Scott Roark | August 11, 2017

Naturalist David Attenborough may have summed it up best, when he stated “it seems to me that the natural world is the greatest source of excitement; the greatest source of visual beauty; the greatest source of intellectual interest. It is the greatest source of so much in life that makes life worth living.”

That excitement for our natural world, along with an intense curiosity in the human condition, was on full display at Cal State Monterey Bay. Undergraduate students – our future biologists, anthropologists and social scientists – showed off their work at the 4th Annual Monterey Bay Summer Research Symposium today in the Tanimura & Antle Memorial Family Library. The symposium featured the work of students in the CSUMB Undergraduate Research Opportunities Center (UROC) program, the Monterey Bay Regional Ocean Sciences Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Program, the Naval Postgraduate School Internship Program (NPS) and the CSUMB-Hartnell STEM internship program.

According to CSUMB UROC Director John Banks, this symposium showcases the remarkable achievements of CSUMB students in a wide variety of research and creative activities. “The chance to work with local faculty and regional partners in an authentic discovery process is something that many of our students say is one of the highlights of their CSUMB undergraduate experience,” said Banks. “We are honored to be a part of this regional collaboration.”

Presentations & posters

The all-day event kicked off with 10-minute student presentations, then concluded with poster presentations by the UROC and NPS students in the afternoon. Topics for the CSUMB student presentations included breast cancer metabolism using gene expression data, comparison of ecological communities in oak woodlands, and moral injury in U.S. wars and implications for modern military chaplaincy.

Poster presentations featured a variety of other research topics. One topic was the Virtual Classroom, presented by CSUMB computer science major Theodore Ebenhoech. The virtual classroom puts an instructor in a “mixed reality” with students by using Virtual Reality (VR) technology. The instructor and students could be thousands of miles away. However, interactions would be in real time.

CSUMB marine science major Steven Eikenbary presented another, intriguing subject with his poster display – the effect of climate change on the physiology of rockfish, a key catch for the Monterey Bay fishing industry. Eikenbary showed research that studied possible links to rockfish physiology and the decrease in pH and lowered oxygen levels in marine environments.

“This type of engagement is often transformative, offering our students entry into a world of opportunities that can launch them on academic and career paths they had not previously considered,” Banks said. “All of us at UROC are proud to be part of this fantastic annual event.”