Radiations Newsletter

Spring Term 2021 Week 3

PUGs is relaunching its peer-mentoring program for students of underrepresented genders in physics!

If we called it PHAZOOM would it sound better?

We really do want to get outside, but at 37 degrees tomorrow, I think we’ll stay in at least another week.  BUT– come talk about the day we can finally get out and what we should do for lunch to celebrate!  Or talk about anything else you want.  We spent last week talking soda vs. pop vs. coke or casserole vs. hotdish and other regional dialect differences…

Here’s a Zoom link!

What Physicists Do

Physics 123    Spring 2021

(First 5 weeks) Wednesdays, 7 pm on Zoom

The Department of Physics and Astronomy is pleased to announce this year’s Physics 123 Line-up.  “What Physicists Do” is our annual series of five lectures by invited speakers, many of whom are Carleton Physics alumni.  It is intended to introduce students to a broad range of real-world physics and to give some perspective on the kinds of work done by people with a physics background.  The course is open to all interested students who have taken PHYS 151; those considering a major in physics are particularly encouraged to enroll.

The presentations will be on Zoom on Wednesdays at 7 pm. The only requirement to receive credit, beyond attending five talks, is to read an assigned article beforehand and then to submit a short (one page) typed essay afterwards commenting on both the talk and the reading. Speakers will be available for informal discussions afterward.  Questions: Jay Tasson, Olin 227, x5251.

April 14th:

Jami Valentine  “Resilience: Succeeding in Physics During Difficult Times”

The 2020-21 academic year has been a particularly challenging year for many. Resilience is a skill that each of us has, and that we can all stand to improve to benefit our wellbeing.. This talk will discuss techniques for building resilience and defining personal success, with examples from my life and career path in Physics. I l will also discuss intellectual property as a career field and provide an introduction to patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets.

On behalf of St. Olaf College, I would like to invite students from your institution to participate in a virtual research conference we are hosting this semester. This conference has been arranged by St. Olaf students to provide any interested student with the opportunity to present their work.

Taking place on Saturday, April 24, the conference — the Midwest Interdisciplinary Symposium for Scientific Thought (MISST) — will include an undergraduate poster symposium, a faculty keynote speaker, and a graduate school panel. More information on MISST

If students are interested in registering, the first step is completing this form and we will be in touch shortly.

Please distribute this information to all applicable departments and interested parties. We encourage students from a variety of academic disciplines to enroll!

If you or students have any questions, feel free to contact me or one of our student coordinators, Lucia Wagner (wagner10@stolaf.edu).

From Physics colleagues at Augsburg College: We are pleased to invite you to the 2021 Sverdrup Lecture (on Zoom this year). The Sverdrup Visiting Scientist Program is Sponsored by the Minnesota Space Grant Consortium and Augsburg Sverdrup Visiting Scientist Endowment.

This year’s speaker is Dr. Joseph S. Francisco, President’s Distinguished Professor of Earth and Environmental Science and Professor of Chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania. His talk is titled: “Beautiful Clouds: Droplets and Their Wonderful Role in Modulating Chemistry in the Atmosphere” The talk will be via Zoom on April 13th at 11:00.