Hope, Resilience, and Common Purpose: Advancing Knowledge for the Greater Good
Welcome to the Annual UROP Spring Research Symposium as we celebrate the diverse research, scholarly, and creative work of our students. During the 2024-2025 academic year, the program engaged more than 1,000 undergraduate students in research, scholarly, and creative inquiry, representing all areas of study from U-Ms 19 colleges and schools, including community organizations and national partners.
Resilience and persistence are crucial in research. Both enable researchers to navigate the inherent challenges and setbacks in research, ultimately fostering innovation and progress. At the same time, resilience allows researchers to bounce back from failures and adapt. Thank you to our research mentors who assist our students throughout unexpected obstacles and who provide resources and ingenuity to support them. Research is a life-long appreciation for discovery, building understanding across differences, and critically examining information in the world. Today’s event recognizes undergraduate researchers as partners in uncovering new knowledge and we celebrate them. We thank our research mentors for your commitment to our students. Thank you for mentoring and investing in our students’ training and education as future scholars and researchers. You gave our students the opportunity to explore and you provided a safe and flexible environment for them to think outside the box. On behalf of the UROP staff and students, we deeply appreciate all of you!
A special thank you to all the 2024-2025 UROP Peer Facilitators who teach the bi-weekly research seminar(s), meet 1-1 with their UROP students, and serve as amazing role models and mentors to students. You have not only learned how to tackle and cope with your own challenges throughout the year, but were instrumental in helping your fellow peers do the same. All of you cultivated an approach to your work that viewed obstacles as a critical part of success. You demonstrated excellent leadership by readily taking initiatives to address students’ concerns. Thank you for your ability to adapt to and modeling resilient competencies. You all showed leadership and more importantly, demonstrated empathy, understanding, and a deep level of care for your students. You all amaze us and you are the heart and soul of UROP!
Thank you to the incredible UROP staff who not only worked creatively this year on our program during a very tough period, you all rose to the occasion and showed support for one another.
In order for a program to be successful, it requires a great team of professionals who have a shared responsibility and believe in the mission and vision of UROP. You all contribute so much of your time and effort to ensure excellence. We celebrate you and we could not do our work without each and every one of you.
Sincerely,
Michelle D. Ferrez, Ed.D. Director
Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program
Symposium Schedule
The 2025 UROP Annual Spring Research Symposium is held in the Michigan League. Poster presentations are located in the League’s Ballroom on the second floor. Oral Presentations are located in the Hussey and Vandenburg room. The Michigan room will host the Creative Projects.
| Poster, Oral & Creative Project Sessions | Time Frame |
| Presentation Session 1 | 9:00 am – 9:50 am |
| Presentation Session 2 | 10:00 am – 10:50 am |
| Presentation Session 3 | 11:00 am – 11:50 am |
| Break | 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm |
| Presentation Session 4 | 1:00 pm – 1:50 pm |
| Presentation Session 5 | 2:00 pm – 2:50 pm |
| Presentation Session 6 | 3:00 pm – 3:50 pm |
| Presentation Session 7 | 4:00 pm – 4:50 pm |
Creative Project Presentations (Michigan Room, 2nd Floor of the Michigan League)
Creative Presentations are for those students who don’t fit the typical presentation styles (poster/oral). The Creative Presentation format debuted in 2023 as a way for engaging students that do not fit the traditional presentation formats. It has grown since to include students in the digital, performing, and fine arts as well as students with a creative presentation idea.
| Student Name | Session Time |
| Gabrielle Burnette | Session 1: (9:00am – 9:50am) |
| Lauren Kim | Session 2: (10:00am -10:50am) |
| Hadi Soweidan | Session 2: (10:00am – 10:50am) |
| Hassan Berry | Session 3: (11:00am – 11:50am) |
| Janet Larios | Session 3: (11:00am – 11:50am) |
| Ashley Cho | Session 4: (1:00pm – 1:50pm) |
| Luis Diaz | Session 4: (1:00pm – 1:50pm) |
| Boyu Xie | Session 4: (1:00pm – 1:50pm) |
| Aamiah Griffin | Session 5: (2:00pm – 2:50pm) |
| Makia Irvin | Session 5: (2:00pm – 2:50pm) |
| Jaidyn Opuni | Session 6: (3:00pm – 3:50pm) |
| Jake Song | Session 7: (4:00pm – 4:50pm) |
Oral Presentations (Hussey & Vandenburg Room, 2nd Floor of the Michigan League)
The Oral Presentation format is made available to our scholars to present at an advanced level with a formal presentation and includes primarily our Research Scholars and a few first year UROP students from the Traditional UROP and Changing Gears Programs.
