"People always find it surprising in the chemistry world when I say I'm a dancer," says Kristin Smith '02, "and in the dance world when I say I'm a chemist."

But it's a simple matter of balance. Dance combines exercise and creativity in a way that, for Smith, is the ideal counterweight to the intense intellectual stimulation of chemistry, a field in which she is majoring and intends to make her career (specifically, oceanographic chemistry).

Smith has participated in Professor of Chemistry Thomas Wenzel's research into molecular chirality or "handedness" — a phenomenon in which two otherwise identical molecules are mirror images of each other, with potentially great reactive differences. For instance, a "right-handed" molecule of a given chemical might have beneficial medical properties in a situation where its "left-handed" equivalent would be toxic.

Smith, who has concentrated on the use of amino acids to impart chirality, has done well enough to receive a research fellowship from the pharmaceuticals giant Pfizer Inc. Awarded last spring, the $5,000 fellowship enabled this native of Plattsburgh, N.Y., to pursue her research at Bates through summer 2001.

But Smith the dancer, too, has found opportunities here, including the Modern Dance Company. "I think dance will always be a part of my life," if not her career, says Smith, a veteran of the Up with People performing organization. "For me dance is a release from stress and a place of freedom."