In January, 2020 the Office of Undergraduate Research announced 128 SURF Awards for the Spring Semester. Congratulations to all!

School of Architecture & Urban Planning

  • John Biro working with Arijit Sen: “Picturing Milwaukee: Historic Motels of Milwaukee”
  • Seth Calmes and Lexie Peterson working with Jose Ibarra: “The Productivity of Crises: Research and Writing on Growth, De-growth, and Time in Architecture”
  • Amy Ernst working with Mark Keane: “www.NEXT.cc”
  • Hsu Fang working with Michael Jefferson: “Still Processing- Research”
  • Patrick Finucane, Steven Rasmussen, Rachael Varin, and Jonathan Zepeda-Martinez working with Trudy Watt: “Know Thyself: A Proof of Concept Project in Elder- and Story-Centered Architecture and AI Analysis of the Built Environment”
  • Corwin Hoefling working with Alexander Timmer: “Architectural Form and Timber Waste Utilization”
  • Andrew Knighton working with Alexander Timmer: “Non-Optimized Thermodynamic Form”
  • Liam Kolstad working with Michael Jefferson: “Still Processing- Research”
  • Natalie Keuhl, Ian Leucht, and Jessie Van Dyck working with Michael Jefferson: “Still Processing- Installation and Exhibition”

Peck School of the Arts

  • Isabelle Flores working with Alvaro Rios: “The Three Kings (Los Reyes Magos) Project”
  • Natalie Krug working with Emily Berens: “3D Modeling and Design for VR using Blender”
  • Hunter Louis working with Jessica Meuninck Ganger: “Confluence: Printmaking, Collaboration, and Water”
  • Emily Moen working with Kimberly Cosier: “Milwaukee Visionaries Project”

Lubar School of Business

  • Andrew Beale working with John Huck: “Quantitative Financial Analysis”

College of Engineering & Applied Science

  • Mohanad Abuhattab working with Priyatha Premnath: “Cell Cycle Activation in Chondrocytes Improves Bone Healing”
  • Adedamola Adeniyi working with Mahsa Dabegahmeshin: “Developing In-house Computational Model for Simulation of Blood Flow through Human Vasculature”
  • Jacob Brewer working with Jacob Rammer: “Analysis of Dynamic Muscle Length in Children with Osteogenesis”
  • Liam Brodie working with Krishna Pillai: “Developing and Testing the Lab Setup for Evaluating the Efficacy of Arsenic Filters”
  • Dante Brown working with Andrew Dressel: “Investigate Contribution of Moving Bottom Bracket to Bicycle and Tilting Tricycle Performance”
  • Kaley Camber working with Rani El Hajjar: “Sandwich Carbon Fiber Composites for Space Mining Applications”
  • Ismail Coello Ramirez working with Benjamin Church: “Performance of Alumina-Forming Austenitic Alloys in Ethylene”
  • Alessandra Ebben working with Mahsa Dabaghmeshin: “Role of Vascular Wall Stiffness in Progression of Cardiovascular Diseases”
  • Bryn Glennon working with Habib Tabatabai: “Finite Element Analyses of Jointless Bridges Supported on Steel Piles”
  • Maisey Michelz working with Wikistar Otieno: “Environmental Impact Assessment of Wooded Pellets Through Life Cycle Analysis”
  • Mark Nosonovsky working with Konstantin Sobolez: “Nano-Engineered Composites for 3D-Printed Concrete Infrastructure”
  • Anthony Pierson working with Andrew Dressel: “Investigate Roll Acceleration and Rider Control with Tilting Trike Mechanism”
  • Raga Madhuri Podugu working with Jacob Rammer: “A Mobile Application for Monitoring Community Mobility in Children with Osteogenesis”
  • John Quinn working with Mahsa Dabaghmeshin: “Circulation of Cancer Cells through Vasculature”
  • Isaac Repinski working with Jacob Rammer: “Experimental Validity of Wheelchair Propulsion Roller System vs. Overground Propulsion in Pediatric Manual Wheelchair Users”
  • Luke Royal working with Kostantin Sobolev: “Use of Portland Cement in Hybrid Self-Healing Asphalt Concrete”
  • Georgije Stanisic working with Chiu Law: “Stressing Sensing with Magnetostrictive Composites via Anisotropic Magnetoresistive Sensors”
  • Austin Wesner working with Priyatha Premnath: “Do Activated Mesenchymal Stem Cells Accelerate Bone Healing?”
  • Cassandra Wilke working with Rani El Hajjar: “Geogrid Materials for Monitoring of Sub-Surface Conditions”

