Temperature pillow project unveiled at Clapp Laboratory party

By Madeleine Diesl ’28

Copy Chief

On Thursday, May 7, students and faculty gathered by the Clapp Laboratory third floor stairwell to enjoy pillow-themed snacks and celebrate the hard work of Geoscience Technician and Staff Instructor Dr. Claire Pless, as well as the twenty-six students and alums who have been working with her on a science-arts fusion that has become known as the “Temperature Pillow Project.” Now, the product — thirty-four crocheted, knitted and sewn pillows, each representing a different year of South Hadley monthly temperatures — is complete.

“The project is a display of how the average temperature has changed in South Hadley over the past thirty-eight years or so,” Pless explained in an email interview with Mount Holyoke News. “Each pillow is crocheted or knit by a student [or myself] for a single year, with each row representing the average monthly temperature. The colors [were] assigned by 5 degrees Fahrenheit increments, going from cooler colors to warmer, from below 20 degrees to 80 degrees.” This resulted in each pillow having a unique pattern of colors.

Pless then elaborated further on the process of making the pillows. “The G&G department supplied the materials, which we first had to portion out into the colors needed for each year and distribute to each student. Once the students had their squares made, I sewed and stuffed them into pillows. The pillows are labeled with the student's name, class year, the year they represent, and for the significant La Niña or El Niño years, an ‘A’ or ‘O’ respectively.”

According to NOAA, La Niña and El Niño are global climate patterns that occur irregularly every few years. In the northeastern U.S., El Niño events are characterized by warm, dry weather, while La Niña causes cooler temperatures and heightened precipitation. This winter, for example, New England experienced La Niña conditions.

“I got the idea for the project when I went to a conference about a year ago,” Pless said. “The session was on interactive pedagogy and one person had an ongoing temperature blanket that had a hexagon representing the average temperature for each of the last ten years. I had done my own temperature blanket of daily high and low temperatures for the full year of 2021 and was interested by the idea of a project that I could include student crocheters on.”

Pless expressed surprise at the number of interested students. “I expected this to be a maximum of [around] ten students in the Geology department, but once I advertised it, I got so much more interest in it than that initial expectation, and it got sent to the knitting club, so it became more of a campus-wide project.”

When asked if recent climate change could be observed in the pillows, Pless said that “the trend of increasing warmth that we may have expected to see in this project, while there, is not as distinct as it could have been.” She explained that this was likely due to the fact that the project used “the average temperatures for a full month, rather than displaying the highs and lows.” Temperature data was collected from temperature-blanket.com.

However, there were some interesting years recorded. Specifically, Pless mentioned that 1992 was an “unusually cool [year], with summer temperatures not getting above an average of 65 degrees.”

“We know, geologically, that in 1991, the volcano Pinatubo erupted, sending ash particles into the atmosphere, where they stayed and circled the globe, causing a cooling effect that was seen in 1992,” Pless explained. “That was the coolest thing I saw in this project.”

2000 also revealed itself to be an unusually chilly year, but the reason for this is uncertain, Pless said.

“This project could potentially continue … which is a neat prospect,” Pless added. She mentioned that there was not yet a pillow for the year 2025, so that could be a good start.

If you’re interested in taking a look at some of these pillows, they can be found on the couches in the third floor landing of Clapp Laboratory, as well as scattered about the environmental studies, geology and geography lounge.

Maeve McCorry ’28 contributed fact-checking.

Corpse flower ‘Pangy’ blooms beautifully after 3 years

Gianna Akter ’29 

Staff writer

Early morning, April 14, 2026, Mount Holyoke College’s beloved corpse flower — Amorphophallus titanum, nicknamed “Pangy” — had its triennial blooming. The endangered specimen drew quite a crowd, with students, faculty and community members alike coming to see and smell the rare spectacle in person at the Talcott Greenhouse, where the plant is on display. 

“I think that people are drawn to [Pangy] because it is so unique in its appearance and scent,” Jessie Blum, the greenhouse supervisor responsible for the living collection, shared in an interview with Mount Holyoke News. “[It has a] very short flowering period.” 

