The core of Feiden’s research is accurately determining the properties of stars with masses less than our Sun. This is achieved by modeling the evolution of the stellar interior from birth to death and at each stage in life comparing the model to observed characteristics.

In the past few years, however, researchers have shown that current models are not accurate representations of these stars. The inherent errors within the models affect the radius and effective temperature of these less massive systems, adding a large degree of uncertainty.

While these low-mass stars may seem small and unimportant, they actually make up the bulk of stars in the Universe. Since they are so prevalent, they have significant implications for extra-solar planet (exoplanet) searches. With the increased interest in low-mass star-planet systems, having accurate radii and temperatures is important for classification and determination of exoplanetary properties.

The focus of Feiden’s thesis is testing the influence of magnetic fields on stellar size. Using the Dartmouth Stellar Evolution code, he studied how magnetic fields alter the evolution and intrinsic properties of various types of low-mass stars. Feiden determined that for certain types, the magnetic fields are a plausible explanation for the differences in structure between the models and observations. This is not the case, however, for fully convective stars (i.e. stars that undergo energy transfer from core to surface similar to water boiling in a pot). These stars remain resilient and unchanged. The inability to explain the inconsistency for fully convective stars suggests another explanation may be necessary.

In his recent article, Feiden further explored the issues with the stellar structure models and proposed a possible method to circumvent some of the associated errors. The core of this correction lies with using the dynamical motion of eclipsing binary orbits, or two stars orbiting each other in such a way that one star blocks the other. This movement, also known as apsidal motion, is used to determine fixed properties of the stellar interior. Models of the apsidal motion are significantly less sensitive to whatever may be causing the stellar inflation. So, by using the apsidal motion instead of the individual stellar properties to determine the interior structures, Feiden found that the uncertainty associated with the stellar age was significantly lower using these fixed properties than by using the individual properties. This method is restricted to very precise observations of the apsidal motion, which are difficult to obtain presently due to observational limitations.

While at Dartmouth, Feiden has been recognized for his exemplary research, receiving a William H. Neukom Fellowship from the Neukom Institute for Computational Science at Dartmouth, and the Gordon F. Hull Fellowship presented by the Dartmouth Department of Physics and Astronomy to an outstanding senior graduate student. In addition, he has been awarded the Selamawit Tsehaye Excellence in Teaching Award, as well as a student nominated teaching award. While he is proud of these accomplishments, Feiden says his most rewarding experience during his tenure was his involvement for the past two and a half years as a hockey goalie coach for local youth hockey organizations.

Feiden’s research has sent him to exotic places. Among his favorites are a conference in Barcelona, Spain, and a workshop in Roscoff, France. Feiden, who defended his dissertation in May of this year, also spent four months in Sweden at Uppsala University where he plans to return in the fall for a post-doctoral position. Feiden plans on continuing an extension of his thesis work, but will also be involved in other projects such as examining exoplanets around red dwarf stars, and looking at the properties of stars on the asymptotic giant branch. We wish him the best of luck!

by Mackenzie Jones

At the Haven Food Shelf, families in need can come in every day for fresh produce, a good percentage of which is harvested from the Haven’s own vegetable garden. The Haven garden includes several patches of soil around the Haven and is not confined to one large garden. It lines the sides of the buildings, the driveway and parking areas, and now includes a raised bed plot facing the main road. It makes for a beautiful yet functional landscape. This approach to having an edible garden is a great example of how one can improve one’s surroundings even with just a little space. Laura Shelton, the volunteer services coordinator at the Haven, showed the GRT a patch that used to be the designated smoking area and has now been converted into a beautiful arch for climbing vines to grow.

The Haven and the volunteer gardeners provided all the tools and gloves the GRT needed. The head gardeners who directed the GRT’s efforts were all volunteers as well, who had expertise with gardening and helped develop the Haven garden a few years ago. Under their guidance, the GRT weeded, edged, fertilized, and planted all around the Haven, just in time for the season. They planted legumes, including different kinds of beans, as well as vegetables like lettuce, broccoli, and asparagus. They also planted marigolds and other flowering plants around some of the patches to add some summer beauty to the Haven’s surroundings. Some of the saplings they planted were from a gardening project by the students at a local middle school.

