On July 2, St. Mary’s College of Maryland held its annual St. Mary’s Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium, where students presented the research, laboratory and creative work they conducted this summer under the guidance and with the expertise of faculty mentors. Associate Professor of Neurobiology Sarah Latchney and Associate Professor of English Jerry Gabriel served as co-directors for the program.
The SURF program is a competitive, eight-week, residential summer program at St. Mary’s College, where students from intentionally varied disciplines engage in directed research or creative work. While working full-time on their projects, students also participate in workshops and group meetings to sharpen their professional skills.
Co-director Gabriel describes the SURF program as "an incredibly rich experience in which [students] get the time and resources to drill down into an idea. The individual experience would be worth it by itself, but to be doing this in close proximity to ten other students working an array of disciplines broadens their sense of things like professional development and generally how to become part of the professional community in which they're working." Co-director Latchney adds that "the fellows develop the important skill of communicating their work to a broader audience."
SURF student Eleo Aposporos, a psychology major and history minor who plans to pursue her doctorate in clinical psychology, appreciated the opportunity not only to conduct directed research but also to gain experience in designing studies for data collection. "SURF, in combination with my St. Mary's Project, has provided me with an extra semester of lab work in running and designing research," she noted. "That will make me a stronger applicant when applying to graduate programs."
The 11 students who researched and presented during the symposium, with their topics of research and mentors, are listed below. Detailed abstracts of their research topics are available online.
Caroline Calamoneri (Mentor: Sarah Latchney, associate professor of neurobiology)
Evaluating Iba1 as a Microglial Marker During Mouse Brain Development
Abby Shackelford (Mentor: Karen Anderson, professor of English)
Stories of the Stars: Exploring the Human-Cosmic Relationship
Eleo Aposporos (Mentor: Anandi Ehman, assistant professor of psychology)
Structural Stigmas Against Borderline Personality Disorder: A Survey of Mental Health Providers
Soleil Paul (Mentor: Jerry Gabriel, associate professor of English)
Tí Bolom: A Middle Grade Novel on Untold Caribbean Folklore
Cecilia Ugues (Mentor: Brian Smithson, assistant professor of anthropology)
The Portrayal of Hispanic Immigrants: Stereotypes Across Time & Media
Em Allan (Mentor: Elizabeth Leininger, associate professor of neuroscience)
Assessing User Learning and Attention In a STEM Simulation Through Eye-Tracking and Retrospective Interviews
Chris Leonard (Mentor: Julia King, professor of anthropology)
Changing Military Identities Among Active and Retired Naval Aviators
Campbell Walsh (Mentor: Michael Cain, professor of political science)
Renewable Energy Dreams or Grid Success? A Policy Evaluation of The Maryland Renewable Energy Portfolio Standards
Lily Bennear (Mentor: Ayse Ikizler, associate professor of psychology)
Direction and Grief: The Efficacy of a Values-Based Workshop for Bereaved People
Riley Strohecker (Mentor: Lorena Torres Martinez, assistant professor of biology)
Toward Sustainable Plastic: Microbial Production of Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) from Wild Avocado Endophytes
Liam Sanders (Mentor: Lauren Cook, lecturer of marine science)
Nitrogen’s Effect On Bay Nettle Abundance
