April
23,
2004
Fifty-Nine
Seniors Present at MHC Science Symposium
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Photo by Fred LeBlanc
Kaveri Rajaraman '04 (right)
and Stan Rachootin |
From embryonic development
to global warming, this year's senior thesis presenters
offered compelling views of the world around us.
Dressed in cargo shorts, cotton T-shirt, and loosely tied sneakers,
and shouldering a backpack nearly half her size, Kaveri Rajaraman
'04 might at first glance look more like a skateboarder than
a scientist. Once she took the podium at the twenty-ninth annual
Mount Holyoke Science Symposium, and held forth on the evolutionary
wonders of ciliates for 15 minutes, there was no mistaking this
young woman for anything but a blossoming scientific mind.
"Ciliates have grabbed my fancy," Rajaraman told
the audience gathered in Cleveland Hall. "They are complicated,
crazy, interesting, problematic unicellular organisms." Rajaraman's
lyrical voice, tinged with the accent of her native India, led
the audience at breakneck speed through her fascinating research.
Ciliates are an evolutionary anomaly. Typically, when a cell
divides it duplicates its DNA. Not so for ciliates. Instead,
these creatures send forth their asexually reproduced offspring
with a template, or program, for resynthesizing a nucleus. Thus,
as ciliates copy, edit, and fragment this template with each
generation, the group presents unusual genetic features--offering
boundless pathways of study.
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"Kaveri is one of the most broadly interested students
I've
ever taught," said Stan Rachootin, professor of biological
sciences, of his advisee. "She has specialized in evolution
studies, even though she came to Mount Holyoke without any previous
course work in the subject. She's largely self-taught."
In a whirlwind of dizzying facts and theories, Rajaraman and the 58 other senior
thesis presenters at the symposium provided evidence of the evolution of the
scientist. Solitary lab research alone no longer sustains an inquisitive life.
Scientists and mathematicians are increasingly called upon to present their work
in spoken and published form. Often they must state their case to secure funding,
but also to make the public aware of important research being done that impacts
society.
"Public speaking is an essential part of being a scientist these days,
and the symposium is a chance for young scientists to present their work before
a sympathetic,
but critical, audience," said Mark Peterson, professor of physics and
mathematics and organizer of this year's symposium.
The senior scholars covered a broad range of topics, from the effects of caffeine
on the gaits of rats to the constructability of numbers through origami--the
art of paper folding. Presentations encompassed various disciplines, from chemistry
and computer science to mathematics and astronomy. Some of the projects were
completed in connection with Mount Holyoke faculty research including RNA transcription
in E. coli, semiconductor physics, robotics, and fieldwork on granites and
lake cores.
Several students worked with chair and associate professor of chemistry Sean
Decatur researching how proteins fold into their proper conformation after
they are synthesized. Understanding this folding process more deeply is important
because mishaps in the process are linked to diseases, such as Alzheimer's.
Clara Karpovsky '04 worked with biological sciences professor Rachel Fink using
time-lapse video microscopy in zebra fish embryos to study embryonic cell migration.
Karpovsky's presentation featured several riveting films showing cells
dividing and migrating. Focusing her continuing research on the role of cadherins
in the adhesions of cells, Karpovsky told her audience, "If successful,
my experiment would be the first such in vivo study in zebra fish embryos."
Some students presented research they completed off campus in conjunction with
other institutions. Senior Claire Henderson spent last summer studying the
influence of global warming on the Western Arctic with the Graduate School
of Oceanography
at the University of Rhode Island. She helped analyze radionuclide tracers
in the Chukchi-Beaufort Sea in order to better understand the hydrography of
the
Western Arctic, specifically how material moves from the shelf of the Chukchi
Sea to the deep interior of the Canadian Basin. Studying water samples from
the Western Arctic for radionuclide activities as well as salinity, temperature,
and dissolved silicate allowed Henderson and fellow researchers to develop
computer
models of the flow of particles. "Learning how the materials are exchanged
between the shelf and the basin will help us understand the decadal changes in
the polar region," said Henderson.
Each year, the symposium highlights the College's strong science programs.
It readies young scientists to pursue advanced degrees and helps them land jobs
in their chosen fields. Said organizer Peterson, "It is one of the focal
points of a Mount Holyoke education in the sciences."
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