Empower Transformative Learning
UROP enables transformative learning by engaging students with innovative faculty, professional communities, and their developing identities as leaders.
The Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) is pleased to announce the recipients of this year's Outstanding Mentor Awards, which recognize CU Boulder faculty for their role mentoring undergraduate research and creative projects.
These exemplary mentors were selected from numerous student nominations speaking to the transformative value of mentorship. UROP celebrates the impact they make at the intersection of scholarship and teaching. We are encouraged by the continued resiliency of our academic and creative community and sincerely appreciate their agility in moving projects forward despite mounting challenges.
We that know what happens in partnership with mentors is transformative and empowering—and well-documented as a high-impact practice that increases persistence to graduation and clarifies career paths. We sincerely thank everyone in the creative and research community for your inspiring mentorship, which launches much more than satellites.
In partnership with mentors, undergraduates are moving the university’s research mission forward and continue to provide real-time solutions to local, national and global challenges while driving innovations to further the public good—not only preparing for, but creating the future we’ll share together. Their creativity and courage is making the world more equitable and just. UROP applauds students for rising to the moment.
UROP Mentor Award recipients have the option to award an assistantship to an undergraduate of their choosing in the next academic year. Excerpts from student nominations appear below.
2021 UROP Mentor Award, Recipients
2021 Mentor Award
Assistant Professor, Women and Gender Studies
"Dr. Soares consistently goes above-and-beyond to create inclusive spaces and makes us feel that we belong and deserve to be here.
She has shown us that we have a place not only in academia, but also in any position of power.
We co-create knowledge together, and she tells me that I am already a scholar. For this reason, I am confident that I am capable of graduate school—and will excel."
Nominated by Mariana Galvez Seminario
2021 Mentor Award
Associate Professor, Critical Media Practices / Co-Director, NEST Studio for the Arts
"Dr. Knight made me excited for post-undergrad work. Before, I was nervous and scared because I did not know what I wanted to pursue.
I learned things I did not know about myself. I learned how to find my voice as an artist through a style that was uniquely myself.
There are too many things to be grateful for during this past year, and having Tara Knight as my mentor is one of the biggest blessings."
Nominated by Diantha McAllister
2021 Mentor Award
Research Associate, Institute of Artic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR)
"Dr. Musselman’s support of my research encouraged me to see myself as a capable scientist, which is invaluable for a young woman in science.
I am doubtful that I would have developed the passion for hydrology that led me apply to graduate school and initiate a lifelong career.
He showed me that the way we conduct our research can actively dismantle systems of oppression, even as we study the geosciences."
Nominated by Siobhan Ciafone
2021 Mentor Award
Assistant Professor, Psychology and Neuroscience
"Dr. Kaiser consistently meets me with compassion and flexibility when I need it and checks in on my well-being before anything else.
She has been able to adapt and help teach me new knowledge through a learning style that best works for me.
I can confidently say that I am a kinder, more engaged, and more critical thinker."
Nominated by Aryanna Ryan, Sophie Sileo, and Kaley Keefe
2021 Mentor Award
Professor, Psychology and Neuroscience
"Dr. Miyake's lab has been a school in and of itself for me. It has been a place where no question is stupid and there's always more to learn. He has shown me how much I am capable of.
The best part of my time at CU Boulder was working with this inspirational, brilliant, kind, and generous educator—and learn what it means to be a psychologist."
Nominated by Rebekah Benjamin-Pollak
2021 UROP Mentor Award, Honorable Mentions
2021 Honorable Mention
Teaching Professor, Geological Sciences
Nominated by Sabrina Kainz
2021 Honorable Mention
Professor, Ann and H.J. Smead Aerospace Engineering Sciences
Nominated by Fernando Palafox
2021 Honorable Mention
Associate Professor, Integrative Physiology
Nominated by Didi Trifonova and Zachariah Morgan
2021 Honorable Mention
Associate Professor, Environmental Studies
Nominated by Mikaila Wahl
2021 Honorable Mention
Assistant Professor, Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences
Nominated by Zhiyu Yao
2021 Honorable Mention
Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Nominated by Annamarie Guth
2021 Honorable Mention
Professor of Distinction, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Nominated by Benjamin Johnson
2021 Honorable Mention
Assistant Professor, Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences
Nominated by Anna Estes
2021 Honorable Mention
Assistant Professor, Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences
Nominated by Riley McKibbon and Ava Begun
2021 Honorable Mention
Assistant Professor, Psychology and Neuroscience
Nominated by Hadley Mills
2021 Honorable Mention
NSF Postdoctoral Fellow, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Nominated by Natalie Pelton
2021 Honorable Mention
Professor, Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology
Nominated by Shaynie Segal
2021 Honorable Mention
Assistant Professor, Organizational Leadership and Information Analytics
Nominated by Sarah Lurie
2021 Honorable Mention
Associate Professor, International Affairs, Women and Gender Studies
Nominated by Keira Hook