San Diego Community College District

Twelve students and a faculty member from San Diego Mesa College presented their research this summer at a science conference with attendees from colleges and universities throughout the Pacific region.

For the students, the chance to present at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Pacific Region conference was an opportunity to learn about research that other STEM students were conducting. Some 50 universities and colleges were represented by more than 170 students at the conference.

“It was nice to talk with the other students and see what they had done,” said San Diego Mesa College student Max Cagnon-Hoiland, who was recognized along with co-authors Shane Moore and Isabella Vasilev with the J. Thomas Dutro, Jr. Award and $1,000 to split amongst the trio. “We saw the years that they had poured into their research.” 

The students’ attendance at the conference at the University of San Diego, which drew about 400 attendees, was encouraged by San Diego Community College District Board of Trustees member Craig Milgrim, a retired Grossmont College biology professor. Milgrim was serving on an AAAS committee, and Robert Hickey, executive director of the organization’s Pacific division, said he wanted community college students to participate in the conference.

Given the tremendous potential benefit to students, the SDCCD, with support from Chancellor Gregory Smith and Vice Chancellor, Educational Services, Susan Topham, agreed to pay the students’ cost for the conference.

“I think this is a good investment to provide money for students to go to these conferences,” Milgrim said. “They get to interact with other student researchers who are almost exclusively coming from universities. It’s our chance for our students to experience things that other STEM students experience routinely.”

Since 2015, Mesa College has hosted the Mesa College Research Conference (MCRC) in which STEM students present research they have conducted. Several students who participated at this year’s conference submitted their projects to be presented at the June AAAS conference. Five projects from Mesa College students, and one from a faculty member, were selected.

“It was a wonderful opportunity for AAAS to see the caliber of research that community college students are presenting and the diversity of topics we have,” said Jaye Van Kirk, a Mesa College psychology professor who chairs the campus MCRC.  

Mesa College presenters during the 2024 AAAS included:

• Cagnon-Hoiland, Moore, and Vasilev, who studied the pollution of Tecolote Creek. 
• Psychology Professor Inna Kanevsky, who focused on disseminating science information on TikTok. 
• Siena Hemminger, who developed an erosion hazard map for the city of San Diego. 
• Rachel Marshall, Najja Gandy, and Noah Schaefer-Doughty, who presented on understanding perceptions of authority. 
• Oleksandr Sharlai and Kanevsky, who studied the use of social media for mental health self-diagnoses. 
• Kayla Kinney, Ava Rice, Kelly Janow, and Jordan Belanger, who focused on the academic experiences of students at Mesa College. 

Cagnon-Hoiland, a geology major at Mesa College, said he learned about scientific research in his project examining Tecolote Creek with fellow students Moore and Vasilev and their mentor, Geology Professor Donald Barrie. 

“It was a blast,” he said. “It was the culmination of our scientific understanding and made it very tangible. It showed science is not just done in a lab.” 

The group found that the creek was heavily polluted with trash, debris, golf balls from a nearby course, and even a sofa. The water had a high fecal count, and Cagnon-Hoiland noted that the creek water flows into Mission Bay.

“This is affecting people,” he said. “It shined a different light on the city I’ve grown up in.”