Astronomy Department attends KNAC fall symposium

Every fall the Keck Northeast Astronomy Consortium (KNAC), a collection of astronomy departments from small colleges in the northeast (Colgate, Haverford, Swarthmore, Bryn Mawr, Wesleyan, Wellesley, Williams, Vassar, Middlebury), get together for an undergraduate research symposium. At the meeting students from across the consortium present research that they completed the previous summer.

 

This fall’s KNAC symposium was held at Wellesley College on Oct 1st, and was attended by a number of students and faculty from Williams. The meeting included a tour of their historic observatory, and numerous presentations on a range of topics.

Photo of student and faculty attendees at the fall 2022 KNAC meeting
Student and faculty attendees of the fall 2022 KNAC meeting at Wellesley College. (First row, L to R): Sonya Dutton, Natasha Uwase, Alessandra Lopez, Dr. Kevin Flaherty, Micaela Foreman, Prof. Jen Winters, Prof. Marek Demianski. (Back Row, L to R): Sebastian Tabit, Hector Mendoza, Jordanne Braze, Maile Ruiz, Ashraf Dhabi, Saad Waheed.

Student presenters from Williams included Saad Waheed ’25 (Dynamical Measurements of Host Star Mass in Debris Disks using CO Line Emission), Hector Mendoza ’24 (Using Deeper Spectra of Galaxies to Test Potential Diagnostics for Finding Lyman Continuum Emitter Galaxies), and Micaela Foreman ’23 (Determining the Possibility of Planet Formation in Per-emb-11).

Picture of Hector Mendoza '24 standing in front of a classroom, presenting his research
Hector Mendoza ’24, presenting his research on Lyman Continuum emitting galaxies.

 

Photo of Micaela Foreman standing at a lectern presenting her research
Micaela Foreman ’23 speaking about her research on emission from a deeply embedded protostar.

 

Students interested in research can check out our Astronomy at Williams page, and can speak to any of the faculty in the astronomy department. Students interested in research through the KNAC consortium can get more information on the KNAC webpage, with applications typically due early February.