Erin Borbee, Assistant Professor of Biology 

Investigation of the effects algal symbiosis has on coral energetic resources

The relationship between corals and their algal symbiont has long been characterized as a mutualism where both partners benefit. The coral host gets organic nutrients from the algae necessary for energy production and the algal symbiont gets inorganic nutrients from the coral necessary for photosynthesis. However, recent data suggest that maintaining this symbiosis may come at a cost to the coral’s immunity. Studying the dynamics of this relationship is difficult in tropical corals where the relationship between the host and symbiont is obligate, meaning it must maintain the relationship to survive. In this project, we will leverage a temperate coral, Astrangia poculata, that exists naturally with and without its algal symbiont at no cost to its fitness. The facultative nature of A. poculata’s relationship with its algae allows us to investigate the dynamics of this relationship independent of environmental stressors. In this project, we will be quantifying energetic resources, specifically lipid contents, to better understand how symbiosis affects energetic budget at both baseline conditions and following a pathogen challenge. We will then compare the energetic data with previously collected immune activity data from the same corals to identify potential tradeoffs between energetics and immunity associated with coral-algal symbiosis.

Friday, 29 May 2026 through Friday, 17 July 2026
On-campus housing is available and encouraged

Student eligibility: There is no prior experience for participating in this project, but having taken the foundations biology courses and general chemistry will help with picking up skills used in the project.

Sunny Scobell, Assistant Professor of Biology

The mysterious male brood pouch: Examining the structure and function of male pregnancy in seahorses and pipefish

The proposed work will examine the regulation of the reproductive cycle in members of the Family Syngnathidae (seahorses, pipefish, and sea dragons). In this unusual family, all species have male pregnancy wherein males fertilize eggs from females and brood embryos until they give birth. Species within the family exhibit a range of brooding structures from simple, as they are in sea dragons, to complex, as they are in seahorses. We will collect three species of syngnathids (two seahorse species and one pipefish species) from the Gulf of Mexico. We will bring these fishes to the Scobell Laboratory at Southwestern University. Adult males and females of each species will be paired and mated in aquaria. Tissues will be collected at specific time points across the pregnancy cycle for both males and females. This project will describe histological changes in brood pouch tissues of the males, embryological development, gonadal changes, plasma sex steroid levels, and key neuroendocrine pathways that mediate the reproductive cycle in both sexes. 

Friday, 29 May 2026 through Friday, 17 July 2026
On-campus housing is available and encouraged

Student eligibility: Students should have completed BIO50-173, BIO50-183, and either BIO50-171 or BIO50-181. Students should also be willing and able to engage in both field work and laboratory work.  

Isaac Blythe, Assistant Professor of Chemistry

Constructing Carbon-Carbon Bonds Through Iron Mediated Carbon-Fluorine Bond Activation

Carbon-fluorine bond activation is of growing interest to synthetic chemists, but several challenges still face the field. This research proposes to address two of those challenges: 1) enabling carbon-fluorine bond activation through judicious substrate design; and 2) identifying factors which facilitate or hinder reactions that transfer organic fragments to iron.

Friday, 22 May 2026 through Friday, 17 July 2026
On-campus housing is available and encouraged

Student Eligibility: Students must have completed CHE51-313 (Organic Chemistry I lecture)

Sara Massey, Assistant Professor of Chemistry

Investigation of gene and protein expression in response to stress in P. tricornutum

Diatoms are photosynthetic algae found in marine environments across the globe. We are investigating how native environment affects diatom’s light-harvesting under different environmental stress conditions. This summer, we will be using biochemical techniques to monitor changes in gene and protein expression associated with red-shifted fluorescence signals when the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum (P. tricornutum) is grown under different stress conditions. We will use these results to interpret our fluorescence spectroscopy data. These studies will increase our understanding of how diatoms’ native environments have influenced their response to stress, and how these organisms survive under unfavorable growth conditions.

