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About the Awards & Awards Ceremony

Every year the Office of Undergraduate Research celebrates awardees with the Outstanding Undergraduate Research Award, the Outstanding Undergraduate Research Mentor Award, and presents certificates to scholarship recipients. This event fosters a healthy research culture as one that includes recognition.

Awards Ceremony 2024

OUR Awards Ceremony Program

This event was made possible by the leadership and support of the University of Utah, Undergraduate Studies, Vice President for Research, and the 18 colleges who partner with the Office of Undergraduate Research. We are also grateful for the donations provided by: Ruby Snap and the J. Willard Marriott Library.

Special thank you to our donors:

10:30AM      Opening Remarks – Associate Dean Annie Fukushima

10:40AM      Inspiration - Provost Mitzi Montoya

10:40AM      Illuminations – VPR Erin Rothwell

11:00AM      Undergraduate Research Scholarship recipients: 2023 - 2024 recipients of the Francis Family Fund Scholarships, Dee Scholarship, and Parent Fund Scholarship.

11:15AM      Monson Essay Prize winner: Pablo Cruz-Ayala (Prof. John Erickson)

11:20AM      Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher & Research Mentor Awards by college

Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Awardees

  • ARCHITECTURE + PLANNING
    Tae Eun Ko (Mentor: Professor Andy Hong)

    CULTURAL & SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION
    Jorge Jimenez
    (Mentor: Professor Edmond Fong)

    EDUCATION
    Michael Molenaar (Mentor: Professor Frankie Laanan and Jason Burrow-Sanchez)

    ENGINEERING
    Ethan Gallup (Mentors: Professors Kody Powell)
    Andrew Tolton (Mentor: Professor Zlatan Aksamija)

    FINE ARTS
    Alix Wright (Mentor: Professor Mosses Williams)

    HEALTH
    Maren Curtis
    (Mentor: Professor Adriana M Coletta)

    HONORS
    Nehal Bakshi (Mentor: Professor Melissa Watt)

    HUMANITIES
    Pierce Christoffersen and Kalista Leggitt (Mentor: Professor Matt Haber)

    MEDICINE
    Alejandra Michelle Huerta Hernandez (Mentor: Professor Jennie Hill)

    MINES & EARTH SCIENCES
    Autumn Hartley
    (Mentor: Professor Sarah Lambart)

    NURSING
    Michaella Halweg (Mentor: Professor Rebekah Perkins)

    PHARMACY
    Kylee McManus (Mentor: Professor Shreya Goel)

    SCIENCE
    Dua Azhar
    (Mentor: Professor Sophie Caron)

    SOCIAL & BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES
    Andrew Clothier
    (Mentor: Professor Tabitha Benney)
    Haley Parsons (Mentor: Professor Katie Baucom)

    SOCIAL WORK
    Xochitl Juarez
    (Mentor: Professor Theresa Martinez)

  • ARCHITECTURE + PLANNING
    Charlotte Garris (Mentor: Professor Keith Bartholomew)

    BUSINESS
    Ryan McBride (Mentor: Professor Vandana Ramachandran)

    CULTURAL & SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION
    Natalia Garrido (Mentor: Professor Claudia Geist)

    DENTISTRY
    Eliza Diggins (Mentor: Professor Melodie Weller)

    EDUCATION
    Tessa Cahoon (Mentor: Professor Mary Burbank)

    ENGINEERING
    Adriana Payan-Medina (Mentors: Professors Julio C. Facelli and Ramkiran Gouripeddi)
    Michael Alessandro Keyser (Mentor: Professor Pierre-Emmanuel Gaillardon)

    FINE ARTS
    Lauren Carn (Mentor: Professor Lynn Deboeck)

    HEALTH
    Elena Yee (Mentor: Professor Micah Drummond)

    HONORS
    Katie Sanyal (Mentor: Professor Michael Gills)

    HUMANITIES
    Eliana Massey (Mentor: Professor Matthew Basso)

    MEDICINE
    Samuel Hendry (Mentor: Professor Matthew Mulvey)

    MINES & EARTH SCIENCES
    Nancy Sohlberg (Mentor: Professor Gannet Hallar)

    NURSING
    Sydney Gilliland (Mentor: Professor Lauri Linder)

    PHARMACY
    Oliver Hubbard
    (Mentor: Professor Hamid Ghandehari)

