A GLIMPSE of two dazzling stars
ENVISION Magazine, 2005
"Located in the middle of the Galactic Plane, 20,000 light-years from Earth is one of the most energized star formation regions in the Galaxy," penned senior Heidi Gneiser about the dazzling star on the cover of this magazine. Pretty heady stuff! Not so for space/math major Gneiser whose career goal is to "let opportunity guide my direction." One of those opportunities has been her involvement with the L&S Alumni Mentor Program and her mentor astrophysicist Patrick Slane.
Slane '77, who works for the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory at Harvard University in the High Energy Astrophysics Division, signed on to the Alumni Mentor Program without hesitation. "The debt that I owe to the physics department at UW-Whitewater can probably never be repaid," said Slane.
He feels indebted to a virtual "who's who" of UW-Whitewater physics professors: Ron Bergsten, Russ Helwig, Don Manley, Elmer Redford and Hugo Tscharnack.
"These professors have invited me to give talks at UW-Whitewater, have shown up at talks I've given and have maintained a serious interest in the work I do now," said Slane, who received a bachelor of science in education degree from UW-Whitewater, followed by a master's degree in mathematics from UW-Milwaukee and a doctorate in physics from the UW-Madison.
Slane and Gneiser started their mentor/ protege connection a year ago communicating via email frequently. Some 60 emails later, they have discussed her course schedule, future post undergraduate work, summer research programs, current star study with Benjamin and her spring semester study abroad at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia. They also email on the merits of rock climbing and cross-country skiing. There is nothing like the enthusiasm of a student to remind you why you are doing what you are doing, said Slane. – Cynthia Vergenz