Summer 2025

In June 2025 the Office of Undergraduate Research announced 180 SURF Awards for the summer semester. Congratulations to all those who received awards! 

Architecture & Urban Planning (School of) 

  • Katy Harris working with Mark Keane, “www.NEXT.cc”
  • Jennie Crandall working with Lindsey Krug, “Supreme Privacy, No. 30: An Investigation into the Spatial and Architectural Legacies of a Constitutional Right to Privacy as Outlined in the State Constitution of Wisconsin”
  • Brecken Boelter working with Iris Ma, “Artistic and Architectural Applications of Composite Ceramic Material”
  • Aurora Troncoso working with Iris Ma, “The Poetices of Everyday Life: Artistic and Architectural Applications of Composite Ceramic Material”
  • Cody Kremer working with Krisann Rehbein, “Community Design Solutions: Placemaking Research + Design”
  • Morgan Greene working with Adam Thibodeaux, “Reclaiming Queer Space: 1100 E Kane”
  • Sigurds Kakulis working with Adam Thibodeaux, “Reclaiming Queer Spaces: 266 E Erie”
  • Lauren Stroh working with Chelsea Wait, “Increasing Accessibility in Library Environments: Visualizing Data, Developing Architectural Drawings, and Planning Outreach for Sensory Mapping at UWM Libraries”
  • Lauren Bauman working with James Wasley, “Building the Green Building Data-Base: Deepening Net-Zero Building Cases in Germany and North America Initiated in 2024”

Arts (Peck School of the)

  • Nora Imhoff working with Adam Hawk, “Digital Technologies in Traditional Craft: Blacksmithing and Modular Design”
  • Sophie Rickert and working with Yevgeniya Kaganovich, “Slow Growing and the Time of Trees”
  • Esther Anderle working with Kathryn Martin Meurer, “Making Nests; The Important of Home, Protection, Prosperity and Love”
  • Ollie Battista and Jaaron Langford working with Jessica Meuninck Ganger, “Confluence: The Intersection of Tradition, Art, and Science”
  • Spirit Hess and Anne Jones working with Joseph Mougel, “Botanical Portraits: The People and Flora of Adams Park – Hess”
  • Greta Craemer-Meihsner, Ava Schultz and Gita Shitz working with Nathaniel Stern, “Generation to Generation: Conversing with Kindred Technologies”
  • Cody Witt working with Nathaniel Stern, “Circuitous Poems”
  • Sarah Johnson working with Michael Ware, “3D Printing in Colored Porcelain”
  • Joy Prochaska working with Michael Ware, “Sustainable Ceramics – Wild Clay and the Rocket Kiln”
  • Dah Ra working with Sean Kafer, “Heavy is the Crown: Unity, Progress, and Activism in Milwaukee’s Urban Neighborhoods”
  • Jacob Solis working with Sean Kafer, “Wisconsin IRA Impacts”
  • Antone Washington working with Sean Kafer, “Mother-Young Child Care Program”
  • Brody Bane working with Lilly Warren, “Uncoiled”
  • Ambrose Schulte working with Alvaro Rios, “New Play Development Project”

Biomedical Sciences & Health Care Administration (School of)

  • Emlyn Swardenski working with Elizabeth Liedhegner, “Diabetic Retinopathy in a Dish: Muller Cells, High Glucose, and 670nm light”
  • Erica Warner working with Elizabeth Liedhegner, “Examination of SCP-2 Localization and Lipid Trafficking in HEK Cells”
  • Yara Haddad and Kallie Volk working with Troy Skwor, “Identifying Clinically Relevant Antibiotic Resistance Genes in the Environment”

Business (Sheldon B. Lubar School of)

  • Dylan Raikes working with Laura Swenson, “Evaluating the Influence of Incentive Structures in Master Limited Partnerships on Non-GAAP Reporting and Instances of Adverse Outcomes: The Relationship Between Distributable Cash Flow and Maintenance Capital Reserves.”

