2000's Alumni
Email: covey@astro.washington.edu
Things here in Seattle are going well. I'm entering my 4th year at the University of Washington, which is somewhat surreal. I've been planning on finishing in 6 years (knock on wood) so passing the halfway point has been an important psychological milestone. In a week and a half I'll take my official entrance to candidacy exam, which will be the last major hurdle before my defense, which also contributes to my mental shift. I'm definitely focusing more on my work and thinking about applying for jobs in 2 years. However, work is going well, as I have gotten a NASA fellowship to work in collaboration with a scientist at NASA Ames on protostellar IR spectra, and a project to use the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and the 2 Micron All Sky Survey in tandem to create a luminosity function for low mass stars is going forward as well. I'll be giving a poster on the latter at the AAS in January, and encourage past and present Carleton grads to say hi if they'll be attending!
Domestically, things are going well; Sarah entered grad school at the Univesity of Washington in Environmental Engineering. The transition from a 9-5 job to school life (and no pay!) has been fairly smooth, though it certainly eats into your free time. Travel for school ate up most of my summer, so I have no exciting tales of wonderful adventures. However, it does look like I'll be spending some time in the Bay area from here on out, so if anybody is ever in the Seattle or San Fran/San Jose area, drop a line and maybe we can touch base!
Aaron Dotter
Email: Aaron.Dotter@dartmouth.edu
Address: P.O. Box 836, Hanover, NH 03755
Hello, the last year has been a busy one but not overly taxing. I'm in my third year of astronomy grad. school at Dartmouth now and working on my thesis proposal. It is difficult to be working on the project at the same time that I'm learning about the subject. As a result, I am not progressing at the rate I would like, but it's getting better. I suppose the fact that my advisor has been in Italy since September may have something to do with my lack of progress, too. Hmm...Also, I finally published my first two papers in the October 10 edition of the APJ.
In addition to research, I'm volunteering with the local school district to teach kids about astronomy and answer their questions. I just started doing this at the beginning of the school year so we haven't done much yet but it should be something that continues on for at least the next couple of years. The hardest part of it all is trying to project my answers at the right level. They certainly have no lack of questions.
Kira and I celebrated our second wedding anniversary in August of this year. She is now a self-employed (and very busy) gardener. We still have three dogs (or should I say 2.5 dogs and 0.5 coyote?) Anyway, they keep us very busy. I was glad to hear that Nelson got tenure; he is a capital fellow. I sincerely hope that my former classmates don't punk out on me this year and leave me the only one from 2000 that contributes to the newsletter!
Ben Miller
Email: bmiller@mines.edu
I have been in or near Golden, CO studying at the Colorado School of Mines. I have completed a MSc. in Systems Engineering (A combination of Electrical and Mechanical Eng.). My thesis topic was "SmartBit: An In-situ Bit/Rock Interface Monitoring Device.” Essentially, it was the development of a tactile sense for a type of underground mining machine. I am continuing my graduate studies in the Mining Dept. I hope to finish my Ph.D. in Mining Engineering before the end of next year. Currently, my education is being "slowed down" by my partnership in an engineering consultant firm in the Denver area. This increased responsibility has also begun cutting into my snowboarding time, though Bridget and I were able to put petex to snow 20+ times last year!
Andrew Noble
I’m in my second year of grad school at Cornell. Ithaca is a beautiful place to live—lots of great food, music and gorges to explore. I’m enjoying my QFT course. If I manage to stay on top of it, I hope to join some particle theory group here by the summer. Wish me Luck!
Claire Pettersen
Email: cpettersen@students.wisc.edu
I am in a crazy and busy stage of life right now. I am currently writing my Masters Thesis on metal cation diffusion in magnesium aluminosilicates glassmelts. How exciting! I am hoping to defend in January 2004. It is coming fast and I have a lot of work to do. Additionally, I am working for a start-up engineering company in Madison called nPoint. We make tips and stages for all your atomic force microscopy needs, check us out at www.npoint.com. Enough plugging. I am spending my free time (ha ha) working on the University of Wisconsin's electron microprobe measuring mass absorption coefficients of binary alloys. Kate Devine '02 and I have been going to hockey games and painting the town red. So come to Madison and hang out and have a beer or four with us!
