Scholarly Summer: Academic Fellows Dig into Focused Research

Scholarly Summer: Academic Fellows Dig into Focused Research

This year, nearly 230 students were awarded one of these academic fellowship through the Office of Student Fellowships and Research or an academic department. They're using this time to investigate a topic of their choice within disciplines across the curriculum-the humanities, social sciences, and physical sciences.

While students are not required to live on campus, the majority choose to stay since the fellowship comes with free campus housing over the summer.

We put out a query to several students to learn more about their work. Read their responses to our questions below.

New Forests: Investing In Our Land and Future

Annabella Williams '26, biology major
Advisor: Barry Logan, Samuel S. Butcher Professor in the Natural Sciences

Tell us briefly about your project.

My project's primary focus is to better understand carbon emissions from plantation forestry activities through a detailed literature review. I am working with New Forests, a global investment manager specializing in natural capital, to apply my findings to their annual carbon emissions assessment.

Why are you drawn to this work?

As plantation forestry gains traction as a source of carbon sequestration, I am interested in how such activities may have unintended consequences on surrounding ecosystems. For example, plantation forestry can increase fuel loads for wildfires, causing increased carbon emissions, fire severity, and habitat loss.

What's been the most interesting thing you've read this summer (related to your research)?

During this process, I have read many interesting and surprising articles. One found that the controlled burning of grassland habitats is linked to increased skin microbiome imbalance in local amphibians.

Where do you do much of your work?

Much of my time is spent reading and synthesizing articles in Professor Logan's lab.

Primordial Black Holes Inside Neutron Stars

Anna Chen '26 and Juan Diego DelPrado '26, both are physics and mathematics majors and visual arts minors.
Advisor: Thomas Baumgarte,William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Physics

Tell us briefly about your project.

We are investigating the effects of orbiting primordial black holes (PBH) inside neutron stars (NS). These are small black holes that may have formed in the early universe. Because a neutron star has nonuniform density, under relativistic gravity a primordial black hole orbiting within a neutron star will precess, meaning the orbit rotates in a circle. When observed under a particular polarization, such as with polarized sunglasses, this precession will cause the polarization of the emitted gravitational wave signal to increase and decrease, a measurable phenomenon we call "beats." Since the rate precession of the PBH depends on the internal structures of the NS, beat frequencies can be used to differentiate between nuclear equations of state.

Why are you drawn to this project?

Neutron stars are the remnants of supernovae of medium to massive stars. They are also one of the densest and most spherical objects in the universe. They have about one to two times the mass of the sun but have a radius of around ten kilometers. We cannot create the conditions of a NS on Earth because of their extreme density. Therefore, the best way to study these corpses of stars is to study NS themselves! In addition to studying the structure of NS, PBH could explain some or even all of the dark matter material in our universe. These proposals drew us to this project, which combined our interests in numerical astrophysics and mathematics perfectly.

What's the most interesting thing you've read this summer (related to your project)?

Anna: It was definitely the I-Love-Q relations for NS. This is the relationship between the moment of inertia of a NS (I), its tidal Love number (Love), and its spin-induced quadrupole moment (Q). Since NSs are highly compact, this relationship was used to put constraints on one of the four coupling constants of the Einstein-aether theory of gravity. This relationship is also independent of the internal structure of NSs and thus is not affected by any uncertainties from its structure. Thus, it was interesting to learn about these relations side-by-side to learning about neutron stars and general relativity.

Juan Diego: The most interesting thing that I have read for my research this summer was a research paper about a new way to fit the neutron star equations of state so the sound speed would be continuous. The older way uses four different functions that governed the equation of state in different regions of the star, but the boundaries of these regions were a little jagged and the sound speed in the material wasn't continuous, making this model somewhat unrealistic. The paper I read made the first derivative of the functions continuous by adding a new term to the functions, fixing the problem of discontinuous sound speed in the model of the star. This interested me because of both my interest in physics and in mathematical modeling.

Where do you do you spend most of your time?

We spend our time in the physics department study space, Gedanken Lab. Because we spend most of our time coding, our study area makes it very comfortable. Additionally, since most of the physics interns also work in the study space, there is a community of support if one of us runs into difficulties.

Modeling Trends in Portland, Maine, Homelessness: A Statistical Analysis and Application of the Compartment Model

Avery Cutler '26, mathematics and history majors, urban studies minor
Advisor: Jack O'Brien, associate professor of mathematics

Tell us briefly about your project.

I'm building a mathematical compartment model to depict Portland's housing crisis. I've focused on the relationship between precarious housing-as a result of rent prices-and other risk factors impacting an individual's probability of accessing shelters and support systems.

Why are you drawn to this project?

This project has allowed me to explore the intersection between my interests in statistics and urban studies.

What's the most interesting thing you've read this summer (related to your project)?

I've read lots of studies utilizing machine learning and stochastic modeling for similar social issues, but I've especially loved Gregg Colburn's and Clayton Aldern's Homelessness is a Housing Problem and Matthew Desmond's Evicted.

Where do you do you spend most of your time?

Given the remote nature of my work, I've worked in practically every academic building!

Urban Policies and Socioeconomic Outcomes: An Interdisciplinary Comparison of Major American Cities

Carina Lim-Huang '25, government and economics major, philosophy minor
Advisor: Jessica LaVoice, assistant professor of economics

Tell us briefly about your project.

