Summer 2013

This summer I have been examining a phenomenological model of the flow in a rotating can, which may be analogous to submesoscale ocean eddy flow. I hope to spend the rest of the summer investigating the effect the overturning rate has on modeled phytoplankton growth through a simple quadratic NPZ model using the rotating can flow. Read on for more of what's been done so far.

MIT-WHOI Joint Program in Physical Oceanography: An Update

Wow, it has been a very long time since I posted anything here. I suppose that's not surprising, though, because I am in my first year of graduate school. I'll just give a short update.

At WHOI Again

I am back at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute for the summer, and it is nice to be back. I am continuing my work with Young-Oh Kwon on divers4oceanography.org; specifically I am trying to determine whether the temperature data from SCUBA divers is useful for oceanography. So far I have been looking at a small data set and thinking about what 'useful' means.

In other news, I absolutely love sailing. I sailed sunfish a bunch when I was much younger, and have just recently gotten back into sailing, including a 10-day tallship cruise through WHOI and SEA on the SSV Corwith Cramer, a beautiful ship. The cruise was exhausting but fun, and we were able to collect a huge amount of water samples for scientists at WHOI.

Well, back to work. I hope everyone is having a great summer.

Articles

Having graduated from Skidmore about two weeks ago, one would think I would have plenty of time to update this blog. Fortunately or unfortunately, that is not the case. I have temporarily moved home, spent time finding an apartment for the fall, and am working on modifying my math thesis to submit it for publication. Meantime, I realized I have not put up my previously published articles. So, here they are:
Self Assembly of Janus Ellipsoids (Langmuir, 2012, 28, 3-9)
Encapsulation by Janus Spheroids (Soft Matter, 2012, 8, 6027)

I hope everyone's enjoying the summer. Hopefully, more updates soon.

WHOI

So, it's decided- I'm going to WHOI for grad school! I'm really excited to be going back, since I had a good time researching there in January. I'll be there for the summer and doing a 10 day research cruise on a sailing ship. Come fall, I'll be living in Boston and taking most of my classes at MIT.

Speaking of WHOI, I just found this picture: Picture of the Day

I hope everyone out there looking at grad schools is as happy as I am right now.

Quick Update

Hi all-
This semester has been wildly busy, despite taking as few credits as I ever have. Between a thesis and research, traveling to grad schools, and general coursework, I haven't updated in far too long. So here's what's been going on:

Updated CV: new research listed

Genevieve (Jay) Brett

Education
MIT-WHOI Joint Program
Physical Oceanography 
 
Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY, May 2012
BA in Mathematics and Physics
GPA: 3.885 Overall, 4.000 Math, 3.957 Physics
Dean’s List Highest Honors, Fall 2008-present
Honors Forum member
Porter Scholar in Mathematics and Science

Study Abroad at l’Universite de Sherbrooke, Canada, Spring 2011
College of Literature and Humanities

University of Bridgeport, Bridgeport, CT, Summer 2007 and 2009

Hopkins School, New Haven, CT, May 2008

Research Experience
“Divers4Oceanography.org”, January and  July-September 2012

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, working with Drs. Andres and Kwon

Examining the feasibility of using scuba divers’ temperature data for coastal oceanographic research. Analysis of initial data and experiments. Presented at WHOI, January 2011.

Introduction to Partial Differential Equations Using Fluid Mechanics Applications, January to June 2012

Thesis in Mathematics at Skidmore, advised by Professor Rachel Roe-Dale

Presenting a brief history and introduction to differential equations and fluid mechanics, followed by work similar to Burchard, 2001(J. Phys. Ocean.) and Craig, 1996(J. Geophys. Research).

“The deepening rate of the ocean surface boundary layer under breaking waves”, September 2011 to May 2012
Skidmore College Department of Physics, working with Professor Greg Gerbi
Using analysis and numerical simulation to examine the transmission of turbulent kinetic energy through a stratified ocean column with wave breaking.

“Encapsulation by Janus Particles”, May to August 2011
Lehigh University Department of Physics REU, working under Professor Jim Gunton
Used standard Monte Carlo simulation to investigate the efficiency of encapsulating spherical particles by Janus ellipsoids as a function of the density and ellipsoid aspect ratio.  Presentations: Lehigh July 2011, Skidmore October 2011.
Articles: submitted “Encapsulation by Janus Oblate Spheroids”; accepted  Langmuir “Self Assembly of Janus Ellipsoids”

“Electric charge memory design using finite element methods in Java”, June to August 2010
Skidmore College Department of Physics, working with Professor Andrew Skinner
Programmed and evaluated a finite-element electric field estimation which was used to examine possible designs of charge-holding “Coulomb Pucks”.  Presented at Skidmore October 2010.

Community and Leadership
Pi Mu Epsilon, Skidmore, Vice President Sept.-Dec. 2010 and Sept. 2011-May 2012
Martial Arts Club, Skidmore, Vice President Jan.-May 2009, Treasurer Sept. 2009-May 2012
Society of Physics Students, Skidmore, chapter Treasurer Sept.-Dec. 2010
Student Academic Council, Skidmore, Physics Department Representative Sept.-Dec. 2010
Science Networking Organization, Skidmore, founding member and Treasurer Sept.-Dec. 2010

Awards and Society Memberships

·         Skidmore's Robert and Marcia DeSieno Prize for Excellence in Mathematics, May 2012

·         Skidmore's Eleanor A. Samworth Prize in Physics, May 2012

Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics member, awarded by the Skidmore Math faculty, November 2011

American Mathematical Society member, awarded by the Skidmore Math faculty, November 2010 and 2011

Sigma Pi Sigma member, inducted April 2010

Pi Mu Epsilon member, inducted March 2010

Nominated for the Goldwater Scholarship, January 2010

Additional Experience and Skills
Peer Tutor, September 2009-present
Skidmore College, Student Academic Services
Courses: General Physics 1 and 2, Light and Color, Modern Physics, Calculus 1

Grader, September 2009-December 2010
Skidmore College, Mathematics and Computer Science Department
Courses: Calculus 1, Statistics, Linear Algebra

Student Worker, Student Supervisor, September 2008-present

Skidmore College Dining Services

Putnam exam participant, each December 2008-present

Score of 10 on the 2010 exam

 
Advanced spoken and intermediate written French
Experience with MATLAB, Mathematica, and GOTM
Proficient with programming in Java, basic understanding of C++