Daniel Baxter
Email: djb1@cec.wustl.edu
This December I expect to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis with a B.S. in Civil Engineering and a Master of Structural Engineering degree. I am obtaining the B.S. through Washington University's dual degree program with Carleton. In January I will start work doing bridge engineering with Baker and Associates in Cleveland, Ohio. I will start off by working on the designs for a concrete segmental bridge in New Jersey and an arch bridge in Cleveland."
Mekayla Beaver
Email: mbeaver@ideo.com
Hi all!, I just recently moved from Ann Arbor, Michigan to my 3rd "M" state in a row (Minnesota being the first, of course). This time, I decided to check out life on the east coast and have settled, at least for a little while, in Cambridge Massachusetts.
I came this direction because I landed myself a "residency" at IDEO, a consulting company with an office in Lexington. As they brag on the website, our job is to "help companies innovate." It's a super cool place and I'm having a lot of fun exploring. I've been hired as a human factors specialist, which means that I make sure that people will actually like and be able to use the things that are designed. They do everything from medical devices to palm pilots to museums to beer taps, so it should keep me busy.
The people here are a lot of fun, flying objects in the maze that is our office and swimming in Walden Pond at lunch. Of course, hopefully this won't lead to too many random late nights like at Olin. I've also been trying to get out a bit to explore Boston. Man, they sure don't make that too easy.... the roads all seem to run into one another and you can't stay on the one you want to save your life. They are occasionally labeled, but don't be surprised if "Garden Street" is also known as "Great Swamp Way" in smaller print (And Allison Street says To Oyster Bank in smaller letters).
Let me know if you are in town and I might even be able to figure out how to give you directions to come and visit.
Abigail Hedden
Email: ahedden@as.arizona.edu
Phone: (520) 621-6535
Address: Steward Observatory, 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721
I’m in my 3rd year of grad school in Astronomy at the University of Arizona. I’ve successfully passed my prelim and am leaving for the South Pole in a week to work on submillimeter receivers at the AST/RO telescope. I got engaged to James Georges, an optical sciences grad student at the University of Arizona on Sept. 19, 2003.
Philip Spindler
Email: Philip.Spindler@usap.gov
Address: RPSC, McMurdo Station, PSC 469 Box 700, APO AP 96599-1035
Life has been pretty fine after Carleton so far. After teaching for two years in Duluth, I acquired a little wanderlust. Kate and I were making plans for the next year, we looked at schools and jobs around the states and both applied to work in Antarctica. We both got what we wanted, too. So I moved with Kate to Madison where she's going to school, and I'm working in Antarctica for 5 months. I lived in Madison for a month before leaving for the ice, and in Madison I found Claire, and Claire found Kate, and now they're raising hell in Mad-town.
I feel like I went back to college with living in the dorms, freedom in a new environment, and everyone is so new. In the first-year dorms, people sit around with their doors open, stay up late for no reason, party every night, etc.—a lot like freshman year it seems. I joined a bowling league (the alleys have been here since the 60's when the Navy put them in, and it's always better with a few beers since the wood is incredibly warped now), and I joined the volleyball league. I learned how to work the pottery wheel and try to do that when I can. I'm learning how to knit a hat as well—brown, orange, and chartreuse with a Charlie Brown type design. Say whatever you want about my color scheme, I'm not selling this gem.
It was hard leaving Duluth, but I eased my way out with a summer of camping and working in a brewery. They paid me in beer pretty much, and I learned a ton about commercial brewing. I was even able to brew 5 batches of beer solo when the head brewer went to his father-in-law's funeral. It seems that everybody came out a winner in that case.
So you're probably wondering what the hell I do for work here besides just looking busy. I work in the supply division and all our storage is outside. There are lots of projects going on around town, and things are crated up and put out on the lines. When the people call up for parts, my job is to do 50 pounds of paperwork in issuing the material, go dig the crate out of the snow, pick it up with a loader, and deliver it. Most of the time, though, I end up digging the crate out of the snow and then I have to dig through it to find the few pieces they want among the hundreds of pieces that are in there. After I find it, I have to crate it all back up. All this I have to do in whatever weather this beautiful place decides to bless us with. We've been pretty lucky the past few days—24 hours of streaming sunlight and little wind. It's funny to go outside when it's barely above zero and think of it as balmy and beautiful. The snow will melt away in the next month and the town will become mud, then that will dry up in the 3% humidity we have here and become dusty.
