Mission Statement

Like the phoenix, Nucleus ascends from the ashes!

Twenty years ago, our undergraduate predecessors at Queens College could never have imagined that Nucleus, the journal of undergraduate science research of Queens College, would be reborn and introduced into the largest and fastest growing community in the world, the Internet. In the late 1960s, students first organized this science journal as a forum to communicate their findings in the laboratory and as a proud display for the entire Queens College community to see. Nucleus was published annually for the next two decades until budget cuts and waning interest succeeded in forcing the journal to fold in the early 1980s. This year, the first year of the new century, we celebrate its rebirth. But why now? Why after twenty years did we decide to revive it?

The answer lies within the spirit of the division of Math and Natural Sciences. A unique situation has developed within the division over the last five years. Queens is a liberal arts college that has a relatively small but active scientific community. One would not expect to find a thriving scientific research program in such an institution. The fact that the college has been able to attract professors who are both research oriented and care about teaching at the small campus in Flushing, NY attests to the administration's commitment to continuously enhancing the science education that the college offers its students. The esteemed faculty, many of which maintain significant contact with undergraduates, has a strong connection to research and as a synthesis of the aforementioned, has inspired many undergraduates to get into the lab. This fact along with programs such as Honors in Math and Natural Sciences, which steers students in the direction of science in general and academic research specifically, leads to an environment that is ripe for students to be highly involved in the fields of research. It is the vast number of undergraduate researchers and their enthusiastic commitment to their work that inspired the recent revival of Nucleus. There was so much undergraduate research going on at Queens College in 1999 that it seemed such a shame to Dr. Peter Chabora and some motivated undergraduates not to glorify and publicize it. Hence, we are proud to present Nucleus to you. We hope that the hard work it has taken to make this newest version possible will be what makes this issue of Nucleus the first of many to come.

Enjoy!
Saul Kane and Jon Grob