{"id":74905,"date":"2019-06-25T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-06-25T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/27-uri-students-to-conduct-research-as-part-of-prestigious-summer-fellowship-program\/"},"modified":"2019-06-25T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-06-25T00:00:00","slug":"27-uri-students-to-conduct-research-as-part-of-prestigious-summer-fellowship-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2019\/06\/27-uri-students-to-conduct-research-as-part-of-prestigious-summer-fellowship-program\/","title":{"rendered":"27 URI students to conduct research as part of prestigious summer fellowship program"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 June 25, 2019 \u2013 Sixty-two undergraduate students from nine local colleges and universities were selected to conduct \u201cgraduate-level\u201d research in the University of Rhode Island\u2019s Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program.<\/p>\n<p>A total of 27 students from the University of Rhode Island were chosen to participate in the 10-week program.<\/p>\n<p>The SURF program is supported by Rhode Island Idea Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (<a href=\"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inbre\/\">RI INBRE<\/a>) and the Rhode Island National Science Foundation Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (RI NSF EPSCoR) grant. Both federally funded programs are based at URI. The SURF program is intended to help students:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Develop professional relationships with faculty and graduate students<\/li>\n<li>Gain hands-on experience with active Coastal Ecology Assessment Innovation &amp; Modeling research projects<\/li>\n<li>Become familiarized with complex lab and field equipment<\/li>\n<li>Learn about topics such as applying to grad school and communicating research effectively<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&#8220;Students are provided an experience that will help advance their budding research careers, whether it be in graduate school or in industry,&#8221; said Jim Lemire, SURF program coordinator and professor in Roger Williams University&#8217;s\u00a0Feinstein School of Social and Natural Sciences.<\/p>\n<p>Raymond Turrisi, who enrolled at URI in the spring semester of 2018, appreciates the opportunity to conduct high-level research as an undergraduate.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;What I love about the SURF program is that it provides a sandbox for the student to tackle problems under a mentor,&#8221; said Turrisi, of <strong>West Warwick, Rhode Island<\/strong>. &#8220;You have to be able to ask qualitative questions and then find your own answers through reading high level papers or through experimentation.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Turrisi, a double major in mechanical engineering and French, is interested in a career in\u00a0robotics and mechatronics. His research project will present the opportunity to enhance the skills needed in that industry.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRay is an excellent undergraduate researcher and a good mechanical designer,\u201d said URI Graduate School of Oceanography Assistant Professor Mingxi Zhou, Turrisi\u2019s mentor. \u201cHe has been challenged to design a new type of unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) propulsion system, which will be integrated on to commercially available UUVs and the prototype UUV which is under construction in my lab.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Turrisi&#8217;s previous lab experience came in the spring 2019 semester, while working as an undergraduate research assistant in the\u00a0Dynamic Photomechanics Laboratory, under Simon Ostrach Distinguished Professor Arun Shukla.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Dr. Shukla challenges and pushes his students to do their best work and is engaged with them as much as he can be,&#8221; said Turrisi.