Bailey College Student Research Conference Turns 23

A student presents research at a recent Bailey College Student Research Conference event. Photo by Joe Johnston. 

May 2025 / NEWS STORY
by By Nick Wilson

For more than two decades, the Student Research Conference hosted by the (Bailey) College of Science and Mathematics has served to showcase the informative and impactful scholarly studies of students in a wide range of disciplines – demonstrating Learn by Doing, innovation, imagination and scientific methodology.

The ongoing tradition continues with the May 15-16 event held in Baker Center, marking the college’s 23rd Student Research Conference in its history. The 2025 event includes 385 student speakers and 114 faculty advisors.

Filled with posters and presentations, students display and discuss their work, as well as gain valuable mentorship from experienced alumni.

This year’s research topics included assessment of microplastics in the Morro Bay estuary, possible disparities in occurrence of long COVID-19 across ethnic groups, mathematical modeling to help treat a form of leukemia, the effect of low water intake on blood glucose measured with a continuous glucose monitor and measuring curiosity among introductory statistics students.

Dean Wendt, Bailey College’s dean, who recently was appointed to a dual administrative role leading the Cal Poly Division of Research, said that opportunities for scholarly study are extremely beneficial to the university’s Learn by Doing model, and prevalent at Cal Poly.

“Science is a deeply innovative and creative process, and our students are actively engaged in research as a powerful tool for Learn by Doing,” Wendt said. “We have wonderful teaching labs, active classrooms and impactful scholarship that students can participate in.”

Attendees glean insights into the world of research through poster sessions, presentations, and conversations. Student researchers describe their work, discuss learning experiences and address questions. Research methodologies, discoveries and challenges are shared in the conversations around the pursuit of new knowledge.

Attendees of a recent conference gather for poster session presentations.
Photo by Joe Johnston.

Statistics major Donya Behroozi collaborated with stastistics faculty members Julia Schedler and Sinem Demirci to study sonification, which involves making use of sound to represent data. 

“For a while, I felt lost as to what I was going to do with my degree as there are many avenues to choose from with a statistics degree,” said Donya Behroozi, a fourth-year statistics major. “After being involved not just in this project, but also in research in general for two years now, I've finally found my purpose.”

The team explored ways of matching data with sound, even investigating whether listening to sonified data can elicit an emotional response from listeners the same way music does. “An upbeat pop song might make someone feel happy, while another person could listen to an angry heavy metal song to get their frustrations out,” Behroozi said.

Behroozi added: “I had such an amazing time working on this project with Dr. Demirci and Dr. Schedler. It was quite daunting at first to be the only student researcher on a project where the subject wasn't even one that I've heard of before. But I really learned so much from my professors and the experience itself. I was not only able to expand my statistical knowledge, but also learned much more about music.”

Behroozi said a takeaway from dedicated research includes understanding that mistakes may happen along the way when doing a pilot study of a research project. And that can be a valuable part of the process.

“I think I was really hard on myself for not doing everything correctly or perfectly at every step of the project,” Behroozi said. “But I’ve learned that making mistakes, noting them, and learning from them are much more important than trying to achieve perfection.”

Another Cal Poly student researcher, Shira Hirschel, a sports and recreation management major, worked with kinesiology faculty mentor Jafra Thomas focusing on the analysis of how advertising and media more generally shape and reinforce gender roles, and how it manifests in sports culture, as well as how deviations from expected gender roles lead to ostracization, bullying, and harassment.

Hirshel descriptively analyzed a documentary, “The Codes of Gender” by Sut Jhally, a professor of communications at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a published research study, “The Penalty that’s Never Called: Sexism in Men’s Hockey Culture” by co-authors Teresa Fowler, Shannon D.M. Moore and Tim Skuce.

“Some of the most valuable lessons I learned while working on this project were receiving and implementing feedback concisely while keeping my voice in my writing,” Hirschel said. “I also have a better understanding of the research process, which will help me with any possible future research and other projects I may have either academically or professionally.”

 

Alumni mentors meet with students each year to offer insights into careers and industries. Photo by Alexis Kovacevic