CONGRATULATIONS TO

2021 STUDENT RESEARCH CONFERENCE SESSION WINNERS!

Session

Behavioral and Social Sciences I

First Place: Colleen Vuong, Naomi Nelson, Shayna Quach, Brandon Thomas
The Lived Experiences of Minority Mothers in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and the
Role of Occupational Therapy
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Sheryl Ryan

Second Place: Cesar Ovando
The Nearly Impossible Conquest of the Guatemalan Lowlands: The Advantages of the
Indigenous Maya in Central Petén
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Kenneth Seligson

Behavioral and Social Sciences II

First Place: Juliet O'Brien, Rachel Reyes, Lauren Weaver
The occupational aftermath of sexual assault survivors
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Sheryl Ryan

Second Place: Second place: Melanie Ramirez, Mary Grace Perez, Justin Navarro, Bernice Verzosa
The impact of stroke on transportation use in the greater Los Angeles area
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Sheryl Ryan

Behavioral and Social Sciences III

First Place: Taylor Duffy, Daniel Correa, Denise Aguiluz, Isabel Munoz
Socio-Cultural Factors, Health Status Indicators and Health Beliefs That Predict
Diabetes Risk Among Latinx College Students
Faculty Mentors: Dr. Silvia Santos and Dr. Maria Hurtado-Ortiz

Second Place: Vanessa Flores, Jennifer Dee, Michelle Franco
Dating and Sexuality Experiences Among Transition-Age Individuals With Autism
Spectrum Disorder: A Narrative Study
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Sheryl Ryan

Biological and Agricultural Sciences I

First Place: Liz Solis
Delimiting Species in the Australian Lizard, Ctenotus
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Sonal Singhal

Business, Economics, and Public Administration I

First Place: Lauren Hull
Effects of Law & Public Policy on the Supply of Women's Healthcare Providers in
California
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Fynnwin Prager

Second Place: Cat Munsen, NaKayla Williams, Sarah Franks
Abolitionist Reform to Reimagine Policing: Defund the LAPD and Reinvest in Black
Communities
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Fynnwin Prager

Creative Arts and Design I

First Place: Khasnaa Juma
Art and Environmental Sustainability in High Fashion
Faculty Mentor: Professor Devon Tsuno

Education I

First Place: Icela Pantoja-Zamudio
Child Language Development: Influence of Multilanguage Exposure and Socioeconomic
Status
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Megumi Kuwabara

Engineering and Computer Science I

First Place: Phillip Aguilera and Christopher Gonzalez
Virtual Network Function Load Balancing in Cloud Data Centers Using Machine
Learning
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Bin Tang

Second Place: Deepa Malani and Dhanaraj Rana
Transcript Reader (Android app)
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Bhrigu Celly

Health, Nutrition, and Clinical Sciences I

First Place: Sylvia Pabon Andraca
Does the Use of Oral Glucose Lower Neonatal ICU Admissions or Lengths of Stay in
Asymptomatic Neonates at Risk for Transient Hypoglycemia?
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Teri Ares

Second Place: Kamila Trzanek
Clinical Laboratory: Lessons Learned From COVID-19
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Payman Nasr

Humanities and Letters I

First Place: Jasmine Abang
Immigration, Reproductive Rights, and Mexican (American) Women
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Doris Namala

First Place: Jackson Martinez
The Flâneuse and Phantasmagoria in the Cosmopolis
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Andrew Kalaidjian

Humanities and Letters II

First Place: Matthew Hernandez
“Please Don’t Kill Me”: Confronting Racist Violence in Contemporary Young Adult
Literature
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Helen Oesterheld

Second Place: Joseline Gonzalez
“Padre, Perdóname!”: Machismo, Excommunication, and Safe Spaces in Empanada
and Butterfly Boy
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Roderick Hernandez

Physical and Mathematical Sciences I

First Place: Omar Santizo, Claire Ladan, Justin Hathaway
Improving Undergraduate Chemistry Education Analyzing Biochemical Redox Analytes
Using a Student-Built Potentiostat
Faculty Mentor: Barbara Belmont

Physical and Mathematical Sciences II

First Place: Michael Franco
Distribution of Bristlecone Pines in Future Climate Change Scenario
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Parveen Chhetri

Second Place: Michelle Mohr, David Saldana, Gabriel Angulo, Raju Bista
Tree-Ring Climate Response of Jeffrey Pine in the Cascade Creek Watershed,
Northern California
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Parveen Chhetri

Poster Presentations

Behavioral and Social Sciences I

First Place: Efrain Arroyo
Using Google Earth for archaeological research: a virtual survey of the Inca road
network between Machu Picchu and Choquequirao
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jerry Moore

Second Place: Elizabeth Mallonee
Honoring the Dead and Defining Territory
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jerry Moore

Biological and Agricultural Sciences 

First Place: Liz Solis
Delimiting Species in the Australian Lizard, Ctenotus
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Sonal Singhal

Biological and Health Sciences I

First Place: Lari Smith
Identification of Marine Sponge Natural Products that Inhibit the Type III Inhibition
System in Pathogenic Bacteria
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Erin McCauley

Second Place: Jose Garfias
Increased Angiogenesis and Embryotic Stem Cell signatures contribute to delayed
growth of MDA-MB-468 Xenografts
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Shehla Pervin

Business, Education and Humanities I

First Place: Ev Campos Martinez
Understanding Butch Lesbian Culture: Are Butches A Dying Breed?
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jennifer Brandt

Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Session I

First Place: German Bravo-Villasenor
Hexavalent Chromium Emissions and Sensitive Receptors in Los Angeles County
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Parveen Chhetri

Second Place: Valeria Arredondo
Discrete Approval Voting Models
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Carolyn Yarnall