Building Community for Physics & Astronomy Students

“Stars to Rocks” is a new first-year experience for our majors Supporting students in their first years at college is an important aspect of boosting student retention and graduation, especially in challenging majors such as Physics & Astronomy. A new effort beginning in Fall 2017 will support students in Physics & Astronomy, Chemistry, and Geology by building community and enhancing study skills early in their undergraduate careers. First-time freshmen in these majors will automatically be enrolled in the Stars to Rocks program that will block schedule these students together into appropriate courses, and include a first-semester course devoted to developing study skills and understanding the scope of being a scientist in the 21st century. This “first-year” experience is modeled on the successful Klamath Connection program that involves students from other scientific fields at HSU. The program will benefit students because, according to Professor Monty Mola, “research shows that successful students often build cohorts early, with study groups and self-support systems.” In addition to sharing common course schedules, incoming students will also have the option to participate in a summer immersion program and a themed on-campus housing community. We can’t wait to welcome the first cohort of Stars to Rocks students!

The Stars to Rocks first-year experience will welcome its first cohort in Fall, 2017. For more information visit the program website or see the recent HSU Now article.

2017 HSU Physics & Astronomy graduates. From left to right: Laura Hahn, Troy Maloney, Katie Fasbender, Charlotte Olsen, and Alden Bradley. Not pictured: Brian Jennings, Ryan Powell, and Anthony Sanchez.

In Focus: Summer Research Experiences Every summer, many students in our Physics & Astronomy programs seek summer internships. Some students remain in the area working with HSU Physics & Astronomy professors, while others seek external positions. In particular, many of our students successfully apply to the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program administered by the National Science Foundation (NSF) every summer. Through this program students are fully funded to travel and perform research at institutions across the country. In addition to the REU program, students find other career-building summer internships, two of which are highlighted below.

2016 – 17 Highlights • Katie Fasbender ('17) was honored

for her excellent academic record as a Physics major.

• Charlotte Olsen ('17) was honored for her dedication to the Physics & Astronomy Club and department outreach.

• Duncan Shaw ('18) was awarded a summer internship to work on the ATLAS project at CERN in 2017.

• Several students attended the Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics (CUWIP).

• Dr. Hoyle was awarded a NSF collaborative research grant, in conjunction with Syracuse U. and IUPUI, to establish a new precision gravity experiment to measure the gravitational constant G.

• Students participated in the COMAP

Math Modeling Competition, several of them receiving an “honorable mention” for their work.

• Ian Guerrero ('17) gave a TED-style

talk at the annual Sponsored Programs Foundation PI celebration.

• Physics & Astronomy students presented several posters at IdeaFest, a research symposium held on campus every April.

• During the year, students presented their work at two APS meetings, the AAS meeting, and NCUR.

• Sean Haas ('18) was selected to present at the CSU Research Competition.

• Dr. Stephan Schlamminger from NIST and Dr. Stephen Kane from SFSU gave seminars for the department.

• Together with the Physics & Astronomy Club, the department led a public observing night for students and families during HSU’s homecoming weekend.

Would You Like to Support Undergraduate Research??

If you believe that involving undergraduate students in performing and presenting research is important preparation for their future careers, please consider making a contribution to the Physics & Astronomy Department trust. Learn how on the next page!!

During the summer of 2016, Charlotte Olsen worked on a research project with the X-Ray Galaxies Group at Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) as a part of a 10-week paid NASA internship. The motivation for this research was to identify regions of new star formation in interacting galaxies through multi-wavelength observations. Charlotte presented her research at the 2017 American Astronomical Society Winter Meeting. She will be returning to NASA

GSFC in the summer of 2017 to continue her research before moving on to Rutgers University where she will be pursuing a Ph.D. in Astrophysics this fall. “My summer internship was nothing short of life changing. By having 10 weeks of research experience uninterrupted by coursework and exams, I was able to discover my strengths, weaknesses, and ultimately my love of the research process.”

Every summer the CSU Nuclear and Particle Astrophysics Consortium sends between 10 and 15 students to work on the ATLAS Project at CERN. The application process is competitive, and last summer Ian Guerrero was the first HSU student to be awarded an internship. While at CERN, Ian worked to enable thousands of particle detector units to reset from an error state during data acquisition (DAQ). Previously, the entire ATLAS DAQ system was required to reset causing huge data losses for the collaboration. “Aside from learning new skills and meeting new colleagues, the experience showed me the possibilities that exist when humans put aside their differences and work together.” Isabelle van Hoorn (’16) also worked at CERN through a European internship program during the summer of 2016. We are excited that during the upcoming summer of 2017, another HSU student, Duncan Shaw, will also be going to CERN through the CSU program!

Alumni News

Featured Alumni Updates*

We hear that… • Richard Rendon (‘16) is studying biophysics at the University of Cologne

in Germany, where he is in the MS program. He plans to continue on to doctoral studies.

• Max Brunsfeld ('11) moved to Oakland after graduating from HSU and worked as a software engineer in San Francisco for three years. Brunsfeld recently started working for GitHub, a company that makes tools for collaborative software development.

