Kudos! Student Achievements Fall 2025

It’s all About the Research!

ABCRMS conference

A large contingent of Hamilton students attended the annual American Society for Microbiology conference (ABCRMS) in support of multidisciplinary science and workforce development. Hamilton’s ROOTS student group organized the trip, which took place in San Antonio in November.

At ABRCMS, scientists from all communities come together to share research positioned to meet today’s challenges and shape tomorrow’s future. That shared purpose depends on emerging scientists from every background showing up with passion and purpose.

Led by Associate Professor of Chemistry Max Majireck and Associate Professor of Psychology Siobhan Robinson, attendees included:

• Elise Kwon ’26
• Prim Udomphan ’26
• Mimosa Van ’26
• Mark Khairallah ’27
• Aditi Kumar ’27
• Elizabeth (Ellie) Casalmir ’26
• Sa (Sa Kay) Da ’26
• Jessica Corbett ’27
• Joy Seo ’27
• Hargoon Kaur ’28
• Amelya Greaves ’26
• Sara Ghaemi ’27
• Lizzy Ma ’27
• Rejoice Muleya ’27
• Jordan Merklin ’26

Julia Afsar-Keshmiri ’26

Afsar-Keshmiri ’26 shares research at Society for Neuroscience

Hamilton Senior Fellow Julia Afsar-Keshmiri ’26 presented her research findings on a type of microscopy that allows 3D visualization of the brain at the Society for Neuroscience conference in San Diego in November. She and Visiting Assistant Professor of Psychology Abigail Myers collaborated on that project with a team at the University of Florida. At Hamilton, Afsar-Keshmiri and Myers are studying how a protein called Miro1 influences brain development.

Students present research at SICB

Three Hamilton students – Lula Dalupang ’26, Andrea Jivanny Hernandez Ramirez ’27, and Tenniyah Jennings ’28 – presented two posters with Assistant Professor of Biology Ariel Kahrl at this year’s Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology annual meeting in Portland, Ore.

Their posters showcased their summer science research examining how frog egg jelly impacts sperm performance in Green Frogs, as well as Dulupang’s senior thesis work testing whether male traits are related to male sperm performance.

Lacerda ’27 presents at AAA annual meeting

Pedro Lacerda ’27 discussed his research at the American Anthropological Association’s (AAA) annual meeting in New Orleans in November. His project was titled “Pero mi cuerpo reaccionaba:” The Body as a Channel for Abjectivity Among Migrants in the Paso del Norte Region.

“I’m so grateful for all the support I received from the Anthropology Department as well as the Dean of Faculty’s Office, Hamilton Opportunity Programs, and my research mentor Carina Heckert (University of Texas El Paso). I’m excited to move forward with my work and to continue considering the importance of future-building in the borderlands as well as Oaxaca, where I will be spending the spring semester,” Lacerda said.

Majireck and five students publish paper

Associate Professor of Chemistry Max Majireck’s research group published an article in the chemistry research journal ACS Omega for a special issue on “Undergraduate Research as the Stimulus for Scientific Progress in the USA.”

Student contributors are senior biochemistry/molecular biology majors Jordan Merkli, Beau Sinardo, and Claire Cooper; senior chemistry major Prim Udomphan; and Maddie Boger ’25, a mathematics and statistics major.

Marash ’26 presents poster at American Physical Society

Sam Marash ’26 presented a poster from his summer work at the American Physical Society Department of Plasma Physics conference in Long Beach, Calif., in November. His research was conducted through the Department of Energy’s Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internships program. Marash was connected to General Atomics, a private company in San Diego with government contracts, where he worked on materials physics research for nuclear fusion applications.

Nannas and two grads publish in journal

Associate Professor of Biology Natalie Nannas is the senior author, along with two recent Hamilton graduates as co-authors, of a paper published recently by the MDPI journal, Education Sciences.

“Artificial Intelligence Performance in Introductory Biology: Passing Grades but Poor Performance at High Cognitive Complexity” is the result of a study conducted by Megan Rai ’25 and Michael Ngaw ’25 in which they “investigated the ability of four different AIs to perform on [an] assessment from introductory biology.” The course, BIO100, focuses on the key concepts of evolution, information flow, transformation of energy and matter, structure and function, and biological interactions.

