JWST has a聽wide-field slitless spectroscopy mode, which allows astronomers聽to measure the chemical composition, motion, and redshift of large numbers of galaxies simultaneously.聽By measuring the redshift of spectral lines, astronomers can determine how far away a galaxy is and therefore how long ago its light was emitted. Bordoloi and his collaborators have used this information to show that the spaces surrounding early galaxies is metal-rich, indicating that chemical evolution occurred early in the history of the universe.

Hosted weekly by the Department of Physics and Astronomy, Physics & Astro Tea promises engaging discussions, thought-provoking ideas and a delightful spread of refreshments. Open to all students, faculty and staff, this gathering is the perfect opportunity to connect with fellow physics aficionados in a relaxed and informal setting. Meetings take place in the third-floor lounge of Innovation Hall at 3:20 p.m. on Wednesdays.

Students Manuel Anyimah 鈥�26,聽Rahv Tupac-Yupanqui 鈥�26 and Haolin Wang 鈥�26 will graduate with degrees in physics; Morgan Micharski with a degree in Astrophysics; and聽 Carissa Trollinger with a degree in Astronomy.

Jonathan Berkson, Jaylem Cheek, Morgan Micharski, Matthew Reick, Muhammed Tahiru, and Myka Thomas were inducted into Sigma Pi Sigma.

Awards were given to Iris Blanton-Parke 鈥�29 and Priyal Sanathara 鈥�29 for outstanding work as first-years in astrophysics.聽Danny Asnis 鈥�29 and聽James Engelbrecht 鈥�29 were recognized for outstanding work in first-year physics. Colin Vernon earned the award for outstanding teaching assistant of the year, and Jonathan Berkson earned the award for outstanding research.

The contest and event were carried out by Historic Neighborhood鈥檚 Faculty Director, Claudine Moreau. This year鈥檚 contest was judged by Asheville poet Ivy Rozen, who has commitment to lifting up emerging writers brought thoughtful attention to each submission. Rozen, who has a new book forthcoming this summer titled, If I Love You,聽from Seed Bed Press, praised the depth, originality, and emotional resonance of the student work.

Winners

1st Place
Madelyn Fourie 鈥� 鈥淏one to Bone鈥�

2nd Place
Georgia Vaughn 鈥� 鈥淎 Note On Dreaming鈥�

3rd place
Addison Hobgood 鈥� 鈥淕rip鈥�

Honorable Mentions
Lidia Briones 鈥� 鈥淥ur Love, Unending鈥�
Emma Briceno 鈥� 鈥淩osencrantz and Guildenstern Were Right鈥�
Allena Boddie-Chapman 鈥� 鈥淭he Unlost and Unfound鈥�

Beyond recognizing outstanding poetry, the evening underscored the transformative power of the contest itself. Several of this year鈥檚 finalists had never publicly identified as poets before submitting their work, and for some, the April 28 reading marked the first time they had ever shared their writing aloud in front of an audience. Their willingness to step forward and be heard speaks to the welcoming, affirming space the Primavera Poetry Contest continues to create.

Now in its third year, the contest has become a vibrant tradition within the Historic Neighborhood, offering students a meaningful venue to explore creative expression and build community through poetry. With another successful year concluded, organizers look forward to continuing this celebration of student voices in the years ahead.

Lumen Scholars will work closely with their mentors during the next two years to pursue and complete their projects. Efforts traditionally include coursework, study abroad, research both on and off campus, internships locally and overseas, program development, and creative productions and performances.

“It was another very competitive year, and the Lumen Advisory Board saw many good applications,” said Michael Carignan, director of the Lumen Prize and professor of history. “These 15 represent truly special talent and engagement. We look forward to watching the projects unfold over the next two years.”

The name for the Lumen Prize comes from Elon鈥檚 historic motto, 鈥淣umen Lumen,鈥� which are Latin words meaning 鈥渟piritual light鈥� and 鈥渋ntellectual light.鈥� The words, which are found on the 福利亚洲国产精品 seal, signify the highest purposes of an Elon education.

2026 Lumen Prize Winners

Tajallah Amirkhil
Mentor: Molly Green
Major: Public Health & Biochemistry
Project: Barriers and Resilience: Exploring Mental Health among Afghan Refugee Women in North Carolina

Emma Brice帽o
Mentors: Dan Burns & Tita Ramirez
Major: English (Creative Writing)
Project: The Desert Lighthouse, a Novel: an Exploration of Queerness and Safety through Body Horror, Immortality, and Genre Reinvention

Kelley Calvillo
Mentor: Renay Aumiller
Major: Dance Performance and Choreography
Project: The Body Knows: Developing a Feminist Framework for Distributed Choreographic Authorship

Chloe Cone
Mentors: Eryn Bernardy & Ahlam Armaly
Major: Biochemistry
Project: Solutions in the Soil: Unearthing Novel Antibacterial Compounds from Soil Microbes to Combat Antimicrobial Resistance