Friday, 22 May 2026 (Monday, 18 May if local) through Friday, 10 July 2026
On-campus housing is available and encouraged

Student Eligibility: Students need to have completed the General Chemistry lecture+lab sequence (CHE51-103, CHE51-101, CHE 51-203, CHE51-201) and ideally Organic lecture+lab sequence before summer 2026. Students are required to join the lab in Spring 2026 to receive in-lab training on protocols and instrumentation.

Jeffrey Easton, Assistant Professor of Classics

Navigating the socioeconomic landscape from below: Critical fabulation and the sub-elite experience in Ancient Rome

This project puts Southwestern student scholars at the forefront of a new direction in the field of Roman social history. Students will use an approach to archival research which Sadiya Hartman has termed critical fabulation. Practitioners of critical fabulation cast a trained eye on the primary documentary evidence for the lives of marginalized members of society, such as enslaved and freed people, sub-elite workers, and members of economic networks and craft and domestic industries, and they utilize storytelling skills to relate these experiences to a broad audience. Under the mentorship of Dr. Easton, the project allows advanced Classics majors to combine their interdisciplinary linguistic, historiographical, and material culture training with an eye toward publicly-engaged scholarship to reconstruct case-studies of the socioeconomic experience of everyday Romans that continue to have currency for contemporary discourse around the topic of ownership and control of certain historical narratives. Specifically, students will explore the ways in which occupations and membership in professional associations not only boosted economic opportunities but also provided the basis of civic identity. They will then compose critical fabulation essays in which they make the technical and specialized aspects of their research accessible to a broader audience outside academia.

Monday, 1 June 2026 through Friday, 3 July 2026

Student Eligibility: Students must have reached advanced Latin language proficiency and completed CLA coursework in which they learned historiographical and research methods and acquired a foundation in Roman social history and material culture.

Raquel Sàenz Ortiz, Assistant Professor of Education

Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies for Romani youth in Spain

The overarching goal of this project is to continue ongoing research to identify a model of culturally sustaining pedagogy to support Romani youth in Spain, the ethnic group with the lowest graduation rates in the country. Culturally sustaining pedagogies center critical consciousness, while also uplifting students’ identities. This project is an ongoing collaboration with Asociación Enseñantes con Gitanos (Association of Teachers with Gypsies- AEcG) and CampusRom, an organization that supports Romani students in accessing a college education and succeeding in college and in postgraduate studies. During the summer, we will be collecting additional data through observations of five teachers (who have been identified by members of AEcG), interviews with teachers and interviews with school directors. In addition, in collaboration with a member of AEcG, we will interview an additional 5-10 Romani young adults. We will spend three weeks collecting data in Spain, then return to SU to analyze data.

Friday, 22 May 2026 through Friday, 17 July 2026
On-campus housing is available and encouraged, for the in-residence portion of the project (5 weeks)

Student Eligibility: All students should have native fluency in Spanish or advanced written and spoken competency in the language since interviews and observations conducted, as well as data analyzed, will all be in Spanish. Students should also have a commitment to supporting historically marginalized communities, either in the U.S. or internationally.

Bob Bednar, Professor of Communication Studies

Placing Memory SURF Project for Summer 2026

The Placing Memory 2026 Summer Research Project focuses on mentoring a team of 4 students as they research and write entries for the Placing Memory website. Placing Memory is a student-centered public-facing humanities project designed to provide the Southwestern community with an interactive tool for thinking through the cultural politics of remembrance and forgetting embedded in the physical landscape of campus. 

Friday, 22 May 2026 through Friday, 17 July 2026
On-campus housing is available and encouraged

Student eligibility: This project is open to all students from any major who are committed to discovering under-represented places, events, or lived experiences from Southwestern’s past. Ideally, students will have experience with one or more of the types of independent research and/or writing required in this project: archive research, interviewing, ethnographic fieldwork, journalism, place analysis, and/or narrative writing.

