The library has announced the 12 winners of this year’s CSUSM University Library Award for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity. The undergraduates came from 11 disciplines and each won $600 and public recognition for their winning submissions.

“The quality and variety of submissions was remarkable, particularly in light of the challenges of the last year. The 12 award winners truly represent CSUSM’s academic excellence and prove our students’ resilience,” said the Library Dean, Jennifer Fabbi, in an email statement to The Cougar Chronicle.

To learn more about the University Library Award for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity, visit https://libguides.csusm.edu/libaward/.

Below are this year’s 12 winners.

Krystal Alvarez-Hernandez, Psychological Science, “Depression and Anxiety in Mexican Mothers Living in California Before and During COVID-19”

Jordan Gaeta, Child and Adolescent Development, “Social Skills Interventions for Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder: An Analysis of Strengths and Weaknesses”

Julia Glorioso, Political Science, “The Routine”

Robert Marks III, Communications, “King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail: Its Merit Through Dramatism”

Michael McDermott, Computer Science, “ESAC: An Energetic Sustainable Adaptive Clustering Protocol for Heterogenous Wireless Ad Hoc Networks (HANETs)”

Sara Anne Mitchell, Social Science, “From Novel to Film: Landscape and Jane Austen”

Anay Ochoa, Biological Sciences, “Effects of Egg Mass, Hatchling Size, and Clutch on Body Masses and Lengths of Female American Alligators (Alligator Mississippians)”

Kara Nazaroff, Sociology, “The World I Knew Collapsed”: A Qualitative Study of Life After Leaving a Highly Controlled Religion”

Ariana Null, Media Studies, “The Hobbit’s Embrace of Diverse Men”

David Reis, Environmental Studies with Geography Minor, “Evaluating the Impact of Native Vegetation Disturbance on Fire Risk in San Diego County”

Melissa Reyes, Environmental Studies, “Social Justice Through Sustainability: Acknowledging Students of Environmentally Discriminated Areas Through Sustainable Efforts on Campus”

Carly Slack, Business Management, “It’s Always About People: How a Crew Mentality Can Serve as a Model for Short-term Faculty-led Study Abroad Programs”