According to Blum, Pangy was added to the living collection in 2020 when it was a “corm,” or an underground, food storage organ which is similar to a bulb. Pangy was given to Mount Holyoke College by Dartmouth College's Life Sciences Greenhouse, and has grown to be almost six feet tall in the six years it has spent here. Once a corpse flower reaches maturity, it can start to flower. This is Pangy’s second flowering, with its first occurring in 2023. 

“I think they need time and patience, as they don't tend to follow a strict timeline on flowering or putting up a leaf or going dormant," Blum elaborated, highlighting optimal care and environment for the corpse flower. “I think in ideal conditions, which are warm temps and high humidity, these plants can flower every 3-5 years. That said, this is only my second flower ever so we'll see!” 

While Pangy has become the staple nickname for the corpse flower, Blum highlights that the name was coined by Mount Holyoke in honor of “Pangy Day,” an annual celebration for the last day of Spring classes, and was not given by Dartmouth College. 

“The first time this plant flowered for us, back in 2023, we didn't know whether it was a leaf bud or a flower bud until Pangy Day,” Blum explained. “Thus, we thought it was fitting to name the plant Pangy.” 

Pangy’s flowering is especially exciting with the knowledge that there are fewer than 162 individual corpse plants in the wild, according to the nature journal Biodiversity and Conservation. The endangerment comes from several factors, varying from habitat loss and deforestation to inbreeding. 

“They are native to Sumatra, Indonesia,” Blum said. “A lot of [botanic gardens] have multiple plants, and also share pollen with each other to create a little more genetic diversity within the cultivated plants.” 

There are conservation initiatives among several botanic gardens, such as the Chicago Botanic Garden Initiative, to cultivate, study and promote genetic diversity in these plants through managing pollination and sharing specimens with other institutions, much like how Pangy came into the care of the Talcott Greenhouse. 

“I love that we have such a diverse collection of plants here and that there are so many fascinating stories that they can tell us!”  Blum explained, emphasizing the diverse vegetation and conservation at the greenhouse. “I really enjoy watching Pangy grow prior to the inflorescence opening up and also seeing everyone's reactions when they come to view it.” 

Hopefully, we will see Pangy have its third successful blossoming soon to learn more about this fascinating plant.

Madeleine Diesl ’28 contributed fact-checking.

BIOL-200 to be taken off the roster next academic year

Mary Grahn ’28

Science & Environment Editor

Starting next year, BIOL-200 “Introductory Biology II: How Organisms Develop with Laboratory” will no longer be offered by the department of biological sciences. For decades, the class played a significant role in the curriculum for multiple majors at Mount Holyoke College — such as Biological Sciences, Biochemistry and Neuroscience & Behavior — strengthening the students’ foundational understanding of biological concepts and preparing them for more specialized courses.

The class, which was taught by professors Rachel Fink and Amy Frary for over 20 years, focused on developmental biology. It covered topics such as embryology and genetics. Students in BIOL-200 got to design their own experiments and complete labs dissecting specimens that included fruit and leaves.

The curriculum change was announced last November in an email sent to students across the affected majors. Since the announcement, students have had a variety of different responses to the curriculum change.

Biology Club President Natalija Radosavljevic ’28 shared her perspective on the different ways that students have viewed the class in an email to Mount Holyoke News.

“As the president of the Biology Club, I have heard varying opinions about this course.” Radosavljevic said.

“Some people really enjoyed how in-depth it went, and a lot of my plant biology-focused friends really enjoyed the labs and designing their own experiments. However, I [have] heard from many people that the class wasn't at all engaging for their interests.”

For Radosavljevic, the class was not a favorite. As someone passionate about human biology, she found a lot of the course material to fall outside her interests. But despite the qualms she had with the class as an individual, Radosavljevic explained that many students had positive experiences with the class.

“People enjoyed the way the lectures were co-taught by two different professors. I have heard that the lecture style was engaging [to many] and that some enjoyed the level of depth that the class covered.”

Moreover, Radosavljevic shared that she left the course with some valuable takeaways.

“I think what was covered in lecture for BIOL-200 was meaningful and gave a sufficient background to embryology and development, and genetics.”

Moving forward, students who have completed BIOL-165, BIOL-145 or NEURO-100 can enroll in one of many other courses offered at the 200-level in the department. For more information about how this will impact individual students, students can contact the Mount Holyoke Department of Biological Sciences or an academic advisor.

