Each spring, the Georgia Tech community gathers to recognize the academic achievements and excellence of undergraduate and graduate students across the Institute. Dozens of College of Sciences students were honored during Tech’s Student Honors Celebration, held on April 19 at the Academy of Medicine.

Teaching excellence was also honored through Georgia Tech Teaching Assistant Awards and special certificates during the Institute’s Teaching Assistant (TA) and Future Faculty Award ceremonies, also held on April 19, at the Exhibition Hall Midtown Ballroom.

Please join us in congratulating these special recipients across our College of Sciences community:

Provost’s Academic Excellence Award

Established in 2021, the Provost’s Academic Excellence Award was created to recognize the remaining finalists of the Love Family Foundation Award (awarded this year to College of Design student Karis Wang). Each student is a graduating senior and represents the most outstanding scholastic record from their college. Finalists receive a $2,000 award, generously sponsored by the Love Family Foundation, and recognition at the annual Student Honors program.

One of this year’s recipients of the Provost’s Academic Excellence Award is Elena Cabrera, who is graduating from the School of Psychology. Cabrera conducted three years of research in the Adult Cognition Lab, earning her the College of Sciences Dean’s Scholarship and Early Research Award. She has also served as Psychology Association president and received two Tower Awards from the Office of Minority Educational Development. After graduation, Cabrera plans to pursue social and cultural psychological research on her path to becoming a psychology professor.

Other recipients include Arul Gupta from the Scheller College of Business, Kevin Li from the College of Computing, Jacob Young from the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, and Peter Lais from the College of Engineering. Read more.

Honors Program Outstanding Student Award

This award was established in fall 2022 to honor one graduating student who best exemplifies the Honors Program during their time at Georgia Tech.

The first ever recipient of this award is Sarah Sorme, a graduating neuroscience major who has been active in the Honors Program. Sorme has had many leadership roles within the Honors Program during her time at Georgia Tech, including serving on two committees — the New Student Committee and the Community Outreach Committee — acting as a first-year retreat guide, and serving as editor of the Honors Program newsletter (The HyPe). She also served as co-director of the Honors Leadership Council and was instrumental in guiding the Program through the Covid-19 pandemic.

After graduation, Sarah wants to use her cognitive science knowledge and leadership experiences to develop human-centered technology to improve society.

Read more about Sorme.

Roger M. Wartell and Stephen E. Brossette Award for Multidisciplinary Studies in Biology, Physics, and Mathematics

This award is presented to an undergraduate student with demonstrated accomplishments at the interface of biology with either physics or mathematics. The award was established by a generous donation from alumnus Stephen E. Brossette in recognition of the many contributions of Roger M. Wartell to the Georgia Institute of Technology.

The 2023 winner, Julianne Tijani, is a physics major who has conducted research on the evolution of yeast, antibiotic-resistant infections, and cystic fibrosis. She has participated in the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program, and was recognized as a Petit Scholar. Julianne has also served as a teaching assistant in the School of Physics, a student assistant for the EXPLORE living learning community, and a medical scribe at Emory University Hospital.

A. Joyce Nickelson and John C. Sutherland Undergraduate Research Award

This award was created by the endowment gift of Joyce E. Nickelson and John C. Sutherland to honor Joyce’s late mother, alumna A. Joyce Nickelson, and Sutherland. The scholarship, which recognizes excellence at the interface of mathematics and physics, is awarded to an undergraduate student who has jointly studied mathematics and physics, and who has engaged in scientific research.

Nickelson-Sutherland award winner Lance Lampert is completing degrees in physics and mathematics. He has been a research assistant at the Georgia Tech Research Institute, has taken part in the University of Michigan NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates program, and will be conducting research at the CERN particle accelerator facility in Switzerland this summer. He is also a leader in the Quantum Computing Association, maintains the web infrastructure for Georgia Tech’s student radio station WREK, and hosts a show on the channel.

Cynthia L. Bossart and James Efron Scholarship

This honor was created by alumna Cindy Bossart to recognize high academic achievement by a student in the College of Sciences who is a non-Georgia resident.

Veronika Vessigault is the 2022-3 recipient of this award and is a mathematics major with a minor in computational data analysis. She is currently taking graduate-level numerical linear algebra, and she studied in Hungary as part of the Budapest Semester in Mathematics. She plans to pursue a Ph.D. in mathematics and an academic career. While at Tech, she volunteered close to 100 hours teaching high school and community college students and served as a teaching assistant in both the School of Mathematics and the College of Computing.

Metha Phingbodhipakkiya Memorial Scholarship

This honor was established by Maranee Phingbodhipakkiya to honor her father, his love for physics, and the sacrifices he made to assure that she would have the finest education. This award is made to a junior or senior in the College of Sciences based on academic merit.

The recipient of this award, Saima Firoj, is a biochemistry major who is also completing minors in Spanish and health and medical sciences. She has conducted research on the structure and aggregation patterns of membranes through cryo-electron microscopy to aid in drug development and delivery, and on the biochemical origins of life. She has also volunteered extensively in the medical field.

Robert A. Pierotti Memorial Scholarship

The College of Sciences presents this scholarship in honor of Robert “Bob” Pierotti, past dean of the College and founder of the Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics, and Computing (CEISMC). The award is made to top graduating seniors in the College who have excelled both academically and in research.

The three recipients of the 2022 Pierotti Award are Thiago Esslinger, Andrew Ji, and Lila Nassar.

Esslinger is majoring in both biochemistry and earth and atmospheric sciences. During his time as an undergraduate, Esslinger conducted research with Kim Cobb, former professor in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences who now serves as the director of the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society. His research aimed to investigate the influence of symbiont community composition on coral geochemical proxy records in the central equatorial Pacific. In addition, he has worked as a study abroad teaching assistant, and has received a President’s Undergraduate Research Award as well as the Sustainability Student Champions Award.

Ji is a biology major with a minor in computing and intelligence. He is a researcher in the School of Biological Sciences, where he works with Francesca Storici — professor and associate chair for Graduate Education in the School — to sequence the genome of a species of yeast. He also serves as a teaching assistant for the Bioethics and Integrative Genetics course, for which he was recognized as the School of Biological Sciences Undergraduate Teaching Assistant of the Year. Ji has also done considerable volunteer work in clinics and hospitals.

