graduate students

Maho Ishiguro, an ethnomusicology doctoral student, received a Fulbright Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad (DDRA) Fellowship to study the female Saman dance in Indonesia. The award came with a $29,508 stipend. Ishiguro's proposed research title is “Saman Dance in Diaspora Presence of Female Saman Dance as Expressions of Piety Cultural Identity and Popular Culture.” Her DDRA project will examine the contemporary life of female Saman dance in Jakarta, Yogyakarta and Banda Aceh. Saman dance, or the dance of a “thousand hands” is typically performed in Gayo Lues, a mountainous region of Aceh, by eight to 20 male performers who kneel in…

Graduate Student Services welcomed 64 graduate students to Wesleyan on Aug. 26. Of the students, 19 are part of Wesleyan's BA/MA program; 12 are MA students; 20 are Ph.D. candidates; eight are Foreign Language Teaching Assistants; three are Wesleyan Writing Fellows and one is an exchange student from Germany. Twelve are studying music and ethnomusicology; 37 are pursing degrees in science and mathematics; three are studying psychology and 12 are non-degree seeking students. Of the 64 graduate students, 43 are from the United States. The other 21 are from France, Ghana, India, Greece, Spain, Mexico, Sri Lanka, Singapore, United Kingdom,…

Two graduate students and two faculty attended the 248th national meeting of the American Chemical Society Aug. 10-14 in San Francisco, Calif. Chemistry graduate students Duminda Ranasinghe delivered a poster presentation on her research titled "Efficient extrapolation to the (T)/CBS limit" and an oral presentation on "Density functional for core-valence correlation energy." Chemistry graduate student Kyle Throssell presented two poster presentations on "Potential curves of selected radical thiol double additions to alkynes" and "Assessing weak interactions in small dimer systems with PM7." The students were accompanied by George Petersson, the Fisk Professor of Natural Science, professor of chemistry; and Michael…

Mathematics Ph.D. candidate Alicia Marino recently attended a four-day workshop in Portland, Ore. studying various aspects of computational number theory. The workshop focused on Sage, a mathematics software package, developed by and for the mathematical community. The event included talks, tutorials, and time spent in small project groups developing Sage code. Participants worked to enhance the Sage library and discussed ways to increase the number of women in Sage development. The workshop ran July 28-Aug. 1. Marino, who holds a bachelor's degree in computer science, attended the conference to sharpen her programming skills. "My initial desire to attend the workshop…

A figure created by Katherine Kaus, graduate student in the Molecular Biology and Biochemistry Department, was selected to run as the featured cover graphic in the Sept. 9 Journal of Molecular Biology. The graphic is related to her article, titled "Glycan Specificity of the Vibrio vulnificus Hemolysin Lectin Outlines Evolutionary History of Membrane Targeting by a Toxin Family," which was published in the journal on July 29. It is co-authored by Rich Olson, assistant professor of molecular biology and biochemistry, and researchers at the University of Connecticut. The abstract appears online here. Vibrio vulnificus is an emerging human pathogen that causes severe food poisoning…

Nicole Arulanantham, who is entering her second year as a graduate student in the Astronomy MA program, was awarded a Chambliss Medal by the American Astronomical Society at its June 3 meeting in Boston. The awards are given to recognize exemplary research by a student presenting a poster paper at an AAS meeting. Arulanantham worked on the study with her advisor, Bill Herbst, the John Monroe Van Vleck Professor of Astronomy, chair of the Astronomy Department, and Ann Marie Cody of the California Institute of Technology. It involved analysis of data obtained with the Spitzer Space Telescope. Read more about the…

Reinhold Blümel, the Charlotte Augusta Ayres Professor of Physics, and physics graduate student Yunseong Nam are the co-authors of "Robustness of the quantum Fourier transform with respect to static gate defects," published in Physical Review A, Issue 89, in April 2014. The quantum Fourier transform (QFT) is one of the most widely used quantum algorithms, ranging from its primary role in finding the periodicity hidden in a quantum state to its use in constructing a quantum adder.

Biology Ph.D candidate Sarah Kopac was invited to speak at the 2014 Spring Symposium of the Space Telescope Science Institute on the campus of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, M.D. on April 29. Kopac spoke on "Specialization of Bacillus in the Geochemcially Challenged Environment of Death Valley." Watch a video of her 20 minute presentation online here. Kopac's talk was part of a four-day interdisciplinary meeting titled "Habitable Worlds Across Time and Space" featuring speakers from around the world working in such diverse fields as biology, geology and astronomy. The focus of the seminar was on identifying places within our…

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Honors and MA students in the Natural Sciences and Mathematics Division presented their research at the Celebration of Science Theses, April 18 in Exley Science Center. Xi Liu '14 presented her study on "Consequences of Priming Status Legitimizing Beliefs in Whites: An Investigation of Perceived Anti-White Bias, Zero-Sum Beliefs and Support for Affirmative Action."

In this issue of The Wesleyan Connection, we speak with astronomy graduate student Eric Edelman '13, who is one of 16 BA/MA students at Wesleyan. Q: You're one of only a few who pursue the BA/MA option — it seems like a lot of work. But it seems tailor-made for work in the sciences... Are you still happy with your choice? A: Absolutely. The BA/MA program provided me with the possibility to realistically pursue astronomy as a late bloomer in the field. I entered Wesleyan with the plan to major in English, and focused my efforts on that path for my…

Ishiguro to Study Female Saman Dance as Fulbright DDRA Fellow

Wesleyan Welcomes 64 Graduate Students

Graduate Students, Faculty Attend American Chemical Society Meeting

Ph.D. Candidate Marino Attends Workshop on Computational Number Theory

Grad Student’s Graphic to Appear on Journal’s Cover

Arulanantham Honored with Chambliss Medal at American Astronomical Society Meeting

Blümel, Nam Published in Physical Review A

Kopac, Herbst, Martinez MA ’13 Attend Space Telescope Science Institute Symposium

Wesleyan Welcomes New BA/MA Students

Honors, Graduate Students Present Posters at Celebration of Science Theses

Honors, MA Students Present Research at Celebration of Science Theses

BA/MA Astronomy Student Edelman Researching Winds around Stars