I got to do a plankton tow with some scientists the other day. Weddell seals were sitting in the 5ft hole drilled in the ice, they caught fish, we stole them for "research" (the meat goes to the galley and the eyes and blood go to the labs), and I got to see some phosphorescent plankton- they were a beautiful bright blue/green. I haven't seen any penguins yet, but I'm sure I'll get my chance. I've been on a few hikes that get me out of town and into the middle of nowhere- it's amazing to get out and realize that you really are in an untouched big dead place. And I have to agree with Joel when he says it's "spacey". I'm also starting to volunteer in the Crary Labs in any way I can—mostly extra lab support with setup and cleanup, and then maybe they'll trust me with more, so I won't be putting them in contact with past professors.
When I get back to Madison, I'm going to apply for jobs at Forest Products Laboratories where they research alternate uses of recycled and new wood products to conserve the forests and landfills. The breweries in Madison haven't hired a new person in over 9 years, and even if something did open up, they're looking for a more permanent person with a house and family to hire. So I think I’ll stick to home-brewing more for now. My lunch break is over, so this me
Carl Tape
Email: tapecarl@hotmail.com
Hi folks: Greetings from Pasadena, in sunny southern California. After two years in rainy Oxford, I am enjoying the sunshine (coupled with the air conditioning to keep my Alaskan blood from boiling) as a first-year Ph.D. student in geophysics (seismology) at Caltech. Things are off to a decent start, with plenty of classes to take. My work will be looking at 3D wave propagation through the earth ñ sounds cool to me. I spent the summer in some wild rivers in Alaska and then got a good taste of the Sierras here in September.
Henry Brock
Email: phaedruswolffe@yahoo.com
From the eastern seaboard, I left the United States on 30 July 2002, headed for central Europe. In early August 2003 I returned to Minnesota, but I will have to wait until January 2004 when I go out to New York to say I have completely circled the globe within what, 18 months! The main reason for traveling was having received the Thomas J. Watson Fellowship, a generous grant to support me while I visited blacksmiths and other metalworkers throughout Europe, South Africa, and Japan. I had many enriching experiences, but the highlight was when, towards the end of my year and cycling over the mountains of central Japan, I realized I was completely on my own. It was both scary and exhilarating, and the feeling often returned; it was awesome. This year I'm working odd jobs and applying for graduate schools to study something in the sciences. Mechanical engineering? Entomology? We'll see.
Katie DevineEmail: devine@astro.wisc.edu
URL: www.astro.wisc.edu/~devine
I spent last year working for AmeriCorps in Duluth, Minnesota, organizing curriculum-related service projects for students in an alternative high school. It was a great experience, but I missed being a student, and now I'm in grad school at the University of Wisconsin in the Astronomy Department. It's great to be back in school, although the novelty of having homework again went away quickly. I managed to drag Phil away from cold Duluth to Madison as well, but apparently he needs that cold weather—he's off in Antarctica until the spring. I'm working as a TA this semester (surprisingly, it's not too different from working with high school students sometimes), and next semester I'll be working as a research assistant on a project using infrared observations. I'm enjoying the company of many Carleton grads here in town, and Claire Petterson ('00) has been making sure I get away from the labs on a regular basis. I love Madison and highly recommend visiting to everyone—you're always welcome to stay with me!
Heather Moor
Email: moorh@physics.purdue.edu
URL: www.hmet.net
Phone: (765) 743-7900
Address: 400 N River Rd, Apt. 507, West Lafayette, IN 47906
Hi all!! Well, life as a grad student has been interesting. I am still in school, but I have moved to Indiana and am now at Purdue University. Life in Maryland didn't feel quite right. I am enjoying my studies here, though it is a bit frustrating doing first year grad school over again. As if the first year isn't hard enough, oh well. I keep telling myself that I just need to get through the classes and then the fun begins, research. As a Teaching Assistant (TA) I have discovered a whole new group of students. There are the scientists, the engineers, the pre-med/pre-farmacy people, and the "liberal arts" students, but there is also the "wonderful" group of education majors. So far, along with my classes and TAing a lab for an intro astronomy class I have been trying to figure out how to make physics (labs in particular) fun for our future teachers. It is a difficult but interesting challenge. It's kind of amazing to be on the other side and to be teaching the people who might one day teach my kids. It is also interesting see what my teachers might have been like before they became teachers.
