Closing Ceremony
Second Annual St. Mary’s Research Week
April 11-14, 2022
Celebrate our events by tagging on social media – #URW2022
Closing Ceremony – AA&CC Movement Studio
Join us as we wrap up Research Week. Our keynote speaker, Mr. Rick Gaona, Department of Education Program Officer, will speak on the importance of securing grants for faculty and students and the institutional impacts grants can make. The ceremony will conclude with student and faculty recognitions. Student awards will include poster and oral presentations along with Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships. Faculty recognitions will include Junior and Senior Mentor awards, Internal Faculty Research Grant awardees, and new grant recipients for this fiscal year. Food and beverages will be provided.
Opening Remarks – President Mengler
President Thomas M. Mengler, J.D
St. Mary’s University
Thomas M. Mengler, J.D., became the 13th president of St. Mary’s University on June 1, 2012.
Since joining the University, he has strengthened its culture of excellence and furthered its Catholic and Marianist mission and dedication to developing graduates who are well prepared for professional lives and called to serve the common good.
Keynote Speaker – DOE Program Officer Rick Gaona
Rick Gaona
St. Mary’s University
Rick Gaona was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, until the age of 17; when he joined the US Army. He spent 21 years in the army as a Pathfinder, a Paratrooper, a Drill Sergeant, and Senior Drill Sergeant Instructor at the US Army Drill Sergeant School. While in the military, Rick had several deployments into combat and peace keeping missions, to include a combat jump (parachute jump) into Panama.
After retiring from the military, Rick began his career at the Department of Education as a Contractor within the Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE) in 2005. After being a contractor for three years, Rick Gaona became a Program Officer for the Hispanic-Serving Institutions Program within OPE at the U.S. Department of Education. He has served in OPE since 2008 and is dedicated to supporting the mission of institutions within the HSI community.
Student Recognition
Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships
Alicia Virthe
Ariana Aguilar
Clarisa Morales
Benjamin Canas
Mariana Mata
Maroun Harb
Patrick Coan
Poster Presentation Awards
SET
First Place: Gustavo Giraldo
Second Place: Francisco Garcia
Third Place: Olivia Rojas
Humanities
First Place: Courtney Pena
Second Place: Santos Mencio
Third Place: Negin Motlagh
Social Science
First Place: Michaela Robinett
Second Place: Marisol Moreno
Third Place: Christina Gonzalez
Oral Presentation Awards
First Place: Polina Protozanova
Second Place: Sofia Gutierrez
Third Place: Tanya Brouse
Faculty Recognition
Faculty Research Mentoring Awards
Senior Faculty Award
Jillian Pierucci, Ph.D
Junior Faculty Award
Jennifer Harr, Ph.D.
New Awardees
Terry Shackleford
Catholic Climate Covenant
“St. Mary’s University Community Garden”
Karen Kelley
Texas Access to Justice Foundation
“Interest on Lawyers Trust Account (IOLA)”
“Crime Victim Civil Legal Services (CVCLS)”
Angeli Wilson
Texas Education Agency
“edTPA Pilot Grant”
Katherine Lehman-Meyer
City of San Antonio Ready to Work Initiative
“Rattler Readiness and Rattler Focus Training Program”
Thomas Macrini
Joint Admission Medical Program (JAMP)
“StMU/UT Health SA Pre-Med Camps: Experiential Enrichment Experiences for Incoming University and High School Students for Summer 2022”
Juan Ocampo & Rick Sperling
National Science Foundation
“Hispanic Serving Institution Implementation and Evaluation Project: FUERTE: Fostering Undergraduate Education Retention and Transfer Environments”
Gary Ogden
US Department of Education
“Improving Success of Hispanic and Low Income Students Through Application of CURE-based Pedagogy”
Carol Redfield & Wenbin Luo
Texas Workforce Comission
“Governors Summer Merit Program”
IFRG Awardees
Heather Hill
“Developing a video-based training tool for observations of marine mammal behavior”
Dante Tezza
“Development of a standard research tool to evaluate Human-Drone Interaction”
Cody Cox
“Examining the Impact of Generational Stereotypes Around the World”
Ajaya Swain
“Analyzing Project Success through Authentic Leadership, Behavioral Integrity, and Project Governance Lenses”