It may have been brought to the United States from Europe in the 1860s for its flavor, but garlic mustard, a member of the Brassicaceae plant family, is now an invasive species in the forests of North America that is negatively impacting native flora and fauna. To help discover ways to eradicate the intrusive plant, California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) biology student Karina Martinez spent the first 11 weeks of her summer in Harvard Forest, a 4,000-acre ecological research site and outdoor laboratory that has been administered by Harvard University since 1988. Her research focused on if the “Eurasian invasive duo,” garlic mustard and exotic earthworms, work in tandem to ... Read More
Biology
Alexandra Gutierrez Spends Summer Seeking Early-Earth Microbes
Unlike most undergraduate students who go to the Colorado River during the summer to camp or enjoy whitewater rafting, Alexandra Gutierrez, a biology major at California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH), spent much of that time processing soil samples harvested in the shallows of the river in search of Archaea microorganisms. Funded by Cal Poly San Luis Obispo's Robert Noyce Scholars and the STEM Teacher and Research (STAR) programs, Gutierrez–an avid environmentalist–was tasked with searching for more diverse families of the microbe during her internship at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), along with working on campus at Stanford in the Green Earth Sciences ... Read More
California colleges transform remedial courses to raise graduation rates
Before Aida Tseggai could major in biology at Cal State Dominguez Hills, she had to catch up in math. She passed a non-credit remedial math class in the fall and then was offered a new pathway - a for-credit course in college-level algebra that provided extra class time, tutoring and review of more fundamental material. Such combination classes - known as co-requisites, bridges or hybrids - are seen as a crucial tool to help hundreds of thousands of CSU students climb out of the remedial education hole in which some feel trapped. Part of a national reform movement, such courses also are aimed at helping students graduate faster. “It saved me time and money,” said Tseggai. Nervous ... Read More
CSUDH Biology Students Wrap Up Biodiversity Research in Australia
Alexandra Gutierrez didn't think twice before giving up her apartment in Wilmington to travel to “beautiful” Australia. After all, how could the California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) biology student resist trudging through rain and mud, and climbing steep hills in the summer heat to study ants. Gutierrez, along with fellow CSUDH biology students Maria Salazar and Jacky Silva, worked full time in Australia on climate change science and biodiversity research as participants in the National Science Foundation's (NSF) International Research Experiences for Students (IRES) program. Funded by a $249,922 NSF grant that was awarded to CSUDH associate professor of biology Terry ... Read More
Class of 2015: a sampling of top graduates share goals, plans for the future
California State University, Dominguez Hills' graduating Class of 2015 has a lot to offer. This is just a sample of the close to 4,000 graduates who will become the next generation of scientists, researchers, artists, experts and leaders in the workforce. Cassandra Maddux, B.S., biochemistry, magna cum laude Scholarships, accolades and associations: Minority Biomedical Research Support program (MBRS-RISE); Phi Kappa Phi honors society; Undergraduate Toxicology Education Travel Award at the 2014 Annual Meeting of the Society of Toxicology; and took a second place prize during the 2015 CSUDH Student Research Day. Maddux has been offered fully funded five-year scholarships in several ... Read More
