‘We’re speaking the language of the universe and applying it’
Undergraduate research at Clark stretches far and wide, from analyzing the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest to exploring community at University Park. These student projects are among dozens that will be on display this Wednesday, Oct. 28, at ClarkFEST.
The biannual showcase highlights the academic and research excellence of Clark undergrads, as well as the faculty mentorship that made the projects possible. The event is sponsored by the office of the Dean of the College.
“I am incredibly honored to be putting together ClarkFEST for the first time and very proud of the accomplishments of our students,” says Interim Associate Dean of Undergraduate Scholarship Cyril Ghosh, who is also a professor of political science and the Lloyd B. Politsch ’33 Chair of Law. “Even a cursory look at the final program gives you a sense of the vast range of scholarship and creative work our students are doing.”
ClarkFEST runs from 1:30 to 4:15 p.m. Posters will be on display during two sessions in Tilton Hall, Session I from 1:30 to 2:45 p.m. and Session II from 3 to 4:15 p.m. Creative works and interactive media projects will be shown from 1:45 to 3:15 p.m. in the lobby of the Center for Media Arts, Computing, and Design. Panel presentations will take place at staggered times from 1:45 to 4:15 p.m. in the Grace and Lurie conference rooms.
Savannah Le ’28, a psychology major minoring in health, science & society, researched exposure to violence and externalizing behavior in children who are discharged early from partial hospitalization programs. These after-school programs provide children varying levels and types of therapy.
“This taught me a lot about resilience, how to manage trauma, and how to manage myself when reading triggering topics. Most of all, my biggest takeaway is that because there is very little research and information on children and partial programs, I just hope I am doing them justice by giving them the attention that they deserve,” says Le.
Reevu Majumdar ’27, a mathematics major, will present summer research he did with his advisor, Math Professor Aghil Alaee Khangha. The project is focused on quasi-local mass in general relativity.
“It’s a lot of differential geometry, geometry analysis, and we’re using that to make assumptions about how heavy a black hole can be,” explains Majumdar. His interest in this topic grew from taking Alaee’s calculus course. “I loved his method of knowing, so I looked into his research and thought it was incredible.”
For Majumdar, this is important work. “Even though it’s so theoretical and won’t really help us on Earth, we’re still speaking the language of the universe and applying it to things.”
Uliana Pronina ’29, a chemistry major with a minor in physics, is presenting a poster on summer research conducted with a Penn Research Award. Her project, “Vapor Deposited Polypyrrole Nanofibers for Interdigitated Microsupercapacitors,” is focused on electrochemistry and some chemical engineering.
“I like material science, which is my career direction, probably process engineering,” says Pronina. Throughout the months she spent on her research, Pronina learned the importance of exploring all avenues on one’s own instead of blindly trusting other people’s assumptions. Her key takeaway, she says, was to “question everything you have, and not to assume that everything that works right now is the best method it can possibly be.”
Courtnegail Rose ’27, a biochemistry and molecular biology major on the pre-med track, studied the protein associated with Alzheimer’s, supported by the James ’39 and Ada Bickman Summer Science Research Internship. Presenting at ClarkFEST was motivated by her capstone as well as a pursuit of personal growth.
“I need to get better at public speaking and sharing my ideas that are science related,” says Rose. “I thought that getting better at speaking about it so that everyone gets to understand what’s going on, is very important.” While Rose is excited to present the project, this research still has a long way to go, she says.
Ephraim Butson ’27, an English and political science double major on the pre-law track, spent his summer in Worcester interning at State Sen. Robyn Kennedy’s office, where he gained hands-on experience.
“I got to go out to the field, go to events, plan them, and meet people,” he says. Butson is speaking about his experience during a panel at ClarkFEST because he wants to share advice and lessons with younger Clark students. “In Admissions, where I work as a student ambassador, people ask me how I get my internships. I found a lot of them from upperclassmen who I talked to when I was a first-year,” he says. “I think of [presenting] as more like giving back.”
