St. Lawrence University
Physics Alumni Newsletter
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Volume 2, Issue 2
http://it.stlawu.edu/~physics/alumni/alumni_news.shtml Summer 2002
Editor: Ellen
Galo, Physics Department Secretary
Four students and one
faculty member inducted into SPS National Physics Honorary
The St. Lawrence University physics department is
pleased to announce that four students were inducted in the St. Lawrence
chapter of Sigma Pi Sigma national physics honor society on April 30,
2002. Sophomores Todd Fallesen, Sandra
Lampreda, Jeremy Ouellette, and Sarah Post join current Sigma Pi Sigma members
Katie Fitzgibbons '02 and Leslie McCabe '02 (co-presidents), Christopher Young
'02, Nathan Page '02, Christopher Brechtel '03, Kristin (Kricket) Fellows '03,
and Paul Talaga '03. Undergraduates
must be in the upper one-third of their class in general scholarship, have
completed at least three semesters of full-time college work and at least three
semester courses that can be credited toward a physics major. Faculty member Daniel W. Koon, a member of
the department since 1987, was also inducted, joining current faculty Sigma Pi
Sigma members Brian Watson, Aileen O'Donoghue, Jeff Miller, and chapter advisor
Catherine Jahncke. (Formore information
about the national physics honor society, please visit www.sigmapisigma.org.)
See photos of Sigma Pi Sigma Induction at http://it.stlawu.edu/~physics/sps/induct02.shtml.
The Alumni Corner on the Romer Memorial
Bulletin Board is now available to let our students know what SLU alums are
doing in their professional life! Our
first profile featured Dr. Robert G. Thomas '49. If you're interested in sharing some of your activities,
achievements, articles and publications, please email Ellen (egal@stlawu.edu)
so that she can let you know if and when the space is available. We very much appreciate our students' being
able to have this kind of feedback and vision.
Why Volume 2?
Several alums have said they don't recall a Volume 1
of the Physics Newsletter. While cleaning out old files, we found one issue
sent out by Prof. Don Peckham in 1989.
That was part of the motivation for beginning this newsletter. But since we weren't the first and want to
give credit where credit is due, that newsletter was dubbed Volume 1, thus our
beginning issue is labeled Volume 2, Issue 1.
Current Renovations
During this summer, Bewkes 209-210 which was
previously used as a general classroom and gathering space, will be modified to
include a computer projection system, new tables and blackboard, and outlets so
that it can be used as a "studio physics" (combined lecture-lab)
classroom. The monster interferometer
has been moved to the Optics Lab adjoining the "coffee room" across
from the Physics Office.
In
this issue: Faculty
Updates-p. 2 / Profiles of Current Students-p. 3 / Physics Alumni List-p. 4
FACULTY UPDATES
Brian Watson will be the physics dept
chair for one more year before his term expires. In addition to the entropy reducing feat of clearing off his desk
at semester's end, he is continuing to collaborate with colleagues at McGill
University on research dealing with
light scattering in clouds, which involves the mathematical modeling of clouds
using the theory of multifractals.
Karen Johnson will spend the next year on
sabbatical leave, writing a dual biography of Joseph and Maria Goeppert
Mayer. Like Pierre and Marie Curie, the
Mayers collaborated on their scientific work, but unlike the Curies, the Mayers
are best known for the work they did independently of each other. Joseph Mayer was a physical chemist who was
instrumental in demonstrating the applications of statistical mechanics to
chemistry and Maria Mayer was a mathematical physicist who is now best known
for her Nobel Prize-winning work in nuclear theory. The ways that the Mayers influenced each other's work will be the
focus of the biography. Karen plans to
work here in the North Country for most of the year, saving the visit to the
archives in La Jolla, CA, for sometime in February.
Daniel
Koon's
scheduled this summer includes:
Catherine Jahncke is finishing up her
sabbatical and working with student Jason Wagner '05 on a summer research
project funded by a Cottrell College Science Award from The Research
Corporation. Catherine and Jason are
studying the birefringence of barium titanate nanocrystals as a function of
crystal size using a near-field scanning optical microscope. These nanocrystals have potential
application as a data storage medium.
In the
fall, Catherine will be teaching University Physics lab (PHYS 151), Modern
Physics (PHYS 221), Instrumentation Lab (formerly Classical Mechanics Lab, PHYS
307) and Advanced Lab PHYS 482, formerly 382).
Jeff Miller: As I type this, I have an office full of new "toys" to
play with: four new lab printers, and new airtracks for the Phys 151 lab.
Installing and testing the new equipment, as well as grooming the lab computers
for another year of use will consume most of my summer. I'm also converting the
on-line lab instructions for the introductory physics courses from html to
Acrobat format - no more jagged lines in the pictures and equations! In
addition, I've been updating and reorganizing the Physics web site, which has
become a full time occupation by itself.
In
my spare time, I'm hoping to create another mobile (or two) using the parts
from the dead hard drives I have sitting on my desk. The hard disk platters
make a rather amusing set of wind chimes!
Aileen O'Donoghue is ending her sabbatical
leave at the Vatican Observatory Research Group VORG) with a flurry of
astronomical observing. She is
observing the spectra of nearby stars for four nights at the Steward
Observatory 90" Bok telescope on Kitt Peak followed by five nights at the
1.5m Ritchey-Chretien telescope of the Inter-American Observatory in
Chile. The observations are part of the
Nearby Stars (N-Stars) project on which she has been working for the year at
the VORG. The N-stars project is to
characterize the stars within 150 lightyears of Earth by medium-resolution
spectroscopic observations, uniform data processing, and careful spectral
classification for all 3597 of them. It
is funded by Jet Propulsion Labs under the NASA Space Interferometry Mission
(SIM) preparatory science program to identify sun-like stars most likely to be
orbited by Earth-like planets. NASA's
Terrestrial Planet Finder Mission will be a part of SIM. The work of observations, data processing
and analysis, and spectral classification (an art as well as a science) are
on-going and will keep her busy in all the moments she can wrench away from
class preparations, grading, and interactions with students and
colleagues.
