Will St. John

He/Him/His

Undergraduate Physics & Astronomy Student
2022-2026 | Macalester College

Education

Massanutten Regional Governor’s School
2020-2022 | Mt. Jackson, VA

East Rockingham High School
2018-2022 | Elkton, VA

Biography

I am an undergraduate student at Macalester College, currently in my senior year. I am a double major in Physics and Mathematics with a Concentration in Astronomy, and a minor in Data Science.

Cosmology has always been an interest of mine, yet, I haven’t had many research opportunnities to pursue the field. However, I have been able to participate in numerous research opportunnities which has helped me solidify my interests.

Specifically, I aim to conduct research that specializes in the intersection of cosmology/astrophysics, machine learning, and collaboration across fields.

These interests were honed in the Spring semester of my junior year when I took a topology class. The final project combined gravitational lensing, topological data analysis, and clustering algorithms into one, and has been one of the most exciting research experiences I’ve had to date.

If you are interested to learn more about my research experiences, check out the research page, download my CV, or reach out to me using the info provide below.

Personal

I grew up in the rural town of McGaheysville, VA, and spent most of my time and energy on school and sports.

My parents taught me how to swim at a young age. Shortly after moving to McGaheysville, I joined the Massanutten Marlins Summer League Swim Team. As I got older and more serious about swimming, I joined the Virginia Gators of Harrisonburg, a club swim team that swam year round. When I got to high school, I joined the varsity team and made some waves my senior year.

Outside of swimming in high school, I was in the ERHS marching band as a percussion captain, coached for the Massanutten Marlins, earned my 2nd degree blackbelt in American Freestyle Martial Arts, and became an Eagle Scout where my project involved creating a GaGa ball pit addition to my elementary school playground. Now in college, I am a captain of the Macalester Swim and Dive team; captain of the club water polo team, the Spawn of Neptune; and Tresurer of the Macalester Pep Band.

One of my more recent interests has been a project to develop a sensor and software that a swimmer can wear that records acceleration and rotation, allowing the coaches and swimmers to quantitatively measure technique. This project arose from my own greedy desires to be like the pros, but in my search, I learned the commercial technology was way too expensive for me or even my DIII team to purchase.

So I set out on a mission to make something more accessible to non-professional, collegiate, and casual atheletes alike. Check out the SwimSense article on my Research page to learn more or reach out to me!

Get in Touch

Email: wstjohn@macalester.edu

Address: 1600 Grand Avenue, Saint Paul, MN 55105