Nassar is a physics major with a concentration in the physics of living systems. Nassar has a broad set of research experiences with faculty Martin Mourigal and Jennifer Curtis in the School of Physics. Nassar has also served as the secretary and president of the Georgia Tech Society of Women in Physics. In summer 2021, Nassar also participated in the NSF REU program at Vanderbilt University.

College of Sciences Undergraduate Research Awards

Undergraduate research awards are made to students in the College of Sciences who have made strong contributions to research over a number of semesters. This year’s winners were Chelsea Bekemeier, Lydia Kenney, Dimitrios Kidonakis, and Evelyn Gardolinski.

Bekemeier is graduating from the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences with a concentration in meteorology. Bekemeier conducts research with Greg Huey, professor and chair of the School, and has contributed to controlled burning experiments in Fort Columbus, GA, as well as the Asian Summer Monsoon Chemical and CLimate Impact Project (ACCLIP) based in South Korea. She has also been dedicated to outreach endeavors, serving as a STEM educator for iFLY Indoor Skydiving and a Superheroes Club Educator at Awaken Education LLC.

Kenney is a biochemistry major who began working with Raquel Lieberman, professor and Sepcic-Pfiel Endowed Chair in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry in 2020. She was named a Beckman Scholar — a 15-month mentored research experience for exceptional undergraduate students in chemistry and biological sciences — in 2021, conducting metagenomics research on deep sea sediments to identify novel binding proteins. Throughout her work with Lieberman, Kenney has won the best poster competition at the 36th Annual Protein Society Symposium in San Francisco, CA, and co-authored a manuscript.

Kidonakis is a mathematics major who began research as a high schooler in 2018. Working with Joseph Rabinoff, associate professor at Duke University formerly in Georgia Tech’s the School of Mathematics, Kidonakis conducted a research project on arithmetic geometry which won the award for best project in mathematics at the Georgia Science and Engineering Fair. During his time at Tech, Kidonakis has also worked with School of Mathematics professors Igor Belegradek and Matt Baker.

Gardolinski is graduating from the Undergraduate Program in Neuroscience, and began doing research with Tim Cope, professor in the School of Biological Sciences, in 2020. Gardolinski conducted her research thesis with Cope, which aimed to develop a large data base on molecular mechanisms underlying signaling by specialized sensory receptors responsible for movement perception. She has also served as a teaching assistant, a peer advisor, and as the vice president of finance for Georgia Tech’s Red Cross Club.

Larry O’Hara Graduate Scholarship

This honor is provided by an endowment bequeathed by alumnus Larry O’Hara. It is presented to outstanding graduate students in the College of Sciences.

All of the 2023 winners have established a strong record of research with multiple publications in peer-reviewed journals, as well as multiple conference presentations:

  • Xiaonan Liu, Ph.D. candidate, Mathematics
  • Aaron Pfennig, Ph.D. candidate, Quantitative Biosciences program, Biological Sciences

Liu is currently studying structural graph theory, extremal combinatorics, and graph coloring with Xingxing Yu, a professor in the School of Mathematics and the director of Graduate Studies.

Pfennig’s research interests include theoretical and empirical population genetics of admixed populations. He currently works with Joseph Lachance, an associate professor in the School of Biological Sciences, to examine admixture of modern humans with archaic hominins.

Teaching Assistant Awards

The College of Science had several winners among the 2023 Georgia Tech Teaching Assistant Awardees. The awards are presented annually by the Center for Teaching and Learning to celebrate the contributions to teaching excellence at Georgia Tech made by graduate and undergraduate teaching assistants:

Several students also won Teaching Assistant Awards at the school level:

Tech to Teaching Certificates

Tech to Teaching Certificates are designed to prepare Georgia Tech graduate and postdoctoral associates for college teaching positions.

Through this certificate program, participants will develop a thorough understanding of the scholarship of teaching and learning, and will demonstrate their ability to apply these skills in the classroom.

The following College of Sciences students were awarded Tech to Teaching Certificates:

Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL) Certificates

As a member institution in the CIRTL national network, Georgia Tech joins with 39 other universities on a mission to improve undergraduate education through the preparation of future faculty.

Participants in these certificate programs learn about how students learn, how differences among students affect their learning, evidence-based teaching and assessment practices, and teaching with technology.

Participants who complete these foundation-level learning outcomes through a combination of coursework, workshops, or online learning, receive the CIRTL Associate certificate.

The following College of Sciences students were awarded CIRTL Certificates:

Each spring, the Georgia Tech community gathers to recognize the academic achievements and excellence of undergraduate and graduate students across the Institute. Dozens of College of Sciences students were honored during Tech’s Student Honors Celebration, held on April 19 at the Academy of Medicine.

Teaching excellence was also honored through Georgia Tech Teaching Assistant Awards and special certificates during the Institute’s Teaching Assistant (TA) and Future Faculty Award ceremonies, also held on April 19, at the Exhibition Hall Midtown Ballroom.

Please join us in congratulating these special recipients across our College of Sciences community:

Provost’s Academic Excellence Award

Established in 2021, the Provost’s Academic Excellence Award was created to recognize the remaining finalists of the Love Family Foundation Award (awarded this year to College of Design student Karis Wang). Each student is a graduating senior and represents the most outstanding scholastic record from their college. Finalists receive a $2,000 award, generously sponsored by the Love Family Foundation, and recognition at the annual Student Honors program.

One of this year’s recipients of the Provost’s Academic Excellence Award is Elena Cabrera, who is graduating from the School of Psychology. Cabrera conducted three years of research in the Adult Cognition Lab, earning her the College of Sciences Dean’s Scholarship and Early Research Award. She has also served as Psychology Association president and received two Tower Awards from the Office of Minority Educational Development. After graduation, Cabrera plans to pursue social and cultural psychological research on her path to becoming a psychology professor.

Other recipients include Arul Gupta from the Scheller College of Business, Kevin Li from the College of Computing, Jacob Young from the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, and Peter Lais from the College of Engineering. Read more.

Honors Program Outstanding Student Award

This award was established in fall 2022 to honor one graduating student who best exemplifies the Honors Program during their time at Georgia Tech.