| Student Name | Session Time |
| Alejandra Abramson | Session 1: (9:00am – 9:50am) |
| Thejomayi Akkoor | Session 1: (9:00am – 9:50am) |
| Lilah Bedell | Session 1: (9:00am – 9:50am) |
| Lukasz Dalecki | Session 1: (9:00am – 9:50am) |
| Fatima Farrukh | Session 1: (9:00am – 9:50am) |
| Madelynn Isbrecht | Session 1: (9:00am – 9:50am) |
| Reagan Kaelle | Session 1: (9:00am – 9:50am) |
| Ritish Natesan | Session 1: (9:00am – 9:50am) |
| Meghan Dwan | Session 2: (10:00 – 10:50am) |
| Michael Kenny | Session 2: (10:00 – 10:50am) |
| Vinh Dien Le | Session 2: (10:00 – 10:50am) |
| Ryan Lofland | Session 2: (10:00 – 10:50am) |
| Abigail Nacht | Session 2: (10:00 – 10:50am) |
| Matthew Nho | Session 2: (10:00 – 10:50am) |
| Saul Roman-Ramirez | Session 2: (10:00 – 10:50am) |
| Dan Viderman | Session 2: (10:00 – 10:50am) |
| Daley Diggs | Session 3: (11:00am – 11:50am) |
| Victoria Fouchea | Session 3: (11:00am – 11:50am) |
| Elizabeth Gass | Session 3: (11:00am – 11:50am) |
| Yun Hsuan Hsu | Session 3: (11:00am – 11:50am) |
| Evelyn Jiang | Session 3: (11:00am – 11:50am) |
| Olivia Morreale | Session 3: (11:00am – 11:50am) |
| Ana Torresarpi | Session 3: (11:00am – 11:50am) |
| Grace Vollmar | Session 3: (11:00am – 11:50am) |
| Hilary Adjei | Session 4: (1:00pm – 1:50pm) |
| Jane Barnett | Session 4: (1:00pm – 1:50pm) |
| Morgan Caudill | Session 4: (1:00pm – 1:50pm) |
| Tridib Chakraborty | Session 4: (1:00pm – 1:50pm) |
| Deborah Fu | Session 4: (1:00pm – 1:50pm) |
| Angie Li | Session 4: (1:00pm – 1:50pm) |
| Maia Lintner | Session 4: (1:00pm – 1:50pm) |
| Lara Rappaport Da Costa Santos | Session 4: (1:00pm – 1:50pm) |
| Alexander Visconti | Session 4: (1:00pm – 1:50pm) |
| Leah Wheaton | Session 4: (1:00pm – 1:50pm) |
| Claire Byrd | Session 5: (2:00pm – 2:50pm) |
| Morgan Gilboe | Session 5: (2:00pm – 2:50pm) |
| Chloe Hong | Session 5: (2:00pm – 2:50pm) |
| Chelsea Hyppolite | Session 5: (2:00pm – 2:50pm) |
| Ryann Jibson | Session 5: (2:00pm – 2:50pm) |
| Allison McGovern | Session 5: (2:00pm – 2:50pm) |
| Astrid Olsson | Session 5: (2:00pm – 2:50pm) |
| Rachel Rubanguka | Session 5: (2:00pm – 2:50pm) |
| Cora Scott | Session 5: (2:00pm – 2:50pm) |
| Connor Yang | Session 5: (2:00pm – 2:50pm) |
| Emma Brandimarte | Session 6: (3:00pm – 3:50pm) |
| Emelin Brito-Brito | Session 6: (3:00pm – 3:50pm) |
| Priscilla Du | Session 6: (3:00pm – 3:50pm) |
| Tabitha Johnson | Session 6: (3:00pm – 3:50pm) |
| Randle Kado | Session 6: (3:00pm – 3:50pm) |
| Ava Levy | Session 6: (3:00pm – 3:50pm) |
| Abigail Phelps | Session 6: (3:00pm – 3:50pm) |
| Rhea Raghavan | Session 6: (3:00pm – 3:50pm) |
| Molly Rigg | Session 6: (3:00pm – 3:50pm) |
| Alexandra Ulery | Session 6: (3:00pm – 3:50pm) |
| Alyssa Calloway | Session 7: (4:00pm – 4: 50pm) |
| Carson Downer | Session 7: (4:00pm – 4: 50pm) |
| Lia Finnegan | Session 7: (4:00pm – 4: 50pm) |
| Claire Holtz | Session 7: (4:00pm – 4: 50pm) |
| Cristi Isaula-Reyes | Session 7: (4:00pm – 4: 50pm) |
