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News |
35 Years of Support
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How to Apply |
Awards & Judging
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Scholarship
Committee |
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Scholarship NEWS
VAN
NATTAN-HANSEN 2011
SCHOLARSHIP AWARD
WINNERS
by
Ron Pearson, DAS
President
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David
Bicknase
receives his
2011 Van
Nattan-Hansen
Scholarship
check from DAS
President Ron
Pearson |
At the August 12th
General Meeting it was
our pleasure to, once
again, recognize two top
students in astronomy
and physical sciences
with DAS Van
Nattan-Hansen
Scholarships. As in two
previous awards,
Colorado School of Mines
Engineering Physics
student David Bicknase
received a scholarship
award of $1,000. In this
incredibly hard
curriculum David
continues to be at the
top of his class and
will be entering his
junior year at Mines.
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Joey Gurrentz,
2011 Award
Winner |
The Van Nattan-Hansen
Committee was also
extremely gratified to
award a scholarship of
$1,500 to DAS Student
Member Joey Gurrentz,
who has graduated this
spring from Highlands
Ranch High School as a
National Merit Commended
Scholar. Mr. Gurrentz
could not attend the
meeting because he was
completing a summer
internship at the Los
Alamos National
Laboratory in the
Particle Physics
Division. Joey will be
starting his college
career in the
Astrophysics Honors
Program at the
University of Michigan.
In addition to his love
of, and interest in,
astronomy, he has
completed college level
course work in Organic
Chemistry and hopes to
be able to combine his
interests in these
sciences in his work at
Michigan.
At
the awards presentation
we also read a very
gratifying letter from
Van Nattan-Hansen
Scholarship 2007 student
Sara Simon of Morrison,
CO. This year she
completed her
undergraduate degree in
Physics and Astronomy at
the University of
Colorado at Boulder,
where she worked at the
LASP and CASA labs on
the Cosmic Microwave
Background. Sara earned
an honorary degree of
Summa Cum Laude in
Physics. She will be
going on to graduate
school for a Ph.D. in
Physics at Princeton
University, where she
will continue to work in
research on CMB
Cosmology! In her letter
to us, Sara concludes,
“I am extremely grateful
to you for all your
generosity to me. It is
through people like you,
who are dedicated to the
education of future
scientists, that I was
able to go to college
and begin my journey
into scientific
academia.”
It
is a great pleasure to
pass these thanks along
to all of you in the DAS
who have supported and
continue to support our
students through the
scholarship fund. You
are making a great
contribution to the
future of Astronomy and
the Physical Sciences
and helping to make the
DAS much more than just
an astronomy club!
David Bicknase
and Naomi Pequette
Receive
Van
Nattan-Hansen Awards for
2010
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David Bicknase
(top left) and
Naomi Pequette
(bottom left) at
the reception at
Chamberlin
Observatory
following the
award ceremony.
With DAS
President Ron
Pearson, 2009
award recipient
Neil Pearson,
and DU grad
student Jamie
Lomax. |
We awarded two
scholarships at the
September General
Meeting of the DAS. The
recipients this year
were Naomi Pequette of
Denver University and
David Bicknase
of Colorado School of
Mines. Both have been
past recipients of the
Van Nattan-Hansen
Scholarships.
However, this year's
award to Naomi was a bit
more special. Because
the scholarships are
limited to graduating
high school seniors and
undergraduate college
students, this was
Naomi's last opportunity
to apply. Naomi is now a
senior at DU majoring in
Physics and AstroPhysics.
After graduating in
spring 2011 she hopes to
move on to graduate
school in Astronomy,
possibly at U. of
Wisconsin, Madison. She
has been a student
member of the DAS since
high school and has
always focused her
sights on becoming a
professional astronomer.
In addition to the money
from the Van
Nattan-Hansen Fund, this
year her scholarship
award of $2,000 included
the funds received in
memory of our President
Emeritus, Larry Brooks
who passed away in
January 2010.
David Bicknase is a
sophomore majoring in
Engineering Physics at
Colorado School of
Mines, and doing
exceptionally well in a
tough curriculum. He
also received a
scholarship award in
2010. We wish both
students well in their
continuing studies and
look forward especially
to Naomi joining the
special group of
professional astronomers
who have been helped by
the DAS Van
Nattan-Hansen
Scholarship awards over
the past thirty seven
years.
Paige Remington
and David Bicknase Win
2009 Scholarships
 Paige
Remington and David
Bicknase, two talented
students entering
Colorado colleges this
Fall, were each awarded
$1000 DAS Van
Nattan-Hansen
Scholarships for the
2009-2010 school year.
The year’s awardees more
than live up to this
rich tradition. Paige
Remington will be
entering the University
of Colorado- Boulder
with an impeccable
academic record at
Evergreen Senior High
School. Paige is
planning a double major
in astronomy and physics
and is interested in
research. She hopes to
do volunteer work at
Boulder’s Fiske
Planetarium over the
summer.
 David
Bicknase, a native of
Indiana, will be
attending the Colorado
School of Mines in
fall 2009 and plans to major
in engineering physics.
