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…
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…
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…
Tell us a bit about yourself; what life experiences influenced you to write a senior thesis? I’ve always liked math. I think my parents did a good job of encouraging that when I was young, and I got lucky and had a number of good math teachers who were very encouraging. I had a kind…