Scientia, Volume 2 (2011)

From the Editors We are pleased to present the second edition of *Scientia*, the journal of undergraduate science research at the University of Notre Dame. The journal brings together, over the course of the academic year, a dynamic group of undergraduates from every department in the College of Science to organize and edit the research of their peers. With this issue, we hope to spotlight some of the scientific research being conducted by Notre Dame undergraduate students. From the mathematics of knots to malaria, leaf decomposition to supernovae, *Scientia* gives you a taste of the rich and diverse work of Notre Dame students. Additionally, our news articles spotlight just a few of the many exciting new developments in the College of Science, such as the construction of a second particle accelerator in Nieuwland Hall and the creation of the Department of Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics. Beyond the publication, the 2010-2011 academic year has been a time of significant growth for the journal. In the Fall, we instituted a new meeting format that combined discussions of journal business with presentations from undergraduate and faculty researchers. These public meetings were conceived as an opportunity for Notre Dame students to come together as a research community founded on dialogue and discussion. The meetings’ informal atmosphere—as embodied by our poster slogan, which invites students to come to the meetings and “Talk Science!”—has been met with great enthusiasm. The speakers covered a diverse range of topics, as featured on page 39. We look forward to continuing these dynamic meetings in Fall 2011 with additional faculty and undergraduate speakers. Also of note, this year we gained a new funding source for the journal. Since the creation of the journal, the College of the Science and several other donors have been very supportive of *Scientia*’s activities. However, finding a permanent donor was always a concern of the journal staff. In December 2010, thanks to the efforts of the Deans Office of the College of Science, the Charles Edison Fund agreed to provide *Scientia*’s publication costs each year. This generous grant will greatly ease our financial burdens, not only for next year, but the foreseeable future. To close, we thank all of the people whose efforts have made *Scientia* possible. This includes especially Dr. Gregory Crawford, Dean of the College of Science; the Staff of the Dean’s Office; Dr. Dominic Chaloner, our faculty advisor; and the tireless enthusiasm of our phenomenal editors, reviewers, and layout team. In Notre Dame, Nancy Paul Paul Baranay *Scientia* Co-Editors-in-Chief