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The Door in the Ground - Installation View
No full texthttps://lux.lawrence.edu/artgallery_se2025/1055/thumbnail.jp
Fit or Unlit: Using Quantum Dots to Investigate the Effects of a Floral Yeast and Nectar Robbing on Male Fitness in Ipomopsis aggregata
No full textThe interaction network between pollinators, plants, and the microbes that inhabit them is not yet widely understood. Most studies of floral microbes have focused on the role of nectar yeasts (e.g., Metschnikowia reukaufii) in the behavior of bumble bee pollinators and how they affect the fitness of plant subjects. However, little is known about the effects of these microbes on the hummingbird-pollinated wildflower Ipomopsis aggregata. To gain further understanding of this interaction, a full factorial experimental design with two treatment levels was employed: supplementation with sterile vs. M. reukaufii-inoculated nectar analogue and artificial nectar robbing vs. no nectar robbing. Fluorescent quantum dots were used to quantify how these factors affected the dispersal of pollen grains from donor plants by comparing pollen donation across the four plant treatments. The results suggest potential male fitness advantage on unrobbed plants, evidenced by significantly higher pollen donation from unrobbed donor plants to neighboring individuals. The presence of yeast in plants showed slightly lower pollen donation respective to the presence of robbing, however the trend did not display statistical significance. This indicates that the absence of nectar robbing in I. aggregata, but not the presence of yeast or lack-there-of, may promote outcrossing, impacting hummingbird visitation and pollen dispersal. These findings imply that, not nectar yeasts, but nectar robbing decrease the male fitness of the hummingbird-pollinated I. aggregata plant
Baccalaureate 2025
No full textProgram:
Prelude
Benjamin K. Keating ’25, organ
Land Acknowledgement
Noemi Delgado, Director of Accessibility Services
Musical Selection
Vesper Sparrow | Missy Mazzoli (b. 1980) 8AVES Tanvi Thatai ’25, soprano Sarah K. Ruiz ’26, soprano Ava K. A. Wadia ’26, alto Sam Dill ’25, alto Benjamin K. Keating ’25, tenor Matthew J. Carlson ’25, tenor Alexander Z. Alden ’25, baritone Curtis R. Anderson ’25, bass
Call to Prayer
Reeshi Bhattacharjee ’25 and Shreeya S. Tilva ’25 – Hinduism Nazlee D. Harunani ’25 and Fariah Jannat ’25 – Islam Danielle C. Bruce ’25 – Judaism Madeline N. Markham ’25 and Allison A. Juárez Wunderlin ’25 – Christianity Miranda R. Lawson ’25 – Paganism
Jazz Trio
April | Reese Pike (b. 2002) Reese Pike ’25, piano Vivian Shanley ’26, bass Owen E. Finch ’25, drums
Welcome and Introduction of the Speaker
Laurie A. Carter, President of Lawrence University
Address to the Class of 2025
Robert McDonald ’73
Jazz Trio
Wheatland | Oscar Peterson (1925–2007)
Closing Reflection
Terra Winston-Sage ’00, Julie Esch Hurvis Dean of Spiritual and Religious Life
Postlude
Helen Y. Panshin ’25, organ
Speaker Biography
Robert McDonald ’73, an accomplished pianist on the world stage, will address graduates at the 2025 Baccalaureate service and will be awarded an Honorary Doctor of Music Arts degree.
McDonald has been a sought-after pianist for decades, performing in concerts and presenting masterclasses around the world. He has performed and recorded with Isaac Stern and Midori, as well as with numerous high-profile ensembles.
He is on the faculty at The Juilliard School and the Curtis Institute of Music, where he holds the Penelope P. Watkins Chair in Piano Studies. He has been the recipient of the gold medal at the Busoni International Piano Competition, the top prize at the William Kapell International Competition, and the Deutsche Schallplatten Critics Award. In addition to being the artistic director of the Taos School of Music and Chamber Music Festival in New Mexico, he has participated in the Bergen, Lucerne, and Salzburg festivals in Europe, the Four Seasons, Marlboro, and Brevard festivals in the United States, the Steans Institute at Ravinia, as well as at the Banff Center in Canada and the Music Academy of the West.
McDonald holds degrees from Lawrence, the Curtis Institute of Music, and Juilliard. He has taught at Juilliard since 1999 and the Curtis Institute since 2007. He was honored by Lawrence in 1990 with the Nathan M. Pusey Distinguished Achievement Award and was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Manhattan School of Music in 2018.
