Winners of the 2025 Undergraduate Research Colloquium
The College of Science is pleased to announce the winners of the 14th Annual Undergraduate Research Colloquium (URC). Held on May 12, the event showcased the breadth and quality of undergraduate research conducted across the College. Students presented scholarly projects representing a wide range of scientific disciplines and demonstrated a strong commitment to research excellence.
The full list of abstracts and digital program can be viewed HERE.
Each judging category included at least one identified winner, with additional awardees selected based on overall evaluation scores. All winners will receive a $500 scholarship award; for graduating seniors, efforts will be made to process the scholarship prior to graduation, allowing for a potential refund.
We extend our sincere appreciation to all participants, faculty mentors, and judges for contributing to the success of this year’s Colloquium.
Please join us in congratulating the 2025 URC award recipients.
Environmental and Earth Sciences (Geology, Geography, GIS, Atmospheric Science, Environmental Sciences)
| Presenter | Poster | Title | Major | Mentor |
| Kiersten Jewell | 4 | Seasonal and coinfection patterns in parasite prevalence of estuarine crab hosts | Environmental Science | Amy Fowler |
| Julia Farrington Frost | 5 | Impacts of thermal stress on the composition and function of settlement-inducing bacteria in Hawaiian reef biofilms | Environmental Science | Jennifer Salerno |
Life Sciences (Biology, Neuroscience, Forensic Science)
| Presenter | Poster | Title | Major | Mentor |
| Sofie Strompf | 10 | Secretory Mitophagy: A Unique Intersection Between Cancer and Parkinson’s Disease | Neuroscience | Lance Liotta |
| Angela V. Rojas | 12 | Secretory mitophagy is a novel pro-survival and pro-growth mechanism for Neurofibromatosis Type 2 cancers | Medical Laboratory Science | Marissa Howard |
| Muhammad H. Shah | 20 | Use of a Novel In-Vivo Acetylcholine Sensor, GRABACh3.0, to Quantify the Temporal Dynamics of Acetylcholine (ACh) Release in the Cornu Ammonis 1 (CA1) Hippocampus Sub-Region | Neuroscience | Holger Dannenberg |
Physical Sciences and Mathematics (Physics, Chemistry, Astronomy, Mathematics, Computer Science)
| Presenter | Poster | Title | Major | Mentor |
| Allie Molle | 38 | Investigating the Threshold for Star Formation: The Role of Dark Matter Halo Mass in Galaxy Evolution | Physics | Ferah Munshi |
| Amira Anwar | 31 | Spectroscopic characterization of designed fluorescent probes for biomedical research | Chemistry | Ozlem Dilek |
STEM Education
| Presenter | Poster | Title | Major | Mentor |
| Xia Parkes | 57 | Office Hours vs. Alternative Study Methods: What Do Students Really Need? | Biology | Benjamin Dreyfus |
Chemistry in the Kitchen*
| Presenters | Poster | Title | Major | Mentor |
| Ashley Bui and Lena Hasan | 55 | Boba-licious? A survey of homemade boba recipes | Chemistry | Rebecca Jones |
*As previously decided by the College of Science URC 2025 planning committee, an additional category was created for Chemistry in the Kitchen to recognize how all students in this Capstone/Apex course presented their independent research projects and the projects were sufficiently different from the general Physical Sciences category.
The College of Science Undergraduate Research Colloquium is organized by the faculty of the STEM Accelerator, a special interdisciplinary collaborative in the College of Science. Learn more about our work here.
