This past June, more than 50 summer 2026 undergraduate researchers buttoned their lab coats, put on their goggles and stepped into the world of scientific research not just as students, but as collaborators.
For seven weeks, undergraduate researchers worked closely with their faculty mentors, conducting hands-on experiments in lab settings and in the field, depending on their discipline. For many students, it was their first research experience where they worked eight hours a day alongside Schmid College Professors, postdoc students and their fellow undergrads.
Schmid College hosts a number of summer research fellowships, including the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF), the Schmid Summer Research Fellowship (SSRF), the Stauffer-Fletcher Jones Chemistry and Biochemistry Research Fellowship (SFJ), the Beckman Scholars Program, and the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship in Earth and Environmental Sciences (SURFEES). Each program awards students research funding and summer campus housing, along with one-on-one mentorship from Schmid faculty.
Two Students; Two Stories
One of this year’s SURF fellows is Jolie Evans ‘28, a biology major studying enzymes in Dr. Cedric Owens lab. Her research focuses on an enzyme called nitrogenase, which converts nitrogen gas into ammonia, a compound vital to plant life and needed in large quantities for agricultural applications. Nitrogenase is usually found in bacteria and needs an oxygen free environment to survive. In Jolie’s research, that environment is the inside of E. Coli bacteria.
“It is pretty violent. I make a ton of bacteria, and then I put a bunch of antibiotics in them to kill all the ones that we don’t want, and then I gather them all up and crush them with ultrasound. It is really brutal. There’s millions of little tiny bacteria deaths every day. But it’s worth it. In the name of science,” says Jolie.
Her summer research experience began in June, but Jolie has been working in Dr. Owens’ lab since fall of 2025. During the summer, she spent between three and nine hours a day in the lab, as she and Dr. Owens developed the best methods to produce the desired proteins through trial and error.
“Some days I’ll be trying to determine the length of DNA or protein segments. Some days I’m growing tons and tons of nasty E. Coli bacteria. It’s very different every day and I really get to enjoy how it’s not just one skill over and over to accomplish the goals of my project.”
Another summer undergrad researcher, Anja Weiss, ‘28, participated as an SFJ fellow in Dr. Cecilia Lopez and Dr. Marco Bisoffi’s breast cancer lab. Anja is a biochemistry and molecular biology major. She joined the lab back in spring of 2025 and began studying aggressive cancer cells and the proteins that influence the efficacy of cancer treatments.
Anja was studying the threshold at which, over time, some cancer cells can develop resistance to treatments like chemotherapy, similar to antibiotic-resistant bacteria. She worked nine-to-five shifts in the lab, four days a week, stressing mouse cancer cells that closely mimic human breast cancer cells.
“I honestly have come to love taking care of my cells a lot. I feel kind of maternal towards them. Like they’re growing and they’re becoming things. And then I have to kill them in the end because I have to stress them, which I feel bad about,” she says.
Reflections on the Summer Research Experience
Jolie is currently pre-med and aims to become an optometrist or an eye surgeon. She says she loves doing research, and while it is not her main focus, she says she would be open to pharmaceutical research in the future. Jolie’s goal is to eventually have her own optometry practice, but she is also interested in continuing ophthalmological research on ocular diseases and medications that can help her future patients. She says that she found her footing over the course of the summer through trial and error.
“Even though things didn’t go to plan at times, I really enjoyed getting to learn all of these lab skills and find my independence in a lab. I’ve really enjoyed getting to build my own project, and watching my poster go from just an idea to presenting it. I really enjoyed getting to have those moments to hang out and deepen my connection with my lab partner and getting to learn more about this field from my professor. It’s just been a lot of fun. Definitely exhausting, but a lot of fun,” says Jolie.
Jolie is now working with an ophthalmology lab at Chapman’s Rinker Campus, where she assists Ph.D students with their research, giving her an edge for her own Ph.D applications. She says that she feels fortunate to have access to research opportunities at Chapman as an undergrad, and to work so closely with her faculty mentor.
Anja, who is also currently on the pre-med track and aspires to work in pediatric oncology, agrees. She said that her fellow researchers were the best part of coming in every day.
“I’m biased, but I think my lab is the best ever. I love being in a lab with people who are so kind, and everyone in Dr. Lopez’s lab is wonderful. My mentors, Dr. Lopez and Dr. Bassoffi, are amazing. I’ve asked them five million questions each and they take each of them with such grace and care. They make sure that I know what I’m doing and that I can ask more, and that’s okay,” says Anja.
Cancer research is near and dear to Anja and her family. She says that she is considering clinical research in the future. This summer was her first experience working on a full-time lab schedule, and Anja noted that the experience has helped her hone problem-solving and communication skills, in addition to becoming more confident in her research.
“I feel like research is a vulnerable thing for a lot of people because you’re just trying things and hoping it works. I think the SFJ fellowship does a great job at making students feel welcomed. It’s okay to make mistakes and just learn as you go. It’s so crazy that I’m an undergraduate student and I’m able to create my own project with my own hypothesis, and then be able to present that to someone who will think it’s meaningful,” says Anja.
To learn more about all the research opportunities at Schmid College throughout the school year and next summer, click here.