Overall, the GRT had a rigorous and rewarding morning of work—they could see the improvement in the landscape from when they arrived to when they were done planting at noon. One of the major goals of the Graduate Relief Team is to expose graduate students to volunteer opportunities around the Upper Valley with the hope that they will continue to volunteer on their own with the different organizations. Elizabeth Gillaspy, a GRT member who participated, is continuing to work on the gardens with the Haven gardening volunteers after this experience. She observed, “I can’t think of many places where the local homeless shelter has a garden on its property! I believe it’s important for all of us, as citizens of this planet, to have an understanding of where food originates—in the soil and the sunshine, and also in the care and hard work of farmers. Working in the garden at the Haven gives me the chance to develop this understanding in myself as well as in the people living there. Plus, it’s a chance to interact with people from many different walks of life—a different sort of diversity than we usually see at Dartmouth.”

The GRT is excited to see what the garden will look like a month or two from now and especially how much produce the Haven will get from the garden during harvest to give away to those in need.

by Marie Onakomaiya

“I have one foot in the music department and one foot in the computer science department,” says Sarroff.

“I would describe myself as being in the field of music-information retrieval,” he continues. “It’s not such an old field—probably just about 15 years old. Its focus is taking music in whatever format it’s in and extracting meaningful information out of it. Usually, I’m working with digital audio—looking at the zeros and ones in digital audio and mapping the perception to the signal.”

For the full article go to Dartmouth Now.

Professor Hannah T. Croasdale conducted research and taught biology for more than 40 years at Dartmouth, retiring as a full professor in 1971. She was the first woman at Dartmouth to achieve the level of full professor. Professor Croasdale’s research focus was algae, specifically freshwater algae and desmids, which are single-celled green algae. She received her BS in 1928, her MS in 1931, and her PhD in 1935 all from the University of Pennsylvania.

The two recipients of the Croasdale Award this year have successfully undertaken the many roles of a scholar during their time at Dartmouth.

April Daigle Lewoczko completed her PhD in chemistry over the winter. She worked in Professor Joseph BelBruno’s lab. Lewoczko’s dissertation research focused on the adsorption of amines with gold surfaces. These nitrogen-containing molecules undergo accelerated transformations on gold surfaces and nanoparticles. In addition, she considered the effects of magnetism in the structure of small clusters of manganese and sulfide atoms.

Lewoczko has been a productive researcher during her graduate career. In 2011, she received the Walter H. Stockmayer Graduate Fellowship and in 2009 a National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Fellowship. Along with Professor Belbruno, she recently published an article entitled “Impact of surface steps and oxygen pre-coverage on the adsorption of methylamine on gold” in the journal Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, Issue 13. She has also published in the Journal of Physical Chemistry and Surface Science.

Lewoczko showed dedication to teaching while at Dartmouth. She was a teaching assistant for several courses, including honors general chemistry and physical chemistry. For her work in these courses, she was chosen for the Graduate Teaching Award in 2012. About her teaching experience, Lewoczko observes, “The time I spent as a teaching assistant in the general and physical chemistry courses was defining to my time at Dartmouth. I found great joy in mentoring and working alongside undergraduates in discovering chemistry.”

Lewoczko is currently working with Stefan Bromley of the University of Barcelona on a computational project studying cosmic dust—in particular the degree of order in small magnesium-containing silicate dust particles. She is thrilled to receive the Croasdale Award, noting “It is an honor to be recognized by this award as I graduate. I have had a tremendous time as a member of the Dartmouth community and will be forever grateful to all those who have invested in me as a scholar, especially my adviser Joseph BelBruno.”

Laurel B. Symes is a PhD candidate in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology program. She works in Professor Mark McPeek’s lab, studying sensory ecology and animal behavior. In particular, she is researching the processes that generate new species in crickets as a way of understanding the broader processes that lead to the formation of new species.

Symes has received several research grants during her time at Dartmouth, including the Huyck Preserve Research Grant in 2011 and 2012, the Orthopterists’ Society Research Grant in 2010 and 2012, the Gilman Grant in 2010, and the Graduate Alumni Research Grant in 2010. She has recently published on her work in Current Zoology and the Journal of Orthopteran Research.

