December 18, 2024
Kenley Stanger, a 91¶ÌÊÓƵ environmental science fall 2024 College of Science co-valedictorian, with a passion for zoology, spent this past July immersed in the Indonesian jungle, studying orangutans. Over ten days, she tracked a mother orangutan and her infant, observing their daily behavior.
Pre-algebra to Medical Physics: My Journey to a PhD
When I was in my mid-twenties, I read James Gleick’s Isaac Newton, a 2004 Pulitzer Prize finalist about… well, Isaac Newton. I can’t recall why I chose that biography because I had no mathematical or scientific background whatsoever (I suppose I was in a biography phase); however, I can recall the profound impact that it had on me. I was astounded that someone (around) my age could invent such a revolutionary tool in mathematics: calculus. Upon finishing the book, I made it my goal to learn calculus. 
If you were to look through my transcript, you would find that my first mathematics course was MATH 950: Pre-algebra. I was happy with my placement and showed up to that first class eager to establish the foundation that would help me achieve my goal.
Ryan Gardner
First-year PhD student in the Department of Medical Physics
at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
Weber State Alumni, Major in Physics
January 13, 2025
Latest Entries
Study Abroad, Just Do It!
Undergrad Research
October 28, 2024
My pursuit of avian research started two years ago when I arrived on the first day of my undergraduate-level Zoology M1110 class and was informed by the professor that there was a field experience available to students called bird banding. I had never heard of bird banding before and had no idea at the time where it would take me.
A Journey for Conservation
September 27, 2024
Throughout the Americas, millions of migratory shorebirds depend upon saline lakes. However, alarming reports and photos of these lakes drying up point to the devastating impacts of too much water being extracted from the lakes or their inflows. One of the species most dependent on saline lakes is Wilson’s Phalarope.
Students Explore Zion
August 8, 2024
For two weeks this summer, select students conducted botanical research at Zion National Park as part of a paid program. Sadie Dunn, a 91¶ÌÊÓƵ student and program attendee, described the experience as “liberating,” saying, “It's grueling labor, and I have insane amounts of respect for those that do it for a job...