Engineering & Applied Science (College of)

  • Setayesh Abiazi Shalmani working with Mahsa Dabagh, “Patient-Specific Image-Based in Silico Model of Cerebrovascular Aneurysms”
  • Hannah Vincent working with Mahsa Dabagh, “Blood Flow Simulation for Predicting Aneurysm Growth”
  • Hilda Abdellatif working with Ashwin Kumar Narasimhan, “Fabrication of Microfluidic Device for Droplet Imaging”
  • Kenzie Friedrich working with Priyatha Premnath, “Modeling Cell Signaling Pathways”
  • Virgil Jensen working with Priyatha Premnath, “Introduction to Bone Lab”
  • Samantha Kono working with Priyatha Premnath, “Osteosarcoma: Diagnosis and Healing”
  • Mikayla McWilliams working with Priyatha Premnath, “Immunofluorescence for Bone Samples”
  • Spencer Frey working with Jacob Rammer, “Upper Extremity Biomechanical Assessment in Sport and Disability”
  • Kristofer Acimovic working with Rani El Hajjar, “Design and Optimization of Piezoelectric Polymer Metamaterial Arrays for Ambient Vibrational Energy Harvesting”
  • Baker Malik working with Rani El Hajjar, “Solid 3D Printed Swept Inserts for Composite Material Joints”
  • Ivan Alvarez working with Daniel Schlitz, “Shapeshifting Metamaterial”
  • Owen Schneider working with Daniel Schlitz, “Bio-Mechanical Healing”
  • Alec Light White working with Konstantin Sobolev, “New Generation of Concrete to Support CAN IUCRC Mission”
  • Elijah Cephus working with Habib Tabatabai, “The Objective Is to Experimentally Evaluate the Application of Survival Analysis Techniques to Engineering Fatigue”
  • Chase Mcclellan working with Jerald Thomas Jr, “Using Virtual Reality to Evaluate Dynamic Sight Lines for High Cab Vehicles”
  • Jivan Singh and Noah Weishanworking with Jerald Thomas Jr, “Examining Self-Selection of Translation Gain in Virtual Reality”
  • Adam Kovacs working with Chiu Law, “Stress Sensing Based on a Flexible Piezoelectric Material with Engineered Electrode Geometries”
  • Yong Ruei Liao working with Shuaiqi Shen, “Development, Optimization and Evaluation of MATLAB-Based Machine Learning Algorithms on NVIDIA Jetson Nano for Edge AI Applications”
  • Chung Kun Wu working with Shuaiqi Shen, “Personalized Federated Learning Case Study and Preliminary Experiments”
  • Yu Sheng Yeh working with Shuaiqi Shen, “Accurate Energy Consumption Profiling of Deep Neural Networks on Embedded AI Systems”
  • Andrew Truitt working with Dyanna Czeck, “Geometries of Rock Fabrics and Small-Scale Fold Structures Related to the Southern Iberian Shear Zone”
  • Hepsiba Reddy Madireddy working with Satya Aditya Akundi, “AI-Assisted Requirements Quality Analyzer”
  • Karamveer Singh working with Satya Aditya Akundi, “Industry 4.0 Enablers and Barriers Survey”
  • Peyton O’Kelly working with Benjamin Church, “Thermal Expansion of Aluminum-Cerium Alloys Reinforced With Graphite”
  • Mariah Senfleben working with Benjamin Church, “High-Temperature Oxidation of Ni-Based Alloys for Aerospace Applications”
  • Etienne Dolezal working with William Musinski, “Processing-Structure-Property Relations in Cast Al-Ce-X Alloys”
  • Alec Buhler working with Pradeep Rohatgi, “Influence of Casting Techniques on the Solidification Behavior, Properties, and Applications of Aluminum-Cerium Alloys”
  • Aditya Kennedy, Angeline Lee and Flavio Toma working with Pradeep Rohatgi, “Synthesis and Characterization of Al-Ce Alloys and Composites”
  • Dawson Walter working with Pradeep Rohatgi, “In-Situ Precipitation of Graphene in Melts to Synthesize High Performance Metal Matrix Nanocomposites”
  • Justin Wolfe working with Pradeep Rohatgi, “Mg Based Biomedical Foams for Bone Regrowth”
  • Rogelio Noriega Joseph working with Ryo Amano, “Project on Energy System”
  • Shivam Patel working with William Musinski, “Characterization of Corrosion Degradation in Brass Alloys”
  • Elijah Cephus working with Krishna Pillai, “Developing a Next-Generation Prototype to Dispense Volatiles (Incense/Insect Repellant) into the Air”
  • Mitchell Fox working with Mohammad Rahman, “Development and Experimental Preparation of a Mecanum-Wheeled Mobile Robot Platform for Advanced Control and Perception Research”
  • David Loeza working with Mohammad Rahman, “Design and Modification of a Therapeutic Robotic Prototype”
  • Hayley Singer working with Alyssa Schnorenberg, “Advanced Biomechanical Analyses for Assessment of Wrist Instability”
  • Jake Siong working with Alyssa Schnorenberg, “Investigation of Musculoskeletal Joint Health”
  • Nicholas Nelson working with Philip Chang, “Moving-mesh Simulations of Catacylsmic Variables: Extensions”
  • Kamila Gutierrez working with Esther Chan, “Atheist and Religious Social Media Influencers”

