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Susan Frey ’84, director of education, Thoreau Institute at the Walden Woods Project in Lincoln, Mass., will lead a "Walden Pond Trek" for The Boston Alumni Association at 9 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 16. She will comment on the natural history of the Pond as well as the most famous denizen of Walden Woods, Henry David Thoreau. 

Professor of Biology Ernest Williams published a column about monarch butterflies in News of the Lepidopterists' Society (March, 2007). The column, "Status of the Monarch Sanctuaries in Mexico," resulted from his visit in January to the Mexican sanctuaries, when he joined a research team of Dr. Lincoln Brower, the foremost authority on monarch butterflies. Dr. Brower was co-author on the column, and five of Williams' photographs, including the cover photo, were used in this issue. In this article, they describe the current status and threats to the monarch over-wintering sites and recommend several conservation actions.

Nearly 3,000 memorial flags were displayed along Martin's Way in honor of the victims of the 9/11 attacks. In addition, the Hamilton community observed a moment of silence at noon and gathered at 4 pm outside the Dunham entrance of Commons for a ceremony in memory of the victims.

Director of Outdoor Leadership Andrew Jillings snagged first place in another long distance canoe and kayak race. Although not quite as arduous at the 460-mile Yukon River Quest Jillings won last June, "The 90-Miler" still offered Jillings and his partner a challenge. The 25th anniversary canoe and kayak race from Old Forge to Saranac Lake was held from Sept. 7 to 9.

Daniel Tomb ’08 (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) spent his summer modeling compact helium (He) polarizers with a computer software package called Console, which can “simulate just about anything” using various equations that embody the laws of physics. Helium polarizers are compact apparatuses consisting of glass vessels filled with 3He gas (a very rare isotope of helium that has only one neutron instead of the usual two).

Junior Sharfi Farhana (West Haven, Mass.) used to spend a lot of time in Bangladesh when she was younger. Returning for a wedding last Christmas, she looked at the familiar landscape with new eyes. After several years at an affluent Western college, Farhana noticed that the poverty, the lack of opportunity, the pollution all stood out. "You see that when you’ve had two years of liberal arts education," Farhana said.

Summers on the island of Nantucket are nothing new for Chris Bouton ’09 (Beverly, Mass.), although this is the first summer he has spent there doing research as well. Advised by Associate Professor of History Douglas Ambrose, Bouton spent his summer investigating the contentious Nantucket anti-slavery movement in the 1840s.

Sarah (Sally) Powell ’09 presented her observations and findings about the lives and treatment of marginalized Kenyan children during the faculty and student “Social Justice” conference on September 8. With help from the Diversity and Social Justice Project as well as the Kirkland Endowment, Powell spent her summer working and living in the Sons of Manaseh Children’s Home for abused, neglected, orphaned and abandoned children outside of Nairobi. Her lecture combined her personal experience with and contribution to the children’s home and observations she made about Kenyan children while working in the home and traveling though Nairobi and rural Kenya.

Hamilton has a proud history of entertaining the best and most famous experts in various fields. David Suzuki, Tom Brokaw and Al Gore have all spoken on the Hill in the recent past. No less impressive are the countless professors and professionals from across the country who find Hamilton a welcome place to share their findings and ideas. The Hamilton Diversity and Social Justice Project continued this tradition in excellent style by inviting Professor Leslie Thiele of the University of Florida to speak at the opening of its annual colloquium on September 8, a two-day event that also included student speakers from Hamilton, Union College and Colgate University.

The evening of September 9 saw the Hamilton College Chapel crowded with students listening to "A Conversation about the 2006 and 2008 Elections" from two accomplished Hamilton alumni. Alicia Davis '97 and Marc Elias '90 had different perspectives on the causes of the recent Republican defeat, but agreed on the importance of new media and the closeness of the upcoming campaign.