Editorial Staff
Publisher
Faculty Director of the Hamel Center for Undergraduate Research; Professor, Department of Molecular, Cellular and Biomedical Sciences
Senior Editors
Brigid Carroll Casellini holds a bachelor’s degree in horticulture from the University of New Hampshire and a graduate certificate in publishing and communications from Harvard University. She has worked for several magazine and book publishers in the greater Boston area and has been a senior editor of Inquiry since 2005. She resides in Newburyport, Massachusetts, with her husband and three children.
Erin Trainer holds a bachelor’s degree in English and a master’s degree in teaching secondary English, both from the University of New Hampshire. Her career for the past twenty years has included teaching English and working in publishing in a variety of fields, including medical and science, education, and the humanities. She has been an editor for Inquiry since 2016. Erin lives in Kittery, Maine, with her husband and two children.
Student Editors
Emma Clarke, from Rochester, New Hampshire, is a physics major and applied math minor who has a passion for research. She is a Hamel Scholar and University Honors Program student, and research opportunities are part of what brought her to the University of New Hampshire (UNH). She was awarded a Research Experience and Apprenticeship Program (REAP) grant in 2016, and in summer 2018 she traveled to Bangalore, India, to conduct research at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics through UNH’s International Research Opportunities Program (IROP). She contributed an article about her research on the mysterious “dark sector” of the universe to the 2019 issue of Inquiry. Emma serves as president of the Society of Physics Students (SPS), volunteers at the UNH Observatory, and is an active member of the Hamel Scholars Women-in-STEM Task Force. She is a competitive figure skater and performs at Puddle Dock Pond in Portsmouth. She has enjoyed the opportunity to edit for Inquiry for the past three years, as it has allowed her to learn about much of the intriguing research that is happening at UNH while also making that research accessible to a wider audience. After graduating in spring 2019, Emma will attend Carnegie Mellon University to work on her PhD in physics.
Why have one when you can have them all? Rory O’Neil is a scholarly individual who takes advantage of all of the available disciplines at the University of New Hampshire (UNH). She is a dual major in political science and international affairs, with minors in Middle Eastern studies and security studies, and she is planning to graduate in fall 2019. Rory is an interdisciplinary Honors Program student, a Research Experience and Apprenticeship Program (REAP) recipient, and a Gilman Scholar alum. Rory is from Nashua, New Hampshire; in-state tuition as well as idyllic majors and research opportunities lured her to UNH, as did the Hamel Center for Undergraduate Research and the Arabic language courses offered at the University. Rory hopes to work for a governmental agency or a humanitarian organization in Washington, D.C. after graduation and eventually return to school for a master’s or doctoral degree. When she has free time in her schedule, Rory relishes taking artistic classes like photography and ballet. She also extends her reach to technical subjects like computer science when she can: “It is a welcome break from the reading- and writing-intensive classes in my major and expands my creative and problem-solving skills.” Rory joined the Inquiry editorial board in the fall of 2017 when she was writing a commentary for the journal about her REAP experience. She enjoys the process of editing and the opportunity to learn new things about diverse subjects.
Bridget Peterson is a University of New Hampshire (UNH) senior from Narragansett, Rhode Island. Her majors are neuroscience and English/journalism, and she is pursuing a minor in Spanish. Bridget decided to attend UNH because of its outdoorsy feel and size. During the fall semester of 2017, Bridget joined the Inquiry editorial team because she was interested in clear and concise scientific writing. Within the next five years, Bridget plans to finish up her degrees, work as an optician for a year, and then apply for and attend optometry school. In her free time she loves to read; her favorite author is David Sedaris. She also enjoys making and listening to music.
Alissa Reitter grew up on both North American coasts, going to elementary school in New Hampshire, spending her middle school years in San Diego, California, and returning home to her native state before starting high school in Amherst, New Hampshire. A junior and third-year Inquiry student editor, Alissa stays busy as a student in the University Honors Program and as a Hamel Scholar, roles that allow her to lead a community service group, Women in STEM, which works to promote the STEM fields to girls. Alissa has diverse academic interests, which have led her to pursue a dual degree in civil engineering and international affairs, with a minor in Spanish. Both of Alissa’s parents are University of New Hampshire (UNH) graduates, and she loves the university for its proximity to the mountains, beaches, and cities and for its distinguished civil engineering program. Alissa first heard about Inquiry from her mother, who is a close friend of one of Inquiry’s editors, Erin Trainer (they met at UNH as undergraduate students!). In her spare time, Alissa is passionate about running, hiking, and traveling, and loves to find ways to combine all three of these interests, as demonstrated by her on-campus involvement in Engineers Without Borders and the New Hampshire Outing Club. After graduating in 2022, Alissa plans to hike the Pacific Crest Trail in California and hopes to have an international career for the opportunity to use all three aspects of her degree.