The aim of the project was to process data from the PALFA survey and attempt to identify highly-accelerated pulsars in a tight binary orbit with a companion star. In such an orbit, the pulsar could theoretically siphon gas off of its companion and into an accretion disk around itself, making it spin faster. This is thought to be a possible way that a pulsar could attain a sub-millisecond rotational period. Such a pulsar has never been found. It’s possible that previous analyses could have missed such systems because the normal method of searching for periodicity within signals to identify pulsars would be unable to account for the shift in the pulse period that the high acceleration of the pulsar would cause. We processed the data in smaller chunks to make the signal shift negligible, but this decreases the overall sensitivity and increases the overall processing time. This project was supported by funding from the F&M Hackman Summer Scholars Program.

Project Mentor:  Professor Fronefield Crawford, Department of Physics and Astronomy

Stable radicals are needed as polarizing agents in DNP NMR, which is a spectroscopic characterization method that produces clean spectra even if sample concentration is very low. Radicals that utilize resonance stabilization and steric protection have limited reactivity and are shelf-stable. The synthesis of stable radicals 17-(Anthracen-9-yl)-tetrabenzo[a,c,g,i]fluorenyl radical (TBF-A) and 17-(2-(1,3,5-triisopropoxy)phenyl)tetrabenzo[a,c,g,i]fluorene radical (TBF-iPr) will be presented. They were made in a three-step synthesis with 10% and 16% overall yields, respectively. Additionally, several penta-arylsubstituted cyclopentadienes were prepared as precursors to a cyclized “superbowl” molecule. The penta-(4-t-butylphenyl) version was prepared in one step with a 35% yield. The superbowl target compounds are highly symmetric and aromatic and are good candidates for exhibiting Faraday rotation, a magneto-optical effect with applications in medical imaging. The synthesis and applications of Faraday superbowl compounds will be presented. This project was supported by funding from F&M's Hackman Summer Scholar Program. 

Project Mentor:  Professor Ed Fenlon, Department of Chemistry

Obsidian, a volcanic glass commonly used to make prehistoric tools, can be analyzed for its major and trace elemental compositions, creating a “chemical fingerprint” for each unique volcanic eruption. Obsidian “fingerprints” can trace stone tools to their source volcano, which archaeologists use to define trading routes. A study in 2014 examined samples from the Mt. Taylor region of New Mexico using Portable X-Ray Fluorescence (pXRF). A goal of this current project is to compare data produced by the pXRF with data produced at F&M/ENE with our high-precision, lab-based wavelength dispersive XRF (WD-XRF) instrument. These results show that the pXRF analysis of trace elements had a tendency to be systematically lower compared to the lab-based WD-XRF instrument, suggesting that pXRF may not be a useful method for geochemical fingerprinting of obsidians. In addition, we are using these WD-XRF geochemical data to evaluate the geologic evolution of Mt. Taylor obsidians. This project was supported by funding from the F&M Hackman Summer Scholars Program and the Biemsderfer Endowment.  

Project Mentors:  Professors Robert Walter and James Jolles, Department of Earth and Environment

Hammett parametrization is a widely used method for quantifying how substituents affect the reactivity of a molecule. This approach has been used to analyze how strongly substituents communicate with redox-active fragments in organic compounds and with metal centers within transition metal compounds. Yet, the features of ligand structures that contribute to this electronic communication in metal complexes have not been fully elucidated. Electrochemical ligand parametrization is another method for predicting electron-transfer reactivity of metal complexes; however, it has not been as extensively studied as Hammett parameters, and its generalizability therefore remains uncertain. In this study, both Hammett analyses and electrochemical ligand parameterization are employed to analyze cyclic voltammetry (CV) data for ruthenium (Ru) catalysts containing various pyridine ligands to determine the extent of electronic communication between ligand substituents and the Ru center. Alongside these studies, synthesis of Ru complexes with aniline substituents is investigated for future electrochemical experiments. This project was supported by funding from the American Chemical Society via a Petroleum Research Fund. 

