Samuel T. Hess
Associate Professor of Physics
Office: 313 Bennett Hall
Phone: (207)581-1036
EMail: Sam.T.Hess@umit.maine.edu
Other Webpages:
“Triple-Color Super-Resolution Imaging of Live Cells: Resolving Submicroscopic Receptor Organization in the Plasma Membrane,” Stephan Wilmes, Markus Staufenbiel, Domenik Liße, Christian P. Richter, Oliver Beutel, Karin B. Busch, Samuel T. Hess, and Jacob Piehler, Angewante Chemie, 51: 4868-4871 (2012).
“Dynamic nanoscale organization of membrane protein complexes in mitochondrial micro-compartments of living cells,” T. Appelhans, C. Richter, V. Wilkens, S.T. Hess, J. Piehler and K. B. Busch, Nanoletters, 12: 610-6 (2012).
“Superresolution imaging of multiple fluorescent proteins with highly overlapping emission spectra in living cells,” M.S. Gunewardene, F.V. Subach, T.J. Gould, G.P. Penoncello, M.V. Gudheti, V.V. Verkhusha, and S.T. Hess, Biophysical Journal 101: 1522-8 (2011).
“Elongated membrane zones boost interactions of diffusing proteins,” J. Zimmerberg and S.T. Hess, Cell 146: 501-3 (2011).
“Localization-Based Super-Resolution Light Microscopy,” Kristin A. Gabor, Mudalige S. Gunewardene, David Santucci, and Samuel T. Hess, Microscopy Today 19: 12-16 (2011).
“A small peptide modeled after the NRAGE repeat domain inhibits XIAP-TAB1-TAK1 signaling for NF-κB activation and apoptosis in P19 cells.” J.A. Rochira, N.N. Matluk, T.L. Adams, A.A. Karaczyn, L. Oxburgh, S.T. Hess, and J.M. Verdi, PLoS One 6:e20659 (2011).
“Fluorescence Photoactivation Localization Microscopy,” M. V. Gudheti, T.J. Gould, and S.T. Hess, in Nanoscopy and Multidimensional Fluorescence Microscopy, Editor: A. Diaspro, Taylor and Francis, LLC (2010).
“Ultra-High Resolution Imaging of biomolecules by Fluorescence Photoactivation Localization Microscopy,” S. Hess, T. Gould, M. Gunewardene, J. Bewersdorf, and M. Mason, in Methods in Molecular Biology, J.W. Lee editor, 544: 483-522 (2009).
“Imaging Biological Structures with Fluorescence Photoactivation Localization Microscopy,” T. J. Gould, V.V. Verkhusha, and S.T. Hess, Nature Protocols 4: 291-308 (2009).
“Red Lights, Camera, Photoactivation!” S.T. Hess, Nature Methods 6: 124-125 (2009).
“Nanoscale Imaging of Intracellular Fluorescent Proteins: Breaking the Diffraction Barrier,” T.J. Gould and S. T. Hess, in Biophysical Tools for Biologists, Volume 2: Methods in Vivo, H. W. Detrich editor, Methods in Cell Biology 89: 329-358 (2008).
“Imaging Molecular Positions and Anisotropies,” T. J. Gould, M.S. Gunewardene, M.V. Gudheti, V.V. Verkhusha, S.R. Yin, J.A. Gosse, and S.T. Hess, Nature Methods 5: 1027-30 (2008).
“A Quantitative Comparison of the Photophysical Properties of Select Quantum Dots and Organic Fluorophores,” T.J. Gould, J. Bewersdorf, and S.T. Hess, Z. Phys. Chem. 222: 833-849 (2008).
“Three-Dimensional sub-100 nm Resolution Fluorescence Microscopy of Thick Samples,” Manuel F. Juette, Travis J. Gould, Mark D. Lessard, Michael J. Mlodzianoski, Bhupendra S. Nagpure, Brian T. Bennett, Samuel T. Hess, and Joerg Bewersdorf, Nature Methods 5: 527-9 (2008).
