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UMass Physics Graduate Student Petite Profile:

Nathan Bernard

Undergraduate Institution:

University of California at Los Angeles

Research:

I am a part of the Experimental Particle Physics group at UMass and a member of the ATLAS experiment at CERN where I search for the displaced decays of Z bosons under the Exotics group. Vector like quarks and general gauge mediated supersymmetry are two models that might exhibit such a signature. When couplings in these models become small enough, it gives rise to long-lived particles that will be missed by conventional searches. Maintaining sensitivity to these regions of parameter space requires dedicated searches such as ours. Additionally, I work on the reconstruction of muon segments (the building blocks of an ATLAS muon track) and other muon software.

Recent Books:

The last two I read were "The Man in the High Castle" and "Ubik", both by Philip K. Dick. He is a huge inspiration to my own writing. I love his ability to bring the reader into vivid alternate realities, and then collapse that reality down around them.

Favorite Coffee Shop:

The Esselon Cafe in Hadley. Their maple lattes are great it is a good place for brunch as well.

Favorite Travelling Destinations:

This is a hard question. Being a native Californian, I love beaches. Some of my favorite were in Puerto Rico and Mallorca. I also love Paris. It is a great place to practice my poor French, eat good food, and visit galleries/museums.

Hobbies outside of research:

I really love creative activities. In particular, I enjoy painting, writing fiction, and playing guitar/singing. I think when working in academia, it is important to exercise your creative side.

Favorite Music/Bands:

I like a lot of music from the 80's and 90's: The Cure, Depeche Mode, The Smith's, Pearl Jam, Noir Desir to name a few. I change it up when I am working out and listen to heavier bands such as Megadeth and Pantera to get my adrenaline flowing. I even found that listening to country music when I was living in Europe somehow helped with bouts of homesickness.

#UMass Physics #petite profile #umass #atlas #physics #philip k dick

#umass #lederle #goessmann #sunset

#lederle #umass #sunset #goessmann

#finearts #umass

#umass #finearts

womenrockscience

Women in STEM of WWII - The real “Rosie Riveters”

In most countries women were not permitted to fight on the front lines of the war. Instead, they supported the war effort by learning, training and taking up jobs usually held by men.

These women did a lot more than rivet, they designed, built and tested thousands of aircraft in factories across Canada and the US. Prior to the war, women would have been mostly banned from taking up such jobs.

Sources: Library of Congress

Parisian wormhole #umassphysics #umass #paris #wormhole

#paris #umass #umassphysics #wormhole

Not to be outdone, UMPbot's second cat has found a bigger box. #umassphysics #umpbotcat

#umassphysics #umpbotcat

UMPbot's cat is in a super-position of alive and pleased with herself. #umassphysics #umpbotcat

#umassphysics #umpbotcat

UMass Physics Graduate Student Petite Profile:

Sheema Rahmanseresht

Undergraduate Institution:

Sharif University of Technology

Research:

RNA has many functions; one of them is regulatory function which often happens through RNA loop-loop interactions. In these processes, transiently bound proteins usually modulate the structure and function of RNA. Stability and flexibility of the resulting complex and the structural transformations that often ensue from intermediate states, modulates the function of RNA. I implement single molecule FRET (Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer) and other fluorescent techniques such as FCS (Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy) and lifetime measurements to study conformational changes of RNA loop-loop complexes before, during, and after binding proteins. This research gives better understanding into the relationship between conformation and function of RNA complexes.

Your go-to science themed movie and television show:

"A Beautiful Mind", and "Infinity" which is not a great movie but I liked it since it's about Feynman!

Favorite Coffee Shop:

Amherst Coffee and their Lattes!

Hobbies outside of research:

I fill my spare time with working out and playing tennis - of course I enjoy watching Djokovic's impeccable tennis. From time to time I also bake chocolate cake and fruit pie to give me a break from research!

Favorite Music/Bands:

My taste is diverse, depending on my mood, I listen different kinds of music, but I guess I'm more inclined to British rock and indie like Anathema, Blackfield, and Radiohead. I also listen to classical and traditional Iranian music, among them singers such as Homayoun Shajarian and Shahram Nazeri are my favorites

#UMass Physics #umass #FRET #FCS #fluorescence #physics #petite profile

attndotcom

It’s time to do something about student debt. Click here to learn about and support Senator Warren’s bill!

umassphysics

It should be free.

welcometodcity

The aging midcentury architecture of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the state’s flagship university, is often called ugly. But as those buildings face challenges, their defenders point out that not only is the campus a showcase for major architects of the late 20th century, but those buildings also stand for a set of important values: the notion that working-class as well as wealthy students deserve outstanding learning facilities and that excellent higher education should be affordable to all.

People far too often dismiss Brutalist buildings as ugly. But as this article states, there is a rich historical context surrounding the manner of their design and the purpose envisioned for them. For all the failings of 1960s and 70s American Liberalism, the idea that working-class students should receive an education equal to that of the wealthy remains a powerful one. I hope that my alma mater finds value in preserving these buildings and in continuing to support what UMass has stood for in educating the less fortunate of Massachusetts.

umassphysics

Lederle is beautiful.

#UMass Physics #UMass Amherst #lederle #brutalism