"I've been working with Professor Suzanne Amador Kane on Spotted Lanternflys. We have been looking at how they flip and bounce to land upright after falling, how they turn over on the ground, and their jumping trajectories." — tbien [at] haverford.edu (Theo Bien '22) (he/him)
Physics and Astronomy Navigation
Department ofPhysics and Astronomy
Student Perspectives on Faculty Research
A Q&A with students about the doing research with physics/astro professors at Haverford.
If you are interested in sharing your own experience doing research in a physics/astro lab at Haverford, please fill out the Student Research Description Form. We’d love to get even more perspectives!
Suzanne Amador Kane’s Lab
- How would you describe your research?
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Who should join this lab? What interests might fit well with this type of research?
"Our lab is a great mix of both computational research and hands-on fabrication and engineering. A lot of the computational analysis we do has to do with image processing and analysis, so if you're interested in that this lab is a great fit for you! Recently we've also been working with deep learning neural networks and pose estimation, which is also super cool! On the fabrication side of things, our projects generally require custom made equipment which we get to make! I've had a great time making super niche tools and setups for the different experiments we've done." — tbien [at] haverford.edu (Theo Bien '22) (he/him)
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What does a typical research day look like for you?
"A day of work in our lab really depends on where we are with our research. Professor Amador Kane puts a large emphasis on having projects that can be completed in a relatively short timeframe. Thus, when starting on a new research project we will spend a couple of weeks learning the best way to experiment and record data, then the next couple of weeks will be spent collecting data and then the last couple of weeks is spent analyzing our data. A typical day will start at around 9am and finish at 5pm with an ~1 hour break for lunch." — tbien [at] haverford.edu (Theo Bien '22) (he/him)
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Anything else you’d like to share?
"I've had a great time working with Professor Amador Kane. Research is an amazing experience to have in college and I've learnt so much over the last year." — tbien [at] haverford.edu (Theo Bien '22) (he/him)
Ted Brzinski’s Lab
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How would you describe your research?
"I am working in Ted Brzinski's lab over the summer. Ted studies "soft matter physics," which basically means the study of squishy materials like sand, so Ted’s lab is called "SquishLab.” Because we are studying granular materials, the research has lots of potential applications in geophysics; the experiments we do in the lab can model real world systems like fault lines during an earthquake, hill slopes during an avalanche, and sedimentation in bodies of water. The project I'm working on studies the behavior of a collection of circular particles when they are compressed or sheared (pushed in two opposing directions, like what happens to the rocks in a fault when the tectonic plates move past each other). I’m using photoelastic particles, which interact differently with light when squeezed, to visualize the forces in this system. I’m also using piezoelectric sensors, which produce electricity when squeezed, to measure the acoustic emissions of the system." — aschefler [at] haverford.edu (Ashley Schefler) '23 (she/her)
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Who should join this lab? What interests might fit well with this type of research?
"Much of the research in Ted’s lab is very hands-on, so it’s good for people who like building things and doing experiments on a scale that you can physically see and interact with. If you think sand is cool or are interested in geophysics, those are also good signs. Ted gives his students a lot of autonomy, so I would recommend this lab for people who want to have agency over their project and are able to work independently." — aschefler [at] haverford.edu (Ashley Schefler) '23 (she/her)
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What does a typical research day look like for you?
"I would make a batch of particles, put those in the oven to cure for a few hours. Maybe make a modification to my circuit design, use the mill to print my circuit, wait for that to finish, solder on some components. I might spend time doing a tutorial on LabView software or circuit building to get my background knowledge up to speed. I probably spend some time reading papers on research related to mine." — aschefler [at] haverford.edu (Ashley Schefler) '23 (she/her)
Dan Grin's Lab
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How would you describe your research?
"I worked with Prof. Dan Grin and his associate Andrew Benson on refining Andrew's model (Galacticus) for predicting dark matter halo concentration, or how much of the halo's mass is close to its center. Dark matter halos exist around all massive objects in the universe, including stars, planetary systems, and galaxies. The dark matter halos of a cluster of galaxies can bend light in a measurable way, creating an effect called "strong lensing" which magnifies images of distant galaxies that are behind the cluster in the same line of sight. Radial mass distribution which affects lensing properties is described by "concentration," and strong lensing events are theoretical ways to compare the predictions of dark matter halo concentration." — tejohnson [at] haverford.edu (Turner Johnson) '22 (she/her)
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Who should join this lab? What interests might fit well with this type of research?
"Definitely computational experience! Coding and analysis in python and maybe formatting parameter files (like .xml) is something you would learn in this lab, as well as dexterity with Unix (the command line)." — tejohnson [at] haverford.edu (Turner Johnson) '22 (she/her)
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What does a typical research day look like for you?
