Student Research

The world of technology is changing at a rapid pace and new materials need to be utilized to make further advancements.  Rare earth metals are in a strong position to be more widely used for various applications, ranging from small electronic devices to large television screens. Laura Rivera ’16 and Catherine Oglevee ’15 are working with terbium and europium, two rare earth metals, this summer to understand their fluorescent properties.

Enzymes and proteins, typically when left unattended or unprotected, can easily lose their structural integrity and fall apart.  Sol-Gel is an emerging material that helps encapsulate the enzymes and protect them from the dangers of degradation.  The technology can be used in numerous applications, one of them being a new method for slow-release medications.  These slow release medicines allow for the introduction of necessary chemicals over a period of time, avoiding any negative side effects from releasing all the medication at once.

The glens around campus are some of the most unique features of Hamilton’s 1,350-acre campus.  Filled with a variety of trees, wildlife, and nature paths, students often take advantage of the beautiful scenery.  However, keen eyes in the biology department took notice of an invasive plant and began investigating its negative impact on the glen environment.

Substantial improvements in cancer detection and treatment have been made over the years, and Hamilton students are concentrating in that research area as well.  Traditional cancer treatments, such as radiation therapy and chemotherapy, are relatively invasive and attack cancerous and non-cancerous cells alike.  These techniques may diminish or eliminate the cancer, but not without potentially detrimental side effects that leave the body distressed and fatigued.  New therapies are being developed to specifically target cancerous cells in order to have safer and more efficient treatments.

On Thursday, April 11, 18 members of the LARISSA (Larsen Ice Shelf System Antarctica) science team and 26 additional scientists from the Korean Polar Research Institute sailed from  Chile toward the Antarctic Peninsula on the Korean Icebreaker Research Vessel ARAON. Among the LARISSA researchers are Eugene Domack, the J. W. Johnson Family Professorship of Environmental Studies, and his former advisee, alumnus Andrew Christ ’11, who is providing continuing information and images throughout the expedition via a blog on the LARISSA site.

One of the most common methods of combating the influenza virus is to utilize an inhibitor to prevent the binding of the viral protein neuraminidase with cell surface receptors terminating in a sialic acid moiety. While this may sound like a complex process, it’s actually relatively simple to understand once the scientific jargon has been translated. In order for a virus like influenza to continue its life cycle, its neuraminidase enzyme needs to bind to and cleave a sialic acid molecule away from the human cell receptors.

Rob Clayton ’15 and Leah Krause ’14 presented their research at the 11th Molecular Educational Research Consortium in Undergraduate Computational chemistRY (MERCURY) conference at Bucknell University. Both students have been working this summer in the laboratory of Assistant Professor of Chemistry Adam Van Wynsberghe.

At the end of their summer research, students from Hamilton, Colgate University. and Hobart and William Smith Colleges who did projects in organic chemistry gathered at Hamilton to present their results in a symposium on July 25. Each student spoke for 15 minutes and then responded to questions. A cookout at the Babbitt Pavilion followed.

Over the past several decades, psychologists have placed a growing level of importance on bringing up children with high self-esteem, but according to the research of Beril Esen ’13, Susannah Parkin ’13 and Jose Mendez ’14, a person’s level of self-esteem is not always what it appears to be.

Hamilton’s student researchers are making great strides in the expansive Ich Genome Project, a multi-institutional effort to develop preventative and combative treatments for Ichthyophthirius multifiliis (Ich), also known as white spot disease in fish. Ravi Jariwala ’13 and Rachel Green ’14 are working under the direction of Associate Professor of Biology Wei-Jen Chang and recent graduate Matthew Therkelsen ’12 to identify single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) genetic markers.