David is a home-schooled
high school student who
has proved his mettle
with a 4.00 GPA in
science and math courses
at Ivy Tech Community
College and Indiana Tech
from 2007 to 2009.
David chose engineering
physics because he
enjoys “problem solving,
working with physics,
and experimenting.” He
hopes to “grow in my
understanding of
mathematics and science”
at the School of Mines.
He
relaxes by participating
in sports and ballroom
dancing.
The DAS is
fortunate to have the
opportunity to support
such high quality
students with the Van
Nattan-Hansen
scholarship.
DAS Awards Van
Nattan-Hansen
Scholarships for 2008
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2008 Van
Nattan-Hansen
Award Winners
Naomi Pequette
and Neil
Pearson. Neil
shows the
Horkheimer Award
runner-up award. |
DAS Van Nattan Hansen
Scholarships were
awarded to two Student
Members of the DAS this
year. The scholarships
were awarded to
long-time DAS Student
Members Naomi
Pequette and
Neil Pearson.
Naomi received a
scholarship award in the
amount of $1200 and Neil
received a scholarship
in the amount of $800.
Naomi will be
starting her 2nd year
majoring in Physics with
a minor in AstroPhysics
and mathematics at the
University of Denver.
Neil Pearson has just
graduated from Clear
Creek High School in
Evergreen, and will be
starting his first year
at the Colorado School
of Mines in mid-August.
Both students
demonstrated high
academic ability in
mathematics and the
physical sciences have
had extensive
involvement in volunteer
and work activities in
the DAS, physical
sciences, astronomy and
astrophysics.
The Van Nattan Hansen
Committee of the DAS
congratulates these two
Student Members and
looks forward to
continuing its support
of students of the
physical sciences,
Astronomy, and
mathematics. We hope
you’ll attend the August
DAS general meeting to
congratulate these DAS
student members!
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35 Years of Support
to Physics and Astronomy
Students:
The Van Nattan-Hansen
Scholarship
By Ron Pearson and
Darrell Dodge
If you are a graduating
high school senior or
college undergraduate
majoring or planning to
major in Astronomy, the
physical sciences or
mathematics, you are
invited to apply for the
DAS Van Nattan-Hansen
Scholarship. A
preference will be given
to Astronomy majors. The
scholarship fund was
started many years ago
by William Van Nattan’s
family, and grew
substantially with
additional contribution
from Charles Hansen’s
family.
William R. Van
Nattan (1921-1971)
loved
astronomy. His
enthusiasm continues to
enrich, enlighten, and
capture the interest of
others through his many
and varied contributions
to astronomy. He was a
founding member of both
the Denver Astronomical
Society (DAS) and the
National Amateur
Astronomers (NAA). As
chairman of the Denver
Planetarium Committee in
1955, he was
instrumental in
providing a planetarium
for the people of Denver
at the Natural History
Museum. For many years
Van Nattan assisted in
teaching astronomy at
the University of
Denver's Chamberlin
Observatory.
Charles Hansen
was also an avid
supporter of Denver
astronomy. Upon his
death he left a
significant portion of
his estate to the Denver
Astronomical Society for
use in supporting the
Fund.
To honor their memories,
this scholarship fund
was established by the
Denver Astronomical
Society in 1973. In the
35 years since, the
scholarship has assisted
at least 27 students of
astronomy and physical
sciences or mathematics,
providing over $28,000
in assistance for their
education. Through the
gifts and contributions
of many friends of
astronomy, the Fund
continues to provide
scholarships to high
school and undergraduate
students.
Each year approximately
two $1000 scholarships
may be awarded to
students in good
academic standing who
have demonstrated intent
and merit to pursue a
career in the physical
sciences or mathematics.
Priority is given to
students of astronomy,
astrophysics and related
fields.
Catching Up With
Previous Van
Nattan-Hansen
Scholarship Winners
A recent internet search
of Scholarship winners
from the 1970’s and
1980’s found at least
five who have gone on to
become professional
astronomers or
physicists who could be
positively linked to the
scholarship. One Van
Nattan-Hansen graduate
went on to a career in
optics that wasn’t
related to astronomy.
Thumbnail sketches are
provided below, together
with the year(s) of
their scholarships and
the amounts (if known).
Dr. Mark
Bottorff (1978, amount
NA; 1979, $200.00; 1980,
$250.00)
Dr. Bottorff was a DAS
Associate member in the
1970’s, and is familiar
to DAS members as a
companion at local star
parties and a frequent
speaker at DAS general
meetings. He is an
Assistant Professor of
Southwestern University,
Georgetown, Texas.
Mark's research over the
years has focused on
quasars, the super
massive black holes that
serve as the most
powerful energy sources
in the universe. He
began studying quasars
while earning his Ph.D.
and working as a
research assistant at
the University of
Kentucky. He stayed for
three years as a
post-doctoral researcher
and wrote papers based
on quasar information
gathered by the Hubble
Space Telescope.