Freshwater Sciences (School of)

  • Kayla Peirick working with Carmen Aguilar-Diaz, “Characterization of the River of Diatoms from the Harbor to Nearshore Lake Michigan”
  • Alexander French working with Harvey Bootsma, “Phosphorus Recycling by Invasive Quagga Mussels in Response to Variable Food Supply”
  • Stephen Scannell, Vanessa Vargas and Jehiel Smith working with Michael Carvan, “3D Printed Plastics: Laboratory Fish Behavioral Assessment from Developmental and Lifetime Exposures”
  • working with Michael Carvan, “3D Printed Plastics: Laboratory Fish Behavioral Assessment from Developmental and Lifetime Exposures”
  • Ella Klackner working with Sandra Mclellan, “Development of a Risk-Based Framework for Beach Closing Decisions”
  • Isaiah Chang working with Ryan Newton, “Microorganism Cell Abundance across Aquatic Ecosystems”
  • Grant Probst working with Benjamin Peterson, “Development of an Environmentally Relevant Model System for Microbial Mercury Methylation”
  • Angelo Ricco working with Barry Cameron, “Explosive Tephra from the Sand Mountain Volcanic Field, Central Oregon: Insight from Grain Size and Matrix Glass Compositions”

Information Studies (School of)

  • Sean Davis working with Maria Haigh, “Disrupting Democracy: Russian Disinformation in Conservative Rural Wisconsin”
  • Nadia Oniskevich working with Maria Haigh, “Nostalgia and Nationalism: AI-Enhanced Sentiment Analysis of Strongman Propaganda Among Immigrant Populations in the Midwest”
  • Simon Rabinovich Potapov working with Maria Haigh, “Understanding Zoomer Engagement with Strongman Propaganda: Analyzing Emotional Reactions and Disinformation Narratives Among Young Men in the Midwest”

Letters & Science (College of)