| Sophie Mensch | Session 7: (4:00pm – 4: 50pm) |
| Ali Moshaymesh | Session 7: (4:00pm – 4: 50pm) |
| Sonia Parveen | Session 7: (4:00pm – 4: 50pm) |
| Breana Santos | Session 7: (4:00pm – 4: 50pm) |
2025 UROP Peer Facilitators
| Deena Aboul-Hassan | Madeleine Gonley | Jack Phillips |
| Nada Alduays | Andrea Gonzalez | Sia Rajgarhia |
| Amanda Amirata | Eva Harden | Kaitlin Schiller |
| Nicholas Ando | Tace Harris | Yekateryna Sinitsyna |
| Zara Bedella | Faraz Hassan | Abigail Stephan |
| Sara Bizhani | Lily Heald | Hannah Stewart |
| Sabrenda Braceful | Kyle Heard | Claire Thomson |
| Crystal Briskey | Clain Johnson | Katelyn Warkentien |
| Sophie Chong | Sama Khan | Fatima Zaidan |
| Griffin Christie | Saso Krstovski | Jack Droelle |
| Rose Clark | Louisa Liu | Kacie Sieradski |
| Kaanan Datt | Lanny Lo | Lila Drasner |
| Loryn Davidson | Catherine Madden | Nicholas Love |
| Danny Dixon | Gabriela Muniz | |
| Julia Egnaczyk | George Nunu | |
| Omosiuwa Enakpene | Navya Paingol | |
| Yuliana Garcia | Isabelle Perraut |
UROP Donors
The Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program receives its operating budget from the University of Michigan’s General Fund. Gifts from private donors and corporate foundations support summer fellowships, grants to students with financial need, student travel to conferences to present research, and mentor awards. We would like to thank our following donors.
| Aaron, P | Ahl Family | Bendit Family |
| Braunstein, S. | Carlebach, D. & S. | Edsall Family |
| Eleanor Clay Foundation | Ford Motor Company | Ford, R. & K. |
| Genentech Foundation | Giordani, A. | Goldberg, R. |
| Halsted, T. | HIllard, F. | Kalish, D. |
| Luongo, D. | McNeil, L. | Muglia, R.L |
| National Science Foundation (NSF), Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) | Neary, R. & D. | Redlich-Horwitz, C. |
| Rieker, M. | Robinson Family | Rosen, T. |
| Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) | The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation | The Dan and Betty Kahn Foundation |
| Vasquez-Heilig, J. | Zbrozek, C. |
UROP Staff
Michelle D. Ferrez, Ed.D. – Director
Emily Edgerton, Ed.D. – Associate Director of Curriculum and Retention
Gloryvee Fonseca-Bolorin, Ph.D. – Associate Director of Mentor Engagement &
Director of Research Scholars
Ray Wang, M.F.A. – Assistant Director of Community-Engaged Research
Charmise L. Knox, M.A. – Academic Program Manager
Cyndy Kayden – Accounting Clerk Senior
Marcus Collins – Events and Communications Coordinator
Jamie Lee – Student Services Administrative Assistant
Diana Saldana-Arbas – Student Administrative Assistant Associate
Olivier Bahizi – UROP Changing Gears Graduate Coordinator
University of Michigan Board of Regents
Jordan B. Acker, Huntington Woods
Michael J. Behm, Grand Blanc
Mark J. Bernstein, Ann Arbor
Paul W. Brown, Ann Arbor
Sarah Hubbard, Lansing
Denise Ilitch, Bingham Farms
Carl J. Meyers, Dearborn
Katherine E. White, Ann Arbor
