Student researchers took over the Tanimura and Antle Family Memorial Library last Friday for the annual spring Showcase. In celebration of National Undergraduate Research Week, the Spring Showcase is an event hosted by the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Center (UROC) for student researchers to discuss and disseminate their research.
At the event, at least 50 students presented research through poster or verbal presentations. Some projects presented the results of class-based research projects, while many others were executed independently (with the help of professors) through UROC.
Conducting research is “a fantastic opportunity for students to grow as scholars and as contributors to their discipline,” said Eric Barajas, the outreach specialist within UROC. “Here they are, very novice researchers, and what the spring showcase allows them to do is it gives them a platform to grow as presenters, as more confident researchers, and to disseminate their information in a way that people are interested in learning more about.”
The presentations varied in discipline. Posters prompted various questions about topics such as marine science, agriculture, psychology and even the process of educational success.
Each poster was unique; “[Creating my poster] was very collaborative because I was working with other [student] researchers,” said Sara Jew, a third-year psychology major. “It’s very interesting as a student researcher that you can take a hands-on approach to [your discipline] rather than just sitting in a classroom.”
Jew has been conducting research since 2022, and has presented research at previous CSUMB events like the Summer Research Symposium. At the Spring Showcase, she and a fellow student presented a poster regarding memory formation within bilingual individuals.
Verbal presentations took place in the lecture halls within the library. These presentations lasted about 20 minutes, and often had audiences of 30 or more people.
Being a student researcher entails much more than giving presentations, it can also present opportunities that can advance any student toward success. For one student, Efrain Ramirez, conducting research did just that. He was recently named a Barry Goldwater scholar, one of just over 500 in the country, and is a McNair scholar, which is awarded to students who are either first-generation college students with financial need, or members of a group that is traditionally underrepresented in graduate education and have demonstrated strong academic potential.
“My favorite part [of being a student researcher] is the fact that I was going into my major in psychology not knowing what I wanted to do,” Ramirez said, “and being able to do research really helped me to hone in on exactly what part of psychology I wanted to focus on.”
