Physics Department Calvin College

Loren Haarsma -- home page

Physics and Astronomy Department
Calvin College
1734 Knollcrest Circle SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4403

Office: Science Building #180
Phone: (616) 526-8517
Fax: (616) 526-6501
e-mail: lhaarsma@calvin.edu



Webpages for classes I am teaching are kept on the Knightvision system.
Professional Societies
American Physical Society
American Association of Physics Teachers
American Scientific Affiliation

Education and employment background

1999-present
Assistant Professor, Calvin College, Department of Physics and Astronomy.
1997-1999
Postdoctoral Research, University of Pennsylvania, Neuroscience Department with Professor Peter Sterling. Studying the activity of amacrine and ganglion cells in intact mammalian retinas in vitro, using bright visual stimulation, intracellular recording, pharmacological manipulations, and anatomical analysis. We primarily studied the functional role of spiking amacrine cells.
1994-1997
Postdoctoral Research, Tufts University, Neuroscience Department with Professor Kathleen Dunlap. Studying the biophysical basis of neurotransmitter modulation of calcium current in vertebrate nerve cells, using patch-clamping recording and single-channel analysis.
1987-1994
Ph.D. in Physics, Harvard University. Working with Professor Gerald Gabrielse; developed a system which traps and accumulates large numbers of positrons, as part of a project to produce and study antihydrogen.
1985-1987
M.S. in Physics, University of Washington.
1981-1985
B.S. in Physics and Mathematics, Calvin College.

(Last updated 2003 July 17)