Podcasts

Uncharted Horizons is the official podcast of the Learn Through Discovery Initiative - where the goal is that every student at Cal Poly Pomona will have at least one Signature Polytechnic Experience (PolyX) before graduation. PolyX are a hands-on approach to learning where students use their knowledge and skills to create a meaningful impact. PolyX almost always involve research, innovation, and service.

Season 1 of Uncharted Horizons (2019-2020) explores what research means for different disciplines and how students can get involved. Season 2 of Uncharted Horizons (2020-2021) explores innovation across the Cal Poly Pomona campus. Season 3 (coming 2021-2022) will explore community service.

Guests on the podcast include diverse members of the CPP community. Podcasts are released multiple times per semester in our monthly LTD Newsletter.

Episode 5

Fran Robertson

Episode 5

Uncharted Horizons: Season 3, Episode 5 features Fran Robertson! She is the Executive Director of Sowing Seeds for Life, a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide food for the hungry, respond to emergencies for those in need and to eliminate hunger in the communities they serve.

Through the help of gracious donors from the community and beyond and with help from volunteers, Sowing Seeds for Life distributes food regularly, every first and third Wednesday of each month. For the past few semesters Cal Poly Pomona students have volunteered with Sowing Seeds for Life as part of a Signature Polytechnic Experience (PolyX)!

To learn more about Sowing Seeds for Life, visit sowingseedsforlife.org

Listen to Episode 5

Episode 4

Lydia Chen Shah

Episode 4

This episode features Lydia Chen Shah, a consultant on strategic sustainability, leadership development, and integrated marketing. Her years of industry experience in for-profit organizations from startups to Fortune companies lend themselves to a lot of fun teaching in the International Business and Marketing department at Cal Poly Pomona.

Chen Shah is deeply committed to experiential and service learning, including creating social impact. She loves collaborating with community partners and coaching students to see things in new ways. Much of this commitment stems from her own journey as a CPP student and now as Alumni Association president.

Listen to Episode 4

Episode 3

Leilani Scott Young

Episode 3

This episode features Leilani Scott Young, a senior Civil Engineering major with a minor in Theater. Her most recent achievements are from the club she is now the President of: the California Land Surveyors Association.

In this club, Leilani was able to become Project Manager of CPP's Surveying Team and help CPP win third place at the 2021 Society Wide UESI Surveying Competition. In addition, through the Co-Op Program, she has been working for CalFIRE, a fire department, in Riverside creating plan sets for fire stations throughout Southern California. Lastly, you can see her in many plays and musicals to come at CPP through CPPs theater and music department.

Listen to Episode 3

Episode 2

Dr. Joanne Sohn

Episode 2

This episode features Dr. Joanne Sohn, an Associate Professor of Animal and Veterinary Science at Cal Poly Pomona.

Though her leadership, Dr. Sohn has improved the curriculum to include more hands-on experience and equipped the on-campus veterinary teaching lab with some of the most up-to-date equipment and technology.

Dr. Sohn is the director of an American Veterinary Medical Association accredited veterinary technician program, and has worked as a veterinarian for over twenty years. She received the College of Agriculture Teacher of the Year award in 2016, the Center for Community Engagement Awardee in 2018, the Provost Teaching Award in 2021, and was selected as a 2021 Fulbright Specialist.

Listen to Episode 2

Episode 1

Dr. James J. A. Blair

Episode 1

This episode features Dr. James J. A. Blair, an Assistant Professor in Geography and Anthropology at Cal Poly Pomona.

Dr. Blair is also Graduate Coordinator at the Lyle Center for Regenerative Studies. Rooted in cultural and environmental anthropology, as well as human geography, Dr. Blair employs ethnographic and historical methods to advance the interdisciplinary fields of political ecology and science and technology studies (STS).

His research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, Fulbright-IIE, the Wenner-Gren Foundation, the Social Science Research Council and the Mellon Foundation/American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS).

Blair has sought to make a broad impact as a public anthropologist, bridging the social and physical sciences through community-based action research, teaching and advocacy.

