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Program Details

students working on a SURVE project in the labs

Prepare for Success in the SURVE Program

Students in our SURVE program engage in various activities meant to promote an understanding of “science as a vocation” in light of the Benedictine wisdom tradition. Through daily prayer, community meals, reading & discussion, lectures, and the opportunity to attend daily Mass, young men and women can grow in their faith, learn about the nature of science and the vocation of the scientist, and gain research experience that will prepare them for their career goals.

Through SURVE, students explore the harmony and complementarity of faith and reason and the “integration of knowledge” described in Ex Corde Ecclesia within the Benedictine Wisdom Tradition. Students also have opportunities to practice the Benedictine motto of “ora et labora” (“pray and work”) through participation in communal prayer and daily Mass. Through assigned reading, discussions, interactions with visiting scholars, and participation in volunteer and science outreach activities, SURVE students broaden their perspectives to understand the vocation of the scientist in the wider social, ethical, and spiritual context.

Explore the components of SURVE below and reach out to us to get started!

SURVE students and faculty work together in a scientific community, sharing times of prayer, meals, lab meetings, journal clubs, and seminars. Students and faculty also have the opportunity to attend daily mass together. Fostering a sense of community and promoting interdisciplinary collaborations are major goals of the SURVE program.

SURVE is a 10-week program, lasting from approximately late May through early August. (If you have a special circumstance, or have general questions about flexible internship dates, please contact us).

Local University of Mary students may choose to live on or off-campus. If you are not already a University of Mary student, you may wish to live on-campus during the summer.

Many of our SURVE students also choose to take advantage of the University of Mary’s Year-Round Campus course offerings to get ahead in their coursework. We have found that students in SURVE tend to be most successful when they take no more than one course per summer session, which allows them time for lab projects and to make progress on research.

Meet the Faculty

James A. Peliska, PhD

Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, Professor of Biochemistry and Chemistry, Fellow in Catholic Studies

Types of SURVE Projects

Dr. Joseph Biggane: We investigate how bioelectricity influences cell behaviors outside the nervous system. The lab is particularly interested in understanding mechanisms of change in cancer-related cell characteristics (e.g., proliferation, migration, invasion). Students will learn techniques in pharmacology, cell culture, microscopy, electrophysiology, computational analysis, gene expression analysis, and western blotting.

Dr. Jack Boyle: We are interested in the development of wing veins in the common cricket. This species has fingerprint-like patterns of veins that are unique to each wing. We use a combination of fine surgeries, wing photography, and automated image analysis to investigate the developmental mechanisms that control the formation of these patterns. I also have coding-heavy projects that involve scanning for genetically modified fruit flies and using museum records to look at ecological change over past decades.

Dr. Christine Fleischacker: In my lab, I am investigating the mechanism by which normal, protective microbes on the skin are able to suppress the host's immune system from reacting to them. I am also investigating how to mutate phages so that they gain or lose their ability to infect multiple hosts so they could be used for phage therapy in medicine.

Dr. Wendy Larson: Our lab uses yeast as a model organism in which to study fundamental cellular metabolic processes related to gene expression, signaling pathways, and energy regulation. We use a variety of molecular methods, including CRISPR, to explore these processes.

Dr. David Ronderos: We will use Drosophila flies as a model in which to study the visual system, with the goal of alleviating human genetic diseases that cause blindness or vision impairment. We will use molecular techniques to manipulate proteins and DNA and use electrophysiology to record from fly eyes.

Dr. James Peliska: We will design and synthesize novel inhibitors of HIV-1 polymerase reverse transcriptase. We will use organic chemistry techniques to create new compounds and in silico and in vitro biochemistry techniques to characterize the inhibitors.

Dr. Timothy Click: We will utilize molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and other analysis packages to understand allosteric networks within a protein. Initially, we will investigate domain 3 of the PDZ protein, but we will expand the research as we move forward. Students will learn how to use a Linux workstation, MD software, and visualization and analysis tools. If interested, programming with the Python language can be done.

Dr. Thomas Sexton: We will use computational chemistry methods to investigate potential organic (non-metal) catalysts for the synthesis of aromatic alcohols from cyclic aliphatic alcohols. The reaction mechanism and activation barriers will be computed for potential catalysts and reactants, with a view to identifying systems where the reaction will be feasible. Computational methods will focus on density functional theory (DFT) with polarizable continuum solvent model (PCM).

Dr. Heather Wernke:  We will use the University of Mary's 11-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope to observe and collect light curves for variable stars. Stars may vary in brightness due to changes in their stage of life, as a result of an eclipsing binary, or due to transiting exoplanets. We can use light curves of variable stars to measure cosmic distances, study stellar evolution, and even to contribute to the search for exoplanets.