"A lot of planning goes into preparing a model/models to run, then waiting for them to finish running, then a lot more effort goes into analyzing the differences in model output as you vary inputs." — tejohnson [at] haverford.edu (Turner Johnson) '22 (she/her)
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Anything else you’d like to share?
"Dan is great to go to for talking about physics in general or advice on specific career paths: he helped and supported me in switching from working with him on astrophysics research into research that was more in line with my interests and minor in environmental studies." — tejohnson [at] haverford.edu (Turner Johnson) '22 (she/her)
Andrea Lommen’s Lab
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How would you describe your research?
"The research I have done with Professor Andrea Lommen has been all sorts of wonderful because of the research we do and the people who are part of it! I work closely with another student using NANOGrav pulsar data to finish a paper months in the making on simulating pulsar detections to find a sort of idea future pulsar detecting scenario. We use time of arrival of x-rays from the NICER telescope for two specific pulsars. All of this research and a lot of Andreas Labs research as a whole goes towards increasing the sensitivity of the Pulsar Timing Array (PTA), a collection of millisecond pulsars that are precise enough clocks that we may use them to detect gravitational radiation soon (that last sentence was taken from Andreas Haverford Website)." — samanthajhberry [at] gmail.com (Samantha Berry) '22 (she/her)
"I am doing a project this summer with Professor Andrea Lommen. Her research revolves around analyzing timing from pulsars (a class of neutron stars that emit EM waves at regular intervals). Part of that research is using an array of numerous pulsars to detect gravitational waves. Gravitational waves would cause a variation in the pulsar's timing that hopefully would be detectable by us. A big data source for this research is the NICER X-ray telescope on the International Space Station. Along with the variation in timing caused by gravitational waves, there is also other noise present in the timing data. Some of that noise is called "red noise" which is noise that varies depending on the frequency of the EM wave. My project is simulating NICER data beyond the 3.5 years we currently have with different characteristics, adding what we believe the red noise to look like into the data, and then trying to detect that red noise out of the data. The goal is to see what type of mission would be needed to accurately detect this red noise whether it is a longer mission than NICER currently is or a telescope with lower instrumental error." — jcrump [at] haverford.edu (Jack Crump) '23 (he/him)
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Who should join this lab? What interests might fit well with this type of research?
"Oh man, any astrophysics interest! I joined because I had background in studying gravitational waves and using cosmological simulations to get data, but this lab is very open to all levels! Andrea is definitely a full steam ahead kind of person which I totally vibe with and love. Everyone in her lab is absolutely brilliant and kind as well. I think some teamwork skills will take you far in this lab because talking to one and another about each others projects can be super rewarding." — samanthajhberry [at] gmail.com (Samantha Berry) '22 (she/her)
"If you are interested in astronomy/astrophysics this is a good lab because that is where a lot of the physics is based. Additionally, a lot of the projects in Andrea's lab are fairly computational in nature and rely on computer programming. My project in particular also uses a more mathematical topic known as Markov Chain Monte Carlo to pull out the red noise from the simulated data. Andrea's lab also utilizes some Linux based computers that we connect to remotely to do calculations and code. My project also uses Haverford's computing cluster called Fock because I need to do a lot of computing intensive calculations. Andrea allows for fairly flexible hours and lets you work pretty independently so if that appeals to you this is a good lab!" — jcrump [at] haverford.edu (Jack Crump) '23 (he/him)
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What does a typical research day look like for you?
"A lot of time was spent figuring out the code that students before us have built and built on - it was like learning a new language! After that a lot of time is spend using Fock, our high-performance computing cluster, to work out these super big data calculations using lines and lines of code jumping across multiple files so we can simulate tons of data. Another characteristic of a day is reviewing and editing the paper that I mention previously; it's gone through many drafts and is still being heavily worked on!" — samanthajhberry [at] gmail.com (Samantha Berry) '22 (she/her)
"I get to the lab at about 8 am (most people get here at 9:30 I'm just a morning person) and start by checking the results of whatever I left to run on the computer over night. Most of my day is taken up by coding, looking at data/analysis, trying to solve problems in the code, and writing/editing the paper we hope to submit. Once a day I also meet with Andrea to talk about what I have been doing, what I plan to do for the next day, and talk about any problems I've come across. About midday I go get lunch and sometimes a walk around campus. Towards the end of the day I will get anything set to run on the computer overnight or over the weekend that I need to. At about 4 pm I leave for the day and go back to my apartment on campus." — jcrump [at] haverford.edu (Jack Crump) '23 (he/him)
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Anything else you’d like to share?
