The impossible is made possible in the second annual Cal State Long Beach BUILD Research Symposium, as the groundbreaking work of BUILD shows what discoveries can be made when students are given the opportunity to dive head first into the world of research.
The symposium on Friday showcased four guest speakers, all assistant professors at CSULB. “Inspiring Student Research for Better Health Tomorrow,” was the theme chosen by the team behind Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity. BUILD has made it possible for students to participate in groundbreaking research, with funding from the National Institutes of Health.
“Last year, the symposium was more focused on students giving poster presentations,” said Carma Spence, the digital media and communications specialist for BUILD. “This year, we just decided to have the four main presentations and focus more on the mentors.”
The professors working with BUILD each have students helping them with their research. This gives the students a chance to see how discoveries are made, and how much hard work is needed to further them. It’s a hands-on experience that provides students with key knowledge in the field, while some students also get to conduct their own work.
“I think the main priority is to showcase what’s possible,” Spence said. “These are all BUILD members who have BUILD students helping with the research. So, this symposium acts as a way to showcase what we’re doing while also serving as a recruiting tool.”
The first two speakers to present were May Ling Halim and Houng-Wei Tsai. The research was titled “Sport Trajectories Among Latino/a and Asian American Adolescents,” and “Influence of Aging and Gender Differences on Social Behavior in Mice.”
During the second half of the symposium, Ted Yu and Michelle Alencar presented their research. The works were titled “Study to Improve Electrolytes in Sodium Batteries,” and “Obesity Management Using Telemedicine: A Multi- Disciplinary Pilot Study.”
Spence says the BUILD program is doing very well at CSULB, yet they are always looking for ways to improve it and grow.
“BUILD is an experiment to see what we can do to help improve underrepresented students going up and getting Ph.D.s,” Spence says. “We’re trying new things to see what will inspire people and what will work better.”
The new focus of the event attracted students who are interested in joining the program. Among them is Timothy Vu, a second year biology major at CSULB. Vu’s interest in research was sparked the second semester of his freshman year after helping out a graduate student in the marine biology lab with his research.
“He was studying the effects of CO2 on the grunion population in California,” Vu said. “Three of the four weeks we went out and did field work, nothing happened. But there was one week so many came out and covered the entire beach. That’s was what changed everything for me. That’s when I knew I wanted to do this.”
It’s students like this the symposium is looking to draw in. The intensive research training program calls for people with a real interest and love for research to rise to the occasion, and go on to be successful.
Laura Kingsford, the Dean of the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics and one of the principal investigators for the BUILD award, talks about how the goal of providing students with the tools they need to be successful in a career of health-related research.
“We need more qualified people doing research and we need that diversity,” Kingsford says. “That’s what this is designed for. To get more students who would never consider these kinds of career paths engaged in research, and to really understand what they can contribute to it.”