Maeve McCorry ’28 contributed fact-checking.

Spring at MHC starts off spring with the 54th annual Spring Flower Show

Photo by Madeleine Diesel ’28

BY MADELEINE DIESL ’28

COPY CHIEF

After an especially long, cold and wet winter, spring has officially sprung at Mount Holyoke College. The snow has melted, the birds are singing and the Mount Holyoke Botanic Garden is holding its 54th annual Spring Flower Show in the Talcott Greenhouse. This year, the show ran from March 7 to 22, open 10 a.m.-4 p.m. daily.

Three types of flowers in particular stole the show: Tulips, daffodils and hyacinths. 

Tulips, a perennial staple, are plants of the genus Tulipa, which encompasses more than seventy-five different species. Even within these species, tulips boast a large diversity of color and form. There were dozens of varieties of tulips at the Flower Show, from velvety purple blooms to spiky orange flowers with petals that looked like fire. 

Daffodils, with their cheery yellow hue, are well known in Massachusetts for being some of the first flowers to bloom in the early spring. The common name for the Narcissus genus, daffodils contain even more species than tulips do. Morphologically, daffodils are unique because of their large corona — the crown-shaped, trumpetlike center of the flower — and hooked stem. Alongside the typical yellow flowers, the Botanic Garden displayed bright white daffodils with contrasting orange coronae. 

Hyacinths are known for their clustered flowers and strong fragrance; if you noticed a floral scent while walking past the greenhouse, that was likely the hyacinths at work. Unlike the previously mentioned flowers, there are only a few species in the Hyacinthus genus, yet there are still a large variety of colors. Most of the hyacinths at the Botanic Garden were a deep purple hue, but there were also pink, white and blue ones. 

The science behind flowers is just as fascinating as their appearance. Flowers serve as the reproductive organs of angiosperms, or flowering plants. In the wild, their large diversity of size, shape and color is partially a result of their coevolution with specific pollinators. For example, a flat, yellow flower might attract a bumblebee, while a long, red flower would be more suited to pollination by a hummingbird. The giant blooms that can be found at the Flower Show and in most American gardens are mostly due to selective breeding by farmers to create the best smelling, biggest, most appealing flowers possible; there is no selective pressure to appeal to a certain pollinator when a human is willing to do all of the work.

In addition to the hundreds of blooms on display, the Botanic Garden was also selling potted bulbs of the Narcissus, Muscari and Scilla genera for $5 each. Though the show is over now, members of the Mount Holyoke community can still stop by the greenhouse any day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. to see their vast collection of plants.

Maeve McCorry ’28 contributed fact checking.

Students’ perspective on STEM internship applications

Mary Grahn ‘28

Science & Environment Editor

Despite the snowy campus and freezing temperatures, summer is the season on the mind of many STEM students who are looking for lab positions during the break. With most application deadlines closing soon, stress is in the air in Kendade. Although the process can seem overwhelming, many students have found success in their search for STEM internships, finding positions in labs across the country and on campus.

For Elliot Arózqueta ’28, a neuroscience & behavior major, research has long been something of interest. “I knew going into college that I wanted to major in neuroscience and that I wanted to become a researcher,” Arózqueta shared in an interview with Mount Holyoke News. Recently, Arózqueta accepted an internship at the Mayo Clinic, where he will be studying addiction and co-morbid mental health conditions with rodent models this summer.

Arózqueta, who also works at Sabariego lab on campus, began applying to internships over winter break. For him, getting started was the most difficult part. “The applications all follow a pretty similar format, so once you've done a couple of them, you kind of know what to expect, and you know what information you need to provide,” Arózqueta said. He found his internship at the Mayo Clinic through a site called Pathways to Science, which lists opportunities in a wide range of STEM fields including neuroscience, biology, chemistry and physics.

Arózqueta’s biggest piece of advice to other students looking for internships is the importance of persevering in spite of rejections.

“Try not to get discouraged,” Arózqueta explained. “It is a very competitive market out there, a lot of people want internships, and a lot of people are coming in with similar skill sets, so if you do get rejected a couple times it's probably not through any fault of your own. There's just so many people who are applying.”

Priya Katari ’28, a sophomore studying physics, found the process of getting a summer research position much less overwhelming than most. “I filled out [a] form that the physics department sent out looking for research positions with faculty.” Katari explained. “I got a reply within a week.”

