From Jackson’s Garden to Peru, summer research a staple of the Union experience

When Josephine Proctor ‘25 was 13, their mother took them to the Cloisters, a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, for a historical exhibit on playing cards.

Highlighting the only three decks of European hand-painted playing cards known to have survived from the late Middle Ages, the decks featured images of hunting, a popular medieval pastime. The high quality of the paintings on the woodcut cards included diverse suits of falcons, hounds, ducks and others. Based on their excellent condition, the cards were likely for collectors and not for standard use.

“It was so cool and very beautiful,” said Proctor of the 2016 exhibit, “The World in Play: Luxury Cards, 1430–1540.”

That trip seven years ago inspired a keen interest in playing cards that is now the focus of Proctor’s summer research project.

Proctor is among more than 125 students across dozens of disciplines engaged in research this summer. Most projects are funded through the College’s undergraduate research program. Government or scientific society grants to faculty members, academic departments and foundation funding support the rest.

Card games originated in China in the ninth century before spreading to India and the Middle East. Proctor is tracing the spread of playing cards from Asia into Europe.

“I am focusing on the differences and similarities between some European countries' standard styles and how that imagery developed within each country,” said Proctor, an anthropology and visual arts major from New York City.

Working with their advisor, Sheri Lullo, associate professor of Asian art history, Proctor is also “looking at the connection between playing cards and tarot cards, the production of commercial playing cards, and how they evolved into the standard deck that we are familiar with today.”

As a Seward Interdisciplinary Fellow, Proctor will build upon this summer research in the fall to design and create their own deck of playing cards.

For nearly 40 summers, Union has fostered close working relationships between thousands of students and faculty as part of its longstanding commitment to undergraduate research.

“Our summer program is an ideal opportunity for students to get their feet wet in an immersive and professional research environment,” said Heather Watson, director of undergraduate research and associate professor of physics and astronomy.

In labs and study spaces on campus, students are immersed in a diverse mix of projects. For example, Garrett Butler '25, a computer science major from Reading, Mass., is one of the students working on the Unity ROS (Robot Operating System) VR project with Matthew Anderson, assistant professor of computer science. The project turns real-life surroundings into virtual reality and simulates control of a robot with laser-scanning (LiDAR) capabilities.

In a lab in the Integrated Science and Engineering Complex, Young Jun Chun '25, a biomedical engineering major from Seoul, South Korea, aims to characterize efficient reduction methods or combinations of reduction methods that will result in enhanced antibacterial properties of reduced graphene oxide from graphene oxide.

Nearby, Francis Fan '25, a mechanical engineering major from Hangzhou, China, is studying the optimal shape of auxetic structures of applications as part of his main summer research project.

On a recent weekday morning, Aspen Morris ’25 and Christopher Chandler, assistant professor of music, gathered in Jackson’s Garden to capture the sound of birds and the environment. Morris and Alicia Cynamon ‘25 are interested in bird song, field recording and creating music.

Morris is a double major in computer science and music from Lutherville, Md. Cynamon is a biology major from New York City.

Working with Chandler, their project involves recording various soundscapes, both natural/rural and urban. They plan to write several movements of music that will generally describe the plight of disappearing bird song due to climate change and other human-created environmental problems.

“We're drawing from the history of soundscape composition and our own backgrounds to produce work that is at once a coherent product while still unique to our skill sets,” said Morris. “We want to explore new, creative methods of ecological outreach and spreading awareness about the dangers of anthropogenic activity.”

Summer research also can take students to far-flung places of the globe.

Xander Forsyth '25 and Kirsten Litchfield '25 are examining cave deposits from Peru that can contribute to the global paleoclimate record.

The two geosciences majors are analyzing speleothems – mineral deposits left by dripping cave water – and data from sensors at three caves in the high Andes to better establish modern cave climate systems.

In June, Forsyth was part of the team that visited the remote caves to collect samples and access instrumentation.

Leading the project are Donald T. Rodbell, the Jane and John Wold Professor of Geosciences; David Gilliken, professor of geosciences; and Elizabeth Olsen, post-doctoral research fellow.

Work by the Union faculty and students has shown that climate change in the tropics has corresponded in lockstep with global climate, a finding published by Rodbell last year in “Nature.”

Forstyth and Litchfield hope to present their work at the fall conference of the Geological Society of America in Pittsburgh.

The summer research program at Union includes weekly elevator pitches for students to share their projects with other students and faculty. There are also weekly seminars related to career development and campus resources that may be useful for research.

A poster session highlighting many of the summer projects will held Friday, Aug. 4, in the Wold Atrium.

“The one-on-one time with faculty, and the time to focus on a single project for several weeks allows students to gain experience and delve deeper into a topic than they can during the academic year,” said Watson. “It is a great chance for students to explore their ideas in greater depth, and to see if graduate school is a path that they would consider for their future. Many students also use this summer experience as a springboard for their senior thesis or other independent study in the coming year.”