Project Mentor:  Professor Davide Lionetti, Department of Chemistry

This research builds on Professor Deborah Schmidt’s dissertation, which investigates the chemical complexities of protoplanetary nebulae. Protoplanetary nebulae represent a transitional phase between AGB (Asymptotic Giant Branch) and planetary nebulae in stellar evolution. Understanding the chemical transformations that occur during the dying stages of stars is crucial to comprehending how complex chemical compounds form in the early stages of planetary nebulae as most of the molecular changes happen in the PPNe stage. This study utilized spectroscopy to attempt the detection of HCN, HNC, and HCO+ compounds in protoplanetary nebulae. By averaging observational data from the Arizona Radio Observatory, using the Gildas CLASS software package, we successfully detected HCN(3-2) and HCN(1-0) in IRAS 05113+1347, IRAS 05341+0852, and IRAS 23321+6545, and HNC in IRAS 23321+6545, along with an unexpected detection of HC3N in IRAS 23321+6545. Additionally, RADEX was employed to determine the abundances of these compounds based on the detected spectral lines. This project was supported by funding from the F&M’s Hackman Summer Scholar Program. 

Project Mentor:  Professor Deborah Schmidt, Department of Physics and Astronomy

This summer in the Roberts Lab, we investigated the role of the protein APC, which is the most frequently mutated gene in colon cancer. APC is crucial in the Wg/Wnt pathway, regulating cell fate decisions and proliferation, and also targets the protein Beta-Catenin for destruction -- although its exact role in this complex remains unknown. Using Drosophila melanogaster (fruit flies), we explored whether the binding sites for Beta-Catenin on APC are functionally redundant with those on Axin, another protein in the destruction complex. We also tested whether APC's Beta-Catenin binding sites are interchangeable with binding sites from other proteins, including TCF, Alpha-Catenin, and Axin. These investigations aimed to elucidate whether APC primarily functions to recruit Beta-Catenin into the destruction complex or if it serves a more intricate role in this critical cellular process. We tested our hypotheses using transgenic fruit fly lines (generated by the Roberts Lab) crossed into mutant backgrounds to assess the functionality of these proteins in Wg/Wnt regulation. This project was supported by funding from the F&M’s Hackman Summer Scholar Program and the Eyler Biochemistry Fund. 

Project Mentor:  Professor David Roberts, Department of Biology

From 1879 to 1918, Carlisle Indian School functioned to serve an assimilationist mission: dispossess Indigenous children in Turtle Island (United States) of their culture and heritage, to manufacture and instill Christian values and American whiteness. Less often discussed about Carlisle is the “Outing” Program, a labor-training program students participated in during summers and even entire school years. Building off of original archival materials and prior research, this project documents the lives of three girls, Sarah Beuchler (Paiute), Ozetta Bourbonnais (Pottawatomi), and Emerald Bottineau (Chippewa) during their time in Carlisle’s “Outing” program with Lancaster General Hospital’s nurse training school in the 1910s. Learning about these girls’ lives grants us insights into the particularities of life for Carlisle students, the violence (and rebellion of) of mapping white femininity onto Indigenous women to forcibly assimilate them, and a specific facet of Carlisle’s connections with Lancaster County.  This project was supported by funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Grant. 

Project Mentors:  Professors Mary Ann Levine Department of Anthropology and Eric Hirsch, Department of Earth and Environment.

This study aimed to investigate the roles of the ASIL1 and ASIL2 transcription factors during the development of the plant Arabidopsis thaliana. To investigate stomatal development, Arabidopsis plants were grown for 10 days, and cotyledons were analyzed for stomata formation (including stomatal density and index). In addition, 3-day, 5-day, and 12-day plants were stained to identify in which specific cell types ASIL1 and ASIL2 were expressed. These observations aim to enhance our understanding of how ASIL transcription factors may influence Arabidopsis responses to both developmental cues contributing to broader insights into plant adaptation at the cellular and physiological levels during critical growth transitions. This project was supported by funding from the F&M’s Hackman Summer Scholar Program. 