This summer, Katari will work in Professor of Physics Katherine Aidala’s lab studying organic flexible solar cells.

Katari encourages students seeking research positions this summer to reach out to professors. “Talk to your professors,” Katari said. “Even if they don't have any opportunities open, they will definitely know of other avenues that you can look for. … They're a very good resource, who should want to help you, and I feel like on this campus very much want to help you.”

Whitney White ’28 contributed fact-checking.

The science behind the recent winter storm and low temperatures

Photo Courtesy of Kami Nishi-Leonard

By Madeleine Diesl ’28

Copy Chief

For many Mount Holyoke students, travel back to campus for the spring semester was interrupted by the large winter storm that blew through much of the eastern United States on Jan. 25 and Jan. 26. Since then, western Massachusetts has suffered consistent low temperatures and high wind chill, prompting several cold weather safety emails from the Division of Student Life and the Office of Residential Life.

During this storm, South Hadley saw around two feet of snow and wind chill temperatures as low as -12 degrees Fahrenheit. According to Visiting Assistant Professor in Geology, Kinuyo Kanamaru, these weather events were the result of “a weakening of the polar vortex.”

The National Weather Service defines the polar vertex as “a large area of low pressure and cold air surrounding both of the Earth’s poles.” Kanamaru, who teaches climatology classes at Mount Holyoke College, said that the weakening of this vortex “allowed multiple surges of Arctic air to move southward,” causing both the January snowstorm and the February low temperatures.

“In particular, this winter’s snowstorms were influenced by La Niña conditions, which typically bring colder temperatures and above-average snowfall to the New England region,” Kanamaru said. La Niña, according to the National Weather Service, “refers to persistent colder-than-normal … sea surface temperature anomalies across the central and eastern equatorial Pacific.”

However, Kanamaru also mentioned the storm’s possible connection to climate change: “Reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) indicate that as global mean temperatures increase, there is a strong trend toward a weakening polar vortex. … When this cold Arctic air moves southward and interacts with relatively warmer mid-latitude air, it increases the likelihood of precipitation. As a result, the New England region is projected to experience increased precipitation, especially during the winter season.”

Looking forward, Kanamaru said that “while it is difficult to attribute recent snowstorms directly to climate change, it is likely that climate change will contribute to more frequent and intense winter precipitation events in the future.”

Though it may seem like a winter wonderland, this frosty environment can be dangerous. To stay safe during inclement weather, Residential Life recommends staying indoors as much as possible with your windows closed properly. When going outside, make sure to wear layers and cover your extremities to prevent frostbite.

Abigail McKeon ’26 contributed fact-checking.

The life and legacy of the College’s beloved goose, Jorge

Photo by Caitlin Healey ’09

This is the first known photograph of Jorge the goose to have been printed in Mount Holyoke News.

By Madeleine Diesl ’28

Science & Environment Editor

On Dec. 9, 2024, tragedy struck Mount Holyoke College: Jorge, the campus goose, flew into a Blanchard Hall window and died. Jorge was a feral Pilgrim goose who frequented Lower Lake, but his legacy was much more than that: He was the unofficial mascot of LITS and a large part of the student culture at Mount Holyoke for several decades. Now, a year after this dreadful event, we can remember Jorge by his many appearances in the College’s digital archives, particularly in past Mount Holyoke News articles.

In the Nov. 11, 2004 issue of MHN, Rachael Robins ’07 claimed that they liked to “feed the goose granola from [their] own mouth,” perhaps referring to Jorge. A year later, in the Sept. 29, 2005 issue, Katie Adler ’08 wrote an article detailing a day in the life of the “Mangled Goose,” which is described as having a “strong and thick orange beak” and “[lurking] along the shoreline near Prospect [Hall], stalking its next victim.” Though he remains unnamed, it can only be assumed that Adler is describing Jorge. 

One of the first references to Jorge by his name, “Jorge,” appears to be in the 2007 April Fool's issue, in a joke article by “Anonymous Samanta ’10” about him relocating from Lower Lake to Wilder Hall. However, the writer also refers to him as “Hubert,” a name that never shows up elsewhere in the digital archives. In fact, over the course of the past 20 years, Jorge has been called “Hubert,” the “Mangled Goose,” the “Prospect Goose,” the “Lower Lake Goose,” and even the “Big White Ugly” in a photo caption in the Sept. 18, 2008 issue. This photo, which depicts Jorge walking next to an outdoor dining area, is actually the earliest known photograph of Jorge in an MHN article. 