“Dynamic Clustered Distribution of Hemagglutinin Resolved at 40 nm in Living Cell Membranes Discriminates Between Raft Theories,” S. T. Hess, T. J. Gould, M. V. Gudheti, S.A. Maas, K.D. Mills, and J. Zimmerberg, PNAS 104: 17370-5 (2007).
“Imaging and shape analysis of giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) as model plasma membranes: Effect of trans-DOPC (dielaidoyl phosphatidylcholine) on membrane properties,” M. V. Gudheti, M. Mlodzianoski, and S. T. Hess, Biophysical Journal 93: 1-13 (2007).
“Shape analysis of giant vesicles with fluid phase coexistence by laser scanning microscopy to determine curvature, bending elasticity and line tension,”Hess, S.T., Gudheti, M.V., Mlodzianoski, M., and Baumgart, T., In Methodologies to Study Membrane Lipids, Ed. A. Dopico, Methods in Molecular Biology 400: 367-87 (2007).
“Large-scale Fluid/Fluid Phase Separation of Proteins and Lipids in Giant Plasma Membrane Vesicles,” T. Baumgart, A. Hammond, P. Sengupta, S. Hess, D. Holowka, B. Baird, and W. W. Webb, PNAS 104: 3165-3170 (2007).
“Fluorescence Intermittency Limits Brightness in CdSe/ZnS Nanoparticles Quantified by Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy,” J. Rochira, M. Gudheti, T. Gould, R. Laughlin, J. Nadeau, and S. T. Hess, Journal of Physical Chemistry C 111: 1695-1708 (2007).
“Ultra-High Resolution Imaging by Fluorescence Photoactivation Localization Microscopy,” S. T. Hess, T.P.K. Girirajan, and M.D. Mason, Biophysical Journal 91: 4258-4272 (2006).
“Quantitative Electron Microscopy and Fluorescence Spectroscopy of the Membrane Distribution of Influenza Hemagglutinin,” Hess S.T., Kumar, M., Verma, A., Farrington, J., Kenworthy, A., and Zimmerberg, J., Journal of Cell Biology 169: 965-976 (2005).
“Studying spatial distributions of influenza hemagglutinin on the plasma membrane of fibroblasts: A work in progress,” Zimmerberg, J., Kumar, M., Verma, A., Farrington, J., Roth, M., Kenworthy, A., and S.T. Hess, Macromolecular Symposia 219: 17-23 (2004).
“Fluorescence Photoconversion Kinetics in Novel Green Fluorescent Protein pH Sensors (pHluorins),” S.T. Hess, A.A. Heikal, and W.W. Webb, J. Phys. Chem. B 108: 10138-10148 (2004).
“Imaging Coexisting Fluid Domains in Biomembrane Models Coupling Curvature and Line Tension,” T. Baumgart, S.T. Hess, and W.W. Webb, Nature 425: 821-824 (2003).
Image Description: Samuel T. Hess
Wilmes, S., Staufenbiel, M., Liße, D. Richter, C., Beutel, O., Busch, K., Hess, S.T., and Piehler, J. (2012) “Triple-Color Super-Resolution Imaging of Live Cells: Resolving Submicroscopic Receptor Organization in the Plasma Membrane,” Angewante Chemie, 51: 4868-4871.
Appelhans, T., Richter, C., Wilkens, V., Hess, S.T., Piehler J. and Busch K. B. (2012) “Dynamic nanoscale organization of membrane protein complexes in mitochondrial micro-compartments of living cells,” Nanoletters, 12: 610-6.
Gunewardene, M.S., Subach, F.V., Gould, T.J., Penoncello, G., Gudheti, M.V., Verkhusha, V.V., and Hess, S.T. (2011) “Superresolution imaging of multiple fluorescent proteins with highly overlapping emission spectra in living cells,” Biophysical Journal 101: 1522-8.Zimmerberg, J., and Hess, S.T. (2011) “Elongated membrane zones boost interactions of diffusing proteins,” Cell 146: 501-3.
