Undergraduate Research at SJNY
April and May mark a pivotal time for undergraduate research at St. Joseph’s University, New York with the hosting of its Long Island and Brooklyn symposiums. Held on the Patchogue and Clinton Hill campuses April 25 and May 6 respectively, students throughout the SJNY community have the opportunity put their research on display while taking guests through their work and experience.
The University’s symposiums lend a platform to its bright and diverse academic community, highlighting a range of disciplines from biology and political science to art and history. This year saw over 50 students across both campuses present their research projects, posters and art exhibits, supported by their faculty mentors, friends and family.
Associate Professor of Psychology Michael Magee, Ph.D. serves as director of undergraduate research on the Brooklyn Campus while Associate Chairperson and Professor of Biology Tetyana Delaney, Ph.D. serves as the director of undergraduate research on the Long Island Campus.
Faculty and Student-led Presentations
On the Long Island Campus, this year’s event opened with a faculty-led keynote address by David Siegal, Ph.D., assistant professor of political science at the University. His presentation, titled “Scholarship as Travel and Leisure” detailed his travels to post-Soviet Union territories such as Kyrgzstan, Georgia and Kazakstan.
Throughout his experience, Professor Siegal analyzed the change of post-Soviet agricultural employment and the effects of privatization of land and goods. He also stressed the importance of research and implored students to indulge in topics that greatly interest them.
Among Brooklyn’s list of presenters was history student Riley Mezzatesta, whose research on the Civil War explored a post-Confederate South’s effort to change perceptions through public education. Mezzatesta’s talk presented the argument that the actions taken by the South were to preserve its history as well as a social hierarchy based on white supremacy.
David Siegal, Ph.D., assistant professor of political science at SJNY.
SURF SHINES THROUGH
Long Island Recipients
A major highlight of both symposiums were presentations by the University’s Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) recipients. This select group of students spent last summer conducting donor-funded research and finally had the chance to present their findings.
On Long Island that included biology student Alison Monaco ’26, who presented her research findings on coastal marine environments and ocean acidification.
Following Alison, was political science and history student Timothy Sweeney ’27. His oral presentation titled “Is the Hermit Kingdom a Kingdom at all? North Korea’s Regime Typology” broke down the political system of North Korea, determining whether the country should be considered a monarchy or one-party state.
“As someone who has read so much about North Korea, one-party states and different types of socialist governments, actually engaging in research and critically analyzing ideas taught me how to in practice give credence to ideas that are not my own and how to synthesize them with mine to find a clearer and more honest truth,” Sweeney said.
Meanwhile, Long Island SURF history major Brandon Ronquillo ’26 — while unable to attend the symposium in person — left his audience with a video presentation (complete with narration) on his research into the Riot Grrrl Movement of the 1990s.
Brooklyn Recipients
Over on the Brooklyn Campus, mathematics and computer science student Prasun Rimal ’26 took to the podium to discuss his research. Titled “Optimizing Last-Mile Delivery in Manhattan: A Multi-Objective Graph-Based Approach,” his project involved analyzing real-world conditions such as traffic congestion, parking restrictions, and truck limitations to help optimize last minute delivery in Manhattan.
Up next was biology student Jasmine Tamang ’26, whose research explored how people form emotional, cultural and personal relationships with conserved spaces, focusing on New York City’s Inwood Hill Park. Her presentation took audiences through field observations, surveys and community-based conversations to examine how and why parks and forests are preserved by people.
Mathematics and computer science SURF recipient Drishya Shrestha ’27
Brooklyn mathematics and computer science major Drishya Shrestha ’27 gave a presentation on measuring passive ethical drift in large language models. This project involved creating a framework that probes each model with semantically equivalent dilemmas across structurally varied prompt formulations, quantifying stance reversals as a consistency score per model and per ethical framework.
Wrapping up the SURF student presentations on the Brooklyn Campus was biology major Milana Haripersaud ’26, who discussed the dangers of ocean acidification and its effect on marine fish populations. Her research connects to real-world concerns, as rising carbon dioxide levels might potentially lead to the future extinction of certain species.
Click here to learn more about our 2025 SURF recipients.
An Expression of The Arts
The research symposium is also an opportunity for students to put their art on display. On the Long Island Campus, this included work by students Karly Kaziun and Natalie Chudeck.
Artwork by students Karly Kaziun and Natalie Chudeck.
Alumni Panel
On Long Island, Associate Chair and Assistant Professor of Journalism and New Media Studies, William Phillips, Ph.D. moderated an alumni panel featuring former SJNY students Melissa Guercio and Morgan Gress. Both women are currently engaged in graduate-level research at different universities and shared their experiences navigating their studies.
For Guercio, currently pursuing her Ph.D. in chemistry, that is building batteries in a way that can impact their equality, durability and energy capacity.
Meanwhile, Gress — who is pursuing her master’s degree — is researching social media’s effect on the female perception.
Poster Presentations
In between presentations, attendees and symposium participants were free to walk around and take a look at the many research posters set by SJNY students. This year’s participants included:
Long Island
- Jake Antello
- Julianna Blake
- Lanna Delaney
- Vincent Engel
- Macy Gabbamonte
- Gianna Gallo
- Jordan Gellert
- Enrique Gress
- Joshua Guerrero
- Cody Knott
- Jose Mendez Llivicura
- Maria Michalidis
- Emily Nunez
- Vicenza Robiglio
- Safiya Sataur
- Ariana Sefer
- Peyton Strack
- Ashley Toth
- Joshua Vasquez
- Caroline Velardi
- Brandon Veliz
Brooklyn
- Matthew Arcati
- Amrita Belbase
- Makena Burr
- Kristen Donovan
- Kaylee Finch (SURF Recipient)
- Bryan Garcia
- Medinah Joseph
- Olivia Lieto (SURF Recipient)
- Aarohi Poudel (SURF Recipient)
- Jahin Sadique
- Hugues Saint Fleur
- Jawad Zaman
2026 SURF Recipients Announced
Congratulations to this year’s SURF recipients who will be work on their research projects this summer.
- Srijana Shrestha
- Kayla Colletti
- Anuj Shah
- Swornima Bhandari
- Prabhjot Siingh
- Caroline Munoz
- Katelyn Lysogorski
- Alish Pandey
- Reanna Noon
- Suraj Chaudhary