School of Education

  • Maria Ortiz working with Candance Doerr-Stevens: “Multiliteracies, Languages, and Cultures Resource Library Project”

College of Health Sciences

  • Peyton Bendis working with Brooke Slavens: “Kinematic Evaluation of Throwing in Adults with Spinal Cord Injury During Wheelchair Lacrosse”
  • Yvalis Cortes-Rojas working with Troy Skwor: “Identifying Virulence Factors from Aeromonas Isolates”
  • Elizabeth Fennimore working with Troy Skwor: “Identifying the Cause of Quinolone Resistance among Aeromonas Isolates from Wastewater”
  • Brooke Follansbee working with Roger O. Smith: “EEG-Based BCI (Brain Computer Interface) for Classification of CVSA Direction”
  • Caroline Ives working with Roger O. Smith: “Understanding Community of Perceptions of Building Accessibility Information”
  • Kelly McGavock and Megan Sullivan working with Nathan Spaeth: “Reliability of Building Assessments Between Expert Assessors and Community Event”

School of Freshwater Science

  • Louis Chapman working with Marcia Silva: “Development of a Novel Porous Material for Removal of Ammonia from Water”
  • Basil Hable working with Marcia Silva: “Differentiation of Live and Dead Cells of Environmental Escherichia coli Using Digital Inline Holographic Microscopy”
  • Kevin Hicks working with Marcia Silva: “Evaluation and Improvement of Electrochemical Sensor for Detection of Phosphate in Stormwater”
  • Elyza Jordan working with Russell Cuhel: “Datoms or Picocyanobacteria: Which is now the King of Lake Michigan Productivity?”
  • Emma Kraco working with Dong Fang Deng: “The Potential Impacts of Microplastic Pollution on Seafood Production: A Dietary Exposure Test on Tilapia”
  • William Sullivan working with Dong Fang Deng: “A Pilot Study on Feed Management for Yellow Perch Production in a Recirculating Aquaculture System”
  • Andrew Thompson working with Marcia Silva: “Differentiation of Gram Positive and Gram Negative Bacteria Using Digital Inline Holographic Microscopy”

School of Information Studies:

  • Izabelle Villafuerte working with Jacques Du Plessis: “Lead Poisoning- Proactive Interventions”

