STEM News

Sam Stevenson ’19, a physics/mathematics major from Salt Lake City, spent the summer of 2018 working closely with associate professor of physics Marty Baylor.

Jessica Makori ’19 has collaborated with chemistry professor Joe Chihade to do meaningful research as an undergraduate.

Physics Prof. Arjendu Pattanayak presented research on controlling quantum chaotic systems at UT Austin and Rice, featuring work with Carleton student co-authors.

Matt Whited, Associate Professor of Chemistry, published a paper in Organometallics with Jim Zhang ’18 entitled, “Synthesis and Reactivity of Pincer-Type Cobalt Silyl and Silylene Complexes.” The paper represents the first fruits of a collaboration with the Ozerov group at Texas A&M University and is an exciting example of the first-ever chemical compound featuring a cobalt-silicon double bond. These fundamental advances have laid the groundwork for ongoing studies into how abundant and sustainable metals like cobalt can be coaxed into transforming carbon dioxide and other pollutants into useful products.

Visiting Assistant Professor of Physics Barry Costanzi published a paper titled “Noise in Mesoscale Magnetic Dots from Random Telegraph Noise to 1/f Noise” in the journal IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, with collaborators from the University of Minnesota and from Honeywell International Inc. The paper discusses experimental work on the characterization and engineering of thermal fluctuations (or “noise”) in magnetic samples on the mesoscale (~100s of nm in size), with applications toward explaining the origin of noise signals in many other physical systems. Costanzi also presented his work in an invited talk at the International Conference on Magnetism in San Francisco this summer.

Carleton’s FOCUS Program has been awarded a 2018 “Inspiring Programs in STEM” Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine. The national recognition honors programs that are making a difference for all under-represented groups in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

Carleton physics professor Jay Tasson receives an NSF RUI grant to support LIGO research, focusing on tests of gravity and data analysis with student researchers.

Carleton biology professor Rika Anderson receives a NASA grant to study the evolution of early life on Earth and improve the search for life on other planets.

Assistant Professor of Mathematics Caroline Turnage-Butterbaugh received a research travel grant to support her work on the zeros of the Riemann zeta-function.

Meet the Carls who will spend a year abroad on prestigious Fulbright grants.