Cal State San Bernardino’s 9th annual Meeting of the Minds Student Research Symposium on May 14 brought nearly 215 student presenters representing almost every discipline, 95 faculty mentors and 54 faculty members who served as judges.

The Meeting of the Minds event, which was held virtually this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, is part of CSUSB’s annual Research Week, presented by the university’s Office of Student Research (OSR). The week celebrates the research and scholarly achievements of faculty and students across campus in all disciplines. 

Through both oral and poster presentations, the Meeting of the Minds is a one-day event recognizing the scholarly accomplishments of CSUSB students. The OSR provides a public forum where graduate and undergraduate students present their research, scholarship and creative activities.

“Studies have shown doing research with a faculty mentor is among the most memorable and inspiring activities for undergraduate and graduate students,” said CSUSB President Tomás Morales in a special opening video message. “Research is a vital part of the student experience. It heightens academic involvement by encouraging and promoting student inquiry, discovery and creativity.”

“Today your work here is one piece of the larger puzzle and can go on to have significant impacts. Your work today is literally defining the future,” said Christina Hassija, faculty director for the OSR and associate professor of psychology, during her opening remarks. “I want to commend all of you students and faculty mentors for the work you have done over this past year. It is my hope that you take these experiences and use them to propel you forward down whatever path you choose.”

Participants with the best oral and poster presentations received an award and were recognized during a virtual reception and award ceremony on May 15.

This year’s poster presentation winners are:

College of Arts and Letters

Graduate

Shane Burrell
Faculty Mentor: Mihaela Popescu
Title: Exploring En-Roling & De-Roling in Virtual Reality Environment

College of Education

Graduate

Lakhvir Kaur
Faculty Mentor: Roderick O'Handley
Title: Examining the Involvement of School Psychologists in the Assessment, Intervention Implementation, and Progress Monitoring of Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder in School Settings

College of Business & Public Administration
Undergraduate

Abhilasha Chavaly
Faculty Mentor: Winifred D Scott
Title: Connecting the Dots: A Meta-Analysis on Employee Motivation Theory and Agency Theory

College of Natural Sciences

Graduate

Christopher NeVille
Faculty Mentor: Paul Orwin
Title: Evolution of Genome Architecture in Variovorax

Undergraduate

Emmett Pompa
Faculty Mentor: Jeremy P. Mallari
Title: Exploration of New Small Molecule Inhibitor Scaffolds for Falcilysin, an Essential Malarial Protease

College of Social & Behavioral Sciences

Graduate

Brandon Oliver
Faculty Mentor: Dionisio Amodeo
Title: The effects of 5-HT 1B/1A receptor agonist RU24969 on behavioral flexibility in C57BL/6J mice

Undergraduate

Brandon Dominguez
Faculty Mentor: Jacob Jone
Title: The Relationship Between Gastrointestinal Symptoms and Mood Symptoms in Parkinson's Disease

Undergraduate

McKenna Burdette
Faculty Mentor: Dionisio Amodeo
Title: The 5-HT6 receptor SB271046 attenuates marble burying in the BTBR mouse model of autism spectrum disorder

This year’s oral presentation winners are:

Session 1

Rachel Reyes and Nolan Mackey
Faculty Mentor: Sang Ouk Wee
Title: Preliminary Study: Effect of Body Fat Percentage on Arterial Stiffness in Young Healthy Hispanic Males

Session 2
Amber Olson, Prince Siraj, Teanna Keith, Victoria Cornish, Angelica Ambrossi, Joezer Nolasco   

Faculty Mentor: Janet Kottke
Title: Toxic Values and Workplace Cultures: Creating an Environment Conducive to Toxic Leadership

Session 3
Aaron Keniston and Nikolay Maslov
Faculty Mentor: Jeremy Mallari
Title: Understanding the Binding Mode of Novel Piperazine-Based Inhibitors Against Falcilysin, an Essential Malarial Metalloprotease

Session 4
Jasmine Colorado
Faculty Mentor: Chad Luck
Title: Queen of Peace: Decolonizing the art, iconography and legend behind the Virgin Mary of El Salvador

Session 5
Hector Pimienta
Faculty Mentor: Benjamin Becerra
Title: Assessing vulnerability to cybercrime among older adults using a grounded theory approach

Session 6
Elsy Cruz, Yesenia Casas, Stephanie Nunez-Rivera, Patricia Rivera
Faculty Mentor: Nancy Acevedo-Gil
Title: Promoting Pre- and Post- Transfer Success in STEM at Hispanic Serving Institutions

Session 7

Emily-Anne del Rosario      
Faculty Mentor: Stacy Forcino
Title: A Randomized Control Trial of a Social Skills Training Intervention for Sibling Conflict

Session 8
Ashley Bennett and Mellisa Duchesne
Faculty Mentor: Deirdre Lanesskog 
Title: Social Worker's Experiences and Knowledge in Working with Mixed Race Youth and Families.

Session 9
Adriel Chavez-Sherman
Faculty Mentor: Ahlam Muhtaseb
Title: “Is Blood Thicker than Water?”: Constructing, Maintaining, and Reinforcing Adoptive Identities

Session 10
Nicolas Elia and Charles Kinzel
Faculty Mentor: Fadi Muheidat
Title: StimulEye - A Concussion Detector Based on Machine Learning

For more information about the Meeting of the Minds Student Research Symposium, visit the Meeting of the Minds webpage.