Gabor, K.A., Gunewardene, M.S., Santucci, D., and Hess, S.T. (2011) “Localization-Based Super-Resolution Light Microscopy,”, Microscopy Today 19: 12-16.
Rochira, J.A., Matluk, N.N., Adams, T.L., Karaczyn, A.A., Oxburgh, L., Hess, S.T., and Verdi, J.M. (2011) “A small peptide modeled after the NRAGE repeat domain inhibits XIAP-TAB1-TAK1 signaling for NF-κB activation and apoptosis in P19 cells.”, PLoS One 6:e20659.
Stone, Thomas E., & McKay, Susan R. (2011) “Critical behavior of disease spread on dynamic small-world networks“, EPL 95, 3800.
Stone, Thomas E., Jones, Matthew M., & McKay, Susan R. (2010) “Comparative effects of avoidance and vaccination in dynamic small-world network“, Physica A 389, 5515-5520.
Breton, Daniel J., Hamilton, Gordon S., & Hess, C.T. (2009) “Design, optimization and calibration of an automated density gauge for firn and ice cores“, Journal of Glaciology, 55(194):1092-1100.
McClymer, J.P. & Shehadeh, H.M. (2009) Photon Localization in a Nematic Liquid Crystal, Phys.Rev. A 79, 031802(R).
Meulenberg, R.W., Lee, J.R.I. , McCall, S.K., Hanif, K.M., Haskel, D., Lang, J.C., Terminello, L.J., & van Buuren, T. (2009) (“Evidence for Ligand-Induced Paramagnetism in CdSe Quantum Dots.” J. Am. Chem. Soc., 131, 6888-6889.
Meulenberg, R.W., Lee, J.R.I. , Wolcott, A., Zhang, J.Z., Terminello, L.J., & van Buuren, T. (2009) “Determination of the Exciton Binding Energy in CdSe Quantum Dots.” ACS Nano, 3, 325-330.
O’Brien, M.J., & Thompson, J.R. (2009) “Effectiveness of ninth-grade physics in Maine: Conceptual understanding,” The Physics Teacher 47(4), 234-239.
Wu, Yongfeng, Batuski, David J., & Andre, Khalil (2009) “Multi-Scale Morphological Analysis of Application of SDSS DR5 Survey Using the Metric Space Technique,” Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 707, p. 1160-1167.
Astumian, Dean (2008) “Microscopic reversibility and reciprocal relations for Brownian molecular machines,” Tetrahedron, 64(36):8287-91, Sept. 1, 2008.
Comins, Neil (2008) “What would happen to Earth if the moon were only half as massive?” Scientific American,299(4):104, October 2008.
Gould, T., Bewersdorf, J., & Hess, S. (2008) “A quantitative comparison of the photophysical properties of selected quantum dots and organic fluorophores,” Journal of Research in Physical Chemistry & Chemical Physics, 222(5-6):833-49.
Lita, A., Ma, X., Meulenberg, R.W., van Buuren, T., & Stiegman, A.E. (2008) “Synthesis and Characterization of Phase-Pure Manganese(II) and Manganese(III) Silicalite-2″. Inorg. Chem., 47, 7302.
Rasaiah, Jayendran C., Garde, Shekhar & Hummer, Gerhard (2008) “Water in Nonpolar Confinement: From Nanotubes to Proteins and Beyond”, Ann. Rev. Physical Chemistry 59, 713-740.
Rasaiah, Jayendran C., & Zhu, Jianjun (2008) “Reaction Coordinates for Electron Transfer Reactions “, J. Chem. Phy. l29, 214503.
Wittmann, M.C., & Thompson, J.R. (2008) “Integrated approaches in physics education: A graduate level course in physics, pedagogy, and education research,” American Journal of Physics 76(7), 677-683.