After returning to
the US at the end of June, she'll be making her way eastward to resume teaching
the astronomy and global climate courses as well as the algebra-based
introductory physics course.
Sunme Kim, whose one-year position is
fulfilled, is seeking employment in the U.S. or Canada.
Kerry Kim (no relation to Sunme!), a
biophysicist, will be arriving in August to teach a new Biophysics course, as
well as introductory Physics courses in a one-year position at SLU, renewable
for a second year.
PROFILE OF CURRENT STUDENTS:
Kathryn (Katie) Fitzgibbons, senior physics major,
hails from Saratoga Springs, NY. A
recipient of last year's Mary Reklis Award in Physics, Katie is also
co-president of the Society of Physics Students and a member of the SLU Physics
Honorary chapter of Sigma Pi Sigma.
Last summer Katie did paleoecological research through the
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University. This year, for her
senior project, Katie is studying the differences between the strengths of
byssal fibers in zebra and quagga mussels as well as how their shape affects
the flow of water. Katie plans to bike
cross-country this summer to raise money for Habitat for Humanity. She also loves to run, hike, read, and
cook. Of St. Lawrence, Katie says,
"I can't believe it's almost over - but it's been an amazing
experience!" Her future plans
include working for a year or two, hopefully as a field researcher for a
private environmental engineering/ consulting firm, and then going to graduate
school in Environmental Engineering or hydrology/hydrogeology.
Beth Lomanto is a senior history major, minoring in physics and
education, and a member of the Society of Physics Students. She comes to SLU from Queensbury NY. She participates in field hockey and
softball, and plans to be an educator in a planetarium or at the secondary
school level. She says, "It has
been a great four years and attending St. Lawrence will always be a great
memory!"
Leslie McCabe, formerly of Plano, Texas,
(now New Hampshire) is a multifield major in the history of math and
science. She is the recipient of not
one, but two St. Lawrence University Summer Fellowships: her first, during summer of 2000, focused on
the history of coeducation at St. Lawrence from 1856 - 1930. The second one,
during summer of 2001, involved research the "history of women's work at
the Harvard College Observatory."
(continued on p. 7)
Leslie McCabe (continued from p. 3)
Leslie has been co-president of the Society of Physics Students from
2000-2002 (with Katie Fitzgibbons). Her
senior honors project is "The Concept of Women's Work in Astronomy." Leslie also enjoys playing with Karen
Johnson's dogs in her free moments! Of
St. Lawrence she states, "St. Lawrence has offered me a number of great
opportunities - including the flexibility to create my own major in the history
of science so that I could take a broad range of courses from physics &
math to history and philosophy."
Leslie has been accepted to three graduate schools in History of Science
and plans to attend Oregon State University in September.
Kristin ("Kricket") Fellows '03 is a physics major from
Walpole, NH. She is a member of the
Society of Physics (SPS) Students and also the physics honorary, Sigma Pi
Sigma. She has spent her summers
working for her father, who is a civil and structural engineer. Last semester (fall 2001) was spent abroad
in Denmark. Her future plans include engineering school (following in her
father's footsteps in civil engineering), assuming she survives Electricity and
Magnetism this semester! In the
meantime she's enjoying cross-country and downhill skiing, biking and
soccer. Her comments about St.
Lawrence: "I love the place. I
couldn't think of anywhere else I would rather spend 4 years. Small classes and relationships with
professors is the best."
Paul Talaga '03 is majoring in mathematics and computer
science, but is also involved in the Society of Physics Students, and a member
of the physics honorary. A native of
Honendale, PA, he will spend the summer as a Segway Intern in Manchester NY. (Segway = Science Education Gateway). He also participates in Track & Field.
Emily Knox '03 is a physics major who is also minoring in
mathematics and fine arts. A native of
Fairport, NY, she lived in The Greenhouse (SLU's environmental theme house)
this past year. She enjoys rock
climbing, works at the Outdoor Program as a guide and course director, and is
studying in Italy this summer.
Jeremy Ouellette '04 is a physics major/SPS member from
Danville, CT and was just inducted into Sigma Pi Sigma, the physics
honorary. Jeremy is currently doing
summer research with Daniel Koon involving muons and time dilation. (See Faculty Info for more details…) He plans on attending graduate school to
obtain a Ph.D. He enjoys skiing, hiking
and community service. Of SLU he says,
"Beware the squirrels - they're fearless here! (SLU's cool)."
Jason
Wagner '05
is working with Catherine Jahncke this summer on a research project funded by
Research Corporation. Look under
Faculty Info for more details!
That's
not all of our students, but those for whom we have some info to share at the
present time.
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Physics Menagerie Update: We are saddened to report
the death of Henry, Karen's loyal
canine companion, in June 2002. Many
will remember his contributions to the
department: soulful eyes, a back or
tummy to be scratched, wastebaskets and desks needing to be
searched for available gourmet tidbits,
and only a rare bark or two to announce
his presence - he was definitely the "Pet Therapist" for
many students, faculty and visitors,
alike! He is survived by his mother,
Boswell, half-brother Fagin, step-brother Buddy, and cats Russell and Anton.
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Now
it's time to tell us about yourself - what you are doing, and how things
are going.
Please
take the time to send us your information - it will be greatly
appreciated!
Ellen
Galo, Physics Department, St. Lawrence University, Canton, NY 13617
If
you'd rather keep in touch by email, you may email Ellen at egal@stlawu.edu.