The first ever recipient of this award is Sarah Sorme, a graduating neuroscience major who has been active in the Honors Program. Sorme has had many leadership roles within the Honors Program during her time at Georgia Tech, including serving on two committees — the New Student Committee and the Community Outreach Committee — acting as a first-year retreat guide, and serving as editor of the Honors Program newsletter (The HyPe). She also served as co-director of the Honors Leadership Council and was instrumental in guiding the Program through the Covid-19 pandemic.

After graduation, Sarah wants to use her cognitive science knowledge and leadership experiences to develop human-centered technology to improve society.

Read more about Sorme.

Roger M. Wartell and Stephen E. Brossette Award for Multidisciplinary Studies in Biology, Physics, and Mathematics

This award is presented to an undergraduate student with demonstrated accomplishments at the interface of biology with either physics or mathematics. The award was established by a generous donation from alumnus Stephen E. Brossette in recognition of the many contributions of Roger M. Wartell to the Georgia Institute of Technology.

The 2023 winner, Julianne Tijani, is a physics major who has conducted research on the evolution of yeast, antibiotic-resistant infections, and cystic fibrosis. She has participated in the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program, and was recognized as a Petit Scholar. Julianne has also served as a teaching assistant in the School of Physics, a student assistant for the EXPLORE living learning community, and a medical scribe at Emory University Hospital.

A. Joyce Nickelson and John C. Sutherland Undergraduate Research Award

This award was created by the endowment gift of Joyce E. Nickelson and John C. Sutherland to honor Joyce’s late mother, alumna A. Joyce Nickelson, and Sutherland. The scholarship, which recognizes excellence at the interface of mathematics and physics, is awarded to an undergraduate student who has jointly studied mathematics and physics, and who has engaged in scientific research.

Nickelson-Sutherland award winner Lance Lampert is completing degrees in physics and mathematics. He has been a research assistant at the Georgia Tech Research Institute, has taken part in the University of Michigan NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates program, and will be conducting research at the CERN particle accelerator facility in Switzerland this summer. He is also a leader in the Quantum Computing Association, maintains the web infrastructure for Georgia Tech’s student radio station WREK, and hosts a show on the channel.

Cynthia L. Bossart and James Efron Scholarship

This honor was created by alumna Cindy Bossart to recognize high academic achievement by a student in the College of Sciences who is a non-Georgia resident.

Veronika Vessigault is the 2022-3 recipient of this award and is a mathematics major with a minor in computational data analysis. She is currently taking graduate-level numerical linear algebra, and she studied in Hungary as part of the Budapest Semester in Mathematics. She plans to pursue a Ph.D. in mathematics and an academic career. While at Tech, she volunteered close to 100 hours teaching high school and community college students and served as a teaching assistant in both the School of Mathematics and the College of Computing.

Metha Phingbodhipakkiya Memorial Scholarship

This honor was established by Maranee Phingbodhipakkiya to honor her father, his love for physics, and the sacrifices he made to assure that she would have the finest education. This award is made to a junior or senior in the College of Sciences based on academic merit.

The recipient of this award, Saima Firoj, is a biochemistry major who is also completing minors in Spanish and health and medical sciences. She has conducted research on the structure and aggregation patterns of membranes through cryo-electron microscopy to aid in drug development and delivery, and on the biochemical origins of life. She has also volunteered extensively in the medical field.

Robert A. Pierotti Memorial Scholarship

The College of Sciences presents this scholarship in honor of Robert “Bob” Pierotti, past dean of the College and founder of the Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics, and Computing (CEISMC). The award is made to top graduating seniors in the College who have excelled both academically and in research.

The three recipients of the 2022 Pierotti Award are Thiago Esslinger, Andrew Ji, and Lila Nassar.

Esslinger is majoring in both biochemistry and earth and atmospheric sciences. During his time as an undergraduate, Esslinger conducted research with Kim Cobb, former professor in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences who now serves as the director of the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society. His research aimed to investigate the influence of symbiont community composition on coral geochemical proxy records in the central equatorial Pacific. In addition, he has worked as a study abroad teaching assistant, and has received a President’s Undergraduate Research Award as well as the Sustainability Student Champions Award.

Ji is a biology major with a minor in computing and intelligence. He is a researcher in the School of Biological Sciences, where he works with Francesca Storici — professor and associate chair for Graduate Education in the School — to sequence the genome of a species of yeast. He also serves as a teaching assistant for the Bioethics and Integrative Genetics course, for which he was recognized as the School of Biological Sciences Undergraduate Teaching Assistant of the Year. Ji has also done considerable volunteer work in clinics and hospitals.

Nassar is a physics major with a concentration in the physics of living systems. Nassar has a broad set of research experiences with faculty Martin Mourigal and Jennifer Curtis in the School of Physics. Nassar has also served as the secretary and president of the Georgia Tech Society of Women in Physics. In summer 2021, Nassar also participated in the NSF REU program at Vanderbilt University.

College of Sciences Undergraduate Research Awards

Undergraduate research awards are made to students in the College of Sciences who have made strong contributions to research over a number of semesters. This year’s winners were Chelsea Bekemeier, Lydia Kenney, Dimitrios Kidonakis, and Evelyn Gardolinski.

Bekemeier is graduating from the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences with a concentration in meteorology. Bekemeier conducts research with Greg Huey, professor and chair of the School, and has contributed to controlled burning experiments in Fort Columbus, GA, as well as the Asian Summer Monsoon Chemical and CLimate Impact Project (ACCLIP) based in South Korea. She has also been dedicated to outreach endeavors, serving as a STEM educator for iFLY Indoor Skydiving and a Superheroes Club Educator at Awaken Education LLC.

Kenney is a biochemistry major who began working with Raquel Lieberman, professor and Sepcic-Pfiel Endowed Chair in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry in 2020. She was named a Beckman Scholar — a 15-month mentored research experience for exceptional undergraduate students in chemistry and biological sciences — in 2021, conducting metagenomics research on deep sea sediments to identify novel binding proteins. Throughout her work with Lieberman, Kenney has won the best poster competition at the 36th Annual Protein Society Symposium in San Francisco, CA, and co-authored a manuscript.

