Fresno State hosts CSU Student Research Competition

California State University, Fresno is hosting the 25^th annual California State University Student Research Competition, a systemwide event featuring the best projects from about 225 students at 21 of the 23 CSU campuses, including 10 students from Fresno State.

Student presentations are scheduled noon-5 p.m. Friday, May 6, and 8 a.m.-noon Saturday, May 7 throughout the Science II Building. Each student will have 10 minutes for an oral presentation to an audience and jury, who will then have five minutes to ask questions.

Dr. Thomas McClanahan, associate vice president for research and sponsored programs at Fresno State said the competition’s purpose “is to focus attention on the accomplishments of students engaged in research and creative activity at both the graduate and undergraduate levels in all academic disciplines.”

McClanahan said the event introduces community members, partners, students, and guests to the many outstanding academic programs in the CSU.

Students make oral presentations before juries of experts from major corporations, foundations, public agencies, colleges and universities in California. Based on the jurors’ recommendations, cash awards will be provided to the outstanding presenter and runner-up in undergraduate and graduate divisions of each category.

Fresno State competitors will present on a broad range of topics from soil erosion to work on the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Switzerland. The Fresno State students and their research (categories):

Benjamin Adams – “Piping Erosion Mechanisms of Organic Soils and Bioabatement of Piping Erosion in Sand” (Engineering and Computer Science)
Vincent Aguirre – “The Lexial Effects of Visual Similarity Structure on Audiovisual Spoken Word Recognition” (Behavioral and Social Sciences)
Cynthia Contreras – “Anti-Angiogenic Effects of Zoledronic Acid on Osteotropic Breast Cancer” (Biological and Agricultural Sciences)
Julie Hale – “Proteomic Evaluation of Pesticide-Resistant Breast Cancer Cell Lines” (Biological and Agricultural Sciences)
Brittany Rudd – “Perception of Stressors: The Difference between Caucasian and Mexican American College Students” (Behavioral and Social Sciences)
Kelli Upton – “Hormonal Regulation of Food Intake During Acute Stress in the Tilapia, Orechromis” (Biological and Agricultural Sciences)
Miriam Walsh – “Cultural Frame Switching and Cognitive Performance” (Behavioral and Social Sciences)
Brent Wilson – “Detecting W and Z Bosons at the ATLAS Experiment of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN” (Physical and Mathematical Sciences)
Prasad Yadavali – “Yield and Blossol End Rot in Tomatoes Subjected to Calcium Fertigation and Acidifcation in Salt-Affected Soils” (Biological and Agricultural Sciences)
Ashley Yaugher – Exploring Impulsivity and Inhibition on Individuals with Traits in Intermittent Explosive Disorder and Psychopathy (Behavioral and Social Sciences)