Science Events Calendar

Mathematicians model the sound an object makes by its spectrum, a collection of numbers. "Hearing shapes" means reconstructing geometric properties from the spectrum. Famously posed as "Can you hear the shape of a drum?" spectral geometry asks which properties of shape can be "heard," i.e. determined by its spectrum.

Roughly speaking, manifolds are "smooth" objects, while orbifolds are "almost smooth." A major open question is "Can a smooth manifold and a not-entirely smooth orbifold have the same spectrum? We will give a basic introduction to spectral geometry, manifolds, and orbifolds, and describe some recent results related to this question.

Join two-time CLS participant Mahli Knutson '20, Dean Lisa Gates (and hopefully some other CLS participants!) to learn more about the Critical Language Scholarship program. It’s a summer study-abroad program in 15 languages. See clscholarship.org for more info. Apps due Nov 19. All class years eligible, must be US citizen.

Opportunity for NSCI majors to learn more about helping local high school students prepare for the annual Vermont Brain Bee. VBB Coordinator Lisa Bernardin will be on hand discuss details.

Featuring Middlebury College Faculty Members:
Kathleen Doyle, Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology and Environmental Studies
Rebecca Gould, Associate Professor of Environmental Studies
Joseph Holler, Assistant Professor of Geography
Chris Klyza, Stafford Professor of Public Policy, Political Science, and Environmental Studies

EVENT LOCATION: Franklin Environmental Center, front porch

Meet at the front porch of the Franklin Environmental Center to join the very popular Campus Tree Tour led by passionate Middlebury horticulturalist and tree expert Tim Parsons. Learn fun facts and hear stories about various trees around campus. Tim will also explain how he manages our rural Vermont campus as an urban forest. Stick around after the tour to help with a tree planting and enjoy fresh local donuts and cider.

Visit the Mittelman Observatory and enjoy the night sky from the telescopes atop McCardell Bicentennial Hall. In the case of potentially poor weather, please call 802-443-2266 after 6:00 p.m. to find out if the event has been canceled.

McCardell Bicentennial Hall, Mittelman Observatory, Seventh Floor

Learn about fellowships with late fall/winter deadlines: Beinecke, Critical Language Scholarship (CLS), Goldwater, Hollings, PPIA, Rangel Summer Program, Truman, Udall and more. Most of these are only open to sophomores and juniors--but a few (like CLS!) are also open to first-years and seniors. These include awards for graduate study, summer study, and undergraduate study in various fields. For more info and to register for the info session, go to go.middlebury.edu/fellowships.

“This Land Is Our Land: How We Lost the Right to Roam and How to Take It Back” by Ken Ilgunas, Author and Journalist.

Author and adventurer Ken Ilgunas will talk about his 1,700-mile hike across the Great Plains and how it inspired him to call for an American “right to roam.” Inspired by the United States' history of roaming, and taking guidance from present-day Europe, Ilgunas calls into question our entrenched understanding of private property and provocatively proposes something unheard of: opening up American private property for public recreation.

Cosponsored by the American Studies Program