| Project Title: | Student Advocacy and Support |
| Mentor Name: | Heather French |
| Description: | Both virtual and in-person. working with the Dean of Students, this role will help to promote and educate students on the support and resources available through the Dean of Students Office and case management services. Promotion and education may include development of marketing materials, tabling, giving presentations, and working with campus partners. Develop a dean of students brochure to promote services. Promote case management services through tabling and educational events. Educate students through targeted presentations to select student groups. Collaborate with campus partners to create a multi-department presentation that highlights key services. |
| Project Title: | Nurturing Events |
| Mentor Name: | Suzanna Bezyan |
| Description: |
In-person. The Office of the Chancellor is creating events for students, faculty, and staff that are engaging and fun. In this role, you will learn how events on campus are executed from start to finish. Join the amazing team and be part of the action. Marketing: Help create flyers for upcoming events, work with the communications team to get the word out to the campus. Event Logistics: Learn how to plan an event. On the day of the event you will assist with check-in, set-up, and breakdown. Successful implementation of inaugural campus-wide Arbor Day event and of inaugural campus-wide Goatapalooza event. Administrative work: Front desk coverage, monitoring RSVPs, printing name badges, printing necessary event documents, backing up catering documents in the system. Development of structure for ambassador program to amplify campus engagement at Chancellor-sponsored events. Development of schedule and program for engagement of staff/faculty in Athletics events. |
| Project Title: | Supporting First-Generation College Students in Career Development |
| Mentor Name: | Liz Atilano |
| Description: | Both virtual and in-person. First-generation college students often face unique challenges in navigating higher education and transitioning into the workforce. To address this issue, this project aims to identify college campuses with a significant first-generation student population (25% or higher), establish a database to track selected campuses, and compile a comprehensive list of career services tailored specifically to the needs of first-generation students. Database will contain information on college campuses with a first-generation student population of at least 25%.
Catalog of Services: Comprehensive list of career services specific to first-generation college students from the identified campuses. Summary report: Document findings and best practices. Presentation: Preparation & presentation of findings to the Student Career Center & Student Affairs leadership and staff. |
| Project Title: |
UROC Graphic Design Project on Grad School Funding |
| Mentor Name: | Alyssa Garcia & Valerie Anderson |
| Description: | Both virtual and in-person. Assist with the development and design of UROC’s Grad School Funding graphics, presentations, and SM posts and a resource webpage. The Intern will be required to research the topic of grad school funding, for general audiences and specific populations such as undocumented students, then turn their findings into digestible visuals such as an info graphics, social media posts or reels, visually appealing slides/presentation and maybe even a short YouTube video with extended info on the topic. These deliverables will be used to post on UROC’s website/social media and when hosting workshops or advising on the topic. Develop social media campaign plan on the topic of Grad School Funding. Work on Info graphics social media posts/reels and presentation slides. |
| Project Title: | Elevating Access to Nature in the Merced Vernal Pools and Grassland Reserve |
| Mentor Name: | Matthew Hutchinson |
| Description: | Both virtual and in-person. Experiencing natural ecosystems is beneficial for mental and physical health and promotes stewardship of nature. The Merced Vernal Pools and Grassland Reserve (MVPGR) is an ecosystem that many students experience through coursework and research experiences. However, most people receive little training in natural history and have difficulty knowing which plants and animals they are seeing. To promote greater access to natural history information and therefore greater benefits from MVPGR use, this project will develop user-friendly identification keys to the plants, birds, and mammals found on the MVPGR, which will be disseminated to researchers, classes, and public-tour groups. Develop mammal, burd, and plant identification keys and combine key for most common species. |
| Project Title: | Detangling the Taxonomy of Cryptic Polyporus Mushrooms in the Sierra Nevada Foothills |
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Mentor Name: |
Christopher Bivins |
