Lamar University announces 2022 SURF winners
Lamar University is proud to announce 13 winners of the 2022 Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship. The SURF program awards each winner a $2,000 stipend, $1,000 in research support, free on-campus housing for 10 weeks during the summer and $500 in travel support to disseminate their research results to conferences during the next university year.
The Office of Undergraduate Research serves as a resource for all undergraduate majors at LU. The department also helps students engage in collaborative research with faculty members and provides funding opportunities and scholarships to bolster student research. LU’s SURF program was designed from the nationally recognized Research Experience for Undergraduates programs, allowing undergraduate students at LU to have a rich summer research experience.
“What we try to do is encourage our students to express their talents through research and creative activity within our sponsored programs,” said Dr. Cristian Bahrim, director of the Office of Undergraduate Research. “Our students present in-house and outside. They also write articles for peer review –– this is a highly competitive program, and we are proud to have students from four academic colleges here at Lamar University.”
This year, 25 reviewers selected the 13 winning SURF proposals –– eight from STEM areas and five from HASBSEB areas. Each proposal was reviewed and scored based on a set of rigorous criteria, using a rubric validated by the Office of Undergraduate Research Advisory Board. SURF winners scored between 77% and 91%, which ties the best performance from last year.
The 2022 Summer Undergraduate Research Fellows are:
College of Education and Human Development
Chaley Cleckley, educationMentor: Dr. Mamta Singh
Margo Eugenio, education
Mentor: Dr. Mamta Singh
Ally Tywater, health and kinesiology
Mentor: Dr. Shannon Jordan
College of Arts and Sciences
Reese Bonin, physics and mathematicsMentor: Dr. Cristian Bahrim
Rafael Gutierrez, physics and mechanical engineering
Mentor: Dr. Rafael de la Madrid
David Matherne, biology
Mentors: Dr. Evgeny Romashets and Dr. Cristian Bahrim
Ian Sisson, chemistry
Mentor: Dr. Paul Bernazzani
Lily Yoder, psychology
Mentor: Dr. Edithe Kirk
College of Engineering
Kiley Radley, mechanical engineeringMentor: Dr. Evgeny Romashets and Dr. Cristian Bahrim
Jacob William Smith, mechanical engineering
Mentor: Dr. Sushil Doranga
Melissa Tan, civil engineering
Mentor: Dr. Thinesh Selvaratnam
College of Fine Arts and Communications
Madeline Doughty, speech and hearing sciencesMentor: Dr. Lillian Felipe
Chloe Smith, speech and hearing sciences
Mentor: Dr. LeKeitha Morris
To learn more about the Office of Undergraduate Research, visit lamar.edu/our.