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the topic of research itself instigates the desire
to take on leadership roles. As Art History
major, Mariah Tarentino ’18 describes in her
contribution to this volume, her research on the
link between the current socio-political events
and visual culture has energized her to assume
several leadership roles on campus, including
spearheading roundtable discussions and
juried exhibitions.
The awards and stipends from the Office of
Undergraduate Research have empowered and
encouraged our students to apply for competitive
grants and fellowships that are offered at
national and international levels. Specifically,
through its partnership with the Honors Program,
the Office of Undergraduate Research
helps students thrive in their respective
fields of research. For example, in 2013, Peter
Jumper ’13 (Honors), was one of the only seven
finalists nationwide for the highly-prestigious
American Physical Society Apker Prize for
research conducted in the UMass Dartmouth
Physics Department. After receiving numerous
graduate school fellowship offers, including the
Dean’s Fellowship at Columbia University and
the National Science Foundation’s Graduate
Research Fellowship, Peter Jumper accepted
a highly-competitive Connaught International
Fellowship from the University of Toronto.
Upon graduation, Jacob Miller ’16 (Honors) was
awarded the highly distinguished Marshall
Scholarship to study in the United Kingdom. A
dual Political Science and English major with a
minor in Leadership/Civic Engagement and Urban
Studies while at UMass Dartmouth, Miller
used his scholarship to study management at
Cambridge University for one year followed by a
year of studying urban economic development
at University College London.
These success stories are particularly intriguing
when they are about the less-privileged student
population. Jacob Miller represents one of the
many learners at UMass Dartmouth who are first
generation college students. Still many others
experience difficulties that are hard to overcome,
due to the absence of a strong community
support system. We take pride in transforming
the lives of all of our students, especially the
lives of those who have been historically marginalized
by the society.
The Office of Undergraduate Research continues to
expand student experience at UMass Dartmouth
and through this inaugural bi-annual publication,
we hope to disseminate the outstanding work of
our students and their faculty mentors beyond the
confines of UMass Dartmouth.
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Pamela Karimi
Associate Director of the Office of Undergraduate Research [2017-18]
Catherine Gardner
Director of the Office of Undergraduate Research