Olivia Drake(more…)
On July 11, Craig Malamut ’12 photographed a pacific solar eclipse 2,500 miles west of South America. As a Keck Northeast Astronomy Consortium Summer Fellow, summer exchange student, Malamut had the opportunity to travel to Easter Island with a group from Williams College. The last time an eclipse occurred over the island was in 591 A.D. The expedition was led by Jay Pasachoff, the Field Memorial Professor of Astronomy at Williams College and chair of the International Astronomical Union's Working Group on Eclipses. This was Pasachoff's 51st solar eclipse study; it was Malamut’s first. “Before getting this position, I was…
In some models of origins of life, hot springs are considered to be one of the first environments inhabited by life. During the 2010-11 academic year, biology BA/MA student Jane Wiedenbeck '10 will use a NASA-funded Graduate Fellowship to study the evolution of certain microorganisms to discern how life may have originated and evolved under extreme conditions. Wiedenbeck, who applied for the fellowship during the fall 2009 semester, received a $20,000 award from the Connecticut Space Grant College Consortium. The Consortium is a member of the NASA-funded national Space Grant College and Fellowship Program, and serves to promote and support…
Several Wesleyan faculty, graduate students and alumni participated in the 2009 Geological Society of America Annual Meeting Oct. 18-21 in Portland, Ore. Suzanne O'Connell, associate professor of earth and environmental sciences, director of the Service Learning Center, presented a research poster and delivered a presentation titled "Techniques and Tools for Effective Recruitment, Retention and promotion of Women and Minorities in the Geosciences." She spoke about the grant-funded organization Geoscience Academics in the Northeast (GAIN), which was established to build a community of academic geoscience women within a small geographic area. Johan Varekamp, the Harold T. Stearns Professor of Earth Science,…
Earth and environmental sciences graduate student George Bennum '08 received an honorable mention for his student research poster titled "3D Modeling of Synsedimentary Faults in the Capitan Reef, Guadalupe Mountains, NM/TX" at the American Association of Petroleum Geologists "Rocky Mountain Rendezvous of Geoscience Students and Employers." Phil Resor, assistant professor of earth and environmental sciences, is Bennum's advisor.
For six weeks, Jeff Katzin ’10 studied with museum curators and art faculty, took behind-the-scenes tours of museums and helped execute an exhibition. Katzin was one of 15 students who participated in the Summer Institute in Art Museum Studies (SIAMS) at Smith College from June 15 to July 24. He received a Certificate in Art Museum Studies upon completion of the highly-selective program. "At SIAMS, I met with current professionals, I learned about issues and debates regarding museums and their collections from the program's directors and visiting speakers, and I visited many museums and saw a lot of great art,"…
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, one out of every three black men between the ages 20 and 29 is in prison, on probation or on parole. Of these men, 94 percent are fathers. English and African American Studies major CaVar Reid '11 is curious to discover how prison affects a man's ability to be a father. "I want to ask them, 'What were your expectations about your relationships with your children when you were incarcerated? How do you think your incarceration has affected your children? How did you stay involved with your children?'" Reid says. As a 2009-11…
In January, Hannah Hastings '08 and Andrea Pain '08 collected seagrass from the ocean floor to study nutrient content in a dinoflagellate-rich ecosystem off the southwest coast of Puerto Rico. The seniors returned to Wesleyan and analyzed their samples for carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus levels. They discovered a high ratio of nitrogen to phosphorus compared to the normal ratio in the ocean. "We discovered that high dinoflagellate concentrations are directly associated with elevated nitrogen to phosphorus ratios," Pain said during Part I of the Earth and Environmental Science Departments Senior Seminar Research Project colloquium March 6. Part II of the…