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRay is a highly motivated, intelligent and hard-working student,\u201d said Shukla, who teaches in URI\u2019s Department of Mechanical, Industrial and Systems Engineering. \u201cIt is a pleasure to have him work in my lab.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Since 2007, RI NSF EPSCoR has supported more than 380 students through the SURF program.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;What began as a handful of students being paid to work in some labs at Brown University, URI, RWU and Providence College has grown into a state-wide partnership with the RI INBRE program and nine Rhode Island colleges,&#8221; said Lemire, the SURF program coordinator.<\/p>\n<p>The students will present the results of their summer research at the\u00a0Rhode Island SURF Conference on July 26 in URI&#8217;s Avedisian Hall, on the Kingston Campus.<\/p>\n<p>Here is a complete list of the URI students taking part this summer:<\/p>\n<p>Devyn Barraza<br \/>\nMajor: Biology<br \/>\nMentor: Kayla Kurtz (URI)<br \/>\nHometown: Plainfield, Massachusetts<br \/>\nProject: Biofilm growth on marine environments<\/p>\n<p>Jasmine Bazinet<br \/>\nMajor: Pharmacy<br \/>\nMentor: Jyothi Menon (URI)<br \/>\nHometown: East Lyme, Connecticut<br \/>\nProject: Development and characterization of lipid-polymer hybrid nanoparticles for drug<br \/>\ndelivery applications<\/p>\n<p>Laura Berard<br \/>\nMajor: Marine biology<br \/>\nMentor: Coleen Suckling (URI)<br \/>\nHometown: Cumberland, Rhode Island<br \/>\nProject: Determining how echinoderms respond to a high CO2 world<\/p>\n<p>Shawn Carlson<br \/>\nMajor: Chemical engineering<br \/>\nMentor: Arijit Bose (URI)<br \/>\nHometown: Wakefield, Massachusetts<br \/>\nProject: Algae-surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (A-SERS) based detection of nitrates and phosphates in water<\/p>\n<p>Matthew Carley<br \/>\nMajor: Pharmacy<br \/>\nMentor: Chris Hemme (URI)<br \/>\nHometown: West Greenwich, Rhode Island<br \/>\nProject: Development of bioinformatics tools for pharmacogenomics<\/p>\n<p>Marina Carro<br \/>\nMajor: Chemistry and applied mathematics<br \/>\nMentor: Matt Bertin (URI)<br \/>\nHometown: Cranston, Rhode Island<br \/>\nProject: Exploring the chemical potential of the Ocean State: the development of a screening library for neuroactive &amp; anti-inflammatory drug leads<\/p>\n<p>Stephen Davia<br \/>\nMajor: Biomedical and pharmaceutical science<br \/>\nMentor: Navindra Seeram (URI)<br \/>\nHometown: North Providence, Rhode Island<br \/>\nProject: Bioactive compounds from medicinal plants<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca Dickinson<br \/>\nMajors: Cell and molecular biology, biochemistry<br \/>\nMentor: Jodi Camberg (URI)<br \/>\nHometown: North Kingstown, Rhode Island<br \/>\nProject: Biochemical characterization of ATP-dependent cell division proteins<\/p>\n<p>Jessica Florendo<br \/>\nMajor: Marine biology<br \/>\nMentor: Anabela Maia (Rhode Island College)<br \/>\nHometown: Scotch Plains, New Jersey<br \/>\nProject: Effects of temperature on metabolism and muscle function of Narragansett Bay fish species<\/p>\n<p>Eden Francoeur<br \/>\nMajor: Chemistry and applied mathematics<br \/>\nMentor: Niall Howlett (URI)<br \/>\nHometown: West Greenwich, Rhode Island<br \/>\nProject: Understanding the molecular basis of the human genetic disease Fanconi Anemia<\/p>\n<p>Jessica Hiltz<br \/>\nMajor: Marine affairs<br \/>\nMentor: Tracey Dalton (URI)<br \/>\nHometown, Newtonville, Massachusetts<br \/>\nProject: Women in marine science<\/p>\n<p>Mirim Ji<br \/>\nMajors: Biomedical and pharmaceutical science, psychology<br \/>\nMentor: Bongsup Cho (URI)<br \/>\nHometown: Cranston, Rhode Island<br \/>\nProject: Probing the\u00a0conformational\u00a0heterogeneity of 4-aminobiphenyl-modified sequences by 19FNMR<\/p>\n<p>Meagan King<br \/>\nMajor: Biological sciences<br \/>\nMentors: Alexa Sterling, Dr. Bethany Jenkins, Matt Bertin (URI)<br \/>\nHometown: Westerly, Rhode Island<br \/>\nProject: Examining the dynamics of diatom population dynamics and diatom species that cause harmful algal blooms in Narragansett Bay<\/p>\n<p>Kayleigh LaPre<br \/>\nMajors: Cell and molecular biology, biochemistry<br \/>\nMentor: Katharina Quinlan (URI)<br \/>\nHometown: Cumberland, Rhode Island<br \/>\nProject: Electrophysiologic comparison of motor neuron drive in an animal model of cerebral palsy<\/p>\n<p>Emily Loomis<br \/>\nMajors: Cell and molecular biology, biochemistry<br \/>\nMentor: Katharina Quinlan (URI)<br \/>\nHometown: West Warwick, Rhode Island<br \/>\nProject: Identifying mechanisms of interaction between bacterial species in the human oral microbiome<\/p>\n<p>Mileena Nguyen<br \/>\nMajor: Chemistry and applied mathematics<br \/>\nMentor: Niall Howlett (URI)<br \/>\nHometown: Quincy, Massachusetts<br \/>\nProject: Understanding the molecular basis of the human genetic disease Fanconi Anemia<\/p>\n<p>Gabrielle Pantoni<br \/>\nMajors: Biology, philosophy<br \/>\nMentor: Matt Ramsey (URI)<br \/>\nHometown: Campbell Hall, New York<br \/>\nProject: Assessing changes in coastal ecosystem engineers and associated communities in Narragansett Bay<\/p>\n<p>Julie Phin<br \/>\nMajor: Chemistry and applied mathematics<br \/>\nMentor: Daniel Roxbury (URI)<br \/>\nHometown: Providence<br \/>\nProject: Hydrogels with nano-structured depots for multiplexed, optically directed regulation of cell behaviors<\/p>\n<p>Bryant Point<br \/>\nMajors: Chemistry, applied mathematics<br \/>\nMentor: Mindy Levine (URI)<br \/>\nHometown: Barrington, Rhode Island<br \/>\nProject: Colorimetric detection methods for nitrate and phosphate monitoring using hand-held, portable devices<\/p>\n<p>Sebastian Rueda<br \/>\nMajor: Chemistry<br \/>\nMentor: Matthew Kiesewetter (URI)<br \/>\nHometown: Central Falls, Rhode Island<br \/>\nProject: A cradle-to-cradle approach to bio-renewable plastics<\/p>\n<p>Kayla Russo<br \/>\nMajor: Cell &amp; molecular biology<br \/>\nMentor: Keith Thompson (URI)<br \/>\nHometown: Mahopac, New York<br \/>\nProject: Modeling the metabolism of important planktonic species in Narragansett Bay<\/p>\n<p>Stephanie Sandin<br \/>\nMajors: Chemical engineering and German (IEP)<br \/>\nMentor: Daniel Roxbury (URI)<br \/>\nHometown: Warwick, Rhode Island<br \/>\nProject: Multiplexed optical detection of heavy metal contaminants in plants<\/p>\n<p>Sophia Silvia<br \/>\nMajor: Chemistry and applied mathematics<br \/>\nMentor: Steven Gregory (URI)<br \/>\nHometown: Portsmouth, Rhode Island<br \/>\nProject: Horizontal transfer of ribosomal RNA genes among extremely thermophilic bacteria<\/p>\n<p>Klara Szilagyi<br \/>\nMajor: Biomedical engineering<br \/>\nMentor: Yalda Shahriari (URI)<br \/>\nHometown: East Providence, Rhode Island<br \/>\nProject: Brain-computer interfaces<\/p>\n<p>Raymond Turrisi<br \/>\nMajors: Mechanical engineering and French (IEP)<br \/>\nMentor: Mingxi Zhou (URI)<br \/>\nHometown: West Warwick, Rhode Island<br \/>\nProject: Enhancing the Narragansett Bay Observatory with unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs)<\/p>\n<p>Jacob Ullom<br \/>\nMajor: Cell and molecular biology<br \/>\nMentor: Arnob Dutta (URI)<br \/>\nHometown: East Providence, Rhode Island<br \/>\nProject: Role of histone H3T11phosphorylation in SWI\/SNF mediated gene regulation<\/p>\n<p>Tanner Wildfong<br \/>\nMajor: Biomedical engineering<br \/>\nMentor: Geoff Bothun (URI)<br \/>\nHometown: Longmeadow, Massachusetts<br \/>\nProject: Lab-to-field: Nanostructured sensors for monitoring pollutants in coastal\u00a0ecosystems<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 June 25, 2019 \u2013 Sixty-two undergraduate students from nine local colleges and universities were selected to conduct \u201cgraduate-level\u201d research in the University of Rhode Island\u2019s Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program. A total of 27 students from the University of Rhode Island were chosen to participate in the 10-week program. The SURF [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":74906,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-74905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74905"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74905\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}