The physics department at Puget Sound is committed to providing a wide array of undergraduate research opportunities for our students. These include senior thesis projects and summer research on campus, working one-on-one with Puget Sound physics faculty. The “Summer Research Grants in Science and Mathematics” program provides students with a stipend and a summer housing option, as well as a forum for poster presentation at the Fall Student Research Symposium.
Many students continue their summer research into the following school year and make additional presentations of their work at both regional and national conferences including those of the Washington Space Grant Consortium, the Murdock College Science Research Conference, The American Physical Society, and the Acoustical Society of America.
Puget Sound research students have co-authored papers with faculty in peer-reviewed journals including Physical Review C (nuclear physics), Journal of Physics G (nuclear and particle physics), and Applied Optics.
Off-campus summer research opportunities are also available through a variety of programs including “Research Experiences for Undergraduates” (REU), sponsored by the National Science Foundation. Recent Puget Sound physics students have done summer research at institutions including the University of Washington, University of Arkansas, University of Virginia, University of Southern California, University of Oklahoma, Baylor University, and the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.
Recent Student Research Projects at Puget Sound
Isabel Mejia Natividad |
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William Miyahira |
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Olivia Perotti |
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Noah Stewart Identifying Gerrymandering in New Mexico; Using the Efficiency Gap and Mathematical Compactness Summer 2018 |
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Patrick Wigger |
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Kyle Miller High Throughput Molecular Simulations into the Morphology of P3HT:PCBM Blends Boise State University Advised by Dr. Eric Jankowski |
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Patrick Zimmerman |
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William Miyahira Advised by Professor Rand Worland Summer 2017 |
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Cory Koehler |
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Alex Kaufman |
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Jessy Hosken |
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Matthew Fergoda |
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Juliana Echternach '17 |
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Matty Specht |
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Alex Lutton |
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Alex Kaufman |
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Sam Boos |
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Jordan Fonseca '18 |
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Sam Berling '17 |
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Matt Fergoda |
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Zach Armstrong The Acoustics of Harmon Mutes Advised by Professor Rand Worland |
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Libby Dabrowski '17 |
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Kyle Miller |
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Garrett Buffington '16 Splashing on Wetted Granular Beds |
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Libby Dabrowski '17 The Characterization of 15 Nearby Stars University of Oklahoma NSF REU program Advised by: Jamie Lomax, PhD. Evan Rich and John Wisniewski. Summer 2015 |
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Joel Eklof '16 Seed Characteristics Matter |
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Juliana Echternach '17 Suspended Carbon Nanotube Growth on pn-junction Devices and Chip-to-Chip Transfers. University of Southern California Advised by: Professor Steven Cronin Summer 2015 |
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Jordan Fonseca '18 Validation Study of the C++ Cloud Lofting Module for DIORAMA Research Los Alamos National Laboratory Advised by: Dr. Andrew Walker Summer 2015 |
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Audrey Kvam '15 Modifying NMR Probe Electronics in the Muon g-2 Experiment at the Center for Experimental Nuclear Physics and Astrophysics (CENPA) at the University of Washington Advised by: Erik Swanson and Professor Alejandro Garcia Summer 2014 |
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Ben Boe '15 Pitch Angle Survey of GOODS Spiral Galaxies University of Arkansas, Arkansas Center for Space and Planetary Science Advised by Professor Daniel Kennefick |
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Kyle Whitcomb '15 Scattering of a Point-like Anapole Advised by Professor David Latimer Summer 2014 |
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Ben Boe '15 Experimental & Numerical Analysis of Coupling Between Musical Drumheads Advised by Professor Worland Summer 2013 |
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Nick Davenport Observations of Quantized Conductance Over Nanowires Advised by Professor Elliott Summer 2013 |
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Audrey Kvam The Propagation of Light Through Dark Matter Advises by Professor Latimer Summer 2013 |
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Kara Merfeld An Analytical Comparison of Methods of Rotating Anomalous U(1) Charges NSF REU Program Baylor University Advised by Professor Gerald Cleaver Summer 2013 |
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David Clausen '13 Reversed Refraction: Negative Index Metamaterials for Microwaves Advised by Professor Spivey Summer 2012 |
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Matt Baldwin '14 Preparation and Characterization of Ge and Co Doped V3Si Superconductors REU at University of Nevada Las Vegas Advised by Professor Rahvi Kumar Summer 2012 |
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Eric Laukkanen ‘12 Modeling and Tuning of Musical Percussive Beams Advised by Professor Worland Summer 2011 |
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Casey Wall ‘12 Advised by Professor Thorndike Summer 2011 |
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Taylor Firman ‘11 Quantum Conundrums: Putting Quantum Mechanics to the Test with Bell’s Inequalities Advised by Professor Thorndike Summer 2010 |
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Ricky Roy ‘11 Design and Characterization of a Micron Scale Metastable Helium Beam Source Advised by Professor Elliott Senior Thesis |
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Brooke Peaden ‘12 Acoustic Effect of Holes on a Brass Disk Advised by Professor Worland Summer 2010 |
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Nathanael Seid ‘10 Dispersion Measurements of Dyes in Solution using White-Light Interferometry Advised by Professor Spivey Summer 2009 |
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Sara Bucht ‘10 Measuring Resistivity in Thin Films of Silver Advised by Professor Elliott Summer 2008 |
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Sara Beck ‘08 Dispersion Measurements using White-Light Interferometry Advised by Professor Spivey Summer 2007 |
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Ben Ice ‘08 The Physics of Fuel Cells and the Hydrogen Economy Advised by Professor Weber Honors Thesis |
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Jonathan Tollerud ‘07 Laser Speckle Interferometry Advised by Professor Worland Senior Thesis |