Barnard College Physics Professor Reshmi Mukherjee to Participate in the New York Schools Cosmic Particle Telescope Summer Institute at New York University, August 9-23

New York, NY, July 23, 2002 – Reshmi Mukherjee, Assistant Professor of Physics at Barnard College, will serve as a faculty member for the New York Schools Cosmic Particle Telescope (NYSCPT) Project, a consortium that includes the Physics Departments of Barnard College, Columbia University and New York University.

The NYSCPT Summer Institute, to be held August 9-23, is a summer research course for high school teachers and students aimed at fostering a university-school collaboration and building an ultra high-energy cosmic particle telescope in New York City. In teams composed of two students and one teacher, participants will both study background information on cosmic particle physics and astrophysics and engage in hands-on building of various experimental apparatuses. In addition to Mukherjee, the faculty organizers include Prof. Glennys Farrar of NYU, Prof. Stefan Westerhoff and Britt Reichborn-Kjennerud of Columbia University, and Mr. Wesley Pitts of CUNY Gateway Institute of Pre-College Education.

The summer research institute is part of a larger effort to build a cosmic particle observatory in New York City that would be utilized by science classes at all levels in the New York City Schools. The program is open, by application, to city high school science teachers as well as 9th, 10th, and 11th grade students interested in science and mathematics. Both teacher and student participants are expected to continue their research projects at their home schools after the completion of the Summer Institute.

The two-week program includes science courses taught at NYU facilities, equipment building and laboratory research. The program also features a tour of the Barnard and Columbia campuses. Funding for the NYSCPT Summer Institute is provided by Barnard College, Columbia University, NYU, CUNY's Gateway Institute for Pre-College Education and Wolfram Research, and the National Science Foundation, among others.

Contact: Petra Tuomi, Office of Public Affairs, 212-854-7907
Rebecca Eckstein, Office of Public Affairs, 212-854-2037