Mount Saint Mary College students presented their extensive, summer-long research projects at the annual Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) Symposium on Thursday, October 2 in the Aquinas Hall Atrium.
The symposium was the culmination of a summer of intensive, faculty-mentored research, providing students from across various disciplines the opportunity to formally present their original findings through academic poster presentations.
The SURE program empowers Mount students to tackle real-world problems and contribute new knowledge to their respective fields, ranging from behavioral science to technology development and environmental chemistry and beyond.
This year’s projects demonstrated the breadth of student ingenuity at the Mount. Research topics at the symposium included:
- Environmental Science: “An Analysis of Microplastic Contamination in Hudson Valley Flora and Fauna,” investigating the accumulation of microplastics in local aquatic life.
- Psychology: “Who Am I and What is Right? The Development of Morality and the Self-Concept,” which explores how age and gender shape moral reasoning.
- Educational Technology: The collaborative project “Improving CoLab,” detailing advancements in the college’s learning management system, focusing on gamification, localization, and data security.
- Chemistry/Health: “Investigating the Antimicrobial Effects on ‘Homeopathic’ Remedies In-Vitro,” examining popular health claims using controlled laboratory experiments.
The 2025 Symposium also featured a keynote address from Jennifer Bready, Dean of the School of Arts, Sciences, and Education and Professor of Mathematics. Bready, a long-time mathematics educator and active participant in national academic conferences, spoke on “The Twists and Turns of Academic Research,” sharing insights from her career in scholarly pursuit.