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Two Bard College student researchers were awarded top prizes at the American Physical Society New York State Section Meeting, held at SUNY Albany on April 18. Fiona Boutelle ’27 took home the first prize for her work on deep-space galactic structures, while Fonsea Bagchi ’29 earned third prize for his research into the environmental sensitivities of gravitational-wave detectors. Boutelle presented research titled “Observing Ultra Diffuse Galaxies in the Near-Infrared with the James Webb Space Telescope,” which focused on vast, hazy galaxies that are nearly as large as our Milky Way but contain very few stars. Her research, conducted during a program at Wellesley College with professor Lamiya Mowla, provided critical evidence that the faintness of these galaxies is an intrinsic physical property rather than an effect caused by dust. Bagchi was honored for his poster, “Thunderstorms During O3,” with research conducted with Bard physics researcher Adrian Helmling-Cornell and Antonios Kontos, assistant professor of physics at Bard. Bagchi’s work addressed how environmental factors like weather interfere with advanced LIGO detectors, the world’s most sensitive instruments used to detect gravitational waves from merging black holes. By modeling how LIGO’s sensors and data channels respond to the sound of thunderclaps, Bagchi proposed a new method that allows scientists to monitor how environmental noise “couples” to the detectors, an important step towards improving their sensitivity.

The Bard Physics Program is dedicated to helping students at all levels gain a better understanding of the universe and how it works.

Abigail Wilson ’23, Bard College alumna and graduate student in chemical synthesis at UCLA, has been announced as a recipient of a 2026 Graduate Research Fellowship from the National Science Foundation, a federal agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the nonmedical fields of science and engineering. Since 1952, the Graduate Research Fellowship Program has recognized and supported outstanding graduate students who are pursuing full-time research-based master’s and doctoral degrees in STEM fields, including STEM education. Each fellowship provides three years of support over a five-year fellowship period. 

The Chemistry and Biochemistry Program at Bard is geared toward meeting the needs of students planning to do graduate and/or professional work in a variety of chemistry, biochemistry, and engineering subfields. During their course of study, students receive research training in modern methods in chemistry, including extensive hands-on experience with contemporary instruments and equipment.