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Ernest Williams, the Christian A. Johnson Professor of Biology, attended the annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America, in Milwaukee, Wis., in early August, where he made two presentations. He presented a research poster, that was coauthored by Associate Professor of Biology Bill Pfitsch, titled "Habitat restoration for lupine and specialist butterflies," and also gave a talk in a special education session, titled "Undergraduates in research: Finding benefits for both students and faculty.

As a double major in psychology and interdisciplinary studies, Jessica Salwen '09 (Ridgefield, Conn.) wanted to find a job that would fit her interests and give her some practical experience in research, which she would need for graduate school. She ended up finding not one, but two. Salwen is working as an intern at the Yale Child Conduct Clinic, and is also helping a sociologist at Fairfield University do research for an upcoming publication.

The New York Times published an opinion piece written by Maurice Isserman, the James L. Ferguson Professor of History, titled "The Descent of Men" in its Sunday "Week in Review" section. Isserman wrote the op-ed following the recent avalanche in Pakistan on K2, the world's second-highest peak, that took the lives of 11 climbers. Isserman is the co-author of the forthcoming Fallen Giants: A History of Himalayan Mountaineering from the Age of Empire to the Age of Extremes published by Yale University Press and available in book stores next month.

After the contested presidential election of 2000, public attention suddenly focused on the issue of voting policy and reform. In response to the confusion of that election, Congress passed the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) in 2002, which was intended to allow the federal government to organize election administration over all 50 states, modernizing voting equipment and procedures. The changes in election procedure thus make the voting process a mixture of federal, state and local policy.  This summer, Blake Hulnick '09 (Ridgefield, Conn.) is studying how New York State handles election and voting policy by examining HAVA and the subsequent controversy over it.

In support of the final day of Run for the Fallen, members of the Hamilton College and Mohawk Valley communities are invited to participate in a one-mile walk/run beginning at 8 a.m. on Sunday, Aug. 24, on the Hamilton campus. Run for the Fallen is a cross-country relay organized by Hamilton alumnus Jon Bellona '03 and several other Hamiltonians to remember their  classmate Michael Cleary '03 and all other service men and women who have died in Iraq.

Caroline Pierce '10 has an internship this summer that is perfect in many respects. She is working as an intern for the Clean Air Council, a non-profit environmental group in Philadelphia. "I'm just really happy to be working on a subject I find interesting," she says, "learning tons about environmental issues as well as how environmental nonprofits work, and doing work that will have an impact in the future."

Jenny Irons, assistant professor of sociology, recently attended the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association in Boston, July 31-August 4. Irons served as a panelist at a professional workshop, "Succeeding at a Liberal Arts College." She also served as a discussant for a set of five papers at a session titled, "Social, Cultural, and Organizational Contexts of Collective Behavior."

Water-based solids called clathrate hydrates are hydrogen bonded water cages that can trap small molecules in a crystal-like structure. The study of clathrate hydrates has useful technological applications. For example, clathrate hydrates are able to capture valuable hydrocarbons from the ocean floor, which can be used as an energy source. Also, because clathrate hydrates cause pipe clogging, clathrate hydrate research can help in the search for clathrate hydrate inhibitors. To gain a better understanding of clathrate hydrates, Ha Eun Samuel Cho '10 (Torrance, Calif.) is examining their properties with Assistant Professor of Chemistry Camille Jones this summer. 

As an intern at BuildaBridge International, an arts education organization with programs in Philadelphia and developing countries, Kate Hails '10 is learning the business side of nonprofits. Hails works as an intern for Create!Discovery, a program of the BuildaBridge organization that seeks to provide arts-integrated classes during the academic year to children in homeless shelters and transitional homes in the Philadelphia area. Classes such as dance, visual arts, drama, and drumming link the children with teaching artists to expand their artistic, academic, social, and spiritual well-being.

While studying the Crusades in a class at Hamilton last year, history major Kelsey Rice '10 was intrigued how Middle Eastern thinkers were "light years ahead" of intellectual thinkers in Medieval Europe, yet little-studied in traditional history courses. Seeking to better understand the history of this region, Rice applied for and received an Emerson Summer Research Collaboration Grant with Associate Professor of History Shoshana Keller to investigate the foundations of the rapidly growing field of Middle Eastern History. Her research specifically examined flaws in the Western conception of the Middle East, with her project titled "Misinterpreting the Middle East: Western Bias in Approaches in Middle Eastern History."