2024 SURE Participants
More than 30 Carthage students have been selected to conduct research with faculty this summer as part of the 2024 Summer Undergraduate Research Experience.
SURE has been a hallmark of the Carthage experience since the mid-1990s. The undergraduate research initiative first began in the natural sciences but now includes all academic disciplines at Carthage. Each summer, between 20 and 50 students are chosen to participate.
Selected students spend 10 weeks on campus researching full-time with a faculty mentor. Students receive a stipend, on-campus housing, a meal plan, and a research budget.
Art
Anna Polietaieva ’27
Jared Werner ’27
Project: Art-Historical and Contextual Research on Carthage’s Sam and Berry Shoen Collection of Soviet Art
Mentor: Prof. Robin Holmes
Biology
Damanpreet Khaira ’26
Grace Krueger ’25
Project: Genome Analysis of a Novel Species of Bacterium in the Porphyromonadaceae Family Isolated from the Hindgut of Kyphosus sydneyanus
Mentor: Prof. Emily Wollmuth
Chemistry
Aubrey Brown ’25
Zachary Herold ’25
Project: NMR Analysis of Micelle Formation by Bio-Based Surfactants
Mentor: Prof. Kevin Morris
Education
Theresa Carpentier ’24
Morgan Shetzer ’25
Project: The Development of In-Service Special Education Teachers’ Well-Being Self-Efficacy Survey and Well-Being Outcome Expectancy Survey
Mentor: Prof. Jun Wang
Exercise & Sport Science
Xinchen Liu ’26
Project: The Ballistic Step-Up Exercise: A Kinetic Analysis
Mentor: Prof. Andrew Pustina
Film & New Media
Terrell Franklin ’25
Project: Crafting Speculative Narratives: Screenwriting for the Streaming Age
Mentor: Prof. Jojin Van Winkle
Geoscience
Ava Beyers ’25
Josh Maraldo ’26
Project: Tracking Environmental Responses to Rapid Warming: A Satellite-Based Evaluation of Seasonal Lake Ice Cover Changes in the Russian Arctic
Mentor: Prof. Matthew Zorn
Mathematics
Dee Drain-Majors ’26
Ryan Heffelman ’27
Alan Kwak ’27
Project: Explorations of Inverse Problems
Mentors: Prof. Landon Gauthier
Physics
Sam Erickson ’27
Hiroki Imura ’24
Project: Virtual X-Ray Diffraction of Dislocated Crystals
Mentor: Prof. Joseph Anderson
Dawson Gaynor ’26
Project: Orientation Sensing for Electric Field Sensors for Thunderstorms
Mentor: Prof. Brant Carlson
Lucas Peterson ’25
Project: Using Machine Learning Speed Up Simulation of Photon Propagation After Terrestrial Gamma-Ray Flashes
Mentor: Prof. Brant Carlson
Alek Zavadoski ’26
Project: Aerodynamics of an Electric Field Probe Dropped into Thunderstorms
Mentor: Prof. Brant Carlson
Psychology
Bradley Szubryt ’25
Adriana Respondi Trocchio ’26
Project: The Role of Incompleteness and Disgust in Predicting OCD Symptoms: An Induction Study
Mentor: Prof. Sara O’Brien
Space Sciences
Juliana Alvarez ’27
Semaje Farmer ’26
Skylar Farr ’26
Reece Greenwald ’25
Project: Space Lab Project: Collective Dynamics of Bubbles in an Ultrasonic Field
Mentor: Prof. Kevin Crosby
Gabriela Carranza ’25
Logan Dales ’25
Zachary Kongable ’26
Project: Space Lab Projects: Implementation of the NASA Fiber Optic Sensing System for Model Propellant Gauging (MPG-FOSS)
Mentor: Prof. Kevin Crosby
Sikiel Graves ’25
Lil Neta ’27
Brookelyn Velmont ’27
Project: Space Lab Projects: Microgravity Ullage Detection (MUD) and NASA Universal Payload Interface Challenge (UPIC)
Mentor: Prof. Kevin Crosby
Callie Koenig ’25
John Kunath ’26
Project: Space Lab Projects: X-59 Community Overflight Planning and Embedded Teacher Program
Mentor: Prof. Kevin Crosby
Theatre
Tiffany Borger ’25
Project: Voices of Dissent: Tracing the Roots and Impact of American Avant-Garde Theater of the Vietnam War Era
Mentor: Prof. Neil Scharnick
Dakota Smith ’27
Project: Verbatim Theatre Project: Religious Trauma
Mentor: Prof. Martin McClendon