Sixteen Brown University students have been named Royce Fellows for the 2007-8 academic year.

With the 15 newly announced fellows, the Society¹s membership now stands at nearly 240.

The 2007 Royce Fellows are:

Adam Backer ‘08
Albany, NY
Concentration: Engineering & Physics
Project Title: Investigating Metamaterials and the Invisibility Problem Using Finite Difference Frequency Domain Simulations
Breakthroughs in both the theory and fabrication of meta-materials have led researchers to speculate about the possibility of designing structures that guide light around objects, rendering them invisible. Using computational simulations, I will explore the physical limits of such devices and assess the material parameters necessary for their realization.

Eddie Blay ‘09
Bronx, NY
Concentration: Applied Mathematics-Biology
Project Title: Role of FGF2 in Alzheimer's disease
The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) contains several growth factors which have various metabolic functions in the brain. Of particular interest to me is the role of basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF2) in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). I will determine if excess FGF2 exacerbates AD pathology.

Brendyn Brooks-Stocking ‘09
Seattle, WA
Concentration: Economics & Environmental Studies
Project Title: Fishery Management on Wallace's Line: Building Capacity for Sustainable Fisheries Management in the Wakatobi National Marine Park, Sulawesi, Indonesia
A group of four students, led by Caroline Karp, will spend eight weeks on the islands of Hoga and Kaledupa in Sulawesi, Indonesia. Here we will apply an interdisciplinary approach to solving the problem of overfishing in this unique environment.

Deanna Chaukos ‘08
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Concentration: Biology
Project Title: Bridging the Gap – Natural Killer T Cells and Your Immune System
I will investigate the role of natural killer T (NKT) cells, a subset of the immune system whose function remains mysterious to scientists. The goal of my project is to determine if NKT cells are regulators of the acquired immune response. My findings may help categorize a third, new branch of the immune response – the bridge between natural and acquired immunity.

Alison Cohen ‘09
San Francisco , CA
Concentration: Community Health
Project Title: Cupertino, CA: Conducting Community-Based Participatory Research to Support Community Efforts Forcing Hanson Permanente Cement Kiln to be a Clean Neighbor
I will conduct quantitative and qualitative research in Cupertino, CA, to detail how the Hanson Permanente cement kiln affects local residents. I will conduct air sampling and interviews to determine possible strategies to reduce cement kiln emissions for the Natural Resources Defense Council and California Communities Against Toxics.

Esme Cullen ‘08
Madison, CT
Concentration: Human Biology & Literary Arts
Project Title: Exchanging Indigenous Healthcare for Conservation: Sustainable Medical Garden and Clinic
I intend to start an organic, community-worked medicinal garden and farm on the edge of Gunung Palung National Park in Borneo. The garden will help support a clinic and future hospital, combining western and traditional medicine, in which local communities can pay for healthcare through conservation and reforestation work-projects.

Laura Dee ‘09
Cheshire, CT
Concentration: Environmental Studies
Project Title: Holothurian Fishery Management on Wallace's Line: Building Capacity for Sustainable Fisheries Policies in Wakatobi National Park
The livelihood and culture of local fishery-based communities around the Wakatobi National Marine Park depend on sustainable fisheries. I propose to study the holothurian (sea cucumber) fishery and alternative co-management practices that can be implemented to reduce harvesting pressures and raise conservation awareness. As species that are sedentary and economically important, sea cucumbers are especially vulnerable to over-harvesting, which is problematic because of their ecological, economic and cultural significance.

Hans Dietrich ‘08
Visalia, CA
Concentration: Biophysics
Project Title: Smooth Operator: Cyclops' Nemesis
Smoothened Agonist (SAG) is known to operate on the protein Smoothened, which is important in limb and neural differentiation, including bone growth. My objective is to engineer a vehicle for the delivery of SAG, thereby stimulating new bone formation, an in the most extreme case, rescuing the condition of cyclopia.

Alan Gabel ‘08
Little Silver, NJ
Concentration: Physics
Project Title: Electrostatic Manipulation of Charged Biomolecules in Nanofluidic Channels
In this project, we will explore how biological molecules, like DNA, behave when confined in a small space and subjected to electrostatic forces. This will allow us to study various properties of DNA as well as how electric forces can be used to control the molecules.

