McNair Scholars

Briana Capuchino 

Mentor: Dr. Stephen Pearlberg

This summer I am working with Professor Stephen Pearlberg on examining the effects of family and medical leave on employee evaluations.

Melinda Sevilla

Mentor: Dr. Kristin Moran

The scope of my research explores and analyzes the frequency of Latino stereotypes, the depiction of Latino characters over time, and the references to Latino social justice issues in Latino-themed television programs airing from 2006-2016. In order to accomplish this, codebooks were created that defined the stereotypes that were hypothesized to be most prevalent and then were applied to each speaking character on four Latino-based television programs; Ugly Betty, Devious Maids, Cristela and Jane the Virgin.

Joylene Aguirre

Mary Ann Lee

Alaysia Brown

Tarez Lemmons

Briana Capuchino

Chelsea McLin

Kenneth Davis

Fiorella Morales

Madalyn Glim

David Oken

Chyna Gray

Kyle Proctor

Jane Henderson

Joseph Rocha

Megan Huynh

Jessica Ruiz

Jordan Jackson

Gabriella Maria Russo

Natalie Jimenez

Kayleigh Ward

Joylene Agirre
Mentor: Dr. David Mayhew

Alternative energy production and storage for use by data centers.

Alaysia Brown
Mentor: Dr. Nadav Goldschmied

Briana Capuchino
Mentor: Dr. Stephen Pearlberg

In my research, I am conducting a comparative analysis on data obtained from a Wellness/Health Promotion program. The aim of this research is to assess its effectiveness and also improve future applications of this program.

Kenneth Davis
Mentor: Dr. Michelle Gilmore-Grier

Madalyn Glim
Mentor: Dr. Adam Haberman

Working with Drosophila, the focus of my research is to study the presence or absence of electrical current on the surface of the fly eye by means of an electroretinogram.

Chyna Gray
Mentor: Dr. Hugh Ellis

Jane Henderson
Mentor: Dr. Jesse Mills

My research this summer is an examination of the community gardens in San Diego as spaces for anti-racist practices.  The bulk of the research involves interviewing community organizers and gardeners on their experiences of racism in the communities which they are a part of, and if gardens can offer a solution to that racism. 

Megan Huynh
Mentor: Dr. Everard Meade

Analyzing the effect of foreign nationality and/or lack of citizenship in the outcome of death penality cases in California, as compared to other indices of social inequality or marginality, such as race, sex, or poverty.

Jordon Jackson
Mentor: Dr. Cheryl Getz

Natalie Jimenez
Mentor: Dr. David De Haan

Mary Ann Lee
Mentor: Dr. Lawrence Chisesi

My research project studies the supply chain of rare earth elements and examines the political and economic implications that the supply deficit of this raw material causes. 

Tarez Lemmons
Mentor: Dr. Orlando Espin

Chelsea McLin
Mentor: Dr. Carlton Floyd

Fiorella Morales
Mentor: Dr. Jena Hales

The study will assess women Veterans across several domains, including treatment preferences/barriers to care, mental and physical health issues, and pre-deployment, and post deployment experiences. The findings from this study will inform understanding and the development of interventions to improve post deployment outcomes in women Veterans. 

David Oken
Mentor: Mary Jo Schumann

An Explanatory Sequential Mixed-Method investigation of the leadership development of participants in the Hansen Summer Institute on Leadership & International Cooperation. This project seeks to examine the variation in leadership development of international participants in a three-week long conference-style institute. The research design employs an initial quantitative phase using the Socially Responsible Leadership Scale, followed by a qualitative phase using individual interviews.

Kyle Proctor
Mentor: Jennifer Prairie

This research will be looking at how the phase of phytoplankton cultures used to form marine snow aggregates affects the delayed settling behavior of these aggregates across sharp density gradients. The study will test the null hypothesis that delayed settling time of aggregates is not affected by the phase of phytoplankton culture.

Joseph Rocha
Mentor: Dr. Juliana Maxim

My research aims at producing a monographic study of the social, economic, and architectural character of the particular environment that is Carmel Valley. We wish to explore the relationship between architectural development and recent immigration patterns. In particular, anecdotal evidence points to a Chinese community steadily establishing itself in some of the most recent planned communities, transforming what at first sight looks like a conventional suburb into the Chinatown of the 21st century.

Jessica Ruiz
Mentor: Dr. Nadav Goldschmied

My research explores the social psychology of the underdog narrative and whether the underdog narrative is strong enough to bend past memories to fit the mold. 

Gabriella Maria Russo
Mentor: Dr. Greg Prieto

Code switching is the ability to differentiate between appropriate and inappropriate behavior based on the immediate surroundings of the environment. The source of this problem rests within society itself, including students, parents, teachers, and administration. Within this study, I will be focusing on recognizing when these ‘code switching’ occurs and why, among male versus female prison inmates.

Kayleigh Ward
Mentor: Dr. Judith Liu 

My research consists of analyzing ethnographic data I took in Japan to understand how Tokyo residents understand and perceive Fukushima prefecture after the nuclear disaster on March 11th, 2011. This research analyzes how these perspectives may have negatively or positively affected Fukushima's recovery and the sociological consequences of them.

