Four Students Recognized at CSU Research Competition
Students from across the CSU competed in 10 divisions.
Four Cal Poly students were awarded first- or second-place prizes at the 2023 California State University (CSU) Student Research Competition.
Students from across the CSU competed in 10 divisions in the following categories: Behavioral, Social Sciences, and Public Administration; Biological and Agricultural Sciences; Business, Economics and Hospitality Management; Creative Arts and Design; Education; Engineering and Computer Science; Health, Nutrition and Clinical Sciences; Humanities and Letters; Physical and Mathematical Sciences; and Interdisciplinary.
Jordan Richards, a second-year graduate student in the food science program, and Jack Madden, a third-year food science major, won first place in the Biological and Agricultural Sciences category for their project, which seeks to reduce food waste in carrot processing.
Robin Bedard, a graduate student in the biological sciences program, and alumna Megan Rottenborn (Biological Sciences ’22) won first place in the Behavioral, Social Sciences, and Public Administration category for their study focused on policies for relocating nuisance snakes in the continental U.S.
Madeleine Goertz, a second-year mathematics major and Frost Research Scholar, won first place in the Physical and Mathematical Sciences category. Goertz conducts research in algebraic geometry and illustrated that similar triangles at various orientations can be represented uniquely by points on the surface of a donut shape (called a “torus” in mathematics).
Ethan Gutterman, a third-year history major with a minor in ethics, public policy, science and technology, won second place in the Humanities and Letters category. Gutterman, a Cal Poly Honors Program student and previous university representative to the prestigious Panetta Congressional Internship Program, presented a local history project about the history of Black people in San Luis Obispo and surrounding communities.