Kidonakis is a mathematics major who began research as a high schooler in 2018. Working with Joseph Rabinoff, associate professor at Duke University formerly in Georgia Tech’s the School of Mathematics, Kidonakis conducted a research project on arithmetic geometry which won the award for best project in mathematics at the Georgia Science and Engineering Fair. During his time at Tech, Kidonakis has also worked with School of Mathematics professors Igor Belegradek and Matt Baker.

Gardolinski is graduating from the Undergraduate Program in Neuroscience, and began doing research with Tim Cope, professor in the School of Biological Sciences, in 2020. Gardolinski conducted her research thesis with Cope, which aimed to develop a large data base on molecular mechanisms underlying signaling by specialized sensory receptors responsible for movement perception. She has also served as a teaching assistant, a peer advisor, and as the vice president of finance for Georgia Tech’s Red Cross Club.

Larry O’Hara Graduate Scholarship

This honor is provided by an endowment bequeathed by alumnus Larry O’Hara. It is presented to outstanding graduate students in the College of Sciences.

All of the 2023 winners have established a strong record of research with multiple publications in peer-reviewed journals, as well as multiple conference presentations:

  • Xiaonan Liu, Ph.D. candidate, Mathematics
  • Aaron Pfennig, Ph.D. candidate, Quantitative Biosciences program, Biological Sciences

Liu is currently studying structural graph theory, extremal combinatorics, and graph coloring with Xingxing Yu, a professor in the School of Mathematics and the director of Graduate Studies.

Pfennig’s research interests include theoretical and empirical population genetics of admixed populations. He currently works with Joseph Lachance, an associate professor in the School of Biological Sciences, to examine admixture of modern humans with archaic hominins.

Teaching Assistant Awards

The College of Science had several winners among the 2023 Georgia Tech Teaching Assistant Awardees. The awards are presented annually by the Center for Teaching and Learning to celebrate the contributions to teaching excellence at Georgia Tech made by graduate and undergraduate teaching assistants:

Several students also won Teaching Assistant Awards at the school level:

Tech to Teaching Certificates

Tech to Teaching Certificates are designed to prepare Georgia Tech graduate and postdoctoral associates for college teaching positions.

Through this certificate program, participants will develop a thorough understanding of the scholarship of teaching and learning, and will demonstrate their ability to apply these skills in the classroom.

The following College of Sciences students were awarded Tech to Teaching Certificates:

Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL) Certificates

As a member institution in the CIRTL national network, Georgia Tech joins with 39 other universities on a mission to improve undergraduate education through the preparation of future faculty.

Participants in these certificate programs learn about how students learn, how differences among students affect their learning, evidence-based teaching and assessment practices, and teaching with technology.

Participants who complete these foundation-level learning outcomes through a combination of coursework, workshops, or online learning, receive the CIRTL Associate certificate.

The following College of Sciences students were awarded CIRTL Certificates:

Georgia Tech will be a key partner for the New York Climate Exchange (The Exchange), a first-of-its-kind international center for developing and deploying dynamic solutions to the global climate crisis. In addition to convening the world’s leaders and climate experts, The Exchange will address the social and practical challenges created by climate change — including commercially viable research and ideas that lead to immediate action on local and global levels.

“Today's climate issues are urgent, and environmental justice and ecological sustainability necessitate action from leaders across the world,” said Chaouki Abdallah, executive vice president for research at Georgia Tech. “As a core partner of The Exchange, Georgia Tech will provide research expertise in the areas of energy, urban planning, bi­­ological ecosystems, public policy, and more, and we look forward to playing an instrumental role in bringing its mission to fruition.”

Georgia Tech researchers are studying glacial melt, coral growth, sea level rise, and other climate concerns in the state of Georgia and around the world and will share their data and research results with partners at The Exchange. Likewise, research at The Exchange will be applicable for towns and cities across Georgia, allowing state leaders to take advantage of economic opportunities that arise when climate change is addressed head on.  

In addition to contributing critical research across the many areas of climate change, Georgia Tech leads major initiatives that are focused on solving the crises laid out in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Generation 2 Reinvented Toilet (G2RT) — a solution to the world’s water and sanitation problem — is led by Shannon Yee, associate professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech. This cost-effective, globally scalable reinvented toilet with built-in human waste treatment will ensure that drinking water stays clean and will improve public health around the world.

Georgia Tech is also a leading partner of the Ocean Visions – UN Decade Collaborative Center for Ocean-Climate Solutions, an international center headquartered at the Georgia Aquarium that aims to co-design, develop, test, fund, and deliver scalable and equitable ocean-based solutions to reduce the effects of climate change and build climate-resilient marine ecosystems and coastal communities. Championed at Georgia Tech by Susan Lozier, dean and Betsy Middleton and John Clark Sutherland Chair in the College of Sciences, the Center also supports opportunities to accelerate ocean-based carbon dioxide removal research and advance sustainable ocean economies.

“We are looking forward to contributing and demonstrating some of the engineering sustainability solutions that have been developed at Georgia Tech with New York City and the world,” said Yee. “Many of the technical and economic solutions that serve the state of Georgia, the coastal city of Savannah, and the urban center of Atlanta can also serve the urban harbor of New York City. Similarly, the innovations and economic opportunities that address climate change can be shared with and benefit Georgia. This collaboration embodies the concept of an exchange where we share with one another.”

As The Exchange’s anchor institution, Stony Brook University will build and operate the center which will be located on Governors Island in New York City. The center is slated to open in 2028.

“It is becoming clear year after year in New York, and around the world, that the impacts of climate change are real and are here,” said Kevin Reed, associate dean for Research and associate professor in the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook. “By partnering with communities, industries, governments, and universities, The Exchange will help to accelerate the implementation of urban solutions to these climate impacts through an interactive research ecosystem where community engagement is paramount. As a climate scientist, I recognize that New Yorkers need solutions to the climate crisis now, and The Exchange will help to make that a reality.”

 

Click here for the full list of Georgia Tech faculty and staff awardees.

College of Sciences faculty and teaching assistants were recently recognized for their educational and research excellence during the 2023 Georgia Tech Faculty and Staff Honors Luncheon, held April 21 at the Exhibition Hall.

The awards included Institute-wide honors and those from Georgia Tech’s Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL). Honorees were recognized for their service, activities, and accomplishments over the past academic year. 