Wu, Yongfeng, Batuski, David J., & Andre, Khalil (2008) “The Fractal Structure of the Universe”, (VDM Verlag Dr. Muellere.K ISBN-978-3-369-03629-9).
Gould, T., Gudheti, M.V., Zimmerberg, J., & Hess, S. (2007) “Methods for quantification of lateral organization in biological membranes,” Microscopy and Microanalysis, 13:12-13, Suppl. 2, 2007.
Susan R. McKay
Professor of Physics / Director, Center for Research in STEM Education
Dr. Susan McKay has been a vital member of the University faculty for the 25 years she has been in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. Dr. McKay teaches some of the more challenging theoretical Physics graduate courses, has also served as graduate research advisor for eight Ph.D. recipients and five M.S. recipients in Physics and, in total, has served on over 45 graduate thesis committees for students in a variety of science and engineering disciplines on campus.
As founding Director of the Maine Center for Research in STEM Education (the Maine RiSE Center) for the last seven years, Dr. McKay has strongly impacted the campus-wide culture of the research-based teaching of courses in scientific disciplines, bringing together faculty in Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Education, and Earth Sciences to pursue scientific studies of student learning in UMaine classrooms. The RiSE Center has gained national and international recognition, in part through meetings of researchers in the learning of the sciences that the RiSE Center faculty organize each year, with Susan’s highly effective leadership. Another product of Sue’s work in the RiSE Center has been the creation of the Master of Science in Teaching (MST) Program, to attract and educate some of the very best current and prospective secondary science teachers. Sue’s efforts are vitally important to the future of the state through the teaching and learning of physical sciences in middle and high schools.
Susan has published over 35 peer-reviewed research papers and made 78 presentations at scientific conferences. She has had outstanding success in obtaining external funding, with total funding as Principal Investigator of $17 million in her career here at UMaine, from such sources as the Balfour Foundation, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, NASA, the Knowles Science Teaching Foundation, the U.S. Department of Education, and the National Science Foundation.
Susan served the Department extremely effectively as chair during 1998-2003 (and again as interim chair in 2008-2009), leading in the building of research capacity in biophysics and physics education research, and enabling the Department to hire two faculty in each of these two areas. She obtained funding for and guided major research laboratory renovations in the basement of Bennett Hall, the complete redesign and construction of its largest lecture hall, and the re-construction of a large under-utilized storage area into a Biotechnology and STEM Education research laboratory space. She also guided the Department through the successful ABET reaccreditation of our Engineering Physics undergraduate program in 2000.
Congratulations to Susan on a great first 25 years at UMaine!
Image Description: Congratulations to Susan McKay from Anne Pooler, 25 years of service to the University of Maine
Warren Brown’s professional skills are outstanding. Throughout his ten years in the Safety and Environmental Management department, he has been a great colleague and life mentor. He helped his coworkers become better listeners, problem solvers, and even helped his supervisor to become a better leader.
Warren has the unique ability to listen, understand and provide assistance in such a way that you walk away feeling better, no matter what problem might be ahead of you. There were many days when faculty, staff, and community leaders stopped in to have lunch with Warren or to obtain much needed advice. Everyone left with a smile, feeling better than when they arrived.
Warren has been instrumental in developing a radiation program that is recognized as a model in New England. His excellent training lectures, material support and customer service have exceeded normal standards. When the calls came in for help from a faculty member on the other side of the world, he would somehow work with his regulatory contacts and our contractors to solve their problem.
During the years of his employment, he has instructed and mentored students, staff, and faculty in the safe use of radioactive materials, radiation-producing equipment and high-powered laser use. After each student or researcher had received the necessary training and guidance, he continued to be part of their team. Warren made every effort to accommodate users’ specific requirements and safety, and to expedite their research endeavors.
Warren has continued to be a role model. The time and energy that he shares with everyone he meets is a constant reminder that helping others is more important than being recognized as a leader or expert in one’s given profession. He continues to demonstrate that listening and sharing life skills will help improve work skills in a natural and rewarding fashion. Thank you, Warren, for your years of service and for your friendship. You will sincerely be missed.
