Check out this sample of research opportunities Oxy offers. If something catches your eye, reach out to the professor to learn more about their research.

Note that this is not an exhaustive list of research opportunities at Oxy. Please reach out to professors in your field of interest for more information on research opportunities.

Biology      Chemistry      Cognitive Science      Physics      Psychology      Urban & Environmental Policy

Biology

Microbial Pathogenesis Lab

Professor: Cheryl Okumura                  Email: okumura@oxy.edu

Research Interests:  How Group A Streptococcus (the bacteria that causes strep throat) survives in macrophages.

Learn more about the Microbial Pathogenesis Lab through their Instagram

Moore Lab: Bird Evolution, Genomics & Conservation

Professor: John McCormack                Email: mccormack@oxy.edu

Research Interests:  How birds evolved & how to protect them with vintage specimens and modern genomics.

Learn more about the Moore Lab through their website and Instagram

Occidental College Computational Biology Lab 

Professor: Amanda Zellmer                  Email: zellmer@oxy.edu

Research Interests: We use computational approaches to study our primary research projects including automatic identification of wildlife from camera trap images, modeling species distributions, and quantifying landscape connectivity. 

Learn more about the Occidental College Computational Biology Lab through their website and Instagram.

SymbiOxys Lab

Professor: Shana Goffredi                    Email: sgoffredi@oxy.edu 

Research Interests: Beneficial symbiotic partnerships between bacteria and marine invertebrates, and uncovering the unique diversity of life on Earth. 

Learn more about the Symbioxys Lab through their website and Instagram.

Vantuna Research Group 

Professor: Daniel Pondella                   Email: pondella@oxy.edu  

Research Interests: We are dedicated to studying long-term and large spatial scale ecological processes in the Southern California Bight, a 426-mile long stretch of coastline that runs along the west coast of the US and Mexico. 

Learn more about the Vantuna Research Group through their website.


Chemistry

Organic Chemistry Reaction Discovery Lab

Professor: Jeff Cannon                        Email: jcannon@oxy.edu 

Research Interests: Discovery and development of new chemical reactions for the synthesis of biologically-relevant small molecules.  We focus especially on catalytic and stereoselective methods.

Learn more about the Organic Chemistry Reaction Discovery Lab through their website and Instagram.

Organic Synthesis Lab

Professor: Raul Navarro                     Email: rnavarro@oxy.edu 

Research Interests: Developing efficient chemical tools to build bioactive molecules.

Learn more about the Organic Synthesis Lab through their website and Instagram.


Cognitive Science 

To read about the research opportunities in the Cognitive Science Department check out their Research and Job Opportunities page. 


Physics

Oxy Galaxy Group

Professor: Sabrina Stierwalt          Email: sabrina@oxy.edu

Research Interests: We make and use observations of galaxies outside our own to investigate how galaxies form and evolve and to understand our cosmic origins. 

Learn more about the OGG through their website.


Psychology

Thinking Lab

Professor: Andrew Shtulman              Email: shtulman@oxy.edu

Research Interests: We investigate how children and adults acquire new concepts and form new beliefs.

Learn more about the Thinking Lab through their website


Urban & Environmental Policy 

Health and Environmental Justice Research Group

Professor: Bhavna Shamasunder         Email: bhavna@oxy.edu 

Research Interests: We focus on environmental health and justice for low income communities and communities of color that face disproportionate exposure to chemicals. Some of our research topics include beauty products, oil developments, and lead exposure.

Learn more about the Health and Enviornmental Justice Research Group on Instagram.

Contact Undergraduate Research Center
Library

2nd floor, Old Wing, Room 253A