Please join us in congratulating College of Sciences faculty and teaching assistants who received 2023 Georgia Tech and CTL awards:

Georgia Tech Chapter, Sigma Xi Awards

Best Faculty Paper 

Itamar Kimchi, Assistant Professor, Physics


Institute Research Awards

Outstanding Achievement in Research Innovation

Younan Xia, Brock Family Chair, Chemistry and Biochemistry 

 

Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Advisor

John R. Reynolds, Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry

 

Outstanding Achievement in Research Program Development

Spaceflight Project Group

Christopher Carr, Assistant Professor, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences/Aerospace Engineering


ANAK Awards

Outstanding Faculty

Timothy Cope, Professor, Biological Sciences


Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) Awards

Undergraduate Educator

Adam J. Decker, Senior Academic Professional, Biological Sciences

 

Geoffrey G. Eichholz Faculty Teaching

Mary E. Peek. Principal Academic Professional, Chemistry and Biochemistry

Emily Weigel, Senior Academic Professional, Biological Sciences

 

Center for Teaching and Learning/BP Junior Faculty Teaching

Anton Bernshteyn, Assistant Professor, Mathematics

Gongjie Li, Assistant Professor, Physics

 

Innovation in Co-Curricular Education 

Pamela Pollet, Senior Research Scientist, Chemistry and Biochemistry

 

International Initiatives Award

Steven A. Denning Faculty Award for Global Engagement

Anton Leykin, Professor, Mathematics

 

Faculty Honors Committee Awards

Class of 1940 W. Howard Ector Outstanding Teacher

Dan Margalit, Professor, Mathematics

 

Center for Teaching and Learning Teaching Assistant (TA) and Future Faculty Awards

(These awards were presented April 19 in the Georgia Tech Exhibition Hall.) 

 

Undergraduate Teaching Assistant of the Year

Charlotte Carl, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences 

Bret Hendricks, Mathematics

Maeve Janecka, Biological Sciences

Benjamin Peer, Chemistry and Biochemistry 

 

Graduate Teaching Assistant of the Year

Santana Afton, Mathematics

Alex Costa, Biological Sciences

Erin Griffith, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences

Tiffany Nguyen, Psychology

Markace Rainey, Chemistry and Biochemistry

Leo Wood, Physics

 

Graduate Student Instructor 

James Anderson, Mathematics

Terri Dunbar, Psychology

Cassandra Shriver, Biological Sciences and Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP)

 

Online TA of the Year

Mollene Denton, Mathematics
 

Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL) TA Awards

CIRTL Associate Certificates

Stephanie Bilodeau, Biological Sciences

Katherine Booth, Mathematics

Abigail Diering, Chemistry and Biochemistry 

Luke Foster, Chemistry and Biochemistry

Eliza Gazda, Physics

Chad Gomard-Henshaw, Physics

Sarah Gonzalez, Physics

Erin Griffith, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences

Abigail Hagwood, Chemistry

Kamisha Hill, Chemistry

Mary Kho, Biological Sciences

Na Liu, Physics

Ravyn Malatesta, Chemistry

Sarah Roney, Biological Sciences

Afaf Saaidi, Mathematics

Steven Tarr, Physics

Alisha Vera, Physics

Mengshi Zhang, Biological Sciences

 

CIRTL Associate and Tech to Teaching Certificates

Rebecca Guth-Metzler, Chemistry and Biochemistry

Taehun Kim, Chemistry and Biochemistry

Katie Kuo, Chemistry and Biochemistry

Kavita Matange, Chemistry and Biochemistry

Emily Saccuzzo, Chemistry and Biochemistry

Breanna Shi, Biological Sciences

 

Tech to Teaching Certificates

Austin Christian, Mathematics

Sierra Knavel, Mathematics

Andrew Kristof, Chemistry and Biochemistry

Athulya Ram Sreedharan Nair, Mathematics

Danielle Skinner, Physics

Yan Zhang, Chemistry and Biochemistry

 

Graduate Teaching Fellows

Maugan Lloyd, Psychology

Jelly Vanderwoude, Biological Sciences

 

International TA Liaisons

Chang Ding, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences

 

Download photos from this year’s Sciences Celebration on the GTSciences Flickr.

The College of Sciences community gathered in Harrison Square on April 18 to honor faculty and staff with awards for the 2022-2023 school year during the Spring Sciences Celebration.

“It is nothing short of a pleasure to recognize outstanding faculty who excel in teaching and research,” said Susan Lozier, College of Sciences Dean and Betsy Middleton and John Clark Sutherland Chair, “and to celebrate the leadership and commitment to excellence of remarkable staff members across the College.”

At the annual celebration, Lozier and the College also recognized the 25 new faculty members who joined Georgia Tech for the 2022-2023 academic year.

This year’s awardees include:

FACULTY DEVELOPMENT AWARDS

The Cullen-Peck Fellowship Awards, established by Frank Cullen (‘73 Math, MS ‘76 ISyE, PhD ‘84 ISyE) and Elizabeth Peck (‘75 Math, MS ‘76 ISyE), to encourage the development of especially promising mid-career faculty.

Cullen-Peck Faculty Fellows:

  • Thackery Brown, Psychology
  • Alex Robel, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
  • Amanda Stockton, Chemistry and Biochemistry

The Gretzinger Moving Forward Award, endowed by Ralph Gretzinger (‘70 Math) and named to honor his late wife Jewel, recognizes the leadership of a school chair or senior faculty member who has played a pivotal role in diversifying the composition of tenure-track faculty, creating a family-friendly work environment, and providing a supportive environment for early-career faculty:

  • Cam Tyson, Chemistry and Biochemistry

The Eric R. Immel Memorial Award for Excellence in Teaching, endowed by Charles Crawford (‘71 Math) recognizes exemplary instruction of lower division foundational courses. It honors the late School of Mathematics professor Eric R. Immel, who greatly influenced Crawford’s undergraduate experience at Tech:

  • Christina Ragan, Biological Sciences

The Leddy Family Dean’s Faculty Excellence Award, established by Jeff Leddy (’78 Physics) and Pam Leddy, supports a faculty member at the associate professor level with proven accomplishments in research and teaching:

  • Amit Reddi, Chemistry and Biochemistry

The Faculty Mentor Award, established jointly by the College of Sciences and its ADVANCE Professor, awards the efforts and achievements of our faculty members who mentor fellow faculty:

  • Andrzej Swiech, Mathematics

RESEARCH FACULTY AWARDS

The CoS Outstanding Junior Research Faculty Award and CoS Outstanding Senior Research Faculty Award recognize postdoctoral and non-tenure track research faculty who have made exceptional research contributions with significant impact on their field of study:

  • Junior Research Faculty: Claudia Alvarez-Carreño, Chemistry and Biochemistry
  • Senior Research Faculty: Mu Gao, Biological Sciences

The CoS Research Faculty Community Trailblazer Award recognizes postdoctoral and non-tenure track research faculty who have demonstrated and sustained leadership that strengthens the sense of community among research faculty within the College of Sciences:

  • Eric Shen, Chemistry and Biochemistry

STAFF AWARDS

The College of Sciences Staff Awards are made possible by funding from the Betsy Middleton and John Clark Sutherland Dean’s Chair endowment. They include:

The Exceptional Staff Member Award and Leadership in Action Staff Member Awards recognize College of Sciences staff who exemplify outstanding performance above and beyond the call of duty, by positively impacting the strategic goals of their department and the College, consistently providing excellent service within their school or the overall College, and demonstrating exemplary teamwork.

  • Exceptional Staff Member: Aria Higgins, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
  • Leadership in Action Staff Member: Gary Longstreet, Physics

The Excellence in Leadership Staff Awards and the Staff Excellence Award recognize College of Sciences staff who have made exceptional contributions to the College through innovative and strategic leadership, change management, business process improvement, special project leadership, and similar accomplishments.

Excellence in Leadership Staff

  • Shameka Fahie, Dean’s Office
  • Nguyen Nguyen, Academic and Research Computing Services

Staff Excellence Award

  • Jenny Eaton, Chemistry and Biochemistry 
  • Danny Hardwar, Academic and Research Computing Services
  • David Murray, Academic and Research Computing Services
  • Shebbie Murray, Psychology

NEW COLLEGE OF SCIENCES FACULTY

Academic Year 2022-2023

  • Jason Azoulay, Chemistry and Biochemistry
  • Isaiah Bolden, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences 
  • Gong Chen, Mathematics
  • Aditi Das, Chemistry and Biochemistry 
  • Anjuli Datta, Biological Sciences 
  • Chunhui Du, Physics
  • Benjamin Freeman, Biological Sciences
  • Qiliang He, Psychology 
  • Svetlana Jitomirskaya, Mathematics 
  • Shina (Lynn) Kamerlin, Chemistry and Biochemistry
  • Thomas Kelly, Mathematics 
  • Hunter Lehmann, Mathematics 
  • Kalila Lehmann, Mathematics
  • Andrew McShan, Chemistry and Biochemistry
  • Farzaneh Najafi, Biological Sciences
  • Feryal Özel, Physics
  • Michael Porter, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
  • Dimitrios Psaltis, Physics 
  • Stephanie Reikes, Mathematics 
  • Surabhi Sachdev, Physics
  • Deborah Santos, Chemistry and Biochemistry
  • William Stern, Psychology
  • Tiffiny Hughes-Troutman, Psychology
  • Hailong Wang, Physics
  • Michael Wolf, Mathematics

Download photos from this year’s Sciences Celebration on the GTSciences Flickr.

The College of Sciences community gathered in Harrison Square on April 18 to honor faculty and staff with awards for the 2022-2023 school year during the Spring Sciences Celebration.

“It is nothing short of a pleasure to recognize outstanding faculty who excel in teaching and research,” said Susan Lozier, College of Sciences Dean and Betsy Middleton and John Clark Sutherland Chair, “and to celebrate the leadership and commitment to excellence of remarkable staff members across the College.”

At the annual celebration, Lozier and the College also recognized the 25 new faculty members who joined Georgia Tech for the 2022-2023 academic year.

This year’s awardees include:

FACULTY DEVELOPMENT AWARDS

The Cullen-Peck Fellowship Awards, established by Frank Cullen (‘73 Math, MS ‘76 ISyE, PhD ‘84 ISyE) and Elizabeth Peck (‘75 Math, MS ‘76 ISyE), to encourage the development of especially promising mid-career faculty.

Cullen-Peck Faculty Fellows:

  • Thackery Brown, Psychology
  • Alex Robel, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
  • Amanda Stockton, Chemistry and Biochemistry

The Gretzinger Moving Forward Award, endowed by Ralph Gretzinger (‘70 Math) and named to honor his late wife Jewel, recognizes the leadership of a school chair or senior faculty member who has played a pivotal role in diversifying the composition of tenure-track faculty, creating a family-friendly work environment, and providing a supportive environment for early-career faculty:

  • Cam Tyson, Chemistry and Biochemistry

The Eric R. Immel Memorial Award for Excellence in Teaching, endowed by Charles Crawford (‘71 Math) recognizes exemplary instruction of lower division foundational courses. It honors the late School of Mathematics professor Eric R. Immel, who greatly influenced Crawford’s undergraduate experience at Tech:

  • Christina Ragan, Biological Sciences

The Leddy Family Dean’s Faculty Excellence Award, established by Jeff Leddy (’78 Physics) and Pam Leddy, supports a faculty member at the associate professor level with proven accomplishments in research and teaching:

  • Amit Reddi, Chemistry and Biochemistry

The Faculty Mentor Award, established jointly by the College of Sciences and its ADVANCE Professor, awards the efforts and achievements of our faculty members who mentor fellow faculty:

  • Andrzej Swiech, Mathematics

RESEARCH FACULTY AWARDS

The CoS Outstanding Junior Research Faculty Award and CoS Outstanding Senior Research Faculty Award recognize postdoctoral and non-tenure track research faculty who have made exceptional research contributions with significant impact on their field of study:

  • Junior Research Faculty: Claudia Alvarez-Carreño, Chemistry and Biochemistry
  • Senior Research Faculty: Mu Gao, Biological Sciences

The CoS Research Faculty Community Trailblazer Award recognizes postdoctoral and non-tenure track research faculty who have demonstrated and sustained leadership that strengthens the sense of community among research faculty within the College of Sciences:

  • Eric Shen, Chemistry and Biochemistry

STAFF AWARDS

The College of Sciences Staff Awards are made possible by funding from the Betsy Middleton and John Clark Sutherland Dean’s Chair endowment. They include:

The Exceptional Staff Member Award and Leadership in Action Staff Member Awards recognize College of Sciences staff who exemplify outstanding performance above and beyond the call of duty, by positively impacting the strategic goals of their department and the College, consistently providing excellent service within their school or the overall College, and demonstrating exemplary teamwork.

