STAR Program
The STAR (STEM Teacher and Researcher) Program provides aspiring and early career K-12 STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) teachers paid summer research experiences at national, university, and independent laboratories. STAR Fellows pursue a prestigious "teacher-researcher" career path starting with an original research project for 9 weeks. Weekly education workshops and conferences support Fellows considering how the "doing of science" can be translated into the "teaching of science. " Each STAR Fellow presents their research at a conference. Many become STEM leaders and go on to present at state and national teaching and professional society meetings.
STAR aims to enhance the recruitment, preparation, and retention of high quality STEM teachers. The STAR program is administered on behalf the California State University system by the Cal Poly Center for Excellence in Science and Mathematics Education (CESaME). STAR has supported hundreds of Fellows since its inception in 2006.
This Digital Commons series presents Fellow's research presentations in poster and short-oral presentation formats illustrating the diverse fields of inquiry and depth of research projects engagement provided by our partner lab sites.
For more information visit: StarTeacherResearcher.org
View posters about STAR:
About STAR - STEM Teacher and Researcher Program
Poster presented at the Teacher Research Experience Conference
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under multiple grants and contributions from philanthropic foundations. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
Raman Mapping of Mars Relevant Minerals Using Multiple Excitation Wavelenghts, Victoria Campbell and William Abbey
Impact of Neutron Irradiation on the Thermoelectric Properties of Rare Earth‐Based Thermoelectric Materials, Zachary Chandler, Sabah Bux, Chen-Kuo Huang, Jagdishbhai Patel, Jean-Pierre Fleurial, and Thierry Caillat
Playing "Hide and Seek" With Binary Stars, Elin Deeb and Raghvendra Sahai
To Mask or Not to Mask: Using a Model‐Based Barameter to Detect Vegetation Changes from Polarimetric and Interferometric Radar Data, Kaitlyn Fiechtner and Marco LaValle
Propidium Monoazide qPCR for Viability Assessment of Microbes with Species Specificity, Carolyn Laymon, Adrian Ponce, and Nicholas Fingland
Survival of B. horneckiae Spores Under Ground-Simulated, Sneha Tharayil and Parag Vaishampayan
Building the Foundation for Student Observations Using NASA's Deep Impact Spacecraft, Jamie Vargas and Rich Rieber
Plexiglass Protection Shield for the Testbed System of the ATHLETE Rover, Shin Adachi
Relationships between snow pack, soil moisture, and forest greenness: Implications for SMAP, Jordan Anderson, Noah Molotch, and Bin Guan
Deep UV Penetration Depth in Astrobiologically Relevant Rocks & Minerals, Juliana Capra and William Abbey
Investigation of a Statistical Metric for Validation of a Structural Dynamics Model, April Morton and Lee Peterson
Planetary Protection Technology Survey for Mars Sample Return Mission, Arbella Moshava, Yin Lin, and Wayne Schubert
Informing Carbon in Arctic Reservoirs Vulnerability Experiment Flight Schedule based upon Soil and Vegetation Freeze and Thaw Event Variation along the Alaska Ecological Transect, Jessica Potter, Kyle McDonald, and Erika Podest
Comparison of Low and High Resolution Multiscale Ultrahigh Resolution (MUR) Level 4 Datasets, Robin Sehler and Jorge Vazquez
Assessing Laser Lifetime Test Performance, Joe Weichman, Hamid Hemmati, and Malcolm Wright
Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) Variability with Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), Sam Koshy, Douglas I. Hoffman, and Roc M. Cutri