Sanai Crosby
Mentors: Lauren Kearns & Matt Wittstein
Major: Exercise Science & Dance Science
Project: Dance and Neural Activity: Examining Neural Activity Across the Choreographic Process and Performance Environments

Fleur Helmantel
Mentor: Scott Wolter
Major: Biomedical Engineering & Chinese Studies
Project: Development of Tissue-Mimicking Phantoms for the Treatment of Breast Cancer

Anna Keller
Mentor: Scott Morrison
Project: Perceptions and Practices of Outdoor Literacy: a Two-Part Mixed-Methods Study

Nevaeh Kimmie
Mentor: Katrina Jongman-Sereno
Major: Psychology & Economics
Project: To Code-Switch or Not to Code-Switch: Authenticity, Psychological Outcomes, and Social Judgement of Black College Students in Predominantly White Academic Spaces

Lisa Kranec
Mentors: Hwayeon Ryu & Efrain Rivera-Serrano
Major: Biomedical Engineering & Applied Mathematics
Project: Mathematical Modeling of Excessive Collagen Production in Cardiac Fibrosis

Jordyne Lewis
Mentor: Steve DeLoach
Major: Economic Consulting & Data Analytics
Refugees, Emotional Wellbeing, and Financial Inclusion in Uganda

Kendall Lewis
Mentor: Jen Uno
Major: Biochemistry & Mathematics
Project: Can the Microbiome Heal the Brain?Evaluating Butyrate鈥檚 Efficiency in Reducing Stroke Severity within the Context of Obesity

Ja鈥橫ir Parham
Mentor: Zack Hutchens
Major: Astrophysics
Project: RESOLVE, ECO, and eRASS: Probing Galaxy Growth through Cold and Hot Gas

Danny Stern
Mentor: Karl Sienerth
Major: Chemistry
Project: From Backlog to Breakthrough: Use of Fluorescence Quenching for the Development of an Explosive Identification Database

Ainsley Thompson
Mentor: Yuko Miyamoto
Major: Biochemistry
Project: Decreasing Platinum Chemotherapy Resistance by Downregulating STAT3 and Upregulating PTEN in the SKOV3 Cell Line

Scout Winter
Mentor: Bill Evans
Major: Exercise Science
Project: Effects of a Whole-Food Plant-Based Diet on Insulin Resistance and Inflammation in Adults with Type 1 Diabetes

The group visited UNC-Asheville’s Lookout Observatory. Student docents and Britt Lundgren from UNCA were the hosts. Even though it was cloudy at first, the sky cleared enough to observe Jupiter and its moons, some galaxies, and nebulae. The group managed to work on a hike to Catawba Falls before returning to campus. Elon faculty members Zack Hutchens and Martin Kamela accompanied the group.

Similar low-impact approaches are used in ice flow and climate research, including remote sensing, photography, and observational fieldwork of ice flows and glacier dynamics.

Hosted weekly by the Department of Physics and Astronomy, Physics & Astro Tea promises engaging discussions, thought-provoking ideas and a delightful spread of refreshments. Open to all students, faculty and staff, this gathering is the perfect opportunity to connect with fellow physics aficionados in a relaxed and informal setting. Meetings take place in the third-floor lounge of Innovation Hall at 3:20 p.m. on Wednesdays.

In a recent talk at the Physics and Astro Tea,聽C谩rdenas-Avenda帽o shared the historical development of this problem, starting with Isaac Newton’s deterministic laws of motion and moving through the n-body problem, a generalized question about the long-term motions of gravitationally attracted objects. This problem famously has no analytical solution and must be done computationally.

So is the solar system stable? Will any planets suddenly be ejected? The best current answer is聽maybe, but not during our lifetime.

Hosted weekly by the Department of Physics and Astronomy, Physics & Astro Tea promises engaging discussions, thought-provoking ideas and a delightful spread of refreshments. Open to all students, faculty and staff, this gathering is the perfect opportunity to connect with fellow physics aficionados in a relaxed and informal setting. Meetings take place in the third-floor lounge of Innovation Hall at 3:20 p.m. on Wednesdays.

Since his 2023 arrival at Elon, Kelly has hosted a 鈥榣istening tour鈥� and spent time with each department to hear directly from faculty and staff about what they value. Kelly said that common themes soon emerged from those conversations and the new statement reflects dozens of discussions.

Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences new vision statement reads: 鈥淭he Heart of an Elon Education: Ignite Curiosity, Engage Challenges, Transform Worlds.鈥�

The mission statement then declares:

鈥淯pholding the centrality of the liberal arts, we explore and apply disciplinary and interdisciplinary knowledge for inquiry, creativity, discovery and problem solving in a complex and changing world.鈥�

The statement lists core values that include accessibility, belonging, critical thinking, diversity, equity and inclusion, integrity, intellectual curiosity, problem-posing and respect for human dignity.