  • Exceptional Staff Member: Aria Higgins, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
  • Leadership in Action Staff Member: Gary Longstreet, Physics

The Excellence in Leadership Staff Awards and the Staff Excellence Award recognize College of Sciences staff who have made exceptional contributions to the College through innovative and strategic leadership, change management, business process improvement, special project leadership, and similar accomplishments.

Excellence in Leadership Staff

  • Shameka Fahie, Dean’s Office
  • Nguyen Nguyen, Academic and Research Computing Services

Staff Excellence Award

  • Jenny Eaton, Chemistry and Biochemistry 
  • Danny Hardwar, Academic and Research Computing Services
  • David Murray, Academic and Research Computing Services
  • Shebbie Murray, Psychology

NEW COLLEGE OF SCIENCES FACULTY

Academic Year 2022-2023

  • Jason Azoulay, Chemistry and Biochemistry
  • Isaiah Bolden, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences 
  • Gong Chen, Mathematics
  • Aditi Das, Chemistry and Biochemistry 
  • Anjuli Datta, Biological Sciences 
  • Chunhui Du, Physics
  • Benjamin Freeman, Biological Sciences
  • Qiliang He, Psychology 
  • Svetlana Jitomirskaya, Mathematics 
  • Shina (Lynn) Kamerlin, Chemistry and Biochemistry
  • Thomas Kelly, Mathematics 
  • Hunter Lehmann, Mathematics 
  • Kalila Lehmann, Mathematics
  • Andrew McShan, Chemistry and Biochemistry
  • Farzaneh Najafi, Biological Sciences
  • Feryal Özel, Physics
  • Michael Porter, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
  • Dimitrios Psaltis, Physics 
  • Stephanie Reikes, Mathematics 
  • Surabhi Sachdev, Physics
  • Deborah Santos, Chemistry and Biochemistry
  • William Stern, Psychology
  • Tiffiny Hughes-Troutman, Psychology
  • Hailong Wang, Physics
  • Michael Wolf, Mathematics

On April 26, 2023, the School of Physics and College of Sciences at Georgia Tech will welcome Stanford University physicist Steven Chu to speak on climate change and innovative paths towards a more sustainable future. Chu is the 1997 co-recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics, and in his former role as U.S. Secretary of Energy, became the first scientist to hold a U.S. Cabinet position.

About the Talk

The event is part of the School of Physics “Inquiring Minds” public lecture series, and will be held at the Ferst Center for the Arts. The talk is free and open to campus and the Atlanta community, and no RSVP is required. Refreshments begin at 4:30, and the lecture will start at 5 p.m. ET.

“The multiple industrial and agricultural revolutions have transformed the world,” Chu recently shared in an abstract for the lecture. “However, an unintended consequence of this progress is that we are changing the climate of our planet. In addition to the climate risks, we will need to provide enough clean energy, water, and food for a more prosperous world that may grow to 11 billion by 2100.” 

The talk will discuss the significant technical challenges and potential solutions that could provide better paths to a more sustainable future. “How we transition from where we are now to where we need to be within 50 years is arguably the most pressing set of issues that science, innovation, and public policy have to address,” Chu added. 

The event’s faculty host is Daniel Goldman, Dunn Family Professor in the School of Physics at Georgia Tech.

About Steven Chu

Steven Chu is the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Physics and a professor of Molecular and Cellular Physiology in the Medical School at Stanford University.

Chu served as the 12th U.S. Secretary of Energy from January 2009 until the end of April 2013. As the first scientist to hold a U.S. Cabinet position and the longest serving Energy Secretary, Chu led several initiatives including ARPA-E (Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy), the Energy Innovation Hubs, and was personally tasked by President Obama to assist in the Deepwater Horizon oil leak.

In the spring of 2010, Chu was the keynote speaker for the Georgia Tech Ph.D. and Master's Commencement Ceremony.

Prior to his cabinet post, Chu was director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where he was active in pursuit of alternative and renewable energy technologies, and a professor of Physics and Applied Physics at Stanford, where he helped launch Bio-X, a multi-disciplinary institute combining the physical and biological sciences with medicine and engineering. Previously he also served as head of the Quantum Electronics Research Department at AT&T Bell Laboratories.

He is the co-recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics for his contributions to laser cooling and atom trapping. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Pontifical Academy Sciences, and of seven foreign academies. He formerly served as president, and then chair of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Chu earned an A.B. degree in mathematics and a B.S. degree in physics from the University of Rochester, and a Ph.D. in physics from the University of California, Berkeley, as well as 35 honorary degrees.

He has published over 280 papers in atomic and polymer physics, biophysics, biology, bio-imaging, batteries, and other energy technologies. He holds 15 patents, and an additional 15 patent disclosures or filings since 2015.

 

Read more about this event here:
Physics to Host Climate Talk with Former U.S. Secretary of Energy, Nobel Laureate

On behalf of the Georgia Tech College of Sciences and the School of Physics, we invite you to join us and our esteemed guest Professor Steven Chu, former U.S. Secretary of Energy and co-recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics.

Speaker: Prof. Steven Chu

Host: Prof. Dan Goldman

Time: 5:00 PM (Refreshments start at 4:30 PM)

Location: The Ferst Center for the Arts 

Title: Climate Change and innovative paths towards a more sustainable future

Abstract: The multiple industrial and agricultural revolutions have transformed the world. However, an unintended consequence of this progress is that we are changing the climate of our planet. In addition to the climate risks, we will need to provide enough clean energy, water, and food of a more prosperous world that may grow to 11 billion by 2100. The talk will discuss the significant technical challenges and potential solutions that could provide better paths to a more sustainable future. How we transition from where we are now to where we need to be within 50 years is arguably the most pressing set of issues that science, innovation and public policy have to address.