| Description: | Both virtual and in-person. The mushroom genus Polyporus is poorly studied in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Recently it has been discovered that many species of Polyporus mushrooms in the Sierra foothills may be undescribed or represent a species complex. To detangle the taxonomy of these cryptic species, we aim to conduct a systematic investigation linking morphological characters to a phylogenetic analysis of multiple gene sequences from multiple Polyporus collections from the Sierra Nevada foothills. A better understanding of the genetic biodiversity of Polyporus mushrooms in the Sierra Nevada foothills. A scientific publication regarding the taxonomy of Polyporus mushrooms in the Sierras. If undescribed species are discovered, formal scientific descriptions and proposed names of new Polyporus species. |
| Project Title: | Celebration Enhancement Project |
| Mentor Name: | Enrique Guzman |
| Description: |
In-person. Seeking a skilled and detail-oriented student who will play a crucial role in organizing and executing signature spring events, such as end-of-year grad celebrations, while also assisting with data projects and other initiatives as needed. Design marketing posters, provide revision and feedback to policies, assist with major events, take pictures, and manage social media. "Help to work on signature spring events (such as end-of-year grad celebrations), helping with a data project, policy revision and feedback." Coordinate logistics for events, such as venue selection, catering, decorations, and audiovisual equipment setup. Collaborate with stakeholders to determine event objectives, themes, and budget requirements. Create and maintain event timelines, schedules, and checklists to ensure all tasks are completed on time. Manage event registration and attendee communications, including RSVP tracking and guest list management. Assist with data projects, including data collection, entry, cleaning, analysis, and reporting. Collaborate with team members to develop data-driven insights and recommendations. Support other projects and initiatives as assigned by the supervisor. |
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| Project Title: | Using Light to Converse with Neurons |
| Mentor Name: |
Ramen Saha |
| Description: | In-person. This is a hands-on project, where the scholar will work with graduate student(s) in the lab on an ongoing optogenetics project, where we are using light to trigger and tune signaling pathways in neurons. A modified channel is genetically coded in neurons, which then express the channel (channelrhodopsin or ChR2). ChR2 is activated in the presence of blue light. This project is trying to understand the biology of neuronal signaling by mimicking neuronal signaling using light-dependent tuning. An exposure to basic concepts of Neuroscience is preferred, but not necessary. Develop research experience, understanding of neuronal signaling, and optogenetic modulation of neuronal signaling |
| Project Title: |
Cultural Graduations and Celebrations |
| Mentor Name: |
Camerina Morales & Destany Charles |
| Description: |
Both virtual and in-person. Assist in coordinating two of the four Cultural Graduations and Celebrations, they can chose from Afropolitan Grad, Asian and Pacific Islander Grad, Latinx Grad, and Lavender Grad. The interns supporting this project will work on marketing, social media, and event logistics. They will be expected to attend committee meetings for each grad and are expected to be a day of event coordinator for each celebration. Help in marketing materials for Grad Fair, selection of Grad speakers, creation of day of production script, and creation of programs for event attendees. |
| Project Title: |
Temporary Academic Staffng Budget Working Groups |
| Mentor Name: |
Christiane Spitzmueller |
| Description: |
Both virtual and in-person. Two important campus working groups, consisting of faculty and administrators, are working on changing how UC Merced allocates funding for temporary academic staffing (such as graduate student teaching assistants). The project requires that campus stakeholders be kept in the loop, and be consulted regularly. The working group chairs have developed a communications plan and would be excited to work with a student on developing communication content and rolling out communications around the working groups. This will likely include the development of websites, presentations, emails, and informational materials. Students will likely develop marketing and communication skills, learn how to create effective presentations and emails, and advance their knowledge of how higher education is budgeted and delivered. Work on Gantt chart for communications plan, presentation updates, Email drafts, and website content & website. |
| Project Title: |
Southwest Asian & North African (SWANA) Initiatives |
| Mentor Name: |
Destany Charles |
| Description: |
Both virtual and in-person. Support the development of programs and initiatives to be offered in the upcoming years. Research UC participation in SWANA programs and initiatives and investigate system-wide supports for SWANA-identifying students from other UC campuses. Survey student interest in at UC Merced in receiving SWANA specific opportunities, resources, programs, and initiatives. Create & Distribute Student Survey. Summarize research findings into a report. Coordinate SWANA mixer for interested students. Develop suggestions for programs or initiatives to be offered in Fall 2024. |
| Project Title: |
Preparing Standard Operating Procedure documents for Instructional Lab equipment |
| Mentor Name: |
Neeraj Sharma |