Project Mentor:  Professor Pablo Jenik, Department of Biology

Non-canonical amino acids (ncAA) have the ability to assess a protein’s local environment and broaden its functioning. Some ncAAs can be used to study the pKa perturbations in a protein. The heme-nitric oxide/ oxygen binding domain (H-NOX) from Caldanaerobacter subterraneus (Cs) contains a tyrosine at site 140 (Y140), which has been shown to regulate diatomic gas (O2, NO, CO) binding affinities through hydrogen bonding networks surrounding the heme. Herein, we describe our work to use a variety of tyrosine analogs to examine the local pKa at the 140 site and our future aims to tune gas binding affinity with various ncAA tyrosine analogs. We will also describe our work to determine the pKa of the free tyrosine ncAAs. Ultimately, our goal is to create an oxygen binding affinity in CsH-NOX similar to that of hemoglobin. This project was supported by funding from the Eyler Biochemistry Fund, Dreyfus Grant and the National Science Foundation.

Project Mentor:  Professor Christine Piro, Department of Chemistry

The CECILIA project employs the JWST's Near Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) to meticulously address the challenge of bar shadows—systematic spectral artifacts arising from the physical configuration of NIRSpec's Microshutter Array (MSA). These shadows, appearing as persistent dark horizontal lines across the 2D spectrum, result from obstructions caused by the interspatial bars of the MSA, which compromise the integrity of spectral data from high-redshift galaxies. The default correction algorithms inadequately address these anomalies, necessitating a specialized approach for their mitigation. This study initiates with an exhaustive analysis of a representative 2D background spectrum, focusing on the spatial distribution of light along the wavelength axis. Through this examination, we develop a refined model for the bar shadows' correction, aiming to significantly enhance the data quality utilized in probing the chemical evolution and metallicity of distant galaxies. This advancement is pivotal for leveraging JWST's capabilities in exploring the early universe’s galactic constituents. This project was supported by funding from the Pittsburgh Foundation and the Research Corporation for Scientific Advancement.

Project Mentor:  Professor Ryan Trainor, Department of Physics and Astronomy

Each indigenous student who attended the Carlisle Indian School had a unique experience; however, in contemporary society, the complexity of stories are merged together into a singular narrative of victimization, limiting our understanding of the true scope and impact Carlisle held. By engaging in a study of Henry North, an eleven year old Arapaho boy who R.H Pratt personally recruited, I hope to represent the influence that his time at Carlisle and in Lancaster had on him. A close examination of letters and articles written by Henry enhances our understanding of how Carlisle operated and provides homage to one of the many indigenous children whose lives were affected due to colonialism. This project was supported by funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Grant. 

Project Mentors:  Professors Mary Ann Levine, Department of Anthropology and Eric Hirsch, Department of Earth and Environment.

The region we today call Lancaster County has been home to many native peoples since time immemorial. From the start of Pennsylvania’s colonization, William Penn was interested in creating a settlement on the Susquehanna River, as described in a 1690 pamphlet he published in London seeking investors. He sought to lay claim on the land from as early as 1683, by purchasing the land from various native sachems, sometimes even contracting the same land from multiple people. Despite Penn’s intention to purchase land rather than drive natives away, he was not able to do this easily. Native borders were often relatively arbitrary, with multiple people or nations claiming the right to sell the same land. Additionally, the colonizers felt themselves free to interpret treaties in their favor. This paper chronologizes the history of native displacement from and colonial settlement of Lancaster County through analysis of treaties between natives and the colonizers. This project was supported by funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Grant. 

Project Mentors:  Professors Mary Ann Levine, Department of Anthropology and Eric Hirsch, Department of Earth and Environment.

