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Max Currier ’10 is looking for a way to increase the effectiveness of political restructuring in Afghanistan – as long as it works, and works well. He supports Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs), joint civil-military teams designed to extend the Afghan Central Government from Kabul (the capital) to Afghanistan’s 32 provinces. His goal this summer is to examine the role and efficacy of PRTs in Afghanistan.

Physicists are often forced to work through tedious preparations only to take quick measurements and arrive at small, sometimes inconsequential conclusions. Therefore, much of modern research consists of trying to find ways to increase efficiency without sacrificing quality results. Lauren Vilardo ’11 and Valerie Hanson ’10 are developing a faster, more accurate measurement of the absolute polarization of 3Helium (3He). This summer they're collaborating with Professor of Physics Gordon Jones and Associate Professor of Physics Brian Collett to do so. 

The environmental studies major with a focus in the humanities is not based on geology or biology. Rather, it highlights the philosophical and historical aspects of nature’s wonder. Julie DiRoma ’10 is channeling this interest in environmental theory into a potential career in policy or education. Although a scientific mode of thinking is ideal for some students, DiRoma prefers to discuss the human angle on nature. This summer, she attends environmental sustainability councils as a part of her internship with the Syracuse-Onondaga County Planning Agency (SOCPA) in the Onondaga County Government.

In the words of Jane Hannon ’11, Dr. Dale Purves is “kind of a big deal.” As the director of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience and George Barth Geller Professor for Research in Neurobiology at Duke University, he is an ideal role model for Hannon, who is a neuroscience major and aspiring expert on the human brain’s machinery. She has an internship in Purves’ lab this summer, and from her desk she can watch him edit the next edition of his textbook. “I get a kick out of it,” she said. “I know that I’ll be seeing those edits very soon because his book will accompany the neuroscience class that I’ll be taking in the fall at Hamilton.”

The Oath of Lasagna is not a pledge to Italian food; it is a modern-day revision of the Hippocratic Oath, an ethical code of conduct for doctors. Historians believe that the Greek physician Hippocrates, the “father of western medicine,” wrote the Oath, thereby taking medicine from a practice of superstition to one of ethical obligation and rationality. This summer, Julianne Tylko ’10 is studying the relationship between the Hippocratic Oath and modern versions like the Oath of Lasagna, devised by Dr. Louis Lasagna in 1964.

While other summer researchers in physics are working on projects like aCORN and the SEOP neutron polarizer, Andrew Portuguese ’11 is like a stage technician who jumps between multiple projects. He is currently creating a graphical user interface for a magnetic field mapper along with Professor of Physics Gordon Jones. The interface and mapper are designed to better the lives of scientists at NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology).

New York City has a historic connection with neighborhoods and community intimacy. The five boroughs each have distinct qualities, and even smaller communities within them take pride in what they have assembled out of the masses. However, Kevin Rowe ’10 fears that these neighborhoods have surrendered their rights to the organization of their own community. This summer he is researching community-based urban planning programs like West Harlem Environmental Action (WE ACT) and Sustainable South Bronx (SSB) that work to reverse this effect.

The world of modern art comes to mind when students mention their internships at cutting-edge museums. However, Katie He ’11 feels that her internship at the Rubin Museum of Art, which collects Himalayan works from as early as the 2nd century, is just as “hip” as the more offbeat pieces held in other museums. The Rubin explores the artistic and cultural legacy of the Himalayas in a way that makes it both an art museum and a history museum. It also organizes programs and events to encourage a deeper appreciation of art in the Chelsea, New York City, community.

Jen Santoro ’11 enjoyed catching frogs and spending time outside when she was younger, and has an affinity for nature still. Her love for plant life and for creatures flitting from tree to tree translated into a desire to be an environmental studies major, with a focus in biology. Her research partner, Gary Bedrosian ’11, also claims to have loved biology ever since he was very small. Together they're working on a project at the Rome Sand Plains with Associate Professor of Biology William Pfitsch. This summer, their goal is to study the relationship between wild blue lupine plants and the Frosted Elfin butterfly, and how different soil types in the area could lead them to more conclusions on the topic.

Andrew Steele ’10 is working at a quiet organization this summer, with fewer than 30 staff members and 10 to 12 interns. Despite the fact that it is relatively calm inside, the Center for Study of the Presidency and Congress (CSPC) is surrounded by the commotion of the nation’s capital. Steele says he is excited to be in a place like Washington, D.C., where bustling streets represent the constant hum of political activity.