Above: The Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program offers hands-on research experience like studying how sugar kelp adapts to changing marine environments.
Thanks to our donors, BU is training the next wave of scientists
Sierra Koerber-Marx (CAS’26) grew up along the Maine coast, where her father and uncle worked on lobster boats. This year, a $3,000 Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) grant—matched by Kilachand Honors College—allowed her to spend the summer studying how sugar kelp adapts to changing marine environments.
“It’s sad that I’ll never see the same ecosystems that my dad did or my great-grandpa did,” says Koerber-Marx, who plans to become a marine biologist. “But it also is motivating to make sure that I’m working to conserve that area for future generations.”
UROP supports BU undergraduates across the University in faculty-mentored research projects—in any academic area—that produce real results. Last year, UROP funded 578 projects with $1.5 million in student stipends, and also covered lab supplies, travel, and other needs. The funded projects represent about two-thirds of UROP applicants. That rate—and impact—could be even higher with more direct support.
Distributed through stipends for student research
In the 2024–25 academic year, UROP students studied the safe applications of robots made from flexible materials and pored over 54,000 images of white dwarf stars to determine their composition. One student surveyed shellfish remains from a now-uninhabited Alaskan island to determine how people lived there hundreds of years ago.
The kelp study may provide insights into how to restore populations that are down substantially in some areas, says Koerber-Marx: “We actually collected data on our first dive, which is rare.”