Grace Ortgiesen

For sophomore Grace Ortgiesen, iCons is more than an extracurricular; it has been part of her decision to pursue the sciences.

Unlike other iCons members, Ortgiesen knew about iCons before coming to UMass Amherst. She originally applied as an English major, but changed her mind between her acceptance and attending New Student Orientation.

“Someone just handed me a brochure at NSO and I was reading through it, and I was just like ‘wow, this sounds so great,’” she said.

Ortgiesen’s high school experience also had an impact on her interest in iCons. She graduated from Advanced Math and Science Academy Charter School, where she was surrounded by other students pursuing the sciences. The iCons program is bringing her back to a similar place where she can learn from other students involved in different aspects of science.

“It’s not just me being friends with a bunch of micro or biology majors, I am also friends with environmental science majors and computer majors, and it’s just a lot more diversity,” she said.

Ortgiesen is also a firm believer that being a member of iCons has made her a more well-rounded student. Not only is she able to look at the world from points of view outside microbiology, but iCons has given her a support system that she can thrive in.

Ortgiesen said, “The people you hang around are going to rub off on you, and if you want to do well you need to hang around with other people who want to do well and succeed, and I think iCons has really helped me with that.”

Currently, Ortgiesen’s main involvement in iCons is participating in a student-run podcast called “A Little About A lot,” and the goal is to better communicate scientific ideas to the non-science community. In her role as outreach manager, she writes emails and invited five-college area professors as guests on the show to discuss their research and its implications.

About to enter into her second year into the program, Ortgiesen is already developing ideas about the project she wants to do for her iCons senior advanced study work. As a passionate advocate for the “Save the Bees” movement and a student involved in Burand Labs at UMass as an independent study, she is thinking of focusing on insect virology. In her independent study now, she focuses on using PCR and gel electrophoresis to detect the presence of the Black Queen Cell Virus in honey bees. The focus of Ortgiesen’s project, will focus on the idea of scientific application.

“I really just like the idea of developing something,” she said, “although I am all about discovering new facts, I want to take those facts and turn them into something. And that’s the whole point of iCons.”  

iCons has helped Ortgiesen pursue her passion for making scientific developments because of their mission to use science as an application for global solutions. By having a support system that pushes her and sparks many of her interests, she is able to thrive.

---Natalie Didomenico