"So I actually only worked in Andreas lab for 2 weeks this summer. After those two weeks I started a Model Based Systems Engineer virtual internship at NASA. When I told Andrea the news after already committing to work in her lab over the summer she was super happy and supportive of me. I still come into the lab and eavesdrop on what's going on and share with anyone who asks whats going on with NASA. I really look forward to working full time on this pulsar project again when the school year starts! Additionally I want to add I'm actually a Bryn Mawr student, transfer student, and FGLI student. Andrea was super accessible and just a kind email away for me to be involved in her lab." — samanthajhberry [at] gmail.com (Samantha Berry) '22 (she/her)
"Don't be intimidated by the coding in this lab! I had no programming experience until the semester before starting this project when I took Physics 104 (Intro to Programming) which was actually taught by Andrea. Any coding I need I either learned in that intro class or I was able to pick up as I've gone." — jcrump [at] haverford.edu (Jack Crump) '23 (he/him)
Karen Masters’ Lab
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How would you describe your research?
"In galaxies, neutral atomic Hydrogen (HI) is an essential gas that can form molecular hydrogen (H2) which can then initiate star formation. However, there are a few HI rich Low Star Formation galaxies that are inefficient in converting HI to stars. I am investigating ionization sources and other parameters of such galaxies to answer why." — asharma3 [at] haverford.edu (Anubhav Sharma) '23 (he/him)
"I found the research I did with Professor Masters very intriguing. As part of the Galaxy Zoo team, Prof. Masters area of study is focused on galaxy classifications and how these classifications can provide insight into the evolution of solar systems. For my research project, I explored the morphology of spiral arms using the crowd-sourced Galaxy Zoo classifications. In particular, I focused on whether or not a relationship existed between spiral arm windiness and the bulge size of the galaxy." — pmengistu [at] haverford.edu (Petra Mengistu) '24 (she/her)
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Who should join this lab? What interests might fit well with this type of research?
"I think anyone with an interest in astronomy (especially galaxies) should consider joining this lab. While I was expected to work the equivalent of a 9am-5pm shift, I didn't have to work these hours in conjunction or work in traditional office/lab settings. People with more personalized and relaxed working styles might enjoy the flexibility Professor Masters offers. Furthermore, in spite of not having any coding experience prior to this research project, coding was a very essential part of this lab and I think anyone with an interest in coding would be a good fit for this lab." — pmengistu [at] haverford.edu (Petra Mengistu) '24 (she/her)
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What does a typical research day look like for you?
"The best part is that there is no typical day and this is mainly because you are exploring something new! Mostly, the day is spent by extracting relevant data from large catalogs, doing some analysis and making plots, and thinking about what might be going on." — asharma3 [at] haverford.edu (Anubhav Sharma) '23 (he/him)
"I'd often start my days by either getting started on or continuing to read a scientific paper related to my project, and come up with a plan for tasks I need to get done that day. I would then participate in the daily checkins with the research team, and meet with Professor Masters for consultation on how to proceed with my project. My afternoons were typically spent on data analysis using Python or TopCat, and investigating relationships between different features by plotting different variables against each other." — pmengistu [at] haverford.edu (Petra Mengistu) '24 (she/her)
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Anything else you’d like to share?
"One of the most important things I've gotten from this research experience is developing the confidence to ask questions. Research can be a little disheartening at first as it can take a while to familiarize oneself with all the tools/software required to get into the rhythm of it, and it's absolutely okay if you have no idea how to complete a certain task. Asking questions are an integral part of research as they are one of the only ways to learn/discover, and it's always better to ask a question sooner rather than later!" — pmengistu [at] haverford.edu (Petra Mengistu) '24 (she/her)
Walter Smith’s Lab
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How would you describe your research?
"I am working in Professor Walter Smith's lab this summer where we are researching the conductivity of a DNA-porphyrin complex. Our experimentation process involves depositing this complex onto a thin piece of silicon (a substrate) so that the the DNA strands form a connection between two gold plates. We then place the sample in a sealed plexiglass chamber and observe the current's response to a combination of voltage ramps, laser illumination, and humidity. The goal of this research is to better understand the process of DNA charge-transport so that DNA can be a useful and cost-effective tool in the world of nanoelectronics." — sccampbell [at] haverford.edu (Sarah Campbell) '24 (she/her)
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Who should join this lab? What interests might fit well with this type of research?
"Students in this group have the freedom to conduct experiments that interest them or they discover will be relevant under the umbrella of Walter's research. This lab also involves a fair amount of hands-on work and operating computer programs." — sccampbell [at] haverford.edu (Sarah Campbell) '24 (she/her)
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What does a typical research day look like for you?
"Most days or research involve either preparing samples for testing or actually testing the samples. For preparation, we have to make various solutions, test them with a spectrometer, and use an atomic force microscope on the substrate to confirm that it is usable. When testing the sample, we spend some time aligning our electrical system and laser with the part of the sample that interests us and then run electrical tests through LabView." — sccampbell [at] haverford.edu (Sarah Campbell) '24 (she/her)
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