Undergraduate Research Spring 2025 / ISSUE 3
Funded and Focused Research Students
Research funding is an inseparable part of science, math and education. Many Bailey College undergraduates are learning early how financial support impacts innovation, discovery, solutions and their futures. Meet some of them.
Xavier Aguilar
Liberal Studies
Research:
Xavier and his research colleagues focus on two issues: Latinx underrepresentation in STEM and microbiology misconceptions. They have two streams of research: the elementary students partaking in their lessons and the undergraduate students leading the lessons. Research examines microbiological preconceptions and shifts in attitudes towards Spanish and science.
Faculty Mentors:
Perla Ramos Carranza, Jasmine Nation and Alejandra Yep
Support from BEACoN Scholars and Brillante Programs
Samuel Catania
CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY
Research:
Investigating the biochemical activity of enzymes involved in the biosynthetic pathway of a natural product antibiotic produced by Actinobacteria. Natural products are small molecules produced by living organisms that often have useful bioactivities such as antibiotics, anticancer agents and anti-inflammatory agents.
Faculty Mentor:
Katharine Watts
Support from National Science Foundation / The Frost Fund
Yesenia Ceja
BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Research:
Exploring the effects of farm work on urinary tract infection incidence by collecting and processing urine samples from farm working and non-farm working patients to study the urinary microbiome and test for antibiotic cross-resistance related to pesticide exposure.
Faculty Mentor:
Alejandra Yep
Support from the Baker Koob Endowment / U-Rise Program
Ryan Doran Donnelly
CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY
Research:
Organic and polymer chemistry research in partnership with Geisys Ventures dedicated to the development of a defeat-able adhesive in order to encourage a more circular economy.
Faculty Mentor:
Philip J. Costanzo
Support from the Frost Fund
Justin Grapentine
BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Research:
Investigating bacterial sepsis by isolating and analyzing nano-sized particles called extracellular vesicles (EVs). This research examines how EVs are generated by human neutrophils — a type of white blood cell — during infection and aims to identify how these EVs contribute to the hallmarks of sepsis.
Faculty Mentor:
Mallary Greenlee-Wacker
Support from the Frost Fund
Sydney Guitierrez
BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Research:
Gathering and analyzing genomic data to discern the evolutionary history of the dunes sagebrush lizard — a federally protected species facing habitat loss and fragmentation with anthropogenic land use. These results will be used to identify gene regions involved in local adaptation and inform conservation efforts.
Faculty Mentor:
Lauren Chan
Support from RSCA Program / SACNAS NDiSTEM / The Frost Fund
Visruth Srimath Kandali
STATISTICS
Research:
Visruth is developing a simple, robust heuristic to verify invoking the Central Limit Theorem required for many inference procedures. He is also part of a research team seeking to evoke students' curiosity to create engaging learning environments. They are exploring how to measure and elicit the curiosity of students in statistics courses across the nation.
Faculty Mentor:
Beth Chance
Support from The Frost Fund
Allison Kelly
LIBERAL STUDIES, MATHEMATICS
Research:
Developed and delivered affective activities and mathematical tasks to foster conceptual understanding and strong mathematical identity for participants of the Math Academy. Allison helped investigate how effective these were in creating positive changes in participants’ beliefs, attitudes, problem solving and math identity.
Faculty Mentor:
Amelie Schinck-Mikel and Elsa Medina
Support from The Frost Fund
Lena Kimura
BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Research:
Investigating the evolution of behavior in a sexually dimorphic and male-polymorphic livebearing fish, Girardinus metallicus. Lena’s work focuses on how “audience” fish impact mating behavior, how bacterial infection influences boldness and activity, and if UV-pattern recognition affects shoaling preferences.
Faculty Mentor:
Gita R. Kolluru
Support from BEACoN Scholars Program / The Frost Fund
Ella Leback
BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Research:
Ella collaborates with Dr. Nikki Adams to study the abundance, distribution and types of microplastics in the seawater of the Morro Bay Estuary temporally and spatially. Since winter 2024, they have been collecting biweekly samples from six sites, and they plan to conclude their research in spring 2025 as part of Ella’s senior project.
Faculty Mentor:
Nikki Adams
Support from Santa Rosa Creek Foundation / The Frost Fund
Chris Yuhan Liu
MATHEMATICS
Research:
As a member of the Unpacking Postsecondary Learning and Instruction in Mathematics Education Lab, Chris develops and enhances theoretical frameworks for student understanding in calculus. Additionally, Chris investigates instructor task design and explores how students engage with various representations in calculus.
Faculty Mentor:
Saba Gerami
Support from BEACoN Scholars Program
Madeleine Yang
MARINE SCIENCES
Research:
Researching and monitoring Pismo clam population along Pismo Beach to understand the fluctuations in population over time. Using the collected data to inform management agencies about the species population and educate the public about the species.
Faculty Mentor:
Ben Ruttenberg
The Santa Rosa Creek Foundation
Explore the Full Issue
Published as part of the Spring 2025 Issue of the Cal Poly Bailey College of Science and Mathematics Undergraduate Research Magazine.