News Release| CSU Student Research Competition; Cal State L.A.

May 15, 2012

Cal State L.A. students win double first, second prizes at CSU Student Research Competition

Research on slugs, studio art, animated films, antioxidants garner top awards

Los Angeles, CA – Two Cal State L.A. students—Hanna Koch (Hermosa Beach resident) and Dominic Quagliozzi (Burbank resident)—recently took home first-place awards from the 26th Annual CSU Student Research Competition at Cal State Long Beach.

Awards for research and creative scholarly activity were presented to 40 outstanding CSU undergraduate and graduate students. Participating at this event were approximately 200 students who had earned honors at their campus levels.

Koch’s research—which won first place in the graduate division of the Biological and Agricultural Sciences category—was focused on a better understanding of the factors setting species’ range limits that are necessary to more accurately predict how rising temperatures and changing rainfall patterns will lead to species distribution shifts.

Her research presentation, entitled “Local adaptation and northern range limit for an estuarine sea slug, Alderia willowi,” study local adaptation with respect to present thermal and salinity conditions across its coastal range. Koch’s faculty mentor was Patrick Krug, associate professor of biology at CSULA. 

Quagliozzi’s research—which won first place in the graduate division of the Creative Arts and Design category—analyzed in depth the concepts, technical aspects and visual presentations of artists Vito Acconci, Bob Flanagan, Maria Lassnig, Tony Oursler and James Turrell in relation to his work.

His research presentation, entitled “There Is a Yesterday: The Body and Technology in Art,” combines the elements of light, video projection and an installation of hand-painted images. Quagliozzi’s mentor was Mika Cho, professor of art at CSULA. His research also garnered CSULA’s 2012 Phi Kappa Phi Travel Award.

With students from throughout the 23-campus CSU system, the competition covered 10 categories, each with undergraduate and graduate levels. Each student was given 10 minutes to present to a jury, which then had five minutes to ask questions.

In addition to these two distinguished honors, communication studies major Remy Ashe (Burbank resident) and chemistry and biochemistry major Angela Guerrero (Downey resident) both received second-place awards at the CSU competition.

Ashe—who was mentored by Suzanne Regan, professor of communication studies—was recognized in the Humanities and Letters category for her graduate presentation, “The Traumatized Mouse and the Dissociated Duck: Trauma and Resolution in Disney’s Animated Feature-Length Films.”

Guerrero—who was mentored by Matthias Selke, professor of chemistry at CSULA—was recognized in the Physical and Mathematical Sciences category for her undergraduate presentation, entitled “Photooxidation of the antioxidant trans-resveratrol.” She also received Honorable Mention at CSULA’s Symposium on Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity.

For a list of CSULA’s 2012 delegates who participated in the CSU competition, click here: /univ/ppa/newsrel/studresearch-delegates2012.htm

Cal State L.A.’s participants at the statewide competition were selected at a recent campus symposium on research and creative activities. The symposium encourages all Cal State L.A. students—undergraduate and graduate in every discipline—to showcase their projects and provides opportunities to network with administrators, faculty and peers.

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