Lewis & Clark hosts American Physical Society conference

In May, Lewis & Clark hosted the 10th Annual Meeting of the Northwest Section of the American Physical Society (APS). Thomas Olsen, associate professor of physics, served as local organizing chair and host of this conference. Olsen gave a presentation titled “Characterization and Control of Chaos” and was elected secretary-treasurer of the APS Northwest Section by members.

President Thomas Hochstettler opened the conference with remarks on science research and teaching in the context of the liberal arts. Dean of the College Julio de Paula opened the final day of the conference with a review of the history of science research at Lewis & Clark. Professor of Physics Herschel Snodgrass presented his paper titled “Large-Scale Convection and the Solar Activity Cycle.”

Graduating senior Christina Ketchum shared her paper on “Correlating Vertical Velocities of Ionized Interstellar Medium To Star Formation Rates In Nearby Face-On Spiral Galaxies,” which was a collaborative effort with Associate Professor of Physics Stephen Tufte. Tufte chaired the sessions on astrophysics and biophysics with Professor of Physics Bethe Scalettar. Scalettar presented a paper at the session titled “Elucidating Molecular Events Underlying Learning with Fluorescence Microscopy,” the product of joint research undertaken with graduating senior Mariya Chavarha and Janis Lochner, Dr. Robert B. Pamplin, Jr. Professor of Science. Graduating senior Adam Kowalski and junior Shelley Zhao each presented a poster at the APS conference.