Reaching for the Stars By Beth Levine
Two transfer students find hands-on discovery, mentorship, and a clear path to the stars in Southern’s astronomy laboratory.
Sebastian Lucero, ’25
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HYSICS MAJOR SEBASTIAN LUCERO, ’25 , spent his first two
years of college at the University of Connecticut but he transferred to Southern as a junior seeking more hands-on experience. “The UConn department is much bigger, so it feels a lot more impersonal,” he says. “That didn’t align well with the way I learn. At Southern, the department is much smaller. It’s a lot easier to develop personal relationships
with professors, and there are also so many opportunities here. Southern has that sense of community, which is so important to me.” Lucero, who graduated in May with a degree in physics and a minor in mathematics, focused his capstone project on astronomy. Southern has a unique multi-telescope instrument that measures the physical sizes of bright stars. Lucero, 22, focused on improving observation efficiency and streamlining data reduction. Ana Baculima, ’25, also transferred to Southern — from Naugatuck Valley Community College (NVCC). “My physics professor at NVCC recommended Southern because it was small and rigorous. I got a chance to know all the professors, so it was a good fit for me. I do love it here,” she says. A physics major with minors in astronomy and computer science, Baculima, 22, also graduated in May, focusing her capstone project on the telescope system’s camera setup. Both capstone projects supported the astronomy lab’s primary work: a prototype telescope system capable of producing ultra-high-resolution images of stars through stellar interferometry — a cutting-edge technique in observational astronomy. Southern’s growing research capabilities are drawing students from across the state and beyond. Its recent designation as a Carnegie R-2 research institution — the only university in Connecticut with this status — is helping fuel that momentum. “We can give students the kind of research experiences you’d find at UConn or Yale, but we do it in a smaller department with personalized attention,” says Elliott Horch, chairperson of the Department of Physics. “Southern gives students amazing research experiences.”