Academic Year Science Lunch Colloquia

During the academic year, the science faculty and staff meet for lunch on Tuesdays in the Science Center to discuss matters of interest to the sciences as a whole, and to hear informal reports on faculty research and other science developments. The following talks or discussions were held during 2010-2011.

Pre-First Year Summer Science Program

In its twenty-fourth summer in 2011, the Summer Science Program (SSP) provides an enriching and intensive five-week immersion in science, mathematics, and English for a talented group of science-oriented incoming Williams students. SSP targets members of groups that have been historically underrepresented in the sciences, and the goal of the program is to promote and encourage continuing participation by SSP students in science and science related studies at Williams and ultimately careers in research science and science education.

Twenty-three students took classes in chemistry (including a major laboratory component), biology, mathematics and English (literature and expository writing). Although not replicas of Williams academic year offerings, the Summer Science Program classes are taught at a college level, thus introducing participants to the rigors and demands of college academics. In addition to the regular classes, the students participated in geology laboratory and field experiments. They also engaged in a variety of extracurricular activities including the Williamstown Theatre Festival and a weekend trip to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Enthusiasm for the program has been high. Participants have taken full advantage of the opportunity to study at Williams in the summer. As a result of the Summer Science Program, their academic year experiences have been successful and many of the students have continued their studies in science or mathematics. A significant number of former participants have returned to campus in the summer as full-time research students in science and mathematics, have become tutors for the Summer Science Program, or have secured positions elsewhere in science research institutes.

Professor Charles M. Lovett, Director of the Summer Science Program, taught the chemistry lectures and Professor David P. Richardson conducted the laboratory sessions. Professors Olga R. Beaver and Cesar Silva taught the mathematics component. Professor Wendy Raymond taught the biology lectures. Professor Paul Park taught the English sessions and Professor David Dethier conducted the geology in-the-field laboratory.

The Summer Science Program has been funded primarily by Williams College as part of its commitment to encourage the participation of traditionally underrepresented groups in the sciences. Since 1991, SSP has received additional funding from a biological sciences grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. This grant contributed support for several SSP components, and has provided summer research stipends for SSP students after their first year at Williams. Special thanks go to the many science faculty and students of Williams College who, during the summer as well as during the academic year, have contributed to the success of the program and of its participants.

Pre-First Year Summer Science Program Participants

Williams College Sigma Xi Chapter

The Williams College Sigma Xi Chapter has played an active role on the Williams Campus since it was founded as the Sigma Xi Club in 1969. Sigma Xi is a national society honoring and encouraging research in science. The officers for 2010-2011 were Professor Jay M. Pasachoff of the Astronomy Department, President, and Associate Professor Lois Banta of the Biology Department, Secretary/Treasurer.

This year, as usual, the local Sigma Xi chapter sponsored two excellent sets of talks directed to broad community audiences. In November, we were honored to have Professor Marlene Sandstrom of the Psychology Department at Williams College present two colloquia on how children’s social relationships can be studied empirically. Her first talk focused on what is known about the emergence, stability, and long-term trajectories of peer rejection: the second highlighted some of Sandstrom’s own research examining how children perceive and respond to negative feedback from peers.

In April, Karen Kwitter, the Ebenezer Fitch Professor of Astronomy, presented her research about what planetary nebulae (the glowing gas shells ejected by low- to intermediate-mass dying stars) tell us about the evolution of these stars and how this evolution affects the chemical enrichment of their host galaxies. Both sets of lectures were followed by the usual lively and well-attended receptions in the Science Center Atrium.

The Williams College Sigma Xi Chapter sponsors a High School Science Award for a student at Mount Greylock Regional High School, Williamstown, MA, in recognition of a high level of motivation and accomplishment in science courses. This year the award was given to Sophia Santore.

One of the primary purposes of Sigma Xi is to recognize graduating science students who have demonstrated exceptional ability and promise for further contributions to the advancement of scientific research. These students are elected as associate members of Sigma Xi and are inducted into the society at a ceremony during commencement weekend. On Class Day, the chapter honored 53 newly elected associate members from the class of 2011 in a ceremony in the ’62 Center for Theatre and Dance. The names of this year’s honorees are listed below and detailed descriptions of their research projects are presented in the student abstracts section of this report.