Courtesy | Alexandra Hall Stephen Barr spoke to a crowded Plaster Auditorium about the intersections of science and religion. “Robert Boyle, the first modern chemist and considered the founder of chemistry, was a pious Anglican who said that he liked to do his chemical experiments on Sunday because they were a form of worship,” Theoretical Particle Physicist Stephen Barr said...
Science and Tech
Conservation Club: conserving and caring for campus
April is Earth Month and the Hillsdale College Conservation Club continues to offer opportunities aimed at supporting the Earth and local community. The club’s annual cleaning of the Slayton Arboretum is just one of the events the club plans each Earth month. “I think our main focus is educating people about how to preserve our Earth well for future generations,...
Jeremy Luce Research Spotlight
What was the focus of your research? It was on the copper dependent increase in neurodegeneration due to amyloid beta protein and the metabolic growth rate decrease due to copper. So basically, I’m expressing a protein in the eye of a fly, and then I’m either giving them copper or not giving them copper and seeing if that protein causes...
Physics lecturer granted Ph.D. from Michigan State University
Lecturer in Physics Hank Thurston earned his Ph.D. in physics and computational math, science, and engineering from Michigan State University on March 29. Thurston defended his dissertation, titled “The Development Of A Novel Diamond-Based Neutron Detector and Quantum Color Center Fabrication Framework,” in front of a committee. Thurston currently teaches the lab portion of Physics 100. According to Paul Hosmer,...
Beyond the laboratory: What STEM offers students
Indecisive decision-making coupled with the incoming class registration is nothing short of a recipe for chaos. Thankfully, for those thinking about STEM, students and professors offer insight into the field to help mitigate uncertainty. “When you study STEM at Hillsdale, you also get to study the core curriculum which enables you to understand science in the broader context of...
Excavating Strosacker: Five unique objects in Fisk Natural History Museum
Hillsdale’s Daniel M. Fisk Museum of Natural History, created by Daniel M. Fisk in 1874 and rebuilt in 2010, hosts thousands of specimens spanning several centuries. While many students cut through the museum on their way to science classes, pausing to look through the exhibits reveals an assortment of cultural and college history. Anthony Swinehart, professor of biology and curator...
Research Spotlight: Sydney Slepian
Sydney Slepian proudly poses in front of her presentation on visibility reagents. Courtesy | Angelica Pytel Can you describe to me the focus of your research? To put it simply, there are different substances that we use in the lab, and they’re called viability reagents. They test how alive a culture of cells is. We had one that we had...
Entertainment or espionage: Campus reacts to proposed TikTok ban
The Biden administration is demanding that TikTok’s Beijing-based parent company ByteDance Ltd. sell to an American company or face a national ban on the app in the U.S. Some members of the Hillsdale College faculty and student body think that such a ban has been a long time coming. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Committee on Foreign Investment...
Professor feature: Christopher Heckel, Hillsdale-born botanist
Assistant Professor of Biology Christopher Heckel has made a profession out of stopping to smell the tulips. Heckel has taught at Hillsdale College for five years, but his love for biology started as a kid. “I’ve always been in love with biology,” Heckel said. “When I was in fourth grade we were learning about the parts of the flower, and...