By Arum Han Professor Kendra Marcus joined the Amherst College faculty as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry this semester. She is currently teaching biochemistry (CHEM 331) and specializes in researching proteins through the lens of evolutionary and structural biology. The Amherst STEM Network had the opportunity to interview Professor Marcus about her work. What inspired…
On September 25, 2024, Gabriel Sosa Castillo delivered a talk about his research on reconstructible monomial orderings at the Amherst College Math Colloquium. Sosa Castillo previously worked at the College as an assistant professor in the Mathematics Department and now works at Colgate University. Sosa Castillo specializes in computational and combinatorial commutative algebra, which refers…
By Ryogo Katahira Klara Matuszewska ’26 won a Chambliss Astronomy Achievement Student Award for 2024. The award is to “recognize exemplary research by undergraduate and graduate students” and is selected by the American Astronomical Society (AAS). Matuszekska is a physics and astronomy double major from Warsaw, Poland and works in Professor Daniella Bardalez Gagliuffi’s research…
By Kyle Hur and Nora Lowe Ed Yong is a science journalist and the author of two New York Times bestsellers. He has received national recognition for his science writing, including winning the Pulitzer Prize in explanatory journalism and the Victor Cohn Prize for medical science reporting. The Amherst STEM Network had the pleasure of…
Article by Pho Vu In the beginning of the fall 2022 semester, I had the opportunity to sit down with Professor Lilian Pentecost, the newest addition to Amherst College’s Computer Science Department, for The Amherst Student’s “Fresh Faculty” article. After our initial interview, I asked to follow up with Professor Pentecost to delve deeper into…
Article by Amy Zheng Cailin Plunkett ’23 is a physics and math major from Oakland, California. She is writing her thesis with Assistant Professor of Astronomy Kate Follette on the formation of protoplanets. Since childhood, Plunkett wanted to study space and physics. Despite receiving advice to pursue computer science or engineering, Plunkett chose to follow…
Will DeGroot ’23 is a mathematics and computer science major. His thesis works toward answering a “big open question” within the field of abstract algebra called the Galois embedding problem. In collaboration with the Amherst Student. …
Could you briefly describe your research? “Of course! Our lab research is concerned with Drosophila—a fancy name for house flies. We are using the JR neuromuscular junction of Drosophila as a model system. Every student’s research is different, [but] I was assigned to research one of the proteins called PAR-1 within the presynaptic region of…
This piece was co-authored by Amy Zheng. STEMsibs, derived from “STEM siblings,” is a student group with a mission to guide new and undeclared students throughout their STEM journey at Amherst College. The STEMsibs offer monthly informational panels hosted by upperclassmen to form a tight-knit STEM community. Tavus Atajanova, one of the group’s organizers, describes…
This year, the Amherst DeMott reading and lecture were centered around Poler Family Professor of Psychology Catherine Sanderson’s book, The Positive Shift: Mastering Mindset to Improve Happiness, Health, and Longevity. I sat down with her to ask a few questions inspired by the reading. Could you start by describing what your book, The Positive Shift…