FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Forty-six University of Arkansas students were awarded State Undergraduate Research Fellowships for the 2006-2007 academic year. The grants will fund a variety of research projects in agriculture, architecture, the arts, business, engineering and the sciences.

This is the 10th year in a row that the university has led the state in the number of students receiving the SURF awards. The individual state grants ranged from $375 to $1,250, and together totaled $35,629.75. The university provided matching funds for each student. In addition, each student’s faculty mentor received a $1,000 grant, and all but three students requested and received $400 for travel costs associated with their research projects. In all, the SURF grants to the university totaled $98,979.75.

“Faculty-student partnerships in research are critically important to us as an institution committed both to research and to teaching," said University of Arkansas Chancellor John White. "The SURF awards encourage this interaction so key in a student's intellectual and career development. That our students are applying in large number with strong faculty support means these important connections are being made."

The SURF awards are available to any undergraduate student with a 3.5 grade-point average who is planning a research or artistic project for the coming year. To be considered for the fellowship, a student must be nominated by a faculty mentor. Nominees submit a five-page project/research proposal and additional letters of recommendation.

The SURF program was created in 1992 with a start-up grant from the National Science Foundation and is intended to foster active student/mentor relationships. After two years, funding for the fellowships shifted from the science foundation to the state of Arkansas.

"The SURF program has had a profound effect on undergraduate research in this state,” said Collis Geren, dean of the UA Graduate School and a long-time member of the state SURF committee. "We’ve seen an enormous increase in student research activity, and the student/faculty relationships that have developed because of these awards are remarkable. It’s such a pleasure to see the success this program has achieved, and the ways it has inspired students, both here and around the state.”

Of the 46 award recipients this year, 30 students are enrolled in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences; six students are in the College of Engineering; five are in the Sam M. Walton College of Business; there are two students each from the Dale Bumpers College of Agriculture, Food and Life Sciences and the College of Education and Health Professions; one student is enrolled in the School of Architecture.

"SURF grants provide important funding for research materials and for financial support so students can focus on their projects. Participating in research in turn makes students more competitive for graduate, medical and law schools and for top positions in their fields," said Suzanne McCray, associate dean of the Honors College and director of the Office of Post-Graduate Fellowships. "University of Arkansas SURF recipients have gone on to be Rhodes, Marshall, Barry Goldwater, Morris Udall, Truman and Fulbright scholars and more."

The SURF program grant is administered through Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, Ark., and the annual Arkansas Undergraduate Research Conference is held at Henderson State's campus where most UA SURF recipients present their research. A journal of student papers is published from those proceedings.

For more information on this year's conference, scheduled for April 27 and 28, visit http://www.hsu.edu/. For more information about these UA students, their proposals and their faculty mentors, contact the UA Honors College at 575-7678.

 

First name	Last name	Hometown	Major	Mentor first name	Mentor last name
Thomas	Akin	Jonesboro	Physics	Surendra	Singh
Sara	Albrecht	Sugar Land	RHRC	Fran	Hagstrom
Carmen	Albright	Ozark	Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness	Jennie	Popp
Natalie	Anderson	Fayetteville	Chemistry/ Biochemistry	Roger	Koeppe
Stacy	Anderson	West Fork	Marketing	Elizabeth	Creyer
David	Beam	Fayetteville	Spanish, Lat. Am. Studies	Steve	Striffler
Brittany	Bogle	Neosho	Industrial Engineering	Scott	Mason
Sarah	Brutesco	Fayetteville	CLST	David	Fredrick
Randy	Carney	Jacksonville	FULB	Xiaogang	Peng
Adrielle	Churchill	Dover	Political Science	Jeffrey	Ryan
Misti	Clark	Wesley	AEAB	Eric	Wailes
James	Covington	Fayetteville	Foreign Languages	Kathleen	Condray
Hannah	DeBerg	North Little Rock	PHYS	Gregory	Salamo
Zach	Donnell	Miami	Department of Biological Sciences	Jeff	Silberman
Thomas	Duke	Tulsa	Communication	Thomas	Rosteck
Rachel	Ellis	Bentonville	Chemistry and Biochemistry	Denise	Greathouse
Aireal	Haley	Springdale	Chemistry and Biochemistry	David	Vicic
Teryl	Hampton	Fort Smith	Foreign Languages	David	Fredrick
Bradley	Handloser	North Little Rock	Mechanical Engineering	Matthew	Gordon
Nicole	Hart	Collierville	Chemistry/Biochemistry	Denise	Greathouse
Cleveland	Heath	Conway	Finance & Economics	Craig	Rennie
Heath	Himstedt	Searcy	Chemical Engineering	Jamie	Hestekin
Katie	Hoard	Marianna	International Business	Amy	Farmer
Ronnie	Holland	Cabot	Biological Sciences	Robyn	Goforth
Khalil	Ibrahim	Little Rock	Chemistry and Biochemsitry	T.K.S	Kumar
Jean	Jones	Fort Smith	English	Susan	Marren
Shelly	Kaufman	Bartlesville	CHBC	Matthias	McIntosh
Sara	Kutac	Houston	Communication Disorders	Barbara	Shadden
Marcus	Law	Charleston	Biology	Tim	Kral
Josh	Liu	Springdale	INEG	Heather	Nachtmann
Doralyn	Merced-Ownbey	Fayetteville	CLST	David	Fredrick
John	Miller	Cabot	Industrial Engineering	John	English
Caleb	Osborne	Little Rock	Political Science	Janine	Parry
Brooke	Plack	Sherwood	Marketing	Scot	Burton
David	Prater	Sherwood	History	Beth	Schweiger
Mallory	Rogers	North Little Rock	International Relations	Fiona	Davidson
Krysta	Sanders	Conway	Biological Sciences	Ines	Pinto
Yvette	Scorse	Rogers	Journalism	Hoyt	Purvis
Mark	Sitton	Edmond	Geosciences	Doy	Zachry
Rachel	Smith	Booneville	Architecture	Laura	Terry
Laura	Stump	Maysville	International Relations	Najib	Ghadbian
Tara	Teff	Springdale	Chemistry and Biochemistry	Neil	Allison
Whitney	Tharp	Little Rock	Chemistry and Biochemistry	Joshua	Sakon
Philip	Thrift	Fort Smith	Mechanical Engineering	Darin	Nutter
Kimberly	Wilkes	Fort Smith	Accounting & Finance	Amy	Farmer
Gregory	Ziser	Fayetteville	PLSC	William	Schreckhise