Listen to Episode 1

Episode 5

Chris White

Episode 5

This episode features Chris White, an alumnus from the Entrepreneurship Program in the College of Business. Chris graduated from Cal Poly Pomona in 2010. He has worked on several startups in tech and entertainment, as well as a 10-year stint in Corporate America. Chris has a background in Web Development and in Healthcare IT. Chris is also the founder of HoneyBlox, a smart locker system that brings greater safety and convenience to secondary goods markets like OfferUp and Craigslist. For more information check out www.HoneyBlox.com.

Listen to Episode 5

Episode 4

Janeya Griffin

Episode 4

This episode features Janeya Griffin, an entrepreneur who also works for NASA’s Technology Transfer office. She is better known as The Commercializer™️.

Janeya is a strategy consultant, serial entrepreneur, and advocate for technology, entrepreneurship, inclusive innovation, social justice, and generational wealth, specifically within underserved communities. With a deep passion for serving others, Janeya advises aspiring entrepreneurs, universities, and small businesses, including formerly incarcerated individuals on building wealth by monetizing their talents and intellectual assets.

Read Janeya's full bio on her website: www.janeyagriffin.com

Listen to Episode 4

Episode 3

Dr. Reza Baghael Lakeh

Episode 3

Dr. Reza Baghaei Lakeh, an Associate Professor and Graduate Program Coordinator in the Mechanical Engineering Department. Before joining Cal Poly Pomona, Dr. Lakeh was a post-doctoral fellow in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department at University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). He received his PhD from Southern Illinois University in 2012. Dr. Lakeh is an expert in the area of Renewable Energy Systems, Energy Storage, and Thermal-Fluid Science and has published more than 50 papers in prestigious peer-reviewed technical journals and conference proceedings. He is an active member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineering (ASME) and has served as General Chair and Technical Chair in ASME’s Energy Sustainability Conference. Dr. Lakeh has secured more than $650K of grant for research and scholarly activities at Cal Poly Pomona from State and Federal Agencies. His research groups always welcome enthusiastic and self-motivating students.

Listen to Episode 3

Episode 2

Dr. Shelton Murinda

Episode 2

This episode features Dr. Shelton Murinda, Professor and Department Chair of the Animal & Veterinary Sciences Department at Cal Poly Pomona. He is an Animal Scientist, Food Scientist (Microbiology, Safety, Chemistry & Processing) and Biotechnologist who has trained, lived, and/or worked on three continents (Africa, Europe and North America). He has extensive expertise in research, teaching extension, and outreach. Dr. Murinda has more 30 peer-reviewed publications, over 40 technical publications--- including 5 co-authored book chapters, and has beyond 30 presentations at international conferences. Moreover, through being the Director of the Center for Antimicrobial Research and Food Safety (CARFS), he has established a solid extramurally-funded research program that has brought more than $1 million research dollars to Cal Poly Pomona and enabled opportunities for multidisciplinary, interdepartmental and multi-institutional research collaborations.

Listen to Episode 2

Episode 1

Dr. Kate Ozment

Episode 1

This episode features Dr. Kate Ozment, Assistant Professor in the English and Modern Languages Department at Cal Poly Pomona. Dr. Ozment works on women’s writing and text technologies, focusing on how re-creating historical printing practices helps us learn more about the interplay of manuscript, print, and digital technologies in our modern world. Her research is currently investigating how women book collectors have shaped the study of material artifacts in the United States in the mid-twentieth century. These women were unable to attend most universities, but they used book collecting as self-education and to build reputations as scholarly and knowledgeable despite gendered gatekeeping in academia. In Dr. Ozment’s teaching, she incorporates thinking about how literary histories are formed by libraries and archives, and asks students to take on active roles in telling these stories by becoming the storytellers themselves with public-facing writing, creative pieces, and turning courses into RPG quests.

Listen to Episode 1

Episode 8

Dr. Zahra Sotoudeh

Episode 8

This episode features Dr. Zahra Sotoudeh, an Assistant Professor of Aerospace Engineering at Cal Poly Pomona. Dr. Sotoudeh has published two books and 12 journal articles, has held several leadership positions in her field of study, and has implemented new pedagogies like active learning techniques and flipped classrooms in the Aerospace Engineering Department. Her PhD specializes in computational nonlinear aeroelasticity and her research interests are in developing computational methods for studying the vibrational behavior of structures in a wide range of frequencies. She has developed programs and methods using Finite Element Method (FEM) and Statistical Energy Analysis (SEA) to study high-aspect-ratio flying wings, and helicopter rotor blades structural dynamics. She has also studied energy harvesting from smart material.

