2024-25 Teacher-Scholar Mini Grant Awardees

Cal Poly’s Division of Research awarded 30 projects for the 2024-25 cycle of the Teacher-Scholar Mini Grant (TSMG) program.  

The TSMG has been developed to support our institutional commitment to advancing discovery, integration, application, and engagement in the context of teaching and learning. With support from the Office of the Provost, the Teacher-Scholar Mini Grant Program expands internal funding to support all areas of teacher-scholar activities. 

The 2024-25 awarded projects are:

• "Investigating and Documenting the History of Public Health Education: Lessons Learned in Health Equity"; Julia Alber (BCSM- Kinesiology and Public Health).
• "Fostering Ecological Consciousness and Environmental Stewardship: A Green Redesign of the First-Year German Language and Culture Curriculum at Cal Poly"; Christian Anderson (CLA- World Languages and Cultures).
• "YES Short Film Festival Participation"; Randi Barros (CLA- Interdisciplinary Studies in Liberal Arts).
• "Developing the Audio Description Lab"; Lauren Beck (CLA- Interdisciplinary Studies in Liberal Arts).
• "Making Brain Waves II: EEG Training and Professional Development for Undergraduates"; James Antony (CLA- Psychology & Child Development) and Kelly Bennion (CLA- Psychology & Child Development).
• "Evaluating the Effectiveness of Problem Based Learning in Food Science Courses"; Luis Castro (CAFES- Food Science & Nutrition).
• "Rock the Podcast: Making High-End Podcasts for the Virtual Classroom"; Lisa Coffman (CLA- English).
• "Qualitative Analysis and Translation to Practice of Student Interviews on Reproductive Access"; Christine Hackman (BCSM- Kinesiology & Public Health); Joni Roberts (BCSM- Kinesiology & Public Health); Kara Samaniego (CLA- Communication Studies).
• "Mapping Communities, Mapping Change: Latina Testimonio Initiative"; Marion Hart (CLA- World Languages and Cultures); Victoria Zamora (CLA- Commuication Studies).
• "Development of Supramolecular Contrast Agents for Xe-129 MRI"; Carson Hasselbrink (BCSM- Chemistry & Biochemistry) .
• "Integration of a Blood Vessel Network into a Human Tumor-on-a-chip"; Christopher Heylman (CENG- Biomedical Engineering).
• "Developing and Implementing an Energy Storage Lab for Student Learning and Research"; Seamus Jones (CENG- Materials Engineering).
• "Lived-Experiences of Parenting & Adversity in the United States: A Teacher-Scholar Model Discovery & Translation Book Project"; Martine Lappe (CLA- Social Sciences).
• "Kenyan Perceptions of a Population-Based Threat to Agriculture"; Sara Lopus (CLA- Social Sciences).
• "Effect of Fat and Sugar in the Pathogenesis of Pediatric Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease"; Rodrigo Manjarin (CAFES- Animal Science).
• "Expanding the Capabilities of Cell-Free Expression to Produce Therapeutic Proteins."; Javin Oza (BCSM- Chemistry & Biochemistry).
• "Trauma-Informed Computing & Security (TICS)"; Kylie Parrotta (CLA- Social Sciences); Phoenix Fang (CENG- Computer Science & Software Engineering).
• "Poly Writing: Bringing Mixed Approaches to First-Year Composition"; Jason Peters (CLA-English); Valanci Villa (CLA- English).
• "Applying Soil Micromorphology to Assess the Impacts of Compost Application on Soil Health-Related Microfeatures in a Coastal California Rangeland Soil"; Gordon Rees (CAFES- Natural Resources Management & Environmental Sciences).
• "Fostering Neurodivergent Student Success: Using a Participatory Action Research Approach to Engage Students in the Development of More Inclusive, Accessible, and Engaging Library Instruction and Services"; Mercedes Rutherford-Patten (Robert E. Kennedy Library).
• "Writing as Creative Praxis: An Innovative Approach to Creative Problem-Solving in Engineering Courses"; Krista Sarraf (CLA- English); Rebekah Oulton (CENG- Civil & Environmental Engineering).
• "Climate Curriculum Convergence: Creating a Unified Resource for Interdisciplinary Climate Education"; Vidya Schalk (BCSM- Chemistry & Biochemistry).
• "The Effect of Low Water Intake on Blood Glucose Measured with a Continuous Glucose Monitor"; Adam Seal (BCSM- Kinesiology & Public Health).
• "Inflammation in Periparturient Dairy Cows: A Double-Edged Sword?"; David Vagnoni (CAFES- Animal Science); Karen Vagnoni (CAFES- Animal Science).
• "The Impact of Maternal Smartphone Use on Infant Social and Emotional Development Across Early Infancy: From Momentary Processes to Developmental Consequences"; Alison Ventura (BCSM- Kinesiology & Public Health).
• "Hidden Extremes: An Unprecedented View into Subsurface Marine Heatwaves in a Nearshore Upwelling System"; Ryan Walter (BCSM- Physics).
• "Sequential Dual Stimuli Responsive Hydrogel for Agrochemical Release"; Sandra Ward (BCSM- Chemistry & Biochemistry).
• "Beyond Beauty: The Effect of Benefactor Attractiveness on Authenticity Perception and Observer Donations"; Miranda Yin (OCOB- Marketing).
• "The Econometrics of Inequality-Sensitive Treatment Effect Estimation"; Eduardo Zambrano (OCOB- Economics).
• "From Dairy to Design (DtoD): Empowering EIM and GrC Students Through Interdisciplinary and Community Engaged Co-Curricular Project"; Pei Zhang (CAFES- Experience Industry Management); Rachel Ma (CLA- Graphic Communications)