Every summer, the Office of Undergraduate Research works with campus partners to bring students to the University of Utah. For the summer 2026, OUR is bring approximately 70 students to the U with Summer Program for Undergraduate Research (SPUR) and OUR Program Partners with American Heart Association (AHA), HAPPIEST, Haumana O’Pasifika, Wilkes Foundation and WIRED.  

OUR program partners will bring an additional couple hundreds of students to the U who will participate in research with faculty mentors at the forefront of their fields.  

Congratulations to the below SPUR scholars! 

College of Architecture & Planning

Curtis Beplay (Ajla Aksamija)

Joseph Asay (Divya Chandrasekhar)

Jack Carrasco (Alessandro Rigolon) – Cooling Narratives: Experiences of Green Space and Heat Mitigation in a Divided City

Theo Davis (Rogelio Cardona-Rivera) – Finding the Narrative Grammar in Storygames

Rebekah Duda (Alex Ponette-Gonzalez) – Personal Exposure Monitoring in Salt Lake City using Wearable Sensors

Taeyun Lim (Alex Ponette-Gonzalez)

Jarrek Robinson (Alessandro Rigolon) – Cooling Narratives: Experiences of Green Space and Heat Mitigation in a Divided City

Keila Torres Ayon (Alex Ponette-Gonzalez) – Personal Exposure Monitoring in Salt Lake City using Wearable Sensors

College of Education

Sydney Sheldon (Lynne Zummo) – Learning to observe: Teachers learning through scientific observation in field geology

College of Engineering

Mclean Anderson (Heather Holmes) – Modeling and understanding heat stress in Northern Utah

Alex Bracken (Shad Roundy) – Reducing Agricultural Water Use and Improving Access to Precision Irrigation through Improved Soil Moisture Analytics

Chad Brown (Alex Novoselov) – Fluid-Thermal-Structure Interaction Simulations of Rotating Detonation Engines

Erum Khan (Luis Garcia) – Building Cyber-Physical Capture the Flag Challenges for Critical Infrastructure Security

Jake Pepitone (Luis Garcia) – Building Cyber-Physical Capture the Flag Challenges for Critical Infrastructure Security

Juan Montoya (Luis Garcia) – Building Cyber-Physical Capture the Flag Challenges for Critical Infrastructure Security

Christopher Runge (Amir Arzani) – Computer modeling for medical device design: Blood flow dynamics and catheter design

Arnav Gupta (Paul Rosen) – Buckaroo: A Direct Manipulation Visual Data Wrangler

Ane Hernandez-Arista (Heather Holmes) – Modeling and understanding heat stress in Northern Utah

Breanna Huffaker (Kody Powell) – Energy Analysis of Desalination Pathways for Produced Water in Inland Basins

Noyon Nazari (Masood Parvania)

Johnathon Rodriguez (Jairo Giraldo Trujillo)

Teddy Wright (Vineet Pandey – co-mentor) – Responsible use of AI as a research method to improve public engagement in policy-making

College of Health

Slim Amaama (Mary Playdon)

Jason Bao (Genevieve Albouy) – Enhancing learning with non-invasive brain stimulation of deep brain structures

Sydney Berg (Rhonda Nelson) – The Comparative Efficacy and Acceptability of Traditional vs. Digital Card Game Interventions in Mental Health Treatment

Zach Ewell (J. David Symons) – Training in Lipotoxicity-Induced Cardiovascular and Metabolic Complications

Emma Foy (Amandine Chaix) – Training in Lipotoxicity-Induced Cardiovascular and Metabolic Complications

Cooper Ford (Will Holland) – Training in Lipotoxicity-Induced Cardiovascular and Metabolic Complications

Mira Hua (Sihem Boudina) – Training in Lipotoxicity-Induced Cardiovascular and Metabolic Complications

Ileina Kinikini (Will Holland)

Garett Lesa (Micah Drummond)

Bryce Pacourek (Kota Takahashi) – Biomechanics and energetics of locomotion: Applications for prosthetics and footwear research

Alaina Robinson (Peter Fino) – Exploring balance control while walking in unstable environments

Divya Sundar (Nirupama Ramkumar) – Training in Lipotoxicity-Induced Cardiovascular and Metabolic Complications

Ti'are Stroud-Lewis (Paul Estabrooks)

Jaden Zhou (Brad King) – Enhancing memory consolidation during sleep with targeted memory reactivation

 

College of Humanities

Emily Harding (Matt Haber) – The Philosophy of Biology Lab: Entangled Lineages, Classification, and Individuality

Teddy Wright (Sara Yeo – co-mentor) – Responsible use of AI as a research method to improve public engagement in policy-making

College of Mines & Earth Sciences

Denise Lopez (Suhas Eswarappa Prameela) – High-Throughput Microparticle Impact Experiments for Aerospace Materials

William Lee (Suhas Eswarappa Prameela) – High-Throughput Microparticle Impact Experiments for Aerospace Materials

Seth Morgan (Derek Mallia)

Clara Platt (Leif Anderson) – Glaciers in the western US: Past, Present, and Future

Hanzhen Yu (Leif Anderson) – Glaciers in the western US: Past, Present, and Future

College of Nursing

Naomi Jenkins (Lauri Linder) – Digital Health Interventions to Support Symptom Management for Children and Adolescents with Cancer

