Tuesday, February 8, 2022

Crosspost: Physics Conference Creates Positive Experience for Kassaye, Stapley

Written by  The College of Idaho 
The College of Idaho sophomore, Bezawit Kassaye (left), and senior Mackenzie Stapley (right) present their research on star-forming regions in the Milky Way at the January 2022 Conferences for Undergraduate Women in Physics (CUWiP).
Sophomore Bezawit Kassaye one day wants to own her own business that integrates the fashion industry with technology, which is why she’s double-majoring in computer science and business administration.

But her interest in another subject led her to an opportunity outside the classroom, as she was one of two College of Idaho students to make presentations at the 2022 Conferences for Undergraduate Women in Physics in January.

“I’ve always loved physics, that’s why I ended up taking the research opportunity,” Kassaye said. “I love physics, I am interested in astronomy, and it integrated computer science with it.”

Kassaye and senior Makenzie Stapley, a math-physics major, each presented on different aspects of the same project: research on star-forming regions within the Milky Way galaxy called Yellowballs that is led by physics professor Dr. Katie Devine. Kassaye’s presentation focused on the distance to the Yellowball regions while Stapley’s presentation focused on the colors. The conference was slated to be an in-person event but was shifted online due to COVID trends. The result was everyone presenting at one virtual conference, rather than multiple regional conferences. The volume of presentations limited the number of interactions, but both students were grateful for the opportunity.

Learn more about Kassaye and Stapley's experience at CUWiP 2022 and Dr. Devine's unique approach on mentoring undergraduate students at:

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