Symes has also been involved in teaching during her graduate studies. She has been a TA for biostatistics, ecology, and marine biology. She also worked for the Biology Foreign Studies Program in Costa Rica and the Cayman Islands in 2010. Symes has shown dedication to undergraduate education through mentoring as well; she has been a senior research mentor, a summer research mentor, and a Women in Science Project (WISP) mentor. In 2012, Symes was a National Science Foundation Graduate Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics in K-12 Education (GK-12) fellow.

Reflecting on her time at Dartmouth, Symes observes, ‪”Graduate school has been a formative experience. The interpersonal interactions have been critical to my graduate education, and I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to interact with exceptional students and colleagues throughout my time at Dartmouth. These experiences have been central to my development as a scientist and a mentor. My approach to science has been shaped by the people in this community.”

Symes is excited and honored to receive the Croasdale Award. Following graduation, she will be starting a postdoctoral research position at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee.

The Graduate Studies Office wishes to congratulate both Lewoczko and Symes on their award.

Fourth year PhD student Philip Fernandes demonstrates the “top-hat” of the ion measuring instrument he built to be launched into the Aurora Borealis.

Physics and astronomy graduate student Philip Fernandes builds instruments that are shot into space aboard a rocket aimed at the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights).

The research or “sounding” rockets are launched from sites in Alaska and Norway into the ionosphere that extends between 46-621 miles above the earth during periods of heightened solar activity when the Aurora Borealis is most prominent. The ion measuring instrument that Fernandes helped build is mounted on an 8-inch boom that is deployed when the rocket approaches the aurora. At that point the instrument turns on and begins recording and transmitting data to NASA telemetry receiving sites on the ground. The space agency then compiles the data and provides it to Fernandes and other researchers who have instruments aboard the rocket.

Fernandes’ instrument includes a “top-hat,” a 2-inch aluminum disk that is set off from the rest of the device by a small gap that allows ions to pass through. An electric field is used to guide the ions into a detector where their energy—temperature and density—is measured. The data collected is analyzed with a goal of better understanding this aspect of space weather.

Most auroras occur in a zone within 10 to 15 degrees of latitude of the geomagnetic poles. During periods of increased solar activity the auroral zone can be stretched into temperate latitudes, allowing the Northern Lights to be seen on rare occasions as far south as Colorado and Nebraska.

These colorful events have been the source of curiosity for thousands of years with early references in the Old Testament, Chinese literature, and the writings of Galileo, Hubble, and other respected scientists. Early theories attributed the shimmering in the sky to burning clouds or reflections from ice crystals.

Fernandes grew up in Colorado, and he was a fan of Star Trek as a youngster. He was drawn to high school physics because he liked to solve problems and to get precise answers. After graduation, he enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve and served five years as a military policeman at bases in California, Arizona, and Massachusetts. He received an associate’s degree from Mesa College in San Diego, and at the suggestion of a Marine Corps buddy, enrolled at the University of New Hampshire where he majored in physics with a concentration in astronomy. This allowed him to do research in space science, which he would later pursue as a graduate student at Dartmouth under the supervision of Professor Kristina Lynch.

The rocket “MICA” launched on February 19, 2012 from Poker Flat Research Range, Alaska.

With Lynch and scientists from other university research labs, Fernandes has traveled to Alaska and Norway to witness the launch of the sounding rockets that carry their research instruments. He remembers flying into Fairbanks, Alaska, for a launch from the University of Alaska’s Poker Flat Research Range located 30 miles north of the city. While conditions may have indicated heightened auroral activity, the outside temperature registered an uncomfortable 30 degrees below zero. “I thought it was cold in New Hampshire, but nothing like that,” Fernandes remembers.

While fascinated with the Aurora Borealis and the phenomenon that creates it, Fernandes is especially interested in space weather more generally and the hazards it can cause for satellites and the instruments they carry. “It all begins at the sun, where this mass of hot plasma spews out a steady stream of ions and electrons,” Fernandes explains. This “solar wind” of charged plasma courses toward our planet at about one million miles per hour. When the solar wind particles reach the Earth, they can become trapped in the Earth’s magnetic field and channeled toward the magnetic poles. As they approach the upper atmosphere, they collide with other atoms and molecules, which become energized or “excited.” When the energy added by these collisions dissipates—discharges—the atoms change their energy state and give off light that we recognize as the Northern Lights.