Eureka Joshi, Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies

Characterization of Physicochemical Properties in Soils Amended with Biosolids and Effluent in Texas Agroecosystem

Land application of municipal wastewater by-products is a decades-old cost-effective approach for managing waste, supporting freshwater conservation, and addressing crop irrigation and fertilization needs. However, long-term inputs may lead to negative impacts on soil physical properties, soil N and P saturation and potential environmental losses to surface and groundwater sources. For this study, we will be collaborating with Hornsby Bend Biosolids Management Plant and Center for Environmental Research in Austin, TX, to evaluate the legacy effects of biosolids and current effluent application on soil physical and chemical health indicators, and to identify the risk for soil N and P saturation. Soil physicochemical properties are important indicators of soil health and can be used as a predictive tool for identifying N and P saturation in agricultural soils. Monitoring long-term soil physicochemical responses are critical to ensure long-term sustainability of ecological waste reclamation systems and protection of environmental quality.

Friday, 22 May through Friday, 17 July 2026
On-campus housing is available and encouraged

Student Eligibility: Students should have some experience working in a laboratory either through coursework in chemistry and/or biology (e.g., General Chemistry 1, Chemical Methods & Tech Lab I, Bio Lab) or supplemental research assistantship experience in STEM research.

Stephanie Insalaco, Assistant Professor of Geographic Information Sciences

Seagrass and Water Quality Mapping in the Florida Keys: A Pilot Study

This project, conducted in collaboration with the University of Tennessee Knoxville and the University of Florida, aims to develop a real-time monitoring system for seagrass distribution across major Florida waterways. Building upon my prior dissertation research focused on Mosquito Lagoon, this study expands to include Florida Bay and Biscayne Bay as pilot sites. Seagrass serves as a critical ecological and economic resource for Florida but has experienced global declines due to climatic and anthropogenic stressors. Current mapping efforts by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission are limited by infrequent temporal coverage. To address this gap, this project integrates remote sensing techniques, drone-based imagery, and in situ data collection, including GPS-referenced seagrass presence/absence, water quality parameters, and LiDAR data to enhance temporal and spatial monitoring resolution. Fieldwork will be complemented by pre- and post-survey satellite imagery analyses to train and validate classification models. Ultimately, this project seeks to establish a scalable framework for real-time seagrass monitoring that can inform conservation and management efforts throughout Florida, emphasizing the species’ role as a key indicator of coastal ecosystem health.

Monday, 8 June 2026 through Friday, 17 July 2026
On-Campus housing is available and encouraged, for the in-residence portion of the program

Student eligibility: At minimum, students must have completed Environmental GIS and completion of either Advanced GIS OR Remote Sensing of the Environment by May 2026. Students should feel comfortable operating advanced software programs like Google Earth Engine (GEE), and have a computer available that is capable of handling large amounts of data. Travel will be required from July 6th, 2026 through July 18th, 2026.

Bryan Kauma, Assistant Professor of History

“Made in America, Seasoned in Africa”: Culinary Transformations and the Americanization of African Migrant Cuisines

This project examines the development and transformation of African migrant foodways in America, exploring the historical and contemporary intersections with culture, identity, and power. It demonstrates how African cuisines have adapted within the hegemonic structures of “Americanization,” tracing traditional dishes have evolved through ingredient substitutions, fusions, and economic and trade policies. By centering African migrant culinary spaces, including restaurants, markets, and food trucks, this project reveals how food becomes a medium of adaptation, resistance, cultural and economic survival. Ultimately, it highlights how African migrant cuisines reshape and enrich the American culinary landscape while reflecting broader social, political, and cultural negotiations in 21st-century America.

Friday, 1 June 2026 through Friday, 24 July 2026
On-campus housing is available and encouraged, for the in-residence portion of the program (6 weeks) 

Student eligibility: History majors/minors who have taken “Food & Society in World History” or “Themes in African History” are particularly encouraged to apply, however neither is required. Students should have good interpersonal skills, a willingness to learn, enjoy reading, good analytical skills, creative ideas, and familiarity with primary sources.

