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Lisa Schaaf of Erie, Pa., and Mary Ann Vicari of Baltimore, Md., both '06, are spending the summer researching the geoarchaeology of Smith Creek Cave in Nevada. Schaaf and Vicari, who are working with Professor of Archaeology Tom Jones, spent the first six weeks of their research on-site in Nevada, and are now back on campus analyzing samples in the lab.

Adam Gordon '06 (Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.) is spending his summer with Alexander Hamilton. After winning an Emerson Grant this year, Gordon, a government major and art history minor, decided to conduct research on Hamilton for a project titled "Alexander Hamilton: Patriot for Mankind."

When Diana Mastrocola '06 (Reading, Mass.) opted to spend her summer conducting research as a Levitt Fellow, she simultaneously expanded her commitment to the Utica community. As a volunteer at Girls Inc. throughout the academic year, a program for girls ages 6-16 in Utica, Mastrocola wanted to know more about this national non-profit organization and particularly the demographic makeup of the Utica chapter.

Ernesto Medina Gomez '06 (Mexico City, Mexico), is spending his second summer as a Levitt Fellow combining his interests in government, economics and public affairs as he researches for a project titled "Have NGOs and anti-globalization activists helped the poor? A study of the impact on the poor of World Bank projects and transnational protest."

The Nature Handbook by Ernest Williams, the Leonard C. Ferguson Professor of Biology, received a positive review in The Providence Journal (7/31/05). An excerpt of the review noted: "The Nature Handbook is the mother of all field guides. Your Peterson's won't be the same after you get your hands on your own copy...The writing is exceptionally clear and graceful, at times witty, continuously organizing perceptions and challenging interpretations."

Justin Monroe and Reagan Sayles, both '07, are working with Associate Professor of Biology Herman Lehman doing summer research. Monroe, a neuroscience major, and Sayles, a biology major, are working on a project titled "Biogenic amines and pigmentation patterns in paper wasp aggression." Their goal is to find a chemical reason why paper wasps with a certain spot pattern are more aggressive.

Winslow Professor of Chemistry George Shields was the principal investigator and Visiting Assistant Professor of Chemistry Karl Kirschner and System Administrator and Research Support Specialist Steve Young were key personnel, on a $100,000 grant funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The grant, titled “Acquisition of a linux cluster for the Molecular Education and Research Consortium in Undergraduate Computational Chemistry (MERCURY)," has been funded by the NSF’s Division of Chemistry through the Major Research Instrumentation Program (MRI). The research efforts of the entire consortium of eight liberal arts colleges were essential for the success of the NSF-MRI grant. The Linux Cluster will be built, maintained, and operated at Hamilton, and all MERCURY members will use it for computational research in atmospheric chemistry, materials science and physical chemistry, and biochemistry.

Six Hamilton alumni are involved with the production of Love is in the Air, to be presented by Pig Brooch, Inc. at FringeNYC 2005. They include: Dustin Helmer ‘99, Justin Tyler ’01, Aurelia Fisher ’03, and Jordan Wishner, Sasha Kaye and Pete Harmelin, all ’05. The New York International Fringe Festival (FringeNYC) is the largest multi-arts festival in North America. 

Construction of the new Science Center, which will be dedicated on Sept. 30, is in its final days. Planning began in 1996 for the state-of-the-art, $56 million center. Close to 100 Barr and Barr construction workers are putting in overtime in order to meet the deadline for completion of Phase 2 of the new building, thus marking the completion of all Science Center construction.

Assistant Professor of Economics Stephen Wu’s study “Where do faculty receive their Ph.Ds?” was reported in Inside Higher Education (8/5/05). The study, originally published in Academe, the magazine of the American Association of University Professors, compares the doctoral origins of faculty in six subjects (economics, history, English, sociology, chemistry and mathematics) at top research universities and liberal arts colleges. The article reports that Wu found more than two-thirds of economics faculty members at top research universities earned their Ph.D at a graduate program at a top 10 institution, the highest proportion by far of the six disciplines compared. Wu is quoted as saying, “In economics, it’s fairly well known that if you want to be a professor, you pretty much want to get into a top program, or you might as well not really bother.” He guessed that it might be easier to evaluate potential economics professors based on where they got their Ph.D. as opposed to other subjects because those with a natural aptitude for math will succeed. “In other fields, there might be more room for development, for late bloomers,” he said.