    SCIENCE
    Alison Wang (Mentor: Professor Caroline Saouma)
    Yexalen Barrera-Casas (Mentor: Professor Michael Morse)

    SOCIAL & BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES
    Camden Alexander (Mentor: Professor Sara Grineski
    Shaistah Din (Mentor: Professor Marissa Deiner)

  • Samantha Eddy (Mentor: Professor Shundana Yusaf)
    ARCHITECTURE + PLANNING

    Rachel Nelson (Mentor: Professor Sankar Srinivasan)
    BUSINESS

    Joshua Christensen (Mentor: Professor Lisa Diamond)
    CULTURAL & SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION

    Sophia Boehler (Mentor: Professor Melodie Weller)
    DENTISTRY

    Sarah Orozco (Mentor: Professor Veronica Valdez)
    EDUCATION

    Katrina Le (Mentor: Professor Thomas Zangle)
    ENGINEERING

    Comstock (Mentor: Professor Brian Snapp)
    FINE ARTS

    Abby Laskey (Mentor: Professor Jeffrey Rose)
    HEALTH

    Casey McFarland (Mentor: Professor Jennifer Alderden)
    HONORS

    McKay Muhlestein (Mentor: Professor Natalya Kuznetsova)
    HUMANITIES

    Kailee Ferret (Mentor: Professor Leslie Francis)
    LAW

    Avery Abelhouzen (Mentor: Professor Joseph Yost)
    MEDICINE

    Alex Dzubay (Mentor: Professor. Kristine Pankow and Jeff Moore)
    MINES & EARTH SCIENCES

    Kari Stoddard (Mentor: Professor Lisa Taylor Swanson)
    NURSING

    Macey Smith (Mentor: Professor Amy Barrios)
    PHARMACY

    Elijah Counterman (Mentor: Professor Sean Lawley)
    SCIENCE

    Emmanuel Diaz (Mentor: Professor Katie Baucom)
    SOCIAL & BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

  • Joe Wassweiler (Mentor: Professor Cord Bowen)
    ARCHITECTURE + PLANNING

    Cloe Butler (Mentor: Professor Ana Carolina Antunes)
    CULTURAL & SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION

    Matthew Hesterman (Mentor: Professor Melodie Weller)
    DENTISTRY

    Kayla Kelsey (Mentor: Professor Sharlene Kithara)
    EDUCATION

    Joseph Lyman (Mentor: Professor Sriram Krishnamoorthy)
    ENGINEERING

    Ben Stanford (Mentors: Professor Kimberly Jew & Professor Tim Slover)
    FINE ARTS

    Jacob Razzouk (Mentor: Professor Jessie King)
    HEALTH

    Lydia Fries (Mentor: Professor Matthew Sigman)
    HONORS

    Selena Wirthlin (Mentor: Professor Bryan Jones)
    MEDICINE

    Jerry R. Howard II (Mentor: Professor Krista Carlson)
    MINES & EARTH SCIENCES

    Kylie Bethards (Mentor: Professor Lauri Linder)
    NURSING

    Blair Armstrong (Mentor: Professor Hamid Ghandehari)
    PHARMACY

    Sahar Kanishka (Mentor: Professor James Gagnon)
    SCIENCE

    Angela Pham (Mentor: Professor Anu Asnaani)
    SOCIAL & BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

    Kimberly Tobar (Mentor: Professor Jason Castillo)
    SOCIAL WORK

  • Hakan Ashaboglu (Mentor: Professor Trent Smith)
    ARCHITECTURE + PLANNING

    Jacqueline Mumford (Mentor: Professor Robert Allen)
    BUSINESS

    Christine Workman Martinez (Mentor: Professor Wanda S. Pillow)
    CULTURAL & SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION

    Braden Fallon (Mentor: Professor Melodie Weller)
    DENTISTRY

    Danielle Sheremeta (Mentor: Professor Claire Son)
    EDUCATION

    Takara Truong (Mentor: Professor Mark Minor)
    ENGINEERING

    Alicia Ross (Mentor: Professor Satu Hummasti)
    FINE ARTS

    Nate Rose (Mentor: Professor Adriana Coletta)
    HEALTH

    Ben Battistone (Mentor: Professor Ginger Smoak)
    HONORS

    Caitlin Silianoff (Mentor: Christopher Mead)
    HUMANITIES

    Madeline Harker (Mentor: Professor Amos Guiora)
    LAW

    James Carrington (Mentor: Professor Minna-Roh Johnson)
    MEDICINE

    Christopher Rapp  (Mentor: Professor Gannet Hallar)
    MINES & EARTH SCIENCES

    Bruno Gonzales (Mentor: Professor Michelle Litchman)
    NURSING

    Nam Nguyen (Mentor: Professor Christopher Reilly)
    PHARMACY

    Connor Terry Weatherly (Mentors: Professor Henry White & Professor Shelley Minteer)
    SCIENCE