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL)
Updating Purchasing Specifications for Energy-Efficient Commercial Boilers for the Federal Energy Management Program, Arturo Avila and James Lutz
Rock Porosity Analysis Using High Resolution X-ray Tomography, Leo Groner, Dula Parkinson, and Katya Bazilevskaya
Remote Sensing Analysis for Salinity Management of Seasonal Wetlands, Debra L. S. Miller and Nigel W.T. Quinn
Effects of Mechanical Ventilation Rates on Indoor Formaldehyde Levels, Thuy Nguyen and Henry Willem
Recyclability of Ionic Liquid in Pretreatment of Eucalyptus Globulus, Melissa Ambrose, Kim Tran, Anthe George, and Bradley Holmes
Cyanobacteria and Biosequestration: The Effects of High CO2 Levels on Calcifying Strains of Synechococcus, Fallon E. Frye, Stephanie M. Swarbreck, and Christer Jansson
Next Generation of Quality Low Energy “Green” Windows, James M. Kennedy, R.J. Mendelsberg, and S.H.N. Lim
LIGO Hanford Observatory (LIGO)
Monitoring Spectral Lines to Calibrate LIGO Data, Joseph Milliano and Greg Mendell
Using Fscans to detect combs in LIGO Detector Characterization Channels, Joseph M. Milliano and Gregory Mendell
An analysis of the microseismic peak at LIGO Hanford Observatory, Nathan Sweem
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL)
Influence of a Guanidine Riboswitch in Bacterial Cells, Erik S. Timsak, Jefferey A. Kimbrel, Chris S. Ward, Rhona K. Stuart, and Michael P. Thelen
Quality Assurance of CO2 from Natural Gas Source For the SPRUCE Experiment, Kimberly Arias, Karis J. McFarlane, and Alexandra Hedgpeth
Using Curcumin Nano-Lipid Particles in a Therapeutic Approach, Kayla Douglas, Angela Evans, Wei He, and Mathew Coleman
Flow Sensor Integration for Precision Dispensing of Visco-Elastic Biomaterials, Robert V. Opel, William “Rick” Hynes, and Monica Moya
Variations in Atmospheric 13C/14C Ratios within a Radiocarbon Preparatory Lab and Implications for AMS Measurements, Kimberly Arias, Alexandra Hedgpeth, and Karis McFarlane
Optimization of a genomic editing system using CRISPR/Cas9-induced site-specific gene integration, Jillian L. McCool Ms., Nick Hum, and Gabriela G. Loots
The Effects of Radiation Exposure: An in vivo vs in vitro Biomarker Study Analysis, Angeles L. Mora
Investigating the Infection and Persistence of Sindbis Virus in Host Neurons, Gavin Schroter, Sally Hall, and Monica Borucki
Radiocarbon Isotopic Classification of Deep Tropical Forest Soils, Brooke Butler, Karis J. McFarlane, Jennifer Pett-Ridge, and Katherine A. Heckman
Resolving Emission Lines of Sodiumlike Fe XVI Using EBIT, Sandi Lavito
Characterization of putative Wnt3a-Inducible Enhancers, Katelynn C. Lee, Nicholas Hum, Aimy Sebastian, and Gabriela Loots
The Effect of Environmental Selection Pressure on the Rate of Recombination to an Advantageous Receptor Mutation in Bovine Coronavirus, Gavin Schroter, Sally Hall, Mona Hwang, and Monica Borucki
FEA Investigation of Microfabricated Structural Variation in Acoustofluidic Devices, Amanda Johnston
Measuring Radiation Exposure in Human Blood using Gene Expression, Krystal Naranjo, Melissa Bentley, Harsha Konery, and Matthew Coleman
Measuring K-shell Transitions in L-shell Ions of Aluminum Using LLNL EBIT, Grecia Ramos
Assessing the influence of mineral surface chemistry on soil organic matter stability in the US in response to climate change, Alexandra Toledo and Katherine Heckman
Rescuing Acetylcholinesterase from Nerve Agent Inhibition: Protein Dynamics Driven Drug Discovery, Aiyana M. Emigh and Brian Bennion
The Influence of Soil Organic Matter Stabilization Mechanisms on Carbon Mean Residence Time Within Various Ecosystems in the United States, Vicky Lynn Giese and Kate Heckman Phd
