cal-state-l-a
Competition Highlights Student Research
May 14, 2013
Category: A Closer Look
Tags: Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State L.A., graduate students, Humboldt State, student research
A Humboldt State student found that stem cells have the potential to help the bones of older individuals heal faster after breaking.
A team of Cal State L.A. engineering students developed new experimental designs for supersonic rockets.
A Cal Poly Pomona student is testing a new vaccine for the flu.
These are just a few of the nearly 200 student researchers who presented projects at the CSU’s 27th annual Student Research Competition at Cal Poly Pomona May 10-11.
SCMI Pursuing a Mission of Research and Education
April 23, 2013
Category: A Closer Look
Tags: Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State L.A., CSU Dominguez Hills, CSU Fullerton, CSU Long Beach, CSU Northridge, CSU San Bernardino, CSU San Marcos, marine biology
Students participating in lab and field research during the CSU Marine Biology Semester
The Southern California Marine Institute (SCMI) —a consortium of 11 Southern California universities, including eight CSU campuses—has been providing marine research and education support to the CSU for over 15 years. Committed to offering marine expertise and hands-on field experience to students, the SCMI develops science education programs, facilitates research in marine science, and works with university and community members to execute environment monitoring projects.
Read more »
Fusing Biology and Technology
January 11, 2013
Category: A Closer Look
Tags: agriculture, biology, Biotechnology, Cal Poly Pomona, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Cal State L.A., chemistry, CSU Fullerton, CSUPERB, health, Humboldt State, research, Sacramento State, science education, student research
The 25th Annual CSU Biotechnology Symposium brought together students, faculty, alumni, administrators and partners from across the 23 campus university system to advance an intricate and cutting edge understanding of life. More than 700 current and future biotechnology researchers and professionals participated in this silver anniversary symposium held in Anaheim from January 3-5, 2013. The symposium was a showcase for the year-round work incubated by the CSU Program for Education and Research in Biotechnology (CSUPERB). Read more »
CSI: Cal State L.A.
September 29, 2011
Category: A Closer Look
Tags: Cal State L.A., Criminal justice, Criminalistics
When you think of DNA analysis, firearms identification, examining blood patterns and narcotics testing, a college campus is not the first thing that comes to mind… but now it should.
The Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center, which is located on the Cal State L.A. campus, is comprised of the forensic crime laboratories for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and Los Angeles Police Department, making it the largest local full-service crime lab in the United States on a university campus. The center also contains classrooms and labs for Cal State L.A.’s School of Criminal Justice and Criminalistics and houses the California Forensic Science Institute (CFSI).
Aspiring Researcher at Cal State L.A. Looks at Protein to Remedy Infectious Diseases
August 25, 2011
Category: News & Notes
Tags: Cal State L.A., research
Cal State L.A. Newsroom
Summer program provides first-hand lab research experience for students
With a passion for science and medicine, Daniel Delgado hopes to play a part in finding future cures for some of the world’s most infectious diseases.
For 10 weeks this summer, Delgado is participating in Cal State L.A.’s Bridges to the Future Program. Being exposed for the first time to advanced lab research, he is helping to study the biological function of a protein found in airways of humans and other mammals, identified as Palate, Lung and Nasal epithelium clone (PLUNC).
Zzyzx: The CSU’s Scientific Oasis
August 15, 2011
Category: A Closer Look
Tags: biology, Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State L.A., CSU Dominguez Hills, CSU Fullerton, CSU Long Beach, CSU Northridge, CSU San Bernardino, Desert Studies Center, geology, science education, student research
If you’ve made the journey from Southern California to Las Vegas, you’ve probably seen the sign for Zzyzx, the I-15 exit somewhere in between Barstow and Baker, California—about 175 miles from Los Angeles. Curious motorists pass by it, wondering what actually exists beyond it and who would dwell in this inhospitable and desolate place.
The answer would be desert researchers, of course. Zzyzx -pronounced “zy-zicks”- is an ideal location for these folks because it’s home to the CSU Desert Studies Center, a rich research resource in the Mojave.
