SURE AWARDS ANNOUNCED FOR SUMMER '08

Thirty-five Stonehill College students will work with 21 faculty members on a variety of research projects over the coming summer of 2008. 

The scholars and their faculty mentors are the thirteenth group to work under the Stonehill Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE).  The SURE program provides students with an opportunity to perform significant, publishable research under the guidance of an experienced faculty researcher.

"This year we had the most SURE applications ever," noted Bonnie Troupe, director of Academic Development.  "Competition for inclusion in the program continues to grow, and this year we were able to accept our largest class of SURE participants in the program's history.

"The research experience will help to provide students with a competitive advantage in graduate and professional school applications and in post-college employment opportunities, as well as to provide assistance to faculty in research activities," added Troupe.

"We continue to hear positive feedback from the program's student alumni about SURE's impact on their academic and professional careers, especially as it relates to graduate school admission."

• Lindsay Henry ’09, Jessica Roberge ’09, Laura Schulz ’09 and Courtney Sullivan ’09 will work with George Branigan, associate professor of Education, on The Providence Reform School Project. This project is a continuation of an ongoing three-year investigation into the records of the Providence Reform School, 1850-1880. 
   
• Sarah Keeling ’09 will work with Maria Curtin, Associate Professor of Chemistry, on Investigation of Chlorine Dioxide Production During the Oxidation of Ascorbate by Chlorite.
   
• Amber Riendeau ’09 will work with Maria Curtin, associate professor of Chemistry, on Temperature Dependence of Al-27 NMR Spectra of Aqueous Aluminum Solutions. 
    
• Angela Farinella '10 will work with Roger M. Denome, associate professor and chair of Biology, on Analysis of Genetic Differentiation in Local Redback Salamander Populations. 
    
• Sara Vicenzi ’10 will work with Richard B. Finnegan, professor of Political Science, on The Evolution of Ireland's Membership in the European Union. 
    
• Chris Tirrell ’09 will work with Susan Guarino-Ghezzi, professor of Sociology and Criminology, on Staff-Parenting Styles in Juvenile Corrections, a continuation of their SURE project last summer, Juvenile Justice Initiatives: Examining the Latest Trends. 
    
• Gina Ciovacco ’09 and Evan Tallmadge ’10 will work with Marilena Hall, assistant professor of Chemistry, on Characterization of the Zinc Binding of Phage-displayed Peptides and the Investigation of the Effect of Gene II Shine-Dalgarno Mutations. 
    
• Priscilla Tanger ’10 will work with Magdalena James-Pederson, associate professor in Chemistry and Biology, on Molecular cloning and sequencing of enzyme genes from Armillaria involved in wood degradation.
   
• Ashley Garland ’09 and Meaghan Stiman '10 will work with Patricia Leavy, associate professor and chair of Sociology and Criminology , on A Qualitative Study of Bodies. 
    
• Laura Chechette ’09 will work with Ronald Leone, associate professor of Communication, on Violent Ratings Creep in PG-13 Films. 
    
• Ashley Lajoie ’09, Natalie Dogal ’10, Nicholas Pace ’10 and Sara Roderiques '10 will work with Louis Liotta, professor of Chemistry, on The Synthesis of Polyhydroxylated Pyrrolidines and Pyrrolizidines from Commercially Available Sugars. Lajoie will participate in the project as a SURE Leader.
    
• Anna Kern ’10 will work with Gregory Maniero, assistant professor of Biology on Influence of Temperature, Salinity, and Desiccation on Heat Shock Protein Expression in Bivalves and Gastropods from a Tidal New England River. 
    
• Shannon Deirdre Rice ’09 will work with Monique Myers, assistant professor of Communication, on China’s One Child Policy, a continuation of a SURE 2007 project.
    
• Tom Hernon ’09, Lindsay Prescott ’09, Katy Fallavollita ’10, and Sarah Wilson ‘10 will work with Robert Peabody, professor of Biology, Diane Peabody, research professor of Biology, Maura Tyrrell, professor of Biology, and Jane Deluca, laboratory instructor of Biology, on Markers to be Used in Analyzing the Honey-mushroom Life Cycle. 
    
• Katelyn Kurkul ’09 and Nicole Landry ’09 will work with Christopher Poirier, assistant professor of Psychology, on Reducing the Own-age Bias in Face Recognition. 
    
• Eric Dombrowski '09 and Kristin Jackson '10 will work with Cheryl Schnitzer, assistant professor of Chemistry, on Producing Biodiesel from Waste Vegetable Oil Using a Bubble Column.  Dombrowski will participate in the project as a SURE Leader.
    
• Devon Heath ’10, Christopher Kelly ’10, Stephen Murphy '10, and Michael Mercadante '10 will work with Leon Tilley, associate professor of Chemistry, and Marie Turner, assistant professor of Chemistry, on Synthesis of Trifluoromethyl Ketones. 
    
• Molly Gallaher ’09 and Michael Raposa ’11 will work with James E. Wadsworth, assistant professor of History, on A Circle of Hands: Cross-Cultural Trade in America before the European Invasion. 

SURE Scholars will begin the eight- to 10-week program on May 27, 2008. They will engage in weekly meetings to discuss the progress of their projects and other topics of general interest, and will be paid a stipend for their full-time service.

All SURE Scholars will present summaries of their summer’s work at an all-campus poster session in the early fall.

Students and faculty members who wish to pursue a SURE research project for the summer of 2009 may contact the Office of Academic Development, Duffy 119, ext. 1069, for further information. The deadline for applications for the summer of 2009 is December 5, 2008.

Issued 03/11/08