Becky Anthony
Email: rjanthony@airpost.net
Man, oh man, do I miss Carleton. Life as a non-student is hard, suddenly my needs are not automatically met, and furthermore the government doesn't care about me any longer. But, those things aside, I'm having a good time relaxing on the west coast. I am working at Oregon Art Supply as retail and helping with the books, too, which is a bonus. In my free time, I explore Eugene, do art, drink coffee, and stress about physics graduate school next year.
Bryan Donald
Email: bryanmdonald@hotmail.com
I'm currently working in the Medical Physics Department at the University of Wisconsin, doing MRI research. I'm also in the process of applying to grad schools.
John Graner
Email: jlgraner@wisc.edu
I'm currently in Madison attending graduate school in the Medical Physics department of UW. Starting in January I'll have a research assistantship position with one of the positron emission tomography labs associated with the department. Until then I'm in a lab rotation program and am currently working with a magnetic resonance imaging group. I've also still had time to go swing dancing at least once a week.
Brian Joyce
Email: perromalo69@hotmail.com
Current adventures are rather nonexistent. I am currently bumming around Minneapolis, not doing anything Physics related.
Dan Miller
Email:danmillerlighting@lighting@yahoo.com
Hello Northfield, I find myself in Rochester, NY, living with my girlfriend from Carleton, Jessica Felt. She's busy with her first year of Medical School at the University of Rochester. I am currently enjoying a break from physics being an electrician and light board operator at the Geva Theatre Center. We are currently (October/November) producing Copenhagen, the award winning play about Neils Bohr and Werner Heisenberg's meeting in Copenhagen in 1941. As a physicist it is interesting to think about the physics in the show, which points are glossed over and which are focused on. I am enjoying life outside of school; going home and not having homework to do. Lately I've been spending my time building a small balsa wood model airplane. Thanks to Warren for getting me interested in this hobby. On yet another tangent, it should be interesting experiencing the winter here with the lake effect snow off Lake Ontario. I'll have to see how it's different from Northfield. So that's the brief glimpse of my life. Happy Holidays everyone.
Tim O’Connell
Email: oconnelt2003@yahoo.com
I'm at the University of Illinois right now starting grad school in the electrical engineering department. I'm taking a class in power electronics and a digital signal processing class. So far it's been a lot of work, but Carleton has prepared me well. Tell everyone in the department I say hi and have a good holiday.
Nate Pogue
Email: npogue@physics.tamu.edu
Yeah, I got my own place, which is really nice, got a deal, I only paid for a one bedroom but I got a two bedroom instead. Best part is that there is no state income tax in Texas so I essentially get all my money, which was a pleasant surprise. Especially when I go out on 3 or 4 dates at a week with the cute Texas girls, I need the money. NOT!! In actuality, Texas A & M has me running around all over the place between teaching and grading 3 of my own classes and other stuff. It is an interesting experience.
I really haven't gone on many adventures as of late. I wore a white bed sheet on my head to a class on Halloween and just sat there. Every time the Prof asked a question I just said Boo. I think I was subconsciously just booing him in general; we don't get along that well. I have an English (from England, not the subject—me no good English speak) prof who consistently calls me a moron, idiot, intellectual midget, or whatever his insult for the day is, but he likes me a lot, it is just his style. Me and one other guy in the class are the only one that are able to do the homework, and he told me that he is proud of me because I am the only one to ask him question because the other are afraid of him. He is a pretty funny guy, kind of looks like Santa. I played on one of the prof’s softball team, play frisbee twice a week with the physics and nuclear engineering guys and whoever else shows up. One Saturday we had a picnic for the department and later we ended up playing softball in a thunderstorm, not too bright I thought (metal bat), but fun nonetheless.
People down here are really nice, they all say howdy, and are helpful, and friendly. At night on the weekends though you might want to be packing heat. I’ve seen a few fights, generally started about nothing which usually ends up with a little guy getting nailed by a big guy until someone hits him from behind with something, then the little guy will kick him or something then walks off. It’s pretty cool to watch.
Yeah, I got an office now and people call me Mr. Pogue—spooky. I try to explain that I am not old, but they generally don't believe me. Oh yeah, I am the youngest person here by 3 years or so.
Matthew Strait
Email: matthew.l.strait@alumni.carleton.edu
I'm currently waiting out the year before I enter the University of Minnesota's graduate program in Computer Science. I'm planning to get a Masters in this field, although a Ph.D. is not out of the question if some research topic seriously catches my interest. After that, my future is uncertain. It's possible that I will choose to continue putting off Real Life by going back to school in Physics.