Edward Merritt, Garey Chair and Associate Professor of Kinesiology 

Metabolic and Perceived Exertion Costs of Arm-Assisted Load Carriage on Steep Inclines

Load carriage, an essential task for first responders and military personnel, involves carrying essential tools and equipment, potentially weighing 30-70% of their body mass in backpacks and in their hands. The increased load, especially while walking up hills or stairs, drastically increases their metabolic cost of movement and leads to fatigue, potentially diminishing physical performance upon their arrival at the scene. Carrying some of the load in their hands, might allow them quick access to equipment, but could increase the metabolic cost and perceived exertion of the load carriage leading to premature fatigue and decreased performance. Existing literature provides insights into factors influencing how load carriage varies over terrain based on fitness and body size, but the specific impact of distributing a portion of the load to the hands during strenuous uphill walking is unknown. This study aims to determine if distributing external load partially in the hands affects metabolic cost (oxygen utilization and heart rate) and perceived exertion while traveling up steep inclines compared to carrying the entire load in a backpack. Using a randomized, cross-over design, healthy participants will complete two 10-minute trials on a 15% grade treadmill: one carrying 30% of their body mass in a backpack and the other carrying 15% in the backpack and 15% in their hands, hypothesizing that the latter will result in greater metabolic demand and higher ratings of perceived exertion. Results of this study will indicate if there are differences in heart rate, perceived exertion, and oxygen demand between the two different methods of load carriage. This could inform first responders on the best way to carry heavy loads to be less fatigued and ready to perform potentially life saving tasks.

Friday, 22 May 2026 through Friday, 17 July 2026
On-campus housing is available and encouraged

Student eligibility: Completion of at least 8 credits hours of Chemistry, Biology, and/or Kinesiology courses including Human Structure and Function (KIN48-123)

Erika Berroth, Associate Professor of German

Perry Rhodan: German Space Opera from 1961-now Phase 2

In the inaugural phase of work, 3 SURF ’25 collaborators researched the genre of Space Opera in its cultural context, the collective of authors, the publication process, and the use of visuals on the covers, and the use of technical drawings of space technologies throughout the narratives. Initial research results were compiled with illustrations and prepared for publication on our DISCO website. In the proposed Phase 2, student collaborators will explore further important aspects of fan- and readership cultures, the range of advertisements over the years, and the international impact of the series. As in the inaugural phase, web publication and conference presentations are part of the experience, as will be PEH initiatives, e.g., through outreach to readers of the series over time, and engagement of German speaking communities in our area. 

Friday, 22 May 2026 through Friday, 17 July 2026
On-campus housing is available and encouraged

Student eligibility: Openness and curiosity regarding intercultural learning. Readiness to learn and increase web-design skills with PEH guidelines. Interest in Sci-fi. Interest in visual representations of future worlds / graphics / sci-fi illustrations, marketing of sci-fi series over time. Interest in learning about German Sci-Fi. Knowledge of German is not required. 

Zinhle ka’Nobuhlaluse, Assistant Professor of Philosophy

Mapping Black Philosophy:
A Digital Archive of Black Philosophical and Intellectual Legacies

The A–Z Black Philosophers BlackList is an exciting digital humanities project that invites SURF students to help transform a living Google document, first created during Black History Month 2025, into a public, visually engaging, and interactive website. This archive will make it easier for anyone to learn about Black philosophers and intellectuals whose ideas continue to shape conversations about justice, identity, liberation, feminism, knowledge, and global social change.

As a SURF researcher, you will help build an accessible digital platform that highlights each thinker’s biography, key ideas, major works, and intellectual connections across the African diaspora and the Black Atlantic. This is an opportunity to engage in hands-on work that challenges traditional philosophical boundaries by centering on voices often overlooked in standard curricula. By contributing to this digital archive, you will be helping create a resource that scholars, students, and communities can use for years to come.

