Following weeks of hands-on study this summer, nearly two dozen student scholars presented their own diverse research projects at the culmination of this year’s Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE).
Coordinated by James Moran, associate Biology professor at the Mount, SURE is an opportunity for students to work alongside Mount professors as they explore a research topic of their choosing.
SURE students presented their research to the Mount campus over the course of two sessions, one in June and one in July. These presentations featured research projects in areas such as Education, Information Technology, Math, and more.
As it has been in previous years, the SURE program was a hotbed of Natural Sciences research. Nikki Kalinowski of Hopewell Junction, N.Y. and Victoria Maffettone of Sayville, N.Y., and their faculty mentor, Carl Hoegler, professor of Biology, examined the effects of thyroxine (a type of thyroid hormone) on the metempsychosis of grey tree tadpoles.
Meanwhile, Mount students Caitlyn Garrigan of Staten Island, N.Y. and Natalya Frye of Wappingers Falls, N.Y. worked with their faculty mentor, Rob Wakeman, associate professor of English, on a project that examined the relevance and impact of food in literature. Their project brought them to the Newburgh Urban Farm and Food Initiative, where Frye and Garrigan were taught how to prune peach trees.
Other SURE projects included “The Causes and Consequences of Inflation in the Year 2020-2021” by Athalia Jack-Richards of Brooklyn, N.Y. and Clarissa Hill of Sparrow Bush, N.Y., and faculty mentor A. Reza Hossain, professor of Business; “Redesigning a Traditional Mathematics Course for a New Teacher Setting” by Grace O’Sullivan of Nanuet, N.Y and her faculty mentor Mike Daven, professor of Mathematics; and “Cultural Competence in Healthcare” by Alyssa Milburn of Middlebury, Conn. and Jaden Nelson of Staten Island, N.Y., and their faculty mentors Vidia Saleem and Gessieann Martinez Nelson from the Mount’s School of Nursing.