Expected to break all previous records of attendance and number of research presentations the 18th annual Southern California Conference of Undergraduate Research (SCCUR) will be held at Pepperdine for the first time ever Nov. 20. Many of our own undergraduate students are participating in SCCUR and Pepperdine will also be hosting a wide range of domestic and international students with an estimated 1000 undergraduate students from 80 different schools expected to participate.
There will be more than 250 oral presentations and 330 poster presentations including visual arts displays. These presentations aren’t strictly in oral and poster form but there will be art exhibits musical performances dance numbers and poetry readings. This one-day event welcomes and encourages all peoples to come and support the hard work the undergraduate students have put into their wide-ranging research.
Many of Pepperdine’s undergraduate students have been anticipating their participation in SCCUR which was first held at the California Institute of Technology in 1993 and became the first multidisciplinary undergraduate research conference in the area. These students come from a variety of areas including chemistry biology communication English literature religion history mathematics political science psychology and art.
Three senior psychology students Jenny Hinzdel Deborah Galindo and Casey Simon have been anxiously awaiting the opportunity to present their group research at SCCUR. Their interest in research was sparked by their class research project for Dr. Lisa Bauer’s research methods course last fall.
“We took research methods fall of last year and everyone had to come up with their own study. We decided that we wanted to continue the study outside of class and try to get it published said Galindo of their study, titled Trauma Family Illness and Religiosity.”
“We wanted to look at trauma in undergraduate students and find how it affects them. Specifically we focused on religiosity and how it plays a role in coping with trauma Hinzdel described with enthusiasm.
Most of their research was conducted through questionnaires that were given to the participants. By the end, they put together 11 different questionnaires. They were surprised by the outcomes.
We found quite a few significant correlations including that trauma affects depression Hindzel explained, We also wanted to see if religiosity was a moderator for the effects of trauma.”
From applying to receive funding to finding time to meet between three busy schedules and the process of approval from the Institutional Review Board (IRB) this past year had some moments of uncertainty but they were able to overcome these obstacles together.
“Because we had so many questionnaires we had to receive funding from the AYURI Pepperdine committee which we never expected to have to do Galindo said. Also we had to get permission from the original authors of the surveys to use them for our own research. At first it was hard to contact them but we heard back from most of them and they gave us permission.”
The biggest obstacle for them was obtaining IRB approval a required processto ensure the research they wanted to conduct was ethical. But Hinzdel said learning to overcome these obstacles taught them a great deal about the road one has to take in conducting such research.
“I’ve developed an appreciation for people who have made research their lives. You have to be really excited about it or it will fall flat Hinzdel explained.
If we weren’t really excited about our research it probably wouldn’t have been done because we really had to stick with it Galindo explained. You have to be really passionate about it.”
With the help of Bauer’s mentorship they were able to put the finishing touches on their research and prepare for this weekend’s SCCUR. After the conference they are planning to submit their research to undergraduate journals to try to get it published.
Along with these three Psychology majors another undergraduate student majoring in Biology also hopes to see her research published someday.
Senior Caitlin Ishibashi has been conducting research since the summer of 2009. This year’s SCCUR is not the first time she is participating in this conference. Ishibashi had the chance to present her research at last year’s SCCUR which took place at California State University Dominguez Hills.
With the encouragement from Natural Science Division professors and mentors Dr. Stephen Davis and Dr. Rodney Honeycutt she was driven to take part in undergraduate research. Over the past three years her research has been presented not only at last year’s SCCUR but also at an international conference for ecology and it has grown into her honors thesis that she is hoping to complete this April. Ishibashi explains her specific research topic.
“I’m assessing genetic variation in native plant populations (chaparral) throughout the Santa Monica Mountains. I’m searching to see how similar or different a single species is at the genetic level across a wide span (think mountainsides).”
Ishibashi explains that Pepperdine’s location was a major influence on her specific research topic and also notes that mentorsDavis and Honeycutt played a huge role in the development.
“I was initially interested in the native plants surrounding Pepperdine’s campus specifically at a population level. I realized that using genetics I could examine them to determine how similar or different they were.” Ishibashi explained. “Also importantly Dr. Davis and Dr. Honeycutt were invaluable in helping me refine and develop my specific topic.”
Already experienced with SCCUR Ishibashi is more than prepared and eager for presentation of her further developed research. While this will be a first for Galindo Hinzdel and Simon it seems as if they are just as prepared and excited to present.
This Saturday’s Southern California Conference of Undergraduate Research will be a first for Pepperdine. Not only will attending this conference help break previous SCCUR records it will show support and appreciation for the hard work and determination our very own students have put into their research.