Fernandes says that in addition to the spectacular light show, the collision of charged particles can also cause sudden and damaging electrical surges on communications satellites and global positioning systems (GPS). His hope is that a better understanding of the space weather in which auroras occur will lead to improved satellite design. When he completes his degree, Fernandes hopes to continue to work in space physics at a national laboratory or technology center.

by Michael Beahan

photos courtesy of Philip Fernandes

College photographer Eli Burakian ’00 shot portraits of this year’s undergraduate and advanced-degree Marshals. Chidi Anyadike ’13, the Office of Public Affairs Whitney Campbell Intern, interviewed the graduates about their time at Dartmouth

For the full article go to Dartmouth Now.

Anna Hatch (biochemistry) explains the cell’s basic structure before diving deep into mitochondria biology.

Daniel Durcan (Master of Arts in Liberal Studies, MALS), the first student to present, discussed the complexities and outcomes of the Arab Spring, focusing mostly on Egypt and Tunisia. “The striking paradox is in both Tunisia and Egypt, that even though the revolutions were driven by social groups associated with the left, the political right consolidated the gains of the revolutions,” observes Durcan.

Next to present was Anna Hatch (biochemistry). Hatch’s work targets the cell’s main energy producer, the mitochondrion. She discussed how one cytoskeletal protein, INF2, helps regulate mitochondrial dynamics. “Mitochondria are very dynamic organelles, which continually undergo fission and fusion. Patients with certain neurological disorders, like Alzheimer’s, have compromised mitochondrial dynamics—really underscoring the importance of determining INF2’s role during the fission process,” says Hatch.

Deviating somewhat from the typical format of Nerd Nite, Max Mehlman (psychological and brain sciences, PBS) decided to research a random topic and present on it, rather than focusing on his own research. He chose to discuss the game of hide and seek. Everyone was amazed by the variety of types of hide and seek and the different rules Mehlman described, as well as the history of the game; hide and seek-like games were played during the House of Tudor and even in Ancient Greece. Mehlman’s unique take on Nerd Nite fit well into the event and captured the audience’s interest.

Daniel Durcan (MALS) draws the “pillars” of the regimes in Egypt and Tunisia and explains how the public has power.

Finally, Everett Sullivan (mathematics) presented last. This is the second time this year that Sullivan has shared his science at Nerd Nite. Sullivan explained how Game of Life, a program designed to have infinite patterns, helps answer mathematical questions. “In fact, any computational question solvable by a Turing machine could be solved using Game of Life!” says Sullivan. Game of Life is a program in which a window has cells designated as dead (lightly colored). Once you click on a cell, it becomes alive (dark). A dead cell can automatically become alive if there are three alive cells next to it. After you select a certain pattern, you can activate the window and see the results of your computation. Sullivan’s demonstration showed the audience not only how cool mathematical simulations can be, but also how pretty they can look when seen through the Game of Life program.

All four presenters did a great job and got people very interested in their work. There is no question that Nerd Nite is indeed helping graduate students learn about what goes on outside their area of research. The newly elected academic chair of the GSC, Laurie Laker, plans to continue the tradition, promising, “I will, most definitely, work hard to ensure that Nerd Nite will persist next academic year as well.”

Follow the Dartmouth GSC on Facebook and check out the events calendar on the new GSC website to know when the GSC is hosting other similar events!

by Gilbert Rahme

Tito has been at Dartmouth since the fall of 2008. Born and raised in Maine, he earned his Bachelor’s in chemistry from the University of New England, located in his home state. As an undergrad, Tito tutored students in chemistry, first developing his teaching skills. At Dartmouth, he’s been a teaching assistant for Physical Chemistry 2—a theoretical chemistry course based in quantum mechanics. The course matches Tito’s own interests in theoretical chemistry.

“I never really enjoyed the lab work as much,” he said. “There’s a certain creativity that theory offers. In lab, mixing and experimenting, you’re limited to working with what’s tangible and real. I’ve always enjoyed working with ideas, with the intangible side of this science. It’s very creative.”

Theoretical chemists are harder to come by than their lab-loving counterparts, which makes Tito a valuable asset to Dartmouth’s chemistry faculty.

“I was recruited to teach Physical Chem right off the bat. There’s just not as many of us in the department.”

