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Olivia DrakeFebruary 20, 20153min
#THISISWHY About 30 Wesleyan students and faculty gathered for a Wesleyan Women in Science (WesWIS) Tea Reception Feb. 19 at the Wasch Center. Women in Science is a student group composed of undergraduates, post-docs, staff and faculty dedicated to issues affecting women in science. The group is open to all majors and genders. During the gathering, guest speaker Michelle Francl, professor of chemistry on the Clowes Fund for Science and Public Policy at Bryn Mawr College, spoke to the group about physicist and chemist Marie Curie, the first woman to win a Nobel Prize. Francl handed out copies of her commentary titled…

Lauren RubensteinFebruary 13, 20153min
The Hartford Courant and WNPR both featured stories on Wesleyan's "observatory nights," which began this month. Every Wednesday night at 8 p.m. during the Spring semester, the Van Vleck Observatory will open its doors to the public, rain or shine, for viewing of the sky through telescopes and presentations on the latest space-related research. According to the Courant, Research Assistant Professor of Astronomy Roy Kilgard said the department is seeking to supplement its outreach to groups already interested and involved in science with new sessions for people who may not have a high level of knowledge about space and astronomy. "We're really trying…

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Lauren RubensteinJanuary 21, 20151min
Beginning Feb. 4, Wesleyan’s Van Vleck Observatory will open to the public every Wednesday night, rain or shine, for presentations by faculty and students on the latest space-related discoveries, as well as a chance for everyone to view the sky through a telescope, weather permitting. The program will start at 8 p.m. on Wednesdays. Presentations are intended to be accessible to visitors of all ages, although aimed primarily at high school level and above. (more…)

Olivia DrakeNovember 20, 20141min
The NASA Connecticut Space Grant Consortium awarded two Student Travel Grants on Nov. 11. Each award is worth $1000. Lisa Korn, a graduate student in earth and environmental sciences, will attend the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, held March 16-20 in The Woodlands, Texas. Her advisor is Marty Gilmore, chair and professor of earth and environmental sciences and the George I. Seney Professor of Geology. Sam Factor, a BA/MA student in astronomy, will use the grant to attend the American Astronomical Society 223rd Meeting, held Jan 4-8 in Seattle, Wash. Factor's advisor is Meredith Hughes, assistant professor of astronomy. Dilovan Serindag '15, Jesse Lieman-Sifry '15 and Trevor Dorn-Wallenstein '15 also…

Olivia DrakeMay 26, 20134min
(Story contributed by Jim Smith) When graduate student Amy Steele settled into her seat the first day of an upper-level Radio Astronomy course last January she was anticipating a rigorous four-month exploration of the discipline. The instructor, Meredith Hughes, who had just joined the Astronomy Department as an assistant professor, came with strong credentials in radio astronomy. Steele was excited. After completing her undergraduate work at Williams College, she had taken four years off to work as the astronomy lab supervisor at the University of Texas at Arlington. Last fall she enrolled as a graduate student at Wesleyan. “Radio astronomy…