Listen to Episode 8

Episode 7

Dr. Peter Arensburger

Episode 7

This episode features Dr. Peter Arensburger, Assistant Professor in the Biological Sciences Department at Cal Poly Pomona. Dr. Arensburger works at the interface between molecular biology and computer science. As a bioinformatician his research involves using computer program to search insect and spider DNA genomes for new patterns and features. One such feature are “transposable elements," DNA sequences outside of genes that are able move around the genome, inserting themselves into new locations. Understanding how transposable elements are able to do this, as well as describing the variety and diversity of such elements (there are a lot of them) is an important step in genetic engineering and understanding how genomes are structured.

Listen to Episode 7

Episode 6

Jennette Ramirez

Episode 6

This episode features Jennette Ramirez, a Cal Poly Pomona alumna (Class of 2019) who earned her degree in Gender, Ethnic, Multicultural Studies (GEMS). While at Cal Poly Pomona, she spent her time working at The Pride Center and conducting research as a McNair Scholar. She will be attending the University of Southern California this fall, pursuing a Ph.D. in American Studies and Ethnicity. Her research focuses on counternarratives of state violence using her developing Beautiful Monster Theory. Jennette is also an active member of the community, working as the Social Media Director for the Pomona Community Farmers Alliance, a food justice and community-centered collective in the local area.

Listen to Episode 6

Episode 5

Janam Dave

Episode 5

This episode features Janam Dave, an MS graduate student in the Biological Sciences department at Cal Poly Pomona. As an undergraduate student, he double majored in Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology at CPP (Class of 2018). His research with faculty mentor Dr. Adler-Moore focuses on finding better treatment options for invasive pulmonary aspergillosis, a serious lung disease that currently causes 50-90% mortality in patients. Janam is investigating aerosol drug delivery as a treatment option and built an aerosol delivery system that can help generate small, inhalable drug particles that reach the deepest parts of the lung. His research indicates that this form of treatment is promising and may reduce the high rate of mortality seen in patients. Recently, Janam earned first place at the 2019 California State Research Competition for his MS thesis research. He looks forward to completing this work, graduating with his MS this year (2020), and then pursuing a PhD in Biology.

Listen to Episode 5

Episode 4

Dr. Jessie Vallejo

This episode features Dr. Jessie Vallejo, an Assistant Professor in Ethnomusicology and Director of Mariachi Ensembles in Cal Poly Pomona's Music Department. Her research focuses on a hemispheric approach to Amerindian studies, Indigenous cultural-linguistic revitalization projects, and mariachi music. Dr. Vallejo has also co-produced, annotated, and provided photography for Smithsonian Folkways’ 2013 release ¡Así Kotama!: The Flutes of Otavalo, Ecuador. In addition to her research and teaching, Jessie is an active freelance violinist in the Los Angeles area. She received her Ph.D. from UCLA’s Ethnomusicology Department in 2014.

Listen to Episode 4

Episode 3

Dr. Mary Yu Danico

Episode 3

This episode features Dr. Mary Yu Danico, a Professor in the Psychology and Sociology Department at Cal Poly Pomona. Danico has a PhD in Sociology and has over 20 years of experience investing in student success. She is interested in understanding the ways in which generations of color responds to social-cultural-political issues facing the global and local communities.

Listen to Episode 3

Episode 2

Dr. Randy Stein

Episode 2

This episode features Dr. Randy Stein, an Assistant Professor in the International Business and Marketing Department at Cal Poly Pomona. Stein has a Ph.D. in Social Psychology and his specialties are consumer behavior and marketing research. He studies how preferences are shaped by how people reason about what’s true and what’s false.

Listen to Episode 2

Episode 1

Julie Shen

Episode 1

his episode features Julie Shen, the Business and Computer Science Librarian at Cal Poly Pomona. Shen has an MS in Library and Information Science, an MA in English, and over 20 years of experience working with college students. She is interested in the confluence of information and human behavior.

Listen to Episode 1