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Hamilton’s sophomore seminar on The Once and Future Hudson took a field trip to the Hudson Valley on May 2. The day began with a hike to Kaaterskill Falls, an inspiration for Thomas Cole and other Hudson River painters. Other activities included meetings with officials in the cities of Newburgh and Hudson to discuss urban planning and riverfront revitalization and a boat trip through the Hudson Highlands. Students in the seminar will make a multimedia presentation about the once and future Hudson on Monday, May 7 at 4 p.m. in the Science Auditorium. The students are Jane Barnes, Stu Lombardi, Ceci Laseter, Steve Shen, Jennifer Karl, Joe Bock, Jennifer Kleindienst, Jimmy Gibson, Emma Stewart, Kevin Osborne, Amy Rumack, Mike Singer, Jessie Gelber, Alex Caruso, John McRae, Matt Fellows, and Ash Wall.

Hamilton College researchers have identified molecules that have been shown to be effective in the fight against breast cancer. A paper detailing the research, "Computational Design and Experimental Discovery of an Anti-estrogenic Peptide Derived from Alpha-Fetoprotein," will be published in the May 16 issue of the Journal of American Chemical Society. Winslow Professor of Chemistry George Shields and co-director of the Center for Molecular Design Karl Kirschner led the Hamilton research team with undergraduate students Katrina Lexa '05, Amanda Salisburg ‘08, Katherine Alser '09.

Hamilton College's highest awards for teaching were presented on May 4 to five faculty members. Chemistry Professor Robin Kinnel was awarded the Samuel & Helen Lang Prize for Excellence in Teaching; Assistant Professor of Sociology Yvonne Zylan received the John R. Hatch Excellence in Teaching Award; Assistant Professor of Biology Mike McCormick was awarded the Class of 1963 Excellence in Teaching Award; Professor of Music Lydia Hamessley received the Class of 1962 Excellence in Teaching Award; and Professor of Economics James Bradfield received the Sidney Wertimer Award. They were honored during the college's Class & Charter Day celebration, an annual convocation recognizing student and faculty excellence during the preceding academic year.

Academic achievement prizes, prize scholarships and other recognition of student accomplishments were awarded at Hamilton's 57th annual Class & Charter Day convocation on Friday, May 4, in the Chapel. Among the top prizes, Laura Hartz '07 was awarded the James Soper Merrill Prize and Julianne Jaquith '08 won the Milton F. Fillius Jr./Joseph Drown Prize Scholarship.

Herm Lehman, associate professor of biology, presented a talk titled “Social regulation of neurotransmitter synthesis” at Neurofest, in Skanetateles, N.Y., in April. Neurofest is an annual meeting of the upstate New York neuroscience community that is attended by faculty and students from Syracuse University, SUNY Upstate Medical Center, Lemoyne University, SUNY Cortland, University of Rochester and Hamilton College. His talk examined the social behavior of honey bees and how the manifestation of this social behavior is regulated by the synthesis of octopamine, a neurotransmitter in the bee brain.

Hamilton College's Class & Charter Day celebration, an annual convocation recognizing student and faculty excellence during the preceding academic year, will take place on Friday, May 4, at 12:15 p.m. in the Chapel. This year's speaker, Hamilton Charter Trustee Susan Skerritt, is a 1977 graduate of Kirkland College. She will present remarks titled “Kirkland Mattered: A Brief Personal Account.” An all-campus picnic will follow the awards and HamTrek, the fourth annual campus triathalon, will begin at 2:30 p.m.

Associate Professor of English Naomi Guttman's new book of poems, Wet Apples White Blood (McGill-Queen's University Press), has been reviewed in ForeWord Magazine. Published six times a year, ForeWord showcases critical reviews of titles from independent book publishers.

Eleven students were inducted into the Hamilton chapter of Eta Sigma Phi, the National Classics Honor Society, on April 30. The Hamilton chapter was established this year. The charter members of the Hamilton chapter of Eta Sigma Phi are Kevin Coppola ’07, Adam Weisz ’07, Rob Dunn ’07, Chrissy Rubino ’08 (president), Nate Miller ’08, Matt Mesi ’08 (secretary), Cassie Sullivan ’09 (vice president), Casey Green ’09 (treasurer), Ashley Langer ’09, Maddie Ware ’09, and Larry Allen ’09 (sergeant-at-arms). The new Hamilton chapter was established by Hamilton Classics Department faculty.

Leanne Pasquini '07 has received the 2007 Undergraduate Student Award from the New York Section of the Society for Applied Spectroscopy. She will be honored at the NYSAS celebration meeting to be held at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point on June 17. A Phi Beta Kappa chemistry major, she was nominated by Professor of Chemistry Tim Elgren. He nominated Pasquini for her self-directed project that looked at the Raman spectral features associated with various gemstones. The work was done in collaboration with Professor of Chemistry Camille Jones, Professor of  Geosciences Dave Bailey and Professor Elgren. Pasquini presented a poster on the project titled “Raman Spectroscopic Characterization of Gem Stones” at the Chicago American Chemical Society meeting in April.

Winslow Professor of Chemistry George Shields presented a seminar at Vassar College on April 25, titled "Research on accurate pKa calculations, the role of water clusters in Atmospheric Chemistry, and the use of computational chemistry in Cancer Drug Design." He discussed the work that Hamilton students have done over the past few years, working with him and Karl Kirschner, co-Director of the Center for Molecular Design.