Hello!
Welcome! My name is Adam Konkol, and I'm a Churchill Scholar at the University of Cambridge. I'm researching biological physics under Professor Raymond Goldstein.
Photo: The sun, taken from Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh, Scotland
September 2021
About Me
Researcher
Research from Oct 2017 - Present
I study the theory of vascular development in organisms with Eleni Katifori after working on disordered protein characterization under Doris Wagner. My current work focuses on network models for blood vessel morphology, tidal river deltas, and COVID-19 spread in the United States.
Teacher
Fall 2018 - Present
I love to teach, and I taught introductory physics lab for four semesters. I also teach a weekly workshop for introductory organic chemistry, and work with local high school students whenever I can.
Eagle Scout
Dec 2016 - Present
I led and carried out a project which restored a local, run-down park during the fall of 2016, and I worked at a camp staff for five years. Many of my closest friends are the ones I met through Scouts!
Nature enthusiast
Lifetime
I love to go hiking and camping, but unfortunately attending a city university doesn't make that easy. I still try to go outdoors and see wildlife whenever I can. (Especially plants. I love plants.)
Research
COVID-19 spread in the United States
May 2020 - June 2021
A project from my biophysics class Phys580 has turned into a full research endeavor, where we are analyzing county-level data and developing a continuous model for epidemic spread from a physical perspective.
Konkol, A., Winn, A., Katifori, E. Signatures of local, inter-county disease transmission in the United States COVID-19 epidemic. Manuscript in preparation.
Investigating factors involved in delta formation
Jun 2019 - Sept 2021
I am collaborating with Professor John Shaw at the University of Arkansas to develop a theory of river delta formation by investigating dynamic features that produce the topological features we observe in nature.
Konkol, A., Schwenk, J., *Shaw, J. B. & *Katifori, E. Fluvial-tidal interplay captures the loopy morphology of real coastal channel networks. Manuscript in submission.
Konkol, A., Schwenk, J., *Shaw, J. B., & *Katifori, E. (2020, December). Fluvial-tidal interplay captures the loopy morphology of real coastal channel networks. American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting. Poster to be given by Adam Konkol.
Shaw, J. B.,* Cathcart, C., Katifori, E.,* Konkol, A., Hale, R. P., Bain, R. L., & Wagner, W. (2019, December). Structure and dynamics of branching and looping channels on river deltas (invited). American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting. Presentation given by John B. Shaw, San Francisco, CA.
Characterizing and modeling mouse brain surface vasculature
Oct 2018 - August 2020
I have been studying our model for network development under fluctuating load by comparing to a well-studied system, the mouse brain surface vasculature. This has involved describing the statistical characteristics of experimentally observed architecture and comparing to simulated networks made with code I developed.
Konkol, A., Doré, C., & *Katifori, E. Loop formation in the brain surface vasculature as a consequence of transient hemodynamic fluctuations. Manuscipt in preparation.
Role and binding kinetics of intrinsically disordered transcription factor LFY
Jan 2018 - May 2019
I studied the biophysical properties of protein LFY, a transcription factor which controls the start of flower formation. My research focused in sequence analysis of the protein and the properties of recombinant variants in vitro.
Jin, R., Klasfeld, S., Fernandez, M., Xiao, J., Han, S., Konkol, A., Zhu, Y., & Wagner, D*. Licensing of cell fate reprogramming via LEAFY transcription factor pioneering activity. Nature Communications. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-20883-w
Teaching
Resources and materials from my teaching during undergrad
Organic chemistry workshop
Chem241/242 (Organic chem I/II)
I teach a weekend workshop in organic chemistry each Sunday. I taught Molander's section of 241 in fall 2019 and Smith's section of 242 in spring 2020. Past students can find my resources linked here, current students can find it on Canvas!
Physics
Phys516, Phys 280, Phys 101/102/150/151 lab
I taught introductory physics labs between fall 2018 - spring 2020 and work closely with the lab manager at Penn to develop the curriculum. I'm now teaching Phys516 (electromagnetism) with Phil Nelson!
Science Leadership Academy mini-course
Penn Sciences eight-week course in Fall 2019, 2020
I am independently teaching a recurring eight-week exploratory science course at Science Leadership Academy, a Philadelphia magnet high school. I also did in fall of 2019, and taught Public Speaking for one session during Spring 2020.