Physiologically-based pharmacokinetic modeling for predicting caffeine/theophylline-ciprofloxacin interactions, David M. Ng and Ali Navid
Disocvering Ionic Liquid Resistant Genes, Bree Person, Douglass Higgins, and Michael Thelen
Smart Sampling of Noble Gases to Detect Underground Nuclear Explosions, Lindsey M. Skelton, Steven Hunter, and Charles Carrigan
Unmasking the Mysteries of High-Mass X-Ray Binaries (HMXBs): The Role of LLNL’s Electron Beam Ion Trap (EBIT), Carey Baxter, Natalie Hell, and Greg Brown
Informing Drug Design: Human Acetylcholinesterase Response to Organophosphate Poisoning, Aiyana Emigh, Sebnem Essiz-Gokhan, and Brian Bennion
Agent Based Modeling as an Educational Tool, Jonathan H. Fuller, Rodger Johnson, and Vic Castillo
Selective Laser Sintering; A Design of Experiments, Philip David Hopkins and Victor Castillo PhD
Measuring ecosystem CO2 emission sources in a northern hardwood forest, Laura Larson and Claire L. Phillips
Physiologically-Based Pharmacokinetic Modeling of Acetaminophen Metabolism and Toxicity, David M. Ng and Ali Navid
Analyzing Environmental Microbes for Genomic Regions Promoting Ionic Liquid Tolerance in E. coli, Ann Nguyen, Alison Richins, Thomas Rüegg, Steven Singer, and Michael Thelen
Screening the Farallon Island Bacterial Collection for Ionic Liquid Tolerance to Create Genomic Libraries, Alison Richins, Ann Nguyen, Thomas Rüegg, Steven Singer, and Michael Thelen
Chloroform Extraction of Iodine in Seawater Method Development, Hanna Seidler, Aaron Glimme, Scott Tumey, and Tom Guilderson
Efficacy Comparison of Various PCR Master Mixes and Thermal Cycling Parameters for Detection of Brucella abortus in Multiplex Assays, Kevin J. Testo, Jason A. Olivas, Alda C. Carrillo, and Pejman Naraghi-Arani
Quantification and in vitro analysis of nanolipoproteins (NLPs) containing adjuvants, Purna Venkataraman, Craig Blanchette, and Nicholas O. Fischer
Caffeine Metabolism and Cytochrome P450 Enzyme mRNA Expression Levels of Genetically Diverse Inbred Mouse Strains, Neal Addicott, Michael Malfatti, and Gabriela G. Loots
Effects of Ambient Gases On ICF Target Capsules, Bryan Chambers, Steve Letts, and Michael Stadermann
Computational Identification of Protein Catalytic Sites: Tests, Validation, Dan Kirshner, Jerome Nilmeier, and Felice Lightstone
Physiologically-Based Pharmacokinetic Modeling for Predicting Drug-Drug Interactions, David M. Ng and Ali Navid
Laboratory Astrophysics: Using EBIT measurements to interpret high resolution spectra from celestial sources, Carey Scott, Joshua Thompson, N. Hell, and Greg V. Brown
Approximating Commute Times by Truncated Eigenpair Summation, Brent Smith, Van Emden Henson, Geoff Sanders, and Sarah Powers
The Role of LLNL's FAST Calibration Facility in Diagnosing NIF Fusion Plasmas, Joshua G. Thompson, Carey Scott, and Greg V. Brown
Stability of various types of nanolipoprotein particles (NLPs) upon lyophilization, Purna Venkataraman, Craig D. Blanchette, and Nicholas O. Fischer
Carbon Transfer from Labeled Leaf Litter into Mineral Soil at the University of Missouri Baskett Research Area, a Deciduous Forest in the Eastern United States, Shayne Bradshaw, Karis McFarlane, Paula Zermeno, and Paul Hanson
Comparison of Lysis Efficiency for DNA Extraction of Spore-forming Bacillus thuringiensis, Jody Dunkel, Bill Hoppes, Marilyn Ramsey, Anne Marie Erler, and Lewis Wogan
Modernizing Accelerator Mass Spectrometer Data Acquisition, Leo Groner and Ted Ognibene
Characterizing Warm Dense Matter, Ernest Irish and Yuan Ping
Time Resolved UV Spectroscopy on the Alcator C-Mod Tokamak, Jonathan B. Kamp, G.V. Brown, and P. Beiersdorfer
Dual Polarization Interferometry for Small Molecules Drug Development, Sarwia Nawim, Brett Chromy, and Lindsey Evans