Monday, 1 June 2026 through Friday, 24 July 2026

Student Eligibility:

The ideal student collaborators are people who are curious, committed, and eager to think philosophically about the world in relation to inclusion and diversity. You may be a good fit if you:

• Have a strong interest in philosophy, especially Black, decolonial, or feminist traditions
• Enjoy reading, writing, and researching across biographical, historical, and theoretical materials
• Are excited about exploring how ideas travel beyond traditional academic boundaries
• Bring strong interpersonal skills and a collaborative spirit
• Are digitally curious open to learning new tools for web design, data organization, and visual storytelling and are comfortable navigating or learning how to design a website using platforms such as WordPress, Omeka, or Squarespace

John Ross, Associate Professor of Mathematics

Optimal Rectangles in Unevenly Dense Spaces

This project will allow a research team of 5 students to study an open question in mathematics for four weeks in the summer of 2026. The work produced will expand on some of my research results from the last two years, building on my recent momentum and further developing my undergraduate research pipeline. My SURF students will be able to make meaningful contributions towards two or more open problems, and their experience will result in new theorems, published work, and dissemination throughout both the SU community and the mathematics community.

Friday, 22 May 2026 through Thursday, 18 2026
On-campus housing is available and encouraged

Student eligibility: As a minimum/necessary prerequisite, all students must either have Calculus 1 credit or, by the end of Spring 2026, have taken a math class at SU above Introduction to Statistics.

Jacob Schrum, Associate Professor of Computer Science

Procedural Content Generation with Generative AI

Students will use modern generative AI models to procedurally create content for video games. Students will directly apply small scale diffusion and transformer models, and also learn to work with open-source Large Language Models and variants of the image generation model Stable Diffusion. Students will also use commercial models like those from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google via APIs. These models can be used to generate textual or tile-based representations of levels for certain games, but more research is needed to apply these techniques to a wider variety of games, and to improve how well the output matches the provided text prompts. Students will build directly on code written by last year’s SURF students, but also have the chance to branch out in entirely new directions.

Friday, 22 May 2026 through Friday, 10 July 2026
On-campus housing is available and encouraged

Student eligibility: Successfully complete Computer Science II by end of the Spring 2026 semester (i.e. before SURF starts)

Steve Alexander, Professor of Physics

Using Molecular Annealing to Search for New HIV Drugs

A group in the SMU chemistry department has developed a computer program called SMARTCADD, which utilizes machine learning to search for novel drugs that can inhibit the HIV virus. This program contains several filters: the ideal molecule must be effectively absorbed and eliminated, it must not be toxic and it must chemically interact with the HIV protein in such a way that prevents its replication. SMARTCADD has already found several new drugs that could potentially inhibit HIV but the program is slow and it can’t easily identify new drug candidates that are substantially different from what is in its machine learning database. The SMU group has kindly provided me with a copy of SMARTCADD, so I can use my molecular annealing code to determine if this approach might be faster and more efficient.

Friday, 22 May 2026 through Friday, 26 June 2026
On-campus housing is available and encouraged

Student eligibility: Students may be from any natural sciences area. Ideally, at least one student will have worked in Dr. Alexander’s laboratory and already have the requisite skills to begin immediate work in the summer. As a minimum requirement, the other student must be a STEM major with some programming experience.

August Kohls, Assistant Professor of Physics

A Low-Cost, Point-of-Care Device for Disease Detection

The COVID-19 pandemic introduced an unprecedented era of self-testing and personal health monitoring. Between 2021 and 2022, more than 390 million COVID-19 tests were produced, with nearly one-third of the U.S. population administering them at home. This new familiarity and comfort with home diagnostics created a lasting demand for low-cost, point-of-care tools capable of detecting disease quickly and reliably. This project explores whether a rapid, low-cost RT-qPCR system can be created using inexpensive materials and compact electronics. The goal of this project is to adapt the accuracy of RT-qPCR into a low-cost, portable device that could be used at the point of care. The device will combine speed, simplicity, and affordability while maintaining the reliability of laboratory diagnostics. By doing so, it has the potential to provide accessible and accurate disease detection to millions, thereby transforming global public health.

