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From Phoenix to Flagstaff, our caravan of three white vans trundled down interstates and bumpy dirt roads. Pulling off to the side, a stream of 34 people would rush out onto roadside outcrops, hand lenses strung around our necks and field notebooks in hand.

Following a summer spent conducting research in Oriskany Creek and working alongside their faculty mentor, two student researchers recently earned recognition for their work at the Geological Society of America's Annual Meeting.

When we reached the end of our hike, my fellow geological conference attendees and I turned our attention not toward the dense forests far below us, but toward the basalt rocks right below our feet. It was what we had hiked up to see, after all.

Hamilton welcomes 48 new faculty members, including nine new tenure-track, in addition to visiting professors, lecturers, and teaching fellows for the 2022-23 academic year. The College is in the midst of a 10-year period, begun in 2015, during which nearly half of its faculty will reach average retirement age.

When Hamilton made significant investments in environmentally focused science offerings nearly two decades ago, Trustee Joel Johnson ’65, P’93 and his family wanted to ensure the brightest minds found among science faculty were at the forefront of environmental research.

Associate Professor of Geosciences Catherine “Cat” Beck and students, Sara Shedroff ’23 and Marcella Winget ’24, traveled to the Loperot Camp in the Turkana Basin of Kenya’s Rift Valley in June and part of July to conduct research as part of the Turkana Miocene Project funded by the National Science Foundation.

Claire Williams ’25 conducted research earlier this summer with Visiting Assistant Professor of Geosciences Kris Kusnerik and Andrew Fredericks ’25 on the Wakulla River in Florida.

Hamilton salutes four distinguished members of the faculty who retired this year after a combined 152 years of service to the College. They are Cynthia Domack, professor of geosciences; Elaine Heekin, professor of dance and movement studies; Elizabeth Jensen, professor of economics; and David Thompson, professor of physical education and director of campus wellness.

The X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) lab uses x-rays, a portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, to determine the chemical composition of rocks, minerals, and soils. This data can be used to interpret important information about a rock’s history, including how and when it formed.

Is there life on other planets? What does the term ‘Viking’ really mean? Is Earth due for another reversal of the magnetic field? Expert faculty members from several departments, including history, east Asian languages, art history, geosciences, government, and physics, share a little-known fact about their discipline.