Mid-Summer Momentum: UM Scholars Showcase Summer Research Progress
Pictured: MPower UM Scholar Nicole Fortune-Hernandez speaks during an interactive Q&A last Tuesday at the Mid-Summer Research Retreat.
By Ashley DeMaio | June 30, 2025
Last week, on one of the hottest days of the year, participants in MPower’s UM Scholars program gathered at the University of Maryland, Baltimore’s (UMB) SMC Campus Center not for a break from the heat, but to showcase the progress of their summer research. Held on Wednesday, June 25, 2025, the annual Mid-Summer Research Retreat included students from multiple programs and marked the midpoint of summer for student participants.
The UM Scholars program is a paid summer research experience that connects students from University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP) and UMB with faculty mentors at the opposite campus and with leadership at the Maryland Department of Health (MDH). Over 50 students are in the MPower-sponsored program this summer. It is a strategic initiative of the University of Maryland Strategic Partnership: MPowering the State (MPower).
Over a 10-week period from late May through early August, mentors guide UM Scholars through immersive research experiences, with the hopes of deepening their understanding while exposing them to opportunities available in their field.
During this year’s event, eight students were selected to deliver oral presentations showcasing their research findings and progress to date. Presentations covered a variety of topics and fields and were followed by an interactive Q&A detailing their student experiences thus far.
Among the presenters were three students representing the UM Scholars program: Jonathon Meyer, a rising junior at UMCP’s College of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences and one of 18 students being mentored at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM); Nicole Fortune-Hernandez, a rising second-year medical student at UMSOM and one of 6 students being mentored at UMCP; and Kayla Morris, one of 12 students being mentored at the University of Maryland School of Nursing.
During the discussion students related the early stages of executing their projects goals, answered questions about their presentations and summer experience, and shared valuable advice with peers and fellow aspiring researchers.
See more photos from the Mid-Summer Research Retreat here:
