Hi all, Thank you, Melanie, for getting the announcement about Creative Collaborations out to the department. This email is now just to the faculty: I'm very excited to announce that *Ree Simovich *is confirmed to be a speaker at next Tuesday's event on *4/28 at 12:15 pm in the Learning Commons*. I've invited her to give a brief history of undergraduate research conferences at USD, dating back to the first one she started! Provost Antony will give a brief welcome first, and Ree's talk will immediately follow. While this is a short talk of a few minutes, I hope some of you might be able to attend to show your support for her! I understand that this conflicts with Academic Assembly. The date for Creative Collaborations was apparently set a year ago (before I even took the Director job) to avoid conflict with Academic Assembly that is usually at the start of the month. It was unexpected to see a meeting also scheduled at the end of April. It would be good to coordinate to ensure that we have enough Biology colleagues going to Academic Assembly to make quorum (as I understand this meeting is a very important one), but to also have a few attend Creative Collaborations at the beginning to support Ree. I'm thinking of our colleagues on sabbatical--Sue, Hugh, and/or Curtis--may you be able to attend? I'm also well aware of issues with the current lightning-talk format of this event that prevents data in our discipline to be discussed by students in depth, among other challenges. I am dedicating our final OUR Faculty Advisory Board meeting on May 4th to discuss potential format changes to next year's research showcases. Val as chair will get an invitation to this. If there is other feedback on the format that I don't already know about, or you have other input to add, please do not hesitate to send those to me to bring to the meeting. I want to make sure Biology is well represented. I wish to thoughtfully reflect with the board and others on what are the best ways to engage student researchers and faculty mentors in both Fall Colloquium and Creative Collaborations next year. Thank you, Cawa On Thu, Apr 23, 2026 at 11:16 AM Melanie Writer wrote:

Dear Campus Community,

We invite you to join us next week for the *2026 Annual Creative Collaborations Showcase* https://www.sandiego.edu/ugresearch/students/creative-collaborations.php for a fun and interactive event that celebrates undergraduate research and creative works at USD!

Students will be presenting 2-minute lightning talks about their research and creative projects. The high-quality work reflects the intellectual curiosity of our undergraduate students, the outstanding abilities of the research mentors, as well as USD's commitment to academic excellence and experiential learning opportunities. There will be an opportunity for the audience to vote for their favorite presentations, ask questions during a Q&A session, and interact with the speakers after the talks are complete.

This year, we will be organizing the *first-ever undergraduate research time capsule at USD*! On Thursday, April 30th, please bring something you would like to contribute to the time capsule whether it be an old notebook, scribbled notes, photos with your research group or mentor, or a letter for a future undergraduate researcher. There will be more opportunities to add to this ongoing project throughout the summer-research experience as well!

Lunch and refreshments will be provided. This event is Career Readiness Point approved.

When: April 28th and April 30th

What time: 12:15 pm - 2:15 pm

Where: Learning Commons Town Square

Please help us promote this event by sharing this email/flier and--for faculty--announcing it in your classes. We hope to see you there! This event is open to all members of the campus community. For questions, please contact ugresearch@sandiego.edu.

[image: CC 26 Flier (2).png] [image: undergrad research time capsule 2026.png]

Please see below for the presentation schedule:

*2026 Creative Collaborations Presentation Schedule:*

Tuesday, April 28, 2026 Session 1 (12:15 - 1:15 pm) / Presenters #1 - #10 Presentation # Presenter(s) Faculty Mentor 1 Irianna Morales Steven Berkley 2 Tatum Mosley Kacie Miura 3 JB Barrientos Megan Groth 4 Sandra Santos Daniel Lopez-Perez 5 Daisy Morales-Zaragoza Daniel Lopez-Perez 6 Dimitra Protopapas Rae Anderson 7 Emma Mozalova Jena Hales 8 Yadira Dominguez Arietta Fleming-Davies 9 Chloe Howel Nadav Golschmied 10 Luke Blatney Steven Berkley Tuesday, April 28, 2026 Session 2 (1:15 - 2:15 pm) / Presenters #11 - #23 Presentation # Presenter(s) Faculty Mentor 11 Camille Van Bruaene Kathryn Statler 12 Madison Harkin Maura Giles-Watson 13 Jack DeVries Lark Stephenson Diaz 14 Eleanor Soininen Kobi Finestone 15 Carly Senteno Maura Giles-Watson 16 Gianna Eaton TJ Tallie 17 Agniya Seliuzhytskaya Marcel Sanchez-Prieto 18 Bre'Arra Long Evan Crawford 19 Cherishann Diamzon, Kaitlin Trauscht Susannah Stern 20 Alaya Chapa Adam Haberman 21 Daivion Terry Tim Clark 22 Franki Flores Tim Clark, Arturo Leon Sandoval 23 Samantha Luna Jena Hales Thursday, April 30, 2026 Session 1 (12:15 - 1:15 pm) / Presenters #24 - #35 Presentation # Presenter(s) Faculty Mentor 24 Vivien Papp Susan Lord 25 Caroline Nasiak, Eva Kaskak Satyan Devadoss 26 Bridget McFall Cawa Tran 27 Adrianna Galvan Rae Anderson 28 Judith Garcia Leon Tim Clark, Arturo Leon Sandoval 29 Geraldin Ramirez Velazquez Rae Anderson 30 Claire Sheerin, Yaron Guberman, Sophia Stark Nadav Goldschmied 31 Arianna Hhan Nadav Goldschmied 32 Briana Burton Andre Hutchinson, Ky Snyder 33 Christian Rincon, Anthony Romo Ted Dezen 34 Vera Maaskant Jena Hales 35 Josiah Lee, Nick Narloch, Samarah Azzi Jessica Bell, Ellis Bell Thursday, April 30, 2026 Session 2 (1:15 - 2:15 pm) / Presenters #36 - #48 Presentation # Presenter(s) Faculty Mentor 36 Brynn Gerty, Alyssa Robertson, Caroline Mahoney, Graviella Graves, Colette Patterson Susan Lord, John Alejandro 37 Michael Rosalia Jennifer Olsen, Sophia Krause-Levy 38 Sara Teferi Jennifer Olsen 39 Jonathan Martin Anthony Bell 40 Arlene Garcia Guzman Daniel Lopez-Perez 41 Isabella Reynolds Maria Plascencia 42 Abigail McDowell Joan Schellinger 43 Rebecca Albracht Joan Schellinger 44 Stella Osman David De Haan 45 Kate Flaherty, Rose Seaver, Turner Grubbs Marissa Forbes 46 Patrick Matthews Daniel Codd 47 Jacob Ramirez Daniel Codd 48 Makan Ahadian Maryam Keshtzari

Cheers, Cawa Tran and Andrea Machado

*The Office of Undergraduate Research* *Spring 2026 Office Hours:* *Thursday & Friday* *1:30 - 3:00 pm* *Maher Hall 252*

*University of San Diego(619) 260-7840ugresearch@sandiego.edu * Check out our website here! https://www.sandiego.edu/ugresearch/ Follow us on Instagram! https://www.instagram.com/usdour/

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-- Cawa Tran, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Biology Director for Undergraduate Research (she/her) Shiley Center for Science and Technology (SCST) University of San Diego 5998 Alcala Park San Diego, CA 92110 Office: SCST 482 | Lab: SCST 453 Phone: (619) 260-4084 Lab website http://usdtranlab.wixsite.com/symbiosis | Faculty profile https://www.sandiego.edu/cas/directory/biography.php?profile_id=13069 Instagram/X/Bluesky: @cawatran Office of Undergraduate Research OUR website https://www.sandiego.edu/ugresearch/ | Maher 252 Instagram: @usdour