Behind Every Researcher is a Great Mentor!
Thank you for guiding, challenging, and inspiring our SURF presenters to achieve excellence in research.
2026 Mentors
Damena Agonafer University of Maryland, College Park Mechanical Engineering
Jorge Almodovar UMBC, Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering
Henrique Barbosa UMBC, Atmospheric Physics
Joseph Bennett UMBC, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Charles Bieberich UMBC, Biological Sciences
Keke Chen UMBC, Computer Sciences & Electrical Engineering
Chengpeng Chen UMBC, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Janelle Clark UMBC, Mechanical Engineering
Pengfei Ding UMBC, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Diana Elizando UMBC, Biological Sciences
Sandy Fox-Moon Anne Arundel Community College, Microbiology
David Garcia UMBC, Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering
Matthias Gobbert UMBC, Mathematics and Statistics
Ankit Goel UMBC, Mechanical Engineering
Erin Green UMBC, Biological Sciences
Lynne Heighton Prince George’s Community College, Chemistry
Christopher Hennigan UMBC, Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering
Kathleen Hoffman UMBC, Mathematics and Statistics
Corine Jackman Burden UMBC, Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering
Lisa Kelly UMBC, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Deepak Koirala UMBC, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Tara LeGates UMBC, Biological Sciences
Jeff Leips UMBC, Biological Sciences
Jasper Lewis UMBC, Atmospheric Physics
Cheng-Yu Li UMBC, Biological Sciences
Weihong Lin UMBC, Biological Sciences
Daniel Lobo UMBC, Biological Sciences
Fantasy Lozada Virginia Commonwealth University, Psychology
Hua Lu UMBC, Biological Sciences
Deepa Madan UMBC, Mechanical Engineering
Mark Marten UMBC, Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering
Brent McBride UMBC, Physics
Stephen Miller UMBC, Biological Sciences
Molly Mollica UMBC, Mechanical Engineering
Kevin Omland UMBC, Biological Sciences
Achuth Padmanabhan UMBC, Biological Sciences
Paria Parto Prince George’s Community College, Biological Sciences
Anuradha Ravi UMBC, Information Systems
Adriana Rocha Lima UMBC, Atmospheric Physics
Rahuldeb Roy UMBC, Mechanical Engineering
Andrew Sayer UMBC and NASA, Atmospheric Physics
Ivona Cetinic NASA, Atmospheric Physics
Khandra Sears Baltimore City Community College, Biological Sciences
Herana Kamal Seneviratne UMBC, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Aaron Smith UMBC, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Venkatesh Srinivasan UMBC, Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering
Michelle Starz-Gaiano UMBC Biological Sciences
Michael Summers UMBC, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Laurie Sutton UMBC, Biological Sciences
Ali Tokay UMBC, Department of Geography and Environmental Systems
Paris von Lockette UMBC, Mechanical Engineering
Fernando Vonhoff UMBC, Biological Sciences
Jianwu Wang UMBC, Information Systems
Rebecca Williams UMBC, Computer Science & Electrical Engineering
Xiaoguang (Richard) Xu UMBC, Atmospheric Physics
Pengwang Zhai UMBC, Atmospheric Physics
Zhibo Zhang UMBC, Atmospheric Physics