    Shaniah Morning Star Chee (Mentor: Professor Brian Codding)
    SOCIAL & BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

    Hector Robles (Mentor: Professor Jason Castillo)
    SOCIAL WORK

  • Michael Jarzin (Mentor: Professor Sarah Hinners)
    ARCHITECTURE + PLANNING

    Carly Ho (Mentor: Professor Nitin Bakshi)
    BUSINESS

    Estefanie Aguilar Padilla (Mentor: Professor Erin Castro)
    CULTURAL AND SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION

    Yasmeen Siripathane (Mentor: Professor Annette Fleckenstein)
    DENTISTRY

    Erin Feeley (Mentor: Professor Erin Castro)
    EDUCATION

    Abbie Ireland (Mentor: Professor Trudy Oliver)
    ENGINEERING

    Victoria Holmes (Mentor: Professor Kate Mattingly)
    FINE ARTS

    Samira Gholami (Mentor: Professor Anandh Velayutham)
    HEALTH

    Camrey Tuttle (Mentor: Professor Sara Simonsen)
    HONORS

    Maya Kobe-Rundio (Mentor: Professor Robin E Jensen)
    HUMANITIES

    Reuben Ryan Cano (Mentor: Professor Dean Tantin)
    MEDICINE

    Alexander Reifsnyder (Mentor: Professor Krista Carlson)
    MINES & EARTH SCIENCES

    Kristen Stucki (Mentor: Professor Gwen Latendresse)
    NURSING

    Zack Harmer (Mentor: Professor Eric Schmidt)
    PHARMACY

    Journey Bly (Mentor: Professor Leslie Knapp)
    SOCIAL & BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE

    Maile Marriott (Mentor: Professor Valeria Molinero)
    SCIENCE

    Sadia Al-Hilo (Mentor: Professor Jeremiah Jaggers)
    SOCIAL WORK

     

  • Carissa Pollock (Mentor: Professor Ryan Smith)
    ARCHITECTURE + PLANNING

    Taylor Dove (Mentor: Professor Davidson Heath)
    BUSINESS

    Valeria Jimenez (Mentors: Professor Edmund Fong & Professor Jesus Valero)
    CULTURAL & SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION

    Elaine Cooke (Mentor: Professor Melodie Weller)
    DENTISTRY

    Carlie Haacke (Mentor: Professor Lauren Liang)
    EDUCATION

    Jayden Plumb (Mentor: Professor Ashley Spear)
    ENGINEERING

    Cece Otto (Mentor: Professor Robert Scott Smith)
    FINE ARTS

    Nikol Yonemura (Mentor: Professor Micah Drummond)
    HEALTH

    Gemma Clark (Mentor: Professor Jennifer Weidhaas)
    HONORS

    Lydia Morley (Mentor: Professor Matt Haber)
    HUMANITIES

    Abbie Ireland (Mentor: Professor Trudy Oliver)
    MEDICINE

    Silvia Padilla (Mentor: Professor Michael Simpson)
    MINES & EARTH SCIENCES

    Jia "Janny" Liu (Mentor: Professor Jacqueline Eaton)
    NURSING

    Zachary Barber (Mentor: Professor Hamid Ghandehari)
    PHARMACY

    Elom Amematsro (Mentor: Professor Sophie Caron)
    SCIENCE

    Hannah Samowitz (Mentor: Professor Monisha Pasupathi)
    SOCIAL & BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

    Lauren Brocious (Mentor: Professor Caren Frost)
    SOCIAL WORK

  • Sara Ference (Mentor: Professor Elpitha Tsoutsounakis)
    ARCHITECTURE + PLANNING

    Heidi Qin (Mentor: Professor Dolores Delgado Bernal)
    CULTURAL AND SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION

