Titan Grad Slam 2023
Participants
CSUF 1st Place & CSU Finalist: Ainaria Johnson
WHAT WOULD THEY WANT TO SAY IF THEY COULD? USING AIDED LANGUAGE INPUT TO INCREASE THE EXPRESSIVE COMMUNICATION OF A PRE-SYMBOLIC PRESCHOOL CHILD WITH DOWN SYNDROME
I am a master's candidate in the school of Education with an emphasis in Special Education, graduating in spring 2023. I am a scholar in the Project ABC grant, which supported me for tuition, books, and conferences for my credential and master’s programs. I won Teacher of the Year at my school in Capistrano Unified in 2022, I was selected as the commencement speaker for credential candidates in 2021 and the college of education in 2023, and the department of Special Education’s Carr Fellow nominee. I guest lectured at CSUF’s College of Education’s SchoolsFirst FCU Center for Creativity and Critical Thinking and am a research fellow with Dr. Larios and Dr. Lozano in their CSU HSI Grant Project: “Increasing Family Engagement Through Innovative Practices”. I presented at the 2023 Cal-Tash Conference with Dr. Awni and at the 2023 California Speech Language Hearing Association conference with Dr. Seung in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders. My master's project focuses on augmentative and alternative communication and aided language input and the effects it has on the expressive communication on children with Down syndrome. I plan to continue teaching young learners and want to teach pre-service teachers while pursuing my doctorate.
CSUF 2nd Place: Brandon Quintana
Friend or Foe? Effect of Eelgrass on Biomass and Condition Index in a Multi-habit Living Shoreline
Brandon Quintana is currently a master’s student in the Biological Science department at California State University, Fullerton. Brandon graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara majoring in Environmental Studies and a Ronald E. McNair Alumni. He aims to bring light to environmental justice issues faced by marginalized communities and make academia a more inclusive environment. Additionally, he wants to support queer scientists and advocate for community in a conference setting as Western Society of Naturalists Student Committee Co-Chair and Ecological Society of America Environmental Justice Section Co-Chair. For his thesis, he is studying how ecosystem services and the health of filter feeders are responding to environmental factors like sedimentation and eelgrass in a living shoreline setting. His work is supported by the National Geographic Society’s Level 1 Grant and the California Sea Grant Graduate Research Fellowship. The goal of his research is to use the results of the study to inform restoration management and better protect coastal communities while increasing habitat and biodiversity. Overall, he plans to use his coastal restoration work and incorporate education, environmental justice, and policy to advocate for low-income communities on environmental injustice issues they are facing while concurrently preserving natural and human landscapes.
CSUF 3rd Place: Diana Lopez
A Manual for Best Training Practices Around the Menstrual Cycle
Hello, my name is Diana Lopez, and I’m a second-year graduate student in the Department of Kinesiology. I have been in the fitness industry for six years and have enjoyed spreading my passion for improving exercise and overall health. As a personal trainer and group fitness instructor, I believe fitness is not a one-size-fits-all. I enjoy helping people find the routine that best suits their lifestyle because exercise is not a trend; it’s a lifelong experience. My experience with fitness started as a young girl playing multiple sports. As a freshman in college, I began competing in powerlifting and bodybuilding and learning mixed martial arts. However, as I’ve grown older and learned more through my education and personal experiences, exercise can impact more than physical health. As training becomes a part of your life, you become disciplined, improve your mood, increase your energy, and form friendships with those on the same journey. Exercise has taught me I am strong and capable of handling adversity. Exercise has improved my confidence and self-esteem. Without exercise, I wouldn’t be the person I am today.
Rosemary (Rosie) Guillen
Roid Rage: An Evaluation on Coping Strategies for Pediatric Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Parents
Rosemary Guillen is a mother of two children, ages 15 and 13. She received her Bachelor of Science in Community Health at CSU Dominguez Hills in 2016. She participated in the Ronald E. McNair and Sally Casanova Scholars Programs during her undergraduate education. She is currently in her final semester as a Master of Public Health (MPH) graduate student at CSU Fullerton. Her graduate research focuses on proper coping strategies for parents of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) children undergoing intense steroid chemotherapy. Rosemary’s daughter was diagnosed with ALL at the tender age of 7, then again at age 10. She experienced, firsthand, what limited resources about steroid chemotherapy treatments were available for parents and primary caregivers, particularly on the medications’ traumatic side effects. Therefore, Rosemary designed an informative educational pamphlet on pediatric ALL steroid side effects and effective coping strategies for future ALL parents in hospital and health clinic settings.
Steven Mendoza
Fossil Based Restoration Plan of the La Brea Tar Pits
Steven Mendoza is a California native; he grew up hiking local foothills and swimming in chilly ocean waters. Steven graduated from U.C. Santa Barbara with a B.A. in Biological Anthropology and is working on his M.S. degree in Environmental Studies at California State University Fullerton. He has worked in various fields ranging from environmental tourism at Pacific Islands Club Guam to museum education at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. In his spare time, you can catch him exploring the outdoors, going for a surf, or sitting outside drinking coffee and watching his tortoises roam.
Christopher Bondoc
“It’s not ever going to work, so why would I even try”: Black and Latino youths’ perspectives on behavioral health treatment engagement during reentry after incarceration
Christopher Bondoc (he/him) is a first-year graduate student in the Master of Social Work (MSW) program at California State University, Fullerton (CSUF). He graduated with a psychology degree from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) after transferring from Fullerton College. Since then, Christopher has worked in various settings, including community mental health and community-partnered research. With over 4 years of clinical experience, he most recently supported justice-involved youth in Orange County as part of Waymakers OC. In addition to his clinical work, Christopher also has 5 years of research experience, focused mainly on addressing mental health disparities in marginalized youth. He currently works as a study coordinator for the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, where his current research focuses on the health and social needs of justice-involved adolescents and young adults undergoing community reentry after incarceration. At CSUF, he is involved in his community and serves as one of the cohort representatives for the Master of Social Work Association (MSWA). Christopher is passionate about redressing mental health disparities among marginalized youth in underserved communities. He ultimately hopes to use his education to make mental healthcare more potent, accessible, and scalable for vulnerable youth and families.
Jessica Duron
Nanomaterials pave the way for the next computing generation
Jessica Duron is a chemistry graduate student, with a concentration in physical chemistry. She obtained 2 bachelor of science degrees in physics and chemistry from Cal State Fullerton. Upon graduation she plans to continue her passion for science and medicine by pursuing an MD-PhD.
Remus Mitchell
The Learning Disabilities Belief Scale: Development and Pilot Validation
Remus Mitchell (they/them) is a second-year graduate student in the Experimental Psychology Master of Arts program at CSU Fullerton. Once they graduate this spring, they will be moving on to earn their Ph.D.. in Quantitative Psychology from UC Los Angeles. Remus hopes to continue researching the statistical techniques commonly used in the social sciences and to eventually develop tools to aid social science researchers in their analyses. Their ultimate career goal is to become a professor and to provide psychology students with a thorough quantitative education.
