St. Mary’s University promotes transformational learning through its support of research, creative and scholarly activities for faculty and students at the graduate and undergraduate level.
Research enhances critical thinking skills and provides hands-on experience for students entering the job market or advanced degree programs. When involved in research, creative and scholarly activities, students enjoy positive, life-changing relationships with faculty mentors.
Students at St. Mary’s have an opportunity to participate in undergraduate research and impact the world through purposeful academic research. St. Mary’s University undergraduates are conducting cutting-edge research and using critically emerging technology in bioengineering and biology, as well as other science, engineering and technology fields. The University also offers the chance to work with faculty scholars in business, humanities and social science.
Our Institutional Review Board ensures that research participants’ rights and welfare are protected.
Annual Research Symposium and Creative Activities Exhibition
Each spring semester, St. Mary’s University hosts its annual Research Symposium and Creative Activities Exhibition, which fosters scholarly dialogue among students and faculty. Presenters at the exhibition display an assortment of projects including scientific investigations, analytical reviews or projects, innovations/inventions, honors theses, senior projects and original works of art, media, poetry or writing. The event is open to undergraduate, graduate and law students
This event is an opportunity for St. Mary’s faculty and students to enhance our heritage of academic excellence and encourage innovation in education by presenting various forms of scholarship. Participants design posters or exhibits that provide an overview of their study or project and the resulting data and conclusions, just as researchers do at professional conferences.
2018 Presentations
Magnetotelluric Investigations of the Yellowstone Caldera: Understanding the Emplacement of Crustal Magma Bodies
Rebeca Gurrola, McNair Scholar, Department of Physics and Department of Mathematics
The Effects of Summer Camp on Participants’ Affective Views of Science
Iliana De La Cruz, Department of Physics and Department of Mathematics
The Jubilees Palimpsest Project: The Role of Digital Humanities in Recovering Palimpsests
Anthony Selvanathan, graduate student, Department of Theology
Chatty Men and Slutty Women: Biased Gender Portrayals in Adult Cartoons
Shawnee Pelletier, Department of Psychology
The Mouth Game: A Social Developmental Milestone in Beluga Calves?
Magdalena Banda, Department of Biology
Engineering of a Putative Zinc Binding Site in SOD5 from Candida Albicans
Claudia Moreno Romero, Department of Biology
NAD+ Bound N-terminal Domain of CARDS Toxin Increases IL-1B Secretion
Allison Woods, Department of Biology
Color-blindness Deconstructed: An Assessment of CoBRAS Over Time
Jacqueline Lucero, McNair Scholar, Department of Psychology
Live Oak, Very Dead Fish: an Anatomical Description of a Legacy Collection
of Miocene Fish Fossils from Live Oak County, TX
Tatiana Marrone, Department of Physics and Department of Environmental Science
Identification of Novel Microtubule Targeting Agents from a Unique Chemical Compound Library
Allison Woods, Department of Biology
Isolation and Injustice: The Story of German American Internment in Texas
Nicole Johnson, Department of History
Finessing Privilege: A Characterization of Passing through Latina Experiences
Gisela Reyes, McNair Scholar, Department of Philosophy
2018 Presentations
Oral Presentation Winners
First Place
Alyssa Alvarez , Expressing, Purifying, and Characterizing a Flavodoxin from the Solvent-Producing Clostridium Acetobutylicum
Second Place
Jocelyn Baca, A Dynamical Systems Approach to Modeling the Practice of Catholicism in the United States During the Twentieth Century
Third Place
Rebeca Gurrola, Wearable textile-based energy harvester designed for human motion
Graduate Poster Presentation Winners
First Place
Cynthia Anderson, Attitudes, Knowledge, and Skills of Play Therapy Among Elementary School Counselors
Second Place
Leigh Ann Cowan, A Visualization of Deviation from Traditional English Grammar
Third Place
Jiyoung Moon, The Influence of Intergroup Contact on Attitudes Toward Diversity Among Professional Counselors
Science, Engineering and Technology Poster Presentation Winners
First Place
Allison Woods, N-Terminal of ADP-Ribosylating “CARDS Toxin” Complexed With NAD+ Analogue
Second Place
David Feagins and Adrian Ornelas, Finding efficient ligand docking tools for drug discovery
Third Place
Hector Garcia, In-silico Identification of the Hairy and Krüppel Binding Sites leads to Unravelling of their Synergistic Action in the Juvenile Hormone Regulatory Pathway
Humanities Poster Presentation Winners
First Place
Zaraly Frasquillo, Sorry, We Have Reached Our Capacity: The Immigration Act of 1924
Second Place
Sierra Fuentes, Loyalty, Fear and Internal conflict in The Lord of the Rings
Third Place
Brandon Villarreal, The Dobrik Effect: A Qualitative Report on How David Dobrik has Risen to YouTube Stardom.
Social Sciences Poster Presentation Winners
First Place
Isabela Baker, Persuasion Techniques and Antivaccination Messages on Twitter
Second Place
Sabrina Rodriguez and Sarah Perez, Animals and Attachment Theory: Relative to Academic Stress
Third Place
Alicia Perez, No More Mr. Nice Guy: Rock Music and Aggression Across Time
School of Business Presentation Winners
First Place
Chicago Schuller, Application of Advanced Predictive Models in Analyzing Faith-Based Harassment
Second Place
Adan Morales, Do women make better business leaders: If so, what factors are associated with such leaders?
High School Poster Presentation Winners
First Place
Nikhita Pathapati, Effect of maternal PCPA treatment at mid-gestation on adolescent behaviors relevant to autism
Second Place
Eric Gonzales, Rapid Growing Algae Year 2
Third Place
Daniela Olvera, Macroinvertebrates in the Soils of Five Habitats in South Texas
Senior Faculty Mentor Award
Heather Hill, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology
Junior Faculty Mentor Award
Jillian Pierucci, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychology
2019 Winners
2020 Symposium Online
The 21st annual Research Symposium and Creative Activities Exhibition will be held — albeit in an online format.
Students can submit videos presenting their research, but first they must enroll in a course on Canvas — the instructions of which are found on the Office of Student Research and Inquiry page on Gateway. Students must also complete a registration assignment.
Once enrolled, students will follow instructions within the course on how to record and upload their videos. They must also complete a registration assignment that gathers necessary information such as school, department and research mentor name.
The deadline for online submissions is Monday, April 20, by midnight.
High School Participation
St. Mary’s University invites high school students to participate in the annual Research Symposium and Creative Activities Exhibition alongside undergraduate, graduate and law students to present original research and creative products. In past years, we have showcased works from virtually every major and discipline. This is an excellent opportunity for high school students to display their work and see what academic conferences offer. There are also cash prizes for students who choose to compete, and the opportunity for students to meet University faculty.
Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships (SURF)
The Office of Student Research and Inquiry awards fellowships to students interested in pursuing their research and creative activity through the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships (SURF) Program. The fellowships are available to students from all three undergraduate schools — the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, the Greehey School of Business and the School of Science, Engineering and Technology. Proposals from all academic disciplines are welcome and strongly encouraged.
The fellowships provide funds for undergraduate students to participate with faculty mentors in an intensive eight-week, scholarly activity, as well as travel grants for students to present their research academic or professional conference. Current undergraduate students can find more about applying for these fellowships and grants by visiting the Office of Student Research and Inquiry page on the Gateway portal.
Contact
Melissa Karlin, Ph.D.
Director of the Office of Student Research and Inquiry
Garni Science Hall, Room 203
210-436-3233
uro@stmarytx.edu