College of Letters & Science

  • Alexis Alexander working with Taisik Hwang: “Strategic Use of Social Media by Commercial Brands”
  • Abigail Ambrose, Cassie Kinney, Grace Mussell, Elizabeth Papandria, Alondra Quechol-Ramirez, and Zachary Small working with Jasmine Alinder: “Hostile Terrain 94”
  • McKenna Anderson working with Karyn Frick: “The Role of  Extracellular Matrix Regulation in Estradiol-induced Enhancement of Hippocampal Memory Consolidation”
  • Taylor Arntsen working with Deborah Hannula: Capture of Attention by Long-Term Memory: Effects of Physical Salience”
  • Andrew Beszhak working with Alan Schwabacher: “Synthesis of Oxidized Arginines for Enzymatic Mechanistic Studies”
  • Megan Biesmann working with Paul Roebber: “Thunderstorm-induced Large Scale Regime Transitions”
  • Sarah Bodhy working with Han Joo Lee: “Computerized Inhibitory Control Performance for Individuals with  Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms”
  • Jack Brandt working with Tami Williams: “Orphaned Films in the Digital Age: Archiving, Preserving, and Exhibiting Non-Theatrical Works”
  • Maria Brondino working with Paru Shah: Here to Stay: Immigrant Legislators and Policy Making”
  • Lydia Chechowitz working with Marcellus Merritt: “Self-selected Leisure Activities as a Novel Form of Daily Stress Coping and Blood Pressure Control”
  • Dylan Childs working with Lindsay McHenry: “Water-Rock Interactions in Sediments below Modern Evaporites”
  • Paige Cooper-Rolefson working with Anne Pycha: “How Phonological Processes Create Abstract Cognitive Categories”
  • Jonathan Doria working with Peter Hinow: “Modeling of Disruption of Glucose Metabolism in Breast Cancer Patients”
  • Olivia Dye working with Karyn Frick: “The Effects of a Novel, Non-toxic Histone Deacetylase Inhibitor on Memory Formation”
  • Grace Feucht working with James Moyer: “Neurobiological Analyses of Developmental and Learning-related Changes in Restrospenial Cortex”
  • Dante Flores working with Rachel Buff: “Tables Across Borders: Refugee Communities in Milwaukee”
  • Eli Frank and Bronwen Risse-Connolly working with Rachel Buff: “Uncovering Radical Milwaukee”
  • Grace Geiger working with Karyn Frick: “The Role of Astrocytes in Memory Consolidation and Estrongenic Regulation of Memory Consolidation”
  • Elizabeth George working with Paru Shah: “Here to Stay: The Intersectional Representation of Latino Immigrant Communities in States”
  • Stephen Girard working with Erica Young: “Examining Silicate in Riverine Plant Debris and Nearshore Lake Michigan Cores”
  • Noah Graff working with Istvan Lauko: “Investigation of Ultrasound Imaging Enhancement Using Generative Adversarial Networks”
  • Gabriel Heller de Messer working with Filipe Alberto: “The Hybridization of Two Canopy Forming Kelp Species”
  • Alexander Henderson working with Filipe Alberto: “Sexual Reproduction Efficiency after Clonal Propagation in the Giant Kelp”
  • Diana Illencik working with Aneesh Aneesh: “Global Citizenship as a Modulated Basket of Rights”
  • Chantel Jenrette working with Filipe Alberto: “Cross Breeding Effects on Bull Kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana) Fitness”
  • Erika Johansen working with Jorg Woehl: “Testing Experimental Approaches for Corral Trapping in DC Electric Fields”
  • Anna Kaminski working with Clark Evans: “A Climatology of Atmospheric Rivers in the Northeast United States”
  • Tien Kolodziej working with Han Joo Lee: “Association of Thought Suppression Task with Working Memory Performance”
  • Carli Kugel working with Han Joo Lee: “Web-Based Attention Retraining for Students with Health Anxiety”
  • Ciera Oglesby working with James Moyer: “Analyzing Structure-Function Relationships in the Brain Using a Combination of Patch-Clamp Neurophysiological Recordings from Neurons and Subsequent 3D Reconstructions”
  • Trevor Pedersen working with Peter Hinow: “Modeling of Ultrasound-mediated Drug Delivery to the Brain and Application to Parkinson’s Disease”
  • Valerie Perkins working with Jae Yung Song: “Comparison of the Acoustic and Articulatory Characteristics of Korean and English Vowels”
  • Madeline Rettmann and Zachary Uttke working with Nicholas Silvaggi: “Structural Studies of Six Proteins of Unknown Function from Streptomyces griseofuscus“
  • Klaudia Rixmann working with Karolina May-Chu: “Mapping Literary Spaces: The German-Polish Borderland in Literature and Culture after 1989”
  • Max Rock working with Changshan Wu: “Hydrological Impact of Beavers in the Milwaukee River Watershed”
  • Amira Rupnick working with Natasha Sugiyama: Prospects for Gender Empowerment in Brazil amid Gender-based Violence: Understanding Causes and Consequences of Subnational Variance”
  • Omar Sacramento working with Kevin Thom: “Estimating Changing Patterns of Mexico-US Migration”
  • Sara Saleh working with Gyaneshwar Prasad: “Characterizing Mechanisms of Symbiotic Interactions between Paraburkholderia phymatum and Mimosa”
  • Madeline Sandvik working with Mark Dietz: “Solvent Structural Effects on the Extraction of Azo Dyes form Wastewater by Hydrophobic Deep-Melting”
  • Arik Scapellato working with John Richards: “Investigating Native Copper Use and the Aztalan Site”
  • Sana Shakir working with Adam Greenberg: “Measuring the Resolution of Visuospatial Attention”
  • Rachel Slaby working with Shama Mirza: “Acid Ceramidase Inhibitors for Better Therapeutic Efficiency in Human Glioblastoma”
  • Lantrell Stewart working with Julie Oliver: “Quantifying Tissue Factor Expression by Flow Cytometry”
  • Nathan Tennies working with Filipe Alberto: “Species Distribution Model of the Bull Kelp in the Salish Sea”
  • Erin VandenBosch working with Adam Greenberg: “Audiovisual Attention Deficits due to Chemotherapy”
  • Mikayla Walker working with Scott Schaefer: “Flora and Fauna of the Pleistocene Oak Creek Formation Peat Deposits”
  • Hollace Ward working with Kelsie Pattillo: “Language Embodiment”
  • Nicole Wicker working with Ching-Hong Yang: “Development of Effective Biological Control of Fire Blight”
  • Taylor Wilcox working with Alexander Arnold: “Identification of New Drug Candidates for Neuropathic Pain”
  • Tamia Williams working with Sonia Bardy: “Chemotaxis-Like Signal Transduction in Pseudomona aeruginosa and its Role in Virulence”
  • Nia Wilson working with Gladys Mitchell-Walthour: “Afro-Descendant Social Welfare Beneficiaries Political Opinions”
  • Mai Xee Yang working with Shama Mirza: “Pharmacokinetic Studies of ARN from Rat Plasma of GBM Xenografts”

