Michigan State University recognized two faculty members and a graduate student with the Undergraduate Research Mentor of the Year and Supervisor of the Year awards, honoring their mentorship of students and their strong commitment to undergraduate research.
During the University Undergraduate Research and Arts Forum on April 11, Dr. Jennifer Lee Johnson, associate professor in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources’ Department of Community Sustainability, and Dr. Sarah Prior, associate professor and undergraduate program director in the College of Social Science’s Sociology Department, both were honored with the Undergraduate Research Mentor of the Year Award.
Sabrina Curley received the Undergraduate Research Supervisor of the Year Award. Curley, a graduate student through December 2024 in the C.R. Szczepanski Lab in the College of Engineering’s Chemical Engineering & Material Science Department, has since earned their doctorate and worked as an independent research aide through February.
The awards are the result of undergraduate student researchers who nominate mentors and supervisors for the annual honors.
Undergraduate Research Mentor of the Year: Dr. Jennifer Lee Johnson
Dr. Jennifer Lee Johnson’s work in undergraduate research and as a mentor plays a formative role in the educational careers of her student researchers. It also helps communities across the state and beyond suffering from contamination.
Johnson’s current work with her Toxic Action Lab centers around environmental contamination and community health in small and mid-sized cities and towns in the Midwest. She collaborates closely with communities and students to conduct action-oriented research designed to make a difference. Johnson is also finishing a book about whose reality counts in defining sustainability based on nearly two decades of research on and in Ugandan fisheries.
Johnson collaborates with and mentors undergraduate researchers – anywhere from 10 to 70 students per semester – in her courses, including Community Engagement for Sustainability, and in her lab where students conduct real-world research projects for community partners.
Johnson values these students as integral members of her team. Outside of the academic realm of her courses, students join Johnson in meeting with agency and community partners and helping plan and execute fieldwork in communities facing contamination and health challenges.
“It is both my pleasure and my job to mentor our undergraduate students. Often this part of our profession as professors is appreciated by our students, their parents, and their future employers, but is not weighted as heavily as it may deserve to be when our work as a whole is evaluated for things like tenure and promotion,” Johnson said. “So, to be recognized for my contributions to undergraduate research and mentoring at the university level in this way is not only an incredible honor, it's also incredibly affirming.”
Johnson’s nominator graduated this spring after completing Johnson’s Community Engagement for Sustainability course and conducting research in the Toxic Action Lab. The classwork guided their lab research, publishing environmental documents focused on contaminated sites in Kokomo, Indiana. Through this work, this student and the other students not only developed real-world experience but also skills and research that could directly apply to helping real communities.
“Dr. Johnson strongly contradicts the stereotypes of university researchers, in which they are conveyed as self-serving, and their projects considered short-lived. Dr. Johnson collaborates with communities experiencing the impacts of historic and contemporary contamination, and offers her help,” said the nominator in their letter. “The communities guide the trajectory of the research and Dr. Johnson’s level of involvement. Dr. Johnson utilizes the abilities of students to design their own curriculum, and empowers them to pursue what they are most interested in. As a mentor, Dr. Johnson has been a driving force in the pride I take in my degree, and has opened my eyes to a field of research completely new to me. Dr. Johnson’s mentorship will influence my decisions in a career setting, and I will carry her teachings with me forever.”
Undergraduate Research Mentor of the Year: Dr. Sarah Prior
Dr. Sarah Prior’s classes are much more than a lecture – they are weekly or biweekly opportunities for students to talk about, think about and conduct research at the intersection of campus sexual culture and campus sexual violence while learning new skills and exploring new data.
Prior, who came to MSU in 2017, mentored and worked with a lab of four to six undergraduate researchers for the last two years. They either volunteered to accumulate research experience or were Sociology students who signed up for a class that counted as an experiential learning course.
Since she came to MSU in 2017, Prior has turned her classrooms and labs into open environments where students are empowered to exhibit curiosity, discover different directions a research project might take them, explore data and work collaboratively.
“Students inspire me,” Prior said. “They have new ways of thinking about things and different ways to see the world. They bring their fresh experiences and curiosity to each new task. It is truly a joy and privilege to be able to work with students. I love what I do.”
Students who enter Prior’s classrooms and labs leave having gained invaluable research experience, meaningful mentorship, and resources and support that set them up for future academic and career success.
Prior’s nominator, a sociology and psychology major and 2025 MSU graduate, is continuing their education at the prestigious Oxford University. In Prior’s classes and mentorship, they found not only research opportunities but mentorship, profound ways to learn and grow, and the tools needed for educational success.
“Dr. Prior is not only an outstanding researcher and mentor but also a personal role model. Her passion for her research, her dedication to making a meaningful impact with her work, and her unwavering support for her students have inspired me to strive for excellence in my own academic and professional pursuits in research and academia,” said Prior’s nomination letter. “Her work as a qualitative researcher focusing on gender-based issues and sexual violence has not only advanced the field of sociology but has also motivated me to explore and illuminate the challenges faced by marginalized communities. Dr. Prior’s example motivates me to one day emulate her impact as a mentor and researcher.”
Undergraduate Research Supervisor of the Year: Sabrina Curley
Sabrina Curley dedicated their time at MSU seeking and ultimately earning a doctorate and mentoring students as they collaborate to research photopolymerization solutions in biomimicry, such as the Namib Desert beetle and the eco-friendly, water-harvesting surfaces inspired by the African insect.
Curley has mentored and worked with three students, assigning each a specific project focus, allowing them to take ownership of different aspects of the research and ultimately contributing to discovery.
Curley’s students receive a mentorship that relates specifically to their projects, as they work together to discuss goals and timelines, and question how they can achieve discovery. For Curley, research skills, like laboratory safety and techniques, searching research articles, and communicating data and findings, are married with personal skills, including navigating career choices, networking and knowing one’s worth.
“As someone who participated in undergraduate research myself and had graduate student and postdoc mentors, I have enjoyed being able to pay forward advice and lessons I learned to the next members of scientific research,” Curley said. “The students I have worked with in Dr. Szczepanski's lab each bring their own backgrounds, interests, and curiosity to the projects they work on, influencing the direction we take in studying polymer networks.”
One of the students Curley teaches and mentors directly credits them for their choice to pursue a career in research, while teaching them how to conduct research that is ethical, rigorous and meaningful.
Curley’s nominator, who studies chemical engineering, and biochemistry and molecular biology, plans to graduate in 2026. They nominated Curley for the award because of their empathy, professionalism and dedication to undergraduate research. Curley’s mentorship led to a profound impact on their academic and personal growth.
"Sabrina’s passion for research is contagious, and it extends beyond their primary thesis project and to undergraduate research,” they said in the nomination letter. “Even in such a stressful time, Sabrina did not shy away from their mentoring duties and was always available to discuss minute parts of my project, help me conduct experiments, and provide career-related advice."
This story originally appeared on the Undergraduate Education website.