Community Reflections

• 鈥淭here were several opportunities for different groups, departments, branches, interdisciplinary programs, to discuss versions on the table. It was in those conversations where we might learn how a word or phrase was heard within and across disciplines; where we found convergence, deeper awareness, and respect. The both-and of this process modeled what we value and genuinely captures our shared identity as Elon College.鈥� – Caroline Ketcham, associate dean of Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences and a professor of exercise science
• 鈥淚t was always important to us that this wasn鈥檛 a process where faculty were just asked to weigh in at the end, after the real decisions had already been made. From start to finish, it was grounded in listening to what faculty across the college say we do well and what values they believe guide our shared work. Our task wasn鈥檛 to invent a mission, vision and values, but to clearly articulate what faculty are already living and leading with. I think that鈥檚 why faculty can so readily see themselves and their departments represented in the final statements.鈥� – David Buck, associate dean of Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences and an associate professor of psychology
• 鈥淗aving shared goals and articulated values helps everyone in the college feel connected as a community, value each other鈥檚 work and prioritize our energies on initiatives that matter to us.鈥� – Shannon Duvall, interim associate dean of Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences and professor of computer science
• 鈥淚 appreciated the collaborative nature of it all, not just between the dean鈥檚 office and department chairs, but also extending to faculty members across Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences. It really did involve all of us. What particularly stood out to me were the conversations in our chairs鈥� meetings with the dean where we came to agreements on core values. It鈥檚 inspiring to see that distinctly different types of disciplines uphold the same core values.鈥� – Joel Karty, chair of the Department of Chemistry and 福利亚洲国产精品鈥檚 Sydney F. & Kathleen E. Jackson Professor of chemistry
• 鈥淚 appreciated being part of a process that felt genuinely collaborative. Our participation was not merely symbolic. It felt meaningful, and I experienced the dean鈥檚 office as truly listening. The process itself was also inspirational, and I feel bolstered in leading my own department through similar work. It was powerful to see such a broad, collective effort take shape into something tangible.鈥� – Samantha DiRosa, chair of the Department of Art and a professor of art and environmental studies
• 鈥淭he process of creating a new vision statement, mission statement and core values for Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences was both thoughtful and deeply collaborative. Over many months, department chairs worked together to reflect on what makes us distinctive and how best to express those qualities in guiding statements. The process intentionally sought input from across departments, ensuring that everyone in the college had the opportunity to contribute their perspectives. Personally, the time spent reflecting with fellow chairs on what makes each of our departments special fostered a deeper sense of shared purpose and collective commitment.鈥� – Carrie Eaves, chair of the Department of Political Science and Public Policy and associate professor of political science and public policy

Kelly said he was pleased the final language resonated with the faculty in the college.

鈥淭he true measure of a successful attempt to lead a group or an organization towards a renewed vision, mission and core values is whether the words and sentiments 鈥榮ound like us鈥�,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hen I heard that some faculty believed my presentation of our vision, mission and core values at our spring faculty meeting 鈥榮ound like us,鈥� I knew that our work together in small and large group settings was a huge success. It means that stakeholders were heard and that the words resonate so much so that the tune or melody is familiar. The vision, mission and core values reflect truly who we are and where we are going with much intention.鈥�

Squire is currently a threat intelligence researcher for F-Secure, a Finnish company specializing in cyber security and privacy. Under the theme of “everything is always changing all the time”, Squire said that in her workplace, AI tools are not optional; they are a “power up” that can increase individual productivity several times over.

However, those “AI tools are kinda problematic and also kinda good”, and there is a lot of gray area of what is ethical or even authentic. Squire encouraged students to find ways to protect themselves, their identities, and their value as they graduate and enter the job market.

Hosted weekly by the Department of Physics and Astronomy, Physics & Astro Tea promises engaging discussions, thought-provoking ideas and a delightful spread of refreshments. Open to all students, faculty and staff, this gathering is the perfect opportunity to connect with fellow physics aficionados in a relaxed and informal setting. Meetings take place in the third-floor lounge of Innovation Hall at 3:20 p.m. on Wednesdays.

Crider presented the 2026 Stellar Society Lecture at GTCC, 鈥淭he End of Science as We Know It: Lessons for Today from the Scientific and Industrial Revolutions,鈥� which explored historical parallels between past technological revolutions and the rapid rise of artificial intelligence.

Crider described how exponential improvements in technology have often disrupted traditional career pathways and said jobs in science are no exception.

鈥淲hen you鈥檙e looking at jobs and AI, it鈥檚 important to think about where you are in your lifetime,鈥� Crider said, noting that older employees may have different concerns than those who are mid-career or about to enter the workforce. He advised college students to diversify their educational interests and goals to maximize future opportunities.

He said artificial intelligence is already automating several aspects of science and industry and that these changes are likely to continue in the foreseeable future.