Contact: Keegan Koberl

805-458-9302; [email protected]

SAN LUIS OBISPO — Two Cal Poly students have been selected as Sally Casanova Scholars through the California State University’s Pre-Doctoral Program, designed to increase the pool of potential CSU faculty.

Third-year graduate student Jacob Campbell in the higher education counseling and student affairs program and Jennifer Luevano, a second-year graduate student in the nutrition program, were admitted to the program.

“This is an excellent opportunity for upper-division and graduate students to explore a doctoral program,” said Amanda Lathrop, interim dean for Graduate Education at Cal Poly. “Jacob and Jennifer will be supported by a faculty mentor who will help them prepare for the next steps in their academic careers.”

Campbell, who also works as a retention specialist in Cal Poly’s University Advising office, researches the intersection of data, policy and multiraciality in and beyond educational contexts. He is broadly interested in investigating the visibility and/or invisibility of multiracial students as a function of federal, state and institutional policy while interrogating how data shape the ways in which educational institutions see and support multiracial students.

“The Sally Casanova Fellowship is a perfect program for where I am in deciding my next step in my academic career,” Campbell said. “No one in my family has received an advanced degree, so it has been helpful to talk with students and faculty members to hear what they had wished they had known and what they would have done the same or differently when going into a doctoral program.”

Campbell credits his role on the staff at Cal Poly for the opportunities to apply his research to his work in utilizing data to support students.

“Working with fellow students every day helps me stay motivated and keeps me excited about my research,” he said. “I love working and learning at Cal Poly; my ultimate goal is to become a faculty member, and hopefully I can do that here on campus.”

Luevano’s research involves the use of metabolomics, which is the study of small molecules (metabolites) produced by the metabolism of a biological system. She also works at the Cal Poly Metabolomics Service Center, performing data processing and analysis for a variety of metabolomics studies. During her time at Cal Poly, she has contributed to metabolomics research related to COVID-19, head and neck cancer, and gestational diabetes. For her master's thesis, she is analyzing blood plasma samples from a clinical trial to identify potential metabolic markers of gestational diabetes mellitus. She plans to use some of the fellowship award money to present her research at the American Physiology Summit in spring 2023.

The Sally Casanova Fellowship seemed like a great opportunity because it would allow me to apply for summer research programs at UCs and provide me with financial support for academic conferences, grad school applications, and to visit schools I'm considering for my Ph.D.,” Luevano said. “At this time, my goal is to remain in academia as a researcher and instructor so that I can continue contributing to the scientific field and serve as a mentor to students who are underrepresented in academia.”

The California State University Pre-Doctoral Program supports the doctoral aspirations of CSU students who have experienced economic and educational disadvantages. Sally Casanova Scholars work one on one with faculty advisors to explore and prepare to succeed in doctoral programs and have the opportunity to work with additional faculty from doctoral-granting institutions. Scholars receive funding for such things as participating in summer research experience programs at doctoral-granting institutions, paying for graduate school application and test fees, and participating in conferences or symposia.