Flanked by Senior Lecturer in Theater Kati Vecsey and theatrical technical director Michael Reidy, Travis Jones ’13 discusses his work as a set designer during the Mount David Summit in April. Photograph by Rene Minnis.

Name: Travis Jones ’13

Hometown: Ithaca, New York

Research advisers: Erica Rand, Whitehouse Professor

Martin Andrucki, Dana Professor of Theater

Research funding: Ellen Seeling Design Fellowship, established in memory of designer, playwright and director Ellen Seeling, a professor in the Bates theater department.

1. As a double major, you’re preparing for two theses. Could you describe each topic?

For art and visual culture with Erica Rand, I’m looking at the intersection of art and the development of public spaces through a case study of the New York City High Line. Originally a railway for the transportation of meats, agricultural goods and mail, the High Line is a 1.5-mile-long elevated park that runs along Manhattan’s West Wide. With the help of local art galleries, museums, designers and neighbors, the High Line opened in 2009 as New York’s first “park in the sky.”

For theater, I’m analyzing the ways in which the physical architecture of a venue influences the performance, focusing on circus-style shows. I’d like to know how circus performance has developed in America, looking at not only how spaces evolve to accommodate changing acts but also how the space shapes the audience experience.

2. What’s the connection between the two projects?

Both projects look at architectural spaces and how people interact with those spaces. Ultimately both are about how the elements of design impact the audience experience.

3. How did you become a flying trapeze instructor?

I took my first class at the Trapeze School of New York three years ago and got hooked immediately. When I figured out that I was going to conduct research in NYC this summer, I quickly got in contact with TSNY to set up a summer work schedule.

4. You have seen several circus performances while in NYC. Which is your favorite?

All the performances have their merits. From the spectacle of Cirque du Soleil’s Zarkana to the intimate and wild Empire by Spiegelworld, I have enjoyed so many shows. However, Traces at the Union Square Theater is my favorite. The blend of dance and circus made for a thoroughly entertaining evening.

5. What has been the most valuable part of studying in New York this summer?

The chance to live in an environment with which I had no previous experience, and analyze various locations within that environment, has helped me to grow as an individual. I’ve learned as much about how I interact with my immediate space — for example, how I behave in my apartment — as I have about how other people engage with the spaces I’m studying.

• Summer Student Research: High Line and high wires
• Summer Student Research: Of snails, brains and hunger
• Summer Student Research: Getting to the core of things

Along with Colin O’Leary ’13 and Alex Hulse ’14, Bergeron is studying snails and their neuropeptides: tiny molecules that help neurons talk to each other.

This spring, Bergeron was accepted to the Tufts Medical School Early Assurance Program, which guarantees admission to outstanding scholars two years ahead of matriculation. She plans to study abroad in Denmark this fall.

Student researcher Jenny Bergeron '14 has been accepted to the Tufts Medical School Early Assurance Program. Photograph by Phyllis Graber Jensen/Bates College

Name: Jenny Bergeron ’14

Hometown: Lewiston, Maine

Major: Biochemistry

Research adviser: Nancy Kleckner, associate professor of biology, who studies the neurological systems of ponds snails like Helisoma trivolis

Research funding: IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence, a program of the National Institute of Health. INBRE grants are awarded by the college to faculty and students conducting research in cell and molecular biology, biochemistry and neuroscience.

1. Say you’re sharing an elevator with a famous hip hop artist who’s curious about your research. How would you describe your work?

Our research is looking at neuropeptides in snail brains in relation to feeding behaviors. We can use this information to discover how neuropeptides work in the human brain — but the snail brain’s a lot easier to work on. It’s smaller and there are fewer things going on. It’s less complex.

2. What made you decide to study snails?

It is Nancy’s project, and she asked me to join. But I think she picked Helisoma because — well, it’s a pretty snail to begin with! — but there’s not a lot of data out there on it. I think that makes the research a lot more interesting than just redoing other people’s work.

3. What do you enjoy most about the research?

My favorite part of the research so far is that we got to do six weeks of it at Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory. That is a really cool environment. We had a lot of scientists our age around, and we had morning seminars and took a research presentation class. It was really exciting being in that environment, and to talk about your research and other people’s research was very collaborative.