This is a part of the research conducted from June - July 2024 as a part of the Reckoning with Lancaster Project funded by the Mellon Grant which followed the lives of a number of indigenous children who attended the Carlisle Indian School, a boarding school for Native American children with the goal of cultural assimilation. This poster will focus on Leonard Tyler, a member of the Cheyenne Nation who attended Carlisle from 1880-1883. During his time at Carlisle, he was one of the first students to participate in the Outing program, which sent students to work on farms or in homes during the summer months to teach them gendered skills like homemaking or farming. Leonard went on these “outings” in the summers of 1882 and 1883, where he worked for Henry Huber as a farmer and stock raiser in Willow Street, Lancaster County. This project was supported by funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Grant. 

Project Mentors: Professors Mary Ann Levine, Department of Anthropology and Eric Hirsch, Department of Earth and Environment.

Air quality is a critical concern affecting human health and quality of life. This study undertakes an assessment of air quality, focusing on composition of particulate pollution sources in Lancaster County, PA. We captured particles on a 3µm filter using a pump operating at a rate of 9x10-4 m3s-1, then identified their chemical composition using a Hitachi SU 3900 SEM. Our grain-discrete analysis revealed high concentrations of Na, Mg, Al, S, Fe, C with minor concentrations of Zn, Mo, Br, and Ba. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) revealed recurring clusters of elements in each sample, helping to trace potential pollution sources. For instance, Si, Al, and K suggest silicate minerals (common in dust), while Mg, Ca, and S point to gypsum (found in drywall, and incinerated along with construction debris), and Fe, Mn, Co, and Zn are under investigation. Poor air quality is a public health crisis in Lancaster County. This project was supported by funding from the F&M Hackman Summer Scholars Program,  Richard & Dorothy Foose Endowment and Biemesderfer Endowment.

Project Mentor:  Professor Robert Walter, Department of Earth and Environment

Unnatural amino acids (UAAs) containing vibrational reporters have great promise to serve as sensitive, site-specific probes of local protein environments. For instance, the carbon-deuterium (C-D) vibrational stretch appears in a free region of the IR spectrum and is sensitive to the local environment. Here we describe a scalable, efficient, and economical synthesis of 4-ethynyl-L-phenylalanine (pCCF) where the terminal carbon in the ethynyl group has been deuterated. The UAA pCCF has been used in numerous previous applications however, here the deuteration of the alkyne will generate a C-D bond with a sp hybridized carbon. The sensitivity of this vibrational frequency of the C-D bond to solvent and temperature will be assessed. This work will serve as a reference for future research incorporating this novel UAA into numerous sites in superfolder green fluorescent protein to assess the ability of this deuterated UAA to serve as an effective reporter of local protein environments. This project was supported by funding from F&M's Hackman Summer Scholar Program, Dreyfus Foundation, National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Health. 

Project Mentors:  Professors Christine Piro, Ed Fenlon and Scott Brewer, Department of Chemistry

Following my research trip to San Salvador, El Salvador, I collected primary documents regarding the involvement of Universities and Salvadoran youth in the lead-up to the civil war. With the documents that I have collected from the Universidad de El Salvador (UES) and the Universidad Centroamericano de José Simeón Cañas (UCA), I posit that university students were the main targets of violence during the early years of the civil war. It appears that before the consolidation of the FMNL, there were other revolutionary groups such as the FPL and FUR that were organized on university campuses throughout the country. This would suggest that the revolutionaries who prompted militarized guerillas who fought the Salvadoran military may have been the product of student movements. By focusing on the years 1975-1980, I will attempt to contextualize the role of the University and Salvadoran youth in the lead-up to the civil war– which started in late 1979. I am interested in student mobilization, militarization, and dissemination of information amongst rural campesinos (which would become prominent sites for guerillas during the war) and the FMLN. This project was supported by funding from the F&M’s Committee on Grants Program and the Bolton Humanities and Social Sciences Student Exploration Endowment.  

