2024 Research: From Elihu Root to Farms and Climate Change

Cardiac Disease Prevention

Lauren Hanna ’25, a chemistry major and physics and creative writing double-minor, partnered with Arshdeep Kaur ’26 and Rejoice Muleya ’27 to contribute to heart attack prevention research. The group conducted research on peptides used in the imaging of cardiac diseases at both Hamilton’s biochemistry lab and the labs at the Masonic Medical Research Institute in Utica.

The group’s most significant finding was a new solvent for the production of the peptides that “accomplishes the same goal as the original solvent, but is much better for the environment, so it’s a win-win,” Hanna explained.  

Heather Doyle ’25

Project title: Nitrate Runoff Modeling of Oriskany Creek and Whippany River
Faculty Advisor: Aaron Strong
Department: Environmental Studies
Funding: Emerson Grant

Comparing River Runoff

Heather Doyle ’25 connected Hamilton and her home through her work on nitrate levels in local rivers. Doyle mapped the topography and nutrient-delivery of Oriskany Creek in Clinton, N.Y., and in the Whippany River in Mendham, N.J. to estimate the origin of nitrate in the rivers.

To her surprise, Doyle found Oriskany Creek to be lower in nitrates than the Whippany River. “In retrospect these findings make sense because the Whippany River [area] is more densely populated,” Doyle commented. 

Efficiency Through Chemistry

Summer research taught John Carbone ’25 and Andrew Hohmann ’26 lessons much bigger than the molecules they studied.

While working to make the production of leucolusine, a molecule with antibacterial properties, faster and less expensive, the pair learned about the dedication of successful chemists. “I think what you see on paper does not necessarily represent a lot of the work that goes into research. I’ve gained a lot of respect for other chemists through this project,” Carbone said. 

Examining Self-Compassion and Defensiveness

While self-compassion is typically associated with comforting oneself, Naomi Andrew ’25, Hannah Vogt ’25, Yunuo Yao ’26, and Rachel Zou ’26 studied how self-compassion mediates interpersonal relationships.

“We looked into whether people high in trait self-compassion respond more productively to being confronted about a microaggression,” Vogt explained. “We found that those with more self-compassion were more apologetic or less defensive in these interactions, which is above and beyond our most important result.” 

Farming Communities and Climate Change

Sociology and environmental studies students collaborated to analyze the effects and responses of rural farmers to climate change throughout Central New York. Calvin Doherty ’25, Ailis Hayden ’26, and Lily Watts ’26 interviewed nearby farmers, activists, and politicians to dig into the nuances of climate change in rural communities. 

The group’s work proved several common perceptions of rural farming wrong: “I think that there’s a big misconception that there is a lot of climate change denial in rural farming communities, and we found that farmers are huge stakeholders of the environment and are very aware of changes in the climate and have actually adapted their practices in a lot of ways,” Hayden said. 

“ ... we found that farmers are huge stakeholders of the environment and are very aware of changes in the climate and have actually adapted their practices in a lot of ways.”
 

Perceptions of Peer Counseling

Have you ever worried about the confidentiality of peer counseling at Hamilton? Senior Omar Barghout’s summer research revealed that many students shy away from peer counseling services because of confidentiality concerns, especially at a small school.

However, Barghout believes it is important that students know, “The peer counseling program has set in place strict confidentiality services.” Barghout’s work will inform the Counseling Center’s advertisement of the peer counseling program moving forward to encourage more students to utilize the resource.

Understanding Migrant Revitalization

Nearby Utica, N.Y., served as the perfect site for junior Amaris Martins’ analysis of discourse surrounding migrant revitalization in declining cities. Martins compiled quotes from Utica Observer Dispatch newspapers from 1990 to 2019 to understand what migrants contributed to Utica and how Utica locals perceived migrants.

Although Martins found that migrants have been instrumental to Utica’s revitalization, the newspapers revealed both positive and negative sentiments: “The discourse on migrant revitalization often frames migrants positively when their actions explicitly benefits others, but negatively when the revitalization is catered toward the needs of the migrants themselves,” she noted. 

Mika Tortusa ’25

Project title: The Life and Legacy of Elihu Root
Faculty Advisor: Celeste Day Moore
Department: History
Funding: Levitt Research Grant

Elihu Root's Legacy, Revisited

Lawyer, Secretary of War, Secretary of State, 1912 Nobel Peace Prize recipient, and member of Hamilton’s Class of 1864, Elihu Root was the focus of senior Mika Tortusa’s history research that sought to create meaningful conversations around Root’s legacy.

“Root played an important role in colonization in the Philippines, so this was sort of a way to think about how to talk about a controversial figure in a productive way. There was this article written last year by a law student at Columbia University really criticizing [Root], which is so valid, but we have to find ways to talk about him productively,” Tortusa concluded.