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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."

Hamilton's chapter of Chi Psi fraternity recently was awarded The Thayer Trophy at its annual conference, held this year at Cornell University. The Thayer is awarded annually to the most outstanding Alpha (chapter) of Chi Psi and is the highest honor a chapter can receive from the national fraternity. More specifically, it is given to the Alpha judged superior in areas such as scholarship, financial operations, campus activities, community relations, and the use of Chi Psi educational programs and traditions.

For the 27th consecutive year, more than 50 percent of Hamilton alumni made contributions to the college. Of the 52.2 percent who participated in the annual fund, more than half increased the size of their gifts. Total dollars raised for the fund were $5.82 million, a record for this unrestricted fund.

For Kaitlin Britt '09 (Charleston, S.C.), summer research, following a junior year with the Associated Colleges in China program, has been one more step in pursuing a long-held interest. Britt came to Hamilton because of its Chinese language program, she says, and spending a year in Beijing pursuing intensive language study, learning 150-200 characters a day, was exactly the opportunity she wanted. Her developing language skills allowed her to learn more about Beijing, as well. "Being in touch with language helps," she explains, since her knowledge of Chinese allowed her to talk to people herself, rather than basing her opinions solely on what she heard on the news.

Professor of Chemistry Timothy Elgren has been appointed as a SENCER leadership Fellow by the National Center for Science and Civic Engagement. He is one of 76 educators elected to the inaugural class of Fellows by the members of the National Fellowship Board. SENCER – Science Education for New Civic Engagements and Responsibilities – is the National Science Foundation-supported signature program of the National Center for Science and Civic Engagement, a research center affiliated with Harrisburg University of Science and Technology.

Before researchers can develop treatment for Type II diabetes, they must improve their understanding of the disease's biological progression. So far, it is clear that diabetic mice often exhibit osmotic red blood cell fragility, meaning that their red blood cells are more likely to burst than normal cells in aqueous solutions. Osmotic red blood cell fragility can cause diseases such as retinopathy, a disease of the retina that results in blindness. In an effort to lay the groundwork for diabetic medical developments, Sven Oman '10 (Watertown, N.Y.) is investigating the progression of red blood cell fragility in diabetic mice with Assistant Professor of Chemistry Nicole Snyder and Professor of Biology David Gapp.