Friday, 22 May 2026 through Friday, 17 July 2026
On-campus housing is available and encouraged.

Student Eligibility: While prior research experience is not required, students who have completed courses in Introduction to Engineering or Electronics will be preferred.

Alex Goodwin, Assistant Professor of Political Science

Texas Reckoning

Texas Reckoning is an 8 episode narrative podcast series that examines the rise and fall of Black social, political, and economic empowerment in post-Civil War Texas, focusing specifically in Brazoria County, Texas. In this 8-episode series, this podcast explores the post emancipation lives of the formerly enslaved as well as key figures and systemic challenges that ultimately brought Texas’ first attempts at multiracial democracy to an end.

Friday, 1 June 2026 through Friday, 24 July 2026
On-campus housing is available and encouraged

Student eligibility: Interest in Texas history, politics and race.

Fay Guarraci, Professor of Psychology

Two Wrongs Don’t Make a Right:
Interactions between antidepressants on sexual dysfunction and anxiety

Drugs like Prozac (i.e., fluoxetine) are prescribed to millions of people each year. However, many people, especially women, complain of sexual dysfunction caused by their antidepressants. Some physicians prescribe a combination of drugs with the hope that both will alleviate depression, but one will counteract the sexual side effects. However, little research has been conducted to justify the combined use. We will be able to test the effectiveness of combined treatments on sexual functioning using an animal model.

Friday, 22 May 2026 through Friday, 17 July 2026
On-campus housing is available and encouraged

Student eligibility: Students need not have any experience working in the lab, however they are required to have taken an introductory Biology course or an introductory Psychology course.

Bryan Neighbors, Associate Professor of Psychology

The Alternative DSM-5-TR Model for Personality Disorders: A Validity Study

The most recent version of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5-TR), which classifies mental disorders, includes a provisional model for personality disorders intended to move the field to a dimensional diagnostic process. This project will utilize a mentoring approach with intensive one-on-one instruction to guide a student researcher through the process of designing an empirical test of this model. The student researcher will develop and enhance skill in reading existing research literature, refining research questions, formulating hypotheses, and planning and carrying out an original study. The project will produce data that may serve as evidence supporting the validity of the model - thereby improving the diagnostic process for personality disorders. The project will culminate in public presentation of the study’s findings.

Friday, 22 May 2026 through Friday, 17 July 2026
On-campus housing is available and encouraged

Student eligibility: Students must have completed a research methods course, preferably in psychology.

Carin Perilloux, Associate Professor of Psychology

Validating a Scale of Parental Effort

In this project, we will work together to conduct a study to assess whether my newly developed instrument, the Parental Investment scale (PI scale), demonstrates better reliability and validity than competing instruments in the field. I have already worked with students for a year to develop the PI scale, we are now poised to conduct a final test of its efficacy in a new sample of parents. Over six weeks this summer, we will finalize the design of the study, program it in Qualtrics (web-based survey platform), collect data, analyze it, and write it up for publication. This scale is novel in the field of evolutionary psychology - while other instruments exist to measure other constructs related to parenting, none thus far exists as a short self-report measure of overall parenting effort. Creation of such an instrument would allow researchers to test new predictions related to how parents allocate effort, such as balancing parenting effort with mating effort, status-striving, and other goals.

Friday, 22 May 2026 through Thursday, 2 July 2026
On-campus housing is available and encouraged

Student Eligibility: The student must have taken Psychology Inquiry-Based Research Methods course (PSY33-214). The ideal student would have also taken Evolutionary Psychology (PSY33-374), have experience with Qualtrics or other web-based survey design and have an interest in research on parenting or evolutionary psychology.