Awards were given for Outstanding Scholarship by Graduate and Undergraduate students and Outstanding Mentorship by Faculty on Scholarship
UMass Dartmouth recently announced the recipients of the 2024 Outstanding Scholarship by Graduate and Undergraduate students and Outstanding Mentorship by Faculty on Scholarship. Each winner will receive a plaque and $1000 as part of the award.
The winners are:
Faculty Mentor Awards
Dr. Mary McCurry (Adult Nursing) was nominated for her work with graduate students engaged in research. Dr. McCurry has served as dissertation committee chairperson and/or research mentor for 13 PhD students. She also served on four Doctor of Nursing Practice Scholarly project committees during the same time. Moreover, she has presented and published with many of her PhD students. Currently, she serves as the PhD Program Director. In this important leadership role, she shapes the ongoing mentorship of Nursing PhD students via curriculum work, teaching, academic advising, guidance of new PhD program faculty mentors, and personal mentorship of students. Testimonies from students underscore her exceptional mentorship: “With kindness and compassion, she held her NP students to the high standard that would benefit us and our future patients.”
Dr. Michael Sheriff (Biology) was nominated for his work with undergraduate students engaged in research. Dr. Sheriff incorporates key elements to maximize student success, including research mentoring, professional networking, conference attendance, fellowship applications, and publication. Over the past five years, he has supported more than 25 undergraduate researchers in his lab. He has been the primary mentor to 14, many of whom have either published or presented their work at national conferences. Dr. Sheriff has mentored three students as they applied for NSF Graduate Fellowships, with two receiving funding and the third pending. Recognizing his success with undergraduate students, the Department of Biology has tasked Dr. Sheriff with starting and leading a new pre-graduate program for biology majors to help guide students interested in pursuing graduate degrees.
Outstanding Research, Scholarship, or Creative Academic Work by Undergraduate Students
Shawn Koohy (Mathematics) was nominated by Dr. Yanlai Chen, Professor of Mathematics. Shawn’s research has focused on applications of neural networks, and he has an impressive publication record already, with two journal papers and one about to be submitted. He has been accepted to several top graduate programs in applied mathematics.
Alejandra Ponce Lopez (Psychology) was nominated by Dr. Kristen Sethares, Professor of Nursing. Alejandra’s APEX project “Impostor Syndrome and Diversity: Race, Ethnicity, and Generation” uses qualitative and quantitative data. Alejandra’s goal is an MD/PhD.
Outstanding Research, Scholarship, or Creative Academic Work by Graduate Students
Michal Pokharel (Biomedical Engineering) was nominated by Dr. Kihan Park, Assistant Professor of Engineering. Mishal is developing micro and nanocarrier systems integrated with drugs and biological molecules for light-mediated delivery. This novel micro carrier system has many potential applications, including targeted cancer treatment, the ability to cross the blood-brain barrier, and advancing regenerative medicine.
Grace Holleran (Luso-Afro-Brazilian Studies) was nominated by Dr. Anna Klobucka. Grace’s dissertation project “Translation as Consciousness-Building in Portuguese Lesbian Periodicals brings together her passion for translation with her interest in the history of queer activism in Portuguese. In addition, she works as a translator and as an editor of an online journal Barricade: A Journal of Antifascism & Translation.