School of Science
The following are articles I have written in my position as student journalist with the School of Science at The College of New Jersey.
1. “The Mansoor Tetrad: One College, Four Sisters”
Mendelian genetics have leapt out of the textbooks and into the halls of the Biology Building at The College of New Jersey, where four sisters are pursuing the same dream: a career in the sciences. In the Mansoor family, a passion for science and a diploma from TCNJ go hand-in-hand.
Though Amtul Mansoor ’12 will toss her graduation cap skyward in May, she’ll return for the ceremony over the next three years. That’s because her sisters Sadia ’13, Sanaa ’14 andHena ’15 are also budding scientists at TCNJ.
2. “Quantum Tunnel Featured in National Magazine: Chemistry Students Get Artsy”
Even Heisenberg would agree with certainty that the transformation of the Chemistry basement is spectacular. Descend into the depths of the building and you will enter “The Quantum Tunnel,” a mural that has gained national recognition and was recently featured within the pages of In Chemistry, a magazine published by the American Chemical Society.
3. “Spring Carnival catalyzes science with pHun”
It was a fun-filled afternoon of cotton candy, syringe-darts, oobleck, and camaraderie as students of all majors flocked to the School of Science’s first annual Spring Carnival held on Wednesday, April 14, 2010. The fountain area was abuzz with excitement, punctuated by the occasional bottle rocket launch, as hundreds joined in the celebration of beautiful weather and the approaching end of the semester.
4. The Worm Guy: Dr. Sudhir Nayak
Affectionately known as the “worm guy,” Dr. Sudhir Nayak has indeed made a career for himself studying one of biology’s most versatile model systems: Caenorhabditis elegans, or C. elegans. “The worm is awesome,” said the associate professor of biology. He specializes in genetics and bioinformatics, weaving computer science, genetics, and quite a few worms into his research at The College of New Jersey.
5. “What is intelligence to begin with?”: Dr. Miroslav Martinovic
Forget Ask Jeeves, Dr. Miroslav Martinovic is developing his own question answering system. By combining statistical and linguistic techniques, the associate professor and chair of computer science looks to design a dynamic question answering system.
Siobhan Sabino is a jack of all trades — writer, photographer, Harry Potter aficionada, web designer, French linguist, and history buff. But it was love at first Google the day her family home hooked into the Internet, thus commencing her love affair with computers.
7. “Exploring the Cosmos” Profile of Dr. Wickramasinghe
As a young boy, Thulsi Wickramasinghe was fascinated by the cosmos. The future astrophysicist and his grandfather would wake at 3 a.m. and walk along the shore in southern Sri Lanka, discussing the magnificent stars and constellations above them until the rising sun overtook the night sky.
8. “The Rock Scientist: Dr. Maggie Benoit”
Like most every child, Maggie Benoit had her eyes set on the stars, dreaming of one day becoming an astronaut. But instead of becoming a rocket scientist, she is now a rock scientist – or more specifically, a solid earth geophysicist.
9. “‘Knot the Typical Mathematician: Dr. Cynthia Curtis”
Cynthia Curtis had numbers in her blood. With a grandmother and mother who both studied mathematics, it is no surprise that this professor was drawn to the field. “I never thought to question whether mathematics was something a woman could do,” explained Curtis, who says she was inspired by their example.
10. “Pushing the Boundaries of What Is Known: Dr. Benny Chan”
Not many professors stumble upon entirely new compounds in the course of their research but for Dr. Benny Chan, these “serendipitous discoveries,” as he likes to call them, are just part of being a materials chemist.
11. “TCNJ’s Plant Person: Dr. Janet Morrison”
Janet Morrison has a thing for plants. There are several in her office, she spends most of her day talking about them, and when she is not in the classroom, she is outdoors working with them. As the resident plant ecologist here at The College of New Jersey, Morrison has even devoted her career to them.