The study evaluated the performance of ChatGPT-4, ChatGPT-3.5, Google’s Bard, and Microsoft’s Bing. Results showed that all of the AI products were able pass the biology course “with varying degrees of success related to the usage of image-based assessments.” Overall, AI received grades ranging from D- to C-, while the average student grade was a B. However, on assessments that did not include image-based questions, the study showed AI scored a full letter grade higher.

“By understanding [AI’s] capabilities at different levels of complexity, educators will be better able to adapt assessments based on AI ability, particularly through the utilization of image- and sequence-based questions, and integrate AI into higher education curricula,” the researchers concluded.

Senior Philosophy Majors Present at APA Eastern Division

Six Philosophy senior concentrators presented research (mainly done for their capstone philosophy projects) at a poster session on undergraduate research at the Eastern Divisional Meeting of the American Philosophical Association in Baltimore this month. The capstone work was advised by professors Alex Plakias and Todd Franklin. The student presentations at the APA were:

• Gabrielle Brihn, "How to Be a Snob: Why Aesthetic Snobbery Isn’t (Always) A Vice"
• Nicholas Hollander, “'Just Use Chat': AI and Intellectual Autonomy in Education"
• Kristiana Klein, "Justice Alternatives for Free Will Skeptics"
• Amaris Martins, "Trust Your Gut?: The Role of Intuition in Moral Dilemmas"
• Fletcher Shaw, "Alignment Without Principles: An Ethical Particularist Approach to AI Alignment"
• Ashylia Sloane, "Time of Death: Never? Speculations on the Nature of Death and Time"

Wu a delegate at Ukraine Action Summit

Harry Wu ’27 attended the Fall 2025 Ukraine Action Summit in Washington, D.C., as a delegate representing California and New York. This seventh biannual summit, hosted by the American Coalition for Ukraine, brought together over 700 delegates from all 50 states, the largest gathering in the coalition’s history.

“Throughout the summit, I collaborated with fellow advocates and gained first-hand insight into how the U.S. legislative process supports international partnerships,” Wu said, adding that his delegation met with eight members of Congress, including Rep. Josh Harder (CA-9), Rep. John Mannion (NY-22), Rep. Young Kim (CA-40), Rep. Madeleine Dean (PA-4), and Senator Adam Schiff (CA), to discuss key legislation strengthening U.S.–Ukraine relations and supporting Ukraine’s defense against Russian aggression.

“We also had the incredible opportunity to meet EU Parliament President Roberta Metsola and thank her for the EU’s support for Ukraine,” Wu said. “I’m deeply grateful to the American Coalition for Ukraine and its partners, my delegation leaders and fellow advocates, the Renyi Leadership Fund at Hamilton for funding my participation, and my ALEX advisor, Noelle Niznik, for helping me make this trip possible.

“It was truly meaningful to contribute to advocacy efforts that support democracy, human rights, and international solidarity,” he added.

In Sports News …

Student-athletes earn All-Academic honors

A total of 92 Hamilton student-athletes earned a spot on the 2025 NESCAC Fall All-Academic Team.

Representing seven teams (men’s and women’s cross country, field hockey, football, men’s and women’s soccer, and volleyball), these students qualified for the distinction that honors sophomores, juniors, and seniors who have maintained a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or higher.

NESCAC announces 2025 Fall All-Sportsmanship Team

Seven Hamilton student-athletes were selected for the 2025 NESCAC Fall All-Sportsmanship Team. Representatives include one student-athlete from each varsity sport selected by coaches and student-athletes based on positive contributions to sportsmanship. The student-athletes exhibit respect for themselves, teammates, coaches, opponents, and spectators. Through their positive actions and examples, they inspire others to adhere to the quality of sportsmanship that the NESCAC and the NCAA endorse.

Hamilton team members include Drew Richardson ’26 (men’s cross country), Taylor Harris (women’s cross country), Becky Felker ’26 (field hockey), John Young ’26 (football), Jameson Mannix ’26 (men’s soccer), Daisy Sullivan ’26 (women’s soccer), and Faye Roselle ’26 (volleyball).

