This summer, four students sponsored by the MESA program at Skyline College participated in the Community College Outreach Program (CCOP) at Stanford University, gaining hands-on research experience while working alongside Stanford faculty, researchers, and graduate students. Through their internships, students were able to apply knowledge from their coursework to authentic research questions, develop new laboratory and analytical skills, and experience what it is like to work in a university research environment.
For Danny Thant, the experience challenged his assumptions about who can participate in research and helped him see himself as a researcher. Working with his mentor, Qilin Zhao, he explored the relationship between pro-social behavior and pain in mice through molecular mechanisms and computational analysis.
“Research to me didn’t come naturally. I had a single idea of what research looks like and I always convinced myself that I wasn’t smart enough for it. At CCOP Stanford, I was able to take myself to a place that was unfamiliar and challenge myself to doing things that I thought were not possible. I worked with my mentor Qilin, to look at how pro-social behavior of mice intersects with pain through molecular mechanisms and computational analysis work. Moving forward, I will be returning to the same lab this coming year as I prepare to transfer with Cognitive Science.”
Joncarlo Estrada entered his internship with little prior experience in mass spectrometry. With the support of his mentor, Megan Danielewicz, and colleagues in the Stanford Mass Spectrometry Lab, he learned the fundamentals of liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LCMS) and applied these techniques to quantify small molecules in biological matrices.
“Having virtually no background in mass spectrometry, this summer took me far beyond my comfort zone. At first, even the basics felt like learning a new language. By receiving tremendous support from my mentor Megan Danielewicz and colleagues at the Stanford Mass Spectrometry lab, I learned the foundations of liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LCMS) and quantified small molecules in multiple kinds of biological matrixes. Although there were certainly challenges, the opportunity to learn an incredible skillset and work with a truly special team far outweighed any costs.”
For Mariela Alana Ochoa, the internship provided an opportunity to move beyond learning about science in the classroom and begin applying that knowledge in a research setting. Working with her mentor, Katie Huy, she investigated the microbial degradation of pyrogenic carbon (PyC) following cultural burning conducted by the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe at the Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve.
“Prior to participating in CCOP this summer, my research experience was limited to what I learned in my science lectures. This internship allowed me to use those lessons as a foundation and develop laboratory skills extending beyond the classroom while integrating myself into a higher level of academia than I knew previously. Working with my mentor Katie Huy, my project delved into the microbial degradation of pyrogenic carbon (PyC) post-cultural conducted by the Muwekma Ohlone tribe at the Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve. I am thankful to everyone in the Fendorf Lab for the kind and welcoming environment.”
Htet Htwe completed his CCOP internship on a project entitled “Efficient Modeling of Nonlinear Gene-Environment Interactions Using Maching Learning” under the guidance of Christophe Thomassin and Dr. Alexander Ioannidis.
Samanta Chang participated in Stanford’s Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program, where she explored the intersection of artificial intelligence and natural-language interaction through a project titled “Blending AI Agent Personas Using a Structured Knowledge Base.” Her research investigated whether using a structured knowledge base could help create more effective AI personas than traditional prompt engineering alone. She developed and tested a system that combined information about different personas at varying ratios and evaluated how well the resulting AI agents demonstrated characteristics such as legal precision, comedic delivery, and realism. Her findings suggested that knowledge-grounded approaches may be particularly useful for AI agents requiring accuracy and professional reasoning, while more performative traits may still benefit from direct instruction.
Together, the students’ experiences highlight the value of providing community college students with meaningful opportunities to participate in research. Beyond developing technical skills, the these internships allowed students to build confidence, work with research mentors, and envision themselves pursuing STEM pathways beyond community college.
We had an opportunity to hear more about these experiences directly from Joncarlo and Samanta at the first Science in Action event of the semester on Tuesday, September 1. Their presentations offered a firsthand look at the research they conducted at Stanford and what they learned from stepping into a university research environment.
MESA – Math, Engineering, Science Achievement – is an academic enrichment program that helps educationally underrepresented students excel in math and science and graduate from college with degrees in calculus-based fields. Founded in 1970, the MESA program serves pre-college, community college, and university students at over 100 sites throughout California. Skyline College’s MESA Program is part of the MESA California Community College Programs (MCCP). To learn more about or apply for the Skyline College MESA program, visit skylinecollege.edu/mesa or email skymesa@smccd.edu.