Bergeron concentrates in the lab while her adviser, Nancy Kleckner, works in the background. Photograph by Phyllis Graber Jensen/Bates College

4. What’s the best part of working with your adviser, Nancy Kleckner? The most challenging?

The best part is that she’s from Bates. Many people at MDIBL don’t work with a professor from their college, so they drop off their research and never see it again. But since Nancy’s from Bates and she was a visiting scientist up there, she’ll still be working on it and I’ll be able to see the project transform over the next two years.

Plus, she’s really nice.

The most challenging part is not really her, but the fact that I haven’t taken neuroscience. So working with neuropeptides is definitely challenging, trying to figure out how the neuroscience works.

5. How does this summer research connect to your course work?

I’m a biochemist, and the research I’m doing with Nancy involves a lot of techniques that we use in cellular and molecular biology. I hear that a lot of the same techniques will come up in my future classes, too. So the research this summer is the same techniques, just different organisms.

6. Best part of being on campus in the summer?

When you see your professor walking around in shorts or just finished playing tennis, it’s kind of fun. And everyone’s a lot more relaxed in the summer.

• Summer Student Research: High Line and high wires
• Summer Student Research: Of snails, brains and hunger
• Summer Student Research: Getting to the core of things

David Harning ’13 is one of dozens of students conducting research on campus this summer. Photograph by Phyllis Graber Jensen/Bates College.

Name: David Harning ’13

Hometown: Rye, N.H.

Major: Geology; German minor

Research adviser: Beverly Johnson, associate professor of geology

Research funding: Hoffman Research Fellowship, supporting full-time summer research in any discipline through the Maximillian E. and Marion O. Hoffman Foundation

1. Say you’re sharing an elevator with a law clerk who’s curious about your research. How would you describe it?

Basically, I’m looking at sediment cores collected from the bottom of a lake. The geochemistry of these sediments reflect environmental and climate change. This particular lake is in New Zealand, and my core samples span the past 400 to 500 years (about 30 centimeters of material). Specifically, I’m analyzing the nutrient content and lake productivity in the layers of lake sediments. Through those analyses we can — hopefully — see changes over time. Those changes could be related to a number of things, such as climate change or human impacts in the watershed. It’s really a paleo-environment reconstruction project — seeing how the lake’s water quality and productivity has changed over 500 years.

2. What made you decide to study dirt at the bottom of a lake in New Zealand?

I went to New Zealand this past spring because I was looking for another study-abroad experience. I had already gone to Austria my sophomore year. I also needed to get some geology credits, and since I love the outdoors, New Zealand seemed like a logical fit. From there, the project just kind of fell in my lap. While at the University of Otago, I met a new professor who needed students for research; it seemed like a good fit. Before I left, I took samples to bring back to Bates.

3. What do you enjoy most about the research?

Harning, right, assists Margaret Pickoff ’13, left, at the Bates-Morse Mountain Conservation Area. Photograph by Phyllis Graber Jensen/Bates College

I’m looking forward to the results. That’s what is driving me through the lab work, which can be tedious and monotonous. I think it’s neat being able to see how the environment in New Zealand has changed in the last half a millenium just by looking, essentially, at the dirt in your hands.

4. What’s the best part of working with your adviser, Beverly Johnson? The most challenging?

She’s very accessible. Whenever I need her, even if she’s not in her office, I’ll shoot her an email and she responds really quickly. I’m never left feeling stranded or on my own. My work is largely independent, but obviously you need some guidance and clarification along the way.

I don’t think she has a worst part — yet!

5. How does this summer research connect to your course work?

It’s the basis for my thesis, which is a requirement for most majors. Also, the summer research is helping me get a month of this lab work out of the way. Now I won’t have to do it simultaneously with four courses over each of the fall and winter semesters.

6. Best part of being on campus in the summer?

It’s absolutely gorgeous! I love it. You get a completely different vibe. Walking around, especially in the morning, it’s quiet and pristine. You can go down to the Puddle, and it’s just so peaceful there. I’m really glad to be here this summer.

• Summer Student Research: High Line and high wires
• Summer Student Research: Of snails, brains and hunger
• Summer Student Research: Getting to the core of things