Research

Eight UMass Amherst Students Honored for Extraordinary Achievements

Eight outstanding undergraduates have received the fall 2020 Rising Researcher awards. The Rising Researcher program celebrates students who excel in research, scholarship or creative activity. The current cohort of Rising Researchers have worked alongside internationally known UMass faculty to research star formation, drug delivery, the safety of automated vehicles and endocrine-disrupting chemicals. They have launched businesses, promoted music, written trailblazing algorithms and more.

UMass honors these eight students for challenging their intellect, contributing to research, and exercising their exceptional creativity.

The fall 2020 Rising Researchers were:

Michael Cooper ’21, operations and information management/pre-medical studies

Published health policy research that has implications for improving US healthcare policy.

Hayley Green ’22, microbiology/German

Worked in three UMass Amherst labs and launched an artificial intelligence start-up company.

Kate Mallory ’21, physics, Commonwealth Honors College

Performed research on star formation that will contribute to understanding of the dawn of the universe.

Joshua McGee ’21, chemical engineering, Commonwealth Honors College

Pursued an independent research project to streamline nanoparticle synthesis.

Jaydeep Radadiya ’21, industrial engineering

Conducted significant analytical research on the safety of automated vehicles

Shannon Silva ’21, biology, Commonwealth Honors College

Studied whetherfemales exposed to a chemical used in sunscreen during pregnancy and lactation develop more cancer tumors.

Zoe Stinson ’22, music performance and music education

Worked to champion the baritone sax through research and advocacy.

Renos Zabounidis ’22, computer science/mathematics/BDIC, Commonwealth Honors College

Excelled in a range of research projects involving robotics, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and cognitive psychology