On the Research Front at Cal State Fullerton

Earth-Shaking Developments — David D. Bowman, a Cal State Fullerton assistant professor of geological sciences who lives in a high-rise in downtown Los Angeles, is involved in a research project that has scientists around the world attempting to discover reliable warning signs of future quakes in California. The research is funded by a $153,760 grant from the National Science Foundation, along with grants from the Southern California Earthquake Center and the European Commission. In addition to scientists at USC and Harvard, along with researchers in Switzerland and Greece, Bowman is working with doctoral students and faculty mentors at France’s Institute de Physique de Globe de Paris. The only undergraduate working on the project is Julie Clarke of Norwalk, a senior geological sciences major at CSUF who is preparing her senior thesis on the research.

Help for the Environment — Cal State Fullerton has launched a program that will develop a new generation of environmental biologists and ecologists, thanks to a $400,00 National Science Foundation grant awarded to C. Eugene Jones, chair and professor of biological science. The Southern California Ecosystems Research Program is under the direction of William J. Hoese, assistant professor of biological science. Five biological science majors are charter participants: Susana Espino-Hernandez and Victor Galvan of Garden Grove; Melissa Dannenbring of Santa Ana; Robert Rodarte of Whittier; and Maria de Lourdes Vega-Velez of Anaheim. Six students will be accepted into the program in subsequent years over the four-year life of the initial grant. “The funding we’re received from NSF will provide these students with an excellent opportunity to learn field and laboratory research techniques and about the many options available to them in the fields of environmental biology and ecology,” said Hoese.