobacco use and up-to-date status on breast and colon cancer screenings

  3:15-3:30 PM: Maya Qaddourah

  Investigating the Role of Mismatch Repair on CCTG DNA Repeat Instability

  3:30-3:45 PM: Valeria Castellanos Rodriquez

  Brown and White Adipocytes Promotes the Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition to MDA-MB-231 Cells 

  3:45-4:00 PM: Zerla Marie Oca

  Association between Anxiety Symptoms and Cannabis Dependence Stronger for Men among U.S. Young Adults

  4:00-4:15 PM: Natalya Tasevski & Miranda Grzywaczewski

  Exploration of Cardiovascular Adaptations During Submaximal Exertion in Athletic and Sedentary Women Through Electrocardiography and Vascular Analysis.

• Session 3: Location TBD

  3:00-3:15 PM: Angelie Arcos Chavelas 

  Characterizing the Impacts of Soil Microbiomes on Fruit Nutritional Quality

  3:15-3:30 PM: Matthew Leslie

  Identification and Characterization of the Ambystoma tigrinum virus 89R gene

  3:30-3:45 PM: Emily Pham

  To pee or not to pee: HCN channels regulate ion transport in osmoregulatory organ Malpighian tubules to produce urine in Yellow Fever mosquito Aedes aegypti

  3:45-4:00 PM: Adriana Cacho

  Shake It till You Make It: Voltage-gated Ion Channels in Larval Lepidopterans

  4:00-4:15 PM: Shyane Masters

  Understanding the impact of elevated water temperatures on shark migration patterns in the Central-East Gulf of Mexico

• Session 4: Location TBD
  3:00-3:15 PM:  Mayra Fonseca

  The negative health effects of tobacco and nicotine use on oral health

  3:15-3:30 PM: Brendan Boyd

  Savvy Sodium Seekers Stunningly Secure Sparse Salts: Detection and Quantification of Na⁺ Channels Within the Excretory System of Trichoplusia ni.

  3:30-3:45 PM: Jeremy Benjamin

  Harnessing the Power of Cow Rumen Microbes for Biofuel Production: A Metagenomic Approach

   

  3:45-4:00 PM: Josue Navarrete

  Microbial Community Shifts Across Gradients of Urbanization

  4:00-4:15 PM: Yutzil Zavala

  HEBP and IP6 uniformly inhibited biomineralization at concentrations as low as 0.25mM and 0.1mM respectively, however, cell growth is also affected.

• Session 5: Location TBD

  3:00-3:15 PM:  Camila Valderrama-Martinez & Marisa Mendoza

  Comparing Nearshore Microbial Community Compositions across Water, Plastic, and Non-Plastic Marine Substrates

  3:15-3:30 PM: Siaje Gideon

  Voltage-gated ion channels in cultured gill epithelia of rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, alter in abundance following salt and water imbalance

  3:30-3:45 PM: Brianna MontesDeOca

  NACHO Expression in the Auditory Cortex and Inferior Colliculus in young and old Mice brains 

  3:45-4:00 PM: Cristian Alvizo & Emma Engel

  DETERMINING THE EFFECTS OF OBESITY AND TYPE 2 DIABETES ON CCR6+  EPIDERMAL γδ T CELL NUMBER AND FUNCTION IN INFLAMMATORY DISEASE AND  WOUND HEALING 

  4:00-4:15 PM: Karissa Tran

  Tobacco Deliveries to University Campuses

• Session 6: Location TBD

  3:00-3:15 PM: William Cassel 

  A Lightweight Obfuscated Malware Multi-class Classifier for IoT Using Machine Learning

  3:15-3:30 PM: Mireya Gonzales-Rivera

  Qubit Readout Techniques for Donor-Based Quantum Architectures in Silicon

  3:30-3:45 PM: Jorge Fernandez

  Low-Frequency Charge Noise in Silicon Qubits

  3:45-4:00 PM: Erica Rodas Montejo

  Investigating Methods of Inhibition for Enzyme Browning in Banana 

  4:00-4:15 PM:  Adamari Ramos

  Developing a Supramolecular Chelate for Sequestration of Heavy Metal Toxins

• Session 7: Location TBD

  3:00-3:15 PM: Elvis Williams

  Prejudice Towards Refugees in the United States

  3:15-3:30 PM: Gustavo Benitez

  Disparities and impact of flavor restrictions on the availability of flavored tobacco products in online vaping retailers.

  3:30-3:45 PM: Carina Valencia

  Wild Type Salmonella csgF delays aggregation of hIAPP

  3:45-4:00 PM: Alyssa Nieves 

  Harm Reduction Study: A Research Study on Opioid Education

  4:00-4:15 PM: Ariana Almaraz

  NACHO Protein Expression in the Aversive Circuit in Nicotine Dependent Mice

• Session 8: Location TBD

  3:00-3:15 PM: Milly Lopez

  Anxiety and Cannabis Dependence Among Non-Hispanic Black, Non-Hispanic White, and Hispanic U.S. Young Adults

  3:15-3:30 PM: Aryanna Alarcon

  Cannabis Vaping Days Associated with Impaired Neurological Quality of Life among a Tri-Ethnic Sample of U.S. Young Adult Men and Women

  3:30-3:45 PM: Miranda Medina

  Depression moderates the relationship between reported functioning and neuropsychological performance in Mexican American adults. 

  3:45-4:00 PM: Anastasia Navarro

  Undergraduate STEM Majors Prioritizing STEM Demands Over Student Mental Well-being

  4:00-4:15 PM: Alyson Portillo

  Improving Understanding of Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Postpartum Depression and Anxiety: A Sociocultural and Intersectional Approach

• Session 9: Location TBD

  3:00-3:15 PM: Kai Orozco

  Earlier Age of First Cannabis Use Linked with Greater Current Peer Use of Cannabis among Young Adult Men and Women

  3:15-3:30 PM: Tyrone Jones

  Exploring the Influence of Nicotine Knowledge on Tobacco Users' Willingness to Pay for Reduced Nicotine Cigarettes

  3:30-3:45 PM: Hugo Peralta-Ramirez

  Early Modern Criollo/a Constructions and Understandings of Indigenous New Spain

  3:45-4:00 PM: Marcelo Munoz Jr.

  ¡Bailando cumbia, bailando cumbia! El México Kolombiano Que Nuestro Cuerpo Ha Llamado

  4:00-4:15 PM: Citlalli Carrillo

  Healing through Experiences of Childhood Betrayal Trauma: A Qualitative Study

• Session 10: Location TBD

  3:00-3:15 PM: Alex Leon

  Illusory Truth Occurs with Headlines from Reliable Sources but Not from Unreliable Sources

  3:15-3:30 PM: Jessica Orea

  Association Between Distress Tolerance and Cannabis Dependence Stronger for Under-Represented Minorities Among U.S. Young Adults

  3:30-3:45 PM: Ashley Mota Ortega

  The Relationship Between Trust and Help-Seeking Behaviors in Childhood Betrayal Trauma Survivors

  3:45-4:00 PM: Josue Vides & Savana Powell

  How does Ly6h affect Nicotine Reward, Learning, and Memory

  4:00-4:15 PM: Nathaniel Kenner

  Characterization of the Ambystoma tigrinum virus 5L protein