Brent Allman
Gonzalo Alvarez
Alexander Blanco
Alaysia Brown
Briana Chacon
Daniela Conde
Kenneth Davis
Sou Fang
Yasmine Hachimi
Rayne Ibarra
Jasmine Mallen
Molly Mechammil
Davey Mohammed-Menzies
Natalia Peddycoart
Julie PhamVu
Rachyl Pines
Veronica Ramirez
Alyssa Rodriguez
Haydee Rojas
Maria Gabriella Russo
Paul Short
Diana Solares
Angela Vanella
Danielle Watson

Brent Allman
Mentor: Dr. Hugh Ellis

Metabolic Intensity in Eared Grebes

Gonzalo Alvarez
Mentor: Dr. Judith Liu

A Place of Their Own: The Role of Student Organizations in Balancing Identities for First- Generation College Students

Alexander Blanco
Mentor: Dr. Drew Talley

Mapping the biodiversity and evolution of Kendall Frost in Mission Bay: a geographic analysis of tidal creeks and pools using lightweight unmanned aerial vehicles.

Alaysia Brown
Mentor: Dr. Nadav Goldscheid 

Underdog vs. Top-dog: Testing the Concepts utilizing the Semantic Differential Technique

Briana Chacon
Mentor: Dr. Rachel Blaser

The Effects of Caffeine on The Traveling Salesman Problem

Daniela Conde
Mentor: Dr. Mary Fu

Wom[y]n of Color Activism in San Diego: A Popular Education Program

Kenneth Davis
Mentor: Dr. Michelle Gilmore-Grier

The purpose of this research is not to define creativity; instead, I wish to explore the act of creation using an experiential philosophical explanation.

Sou Fang
Mentor: Dr. Can Bilsel

"Mass Housing in Istanbul: Political Economy and the Single-Use Residential Tower-type in Başıbüyük" is an attempt to analyze and frame the driving processes of rapid urbanization in the case of Istanbul, Turkey. With this as a case study, the broader aim of the research seeks to understand contemporary situations and trajectories of urban growth in world cities.

Yasmine Hachimi
Mentor: Dr. Maura Giles-Watson

This research asserts that Henry VIII’s love letters to Anne Boleyn contain corporeal language that serves as a performance of male privilege and misogyny in Henrician court culture and as an intentional instrument of surveillance over Anne’s body. This new interpretation forces a re-examination of Anne’s purported agency within her relationship with Henry.

Megan Huynh
Mentor: Dr. David Cantrell

What’s the Difference? Constitutional History of Race, Citizenship, and Slavery

Rayne Ibarra
Mentor: Dr. Jason Crum

Rediscovering Malinalli: A Desconstruction of the Sociopolitical Funcations of La Malinche

Jasmine Mallen
Mentor: Dr. Tom Reifer

Latinos and America's Urban Future

Molly Mechammil
Mentor: Dr. Kristen McCabe

This summer, I created an observational coding system from therapist's feedback interviews after their participation in a study that enhanced parent participation in therapy.

Davey Mohammed-Menzies
Mentor: Dr. Rachel Blaser

The Effects of Caffeine on The Traveling Salesman Problem

Natalia Peddycoart
Mentor: Dr. Melissa Halter

My research this summer focused on sexual assault prevention strategies that college campuses can use to better engage and educate the male student population. I researched the most effective ways to engage men as potential advocates (as opposed to potential perpetrators) and found that discussions on socialized masculinity, bystander intervention, and peer education showed promise for reducing attitudes and behaviors that promote sexual violence.  My summer research is the precursor to a pilot program I will develop involving an all-male prevention program employing the promising techniques found in my research.

Julie PhamVu
Mentor: Professor Victoria Fu

Exploring Hyperreality

Rachyl Pines
Mentor: Dr. Leeva Chung

I am examining the identity renegotiation of women in romantic relationships with military men as they enter into the culture of the military. I am finding out how these women negotiate their own personal identities and the identity of a traditional military significant other prescribed by military culture.

Veronica Ramirez
Mentor: Dr. Nadav Goldschmeid

Our study examined the underlying conditions that facilitate or limit the underdog effect, which is people's tendency to favor an entity at disadvantage that has slim chances of overcoming the competition. The findings of the study can be applied in marketing and advertising strategies.

Alyssa Rodriguez
Mentor Off Campus: Dr. James T. Stivers
Mentor On Campus: Dr. David De Haan

This summer, as a Bridges to Doctoral Institutions Award recipient, I conducted research at Johns Hopkins, where I worked on a project called, Compensatory kinetic effects of the viscogen and crowding agent PEG8000 on the reaction of human uracil DNA glycosylase (hUNG).

Haydee Rojas
Mentor: Dr. David Shirk

My project focuses on understanding the illicit drug trafficking networks in the United States using media reports, government reports, and case studies. 

Maria Gabriella Russo
Mentor: Dr. Annette Taylor

Archer, Iritani, Kimes and Barrios (1983) coined the term ‘face-ism’ to describe a specific type of sexism. Accordingly, face-ism reflects biased media depictions of men and women, in which primary attention is focused on men’s faces by preferentially providing headshots, whereas women’s depictions include larger parts of their bodies, which minimizes the focus on the face. Despite the wealth of studies that have examined the face-ism effect in adults, no published studies appear to have studied the developmental course of face-ism. Therefore, the purpose of our study was to identify at what age children ages 5-15 begin to develop a sensitivity to face-ism and thus the face-ism effect.

Paul Short
Mentor: Dr. Can Bilsel

Housing for the Displaced

Diana Solares
Mentor: Alan Gin

Tick Tock, Tick Tock: How Long Before “Work First Programs” Promote Higher Education?

Angela Vanella
Mentor: Dr. Daniel López-Pérez

This summer, Dr. Daniel Lopez-Perez and I began the first phase of our research regarding the organicism of tensile structures. We evaluated Frei Otto's original surface structure prototypes and indexed them in relation to their formal characteristics, later modeling selected prototypes in virtual three-dimensional space using Rhinoceros 3D software, and eventually producing representative drawings of these forms.

Danielle Watson
Mentor: Dr. Jane Freidman