McNair Summer Research Program
The TRiO Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program, known at USD as the McNair Scholars Program is funded by the U.S. Department of Education. This program identifies and prepares high-achieving USD undergraduates for graduate studies by providing research training and early scholarly experiences. The program is named in honor of deceased NASA astronaut, Dr. Ronald. E. McNair.
McNair Scholars are exposed to research training and scholarly experiences throughout the year and have opportunities to present their research at national academic conferences. In addition, they are eligible to participate in the McNair Summer Research Program. As Summer Research Interns, they conduct a 10 week research project, attend a graduate school boot camp, produce a scholarly essay on their findings, and present their work at a minimum of two academic conferences.
Student Papers from 2026
Template Housing: A House for the Next 100 Years, Joab Barrientos, Sophia Rico, and Armando Munoz
Corazón de Nopal, Alma de Monarca: The Invisible Workforce, Vanessa Estrada Garza
“No te metas, eso es de hombres”: How Gendered Barriers Shape Women’s Income and Success in Rural Mexico’s Livestock Sector, Sofia Gaeta Garcia
Indigenous Ontologies and Architecture, Reconstructing Interrelational Relationships, Arlene Garcia Guzman
What makes implicit bias training effective? An examination of training program interventions and K-12 educator experiences, Kyleigh K. McAloon
Through Her Lens: The Card-Based Storytelling, Daisy Elizabeth Morales-Zaragoza
Template Housing: A House for the Next 100 Years, Armando Munoz, Sophia Rico, and Joab Barrientos
FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE: LOCATING MORAL EXEMPLARS IN ARISTOTELIAN VIRTUE ETHICS, Joseph A. Murray
Underclosed Posets, Richard Ngo
Template Housing: A House for the Next 100 Years, Sophia Rico, JB Barrientos, and Armando Munoz
The Everyday Monument: Architectural and Spatial Transformations of Rome's Nasoni, 1874–Present, Sandra L. Santos
Waterfront Ecologies: Coastal Resilience and Urbanization in Cali-Baja Region, Agniya Seliuzhytskaya
What, Exactly, Is Surveillance Pricing?, Kaylina Stroud
Student Papers from 2025
Autonomous Vehicle Platooning, Tony Abelson
Spaces of Empowerment: A Study on University Multicultural Spaces & Civil Rights, Keana Balalio
Where Pipes Meet the Water: Urban Infrastructure in Tijuana, Joab Barrientos
Measuring What Matters: Optimizing USD’s Campus Spaces for Equity, Sustainability, and Impact, Briana Burton
Dissipation Physics and Absorption Features in Black Hole X-ray Binaries, Theodore Dezen PhD and Benjamin R. Cavallari
The Illusion of “El Chingon”: A Scoping Review on How Machismo Affects Mental Health and Behavior, Vanessa Estrada Garza
BETWEEN SHELTER & ASH, DESIGNING FIRE-PROOF RESILIENT NEIGHBORHOODS, Arlene I. Garcia Guzman
Team resilience in the NBA: When teams fall behind, Chloe M. Howell and Nadav Goldschmied
Should school board elections be partisan? Analyzing elite discourse in the debate over the structure of local elections, Bre'Arra M. Long
Between Shelter & Ash: A Design Policy Atlas for Wildfire-Resiliency, Daisy Elizabeth Morales-Zaragoza
U.S. - China Technological Rivalry and the Future of International Scientific Norms, Tatum Mosley
The Consequences of Workplace Racial Discrimination: A Scoping Review, Yaritza A. Ortiz and Evelyn D. Sarsar
Behavioral responses of the California Two-Spot Octopus Octopus bimaculoides to changes in color and sound, Sofia I. Ramirez and Nathalie Reyns
The Crucial Role of Grassroots Social Organizations in Advancing Immigrant Legal Protections and Reshaping Immigration Policy, Isabella Reynolds
The Effects of Varying Temperatures and Food Availability on the Reproductive Output of the Acorn Barnacle: Chthamalus fissus, Karina L. Rog
Streamlining the Cleaning and Analysis of Eye Tracking Data for Cross-Recurrence Analysis, Michael V. Rosalia
BETWEEN SHELTER AND ASH: A PROCESS-BASED STUDY ON FIRE-RESILIENT RECOMMENDATIONS FOR WILDLAND-URBAN INTERFACE ZONES, Sandra L. Santos
Shared Kitchens Changing the Housing Development, Agniya Seliuzhytskaya
Immigrant Surveillance in San Diego During a Fascist Era, Jennifer L. Torres Leon
Student Papers from 2024
The Influence of Socio-Economic Constraints on Women's Economic Empowerment in Kenya: Evidence of Wage Disparities?, Wairimu Kimani
How Housing Insecurity and Welfare Systems Retraumatize Women in Southern California, Yesika Menera
Student Papers from 2023
Designing Affordable and Viable Housing Solutions, Jean Jeremie and Juliana Maxim
Designing Affordable and Sustainable Apartments, Jaziel Mayoral and Juliana Maxim
TikTok Use, Flow, and Addictive Behaviors, Santiago Vigil
Student Papers from 2022
Interannual Variation of Ichthyofaunal Utilization of a Man-Made Salt Marsh Creek in Mission Bay, California, Maria Angst
Haitian Migrants Housing Solutions and Stability in San Diego, Jean Jeremie
Student Papers from 2021
Ichthyofaunal Utilization of a Man-Made Salt Marsh Creak in Mission Bay, California, 25 Years After Creation, Maria Angst
Global E-commerce Readiness of U.S. SMEs towards the Mexican Market: Are American Small Businesses Prepared for Digital Commerce to Mexico?, Ricardo Cardoza and Eileen Daspro DBA
Student Papers from 2020
Uncertainty Reduction in Initial Interactions, Melissa Cabrera
The Effects of Visual Aids in Online Learning, Amaris Leal
America’s Finest Housing Crisis: Racialized Housing & Suburban Development, Vicenta Martinez Govea
Examination of Birth Order and Personality Effects on Coping Strategies in Light of COVID-19, Stephanie Vavricek