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 Joint Award (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)

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

BUSINESS
Rachel Nelson (Mentor: Professor Sankar Srinivasan)

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

DENTISTRY
Sophia Boehler (Mentor: Professor Melodie Weller)

EDUCATION
Sarah Orozco (Mentor: Professor Veronica Valdez)

ENGINEERING
Katrina Le (Mentor: Professor Thomas Zangle)

FINE ARTS
Comstock (Mentor: Professor Brian Snapp)

HEALTH
Abby Laskey (Mentor: Professor Jeffrey Rose)

HONORS
Casey McFarland (Mentor: Professor Jennifer Alderden)

HUMANITIES
McKay Muhlestein (Mentor: Professor Natalya Kuznetsova)

LAW
Kailee Ferret (Mentor: Professor Leslie Francis)

MEDICINE
Avery Abelhouzen (Mentor: Professor Joseph Yost)

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

NURSING
Kari Stoddard (Mentor: Professor Lisa Taylor Swanson)

PHARMACY
Macey Smith (Mentor: Professor Amy Barrios)

SCIENCE
Elijah Counterman (Mentor: Professor Sean Lawley)

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

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

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

DENTISTRY
Matthew Hesterman (Mentor: Professor Melodie Weller)

EDUCATION
Kayla Kelsey (Mentor: Professor Sharlene Kithara)

ENGINEERING
Joseph Lyman (Mentor: Professor Sriram Krishnamoorthy)

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

HEALTH
Jacob Razzouk (Mentor: Professor Jessie King)

HONORS
Lydia Fries (Mentor: Professor Matthew Sigman)

MEDICINE
Selena Wirthlin (Mentor: Professor Bryan Jones)

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

NURSING
Kylie Bethards (Mentor: Professor Lauri Linder)

PHARMACY
Blair Armstrong (Mentor: Professor Hamid Ghandehari)

SCIENCE
Sahar Kanishka (Mentor: Professor James Gagnon)

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

SOCIAL WORK
Kimberly Tobar (Mentor: Professor Jason Castillo)

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

BUSINESS
Jacqueline Mumford (Mentor: Professor Robert Allen)

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

DENTISTRY
Braden Fallon (Mentor: Professor Melodie Weller)

EDUCATION
Danielle Sheremeta (Mentor: Professor Claire Son)

ENGINEERING
Takara Truong (Mentor: Professor Mark Minor)

FINE ARTS
Alicia Ross (Mentor: Professor Satu Hummasti)

HEALTH
Nate Rose (Mentor: Professor Adriana Coletta)

HONORS
Ben Battistone (Mentor: Professor Ginger Smoak)

HUMANITIES
Caitlin Silianoff (Mentor: Christopher Mead)

LAW
Madeline Harker (Mentor: Professor Amos Guiora)

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

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

NURSING
Bruno Gonzales (Mentor: Professor Michelle Litchman)

PHARMACY
Nam Nguyen (Mentor: Professor Christopher Reilly)

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

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

SOCIAL WORK
Hector Robles (Mentor: Professor Jason Castillo)

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

BUSINESS
Carly Ho (Mentor: Professor Nitin Bakshi)

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

DENTISTRY
Yasmeen Siripathane (Mentor: Professor Annette Fleckenstein)

EDUCATION
Erin Feeley (Mentor: Professor Erin Castro)

ENGINEERING
Abbie Ireland (Mentor: Professor Trudy Oliver)

FINE ARTS
Victoria Holmes (Mentor: Professor Kate Mattingly)

HEALTH
Samira Gholami (Mentor: Professor Anandh Velayutham)

HONORS
Camrey Tuttle (Mentor: Professor Sara Simonsen)

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

MEDICINE
Reuben Ryan Cano (Mentor: Professor Dean Tantin)

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

NURSING
Kristen Stucki (Mentor: Professor Gwen Latendresse)

PHARMACY
Zack Harmer (Mentor: Professor Eric Schmidt)

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

SCIENCE
Maile Marriott (Mentor: Professor Valeria Molinero)

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

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

BUSINESS
Taylor Dove (Mentor: Professor Davidson Heath)

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

DENTISTRY
Elaine Cooke (Mentor: Professor Melodie Weller)

EDUCATION
Carlie Haacke (Mentor: Professor Lauren Liang)

ENGINEERING
Jayden Plumb (Mentor: Professor Ashley Spear)

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

HEALTH
Nikol Yonemura (Mentor: Professor Micah Drummond)

HONORS
Gemma Clark (Mentor: Professor Jennifer Weidhaas)

HUMANITIES
Lydia Morley (Mentor: Professor Matt Haber)

MEDICINE
Abbie Ireland (Mentor: Professor Trudy Oliver)

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

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

PHARMACY
Zachary Barber (Mentor: Professor Hamid Ghandehari)

SCIENCE
Elom Amematsro (Mentor: Professor Sophie Caron)

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

SOCIAL WORK
Lauren Brocious (Mentor: Professor Caren Frost)

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

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

EDUCATION
Carol Castañeda (Mentor: Professor Mary Burbank)

ENGINEERING
Benjamin Gilmore (Mentor: Professor Taylor Sparks)

FINE ARTS
Ali Mitchell (Mentor: Professor Monty Paret)

HEALTH
Shantae George (Mentor: Professor Heather Hayes)

HONORS
Samantha Duzy (Mentor: Professor Michael Gills)

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

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

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

NURSING
Kyle McDougle (Mentor: Professor Lauren Clark)

PHARMACY
Annwin Chen (Mentor: Professor Amy Barrios)

SCIENCE
Amanda Bischoff (Mentor: Professor Matthew Sigman)

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

SOCIAL WORK
Rose Gomez (Mentor: Professor Jason Castillo)

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

DENTISTRY
Peter Curtis (Mentor: Professor Christopher German)

EDUCATION
Mercedes Jorgensen (Mentor: Professor Lauren Liang)

ENGINEERING
Kristina Lundgren (Mentor: Professor Taylor Sparks)

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

HEALTH
Cecilia Cardozo (Mentor: Professor Stacy Manwaring)

HONORS
Julie Imig (Mentor: Professor Inese Ivans)

HUMANITIES
Hillary Hermansen (Mentor: Professor Christopher Lewis)

MEDICINE
Kathryn Lami (Mentor: Professor Sihem Boudina)

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

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

PHARMACY
Seychelle Marcus (Mentor: Professor Christopher Reilly)

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

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

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

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

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

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

EDUCATION
Tyler McDaniel (Mentor: Professor Erin Castro)

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

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

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

HONORS
Diona Giannopoulos (Mentor: Professor Michael Gills)

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

LAW
Aliya Khan (Mentor: Professor Leslie Francis)

MEDICINE
Andrew Jo (Mentor: Professor David Krizaj)

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

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

PHARMACY
Josh Conarton (Mentor: Professor Hamid Ghandehari)

SCIENCE
Alexandra Kent (Mentor: Professor Jennifer Heemstra)

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

SOCIAL WORK
Elizabeth Gamarra (Mentor: Professor Dena Ned)

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

 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.  

• 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  

 

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

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