Physical Chemistry is a course reserved for those students who are pursuing degrees in chemistry or biomedical or premed fields. It’s important that these students walk away from these classes with more than just good grades.

“For each new topic, I try to remember how I best learned the subject. I use that as a starting point, and try to encourage the students to give me a lot of feedback on the lessons. I always try to study facial expressions and body language—anything that helps me judge how well the material is sinking in.”

Tito also tries hard to bring in real-world analogies. Noting how tough it can be to fully grasp theoretical subjects, he appreciates the importance of offering easy-to-remember takeaways.

Tito’s own research focuses on polymer phase behavior. “I study the physical state of liquids and polymers (plastics) at different temperatures,” he explains. Tito works with Professor Jane E. G. Lipson, the Albert W. Smith Professor of Chemistry here at the College. Lipson’s research group attempts to add to the chemistry industry’s understanding of the microscopic structure of polymers.

Tito will be defending his thesis this summer. After five years at Dartmouth, he says he’s ready to move on, but that he’ll miss the unique “freshness” and cosmopolitan feel that Hanover offers in a small-town setting. Tito is an avid piano player and web designer, and he helped the Graduate Student Council to launch a new website this year. He hopes teaching will be part of his future too.

“I chose Dartmouth because of its emphasis on teaching. Being a teaching assistant was a very different experience from tutoring, but I learned things and got through challenges that will certainly help me in the years ahead.”

The Graduate Studies Office would like to commend Tito for his excellent work in teaching and wish him the best in his upcoming thesis defense.

by Zach Williams

Kinnaird, who is originally from Bethesda, Maryland, earned a BA in mathematics from Wellesley College and an MA in mathematics from Dartmouth. Her research at Dartmouth is in applied mathematics. She uses algorithms to find versions of the same song (cover songs) in a music library without listening to the music. In order to do this, Kinnaird draws on work in network theory, machine learning, linear algebra, and statistical learning. Her research is of interest to those working on Music Information Retrieval (MIR). Kinnaird works with Scott D. Pauls and Daniel Rockmore of the Mathematics Department as well as Michael Casey in the Department of Music.

Kinnaird has been a teaching assistant for numerous classes while at Dartmouth, including Math 3, 8, 23, and 76. She has also taught her own sections of Math 1 and 8. In teaching Math 8, Kinnaird adopted the innovative pedagogical technique of “flipping” the classroom. Rather than presenting lectures each class, Kinnaird would record “pencasts” before class, using an electronic pen that would record both what she wrote and said. She would then upload these pencasts for her students to listen to prior to class. Following this, Kinnaird would engage students in class in collaborative learning, working in groups on problems related to the day’s pencast.

Kinnaird found that this method allowed her to focus on answering students’ questions in class. Watching her students work on problems enabled her to identify areas of difficulty that she needed to spend more time on. It also helped students to develop group-working skills. Those who understood concepts well could refine their understanding through explaining them to their fellow group members.

Kinnaird learned about using pencasts from attending the Active Learning Institute (ALI) in 2011 at the Dartmouth Center for the Advancement of Learning (DCAL). At this two-day workshop, Dean F. Jon Kull shared with participants about his experience using pencasts in his chemistry classes. The idea appealed to Kinnaird because, she observes, “I’m a slow note taker, and it would have been useful for me to be able to slow down my professors’ lectures or listen to them multiple times.”

Having pre-recorded pencasts facilitates students engaging with lectures in whatever way works best for them. If students struggle with a concept or need help while they are working on a homework problem, they can rewind and replay parts of the lecture. Kinnaird even observed that some of her students would re-listen to all of the lectures again before an exam in order to review the material.

Kinnaird notes that students seemed to enjoy having class time to work through problems and ask questions. Her former students have since told her that they miss having pencasts in other classes. Kinnaird also feels that flipping the classroom enabled her to know exactly what each one of her students was capable of come exam time because she had spent so much time working closely with them.

