The Levitt Center has announced the 2012 Levitt Summer Research Fellowship recipients and Levitt Summer Research Group Grant Recipients. Twenty-one students will conduct research with 13 faculty members.

Twenty Hamilton students have been named recipients of the 2012 Emerson Summer Grants. The students receive a stipend and spend the summer working collaboratively with a Hamilton faculty member, researching an area of interest.

Hamilton was well-represented as 12 students presented the results of their research at the New York 6 Undergraduate Research Conference this month at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs.

A combination of social oppression, poverty and discrimination has kept Mayan women in Guatemala from raising their voices and using their full potential. Deaf women in particular are stripped of their rights and made to believe that they have no worth. This summer Mariela Meza ’13 interviewed Guatemalan women in the highland community of Nahuala in an effort to prove that they can be valuable contributors to their community. Meza’s work was funded through an Emerson Summer Grant.

In impoverished countries such as Guatemala, education and other opportunities for women and girls could help substantially in improving the state’s overall economic health. However, Guatemalan women, particularly those belonging to the Mayan tribe, are all but ignored when it comes to proper education and healthcare. Rebecca Ross ’14 spent the summer in Guatemala, analyzing the conditions facing Mayan women and studying the concept of battling poverty through gender equality.

Assistant Professor of Physics Natalia Connolly recently participated in a summer outreach program with four high school students and their physics teacher, Jeff  Rodriguez, at Anderson High School in Cincinnati, Ohio.

“What are you thinking?” That question, voiced or simply pondered, is a common query considered by most of us from time to time. Austin Walker ’12 spent most of his summer posing similar questions to Kenyan youth. Specifically he was focused on uncovering what young people view are the most pressing issues facing them and their country. Walker worked with Professor of Government Steve Orvis with funding from a 2011 Levitt Research Fellowship Grant.

Certain chemical structures called clathrate hydrates can be found on the bottom of our oceans or built in a lab. This summer seven students are working with Assistant Professor of Chemistry Camille Jones to conduct research related to hydrates, including examinations of different hydrate properties.

Parasitic species can help control their hosts’ populations and add to an ecosystem’s biodiversity. This summer Kristin Forgrave ’12, Christopher Kline ’12, James Liebow ’13, Jaclyn Specht ’12, and Abby Koppa ’12 worked with Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology Ashleigh Smythe on a project to explore parasitic worms in natural habitats.  The group worked on three separate projects that dealt with different worm species and hosts.

Entrepreneurship among immigrants to the U.S. has a significant impact on the economy’s growth. Yet many economists don't study this particular facet of economic development in detail. Noah Ford ’13, a recipient of a 2011 Levitt Research Fellowship Grant, is exploring immigrant entrepreneurship with Professor of Economics Paul Hagstrom.