Hobart and William Smith Colleges

While working with Professor of Biology Kristy Kenyon, Ellean Macarthy ‘27, Genevieve Larkin ‘27 and Caroline Gannon ‘26 view anesthetized flies (Drosophila melanogaster) to determine if the loss of specific genes affects traits such as eye and body color.

Azure Sage ‘27 and Anna Pedone ‘27 pose for a photo inside the Smith Opera House, where they are interning this summer.

Associate Professor of Business Management and Entrepreneurship Craig Talmage gives a talk on how craft breweries leverage neolocalism to foster community identity, economic resilience and social connection during the Community Development Society conference hosted on campus.

Niko Lutz ‘26 poses for a photo outside Legal Assistance of Western New York, Inc. where he is a Legal Services Intern this summer.

Olufisola Babalola ’27, Colleen Quirk ’27, Liliana Chavez ’27 and Lilay Abadi ’26 meet in the Adams Intercultural Center to work on a project exploring mental health in children and adolescents through the University of Rochester's Research/Project Experience program.

Associate Professor of History Janette Gayle and Alexandra Dickinson ‘27 examine the Mapping Harlem Digital Project, studying settlement patterns and neighborhood formation in Harlem, with a focus on Black self-employed dressmakers from 1900-1920.

Before heading out on Seneca Lake to study water quality and food webs, Daniel R. Baker ’72 and his family join Finger Lakes Institute research students, Director Lisa Cleckner, Associate Director Sam Beck-Andersen and Lab Manager Trevor Massey for a photo aboard the William Scandling.

As part of their mentored research project titled “China in Africa,” Hillel Wasserman ’28, Hudson Chou ’27 and Krissia Hercules ’27 discuss cross-cultural engagement with Associate Professor of Anthropology Chris Annear.

Summer Scholarship Fellows Laura Thérien ’26 and Hazel Brown ’28 work on the Seneca Review with Editor-in-Chief and Associate Professor of Writing and Rhetoric and English and Creative Writing Geoffrey Babbitt.

Erin Hulburt ’26 examines historic newsletters from the William Smith Dean's office with Archivist and Special Collections Librarian Brandon Moblo while researching the Take Back the Night event on campus.

Summer research students work in the HWS Geoscience Weather and Climate computer lab during the 2025 HWS Summer Research and NEPARS Research Experiences for Undergraduates programs.

Aquatic Invasive Species Technician Sam Lubell, Daudi Aden ’26 and Linnea Darius ’26 collect organisms from the sediment of Seneca Lake for stable isotope analysis to help characterize the aquatic food web of the lake.

With Professor of Chemistry Kristin Slade, Selina Owino ‘28, Nora Smith ‘27 and Catherine Antoulinakis ‘28 study malate dehydrogenase kinetic assays to measure the rate of the metabolic pathway that enables organisms to break down sugar, aiming to better understand the conditions that regulate the enzyme’s function.

With funding from the Mellon Foundation and under the direction of Professor of History Matthew Crow, Connor Gasper ‘26 and Alyssa Hanuscin ‘27 examine a common press as part of the “Matters of Memory” summer research project.

Under the direction of Assistant Professor of Chemistry Matthew Church ’14, Maryfei Berrigan ‘27, Toni Goerke ’27 and Aubrey Ryan ‘26 are using supercomputers and advanced scientific methods to simulate ultrafast chemical reactions, gaining insight into otherwise unmeasurable processes.

This week, we feature a range of research projects being conducted by HWS faculty and students this summer. Here, Ameer Muse ‘26 performs a purification of one of the final target anti-cancer compounds using column chromatography with Professor of Chemistry Erin Pelkey.