• Trevor Keiber (‘06) graduated in 2015 with a Ph.D. in physics from UCSC, studying the structure of complex materials using X-ray spectroscopy.

* If you would like to submit an update to be featured in the newsletter, you can do so from the link on our website, or directly from here! We look forward to hearing from you!!

Support Physics & Astronomy at HSU!

We invite you to consider supporting Physics & Astronomy students at HSU! The Physics & Astronomy Department trust account funds a variety of student-centered activities. Some examples from recent years include support for:

• Support for the You Belong Here

workshop, an effort to increase the representation of women in STEM disciplines.

• Student expenses to attend the Northern California Physics GRE Boot Camp. This event is an intensive weekend meeting where students learn the best practices to study for and pass this exam that can be crucial for graduate school acceptance.

• Travel and registration costs to attend the Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics (CUWIP).

• Purchasing equipment and supplies for outreach efforts such as the community-oriented Science on Tap lecture series that is held monthly.

• Departmental social functions including beginning of the semester “meet and greet” events and special Physics & Astronomy Club gatherings.

• Printing expenses for conference posters.

• The annual graduation dinner.

• Annual prizes awarded to outstanding students.

To make a financial donation to the trust, please visit our website and follow the appropriate link. If you have received this newsletter electronically, you may click directly here. The students, faculty, and staff greatly appreciate your generosity!!

Amy Furniss ('06) After completing her Ph.D. at UC Santa Cruz in 2013, Amy continued to study very high energy astroparticle physics as a post-doctoral researcher at Stanford University. After two years, she happily accepted a tenure-track position in the Physics Department of a sister California State University. At CSU East Bay she enjoys working on gamma-ray astrophysics research with heavy involvement from her undergraduate research group.

Marika Leitner ('15) is researching icy satellites as a Ph.D. student at Cornell University. Her project involves modeling various geochemical and physical processes within Titan’s subsurface ocean in order to investigate the source of its atmospheric methane. According to Marika, “the interdisciplinary nature of my project allows me to be part of both the Astronomy Department and the Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Department.”

This could be you! We love to hear from our graduates, and we would like to feature your story here! Send your update directly to faculty or staff members of the department; or preferably, submit your update via the link on our website! All alumni who submit an update between June 1st , 2017 and May 31st, 2018 will be entered into a drawing to win a newly-redesigned HSU Physics & Astronomy Club t-shirt or sweatshirt!

HSU Physics & Astronomy 2016 – 17

Faculty

• Mr. Garrett Benson, Lecturer • Dr. Wes Bliven, Assoc. Professor • Dr. Ryan Campbell, Lecturer • Dr. Will Gannett, Lecturer • Dr. C.D. Hoyle, Professor • Dr. Tyler Mitchell, Lecturer • Dr. Monty Mola, Professor • Dr. Paola Rodriguez Hidalgo, Asst. Professor • Dr. Ruth Saunders, Asst. Professor • Dr. Joshua Smith, Chair

Staff • Mary Comella, Admin. Support • Tyler Hooker, Stockroom Wizard

Physics & Astronomy Club

• Charlotte Olsen, President • Alden Bradley, Vice President • Katie Fasbender, Secretary • Troy Maloney, Treasurer • Marcus Benavides, Outreach • Hilde Isachsen, Outreach

Find Us On the Web!

www.humboldt.edu/physics/

Follow Us On Social Media!

Contact Us!

Dept. of Physics & Astronomy Humboldt State University

1 Harpst St. Arcata, CA 95521-8299

physics@humboldt.edu

Phone: +1 (707) 826-3277

Physics & Astronomy Update

Redefining the SI System

How constant are nature’s fundamental constants? At first this seems perhaps a silly question; however, many experiments are dedicated to addressing precisely this issue and/or pinning down the fundamental values with higher precision. In fact, every four years the Committee on Data for Science and Technology (CODATA) issues the most recent accepted values of the fundamental constants. In 2018 the next update will be issued, however, it will involve a complete redefinition of the SI system. Currently, the kilogram is the only unit to be based on a manufactured object (the Pt-Ir “international prototype kilogram”) that resides in France. But in fact, the mass of the object has drifted over the last century. The redefinition of the SI system will shift the basis of the system to rely on fundamental properties of nature rather than man-made objects. While the change will represent a fundamental shift in metrology philosophy, the transformation will be implemented in a way such that it will not affect any current research. Dr. Stephan Schlamminger from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) leads the effort to redefine the value of the kilogram so that it is based on Planck’s constant, h, by using a precision device known as a Watt Balance. This elaborate scale precisely measures the electrical power needed to balance the weight of a test mass. The electrical power is referenced to the Josephson voltage standard and hence depends on h. Dr. Schlamminger gave a presentation on his work to the department in October, 2016. For demonstration purposes he brought a functioning LEGO model of a Watt Balance that can measure masses to about 1% accuracy!

Left: Dr. Stephan Schlamminger from NIST prepares his LEGO model of a Watt Balance before his department seminar. Right: An image of the upper portion of the actual NIST-3 Watt Balance in Gaithersburg, MD (image courtesy of NIST).