College of Pharmacy

Ananya Mahadevan (Farzana Alam) – The Role of Doppel-expressing Exosome in Ovarian Cancer Metastasis

College of Science

Aarnav Kandukuri (Connor Bischak) – From Data to Discovery: Understanding Organic Mixed Conductors with AI

Camryn Carr (Sara Warix) – Hydrologic Shifts from Climate Change: A Study of Two High Mountain Watersheds

Kelsey Dicianna (Rachel Havranek) – Quantifying Carbon in Beaver Ponds and Wetlands: Understanding Carbon Sequestration in Utah

Byron Wuollet (Eleinis Avila-Lovera) – Relationships between non-structural carbohydrates and stem xylem hydraulic conductivity in desert species from the Colorado Plateau

College of Social & Behavioral Science

Ella Phillips (Monika Lohani) – Stressors and coping strategies for climate change adaptation among frontline communities of Utah

Elliott Strand Hawkins (Monika Lohani) – Stressors and coping strategies for climate change adaptation among frontline communities of Utah

Daren Riddle (Jenna Merenstein) – Neuroimaging of Healthy Cognitive Aging

Breanna Watterson (Jenna Merenstein) – Neuroimaging of Healthy Cognitive Aging

Leslie Salinas-Gutierrez (Adrienne Cachelin) – Cultivating Care: The Impacts of Intergenerational back-farming on aging in place

Murron Mcdonald (Michelle Lee) – Quantifying pollination services in the Salt Lake Valley to better support pollinator communities and food security

College of Social Work

Jen Lee (Lindsay Gezinski) – Exploring Bystander Intervention for Survivors of Interpersonal Violence to Prevent Suicide

S.J. Quinney College of Law

Obse Abebe (Sam Heppell) – Mental Health Legal Clinic: Assessing Impact and Planning Growth

Violet Mulligan (Jenna Prochaska) – From Policy to Practice: Understanding the Impact of Fair Chance Housing Laws

School of Dentistry

John Sotele (Brenda Heaton)

School of Medicine

Malo Clayton (Nirupama Ramkumar)

Melanie Damian (Stavros Drakos)

Riya Dhuri (Adam Douglass) – Tactile reinforcement of social behavior in the miniature fish Danionella cerebrum

Kanoa Monlux (Jennie Hill)

Treysen Poepoe (Jared Rutter)

Ryan Maves (Jared Rutter) – Investigating Cellular Response to Metabolic Changes

Marika Semana (Sheetal Hardikar)

Tianna Starr (YanTing Shiu)

Kaylie Takeshita (Kalani Raphael)

Vanessa Wong (Yasmine White) – Pharmacokinetics of MitoQ in neonatal lambs

Kasey Xu (Marcus Pezzolesi)

Dee Scholarship (Fall 2026)

Utah Academy of Sciences, Arts & Letters (UASAL) (2026 - 2027)

Deadline to apply: May 31  

Fall 2026 UROP Application Deadline

The deadline to apply for Fall 2026 Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) is June 19th! Visit the UROP website for details on how to apply!

Summer Undergraduate Research Scholar Badge

University of Utah Summer Undergraduate Research Scholar Badge recognizes summer researchers for their active engagement in summer research. Summer research activities assist students with developing skills that support work force and life skill competencies, professional skills, and enhance post-graduate outcomes. Earners of this badge complete summer research with a faculty mentor and educational content, and present their research at the U. 

Earning Criteria

1) Participate in summer research under the mentorship of a University of Utah faculty. Participating in summer research is full-time research experience over the summer semester. 2) Complete attending the Office of Undergraduate Research Education Series summer curriculum. 3) Present at the Office of Undergraduate Research Symposium. 4) Submit their research abstract presented at the Undergraduate Research Symposium or a research-publication with RANGE: Undergraduate Research Journal. 

IRB Summer Schedule 

Working on an Institutional Review Board application or on research with human subjects? Drop by the IRB Lab!  

Wednesdays,10:30 am to 12:00  
Marriot Library or on Zoom.  
 
Today, April 15 - Marriott Library, 2130N  
May 6 - Marriott Library, 2130N  
May 20 - Marriott Library, 5220 

Zoom registration link

Summer Education Series fulfills in part the requirements needed for the University of Utah Summer Undergraduate Research Badge.  

Title IX for Students,
May 22, 11am-12pm, Virtual

Research Expectations,
May 27, 9-10am, Virtual

Navigating Research, 
June 3, 9-10am, Virtual 

Data Management and Research,
June 10, 9-10am, Virtual

Research Integrity & Ethics,
June 17, 9-10am, Virtual

Working with Mentors/Research Communication,
July 1, 9-10am, Virtual

Research Dissemination: Poster Presentations,
July 7, 9-10am, Virtual 

AI and Research,
July 14, 9-10am, Virtual 

Research Reflection,
July 21, 9-10am, Virtual

Request a Classroom Presentation

Finding research, funding, presentation/publication opportunities, and more! We cover it all in a classroom presentation! Request a presentation for your fall semester classes today!

Drop in with your questions about applying for funds, research opportunities, and how to get started any Friday during Spring Semester, 12:00-2:00pm via Zoom or in person at 005 Sill Center.

If you have questions about research opportunities, funding, or any of OURs programs make a research advising appointment with the link below.