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public, Nick is honing his history research skills, which
will better prepare him for his senior research and for
his career after graduation,” he said.
Earthquakes in Virginia
When most people
think of earthquakes in
the United States, the West
Coast typically comes to
mind. Earthquakes are
not frequent in Virginia,
but they do happen. Using
Randolph College’s own
seismograph, Tatiana
Gilstrap, an environmental
science professor, and
Qingping Yu ’13 began investigating alternative
methods for identifying and locating local seismic
events this summer. Their research is the first step in
a larger study.
“I have been interested in earthquake engineering
and geophysics since I was in high school,” said Yu. “I
am really curious about the science of earthquakes.”
The pair worked with semblance analysis to study
the microseismicity of Central Virginia. They used
the seismograph at Randolph’s Riding Center, one
of a number of seismic stations throughout the state
operated by Virginia Tech.
(Left to right) Qingping Yu ’13 and
Assistant Professor of Environmental
Science Tatiana Gilstrap
Preserving the College’s Musical History
For decades, the College’s music department has
sponsored performances by students, faculty, and guest
artists. The events were recorded on reel-to-reel tape and
stored in the Lipscomb Library. Some of 200 plus tapes
are nearly half a century old, and their sound quality
is degrading. Under the guidance of Randall Speer, a
Randolph music professor, Christine Gnieski ’13 and
Karl Speer ’12 are cataloging the performances, digitizing
them, and converting them to compact discs. This is the
second year of the painstaking project. Ultimately, the
performances will be made available to the community
at large through an online library catalog.
“This project bears considerable significance in
preserving primary historical data related to the musical
heritage of this institution,” said Randall Speer. “When
these materials become available to students and faculty,
we will have a very valuable resource, unique to this
institution.”
His students agree. Gnieski found it intriguing to
listen to the tapes and to relate to what students were
experiencing decades ago, while Karl Speer enjoyed the
span of music. “To be able to go through the music
produced at this College, to hear that evolution, that
growth, is a wonderful thing,” he said.
A Climate Action Plan
When the College became the first school in
Virginia to sign the American College and University
Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) in
2006, the institution agreed to create a plan to reduce
emissions of greenhouse gasses and ultimately
approach “climate neutrality.” A student’s work is
now moving the College closer to that goal.
“I’m very passionate about the environment,” said
Ludovic Lemaitre ’11, who is working to develop the
plan with Karin Warren, the Herzog Family Chair of
Environmental Studies. “Such research will benefit me
because the environmental field is getting larger and
more competitive every day, but a climate action plan
is something very unique and valuable for a college
student.”
A climate action plan is a detailed description of
strategies that an institution plans to use to reduce
direct and indirect emissions of greenhouse gasses
like carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane. The
emissions result from a range of common activities on
a college campus, like travel, laboratory activities, and
landscaping. Climate neutrality is a long-term goal that
is attained only after several decades of using a range of
planned mitigation strategies.
Warren said Lemaitre’s work on the plan will give
him valuable experience in sustainability planning
and make him proficient in a number of practical
skills, including energy analysis, data compilation and
presentation, communication, writing, and creative
collaboration.
Deciphering the Ciphers
Using science to understand
cryptology was the focus of
summer research for Thawda
Aung ’13 and Yesem Kurt,
a Randolph mathematics
professor. The duo used the
software program Mathematica
to look at cryptology, the
study and practice of hiding
(Left to right) Thawda Aung ’13 and
Assistant Professor of Mathematics
Yesem Kurt
information. Aung researched how common ciphers
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