12. “Developmental Biologist and Fruit Fly Enthusiast” Profile of Dr. Norvell
For someone who had never handled flies before her post-doctoral position at Princeton University, Amanda Norvell is surprisingly comfortable keeping thousands in the laboratory here at TCNJ.
13. “Using Math to Decode History” Profile of Dr. Holmes
Statistician Dr. David Holmes is a modern day Sherlock, but with a twist. Channeling his namesake’s gift for catching culprits, this word-sleuth applies the techniques of stylometry — the statistical analysis of literary style — to uncover the authorship of anonymous works of literature.
14. “Women in Science sharing amazing experiences”
Even as the snowstorm raged outside the walls of the Biology Building on Wednesday, January 26, a group of extraordinary women gathered for an afternoon of research advice. “The Women in Science: Amazing Summer and Semester Experiences” event featured nine students who had either completed research abroad, an industry internship or an REU (Research Experiences for Undergraduates), with the overarching message to underclass attendees: if we can do it, so can you. Over tasty snacks, they shared tales of summer experiences in places ranging from the arid lands of Kenya and the tropical rainforests of Australia, to the hallowed halls of Harvard and the laboratories of Merck.
15. “Physics Majors Hit the Sand for Annual Volleyball Match”
Newton’s laws of motion and gravity were put to the test as physics majors hit the sand for the 14th annual freshmen vs. upperclassmen volleyball match on Wednesday, September 9th, 2009.
16. “Chemistry Department Awarded Competitive NSF Grand for X-ray Diffractometer”
The College of New Jersey will soon be joining the ranks of the select few undergraduate institutions with a single-crystal X-ray diffractometer through a major research instrumentation grant funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).
17. “NSF Grant Shakes Up the Geoscience Curriculum”
Assistant professor of physics Dr. Maggie Benoit admits that seismological instruction at the undergraduate level can be outdated and perhaps a little boring. However, she is looking to change that with a recently funded grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The $200,000 award from NSF’s Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement (CCLI) program will support the creation of curricular materials that foster hands-on and active engagement with cutting-edge research and authentic data.
18. “Computer Science Student and Professor Present at International Grace Hopper Conference”
As a female pioneer in computer science, the legacy of U.S. Navy Admiral Grace Hopper lives on in women like computer science senior Autumn Breese and assistant professor Dr. Monisha Pulimood, who joined approximately 1,600 professionals, educators, and students in a celebration of women in computing at the leading conference for women in the field.
Among the famous House-isms, as the pearls of cynical wisdom from the mouth of Dr. Gregory House, M.D., have come to be known, is the reoccurring assertion that, “everybody lies.” Here at TCNJ, it is no lie though that a very fortunate cohort of first-year students have the opportunity to watch the popular television drama and learn about the science and medicine behind it through the newly designed first seminar course, “The Science behind HOUSE.”
20. “Math majors organize student-led seminars: no teachers allowed (sort of)”
TCNJ mathematicians are satisfied with the proof that student-led seminars are back in action within the department, giving majors the opportunity to learn from each other while putting the fun back into numbers.
21. “Biology student gain hands-on experience in intensive gateway to dentistry program”
Root canals are seldom a subject discussed with glee, but that is exactly how four TCNJ Biology majors described just one of the many hands-on dental procedures they learned over winter break as part of the highly competitive Gateway to Dentistry program. Along with thirty other aspiring dentists from around the country, juniors Rakhee Porecha, Simona Lekht, Nick Tarangelo, and Rachel Thomas were selected from an application pool of hundreds to participate in the two-week intensive experience at the University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey’s (UMDNJ) Dental School in Newark.
22. “Physics majors showcase research at national conference in Washington, D.C.”
Unfazed by the record amounts of snow that slammed the nation’s capital in February, a group of thirteen physics majors ventured south to showcase their independent research at the “April” Meeting of the American Physical Society — held two months earlier so as to coincide with the Winter Meeting of the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT).