    Carol Castañeda (Mentor: Professor Mary Burbank)
    EDUCATION

    Benjamin Gilmore (Mentor: Professor Taylor Sparks)
    ENGINEERING

    Ali Mitchell (Mentor: Professor Monty Paret)
    FINE ARTS

    Shantae George (Mentor: Professor Heather Hayes)
    HEALTH

    Samantha Duzy (Mentor: Professor Michael Gills)
    HONORS

    Eve Olson (Mentor: Professor Rachel Hayes-Harb)
    HUMANITIES

    Caroline Wang (Mentor: Professor Catherine Loc-Carillo)
    MEDICINE

    Nicholas Thiros (Mentor: Professor Diego Fernandez)
    MINES & EARTH SCIENCES

    Kyle McDougle (Mentor: Professor Lauren Clark)
    NURSING

    Annwin Chen (Mentor: Professor Amy Barrios)
    PHARMACY

    Amanda Bischoff (Mentor: Professor Matthew Sigman)
    SCIENCE

    Kai Sin (Mentor: Professor Aikio Kamimura)
    SOCIAL & BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

    Rose Gomez (Mentor: Professor Jason Castillo)
    SOCIAL WORK

  • Michael Hoehn (Mentor: Professor Erin Carraher)
    ARCHITECTURE + PLANNING

    Peter Curtis (Mentor: Professor Christopher German)
    DENTISTRY

    Mercedes Jorgensen (Mentor: Professor Lauren Liang)
    EDUCATION

    Kristina Lundgren (Mentor: Professor Taylor Sparks)
    ENGINEERING

    Cynthia Chen (Mentors: Professor Catherine Mayes & Professor Jane Hatter)
    FINE ARTS

    Cecilia Cardozo (Mentor: Professor Stacy Manwaring)
    HEALTH

    Julie Imig (Mentor: Professor Inese Ivans)
    HONORS

    Hillary Hermansen (Mentor: Professor Christopher Lewis)
    HUMANITIES

    Kathryn Lami (Mentor: Professor Sihem Boudina)
    MEDICINE

    Benjamin White (Mentor: Professor Jeffrey Moore)
    MINES & EARTH SCIENCES

    Christina Triptow (Mentor: Professor Katherine P. Supiano)
    NURSING

    Seychelle Marcus (Mentor: Professor Christopher Reilly)
    PHARMACY

    Ethan Lake (Mentors: Professor Oleg Starykh, Professor Yong-Shi Wu & Professor Zheng Zheng)
    SCIENCE

    Brianna Bartholomew (Mentors: Professor Elizabeth Cashdan & Professor Leslie A. Knapp)
    SOCIAL & BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

    Elizabeth Gamarra (Mentor: Professor Joanna Bettmann Schaefer)
    SOCIAL WORK

  • Katherine Nix (Mentor: Professor Stephen Goldsmith)
    ARCHITECTURE + PLANNING

    Zhao Jin (Mentors: Professor Elizabeth Tashjian & Professor Cihan Bilginsoy)
    BUSINESS

    Andrew Johansen (Mentors: Professor Lisa McFadden & Professor Annette Fleckenstein)
    DENTISTRY

    Tyler McDaniel (Mentor: Professor Erin Castro)
    EDUCATION

    Josh Kunz (Mentors: Professor Sneha Kasera, Professor Robert Ricci & Professor Kobus Van der Merwe)
    ENGINEERING

    Chance Clouse (Mentor: Professor Maureen O’Hara Ure)
    FINE ARTS

    Brett Cutler (Mentors: Professor Thunder Jalili & Professor Anandh Babu Pon Velayutham)
    HEALTH

    Diona Giannopoulos (Mentor: Professor Michael Gills)
    HONORS

    Kajsa Vlasic (Mentors: Professor Michael Gills & Professor Disa Gambera)
    HUMANITIES

    Aliya Khan (Mentor: Professor Leslie Francis)
    LAW

    Andrew Jo (Mentor: Professor David Krizaj)
    MEDICINE

    Max Giannetta (Mentor: Professor Lowell Miyagi)
    MINES & EARTH SCIENCES

    Andy Rivera (Mentors: Professor Kristin Cloyes & Professor Linda Edelman)
    NURSING

    Josh Conarton (Mentor: Professor Hamid Ghandehari)
    PHARMACY

    Alexandra Kent (Mentor: Professor Jennifer Heemstra)
    SCIENCE

    Martin Puga Jr. (Mentor: Professor Rebecca Utz)
    SOCIAL & BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

