For the 11 students who spent the summer conducting research through the Ocean Sciences Research Experiences for Undergraduates program based at CSU Monterey Bay, Aug. 14 was graduation day.

The students – including two from CSUMB and two from local community colleges – presented their work to a group of their peers, faculty and administrators, and mentors from the collaborating agencies at the Summer Research Symposium.

“Today’s event represents our commitment to undergraduate research,” said Dr. Marsha Moroh, dean of the College of Science. “Other campuses in the California State University system are looking to CSUMB as a model of how to do it,” she said. Dr. Corey Garza, a professor in the Division of Science and Environmental Policy and director of the program, referred to it as a distributed REU model. “Within 14 miles, students can choose to work at five research institutions as well as CSUMB,” he said.

Those institutions are Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve; Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University; Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute; Moss Landing Marine Labs; and the Naval Postgraduate School.

Among the student research topics presented:

In addition to presentations by the REU students, about 40 students from CSUMB’s Undergraduate Research Opportunities Center presented posters highlighting the work they did over the summer.

The research symposium was the first event held in the university’s newly opened Business and Information Technology Building. “We’re calling this the shakedown cruise,” Dr. Moroh said.