Four Cal Poly Students Recognized at CSU Student Research Competition

Clockwise from top left are Tanvi Gehani, Jacob Campbell, Issac Ho and Savannah Weaver
SAN LUIS OBISPO — Four Cal Poly students were awarded first- or second-place prizes at the 2022 California State University (CSU) Student Research Competition. Cal Poly, Fullerton and Sacramento State were the most recognized universities in the competition, with four awardees each.
 
“Our students were phenomenal representatives of Cal Poly at the competition, and I am thrilled they have been recognized at the CSU level for the quality of their work,” said Jane Lehr, director of the Office of Student Research at Cal Poly. “This event is an amazing opportunity for our students to share their work and show what makes research at Cal Poly such a great experience.”

Students from across the CSU competed in 10 divisions in the following categories: Behavioral, Social Sciences, and Public Administration; Biological and Agricultural Sciences; Business, Economics and Hospitality Management; Creative Arts and Design; Education; Engineering and Computer Science; Health, Nutrition and Clinical Sciences; Humanities and Letters; Physical and Mathematical Sciences; and Interdisciplinary.
 
“It was really humbling to present my project alongside so many other talented students and learn from their projects as well,” said Tanvi Gehani, a fourth-year Cal Poly biomedical engineering major from New Jersey. “Having spent the past three years working in Dr. Maj’s lab and having to switch to a completely remote setting during the pandemic, it felt incredibly rewarding to still be able to present significant and relevant findings.”
 
Gehani won first place in the Health, Nutrition and Clinical Sciences undergraduate category. “I’m very grateful to have had the opportunity to support such an impactful project, given the increasing global threat that metabolic syndrome, due to the Western diet, poses to society,” she said. “I believe that this experience will play a great role in my ambition to pursue my Ph.D. and to eventually lead to cutting-edge research initiatives within the biomedical industry.”
 
San Francisco State University hosted the 36th annual competition. Students presented their work through a prerecorded video and participated in a live virtual Q&A with a jury and an audience. They competed by discipline category and, where feasible, as an undergraduate or graduate student. First-place finishers were awarded a $500 prize and second-place finishers were awarded $250.
 
The four Cal Poly projects awarded are:
 
First Place in Health, Nutrition and Clinical Sciences — Undergraduate Category: Tanvi Gehani (Biomedical Engineering), Effect of Coconut Oil Intake in a Pig Model of Pediatric Non‐Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
Advisor: Magdalena Maj (Biological Sciences Department)
 
Second Place in Education — Graduate Category: Jacob Campbell (Higher Education Counseling in Student Affairs Graduate Program), Defining Mixed‐Race College Students: Examining Graduation Gaps Between Multiracial and Monoracial Undergraduates
Advisor: Sonia Ramrakhiani (School of Education)
 
Second Place in Behavioral, Social Sciences and Public Administration — Graduate Category: Isaac Ho (Food Science Blended Master’s Program), Use of Preference Analysis to Identify Early Adopter Mind‐Sets of Insect‐based Food Products 
Advisor: Amy Lammert (Food Science and Nutrition Department)
 
Second Place in Biological and Agricultural Sciences — Graduate Category: Savannah Weaver (Biological Sciences Graduate Program), Additive Effects of Humidity and Temperature on Acclimation in a Lizard
Advisor: Emily Taylor (Biological Sciences Department)
 
Cal Poly was also represented at the 2022 CSU Student Research Competition by Jack Alexander (Biological Sciences), Kimiko Casuga (Food Science Graduate Program), Hannah Heath (Nutrition), Ariadne Kaylor (Psychology), Trevor Kirkby (Computer Science Graduate Program), Jack Koster (Agriculture Master’s Program, Crop Science Specialization), Mary McCafferty (Mathematics), Chloe McGovern (Food Science, ‘21) and Patrick Perrine (Computer Science Graduate Program).

Contact: Keegan Koberl
805-458-9302; kkoberl@calpoly.edu

May 19, 2022 - Original Press Release posted here

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