When the pandemic drove MIT students from Cambridge, Massachusetts, in March, few suspected this disruption would prove beneficial. Yet for some undergraduate researchers working with the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering (NSE), exile from campus spurred deeper exploration of known territory, and rewarding forays into less-familiar disciplines. “I learned so much biology this summer,” says NSE major Natalie Montoya, whose senior thesis involves nuclear security and policy. When the pandemic scuttled her internship at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Montoya changed course, working instead with her NSE advisor R….
