Randolph-Macon’s signature summer research program, the Schapiro Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF), officially kicked off for 29 students on Monday, June 2.

For nine weeks this summer, students will conduct original research under the guidance of a faculty mentor. In opening remarks to the gathered students at a Monday luncheon, President Robert R. Lindgren reflected on the impact of that close student-faculty mentorship, noting that many faculty members return to participate year after year.

“They are dedicated to help you have this great intellectual experience,” Lindgren said.

Nineteen students are funded through SURF, while 10 received funding from other sources, including the National Science Foundation and the Klein-Maloney Fellowship for Women in the Sciences.

The summer’s research encompasses a broad sample of disciplines, from lab work in chemistry and biology, to an analysis of Scottish history’s impact on the American Revolution, to self-driving cars, and more. One collaboration between the education and computer science departments seeks to create a virtual reality platform to practice classroom management.

Below is an additional sample of SURF 2025 projects:

• Charlie Collins ’27, Professor Allen (Communication Studies) “An American Pontifex Maximus: A Study of Republican Presidents’ Use of Civil Religious Rhetoric from Ronald Reagan to Donald Trump”
• Emily Matthews ’26, Professor Bergmann (History) “Traitors and Traders: The Scots and History Culture in Revolutionary Virginia”
• Emily Dixon ’27, Professor Conrad (Education) “Designing and Implementing a Virtual Reality Platform to Practice Classroom Management for Education Students”
• Carson Triplett ’26, Professor Elouni (Computer Science) “Designing and Implementing a Virtual Reality Platform for Education Students”
• Collin Burwell ’26, Professor Coster (Biology) “Determining if hatcheries bolster wild populations of smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomiew) in Virginia using a parentage analysis with microsatellite markers”
• Grace Wunder ’26, Professor Dauksys (Education) “Decoding and Encoding Skills: K-1 Literacy Research Project”
• Gage Miller ’27, Professor Fischbach (History) “How did the Great Depression and New Deal Policies Affect Education?  A Study of Selective Virginia Counties”
• Hailey Pierce ’27, Professor Foster (Biology) “Structure and kinetics of the disassembly of the sperm acrosomal matrix”
• AC Tetterton ’26, Professor Foster (Biology) “Migration of GPR56 During Sperm Capacitation to Prepare Sperm for Fertilization”
• Layan Bashi Adalla ’27, Professor Henry (Computer Science) “Using Knowledge from DailyMed to Improve Clinical Relationship Extraction”
• Rodi Woldeyesus ’28, Professor Henry (Computer Science) “Proposal for Developing a Machine Vision System for Self-Driving Cars”
• Dell Boone ’27, Professor Khan (Sociology) “’You Sound Black’: An Exploration of Black Racialized Traits in Non-Human Characters in Animated Media”
• Brooklyn DeCann ’26, Professor Laws (Biology) “Understanding the role of Gliotactin in Drosophila female germline”
• Savannah Jones ’27, Professor Michelsen (Chemistry) “Partitioning Acetone between the Surface of Artificial Snow and the Gas Phase”
• Maille Carrington ’26, Professor Natoli (Classics) “Since When Did Vergil Write the Bible?  The Dating and Authorship of Proba’s Cento Vergillanus”
• Maddy Jones ’26, Professor Natoli (Classics) “The Book of Proba: The Theology of the Cento Vergilianus”
• Shane Hale ’27, Professor Ramage (Biology) “Analyzing and Optimizing Dog Fur as a Commercial Potting Soil and Fertilizer Alternative”
• Wyatt Richardson ’26, Professor Ruppel (Biology) “The effect of companion plants on tomato and pepper pant pollinator richness in an urban garden”
• Mason Bradley ’27, Professor Schreiner (Chemistry) “Improving the Anti-Amyloid Ability of Ruthenium Piano-stool Complexes”
• Luke Hutchins ’27, Professor Schreiner (Chemistry) “Ruthenium(II)–Arene Complexes with Diphosphine Ligands as Anti-Aβ Agents to Treat Alzheimer’s Disease”
• Lily Macias ’28, Professor Schreiner (Chemistry) “Synthesis and Characterization of Novel Ruthenium-Gold Complexes to Treat Pancreatic Cancer”
• Malia Madrigal ’26, Professor Schreiner (Chemistry) “Development of Heterobimetallic Complexes and their Structure-Activity Relationship as Potential Anticancer Agents”
• Connor Bingham ’26, Professor Taylor-Cornejo (Biology) “A bioinformatic pipeline to identify the function and mRNA targets of misfolded protein sensor IRE 1 in the model amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum”
• Jaydon Brooks ’26, Professor Taylor-Cornejo (Biology) “IRE 1 gene swapping between amoeba and yeast”
• Addison Browell ’26, Professor Taylor-Cornejo (Biology) “Inhibition of the unfolded protein response by the bacterial pathogen Legionella pneumophilia in amoeba”
• Daniela Owens ’26, Professor Taylor-Cornejo (Biology) “A discovery pipeline to mine soil bacteria for novel antibiotics”
• Matteo DeLuca ’26, Professor Thoburn (Chemistry) “Synthesis of Tetracyanoazulene for Use as an Electron-poor Guest in Metal Organic Cages”
• Isaac Kwong ’27, Professor Thoburn (Chemistry) “Synthesis of a Crown Ether based Metal Organic Cage.”
• Teaghan McNeill ’26, Professor Thoburn (Chemistry) “Synthesis of Cycle-Octathiophene for Use as an Electron-rich Guest in Metal Organic Cages”

SURF was introduced in 1995 and has been supported through a generous endowment by Ben Schapiro ’64 and his wife, Peggy Schapiro and other donors. In the following 30 years, around 900 students have participated in this transformative experience. The fellowship provides students with a stipend and housing on campus during the summer. Led by co-directors, Art History Professor Evie Terrono and Serge Schreiner, The Dudley P. & Patricia C. Jackson Professor of Chemistry, SURF is often cited by graduates as a most significant academic and professional development opportunity in their undergraduate studies.

The program will conclude on August 1 with a SURF symposium, where students share their findings in oral and poster presentations. SURF projects will be highlighted on rmc.edu throughout the summer months.