In advance of a 2022 performance at Bowling Green State University, McDonald talked about how his Lawrence experience prepared him for what was to come. It was the first time, he said, that he had role models for a life in music.
“The Lawrence experience set me on the right path,” he said.
He continues to stay connected to Lawrence. When the Conservatory of Music took its 150-year celebration to New York City during the recent spring break—11 students spent four days in NYC attending masterclasses, one-on-one sessions, and performing at Manhattan School of Music—McDonald was among the alumni working with the students.
ASL Interpretation provided by ASL Partners, LLC
Music Acknowledgement
Vesper Sparrow was commissioned and premiered by Grammy award-winning vocal octet Roomful of Teeth in 2012. The work was inspired by Sardinian “cantu e tenore” vocal techniques and includes an imitation of the call of the vesper sparrow. Farnoosh Fathi’s poem Home State weaves in and out of the texture. The work was recorded for Roomful of Teeth’s Grammy-nominated album Render.
Production Acknowledgements
A very special thank you to the following: Alvina Tan ’06 and Brent Hauer ’10 for their assistance with production. Andrew Mast and Daniel E. Schwandt for organizing our musicians
Desire, Disobedience, and Drag: My Lesbian Fangirling of Emily Dickinson, Aaron Copland, and Alena Smith
Get PDFTaking an interdisciplinary approach that sits at the intersection of musicology, literary studies, and queer studies, I undergo a queer reading of Emily Dickinson’s writings and subsequent interpretations of her works. I begin my analysis with a queering of genre, using archival evidence to consider the complex ways gendered genre norms affected how Dickinson wrote, how her works were edited and published, and how people have since read her. I then undertake a genre-queer reading of some of the writings that she sent to Susan Dickinson, her sister-in-law and lifelong love. I turn next to Aaron Copland’s 1950 setting for voice and piano, Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson. In the context of the Lavender Scare, I consider Copland’s choice to dedicate these songs to friends—many amongst his circle of queer colleagues—and enact a reading of these songs as letters. Finally, I look at Alena Smith’s 2019 television series, Dickinson. I consider the impact of queer imagination on the show’s depiction of Dickinson, paying special attention to the interaction of queer fans (and Taylor Swift fans!) with the show. Throughout my project, I wonder about the potential of queer disobedience as a reading practice that allows us to resist heteronormative and patriarchal systems and, ultimately, imagine queer possibilities into being
Simple Yet Effective, Effective Yet Inclusive: A Skincare Line
Get PDFThis honors project addresses the lack of inclusive skincare formulations by developing a scientifically grounded skincare line with an antioxidant-rich serum, moisturizer, and cleanser tailored to support diverse skin types, particularly melanin-rich skin. The serum combines strawberry extract powder, Manuka honey, niacinamide, green tea extract, and humectants to promote hydration, antioxidant protection, and skin barrier reinforcement. Formulated with a stable pH of 5.0–5.5 and an effective preservative system, the product was tested through non-animal, biologically relevant models.
A UV protection assay using HEK293 cells demonstrated that the serum significantly reduces oxidative damage, increasing post-exposure cell viability to 80%, compared to 9–10% in untreated controls. Additional experiments currently ongoing; include a banana peel assay for moisture retention and oxidative browning, and an egg yolk membrane test to simulate lipid barrier protection under environmental stress. These models are chosen to uphold ethical standards and reduce reliance on animal testing.
This project merges biochemistry with cosmetic science to produce an inclusive, ethically tested, and functionally effective skincare products. The research not only supports the serum’s efficacy in combating oxidative stress and dehydration but also contributes to sustainable and inclusive innovation in skincare
Intersectional Resistance: German Working-Class Adaptation to Nazi Control
Get PDFPrior to the Nazi seizure of power, the working class in Germany held political power at the local and national level. Once the Nazi state obtained control, they took decisive action and dismantle workers institutions and control the working class. The working class was forced to adapt to these rapidly changing circumstances and push back against the Nazi state in ways dictated largely by the conditions in which workers found themselves. Workers with vastly different experiences, from forced laborers to enthusiastic fascist volunteers experiences the Nazi states contempt for workers and resisted. By examining this resistance and the effects it had on the Nazi states efforts to control workers we can learn how anti-worker policy drives action
Libertad, Soberanía, e Independencia
No full texthttps://lux.lawrence.edu/artgallery_se2025/1016/thumbnail.jp
Querido Rocinante/ Dear Rocinante
No full texthttps://lux.lawrence.edu/artgallery_se2025/1013/thumbnail.jp