    Elizabeth Gamarra (Mentor: Professor Dena Ned)
    SOCIAL WORK

Outstanding Undergraduate Research Mentor Awardees

  • Andy Hong, Ph.D 
    ARCHITECTURE + PLANNING

    Lisa Diamond, Ph.D
    CULTURAL & SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION

    Lauren Liang, Ph.D
    EDUCATION

    Jacob George, Ph.D
    ENGINEERING

    Hubbel Palmer
    FINE ARTS

    Will Holland, Ph.D
    HEALTH

    Maureen Mathison, Ph.D
    HUMANITIES

    Melissa Watt, Ph.D
    MEDICINE

    Sarah Lambart, Ph.D
    MINES & EARTH SCIENCES

    Sara Simonsen, Ph.D
    NURSING

    Hamid Ghandehari, Ph.D
    PHARMACY

    Sophie Caron, Ph.D
    SCIENCE

    Shane Macfarlan, Ph.D
    SOCIAL & BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

    Lindsay Gezinski, Ph.D
    SOCIAL WORK

  • Sarah Hinners, Ph.D 
    ARCHITECTURE + PLANNING

    Vandana Ramachandran, Ph.D
    BUSINESS

    Annie Isabel Fukushima, Ph.D
    CULTURAL & SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION

    Melodie Weller, Ph.D
    DENTISTRY

    Mary D. Burbank Ph.D
    EDUCATION

    Cynthia Furse, Ph.D
    ENGINEERING

    Alexandra Harbold
    FINE ARTS

    J. David Symons, Ph.D
    HEALTH

    Michael Gills, Ph.D
    HONORS

    Rachel Hayes-Harb, Ph.D
    HUMANITIES

    Yan-Ting Shiu, Ph.D
    MEDICINE

    Gannet Hallar, Ph.D
    MINES & EARTH SCIENCES

    Lauri Linder, Ph.D, APRN, CPON, FAAN, FAPHON
    NURSING

    Amy M. Barrios, Ph.D
    PHARMACY

    Ofer Rog, Ph.D
    SCIENCE

    Sara Elizabeth Grineski, Ph.D
    SOCIAL & BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

College Nomination Process

  • Any currently-enrolled degree-seeking undergraduate student at the University of Utah is eligible for the award. Nominees DO NOT need to have participated in UROP. The student may be engaged in any type of research or creative scholarship on campus. We recommend that you consider all students working with your college’s/school’s faculty as eligible even if they are not majors in your college/school.

  •  Eligible OUR Mentor Awardees:

    • Tenure-line or career-line faculty at the University of Utah are eligible for the award.  
    • Nominees must have mentored students in UROP (Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program) or SPUR (Summer Program for Undergraduate Research) in the past 3 years. 
    • The faculty mentor must be engaged in research or creative scholarship and teaching on campus.  
  • Each Spring, representatives from each college collect nominations and select the year's Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher and Outstanding Undergraduate Research Mentor Awardees from their college (one faculty, one student). Recipients and their faculty research mentors are celebrated at an annual undergraduate research awards ceremony.

    Effective for the awards ceremony 2025

    Deadline for nominations by the college:

    February 15, 2025

    Nominations review and vote of approval:

    • Undergraduate Research Advisory Council receives nomination packets for review on February 15
    • Undergraduate Research Advisory convenes the last week of February to approve all nominations

    Informing of the awardees

    March 1st, recipients are informed by the Office of Undergraduate Research of the award and invited to the awards ceremony by the Office of Undergraduate Research.

     

  • Every year the Office of Undergraduate Research recognizes one undergraduate student researcher from each college/school with the Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Award. Partnering colleges/schools are responsible for selecting the awardee. We are pleased that for 2023, we are recognizing:

    Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Awardees (OURA)

    Faculty mentors are invited to nominate students, and awardees are selected by committee. The criteria for the Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Award are:

    • Record of sustained commitment to developing research skills and knowledge under the supervision of a faculty mentor
    • Evidence of independent and critical thinking
    • Active participation in research-related activities on campus
    • Positive contributions to the research culture of the Department, College, and University

    Outstanding Undergraduate Research Mentor Awardees.

    This is in collaboration with deans and college partners. The criteria for the Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Mentor Award are:

    • Record of sustained commitment to undergraduate research mentoring
    • Active participation in research-related activities on campus
    • Positive contributions to the research and teaching culture of the Department, College, and University