Dr. Brad
Schaefer (prior to 1979;
amounts NA)
Dr. Schaefer received
his Ph.D in Astronomy
and Astrophysics from
MIT in 1983. He is now a
Professor of Physics and
Astronomy at Louisiana
State University. A
prime interest of his
research has been to use
the photometry of
exploding objects to get
results of interest for
cosmology. He has
recently been involved
in the exploration of
gamma-ray bursts (GRBs)
as “standard candles”
for use in cosmological
investigations out to
red shifts from ~0.2 to
20. This allows GRBs to
be light sources for the
detection of the
Gunn-Peterson effect,
the creation of a Hubble
Diagram from 0.2<z<10,
and measuring the star
formation rate of the
Universe out to z~20.
Dr. C. Nick Arge
(1981, $500.00; 1983,
$400.00)
Dr. Arge is a
prize-winning researcher
who does work in the
areas of coronal and
solar wind modeling for
the purpose of
forecasting the solar
wind near Earth. Dr.
Arge received his B.S.
in Physics at the
University of Arizona in
1985, with support from
the Van Nattan-Hansen
scholarship. He went on
to receive an M.S.
Degree in Physics at the
University of Michigan
in 1988, and a Ph.D. in
Physics in 1997 at the
University of Delaware.
He worked for the
University of Colorado
and NOAA in Boulder,
Colorado from 1996 to
2003. He has worked at
the Air Force Research
Laboratory, Space
Vehicles Directorate,
since 2003 and is an
Adjunct Associate
Professor in the
Department of Physics
and Astronomy at the
University of New
Mexico.
Joseph Pesce
(1984, $300.00; 1986,
$575.00; 1987, $500.00)
Joseph Pesce is on the
faculty of the
Department of Physics
and Astronomy at George
Mason University,
Fairfax, Virginia. His
recent research includes
observations of the
orbiting Chandra
observatory of the X-ray
environment of a sample
of 6 BL Lacertae objects
(active galaxies
characterized by rapid
and large amplitude flux
variability and
significant optical
polarization.)
Anthony
Gojanovic (1982,
$450.00; 1983, $400.00)
Mr. Gojanovic’s recent
work included a
simulation of the
“Survival Probabilities
of a Lander Mission on
Mars” for the University
of Colorado, Denver.
James Zavislan,
Ph.D. (1980, $500.00;
1981, $350.00)
Dr. Zavislan chose not
to enter the field of
physics and astronomy,
but used his B.S. Degree
in Optics and his Ph.D.
in Optics in 1988 (from
the University of
Rochester) to do
research improving the
performance of optical
imaging systems for
biomedical, material
science, and remote
sensing applications. He
is an inventor or
co-inventor on 42 issued
U.S. patents, an author
or co-author on 20
papers, and the
co-editor of a book on
optical systems. His
current area of research
is skin imaging. He
holds two associate
professorships at The
Institute of Optics,
University of Rochester,
in New York.
Recent winners
of the scholarship
include Adrian Akerson;
Debra Davis, who
operates the “Women in
Astronomy” Web site; and
Stephanie Pahl, now an
instructor of
mathematics at Metro
State University in
Denver.
Winners of the
scholarship in 2007
included DAS Student
Member and Littleton
High School Graduate,
Naomi Pequette, and Bear
Creek High School senior
Sara Simon. Last year,
Naomi won the
Astronomical League’s
National Young
Astronomer of the Year
award and is now
pursuing her
undergraduate degree at
DU. Sara Simon is
pursuing her
undergraduate degree in
Astronomy at CU. Each
received a $1,000
scholarship award.
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How To Apply
Applicants will only be
considered if their
information is received
no later than June 15th of
each year.
Awards will normally be made by
August 1st. Please mail
to:
Tim Pimentel, Chair
Person
The
Van Nattan-Hansen
Scholarship
Committee
PO Box
100621
Denver, CO
80250-0621
(303) 373-2810
vnh@denverastro.org
Applicants shall
demonstrate that they
meet the following
criteria:
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Applicants must
either be graduating
high school seniors
or undergraduate
college
students in good
standing.
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Enrollment
equivalent to a
half-time load for
the academic term as
defined by the
institution
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Applicants will be
considered no more
than 5 times for a
fulltime student and
8 times for a
half-time student
All
requests for
consideration should be
accompanied by the
following information:
-
Transcripts showing
a grade point
average of at least
3.0 on a 4.0 scale
(or equivalent)
- A
dated and signed
letter of intent
demonstrating the
applicant's interest
and the declared
major
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Letters of
recommendation from
at least 2 reputable
sources
Information provided by
all applicants becomes
the property of the Van
Nattan-Hansen
Scholarship Committee.
Please send copies of
required information as
appropriate. Documents
cannot be returned.
Awards and Judging
Scholarship awards shall
not discriminate on the
basis of race, color,
sex, age, ethnic or
national origin,
religion, or
disabilities. The
decision of the Van
Nattan-Hansen
Scholarship Committee
shall be considered
final.
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The Van Nattan
Scholarship
Committee
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Chair: Tim
Pimental
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Ivan Geisler
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Brenda Wray
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