Image Description: Warren Brown
APPROVED!! Trustees approve new planetarium, observatory at UMaine
Bangor Daily News, July 18
By Judy Harrison, BDN Staff
BANGOR, Maine — The billions and billions of stars in the cosmos will be clearer and brighter in the new $5.2 million combined planetarium and observatory that the University of Maine System board of trustees approved Monday for the University of Maine campus.
The new structure will be built near Rangeley Road between the Hilltop parking lots and the Littlefield Garden. It is expected to be completed in about three years.
“I think it’s a great thing for UMaine students and the Greater Bangor community,” Jeffrey Hecker, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said after the trustees endorsed the project.
The observatory, with a telescope dating back to 1901, and the Jordan Planetarium, located in Wingate Hall, are obsolete, Hecker told board members Monday. The telescope’s age does not allow for collaboration with institutions that have digital capacity.
“The new telescope will allow students taking online courses to access the telescope remotely, download digital images of stars and save them as part of homework assignments,” Hecker said. “It also would allow us to teach astronomy courses online.”
The Jordan Planetarium, with 35 seats, has nearly 5,000 visitors per year, approximately 66 percent of whom are schoolchildren, Hecker said. The proposed planetarium would seat 50 and the dome, which is now 20 feet across, would be 33 feet across and allow full digital projection.
“That would allow us to get new programs and enhance the experience of families and schoolchildren who are frequent visitors,” Hecker said.
Bus drop-offs at Wingate Hall are a safety concern on busy Munson Road and there is no visitor parking for families and small groups. The new location would allow a visitor parking section and safer bus drop-offs for schoolchildren.
Nearly $2.2 million has been raised through the University of Maine Foundation to pay for the proposed 5,312-square-foot building. The foundation has committed to raising an additional $1 million. Of the remaining funds, $1 million would come from UMaine and another million would need to be raised in a capital campaign over the next three to five years.
Construction of the new building, which would require no additional staff, would increase the university’s annual operating budget by about $180,000.
Once the new observatory-planetarium is completed, Wingate Hall will be renovated to create a “student one-stop center,” according to a summary of the project provided to board members.
The trustees also approved creation of the Dr. Waldo “Mac” Libbey ’44 Professorship in Electrical & Computer Engineering at UMaine. Libbey, who died on Jan. 10, 2009, at the age of 86, left $250,000 to the university to establish the professorship.
Libbey graduated from Bangor High School, held a baccalaureate degree in electrical engineering from UMaine and returned there in 1943 after completing his graduate work out of state, according to his obituary. He retired in June 1990.
During his tenure at UMaine, he was instrumental in starting a full graduate program in electrical engineering in the 1950s. Throughout his 47 years at the university, he was credited with initiating 14 new courses, graduate and undergraduate, in the curriculum.
Libbey’s avocation was music. He was a member of the Bangor Band, the Bangor Symphony Orchestra and a founder of the Bangor Savoyards, which performed musicals.
In an unrelated financial matter, Rebecca Wyke, UMS vice chancellor for finance and administration, announced that preliminary figures show a projected surplus systemwide of between $21 million and $24 million at the end of fiscal year 2011, which ended on June 30. That is between 4 percent and 4.5 percent of the unrestricted operating budget, she said.
Image Description: Concept drawing of a new proposed planetarium at the University of Maine in Orono.
UMaine Science Camp “In The News”
WABI (Channel 5) featured UMaine’s Space and Energy Camp, which was organized by the Department of Astronomy and Physics. UMaine graduate student Kevin Roberge, who is serving as the camp director, told an interviewer the staff hopes the campers’ experiences this summer will spark an interest in studying science.
By Judy Harrison, BDN Staff
ORONO, Maine — Stargazers and school children in northern and eastern Maine will get a better look at the sky if the University of Maine System Board of Trustees on Monday approves the construction of a proposed $5.2 million facility that would combine the observatory and the planetarium at the University of Maine.
