Hi there! I'm Nathan, a '27 from Lynn, MA (just outside Boston). I'm an intended Engineering Sciences Major and Studio Art Minor—I like to understand, design, and create things. I also love reading about history, writing, and photography (hence this blog). On-campus, I'm involved in the Triathlon Team, French Living Learning Community (LLC), and Magnuson Center for Entrepreneurship. Explore my posts for an inside perspective of everything Dartmouth has to offer!
I took this class to explore the Biology Department and it ended up defining my freshman Fall. I grew close with other biology-minded students and together we delved deep into cellular mechanisms and processes in a fast-paced environment. The labs were long but rewarding and everything about this class made me a better scientist—Professor Bezanilla is an amazing teacher! I would recommend this class to anyone with a passion for biology and research.
“Who do I want to be?” is a question that I frequently ask myself as an undergraduate (and I’m sure you will as well). A good place to begin answering this question, however, is “Who am I ?” Taking Investigative Memoir as my first-year seminar allowed me to explore this question via personal reflection and expressive writing—something that has helped me frame my identity at Dartmouth with the rest of my life. College can be a surreal experience, but Professor Sharlet’s introduction to the world of creative nonfiction has given me the ability to transform my own perceptions into tangible, recorded stories.
As a kid I drew a lot; I was inspired by architectural books like “Pyramid” and “Castle” and fascinated by illustrations in “The Way Things Work.” All of these books are by the author David Macaulay—and I had the opportunity to take this very class with him! I completed weekly sketchbook exercises, worked on visually communicating inventions, and was able to receive personal feedback. The theme of visual illustration as a tool in engineering resonated strongly with me, inspiring my interest in an engineering major modified with studio art. Given my long relationship with his work, this class was truly a dream come true.
SummerAmherst, Massachusetts
I interned at a running biomechanics research lab in Amherst, MA, to explore my interests in kinesiology and running shoe design! I was able to self-fund the internship through a grant from the Dartmouth Center for Professional Development (CPD). I spent the rest of my summer reading, spending time with family, and took a trip to Quebec before returning to campus.
The first of a two-part series on classical mechanics, this class made physics refreshing and enjoyable. The content came primarily through lectures given by Professor Caldwell, who was extremely clear and made each class memorable with demonstrations, jokes, or historical tangents. The lab section, which involved hands-on physics experiments, reinforced my understanding of the material in a practical sense. I took this course as an engineering requirement, and I found it to be my favorite quantitative course thus far.
I recently took advantage of a rare clear winter night to attend a public observing sessionhosted by Dartmouth'sPhysics and Astronomy Department. I hadn't realized the observatory was open to the public until a friend, Luca, invited me to join him. Looking for a change of pace from my usual routine after a long day of classes, I decided to go along.
We made our way to the old Shattuck Observatory, then continued to the North Observatory, where Dartmouth's newer telescope is housed. The building was a small, rectangular structure with an open roof, lit by red lights to preserve night vision. At the center of the room stood the telescope, controlled by a computer displaying astronomical charts. With just a click of a mouse, the telescope could be adjusted to focus on different objects in the night sky.
The computer that controlled the telescope!
Our first target was Jupiter, which appeared especially clear. We could even make out some of its moons. Next, we turned our attention to Mars, glowing with its distinctive reddish hue. From there, we moved on to deep-sky objects, starting with M35, a bright star cluster in the constellation Gemini. We then viewed M37, another dense cluster in Auriga.
One of the more unusual sights of the night was the Clown Face Nebula in Gemini. Seeing this planetary nebula through the telescope was interesting—it was cool to observe something so far away in detail. Following that, we looked at Sigma Orionis, a binary star system in Orion. It consisted of four stars arranged roughly in a line, with one noticeably brighter than the others. Finally, we ended the night by observing Castor, another binary star system in Gemini, with two stars of similar brightness appearing next to each other.
A dim view of the observatory and telescope (the less, the light the better for observing!)
I had never used a telescope this powerful before, and it was fun to see everything up close. It's nice that this equipment is available to students, though I don't think many students have heard of the observatory being open to the public—it's a bit of a hidden gem. After a day of attending to endless student responsibilities, stepping into the observatory and looking at the stars made for a relaxing change of pace.
I'm hoping to attend more public observing nights, especially as the weather warms up in the spring and summer. I also have to give kudos to my friend Luca, a Physics and Astronomy major, who managed the telescope and explained everything we observed. It was thanks to him I discovered the observatory and all it offers—and ultimately wrote this blog post.