| Description: | In-person. Undergraduate students often have very limited exposure to lab equipment. This project will give them a chance to learn the operation of various Instructional lab equipment in the School of Engineering under supervision. They will then prepare Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) documents for a set of equipment which will be used by future Users. Student will submit the draft of SOP for each assigned equipment (~1-2 equipment per week) for review. Students will incorporate the feedback after the review and prepare the final SOP document for each assigned equipment. |
| Project Title: |
Developing Framework for Integrating MakerSpace use in various courses |
| Mentor Name: | Salvador Diaz |
| Description: | In-person. There is a growing demand to incorporate MakerSpace related activities in various courses. In order to support these needs in an efficient manner, we would like to develop a framework for integrating MakerSpace with various course needs. This will include developing a framework for estimating course specific needs and matching it with available MakerSpace resources in terms of equipment time, supplies. Student will develop a document(s) to be shared with course Instructors outlining process to estimate and submit the overall scope of MakerSpace related activities. Student will develop document(s) to be shared with class students outlining the process to access MakerSpace resources, within the predefined scope in terms of available equipment time and supplies. Student will develop a process to calculate the additional resources needed to support each new course in terms of equipment, staff time, supplies, space. |
| Project Title: |
Immune Suppression by T. gondii |
| Mentor Name: |
Kirk Jensen |
| Description: |
In-person. In this project, the trainee will probe how a widespread parasite of warmblooded animals suppresses the immune system. Specifically, the researcher will investigate how NLRP3 works to suppress CD8 T cell IFNg responses Toxoplasma gondii. The investigator will learn multiple immunological techniques and will present their research in oral or poster form. The trainee will gain needed experience and guidance for graduate school applications. Learn of hypothesis testing, immune assays, oral presentation skills. Get mentoring by the PI in graudate program applications and a meaningful mentor-mentee relationship. |
| Project Title: |
Studying Student Switching Between Economics Majors |
| Mentor Name: |
Todd Sorensen |
| Description: |
Both virtual and in-person. The economics department is currently studying potential future curriculum changes. We have begun to gather some data from students, and would like to gather some data from other campuses, for internal study of how the creation of new programs may impact demand for our current programs. The student(s) would assist in analyzing this data to help better inform our department. The student(s) would gain valuable experience with data gathering, data cleaning, data visualization, and report writing. Work on at least three visualizations of data coming from surveys of current students, a short report related to these visualizations, and additional information. |
| Project Title: |
Creating Math Dance Moves |
| Mentor Name: |
Changho Kim |
| Description: |
Both virtual and in-person. Math Dance is a way of expressing a graph of a function (e.g. y = exp(x)) using your body. Several math dance moves have been created and used in the Math 024 course of Prof. Changho Kim. This project will explore 1) various options on including multimedia (e.g. beats, music, or video) to math dance moves to create cool active learning segments; 2) possible ways to get both instructors and students on board with using Math Dance in the classroom. A few example math dance videos will be created. These videos can be used to promote Math Dance to other math classes. Help in suggestion guideline on how to use Math Dance in math classes for best buy in by students. |
| Project Title: |
Documenting UC Merced Sustainability Needs |
| Mentor Name: |
Mike Dawson & Sandra Cuevas-Lezama |
| Description: |
Both virtual and in-person. The Fellow will learn about UC Merced’s sustainability goals, strategies, and commitments, and will gather and document sustainability-related needs across a breadth of the campus partners that comprise a forward-thinking, research-intensive university with a progressive educational and community mission. The Fellow will contribute to re-examining the support structure for effective sustainability action on campus, train in knowledge and skills highly pertinent to California’s commitment to a more sustainable future, and enhance their career opportunities. Skills to be developed include: - questionnaire design - interview techniques - planning, conducting, and summarizing meetings - synthesizing feedback - preparing reports Student training in knowledge and skills highly pertinent to CA’s commitment to a more sustainable future. Get an overview of perceived needs to meet the Sustainability Commitment in the 2030 Strategic Plan. Get a roadmap/guide to redesign the support structure for effective Sustainability action on campus. Enhance your career opportunities and get feedback on the fellowship experience.