Yersinia pestis Proteomics and Vaccine Development, Rebecca Paddack, Lindsey Evans, Jr-Shiuan Lin, Stephen Smiley, and Brett Chromy
Stability of Nanolipoprotein Particles (NLPs) at Different Temperatures and Complex Media, Purna Venkataraman, Nicholas Fischer, and Craig Blanchette
National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR)
Process of Developing the Artificial Snow Machine System, Aala Al Hasan and Scott Landolt
Testing and Comparing Precipitation Algorithms, David Jimenez, Scott Landolt, and Kent Goodrich
Spatial variation of snowfall accumulation on Antarctica’s Ross Ice Shelf, Laura Losmozos and Scott Landolt
A 12 Year Temperature and Wind Speed Climatology for the Marshall Field Site near Boulder Colorado 2006-2018, John Nicholas Adrian and Scott Landolt
Analyzing the Atmospheric Conditions that Caused Two Unexpected Tornado Events, Daniel J. Gonzalez, Scott Landolt, and Jennifer Shepard
Snowfall Simulator Quick-Release Retrofit, Nicholas M. Runyan and Scott Landolt
Effective communication to 4th graders about vector borne diseases, Ricardo Wells, Rebecca Haacker, and Lorena Luna
Analyzing Accuracy of the Lufft WS600 in Remotely Measuring Precipitation Events, Justin Gay
Analysis of the Precipitation Detection Algorithm for the GEONOR T-200B Precipitation Gauge to Improve Accuracy, Megan Lerman and Robert K. Goodrich
Applying a transfer function to correct snowfall climatology data at several automated weather stations across the United States, Kameron McCall and Scott Landolt
Rainwater to flush toilets on a volcano, Robert A. Buchan
Correcting Wind Bias for a Shielded GEONOR Solid Precipitation Gauge Using Transfer Functions, Stacey Wheeler and Scott Landolt
National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON)
Comparison of common lilac (Syringa vulgaris) phenology timing between historical data and current Project BudBurst citizen science data: challenges and lessons learned., Caleb Shaw, Sarah Newman, Sandra Henderson, Liz Goehring, and Tom Stohlgren
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Alaska Fisheries Science Center (NOAA AFSC)
Effects of Pristane on Growth of Pink Salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha), Brielle D. Kemis and Bonita Nelson
Nutritional Content of Rhinoceros Auklet (Cerorhinca monocerata) Bill Loads, Dustin Taylor and Ron Heintz
National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration Earth Systems Research Laboratory (NOAA ESRL)
Burning of Traditional Biofuels and the Global Methane Budget, Samantha L. Claveau, Lori Bruhwiler, and Christine Wiedinmyer
How Governmental Greenhouse Gas Science Has Been Weathered Through Time and Why it Matters, Christopher Apple
Investigating the cause for the increase in the atmospheric methane burden from 2007 to present, Philip M. Hatcher, Ed Dlugokencky, and Sourish Basu
Ecological and Organic Life Safety Concerns of HFO-1234yf, Alberni V. Ruiz
Optimization of a Single Particle Soot Photometer for Metallic Particle Detection and Differentiation, Melanie C. Thatcher and Kara Lamb
Analysis and Detection of HFO-1234ze, Alberni V. Ruiz and Ben R. Miller
Tropical Wetlands as a Dominant Driver of Long-Term Atmospheric Methane Changes, Carrie Ann Sharitt and Ed Dlugokencky
Laboratory Evaluation of Black Carbon Deposition onto Snow and Transport via Snowmelt, Larry D. Hermanson and Joshua P. Schwarz
Kenyan Climate Variation Assessment through Rainfall Anomalies and Sea Surface Temperature (SST) Correlations, Kimberly E. Lykens
A Comparison of Carbon Dioxide and Methane Levels at Four Tower Sites Across the United States, Lacee Sherman, Ben R. Miller, and Gaby Petron