Senior neuroscience major Emma Blackdeer didn’t plan to attend Viterbo University—until she decided to visit campus.

“Originally I thought it would be too small and too close to home,” said Blackdeer, who hails from Sparta. “But everyone was just so supportive, so welcoming, and willing to help with whatever I needed. The other colleges I toured were not like that.”

Blackdeer is now conducting research on campus as a part of Viterbo’s Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program, which allows students to develop their research and presentation skills while working closely with a faculty mentor.

She is focusing on the detection and analysis of fentanyl in the La Crosse community using a wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE). This project aims to quantify fentanyl and its primary metabolite, norfentanyl, in influent and effluent wastewater samples from the local treatment plant. By applying techniques such as liquid chromatography coupled with quadruple time-of-flight mass spectrometry, she is able to estimate fentanyl consumption in the community and determine if the wastewater is being treated once it is released into the environment.

Balancing a demanding academic schedule with involvement in the Viterbo Honors Board, STEM Club, Tri Beta, Servant Leadership Club, and Service Saturdays, Blackdeer saw summer as the ideal time to complete her research capstone.

“I thought it would be interesting to look at different drug metabolites in the community, and I had the opportunity to work with Kyle Backstrand, a professor I really like,” said Blackdeer. “I had him for chemistry, which is not my favorite subject. I don’t love math or formulas. But when I didn’t understand the material, Professor Backstrand always took the time to go over it with me in a way that didn’t make me feel dumb.”

Blackdeer would encourage any student considering Viterbo’s SURF program to apply.

“It’s a great opportunity not only to build confidence in your laboratory techniques and skills, but also to connect with professors and build a sense of community and belonging on campus,” said Blackdeer. “It helped me develop my communication skills, in that you have to explain the results of your research in a way the general public will understand. That is super important in the medical field to relay diagnoses, especially when you are working with patients who are scared and vulnerable.”

Blackdeer hopes to attend medical school in fall 2026. She recently took the MCAT and felt her classes at Viterbo prepared her well.

“The classes that I've taken at Viterbo are rigorous, no doubt,” says Blackdeer. “While taking the MCAT and going through the questions, I thought, ‘Wow, two semesters ago this was hard, this was grueling. But now that I'm going through the process again, I understand the material because I've done the work and I've put in the hours.’ The professors here have definitely prepared me for the future.”