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| Project Title: |
General Education Program Communications Project |
| Mentor Name: |
Jeannie Lee |
| Description: | In-person. Working with peer mentors and Undergraduate Education staff, scholars will learn web and social media design, content creation and marketing, working towards developing a year-round communication manual and plan for social media. Scholars will gain practical skills in Canva, web-editing platforms, and limited HTML and valuable communication competencies. In addition, peer mentors will consult on resume building, cover letter writing and interview tips. Develop a GE communication manual and year-round communication plan for social media. Learn canva, editing and designing presentations and flyers. Learn about webiste maintenance (editing text, adding content, images, attachments to websites). Work on communication and presentation skills (present what GE is at Bobcat Day). |
| Project Title: | Curriculum Builder - AFRO Living and Learning Community |
| Mentor Name: | Liana Williams |
| Description: | Both virtual and in-person. Afrikaans For Outreach & Retention welcomes first years and second years from all cultures within the African Diaspora. At the beginning of the academic year, students are required to choose a pathway tier that encourages networking and campus engagement in the typical professional setting. In the post-covid era, engagement within the pathway’s tiers has been challenging. In this project, the curriculum builder will help reform these pathway tiers to better meet the needs of students. The incumbent will also help develop interactive activities based on these pathways that will be implemented in the next academic year. Gather information on the current pathways and smaller data on how students are engaging within the pathways. (2022 – Current). Gather recommendations/guidelines on how to implement restructured pathways tiers. Get visual product that reflects the three trajectories of the success pathways. |
| Project Title: | Using Citizen Science Data to Understand Bird Population Dynamics |
| Mentor Name: | Malisch |
| Description: | Both virtual and in-person. The UCM Natural Reserve System is beta testing a data collection technique to determine species richness using a citzen science approach. For this project the intern may lead groups around campus or other natural areas to collect data using the Merlin App for bird song identification. The fellow will enter the data, analyze the data, produce a summary report that contains suggestions for modification to the protocol. Work on data set, summary statistics, and reports. |
| Project Title: |
Optimal transport-based deep learning for drug-drug interaction prediction |
| Mentor Name: |
Roummel Marcia |
| Description: | In-person. In this research project, we aim to explore predicting drug-drug interactions (DDIs), essential for pharmaceutical safety and efficacy. Leveraging optimal transport theory, a mathematical framework for comparing probability distributions, we integrate it with convolutional neural networks. We expect this synthesis will facilitate robust predictions of both the occurrence and types of interactions, enhancing drug development and patient care. DDIs encompass various scenarios, from additive effects amplifying therapeutic outcomes to antagonistic interactions diminishing efficacy. In this project, we will investigate improving DDI prediction by fusing optimal transport's precision with deep learning's adaptability. Work on machine learning codes and models, replicable results, and conference manuscripts. |
| Project Title: |
Holistic Approaches to First-Generation Student Success |
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Mentor Name: |
Danielle Bermudez |
| Description: |
Both virtual and in-person. The Fiat Lux Scholars Program (FLSP) is a community of scholars and dedicated staff who take a holistic approach to empower a select cohort of first-generation, income-eligible students to enhance their development, growth and academic success. Through encouragement, motivation, and engagement, the program inspires its scholars to “let their light shine” by gaining the necessary skills to ultimately obtain a degree from the University of California, Merced. For this experiential learning project, this project aims to track and analyze data on retention and graduation rates in the Fiat Lux Scholars Program. The results of this project will be used to provide recommendations on program improvement to better serve first-generation college students at UC Merced. Database: A comprehensive database on Fiat Lux scholars over the last 5 years that tracks retention and graduation rates. The project will work in collaboration with campus stakeholders to ensure data is accurate. Analysis: A brief written analysis on findings from the database. Recommendations: Practical recommendations on approaches the program can take on improving in certain areas. Recommendations can include how findings from this project can be used to better support first-generation students at UC Merced as a whole, including the holistic approach to serving Fiat Lux scholars. |
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Project Title: |
Identifying Opportunities for Campus Software Support |
| Mentor Name: |
Rachel Leigh Bellofatto |
| Description: |
Both virtual and in-person. We all use software to answer a variety of needs in our everyday lives. At UC Merced, a wide variety of software is purchased by faculty and staff to support their careers, at the individual, team, departmental, and school-level. This project aims to use data analysis to identify what software is being purchased, who needs it, and what it is used for. Ideally, the data analysis will identify candidates for purchasing campus-wide software licenses when a critical number of faculty and staff need it. Data Analysis: Use IT internal tools to compile all software purchased by the campus over the last few years, who purchased it, and what it was purchased for. Report: Compile a report that covers the goals of the data analysis, summarizes results, and provides signficant findings. Recommendations: Recommend to IT leadership software that should be purchased at a campus level to support the needs of faculty and staff. |
| Project Title: |
UC Merced to Yosemite Road Trip Story Board |
| Mentor Name: |
Malisch |
| Description: |
Both virtual and in-person. This project aims to produce a document (print or digital) that will help prepare students for a ¿field curious? weekend trip to Yosemite. The final project will include significant points of interest along the path from UCM to Yosemite Valley to Wawona and the return to UCM. This project could also serve as a self-guided tour for UCM students wishing to explore Yosemite and the lands between UCM and Yosemite National Park. Create list of significant points of interest, map of the route, and final project document. |
| Project Title: |
Engineering Major and GE Requirements |
| Mentor Name: |
Christina Mayo |
| Description: |
Both virtual and in-person. For Catalog 2023-2024 a spread sheet/chart that lists courses that fulfill Engineering Major and GE requirements and listing courses that have been offered within the last 2 years. This could be made available to students for course planning and degree completion. Create spread Sheet in Excell/Google Doc listed on a website for internal and external use. Create a Policy and Procedure guide for internal use. Reduce students taking additional coursework that is not major or GE applicable, to reduce time to degree. Students having a better understanding of their degree requirements. |