Current students have a lot to say about Jorge, as well. When asked about his death, Yan Hernandez ’28 said, “Jorge has left an intersex grey pilgrim goose shaped hole in my heart. I miss seeing him lord over Lower Lake and eating bugs in the grass. He was truly the best of us. #Latinopride.” 

Amy Gingras ’28 referenced the fictional character Eggman from one of SnapCube’s Sonic the Hedgehog fan dubs on YouTube:  “I miss my goose. I miss him a lot. I’ll be back.” 

Missing Jorge’s presence has been a common theme amongst students, as Nicole Lasko ’28 commented: “He was well loved and he is universally missed … there's never going to be another like him.”

If you’re interested in learning more about Jorge and Mount Holyoke News’s history in general, pay a visit to the Five College digital archives website or Mount Holyoke’s Archives and Special Collections and search for the Mount Holyoke College student newspaper collection – the yearly April 1st articles are particularly entertaining!

Quill Nishi-Leonard ’27 contributed fact-checking.

Dr. Ojeda Linares discusses ethnomicrobiology in Nov. 11 lecture

Photo by Angelina Godinez ‘28

Dr. Ojeda Linares traveled to Mount Holyoke College to deliver a guest lecture on ethnomicrobiology in Gamble Auditorium.

BY ANGELINA GODINEZ ‘28

MANAGING EDITOR OF SOCIAL MEDIA

On Nov. 11, Mount Holyoke College’s Department of Critical Race and Political Economy hosted ethnographic microbiologist Dr. César Iván Ojeda Linares to deliver a unique lecture on ethnomicrobiology and cultural preservation of traditional and indigenous fermentation practices. Ojeda Linares is a recent Ph.D. graduate from the National Autonomous University of Mexico who promotes traditional fermentation techniques throughout Mexico through a mix of ethnography and microbiology. 

The lecture began with Visiting Professor of Critical Race and Political Economy, Pilar Egüez Guevara, introducing Ojeda Linares and discussing how this lecture connects to her course, Latinx Foodways, where students are encouraged to think of cultural food production and consumption. Through Ojeda Linares’ ethnographic work and effort to preserve cultural practices from big pharmaceutical companies, students get to learn the cultural consequences of micropiracy and the capitalization of traditional fermented drinks such as kombucha and colonche. 

Fermentation is a natural process which uses microorganisms to produce a variety of foods and beverages. Microorganisms are organisms often composed of just one cell, typically too small to be seen under a microscope; these seemingly invisible organisms shape the planet's atmosphere and are a companion to all human evolution. They exist everywhere — in water, soil, air, on our skins, in the food we eat — and can either have a positive or negative effect on the human body. Ethnomicrobiology aims to understand and reflect on the historical and dynamic human knowledge systems about microorganisms. Like most scientific research, research on microbes — and therefore fermentation — often remains completely disconnected from traditional ecological practices in Indigenous traditions. 

Ojeda Linares sought to correct this lack of traditional scientific knowledge, starting with learning about the fermentation process of colonche, a fermented drink made from the prickly pears found on cacti. Colonche has historical origins in Zacatecas and Guanajuato, Mexico and is well known for its vibrant color and similarities to tapeche and pulque. In Ojeda Linares’ study, he discovered the importance of using traditional clay pots during the fermentation process in order to best maintain microbial communities, further emphasizing the importance of traditional fermentation practices as opposed to modern techniques involving stainless steel and fabricated starter cultures. 

To underline the  significance and importance of traditional fermentation practices, Ojeda Linares shared results from an experiment where selected participants consumed a liter of colonche a month and experienced changes such as increased sleep, libido and overall health. When the same participants were offered a pill form of healthy microbes found in colonche, the results were not as significant. Ojeda Linares hopes to continue to bring information about microbes to young children and aid them in seeing their cultural practices in a positive light, motivating future generations to study ethnomicrobiology. 

Eden Copeland ’27 contributed fact checking.