Eagle ’26 and Williams Publish Psychology Research in Behavioral Sciences

Ross Eagle ’26 collaborated with Associate Professor of Psychology Keelah Williams, and a University of Nebraska-Lincoln professor on research that explored the psychology behind why people are so affected by criminal motive when adjudicating guilt. The research, titled “Why Motive Matters: The Appraisal of Criminal Aims,” was published in Behavioral Sciences (Sept., 2025).

Ross Eagle ’26

Major: Psychology
Hometown: Armonk, NY

Williams explained, “This is an interesting question because the law actually views motive as largely irrelevant (e.g., whether you stole $20 to buy illicit drugs or life-saving medicine, you are guilty of theft all the same). But jurors find motive information highly influential and persuasive, which has downstream consequences for verdicts and punishments. 

“I think people will find this paper very relatable, because everyone's first reaction when learning of a heinous crime (e.g., Charlie Kirk's murder, school shootings, Luigi Mangione) is always why did they do it?! Our paper helps to scientifically explain this deeply human reaction,” Williams said.

Romero ’28 Promoted to Private 1st Class

Jesireth Jara Romero ’28, a member of the New York Army National Guard, was promoted in August to the rank of private 1st class. Romero is assigned to the Company A, NY Recruiting & Retention Battalion. Promotions are based on a soldier's overall performance, demonstrated leadership abilities, professionalism and future development potential. Romero, from Brooklyn, N.Y., is interested in majoring in psychology.

She said, “One of the reasons I decided to enlist in the Army was because I know that I want to pursue a career in the medical field, and surely enough my military occupational specialty is a combat medic specialist. Another reason I enlisted is because I believed it would be a space that would teach me a lot of valuable lessons and help me grow as an individual,” she said.

10 Members of the Class of 2025 Elected to Phi Beta Kappa

In its first meeting of the academic year, the Hamilton chapter of Phi Beta Kappa elected 10 members of the Class of 2025 to the oldest academic honorary society in the United States.

• Ross Eagle, Psychology
• Taylor Lambo, Physics
• Lucy Leness, Literature
• Jared Maidman, Biochemistry/Microbiology and Economics
• Lucy Meola, Anthropology and Environmental Studies
• Nicholas Miller, Biology
• Kara Regner, Psychology
• Ian Trefry, Economics
• Yuxuan Xu, Neuroscience
• Rachel Zou, Economics and Psychology

Faculty, Alumni, and Students Contribute to University of Wisconsin's History of Pharmacy Journal

A Hamilton student and four recent alumni contributed essays to the double-blind, peer-reviewed special issue of University of Wisconsin's History of Pharmacy journal, special issue Historical Pharmacaopeias. Associate Professor of History Mackenzie Cooley and Associate Professor of Chemistry Max Majireck also collaborated on an essay. History concentrators Lara Barreira’25, Emma Tomlins ’23 and Nicholas Wassiliew ’26, and Naima Akter ’24 (biochemistry and molecular biology) and Annie Kennedy ’24 (chemistry) contributed to the issue.

Essenmacher ’25 Publishes Research in the AGU Journal Earth & Space Science

Geosciences major Stella Essenmacher ’25 has published research that she conducted with former Visiting Assistant Professor of Geosciences Shreya Kanakiya last year. Stella Essenmacher has published her first journal article, part of which was her senior thesis research.

The article "Characterizing spatiotemporal ground deformation at Whakaari (White Island) volcano, New Zealand from 2014-2024 using InSAR time-series analysis" has been accepted for publication in the AGU Journal Earth & Space Science. It shows the first insights into the deformation happening at White Island volcano after its 2019 eruption and also provides compelling evidence for an eruption that occurred in September 2022 that could not be confirmed due to lack of instruments on site.

“Stella played a crucial role in method development and validation for the analysis that went in the manuscript,” Kanakiya said.

Faculty and Staff Achievements

Read about what Hamilton’s faculty and staff members have been working on since the beginning of the academic year — research grants, published books, delivered papers, positions at national organizations, and more.

Faculty & Staff News

Kudos! is a roundup that highlights noteworthy student, faculty and staff news, including awards, published scholarly work, presentations at regional or national conferences, upcoming or recent media appearances, and other accolades. To be considered for the next edition, please send pertinent information to pr@hamilton.edu.

Posted November 5, 2025