 

Event Details

Natural products – small organic molecules made by living things like bacteria, fungi, and plants – are at the forefront of medical innovation. The majority of clinically used antibiotics and drugs are derived from these unique molecules, and innovations in their development, identification, and synthesis are driving the fight against antibiotic-resistant pathogens.

In the race to develop new pharmaceuticals, an increasing number of biochemists are looking to discover new natural products – and uncover the mechanisms that produce and influence them. And Georgia Tech School of Chemistry and Biochemistry Assistant Professor Vinayak Agarwal is helping lead that charge. “I’m interested in how and why natural products are created in nature, what we can learn from their processes, and how we can harness nature's capabilities for interesting applications,” Agarwal says.

Now a $700,000 NSF CAREER grant will help him do so. The National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Award is a five-year funding mechanism designed to help promising researchers establish a personal foundation for a lifetime of leadership in their field. Known as CAREER awards, the grants are NSF’s most prestigious funding for untenured assistant professors.

Agarwal’s award specifically focuses on his research into peptides, short strings of amino acids that make up proteins. “We’re making new types of peptides and modified peptides,” Agarwal explains. “Modifications in a lot of antibiotics that we use are actually peptides.” Over 100 peptide-based drugs are currently available in the US, where they’re used to treat conditions ranging from type-2 diabetes to MS. 

Changing the tides with peptides 

While peptides are naturally made in the body, they can also be synthesized in the lab, where they’re modified using different enzymes. By harnessing these enzymes, peptides can be better tailored to suit needs – they can be changed to interact with biologies in different ways, an essential aspect of creating new medicines. 

Discovering and studying the enzymes that modify peptides is a key part of Agarwal’s research, as is understanding the mechanisms that these enzymes use to recognize and bind to the peptides. This is called “enzymatic modification,” and it’s a lush playing field for discovering new chemical reactions. “We want to solve the need of the chemistry community when it comes to peptide modifications, providing new reactions to the community regarding peptide development and peptide modification,” Agarwal says.

While gene mining has revealed some enzymes that might be useful in modifying peptides, the reactions caused by these enzymes and the resulting structure of the peptide are not fully understood: in-situ research is needed.  Agarwal’s first goal is to discover new chemical reactions between peptides and enzymes by leveraging in vivo synthetic biology (inside living organisms) and in vitro biochemistry experiments (outside of living organisms). 

Agarwal also hopes to better understand how peptides and proteins interact, and why so many chemical reactions depend on them. “Peptide-protein interactions and modification of peptides is a central tenet of all biological processes,” Agarwal explains. “We want to know how and why peptides are chosen by nature as scaffolding for chemical reactions.” 

Hands-on research and the student connection

Leveraging in vivo synthetic biology and in vitro biochemistry experiments means a lot of hands-on research. “The team is making peptides in the lab using an E. coli bacteria,” Agarwal explains. “We provide genes to an E. coli bacteria, and it modifies the chemistries using specific enzymes.”

What does this research look like? Petri dishes. A lot of petri dishes. And a lot of opportunities for students. “One of our key goals is to use our interdisciplinary training to engage underserved students in research and lab experience. We want to educate, train, and diversify the next generation of scientists,” Agarwal says. “We are designing new courses in the laboratory which introduces undergraduates to new coursework and experiments in peptide science.”

Some of these opportunities are already bearing fruit: Agarwal recently collaborated with a team of undergraduates over a semester-long lab course, which included conducting laboratory research and publishing their findings.

Now, Agarwal plans to use this new CAREER grant to further expand opportunities for undergraduates, and will develop original curriculum starting with peptide-based lab research together with scientific communication and writing. 

“The training that students are going to get provides a broad experience in biological and chemical science,” Agarwal says. “We want our students to learn mechanisms for peptide modifications, but the training is broadly applicable. It will prepare them to move forward in STEM – and especially graduate studies – but will also prepare them for industry careers, government and regulatory science, graduate studies, and more. This kind of background is applicable in all fields.”

All in all, Agarwal expects the research to span across this decade and into the next. There’s excitement in that timeline, too – ten-plus years of teaching, discovery, and opportunities for students, at Georgia Tech and beyond.

“For me, the biggest thing is student progress, as well as curriculum development and training,” Agarwal says. “That’s my driving force.”

Five Georgia Tech College of Sciences researchers have been awarded CAREER grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

These Faculty Early Career Development Awards are part of a five-year funding mechanism designed to help promising researchers establish a personal foundation for a lifetime of leadership in their field. The grants are NSF’s most prestigious funding for untenured assistant professors.

Read more:

One of the most exciting parts of the CAREER grants is that they support new faculty, who are often working at the frontier of their fields. “I am excited about the CAREER research because we are really focusing on fundamental questions that are central to all of chemistry,” says Jesse McDaniel (School of Chemistry and Biochemistry) about his project, which focuses on creating a new framework to predict the rates of chemical reactions, leveraging computer science.

Anton Bernshteyn’s (School of Mathematics) work in the recently emerged field of descriptive combinatorics is also on the cutting edge of discovery. “There’s this new communication between separate fields of math and computer science— this huge synergy right now— it’s incredibly exciting,” Bernshteyn explains. “Right now we’re only starting to glimpse what’s possible.”

Each award also includes a teaching and outreach component: Vinayak Agarwal (School of Chemistry and Biochemistry) plans to use his grant to not only investigate peptides, but also to train the next generation of leaders, emphasizing student inclusion from diverse backgrounds: “The training is broadly applicable,” says Agarwal. “It will prepare students to move forward in STEM – and especially graduate studies – but will also prepare them for industry careers, government and regulatory science, graduate studies, and more. This kind of background is applicable in all fields.”

Alex Blumenthal (School of Mathematics), who is investigating the intersection of chaos, turbulence– including fluid dynamics– mathematics, and computer-assisted proof, agrees. “There’s a whole lot of new stuff to do,” Blumenthal says. “There’s a growing community of people studying random dynamics, and a growing community of people doing computer proofs– it’s a great place for undergrads to have meaningful research experiences.”

Alex Robel (School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences), emphasizes the broad impacts of the CAREER grant projects. Robel is working to create a new ice sheet modeling tool, which will be accessible to anyone, and just require the use of a computer browser. “Ultimately,” Robel says, “this project will empower more people in the community to use these models and to use these models together with the observations that they're taking.”

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