Four Cal State Long Beach students walked away with awards at the 21st annual CSU Student Research Competition.
The winners were Claudia Zapata, Virginia Beas, Kerri Loke and Lesley Vasquez.
The competition showcases research of undergraduate and graduate students throughout the CSU system in many different categories.
Zapata won first place in the undergraduate category of the health, nutrition and clinical sciences, and Beas took second place in the same category. Loke and Vasquez won second place in biological and agricultural sciences. First-place winners received $500 and second-place winners received $250.
Zapata, a senior psychology major, won first place for her research, titled “Kicking the Dog is Ruining Your Life: Displaced Aggression and Social Support.”
“My research looked at the effects of taking aggression caused by one person or thing and taking it out on innocent people around you, on an individual’s social support network,” Zapata said.
Her mentor was William Pedersen, an assistant professor of psychology whom she has been working with since her sophomore year.
“I felt that all of our work was fruitful and productive, and it was all worthwhile,” Zapata said.
Beas, a senior psychology major, gave a PowerPoint presentation on her senior thesis, titled “The Role of Depression and Anxiety in College Student Prospective Memory,” which she has been working on for about a year.
“I was really excited, surprised and happy, not because I won, but because my hard work was recognized. I did my research from scratch. It is more difficult and takes more time when you have to come up with your own data,” Beas said. “I am more confident and comfortable in presenting research. One of my weaknesses was answering questions after presentations. I can now articulate better responses to questions asked of me.”
Beas said she is very thankful to have William Keleman, an associate professor of psychology, as her mentor.
“I am really grateful for all the time he has put into mentoring me and helping me with my project. He has been unbelievable in answering my questions and showing support and guidance,” Beas said.
Loke, a senior marine biology major, received second place for her presentation, titled “Predicting Sex of the California Sheephead (Semicossyphyus pulcher) using Morphology and Hormone Analysis.”
Vasquez, a senior biochemistry major, received second place for her presentation, titled “Role of Surface Localized Lysine Residues in the Lipid Binding Activity of Apolipophorin III.”
The research competition was held May 4th and 5th at Cal State Dominguez Hills.