I'm looking at the relationship between cities and their parent states and how this complicated power structure influences social mobility outcomes for residents. I'm mainly looking at taxation data, as well as education spending and social mobility outcomes.

Why are you drawn to this project?

As an international student from Singapore, I have always found American cities fascinatingly diverse in the ways they operate. After taking several urban studies classes while I was abroad in Copenhagen last semester, I learned that these stark variations across American cities and resident outcomes could in part be attributed to the absence of a national urban policy, which many other countries have as a way of guiding city development. Combining this with a government seminar I took under Professor Andy Rudalevige on policy-making, I became determined to dive deeper.

What's the most interesting thing you've read this summer (related to your project)?

I've found all the literature I've read to be incredibly enlightening, but one book that particularly stands out is titled How Cities can Transform Democracy by Beveridge, Ross, Koch, and Philippe. It's been inspiring in its hope for a political future in which cities are able to be the foregrounds of new, radical democratic movements that serve their residents. I've also found Raj Chetty's papers and data on social mobility particularly interesting (big shoutout to Professor LaVoice for telling me about them). The Opportunity Atlas is a gold mine of fascinating data that has been meticulously collected over a significant period of time, and generally just fun to play around with!

Where do you do you spend most of your time?

The summer heat has been tough at times, so I often resort to the air-conditioned rooms of Roux (especially on the top floor) as well as Kanbar. When I'm not studying or researching, I've been really enjoying Cedar Beach in Harpswell.

A Case Study on Pluton Emplacement at the Western Idaho Shear Zone

Gabe Gitter-Dentz '25 and Daniel Rivera Jr. '25, earth and oceanographic majors, chemistry and visual arts minors, respectively
Advisor: Claire Harrigan, visiting assistant professor of earth and oceanographic science

Tell us briefly about your project.

Our project is focused on interpreting the geologic history of the Western Idaho Shear Zone, a region in western Idaho in which many rocks were created and deformed around 100 million years ago. By determining the age and chemical composition of minerals within these rocks, we can make conclusions about the specific timing of geologic events.

Why are you drawn to this project?

Gitter-Dentz: I enjoy learning about the Earth and its processes, and the research combines my interests in geology and chemistry.
Rivera: I really enjoy mineral science, and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to pick out minerals under a microscope and conduct chemical analyses on them!

What's the most interesting thing you've read this summer (related to your project)?

Gitter-Dentz: Part of a PhD thesis by Cathy Manduca, a geologist who was one of the first people to do extensive research on the age of rocks in the Western Idaho Shear Zone.
Rivera: A textbook chapter about crystal deformation mechanics, which covers the most common ways crystals and minerals break down at a microscopic level.

Where do you do you spend most of your time?

We spend most of our time at Roux, between Roux 303 where we have our microscope and polishing station set up, and Roux's SEM lab where we can collect backscatter electron (BSE) images of our minerals.

An analysis of technology's effects on learning memory and attention in university STEM classes

Jane Shanahan '24, neurology major, classics minor
Advisor: Samuel Putnam,A. Myrick Freeman Professor in Social Sciences

Tell us briefly about your project.

I am researching the impact of technology in classroom settings on learning, memory, and attention in tertiary education across various universities in Maine.

Why are you drawn to this project?

This project combines my interests in neuroscience, psychology, and education.

What's the most interesting thing you've read this summer (related to your project)?

I have found it intriguing to learn that while technology can increase engagement and effort in learning, it also poses challenges to attention due to potential distractions. The key lies in understanding effective implementation strategies.

Where do you do you spend most of your time?

I primarily spend my time at Smith Union and the Brunswick Apartments quad!

Mapping Damage of Winter Storms on the Maine Coast

Louisa Linkas '26, earth and oceanographic science and computer science major
Advisor: Jeová Farias, assistant professor of computer science

Tell us briefly about your project.

I have a summer research grant to quantify the impact of sea level rise felt episodically through storm surges on the coast of Maine, specifically on our wetlands here in Brunswick.

Why are you drawn to this project?

I have enjoyed becoming literate in the world of geographic information systems (GIS), satellite imagery, and machine learning techniques, and learning how to apply those to a local, pressing issue. As someone with a passion for our environment and a knack for technology, this project seemed like a perfect amalgamation of my interests.

Where do you do you spend most of your time?

The majority of my time is spent in Mills Hall or the Searles computer lab, and I also enjoy running to my sites from time to time!

The Historical Process of National Identity: Anti-Haitianism and the Dominican Archives in the Independence Period

Zerimar Ramirez '25, sociology and Africana studies major
Advisor: Irina Popescu, assistant professor of Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx studies

Tell us briefly about your project.

My project is about the Dominican independence movement of the mid-nineteenth century. Specifically, I am studying documents from this period in the General Archive of the Nation in order to trace the formation of a Dominican national identity post-Haitian occupation and the potential origins of anti-Haitian rhetoric.

Why are you drawn to this project?

I feel drawn to this project because I recognize that anti-Haitian sentiment is normalized, and weaponized, in many social and institutional spaces in the Dominican Republic. I strongly believe that analyzing the period where this relationship originated can help dismantle some of these ideas.

What's the most interesting thing you've read this summer (related to your project)?

Siblings of Soil: Dominicans and Haitians in the Age of Revolutions, by Charlton W. Yingling!

Where do you do you spend most of your time?

On campus I spend most of my time in the H-L [Hawthorne-Longfellow Library] basement!