Jordan Agricultural Research Center: Research Showcase. Come see what's happening inside the JARC from 9:30-11:30 a.m. Students, staff and faculty will be displaying their research. Learn about what goes on in JARC, connect with researchers, and see how JARC can be a resource to you. Topics include:

Hyperspectral imaging in grapevines
Groundwater quality and contamination
High-protein ice cream
Feasibility and production of whey beer
Nutrition studies
Salinity tolerance of crops
Please RSVP to Geoff Dervishian at gdervishian@csufresno.edu

Michele K. Nishiguchi, Ph.D., Department of Cell and Molecular Biology
University of California, Merced

The mutualistic association between sepiolid squids (Mollusca: Cephalopoda) and their Vibrio symbionts is an experimentally tractable model to study the evolution of animal-bacterial associations through both wild-caught and experimentally evolved populations. Since Vibrio bacteria are environmentally transmitted to new hosts with every generation, it provides a unique opportunity to resolve how changing environmental conditions may effect bacterial infection, colonization, and persistence in different host species.

Vibrio bacteria encounter potentially conflicting selective pressures, competing with one another to colonize the sepiolid light organ, but also vying for resources in the environment outside the squid. Both abiotic and biotic factors contribute to the fitness of individual strains of Vibrio bacteria, but which of these factors are amenable to adaptation and eventually lead to a successful beneficial association has yet to be elucidated.

This seminar will cover how environmental conditions and host specificity lead to the development of symbiotically adapted Vibrio bacteria, generating new ideas on the evolution of beneficial associations. 

Dr. Brian J. O’Roak is a Professor in Molecular & Medical Genetics at Oregon Health & Science University (aka OHSU) in Portland, Oregon. He grew up in Madera County and was an inaugural member of the Smittcamp Family Honors College. While at Fresno State, he conducted research in the Biology Department with Dr. Alejandro Calderon-Urrea and gained guidance on pursuing graduated studies through the McNair program. Join Dr. O'Roak for his presentation:

Typ0s in the code of life: Gaining biological insights from new mutations in autism and SARS-CoV-2 

Every time an organism copies its genetic material there’s the opportunity for errors to occur. Most of the time these mutations to the genome have minimal to no consequence. However, the right mutation, in the right place, and at the right time can lead to genetic disorders. Dr. O’Roak has spent his career developing and implementing new technologies that allow for the discovery and characterization of new mutations. His talk will focus on how new mutations have been pivotal to unlocking risk genes for autism and related neurodevelopmental conditions, how we can use massively parallel approaches to model the impact of any mutation and its clinical relevance, and finally how the rapid accumulation of new mutations allowed the tracking of early introductions and spread of the COVID-19 virus.

Dr. O’Roak has published over 50 articles in peer reviewed journals, including Science and Nature. Both his work on autism and SARS-CoV-2 has been featured in stories from the New York Times. He has received a number of early career awards and fellowships, including: the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellowship in Neuroscience; the NIMH Biobehavioral Research Awards for Innovative New Scientists (NIMH BRAINS), the NARSAD Young Investigator Award from the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation; the Young Investigator Award from International Society of Autism Research; and the Klingenstein-Simons Fellowship in Neurosciences. 

The 46th Annual Central California Research Symposium (CCRS) will be held at the Resnick Student Union from 8 a.m - 4:30 p.m., featuring presentations in the following formats: 12-minute oral presentation, and poster presentation. The event showcases the diverse range of impressive research projects and provides opportunities for students to share their research and develop presentation skills. We're looking forward to welcoming over 250 presenters to this year's event, which is being held in the new Resnick Student Union. 

Political science faculty Dr. Naomi Bick and Dr. Josephine Hazelton-Boyle will host a presentation about the U.S. federal bureaucracy 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 23, in the Library, Room 2206.

The free event is open to the public and will explore the federal government’s structure and recent changes, as well as its relationship with the president and Congress.

The discussion will also discuss common misconceptions of bureaucracy, rulemaking and regulatory processes, and the rise of privatization and contracting out of services.

Bick specializes in American government topics, including federalism, public and environmental policy, and urban and women’s politics. Her current research also explores municipal climate change governance and uses a mixed methods approach.

Hazelton-Boyle owns areas of expertise and research on public administration and policy, transportation, social equity, the intersectionality and feminist theories, ethics and urban affairs. Her research also focuses on the political interference of bureaucratic expertise, gender equity in public transit systems such as the California High Speed Rail, and the politicization of public libraries.

The event is part of a weekly series through May featuring faculty from the College of Social Sciences.

