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The Patagonia region of Chile has some of the highest wind potentials in the world, peaking at nearly 200,000 megawatts of power and sweeping by at five or 10 meters per second. Natalie Elking ’12 and Isabelle Cannell ’11 began to develop an interest in this obvious but overlooked source of energy after writing a group paper on what they believed was the proper approach to wilderness conservation in Patagonia. J. W. Johnson Family Professor of Geosciences Eugene Domack taught the course, and expressed interest in editing their paper and trying to get it published. As the topic moved more into the realm of wind and tidal power issues, Domack suggested a trip to Chile to investigate the matter. Elking and Cannell agreed, and enthusiastically accompanied him this past May.

When Xiang Wang ’12 watched the 2004 U. S. presidential election on television, he became enamored with politics and American democracy. It was only the beginning of his interest in governmental policy – the 5th Congressional District office, where he now interns, helped Wang and his mother immigrate to the United States. Now, as a potential world politics and economics double major at Hamilton, Wang is working for U.S. Congressman Gary Ackerman at the office, located in Bayside, N.Y.

Caroline Krumholz ’10 never described her interest in different people and ethnicities as anthropology until she came to Hamilton. Once she identified anthropology as a distinct subject with its own title and terminology, her interest began to grow. Ever since, she has become increasingly committed to learning more about culture and tradition. This summer, she is interning in Hamilton’s Anthropology Department, working under the advisory of Assistant Professor Chaise LaDousa. He is guiding her through the process of conducting fieldwork and sifting through relevant literature.

Who knew sports could be so academic? John Dunn ’10 did. This summer, he studied the political and social symbolism of rugby in post-apartheid South Africa. He believes that rugby has served as a means of political reconciliation in recent years through conflict resolution and racial integration. Dunn wanted to investigate the legitimacy of the African National Congress’s claim that rugby is an emblem for national unity. His project was funded through the Levitt Research Fellows Program, which is open to students who wish to collaborate with faculty members on intensive research projects related to public affairs. Dunn’s advisor for the summer was Associate Professor of History Kevin Grant.

Matthew Gabriel ’11 has a fondness for phrases like “a more perfect Union” and “the Blessings of Liberty.” To him, the elegant script that cried for a fledgling country to “establish justice” and “promote the general welfare” is still relevant today. For many, the Preamble of the Constitution is just a Schoolhouse Rock song. But Gabriel’s intended career depends on how the entire work is interpreted. This summer, he is working at the Kings County District Attorney’s office in Brooklyn, N.Y., in their Early Case Assessment Bureau (ECAB). His internship reinforces his interest in justice and law.

“The only thing I ever enjoyed enough to see myself doing long term was being creative, which is why I became an art major,” said Linda Di Bernardo ’10. But it wasn’t until she watched Lord of the Rings for the first time that her interest in set design began to develop. Di Bernardo appreciated the clash of armor and attention to detail on every sword and garment, and knew that she wanted to contribute to such elaborate sets. “I remember when I was little I wanted to be an actress, which didn't work out for me since I get stage fright pretty easily,” she laughed. “Working on sets keeps me in that same kind of exciting environment while doing something I love.”

Piscidins are potent biological substances. Classified as antimicrobial peptides, they naturally fight off infection in organisms like the hybrid striped bass, among others. There are four members of the family of piscidins that Billy Wieczorek ’11 is studying this summer. Piscidin-1 has been the subject of myriad other studies, and although it has many antimicrobial properties, it can be harmful to human blood cells because it cannot differentiate between bacterial and mammalian cells.

Juancho Hurtado ’11 is a fire-breathing dragon. Well, not really. But he has experimented with the dangerous art of breathing fire this summer. His newly-acquired talent comes from his work at Teatro Taller de Colombia, one of the oldest street theatre groups in Colombia. He is studying street theatre there through the Emerson Grant Foundation, which was created in 1997 to promote collaboration with faculty on subjects that students find fascinating and worthwhile. His adviser and co-researcher is Professor of Theatre Craig Latrell, who stays in regular contact with Hurtado while he is out of the country.

Danielle Burby ’12 knows that the editor always has the final say. So when she secured an internship at Square One Publishers for the summer, she did not expect to have much flexibility. For the most part, she assumed that she would be confined to marketing and minor, superfluous tasks. But during the first week, she took an editing test, and found that she had underestimated her power there – her supervisors loved her ability to tidy up almost any piece of prose and wanted to hire her to edit a book in need of revision. With the turn of a page, Burby’s unpaid internship spawned a paid opportunity.

When Clair Cassiello ’11 was younger, she wanted to work for the FBI. The psychological twists excited her – she liked that criminal investigators sometimes analyze how a person thinks as opposed to what crime he has actually committed. Although her ambitions have changed, she still is interested in the profound effect the mind has on actions. This summer, Cassiello is learning more about psychology through an eye-tracking bias project with Visiting Professor of Psychology Mark Oakes.