Students Study Abroad and Present Research
Eric Menendez
March 1, 2017
On February 3rd 2017, KAMS students returned after their 10-day trip from London to give out their presentations of famous scientists. The students picked scientists that have graduated from London's Cambridge University and created posters that detailed what their choice had done for science. The presenters were Katherine A. Weisenborn, Jacob Schneider, Tessa Kriss, Ana Goodlett, Elaine Parkinson, Eli Munson, Annie Hinds, Marisa Carman, and Graham Straley, all of whom respectively presented their posters over Ernest Rutherford, James Chadwick, Ludwig Wittgenstein, J.J. Thomson, Jocelyn Bell Burnell, Stephen Hawking, Rosalind Franklin, Julius Robert Oppenheimer, and Hans Adolf Krebs.
During their trip, many of the students admitted to having a great time in London. "We've seen so much stuff it was hard to pick a favorite," said Munson. Munson also added on why traveling was a great experience for the program, "I think traveling in general opens people's minds to other cultures."
This was agreed upon by Schneider who said, "It was awe-inspiring. It was really difficult to absorb everything you see."
Parkinson expressed how she really liked the British museum and how she went through 4 exhibits before getting out, "I'd love to go back for that."
Some of the students also chose their scientists over how much of an inspiration they turned out to be for other people. Hinds dedicated her scientist, Franklin, for the impact she had over female scientists. She said she was glad that more women found out about her work and became interested in science, "A lot of women are interested in science because of how much work she did and how little credit she got."
Of course, other students picked their choices simply because they really enjoyed their scientist's work. Weisenborn said that Ruftherford's tinfoil experiment was her favorite work he did because he was still director of Cavendish and that the experiment was in the dark. Carman stated that she was interested in discussing the mass effect of Roppenheimer's life caused by his experiment and it's negative impact on him. Schneider admitted that he initially wanted to do Aran Tusain, but circumstances chose him to pick Chadwick, not that he minded as he enjoyed the cartoon series as he stated, even having a few stamps from Physicists on Stamps that showed stamps of Chadwick.
The KAMS program explores opportunities to allow students to immerse themselves in new cultures and countries. The London trip was the second international program in the last year offered to students. In May, students will be traveling to South Korea to join with their partner school, the Daejeon Science High School for the Gifted, for a research and cultural experience.