College of Nursing

  • Lauren Below working with Anne Dressel: “Attitudes toward Refugees and Immigrants in Ecuador”
  • Emily Crain-Castle working with Anne Dressel: “Impact of Short-term Study Abroad Programs, Global Health Classes, and Cultural Diversity Classes on Participants”
  • Jillian Jorns working with Lucy Mkandawire-Valhmu: “Using Indigenous Epistemologies to Address Violence in the Lives of American Indian Women and Girls in Wisconsin”
  • Julio Mejia working with Heidi Luft: “Relationships and Resiliency among Youth in the Dominican Republic”

Zilber School of Public Health

  • Bree Gonzalez working with Paul Florsheim: “Evaluating Parents’ Perceptions of Mental Health Services Need, Access and Acceptability for their Children”
  • Michael McMahon working with Todd Miller: “Development of and Energy Efficient Low Cost Plug and Play Water Quality Monitoring System”
  • Wilson Tarpey working with Todd Miller: “Development of a Scanning Flurometer for the Detection of Harmful Algal Blooms”
  • Hannah Zelms working with Paul Florsheim: “Research in Public Health Parenting Support for Disadvantaged Families”

Helen Bader School of Social Welfare

  • Joey O’Neill working with Rebecca Konkel: “Evaluation of Eviction Defense Project”

College of General Studies, UW-Milwaukee at Waukesha

  • Jacob Grudnowski working with Michael Pauers: “Examining Patterns of Mate Choice in the Lake Malawi Endemic Cichlid Fish Labeotropheus”
  • Skyler Miller working with Gregg Jamison: “Archaeological Analyses of Prehistoric Native American Projectile Points at UWM- Waukesha: New Insights into Technology, Raw Materials, and Variability”