Project Mentor:  Professor Laura Shelton, Department of History

The research investigates the relationships between ionization parameters, metallicity, and emission lines in galaxies at z∼2-3, formed two to three billion years after the Big Bang. Using Baldwin, Phillips & Terlevich (BPT) diagrams (Baldwin et al. 1981), we analyzed ionization models for faint Lyman Alpha Emitters (LAEs) from the CECILIA survey (Strom et al. 2023; Rogers et al. 2024), which exhibit extreme properties like low metallicity and high ionization states. Leveraging JWST’s NIRSpec instrument, we analyzed faint emission lines to better understand high-redshift galaxy conditions. These galaxies serve as analogs to those from the Epoch of Reionization, providing insight into star formation and galaxy evolution. JWST’s enhanced sensitivity has been crucial, with similar findings reported by recent surveys. This project was supported by funding from the Pittsburgh Foundation and the Research Corporation for Scientific Advancement.

Project Mentor:  Professor Ryan Trainor, Department of Physics and Astronomy

This summer we explored how doing one nanoparticle transformation (a tellurium exchange) affects a second, following transformation (a cadmium exchange). Tellurium anions are large which could impede the similarly large cadmium cations from exchanging. Depending on the extent of the tellurium exchange there could be an increase in vacancies due to copper exiting the crystal lattice to accommodate the tellurium ions. Vacancies would allow for more cadmium to enter the nanorod. Lower extent has less vacancies due to the condensing of the core Cu2-xS going from a roxbyite phase to chalcocite. While the highest extent has more vacancies overall; it does not allow cadmium to enter the weissite phase CuTe nanorod. There is a middle ground where the Te exchanges enough to form a weissite phase CuTe shell while causing the core to be more Cu deficient, thus increasing vacancies which allows for CdS wurtzite to form. This project was supported by funding from F&M's Hackman Summer Scholar Program and the National Science Foundation. 

Project Mentor:  Professor Kate Plass, Department of Chemistry

Negative autobiographical memory narratives often display an arc from negative affective tone to positive affective tone by the end. This structure is thought to be a master narrative template, shaping meaning construction in the United States (McLean & Syed, 2017). Although the structure is well known, there is less work on the themes that are expressed within the structure. We know more about what people do to express growth but less about how they believe they have changed. Furthermore, research needs to be done on whether negative event type matters for memory narration (Mansfield et al., 2023). To address these gaps, we used Thematic Analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2005) to capture redemptive themes expressed in autobiographical memory narratives of perpetration and victimization of harm provided by adults who ranged in age from 20 to 69 (n = 179, 58% female). We found 6 different themes that vary by type of memory. This project was supported by funding from the Harring-Wittenbraker Student/Faculty Research Endowment.  

Project Mentor:  Professor Cade Mansfield, Department of Psychology

The Carlisle Indian School opened in 1881. Its goal was to separate Native American children from their tribes and assimilate them into white Christian society. As part of this goal, students were placed on “outings” with white families to do work for them while integrating the students further into dominant culture. Three indigenous boys were sent on outing to Lancaster at different times under one patron: Benjamin H. Snavely. Snavely was a prominent member of the Lancaster community at this time, owning multiple businesses. The first student sent to Snavely was George Walker (Sioux), followed by John Primaux (Ponca), and lastly Henry Ouita (Apache). These outings would be farm work that varied in length from one month to almost two years. Using Carlisle Indian School archives and newspaper articles published in Lancaster, we can piece together the story of these boys’ lifes both at Carlisle and on their outings. This project was supported by funding from the Andrew Mellon Foundation.

Project Mentors:  Professors Mary Ann Levine, Department of Anthropology and Eric Hirsch, Department of Earth and Environment.

