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Societal pressures shape the way in which many young people develop into adulthood. In fact, cultural norms are so ubiquitous that there are few examples of people who truly break the mold. Kadahj Bennett ’12, an Emerson Summer Grant recipient, is working with Associate Professor of Theater Mark Cryer to create an interdisciplinary, innovative street theater performance piece, Letters to the Shadows in the Sky, on the male black identity in modern society.

When working with human afflictions such as hypothyroidism and diabetes, researchers find it beneficial to study model organisms that can exhibit the same conditions. Animals such as mice and turtles, for example, can provide insight about the biological traits and medical conditions they share with humans. This summer Melanie Hundt ’13, Nicole Nietlisbach ’13 and Max Vaickus ’12 examined hypothyroidism and diabetes in mice and tested for the hormone ghrelin in turtles. The students worked with Professor of Biology David Gapp.

Women and families have unique health and safety issues, yet sometimes the policymaking process can overlook these concerns. The National Research Center (NRC) for Women and Families helps address various topics in women’s and children’s health and safety by providing information to the media, policymakers and the public. Caroline Novas ’13 is spending the summer as an intern with the Center, doing research for some of the nonprofit organization’s projects.

Good advertising can make all the difference in how well a brand performs, no matter what a company is selling. Effective advertisements, however, take innovation and skill, which is why so many brands trust advertising agencies to spread the word about different goods and services. Josephine Jones ’12 is spending the summer in Boston with Arnold Worldwide, a global communications company renowned for its successful advertising campaigns.

The Utica area is sometimes described as a food desert, or an area where healthy, fresh food is not immediately available. This lack of fresh food forces residents to turn to cheaper, less healthy options such as convenience store food. Stephanie Ingraham ’13 is an intern with Utica Urban Gardens at For the Good, Inc., an initiative that works to fight poverty and provide low-income individuals with fresh crops while preserving the environment.

Over the weekend of July 29,  Dan Mermelstein’14, Carmen Montagnon ’13 and Alvin Wu ’13 presented their research at the 10th Molecular Educational Research Consortium in Undergraduate Computational chemistRY (MERCURY) conference at Bucknell University. The three students have been working this summer in the laboratory of Assistant Professor of Chemistry Adam Van Wynsberghe.

As an intern for the Monmouth County Park System in New Jersey, Paul Zarella ’12 is working with the acquisition and design department which provides land preservation and planning services through land acquisition, resource-sensitive design and restoration. He'll conduct surveys of the park system’s many lakes, ponds and streams using GIS, or Geographic Information System, and GPS technology, and his findings will be used for data collection, analysis and mapping.

Enzymes serve as catalysts to many biological processes, and so they are not used up in reactions and they may be recovered and reused. However, in a laboratory setting, reactions involving enzymes can leave the enzyme unrecoverable. Kevin Boettger ’13 and Christopher Richardson ’14 are spending the summer working under Professor of Chemistry Tim Elgren to trap enzymes in Sol gels, making them more stable and recyclable. Their project is titled “Encapsulation of Enzymes.”

Literary agencies help make the book-publishing process go as smoothly as possible. By mediating the interactions between publishers and authors, these agencies help bring the best possible writing to publishing houses while securing better deals for writers. Janine Barlow ’13 is spending the summer as an intern for the Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency (JVNLA) in New York City, gaining a new perspective on the publishing industry. Her internship is supported by the Vilsack Fund through the Career Center.

Ichthyopthirius (Ich), a unicellular parasite that attacks freshwater fish and causes “White Spot Disease,” often has deadly consequences for its host, yet there is no effective treatment for the disease. An Ich outbreak could claim as many as 18 million fish, harming aquacultures and economies around the world. Despite the disease’s prevalence, researchers have no definitive mechanism for Ich’s reproductive cycle, making it difficult to find effective vaccination and treatment. This summer, Chun Yee Lau ’12 and Ravi Jariwala ’13 are working under Assistant Professor of Biology Wei-Jen Chang to discover more about the Ich reproduction cycle.