As well as teaching, Kinnaird has been involved with a number of mentoring and outreach activities. She was a Graduate Advisor in undergraduate residential halls for three years, a member of the executive board of the Graduate Student Council for two years, taught middle and high school students for Sonia Kovalevsky Math Day in 2011 and 2012, and is currently involved in organizing the Women in Machine Learning Workshop (WiML) to be held in conjunction with the Neural Information Processing Systems (NIPS) Foundation conference in December 2013. Kinnaird was an ethics trainer for first year graduate students in 2011 for the Professional Ethics Program. She has also worked to increase graduate student involvement in V-Week at Dartmouth, helping to organize the event for five years. In 2011, Kinnaird was honored for her community involvement with the Graduate Community Award.

Next year, Kinnaird plans to finish up her dissertation work and graduate in the spring. She will begin looking for postdoctoral and faculty positions. “My goal is to one day work at a small liberal arts school like Dartmouth that emphasizes the importance of teaching,” explains Kinnaird.

The Graduate Studies Office would like to commend Kinnaird for her excellent work in teaching and wish her the best in finishing up her dissertation.

Governor Maggie Hassan (New Hampshire) made the opening remarks. Gregg Fairbrothers (D’76; Director, Dartmouth Entrepreneurial Network) laid the foundation for the theme of the conference—success and social value—with an emphasis on creating wealth that can be recycled to attain more social meaning. Following this, the keynote address by Bill Helman (D’80; Greylock Partners) and Diana Taylor (D’77; Wolfensohn Fund Management LP) focused on how a company can create social value regardless of the company being for-profit or non-profit.

Professor John Vogel led a panel on whether there is room for more than one bottom line. Dick Couch (D’64, Th’ 65; Hypertherm) and Barbara Couch (Hypertherm) participated on the panel and shed light on Hypertherm’s short-term and long-term goals for being greener and more socially responsible.  They also talked about their community service program, which they believe leads to their employees not only contributing towards their communities but also instills a renewed sense of purpose and fulfillment in their jobs.

Caroline Bressan (T’14) led another panel on the current financial environment for social impact, with Phil Ferneau (D’84, T’96; Borealis Ventures; Tuck School), Elizabeth Glenshaw (the Clean Yield), and Michael Wilson (New Hampshire Charitable Foundation). Phil Ferneau elaborated on how Borealis Ventures invests in companies they believe will have global impact, while Michael Wilson spoke about how his organization has invested to foster economic development in New Hampshire. Elizabeth Glenshaw spoke of her experience crafting a community-banking program in Vermont.

A third panel, led by Pat Palmiotto (Adv’07; Tuck School) was titled “Social Entrepreneurs and Their Stories.” Wynona Ward (Have Justice Will Travel, Inc.), an attorney by training, shared the story of how she broke the culture of silence and oppression that she grew up in. Her mission of not accepting social abuse and bringing legal and social services to rural Vermont keeps her motivated. Luanne Zurlo (D’87; Worldfund) shared her story on how she founded Worldfund to improve the quality of education in Latin America and discussed Worldfund’s strategies for launching innovative teaching programs that currently affect 350,000 students annually.

Participants had the opportunity to attend different lunch workshops, which were focused around the early phases of an enterprise. The Startup Operations Bootcamp, led by Jennifer Gabler (D’ 85; Marlborough Street Partners), provided a good overview of best practices for managing accounting and administration in startups. During the fireside chat on mentorship, Sherri Oberg (D’82, T’86; Acusphere, Inc.) and Michael Stern (T’79; Premier Retail Networks) shared their experiences on being mentored and serving as mentors. This talk highlighted the role mentorship plays in starting a successful business. Both Oberg and Stern stressed how one has to be persistent to find a good mentor and how one should be open to criticism from mentors.

The final phase of the day included the DV Entrepreneurship Contest. Three teams in the final round pitched to a panel of judges. Instant Insight (the Tuck student team), which has developed an application to provide mobile phone-based surveys that allows retailers to collect immediate feedback from consumers, won first prize. Samsara (the Dartmouth College undergraduate team) won second prize as well as the people’s choice award for a patented water bottle that accommodates flavor cartridges. The third prize went to Sighten (the Dartmouth Entrepreneurial Network City team), which has developed tools to assist investors in managing capital in renewable energy sources.

Dartmouth Ventures 2013 provided an excellent portal for students and other budding entrepreneurs to network with leaders in the field. It provided a great learning opportunity for all participants and highlighted Dartmouth’s belief that entrepreneurial skills can be learned.

by Yash R. Patankar 

photo by Mark Washburn Photography