The Little Conestoga Creek (LCC) flowing through Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, was heavily impacted by the creation and destruction of historic milldams. Wetland ecosystems that covered the LCC valley bottom for millenia were flooded by milldams in the 1700s-1800s, and the millponds gradually filled with mud eroded from upland soils. As milldams failed, the water level dropped significantly and incised channels were formed. High muddy banks instead of wetland floodplains have resulted in erosion and degraded water quality. Six reaches of the LCC are undergoing restoration to recover lost wetlands, and our research aims to monitor newly formed waterways and riparian ecosystems. By measuring water temperature with Hobo sensors and a drone with thermal imaging, we compare restored and unrestored parts of the stream. We predict cooler water temperatures in restored parts, as removal of historic sediment will enable exchange of warmer surface water with cooler groundwater. This project was supported by funding from the Richard and Dorothy Foose Endowment and the Biemsderfer Endowment.  

Project Mentor:  Professor Dorothy Merritts, Department of Earth and Environment

This research project examines the history of midwifery in Sonora and Jalisco, Mexico, through sources such as nursing theses from the University of Sonora, interviews with retired midwives, judicial records, and maternity ward documents. The evidence reveals that midwives significantly advanced public health, especially for pregnant women with limited access to care. Two key findings are: 1) midwifery remained a central practice in Sonoran villages, even after the arrival of medical centers, and 2) midwives often navigated complex legal and educational changes as Mexico sought to modernize its healthcare systems. The study explores the intersection of law, education, and healthcare during this period, highlighting how midwives of the late 19th and early 20th centuries adapted to these evolving frameworks while continuing to serve their communities in essential roles. This project was supported by funding from the Bolton Humanities and Social Sciences Student Exploration Endowment.  

Project Mentor:  Professor Laura Shelton, Department of History

Planetary nebulae are the result of the death of Sun-like (low-mass) stars. They consist of different types of gasses that are ejected out of the star as it begins the end of its life cycle. Original predictions claimed that molecules could not survive in this hot gas around the remnant core of a dead star, but single-dish radio telescope data confirmed the presence of some complex molecules within planetary nebulae. The resolution of the data was not sufficient to determine the distribution of the molecules, so this project used higher-resolution ALMA data to locate these regions. We used NRAO computing machines to run an application called CASA that cleaned the ALMA data from three different planetary nebulae, and turned this data into emission maps for five different molecules (HCN, HCO+, H13CN, HN13C, HC15N). Further analysis will be used to study the origins and structures of these different planetary nebulae. This project was supported by funding from the F&M’s Hackman Summer Scholar Program. 

Project Mentor:  Professor Deborah Schmidt, Department of Physics and Astronomy

Carbon monoxide (CO) remains an important, but dangerous, single carbon reagent used in a variety of processes including organic methodology, biological study, and inorganic synthesis. Tasker Lab seeks to optimize new carbon monoxide-releasing molecules (CORMs), thus finding safer alternatives to typical gas delivery methods (such as CO tanks and balloons). Previous lab work found a catalytic procedure for releasing CO from simple starting materials, and this summer was spent improving and expanding the scope of this method. Our project successfully optimized the CO-producing reaction, synthesized new CORMs with electron-donating groups, and demonstrated that CORMs can be a viable source of CO for synthesis. Further research can be conducted to explore the mechanism of the reaction. This project was supported by funding from The National Science Foundation Career Award.

Project Mentor:  Professor Sarah Tasker, Department of Chemistry

Despite increasing research on Child-Robot Interaction (CRI), there has been limited focus on children’s learning and perceptions on a comparative basis between robot and human instructors. Our study investigates how 32 children aged 5-7 using Mangold Interact to code their social behaviors, such as vocalizations and social referencing and cues, which took the form of gestures, change with age when interacting with human versus robot, Misty II, instructors. Our hypothesis posited similar behavioral patterns in both conditions, which primarily was to see a decrease. However, significant correlations between age and decreased social behaviors were observed in the human instructor condition, while no significant patterns emerged in the robot condition. These findings suggest fundamental differences in how children perceive and engage with robots compared to humans, highlighting the need for further research into CRI’s educational potential. This project was supported by funding from the F&M’s Hackman Summer Scholar Program. 

Project Mentor:  Professor Willie Wilson, Department of Computer Science