Dr. Edgar Perez-Lopez, Plasma Product Manager, Muegge Gerling Engineering

Dr. Edgar Perez-Lopez is a dedicated researcher, educator, and plasma technology specialist with a strong commitment to advancing both industrial applications and engineering education. As a Plasma Product Manager, he leads the development and engineering of plasma-based systems while conducting market research to identify industries that would benefit from industrial microwave plasma technology. Lunch will be provided. Presentation will be held in the Industrial Technology (IT) building, Room 160.

Fresno State Speed Networking: We are excited to invite you to our upcoming Faculty Research Speed Networking event! This event is a fantastic opportunity to connect with fellow researchers, exchange ideas, and explore potential collaborations in a dynamic and engaging format.

Please RSVP through this form and share any relevant information to ensure a smooth and productive networking experience. We look forward to seeing you there and fostering new opportunities for collaboration! Location: Library Auditorium, Room 2206.

Each year, the Fresno State Library honors Outstanding Faculty Publications, the bold contributions to research, scholarship, and creative work made by the Fresno State faculty. Join us as we wrap up Research Week with a celebration of Fresno State faculty’s contributions as scholars and researchers. The reception will be at 3 p.m., with a short program at 3:30 p.m., and the exhibit will be in the Ellipse balcony from April 8-29. See Information for Faculty on the library’s website for more resources related to research and scholarship.

We invite you to gather, explore and learn about the field of data science, by attending any part or all of the sessions at Fresno State's first Data Science Day. 

Data Science Day promotes the field of statistics and data science, and features invited speakers and a careers panel with data science professionals in industry, government and academia, hands-on RStudio and Python workshops led by faculty experts (great way to prepare for DataFest!), and a student poster session to showcase data-related projects that students are working on across campus!

This event will be a great opportunity for students to learn and network with data science faculty, community members and industry professionals! Here's a brief summary of the schedule:

11:00 - 12:30 (S2 107-108) R and Python Workshops.
1:00 - 2:30 (S2 109) Welcome and Keynote Presentations.
2:30 - 3:30 (S2 109) Careers Panel.
3:30 - 4:30 (S2 Rotunda) Student Poster Session, Food and Networking hour.

More information on each session can be found online.

Where: Science II building
When: Friday, April 25 (4 p.m.) through Sunday, April 27 

We invite you to join an immersive data analysis and community building experience called DataFest.

In short, DataFest is a weekend-long data analysis challenge where teams of students have less than 48 hours to analyze and extract meaning from a large and complex dataset provided by a secret sponsor. The sponsoring organization and dataset are only revealed once the competition begins. Mentors will be available throughout the weekend to help guide teams. At the end, teams have 5 minutes to present their findings to a panel of judges who determine winners based on various categories!

DataFest is free and open to any college student (undergraduate or masters) of any major and any level of data analysis experience! At DataFest, students get a chance to get creative with data, mingle with data analysis professionals from industry and academia, and compete for awards and glory! Plus, there will be food and snacks throughout the weekend! The competition is open to students only, but interested faculty and guests are welcome to participate as a mentor. All interested students and mentors can click here to pre-register. 

Friday, 4:00pm (S2 109) Check-in and on-site registration.
Friday, 5:00pm (S2 109) Data Reveal and Challenge Kickoff.
Sunday, 11:00am (S2 109) Final presentations begin.
See website for full weekend schedule.

More details, including a complete schedule, rules and on-site registration, can be found online.

Dr. Richard Sayre was a cofounder and chief scientific officer of several startup biotechnology companies with business operations ranging from the production of oral vaccines to biofuels and human drug delivery technologies. In 2016, Dr. Sayre co-founded Pebble Labs and served as its chief scientific officer. Pebble Labs focused on the delivery of RNA interference molecules to pathogens via endosymbiotic bacteria. In 2017, he cofounded Trait Biosciences also serving as its Chief Scientific Officer. Trait developed the first stable water-soluble cannabinoids and was one of the first groups to genetically transform cannabis. Dr. Sayre is currently the chief scientific officer at Mercury Bio, which has developed targeted RNA therapeutics based on yeast extracellular vesicles for the control of viral diseases, and genetic and metabolic disorders in humans.

The California State University Student Research Competition is an annual event that brings together scholars from the 23 campuses of our California State University system.

Congratulations to the following students who will be representing Fresno State:

Ashley Ratcliff-Winn, Psychology (Faculty Mentor: Lauren Dial)
Mario Yanez, Business Admin (Stephen Choi)
Daniella Garcia, Agriculture Ed (Sam Rodriguez)
Danielle Vu, Sociology (Christopher Sullivan)
Jessica Perez, Biology (Martin Shapiro)

The competition showcases undergraduate and graduate research, scholarship, and creative works by recognizing outstanding student accomplishments across the 23 campuses.