About 100 students moved between rooms to learn more about the many branches of STEM research presented on Wednesday as part of the Undergraduate Research Week at Cuesta College.
The research week is returning to Cuesta for a second time this year, with research presented by Cuesta students and faculty conducted since the summer of 2025. The research showcase also acted as a STEM Mixer event, with many coming by to interact with the present STEM students to discuss the results presented.
The showcase was the result of a collaboration between the Cuesta MESA (Math, Engineering, Science, Achievement) program and Biology department professor Laurie McConnico. “We started talking and meeting for this project in January.” McConnico said, “We knew what we needed to get ready and how to coordinate, based on what we learned from last year.”
Cuesta’s research was funded by a research initiative grant from the National Science Foundation. The research presented to the students was either conducted entirely on the Cuesta campus, such as the chemical research led by Professor Kelli Gottlieb, or in the surrounding area, such as the Morro Bay watershed research led by McConnico.
The sentiment was shared by faculty as well, as Professor Devon Bradley mirrored: “I am so impressed by the amount of research – quite a bit of it I wasn’t even aware was happening.”
Sara Sanchez, director of the MESA program at Cuesta, was happy to highlight that this research was supported by the collaboration between MESA and its sister program, SACNAS (Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics & Native Americans in Science)
facilitates with the STEM department.“Interest in stem starts by just showing up, and this is a a great way to connect students with instructors, and they can easily start getting involved in research from there, so it made sense to collaborate with McConnico and her groups for this project,” Sanchez said. “And I always encourage people to apply to MESA, because even if you get rejected, we can point you to where you should go.”
While the poster session had to be moved from the physical science courtyard to the 5401 conference room near the cafeteria due to inclement weather, the turnout was still considered a success. The momentum for continuing and expanding the mixer in the coming years is something that Sanchez wants to harness. “I hope we can expand this into a multi-day symposium, to give more depth to fields and perhaps expand the audience reach,” Sanchez said. “I would hope that if we could introduce K-12 students to the research week, they could be motivated and given a tangible perspective of what STEM research at a college can look like.”
Students expressed that they appreciate the value of having some research experience under their belt before moving to a four-year institution, seeing it as a real boost to their academic journey. “I love this event and what it represents,” student Hannah Cook said. “It is important for others to see all the opportunities and experiences that Cuesta, as a community college, is able to provide.”