The proposal, recommended by system Chancellor Richard Pattenaude, would be built near Rangeley Road between the Hilltop Parking lots and the Littlefield Garden, according to the agenda item summary prepared for Monday’s meeting.
Nearly $2.2 million has been raised through the University of Maine Foundation to pay for the proposed 5,312-square-foot building. Of the remaining funds, $1 million would come from UMaine and another million would need to be raised in a capital campaign over the next three to five years.
The construction of the new building, which would require no additional staff, would increase the university’s annual operating budget by about $180,000.
The observatory, with a telescope dating back to 1900, and the Jordan Planetarium located in Wingate Hall are obsolete, according to Pattenaude.
“[The] telescope has a historic value,” the summary stated, “but is not useful even for the most basic level of astronomy research. It cannot be controlled with a computer and cannot be networked with other observatories around the globe to share research-quality images.”
The planetarium was opened in 1954 and its star projector dates to 1984, according to information provided to board members.
“The projector system is functional, but dated, and does not have the capabilities of a fully digital system,” the summary said. “The existing Jordan Planetarium dome is only 20 feet in diameter, a size so small that it distorts images and does not provide a realistic view of the sky at a level required for college courses.”
The Jordan Planetarium, with 35 seats, has close to 10,000 visitors per year, approximately 66 percent of whom are school children, according to the summary. The proposed planetarium would seat 50.
Bus drop-offs at Wingate Hall currently are a safety concern on busy Munson Road and there is no visitor parking for families and small groups. The new locations would allow for a visitor parking section and safer bus drop-offs for schoolchildren.
The combined planetarium-observatory is a priority of UMaine’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences because it would:
Once the new observatory-planetarium was completed, Wingate Hall would be renovated to create a “student one-stop center,” according to the summary of the project.
Image Description: Miss Prudence Grant of Old Town learns a few things about the planet Mars from Professor Maynard F. Jordan at the planetarium at the university
Children say UMaine ‘Space Camp’ is a stellar success
Bangor Daily News, July 1, 2011
Excerpt ORONO, Maine – While most vacationing grade school students were concentrating on their skateboard skills, playing video games at home, or just enjoying sleeping late on Friday, some were learning about everything from oobleck fluid to liquid nitrogen ice cream. The University of Maine Space and Energy Camp completed its first weeklong session Friday, and judging by the reaction of the 18 children, ages 5 to 13, who took part, it was a stellar success.
We had a lot of graduates from the Department of Physics this year, and we are proud of each and every one of them!
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Ph.D.
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Master of Science in
Engineering Physics |
Undergraduates
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Katrina Black
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Roger Feeley
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Brian Burney, BA PHY
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Daniel Breton
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Mason Carney, BS PHY
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Clementina Russo
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Evan Chase, BS PHY
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Trevor Smith
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Peter DeLong, BS PHY
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R. Padraic Springuel
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Matthew Ludden, BS PHY
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Michael Steeves
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Noor Merdad, BS PHY
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Thomas Stone
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Gregory Penoncello, BS PHY
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Yongfeng Wu
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Zachery Schiller, BS PHY
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Aaron Tanenbaum, BS PHY
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Bryn Nugent, EPS
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Danny Wheeler
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Maine Physical Sciences Partnership (PSP) Summit held in Northport – May 13-14
Professor Susan McKay of the UMaine physics faculty and director of the Maine Center for research in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) Education (RiSE Center) was interviewed for a Friday Maine Public Radio story about initiatives related to improving STEM education in Maine. Part of the story was based on the Maine Physical Sciences Partnership (PSP) Summit, held Friday (May 13) and Saturday (May 14) in Northport. UMaine manages Maine PSP, which also involves 48 rural schools and three non-profits, working to enhance STEM teaching and learning in grades 6-9, while also developing science teachers through UMaine educational programs.