COOS BAY, OR – Southwestern Oregon Community College invites the community to join us on Friday, May 30, 2025, at 6:00 pm, for our Annual Student Research Symposium. In addition to the student presentations, a poster exhibit will be on display starting at 5:30 pm in the Umpqua Hall Main Lobby. The presentations will take place in the Umpqua Hall lecture room 184 on the Coos Campus, 1988 Newmark Ave., Coos Bay. This is a free event; all ages are welcome.
Southwestern’s SPEAR (STEAM, Pathways, Experimental, & Academic Research) Team is actively working on a variety of science research projects. Participation on the team teaches students valuable skills and allows them to gain hands-on experience.
Students within Physics, Engineering, Geology, Chemistry, and Biology will be showcasing their work for the community. Our SPEAR team is led by Krystal Hopper Meyers and mentored by Professors Aaron Coyner, Win McLaughlin, Amy Burgess, Derek Morrelli and Frazier Pruett.
Some of the projects include:
- searching for micrometeorites within local storm drains and investigating if they were significant in supporting early plant life;
- researching the fossils, chronology, and relationship to Cascadia megathrust earthquakes at Fossil Point;
- interplanetary ion population modeling working with a Lead Scientist at Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio;
- locating never found before asteroids using data sent to us from the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (PAN-STARRS) located at the Haleakala Observatory in Hawaii;
- statistical analysis of King Tide heights, frequencies, working NOAA tidal data, and the impacts of coastal architecture;
- designing smaller tabletop demos for mechanical robotics systems.
Many of these projects are supported by grants awarded through Oregon NASA Space Grant Consortium and Oregon Coast STEM Hub.
Please join us and help support these students while learning more about the exciting things happening at the College within our STEAM programs!
For more information contact Krystal Hopper Meyers, STEAM Pathways, at 541-888-7416, or krystal.hopper@socc.edu.
To learn more about STEM degrees at Southwestern visit: https://www.socc.edu/programs-classes/stem.
