Article by Pho Vu In the beginning of the fall 2022 semester, I had the opportunity to sit down with Professor Lilian Pentecost, the newest addition to Amherst College’s Computer Science Department, for The Amherst Student’s “Fresh Faculty” article. After our initial interview, I asked to follow up with Professor Pentecost to delve deeper into…
Article by Amy Zheng Cailin Plunkett ’23 is a physics and math major from Oakland, California. She is writing her thesis with Assistant Professor of Astronomy Kate Follette on the formation of protoplanets. Since childhood, Plunkett wanted to study space and physics. Despite receiving advice to pursue computer science or engineering, Plunkett chose to follow…
Article by Amy Zheng Juan C. Vasquez Carmona is a visiting assistant professor of physics. He is the current Chair of the New England section of the American Physical Society and a full-time member of Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society. This academic year is his first time instructing physics at Amherst College. This…
On Tuesday, April 18, from 7:00 to 9:00 pm on Keefe’s Outdoor Patio, the final installation in a series of five STEM-themed s’more nights this year was held by the Loeb Center in partnership with STEMSibs. “Let’s Talk S’more About STEM” attendees enjoyed refreshments, met other students in STEM disciplines, and exchanged academic and career…
Will DeGroot ’23 is a mathematics and computer science major. His thesis works toward answering a “big open question” within the field of abstract algebra called the Galois embedding problem. In collaboration with the Amherst Student. …
If you’ve ever come face-to-face with a squirrel eyeing your granola bar on the First-Year Quad, you’re no stranger to the rodent’s cleverness. Eastern gray squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) are considered an invasive species in certain places, like when they set up camp in African and European countries. But they truly hail from North America. And…
Finishing Wednesday on Netflix felt kind of like losing a friend. After watching an episode per day for eight days, I had spent almost eight hours with the titular character, getting to know her macabre sense of humor. How is it possible that I can feel so close to someone that I’ve never even met,…
On November 17, the Artificial Intelligence in the Liberal Arts Initiative, in collaboration with the Mead Art Museum, hosted an exhibition and panel called “Discussing Dall-E: The Impact of AI on Art.” The panel was moderated by Professor Lee Spector, and it featured Professor Yael Rice from the Art Department and Professor Scott Alfeld, Professor…
Science and art, commonly considered distant disciplines, actually go hand in hand. In fact, they complement each other and propel one another forward. Science illustrators, therefore, play a very valuable role in bridging the gap between these subject areas. A recent New York Times article explains an environmental science-related example of this phenomenon: “Pairing illustrations…
Could you briefly describe your research? “Of course! Our lab research is concerned with Drosophila—a fancy name for house flies. We are using the JR neuromuscular junction of Drosophila as a model system. Every student’s research is different, [but] I was assigned to research one of the proteins called PAR-1 within the presynaptic region of…