graduate students

Graduate student Suhail Yusuf Khan recently performed at two international music festivals with his group Yorkston / Thorne / Khan. The band comprises James Yorkston, a folk singer and guitarist; Jon Thorne, a jazz bassist; and eighth-generation musician Khan, a sarangi violinist and a vocalist of Indian classical music. The sarangi is a short-necked bowed string instrument from northern India, regarded as sounding similar to the human voice. On March 19, Yorkston / Thorne / Khan performed at the International Sacred Art Festival in Madrid, Spain. The festival included 39 concerts held over five weeks. And on March 23, Yorkston / Thorne / Khan dazzled…

Faculty, graduate students, and alumni attended the 49th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference March 19–23 in The Woodlands, Texas. Three graduate students were awarded funds from the NASA Connecticut Space Grant that allowed them to travel to this meeting. Earth and environmental sciences graduate student Reid Perkins presented a research poster titled "Where Are the Missing Tessera Craters on Venus?" Perkins's advisor is Martha Gilmore, the George I. Seney Professor of Geology, professor of earth and environmental sciences. Earth and environmental sciences graduate student Melissa Luna presented a poster titled "Multivariate Spectral Analysis of CRISM Data to Characterize the Composition of Mawrth…

For the second year in a row, Wesleyan is proud to be included on the list of U.S. colleges and universities that produced the most 2017–2018 Fulbright Students, as recently announced by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The Fulbright Program is the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program. Top-producing institutions are highlighted annually in The Chronicle of Higher Education. For academic year 2017–2018, six recent alumni and one graduate student from Wesleyan received Fulbright awards. Those who accepted and are currently participating in Fulbright are: Kate Cullen ’16, academic Fulbright in Chile. Cullen is…

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Molecular Biology and Biochemistry PhD candidate Brandon Case and Emily Kessler '18 recently won poster awards at the North Eastern Structural Symposium (NESS) at the University of Connecticut on Oct. 28. Both students research the mechanisms of action of DNA replication and repair proteins with Manju Hingorani, chair and professor of molecular biology and biochemistry, professor of integrative sciences. Hingorani's DNA Lab investigates proteins responsible for DNA replication and repair. These proteins maintain genome and cell integrity, and their malfunction leads to cancer and other diseases. Case received an Outstanding Poster Award for his work, "Coordinated Actions of Four ATPase…

Several students and recent alumni attended and presented at the 62nd Annual Meeting for the Society for Ethnomusicology, Oct. 26-29, 2017, in Denver, Colo. Founded in 1955, the Society for Ethnomusicology is a global, interdisciplinary network of individuals and institutions engaged in the study of music across all cultural contexts and historical periods. Ellen Lueck, MA '12, PhD '17, presented her paper, "Proposing a Theory for a New Space, the Affinity Interzone." PhD candidate Gene Lai presented his paper, "Uniquely Singapore: Revitalizing a Tamil Folk Music Tradition in the Lion City." PhD candidate Sean Sonderegger MA '14 presented "None of…

Tyshawn Sorey MA '11, who joined Wesleyan's faculty this fall as assistant professor of music, has been awarded a fellowship—better known as a "genius" grant—from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The announcement was made Oct. 11. The fellowship is a "$625,000, no-strings-attached award to extraordinarily talented and creative and creative individuals as an investment in their potential," according to the MacArthur website. Fellows are selected based on "exceptional creativity," "promise for important future advances based on a track record of significant accomplishments" and "potential for the Fellowship to facilitate subsequent creative work." (more…)

Douglas Kiman, a first-year PhD student in ethnomusicology, recently received a scholarship to attend the 2017 Yiddish New York festival held Dec. 23-28. Kiman's research focuses on contemporary klezmer music in Western Europe. Yiddish New York celebrates and engages with East European Jewish (and other Jewish and co-territorial) traditions to foster new creativity. Drawing inspiration from the historic cultural riches of Manhattan’s Lower East Side, Yiddish New York is an intergenerational gathering featuring daily workshops and a broad spectrum of performances and programming. Yiddish New York evenings feature concerts, dance parties, and jam sessions at clubs. Kiman, a native of France, spent two years in New York as…

Wesleyan's Molecular Biophysics Program hosted its 18th annual retreat Sept. 28 at Wadsworth Mansion in Middletown. Wesleyan affiliated speakers included: Colin Smith, assistant professor of chemistry, on "An Atomistic View of Protein Dynamics and Allostery;" Meng-Ju Renee Sher, assistant professor of physics, on "Tracking Electron Motions Using Terahertz Spectroscopy;" Kelly Knee, PhD '07, principle scientist for Pfizer's Rare Disease Research Unit, on "Protein Folding Chaperones: Molecular Machines for Tricky Problems;" and Francis Starr, professor of physics, director of the College of Integrative Sciences, on "DNA Four-Way Junction Dynamics and Thermodynamics: Lessons from Combining Simulations and Experiments." Arthur Palmer, the Robert…

For her ongoing research in developing electromagnetic filters that block high power radiation, physics PhD candidate Eleana Makri recently received a Constantine and Patricia Mavroyannis scholarship from the Greek America Foundation. The $5,000 award will support her doctoral research during the 2017-18 academic year. At Wesleyan, Makri works with Professor Tsampikos Kottos in the development of the reflective limiter concepts that block high power radiation from damaging sensitive sensors, like the eye, while they allow low power radiation to reach the sensor for further processing. Kottos is professor of physics, professor of mathematics and professor of integrative sciences. The Mavroyannis scholarship…

A team of scientists from Wesleyan, led by Associate Professor of Astronomy Seth Redfield and graduate student Prajwal Niraula MA '18, has co-authored a paper on the discovery of three planets, or super-Earths, transiting around a nearby star, just 98 light-years away. “Super-Earths are slightly larger than Earth, and the three of them straddle the divide between the rocky planets like Earth and ice giants like Neptune,” explains Redfield. These planets were found using the Kepler Space Telescope. “Kepler has found thousands of exoplanets these last eight years, but this is the closest planetary system that Kepler has ever found, although closer planetary systems have been…

Nicholas "Nicky" Antonellis '17, a BA/MA student in physics, is one of 14 students in the U.S. selected to receive a $10,000 scholarship from the Directed Energy Professional Society (DEPS). Candidates for the award must be full-time graduate students who are interested in pursuing or are currently studying the directed energy technology areas of high-energy lasers or high-power microwaves. Antonellis is interested in using his knowledge in photonic device design and computational simulations in order to eventually improve upon medical technologies. (more…)

Graduate Student Khan Performs at 2 International Music Festivals

Alumni, Faculty, Graduate Students Make Presentations at Planetary Science Conference

Wesleyan Named a Top Producer of Fulbright U.S. Students

McKee Leads Graduate Series Discussion on Fossils, Climate’s Effect on Leaves

Case, Kessler ’18 Honored for Outstanding Poster Presentations

Students, Alumni Present Papers, Attend Roundtables at Society for Ethnomusicology Annual Meeting

Assistant Professor of Music Sorey MA ’11 Wins MacArthur “Genius” Award

Graduate Student Kiman Awarded Scholarship to Attend Yiddish Festival

Speakers, Poster Sessions at Annual Molecular Biophysics Program Retreat

Makri Awarded Graduate Scholarship from Greek America Foundation

Niraula MA ’18, Redfield Lead Team in Discovery of 3 Super-Earths

BA/MA Student Antonellis ’17 Awarded Scholarship for Energy Technology Research