More than 100 people attended the Sixth Annual “Celebration of Science Theses” on April 15 in Exley Science Center. The poster session featured about 15 seniors and BA/MA students from the Natural Science and Mathematics division, presenting their research to the Wesleyan community.
BA/MA student Jacob Litke talks about his research on “Probing the Ion Binding Site of the Holliday Junction.” Litke’s advisor is Ishita Mukerji, professor of molecular biology and biochemistry, director of graduate studies. Julia Leonard ’11 researches “The Effects of Friendly Touch on Compliance in Children.” Her advisor is Anna Shusterman, assistant professor of psychology. Pictured in the center, Brian Stewart, chair and associate professor of physics, associate professor of environmental studies, mingles with students and colleagues at the poster session. Wan Jun Yang ’11 presented her poster on “Experimental Measurement of the Stress Tensor in a Granular Gas.” Yang’s advisor is Greg Voth, associate professor of physics.At left, Marshall Johnson ’11 speaks to Tsampikos Kottos, assistant professor of physics, about his study on “The Shadows of Distant Worlds: Exoplanetary Transit Timing Using the Perkin Telescope.” Johnson’s advisor is Seth Redfield, assistant professor of astronomy.Chris Doucette ’11 speaks to poster session attendees on “Developing a Novel Fluorescent Reporter to Monitor Conformational Change of MutS, a Mismatch Repaor Protein.” Doucette’s advisor is Manju Hingorani, associate professor of molecular biology and biochemistry. Jessica Chukwu ’11 speaks to Barbara Juhasz, assistant professor of psychology, assistant professor of neuroscience and behavior, about her research titled “An in-vivo Photo-Crosslinking Analysis of the SecA-SecG Interface.” Her advisor is Donald Oliver, the Daniel Ayres Professor of Biology, professor of molecular biology and biochemistry. BA/MA student Justin Spring speaks about his research titled “Genetic Relatedness and Adult Neuron Addition in an Avian Forebrain Pathway.” Spring explores the factors that regulate the natural process of neurogenesis in adult birds. He has found that somewhat surprisingly, birds who were nest mates have similar rates of neuron addition once they become adults. Spring’s advisor is John Kirn, chair and professor of neuroscience and behavior, professor of biology. (Photos by Olivia Drake)
Olivia Drake
James Sims
Editorial Staff
Ziba Kashef