Baruch College’s Research and Creative Inquiry Expo took place on May 6. Undergraduate students showcased their research in fields ranging from psychology and environmental science to literature and business.
Biomedical sciences major Annemarie Ianos presented her research on “Microtubules in Breast Cancer.” She told The Ticker about her motivation for participating in the expo. “I do research with Dr. [Baofu] Qiao from the chemistry department, and I’m honestly so grateful to have gotten a chance to work alongside him,” she said. “I think that throughout my research and working alongside him, I’ve gained a lot of exposure to this, and I’m really grateful for that.”
For her capstone project, business communications major Jessica Marte created a baking business on social media, which she discussed during the expo. When asked about the inspiration behind her project, she said it started as a hobby.
“I was interested in baking, and I wanted to try making a tres leches cake. So, after that, I just started to venture into other things that I could possibly try to make. I decided, for my capstone, this was perfect, so I can actually expand on my idea.”
Rachel Xie, a marketing management major, demonstrated her research on potential areas of New York City’s constructed living shorelines where litter may accumulate.
“I’m so thankful to the CUNY Immersive Research Experience for providing [me] with the funding and the materials to be able to do research,” she said. “One of the research questions I wanted to ask was: ‘Why is there so much litter accumulation in certain areas of these living shorelines compared to the rest?’”
Kimberly Alvarado and her team chose to research the topic of otaku culture.
“Otaku” is a Japanese term referring to someone who is deeply interested in a certain subculture, typically anime or manga.
“Our research question is how the concept of otaku evolved in Japanese society, from its early stigmatization to its current globalized and diversified form,” she said. “Otaku isn’t just anime or manga; there’s also different cultures, such as idols, music groups, video games — even train otakus.”
Sociology major Michelle Cruz presented a group project: a social media campaign and a musical guest at Baruch.
“We were looking for artists that were going to be here in New York City… and so we started coming up with a strategy,” Cruz said. “We thought the fastest way was through TikTok, so we made four TikTok videos.”
“We felt like students needed some type of representation, specifically now. Being in the BLS department, we see that people of color are right now suffering because of the political climate,” she continued.
Statistics major Daniel Magarino, marketing major Putri Prabowo and their team created a distinctive NYC project in collaboration with the New York University School for Professional Studies: a 60-person garbage bin–guided tour of Lower Manhattan, all possible through publicly available data.
Regarding the unique choice of project, Magarino explained that “If you look at the same old datasets everyone looks at, you come to a very common conclusion about things.” Prabowo was appreciative of the project’s quirkiness, remarking, “We’re looking into data not everyone looks into.”
Political science major Jessica Plepi investigated lobbying by large financial corporations in the aftermath of the 2008 recession.
She emphasized the cathartic nature of presenting her research at the expo.
“[Presenting] has been the most rewarding experience I’ve had over the last four years,” Plepi said. She advised that “if you’re thinking about pursuing research, go for it,” while noting its difficulty, “But it’s such a rewarding thing to have accomplished once you do get to the end. It’s something that you’re always going to be proud of.”
Editor’s Note: Julia Aiello, The Ticker’s Science Editor, Maya Demchak-Gottlieb, The Ticker’s Editor-in-Chief, and Alvi Khan, The Ticker’s Medical Columnist, participated in the Research and Creative Inquiry Expo and had no involvement in the editorial process for this article.