Lindsay Hagamen ‘08
Deerfield, MA
Concentration: Environmental Science
Project Title: Water Contamination in the Tempisque Watershed, Costa Rica
I will be conducting an analysis of fresh water quality in the Tempisque Watershed in the Pacific Northwest of Costa Rica. Heavily impacted by agriculture, this region struggles to balance demands for development with ecological conservation. A better understanding of regional water contamination will help stakeholders develop appropriate natural resource management plans.

Anna Hermann ‘08
Portland, OR
Concentration: History
Project Title: Rebuilding a Nation: The Impact of the Re-Education Process on Repatriated German Prisoners of War
This project aims to identify and interview twent-five of the German prisoners of war kept at camps in Rhode Island during WWII as a part of a special program to “re-educate” nationalist socialis Germans in the ways of democracy. The interviews aim to learn about their experiences at the camps, and what effects these had on their lives once repatriated. The goal is to determine what impact, if any, the re-education had on the prisoners, and by extension, on post-WWII Germany.

Jeffrey Hofmann ‘08
Barrington, RI
Concentration: Computational Biology
Project Title: The Role of Mitochondrial Genetic Factors in Parkinson’s disease.
Parkin is a gene in humans and Drosophila whose absence causes ARJP. My hypothesis is that mitochondrial genotype alters the phenotype of parkin mutants. To test this, I will introduce different parkin mutations into several Drosophila stocks that have identical nuclear genotypes, but different mitochondrial genotypes, and conduct phenotypic assays

Ailish Kress ‘08
Newton, MA
Concentration: Geological Sciences
Project Title: Craters on Glacier Remnants: A Clue to the History of Water on Mars?
To further the knowledge and understanding of global climate change on Mars' recent past, I intend to research a type of surface feature on Mars called “oyster-shell” craters. Oyster-shell craters may help reveal the history of water on Mars in the past hundred million years.

William Krimmel ‘08
Tucson, AZ
Concentration: Human Biology: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Project Title: Male Host-Guarding in the Male Icheumonid Mesostenus Thoracicus
I will be working at the Darling Marine Center in Walpole, ME. I will make field observations, formulate hypotheses, and design experiments to test hypotheses both in the field and in the laboratory. My research will focus on the behavior of four species of parasitoid wasp.

Nathaniel Sloan ‘09
New York, NY
Concentration: Music
Project Title: Jewish Liturgical Music in the 20th Century: The Park Avenue Synegogue Commissions
From 1943 to 1976, the Parck Avenue Synagogue in New York annually commissioned works of Jewish liturgical music from distinguished contemporary composers. Nate will examine the archives of this forgotten project from a musical and historical perspective, and describe the motivations behind this unique attempt to create a body of modern sacred music.

Elizabeth Stern ‘08
Harpswell, ME
Concentration: Comparative Literature & Slavic Studies
Project Title: Literary Perspective on Ballet in early 20th Century Russia: Synthesis of Western Philosophy and Russian Spirituality
I am studying the work of critics Alexander Bonois and Akim Volynsky on ballet in early 20th cantury Russia. My goal is to elucidate how these two writers marry the West's prdominantly secular artistic tradition with the emerging paradigm of Russian modernism with its strong spiritual component.

Ho-Shia Thao ‘09
Sacramento, CA
Concentration: Human Biology and Anthropology
Project Title: Change in Gender Disparities in the American Hmong Family and its Effects on Healthcare Compliance in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota and Sacramento, California
This research project will evaluate the cultural change in gender disparities of Hmong families living in Minnesota and California since their arrival in the United States in the 1970’s and how the change has influenced the family’s decision-making process pursuant the issue of compliance in the US Healthcare system.

Tyler Whitmire ‘08
Arlington, VA
Concentration: History & Classics
Project Title: “If I Can't Love Hitler I Can't Love At All”: A. J. Muste's Life and Impact on Nonviolent Resistance from Tanganyika to Montgomery
Using the Sarthmore Peace Archives and personal interviews, I propose to research A. J. Muste's role as a conscientious objector and teacher of nonviolence, participant in the Civil Rights movement, leader of Vietnam protests, and involvement in decolonizing Africa. My studies will culminate in a written thesis.