Updated: Oct 16, 2020 On September 8th and 15th, the Physics and Astronomy Department colloquium showcased the summer research of 21 Amherst students during a series of “Flash Talks.” These three-minute presentations gave the students the opportunity to demonstrate their newfound knowledge and share their summer experiences. Despite COVID-19, students worked at a variety of labs…
Lights, Camera… Science?
What’s the one thing that STEM students obsess over for a whole summer, spend eons in the lab trying to figure out, and lose hours of sleep over? Data collection. And yet what’s one thing that STEM students put off doing until their poster presentations, slapping together a few graphics in Photoshop and calling it…
The Moss Quantitative Center: An Interview with Director Dr. Innes
With final exams coming up, students are looking for all the extra help they can get. This help can be found at the Moss Quantitative Center, where undergraduate tutors and staff can help with STEM subjects. The Q Center has an interesting history, as Dr. Innes explained: “It actually was created, in its earliest form,…
Incubator: Sharing Underrepresented STEM Stories
The following statement comes from Claire Hawthorne ‘21, a Social Media coordinator for the Amherst College STEM Incubator Program. The Incubator is a 6-week skills-development program based on a multidisciplinary STEM-focused curriculum that fosters a stronger sense of belonging, strengthens research and career-readiness, and increases the retention and success of our underrepresented minority (URM) and…
Reflection on my SURF experience
Hi everyone. It has been a while since I posted my last blog. I am editing this blog from my dorm room at Amherst College. I moved in a few days ago and it has been wonderful reconnecting with this lovely campus. I will provide some updates on what happened in the virtual Trapani lab…
Remote Research with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute
Going into the summer, I hoped that my research would not be entirely remote. I hoped I would be able to go into the lab towards the end of the summer. That I could go on a research cruise. I had no idea that the pandemic would get worse. However, I also was surprised by…
A Summer at Scrub Pocket
Hello everyone! I’m Julia Zabinska, a rising junior at Amherst majoring in neuroscience and French on a pre-med path. I’ve been writing for the STEM Network since February now, and I am a Summer Reporter for the newsletter. To give you guys a little background on my internships this summer, I started out working with…
Creating Videos, Becoming Politically Active and Adapting to Remote Learning
Hi everyone! It has been more than an entire month since my last/first post and since I started my internship! I cannot believe that July is over and that in less than two weeks, some of us might be back on campus, starting our classes, and preparing for a new and interesting academic year. Although…
Mammals of the Pioneer Valley
The following statement comes from Ainsley Mackenzie ’22, Sabrina Lin ’21, Nawoo Kim ’22, and Rachel Lovejoy ’23, undergraduate researchers of the Kristensen lab. As they monitor the population dynamics of black bears in Massachusetts, this statement discusses how they collaborate with Massachusetts residents to collect data and how you can help. Our lab seeks…
My Experience with Remote Research
Hey everyone! Sorry it has taken so long from my first blog post to this one, it has been a busy summer filled with lots of cool science. For my last two blog posts, I am going to talk about my experience with remote research and then in the second one what motivates me to…