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Winners of the 2026 Undergraduate Research Colloquium

The College of Science is pleased to announce the winners of the 15th Annual Undergraduate Research Colloquium (URC). 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.

View the full list of abstracts and digital program.

Each judging category included at least one identified winner. All winners will receive a $500 scholarship award; for group projects, the scholarship will be divided among the presenters.

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 2026 URC award recipients.

Environmental and Earth Sciences

Geology, Geography, GIS, Atmospheric Science, Environmental Sciences

Presenter: Evelyn Czirjak
Poster: 7
Title: How access and socioeconomic factors impact opioid overdosage: A case study of Washington, D.C.
Major: Geography
Mentor: Arnita Kar

Life Sciences

Biology, Neuroscience, Forensic Science

Presenter: Mason Kalin
Poster: 11
Title: Investigating the Applicability of Different Postmortem Interval Estimation Methods in the Mid-Atlantic Region
Major: Forensic Science
Mentor: An-Di Yim

Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Physics, Chemistry, Astronomy, Mathematics

Presenter: Joseph Jung
Poster: 23
Title: A New Metric to Differentiate Between the Morphology of Polycrystalline Microstructures
Major: Mathematics and Computer Science
Mentor: Benjamin Schweinhart

Computational Sciences

Presenters: Joshua Turcotte, Sakariye Abdi, and Leon Khan
Poster: 3
Title: Forecasting Estuary Water Conditions due to Climate Change
Major: Computational and Data Sciences
Mentor: Mohamed Adel Slamani

Chemistry in the Kitchen

CHEM 460

Presenter: John Castilon
Poster: 38
Title: Optimizing tomato preparation for a perfect marinara sauce
Major: Chemistry
Mentor: Rebecca M. Jones

STEM Education

Presenters: Aarshiya Singh and Adelline Oliveira
Poster: 36
Title: Building Belonging in the Undergraduate Physics Environment
Major: Physics
Mentor: Jessica Rosenberg

Chemistry in the Kitchen recognizes student research projects completed as part of the CHEM 460 Capstone/Apex course.

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.

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