Coming at obesity from many angles
June 2, 2011
Category: News & Notes
Tags: Cal Poly Pomona, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Cal State L.A., CSU Bakersfield, CSU Chico, CSU Fullerton, CSU Long Beach, CSU Northridge, CSU San Bernardino, health, obesity, San Diego State
Via research, outreach, CSU tackles weighty issue in labs, communities
It takes a ton of effort, coming from many directions, to tackle a big problem like obesity.
According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control, 34 percent of Americans age 20 and older are obese and another 34 percent are overweight. Nearly 20 percent of youths ages 6 to 19 in the U.S. are obese, triple the rate of a generation ago.
Using strategies informed by biochemical, health and other research, efforts to reverse those trends focus on two key tactics:
- Help people make smart food choices.
- Help people be more physically active.
While First Lady Michelle Obama and others take the lead nationally, students and faculty from around the California State University advance the cause through community outreach and research projects.
San Diego State University health psychologist James Sallis was among roughly a dozen experts invited to the White House in July 2009 to brief Obama as she prepared to launch her campaign against child obesity. Read more »
Stellar Roster: CSU’s White House honorees for science guidance
May 16, 2011
Category: News & Notes
Tags: biology, Cal Poly Pomona, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Cal State L.A., chemistry, CSU Fullerton, CSU Northridge, Humboldt State, NSF, San Francisco State, San Jose State, science education
As Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Teacher-in-Residence Anne Marie Bergen receives the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching this week, she joins a select group of CSU individuals and programs to have been honored by the White House for science mentoring — including Frank Bayliss of San Francisco State University and CSU Northridge’s Steven Oppenheimer last year.
(In the photo above, Oppenheimer is in front row, second from left; Bayliss is in the back, third to the right of President Obama. Click to enlarge the photo.)
Nine CSU faculty members and two programs have received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM), a similar honor, also administered by the National Science Foundation. It cites those who excel at enhancing the participation of underrepresented groups in all levels of science education.
In chronological order, here are the PAESMEM honorees from the CSU (with campus): Read more »
‘Dr. Ramani’ reaching masses with research via ‘reality TV’
May 12, 2011
Category: News & Notes
Tags: Cal State L.A., media, psychology
Some researchers avoid news interviews because they see them as experiments with unknown outcomes and no control groups. Not Cal State L.A. Associate Professor of Psychology Ramani Durvasula; while she recognizes the risks, she participates eagerly, seeing interviews as opportunities to improve public health.
Durvasula is carving out a niche as a “go-to” articulate, informed psychologist, providing expertise on critical issues — such as obesity and HIV — for a range of television programs, including on CNN, the E! network and in a Bravo network series called “Thintervention.” Sometimes she’s simply called “Dr. Ramani.” Read more »
Illustrating an eon – or a frog
April 29, 2011
Category: A Closer Look
Tags: Cal State L.A., community, CSU Chico, CSU East Bay, CSU Monterey Bay, CSU San Bernardino, Fresno State, Humboldt State, science education
Natural-history exhibits showcase CSU’s museum-quality talents
Expect to spot naturalists sketching on napkins – and fine art on the walls – at the opening reception for “Illustrating Nature” Friday, May 6.
The annual exhibit of work by students in the CSU Monterey Bay Science Illustration Program, it will be on display at the Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History through June 4. (The public is invited to an opening reception from 5 to 7 p.m. at the museum, 165 Forest Ave., Pacific Grove.)
One of several current connections between CSU campuses and science museums, “Illustrating Nature” will display 63 artworks and sketchbooks depicting Costa Rican poison dart frogs, a gravel ghost wildflower, Neanderthal jewelry production and other phenomena and organisms. 
The detailed pieces are derived from pen and ink, scratchboard, colored pencil, watercolor, gouache, acrylic and digital media. Each piece is paired with a specimen from the museum’s collection.
