Maven Mercado, environmental science '26, was recently awarded the 2026 GeoCUR Award for Excellence in Student Research by the Council on Undergraduate Research's Geoscience Division. Maven is minoring in geoscience and has been involved in research throughout their time at Drexel. They are currently working with Dr. Jocelyn Sessa, Associate Professor in the Department of Biodiversity, Earth and Environmental Science and Associate Curator in the Invertebrate Paleontology Department at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University.
Maven has received multiple research-focused fellowships. Through DAAD-RISE, they spent a summer in Germany studying body size changes in small crustaceans called ostracods across the Permian-Triassic mass extinction (the most severe known extinction on Earth). As a recipient of the NOAA Ernest F. Hollings Scholarship, they developed a deep-sea coral and sponge habitat guide during an internship in NOAA's Deep Sea Coral Research & Technology Program. They are also currently a semi-finalist for a Fulbright Study/Research Grant to Canada, where they hope to continue studying deep-sea corals.
At Drexel, Maven is a Liberty Scholar and a member of the SuperNova Undergraduate Research Fellows Program, which helps students document their sustained commitment to research throughout their undergraduate careers. We're thrilled that their impressive research portfolio has been recognized by GeoCUR!
Maven's nomination for this award was made possible by Drexel's membership in the Council on Undergraduate Research. "Drexel University is an enhanced institutional member of the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR), a professional community committed to advancing excellence in undergraduate research," says Jaya Mohan, Director of Undergraduate Research & Enrichment Programs in the Pennoni Honors College. "This institutional membership allows any faculty, student, or staff member at Drexel to join CUR at no individual cost to them, providing the Drexel community with access to professional development opportunities, advocacy materials, resources and publications, and recognition and awards like the one received by Maven this year. Our goal in funding the institutional membership through the Pennoni Honors College is to make visible Drexel University's commitment to undergraduate research and to continue to support undergraduate research activities across our campus in as many ways as possible."