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Professor of Physics Ann Silversmith attended the International Conference on Luminescence in Wroclaw, Poland. She presented a poster with three coauthors:  Hamilton students Alexandra Huss '14 and Kevin Rovelli '15, and Professor Daniel Boye  of Davidson College.

Although he’s studying barracuda and schoolmaster snappers with the Cape Eleuthera Institute (CEI) in the Bahamas, Michael Weinzierl’s ’15 summer research often feels more like a vacation. Weinzierl is a geoscience major who has “always been interested in marine biology and conservation.” After learning about earth processes from a geological perspective through courses at Hamilton, he decided to apply for hands-on research over the summer. Weinzierl’s internship is supported through the generosity of the Joseph F. Anderson Fund, managed by the Career Center.

Kerri Grimaldi '16 and Janet Thomas Simons, co-director of Hamilton's Digital Humanities Initiative, gave a poster presentation, "Empowering Student Digital Scholarship: CLASS Program as a model for digital humanities scholarship in the Liberal Arts" on July 10 at the International Digital Humanities Conference in Lausanne, Switzerland.

As hemophiliacs know, it can be quite dangerous when blood doesn’t clot. Yet, it can equally threatening when it does. Ischemia, the process of blood clots forming within the body, can be fatal if the clot blocks an artery or otherwise prohibits blood flow. Megan Fitzgerald ’16, a neuroscience major, is an intern assisting with a study of ischemic stroke victims as part of the Inova Neuroscience Research Program in Falls Church, Va. Fitzgerald’s internship is funded through the support of Drew Days ’63.

For her Levitt Summer Research Fellowship Grant, Sarah Izzo ’15 is working on a project with Professor of Philosophy Rick Werner titled “Brains on the Stand: The Implications of Emerging Neuroscience Research on our Judicial System.” Izzo is examining new neuroscience research on topics like decision-making and free will as well as associated technological advances (such as improved precision in lie detection). 

Assistant Professor of History John Eldevik recently presented a paper at the International Medieval Congress in Leeds, UK, which ran from July 7-10. Eldevik's presentation, "Thinking with Alexander in Medieval Austria: The Letter to Aristotle and its Manuscript Contexts," was part of a panel on medieval representations of Alexander the Great in the Jewish, Christian and Arab traditions.

Although France legalized gay marriage last year, LGBT individuals in the country still feel marginalized. One contributing factor to this is the portrayal of homosexuality in the media, the topic Asad Javed '15, film and French double major, is spending the summer studying. He is working on the independent Emerson project, En Rose - The Depiction and Reception of Homosexuality in French Cinema, with Professor of French Martine Guyot-Bender.

In May, New York State Medicare updated its services to include sex reassignment surgery for diagnosed cases of gender dysphoria, the medical term for individuals suffering from a discrepancy between their birth sex and mental gender. Although civil rights for the LGBT community are more permissive than they ever have been, much reform is still needed for this community to experience equality. Kate Cieplicki ’16, a psychology and women’s studies double major, is working in Philadelphia this summer to advance support services for LGBT individuals.

John DeGuardi ’16 and Allie Eckert ’15, both chemistry majors, are researching ‘organic radicals’ with Associate Professor of Chemistry Ian Rosenstein this summer. Generally, the students explain, electrons are paired within an atom and have opposing spins that help stabilize the atom. A radical, however, is an atom with an unpaired electron in its outer shell. Since the electron in the outer shell does not have a counterpart, the atom is unstable and highly reactive.

Attended by 170 individuals from 52 colleges and universities, the Sharing the Annual Fund Fundamentals Conference, referred to as STAFF, was held for the second year on the Hamilton campus, from July 14-16.