For eight weeks this summer, nine students participated in the annual St. Mary’s Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF), diving into research topics of their own choosing with guidance from faculty mentors representing a diverse sampling of the college’s departments.
On Friday, July 6, students will present their projects to an audience of peers and professors at the annual SURF symposium held at St. Mary’s College of Maryland’s Glendening Annex. The public is also invited to attend. Opening remarks begin at 9:15 a.m. and the presentations begin every half hour from 9:30-11:30 a.m. and then again from 1 -2:30 p.m., with closing remarks beginning at 3 p.m.
"SURF provides students extraordinary opportunities to engage deeply in independent research, laboratory and creative work across disciplines. Under the guidance and with the expertise of faculty mentors, SURF fellows sharpen their research, analytic, and creative skills to produce work that many will continue into the following year, as St. Mary's Projects, or beyond their undergraduate careers," said Mark Rhoda, visiting associate professor of theater, film & media studies, who co-directed SURF this summer along with Kevin Emerson, associate professor of biology.
SURF is a competitive cross-disciplinary fellowship that, since 2012, has been made possible by support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in addition to a number of internal SMCM funding sources. A portion of the funding goes toward a stipend for the students, as well as room and board for the eight weeks.
The program, including the schedule of presentations, can be found here:
https://issuu.com/smcmpublications/docs/18-pd0005_surf_symposium_program_20
