Peter Klisiwecz ’25 was a physics major at Amherst who graduated last month. For his senior thesis with Professor Nick Holschuh in the geology department, he developed a method to infer glacial crystal orientation fabric from decades of existing radio data taken at different times and directions, instead of having to conduct another survey. Peter…
Lillia Hammond graduated from Amherst last month with a double major in physics and art history, and she is studying toward a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering through Dartmouth College’s five-year Engineering Exchange Program. For her senior thesis, she worked with Dartmouth professor Kristina Lynch on the GNEISS mission, a nationwide collaboration that aims to…
By Belaine Mamo At 4pm on Tuesday March 4th, the Physics and Astronomy Department welcomed Professor of Chemistry Claudia Avalos where she spoke about her research at New York University in a presentation entitled “Spin Exchange Interactions and Spin Polarization in Pentacene-Radical Dyads” for their weekly colloquium. After completing her undergraduate degree in Chemistry at…
By Fernanda Morais Cover image credit: NASA Astrobiology On February 25, Dr. Mark Popinchalk, a postdoctoral fellow at the American Museum of Natural History, visited the Amherst Physics & Astronomy Department for its weekly colloquium. Dr. Popinchalk is a member of the Brown Dwarfs in New York City (BDNYC) research group. Brown dwarfs are objects…
By Alyssa Friedman and Viktoria Leopold Cover image credit: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2018-11-zebrafish-larvae-appetite-suppressants.html In recent years, concern about environmental contaminants has grown mainstream, spurring research into the potential impact of certain chemicals on embryonic development, or how an organism spends the early stages of its life. Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are particularly alarming because of how they mimic or…
Last semester, the Physics and Astronomy Department welcomed a new postdoc, Dr. Mark Giovinazzi. In this article, we explore Mark’s research expertise on low-mass stars and exoplanets and learn more about his personal life at Amherst! His journey involves diverse research experiences and the continuous mission to elevate underrepresented students in the field. …
Energy is a necessity for human survival, and in recent history, we have burned coal and drilled into the Earth’s surface to power our rapidly advancing societies. However, these methods place an enormous strain on the planet we call home. As humans are faced with the alarming ecological impacts of our energy decisions, we can…
By Andrea Yan and Henry Sun Michael Barresi, a Professor of Biological Sciences at Smith College, was the speaker for the Biology Monday Seminar on December 4th. A prominent developmental biologist specializing in the development of vertebrae brains, he is a co-author of the widely-used textbook Developmental Biology. In his talk, he guided us through…
From boat ropes to shoelaces, knots are found everywhere in our day-to-day lives. But where things really get tied up is on the microscopic scale. Even the basic code for life inside our cells can sometimes be prone to tangles. So, why exactly are knots found in our DNA, and what are the biological causes?…
By Andrea Yan and Henry Sun Cover image credit: https://lsa.umich.edu/chem/people/faculty/gshultz.html In a packed Kirkpatrick Lecture Hall on October 18th, students and faculty in the Chemistry Department gathered for the week’s Cheminar series, which addressed an unconventional topic. Ginger Shultz, the week’s speaker, is an Associate Professor of Chemistry and Associate Chair for Education Development and…