  • Emerson Neczek working with Jennifer Haas, “Community Archaeology Project – Engaging Youth with Milwaukee’s 19th Century History”
  • Alexander Henderson working with Ashley Lemke, “Shining Light on History Beneath the Waves: Conserving and Digitizing Historic Great Lakes Shipwreck Films”
  • Lydia Lavey working with Filipe Alberto, “Reproductive Trade-Offs between Sexual and Asexual Components in the Kelp Gametophyte Life Stage”
  • Jackson Powell working with Filipe Alberto, “The Effect of Temperature on the Growth Rate of Kelp Gametophytes”
  • Isaac Mowbray working with Alita Burmeister, “Understanding the Evolution of Phage Resistance in Escherichia coli”
  • Allyson Ruffino working with Alita Burmeister, “Experimental Evolution of Phage-Resistant Bacteria”
  • Marina Goulette working with Claire De La Cova, “Conserved Kinase and Phosphatase Regulators of Raf Signaling in Noonan Syndrome”
  • Noelle Bryan and Shannon Mcconahy working with Madhusudan Dey, “Understanding the Role of Protein Kinase ERK1 in Unfolded Protein Response”
  • Cayden Retzki working with Jennifer Gutzman, “Genotyping MYH9-Related Disease zebrafish CRISPR Mutants”
  • Molly Xiong working with Jennifer Gutzman, “Identifying Zebrafish Mutants for the Study of Brain Morphogenesis and MYH9-Related Disease”
  • Isaac Gregg working with Gerlinde Hoebel, “Effect of Dopamine Receptor Inhibitors on Treefrog Motor Ability during Phonotaxis”
  • Mal Hermanson working with Gerlinde Hoebel, “Does Background Matching Prevent Predation in Frogs?”
  • Aysha Knoot working with Gerlinde Hoebel, “Effect of Dopamine Receptor Inhibitors on Treefrog Motor Ability”
  • Kaitlyn Lund working with Emily Latch, “”
  • Mia Slawikowski working with Gyaneshwar Prasad, “Exploring Rhizobial Burden on Plant Growth in Presence of Available Nitrogen”
  • Mushtariybegim Nabijonova working with Christopher Quinn, “Storymapping the Shinsengumi”
  • Mackenzie Dasek working with Rafael Rodriguez Sevilla, “Use of Web Memories in Navigation by Frontinella Bowl and Doily Spiders (Araneae: Linyphiidae)”
  • Nils Goesser working with Rafael Rodriguez Sevilla, “Testing the Function of Secondary Sexual Traits in Scatophaga Stercoraria Yellow Dung Flies (Diptera: Scatophagidae)”
  • Leila Goodrum working with Rafael Rodriguez Sevilla, “Host Plant Choice by Enchenopa Treehopper Mothers (Hemiptera: Membracidae)”
  • Haylee Jones working with Erica Young, “Nitrogen Cycling Mediated by Mosquito Larvae in Pitcher Plant Communities”
  • Semi Hyeong working with Ned Littlefield, “Understanding Civilian Control of Law Enforcement amid State Violence: Evidence from Brazil”
  • Boston Peters working with Monica VanBladel, “Latin American Studies: K12 Curriculum Research and Development”
  • Ryan Burmesch working with Alexander Arnold, “Synthesis of Human Cytomegalovirus Replication Inhibitors”
  • Shaun Harrington working with Alexander Arnold, “Synthesis of Novel Alpha Adrenergic 2B Receptor Ligands Based on the a Diazepine Scaffold”
  • Nicholas Pajek working with Mark Dietz, “Environmentally Benign Approaches to Chemical Analysis: Paper-Based Analytical Devices (PADS) for the Determination of Metal Ions”
  • Ricardo Hughes working with M Mahmun Hossain, “HDAC Inhibitors”
  • Amirhossein Jafari working with M Mahmun Hossain, “Synthesis of an HDAC Inhibitor Designed by Molecular Dynamic Docking Software.”
  • Sarah Benes working with Jarett Wilcoxen, “Development of an Artificial Metalloenzyme to Study Bioinorganic Cofactors”
  • Joseph Parlier working with Jorg Woehl, “Point Spread Function Imaging Using Fluorescent Nanobeads”
  • Ava Danzer working with Joseph Walzer, “Whose Land? Settlement, Dispossession and Race in Urban and Rural Wisconsin and New York”
  • Elise Leonard working with Burkholder Daniel, “The Science of Ballet: An Anatomically Informed Database for Evidence-Based Technique”
  • Gaurav Sachdeva and Gaurav Saluja working with Avik Chakrabarti, “Integrating AI and Outsourcing: Evidence from Companies in and around Milwaukee”
  • Owen Brandt working with Dong Fang Deng, “Application of Insect Meal/ Or Insect Oil in Fish Feed”
  • Calista Klein working with Dyanna Czeck, “Paleomagnetic Orientations of the Wausau Syenite Complex”
  • Olliver Plank working with Dyanna Czeck, “Geochemistry of the Pulo Do Lobo Metasedimentary Rocks along the Southern Iberian Shear Zone”
  • Hossein Khatibi working with Aragorn Quinn, “Investigation of ACDH-1 Function in Axon Degeneration”
  • Gwyn Parker, Oli Pierce and Justin West working with Rachel Buff, “The Gangster Buffs of Charleston: Jewish Safety in a 20th Century Appalachian City”
  • Elissa Lonzo working with Jessica Nelson, “Guided Tour of the Center for Nursing History”
  • Ava Luedtke working with Jessica Nelson, “Oral Histories of Milwaukee Nurses”
  • Mason Novak working with Arijit Sen, “Buildings-Landscapes-Cultures Field School”
  • Kahler Paulson working with Arijit Sen, “Buildings-Landscapes-Cultures Field School: COI Media Project”
  • Luke Wilson working with Benjamin Church, “High-Conductivity and High-Strength Copper Reinforced with ZrC”
  • Rebecca Miller working with Daniel Gervini, “Simulation-Based Parameter Estimation Algorithms for Statistical Data Analysis”
  • Minseo Lee working with Woo Jin Chang, “Pressure Dependent Response of the Fibroblast Cells with Mitochondria Tracking”
  • Jacquot Benavides working with Philip Chang, “Using LISA as a Galactic Acceleratometer”
  • Anna Castello working with Philip Chang, “Two and Three Dimensional Simulations of Binary Supermassive Black Hole Accretion Disks”
  • Nathan Theis working with David Kaplan, “A Radio View of the Local Universe”
  • Isen Ries working with Lia Medeiros, “Visualizing Supermassive Black Holes”
  • Leanna Firkin working with Ionel Popa, “Study of the Mechanically-Regulated Talin-Vinculin-Actin Protein Assembly”
  • Julian Whelan working with Ionel Popa, “Development of Solid-State Enzymes”
  • Melissa Gleiter working with Valerica Raicu, “Probing the Structure of Membrane Receptor Complexes and Its Modulation by Natural and Artificial Ligands (Or Drugs) via Fluorescence Micro-Spectroscopy”
  • Inaara McCray working with Sara Benesh, “Supreme Court Justices Appearances”
  • Patricia Eno Iwok, Ra’shida Rockette and Jacob Schwartz working with Caitlin Bowman, “Human Neuroscience of Healthy Cognitive Aging”
  • Elise Haluska working with Karyn Frick, “Establish a Role for Proteasome Activity in 17BETA-Estradiol Induced Facilitation of Dendritic Spine Density in the Dorsal Hippocampus of Ovariectomized Female Mice”
  • Vivian Jones working with Karyn Frick, “Cellular Recruitment into the Estrogenic Engram”
  • Braden Ruiz working with Karyn Frick, “Distribution of Estrogen Receptors on Hippocampal Interneurons in Mice”
  • Montana Bruckner working with Karyn Frick, “Distribution of Estrogen Receptors on Hippocampal Interneurons in Mice”
  • Daniel Reddin working with Polymnia Georgiou, “Epigenetic Modifications Effects on Stress-Induced Social Deficits”
  • Erik Collins working with Jeffrey Lopez Rojas, “Tagging Engram Neurons to Identify Their Identity and Examine Their Necessity and Sufficiency in Social Recognition Memory”
  • Madeline Jereb working with Jeffrey Lopez Rojas, “Social Memory Processing in a Mouse Model of Schizophrenia”
  • Isabella Souvannarath working with Jeffrey Lopez Rojas, “Distinct Contributions of Medial and Lateral Entorhinal Cortices in Social Information Processing”
  • Kasey Meyer working with James Moyer, “Oxygen-Glucose Deprivation in Brain Slices as a Model of Ischemic Stroke”
  • Carisa Marchena working with Gabriela Nagy, “Exploring the Intersections of Childhood Adversity, Migration-Related Stress, and Social Support in the Mental Health of Latinx Immigrants”
  • Ian Brown and Christian Corujo working with Gordon Gauchat, “Two Paths to Trust: Comparing the Influence of Science Literacy and Institutional Awareness on Public Trust in Science”
  • Vivian Wagner working with Jennifer Jordan, “Mapping Hops in the 19th Century United States”

Library

  • Elsie Touchstone working with Abigail Nye

Nursing (School of)

  • Ryan Babich and Ivan Martin working with Jovan Gwon, “REVIVE: Rural Vaping Free Intervention for Young Adults via Text Messaging”
  • Edwin Chiquito Jacome working with Peninnah Kako
  • Aspen Sikorsky working with Hyunkyoung Oh, “Technology-Based Family-Focused Interventions for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review”

Public Health (Joseph J. Zilber School of)

  • Joyli Kamau working with Paul Florsheim, “Parents Empowering Parents Project”
  • Mahrukh Delawarzad and Manizha Nazari working with Rose Hennessy Garza, “Formative Research to Study the Health and Wellbeing of Afghan Women”

Rehabilitation Sciences & Technology (School of)

  • Avery Baier working with Bhagwant Sindhu, “Feasibility of a Behavior Change Intervention Targeting Burnout and Resilience among Emergency Medical Service Providers”
  • Isabella Lipski working with Bhagwant Sindhu, “Determining a Gap in Wellbeing Resources Available to Firefighters in Milwaukee County: A Needs Assessment”
  • Nora Fitak and Justin Lee working with Lauren Sara, “Neuromuscular Mechanisms, Pain, and Inflammation in Adults With and Without Knee Osteoarthritis”

Social Welfare (Helen Bader School of)

  • Lily Bretl working with Rebecca Konkel, “A Second Chance?: Examining the Impact of a Re-Entry Simulation on Perceptions of Formerly Incarcerated Individuals.”
  • Katharine Vetuschi working with Danielle Romain Dagenhardt, “Examining Pretrial Practices and Changes”
  • Noah Geluk working with Lisa Berger, “Suicide Prevention Curriculum in Social Work: Scope, Content, and New Directions”
  • Renee Barden working with Jane Hereth, “Study of Trans Alcohol Use, Risk, and Resilience (STARR)”
  • Emma Ugolini working with Jane Hereth, “Study of Trans Alcohol Use, Risk, and Resilience (STARR)”
  • Lisbeth Lopez Cordero, Bryce Van Calligan and Connor Keane working with Andrew Steward, “Aging Together: An Anti-Ageism Peer Support Program”