Welcome to a new academic year!

Dear iCons Family and Friends,

Welcome to the new 2011-2012 academic year!

This marks the beginning of iCons’ 2nd year, with much accomplished already and with many opportunities ahead. We’re so proud of the high bar that iCons students, faculty, and staff have set. I want to take this moment to share where we’ve been and where we’re headed, and to thank the many people at UMass Amherst who have helped us come this far.

In particular, iCons has:

• Recruited its 1st class of outstanding iCons Scholars.
• Launched its 1st pioneering course in Integrated Science for undergraduates.
• Received national publicity in C&E News (http://pubs.acs.org/cen/education/89/8927education.html).
• Received campus recognition through the Chancellor’s Award for iCons Manager, Jane Markarian.

Last Fall 2010 we recruited our first class of iCons students. Nearly 100 applicants led to a class of 41 iCons scholars from over 10 CNS, CoE, and SPH departments, heading for work in the Biomedicine and Renewable Energy iCons tracks. Congratulations to this 1st iCons class, and thank you to the faculty and staff who worked on iCons recruiting and admissions.

As of September 1, 2011, we began accepting applications for the iCons’ 2nd cohort. We look forward to working alongside another dedicated group of future leaders in science. Thank you in advance for encouraging your students to apply to iCons in 2011! The application form (and eligibility) can be found at http://www.cns.umass.edu/icons-program/apply-now/icons-application.

Last Spring 2011, we completed the inaugural running of our first course, iCons I: Global Challenges, Scientific Solutions. iCons I was team-taught by Profs. Justin Fermann (Chemistry), Steve Petsch (Geosciences), and Sue Leschine (Microbiology), who pioneered a problem-based approach to teaching integrated science. iCons students pursued solutions to cholera in Haiti, Alzheimer’s disease, the Gulf oil spill, and biomass utilization. iCons I was a tremendous success by all measures!

In July 2011, iCons was featured in Chemical & Engineering News, the trade magazine for the American Chemical Society (ACS). ACS is the world’s largest professional organization with over 160,000 members, offering great exposure for iCons and UMass Amherst. This story caught the attention of a team of scientists in Switzerland who want to learn how to teach the iCons way. You can find the article, written by Dr. Mitch Jacoby, at http://pubs.acs.org/cen/education/89/8927education.html.

Looking to the future, iCons II (Integrative Scientific Communication) will debut in Spring 2012, with a Biomedicine-focused section to be team-taught by Profs. Scott Garman and Bob Zimmerman, and a Renewable Energy section to be team-taught by myself and Prof. D. Venkataraman. During Summer 2011, the iCons I team held 8 faculty training sessions with the iCons II team, facilitated by Dr. Susan Bronstein of UMass’ Learning Support Services, to bring the iCons method of multi-disciplinary education to a new wave of faculty. We also launched a new collaboration with Holyoke Community College on building iCons III Renewable Energy laboratories at both campuses.

I would like to thank the many department heads who have supported iCons in these challenging economic times: thanks to Profs. Craig Martin (Chemistry), Mark Leckie (Geosciences), John Lopes (Microbiology), Danny Schnell and Jennifer Normanly (Biochemistry & Molecular Biology), Don Candela (Physics), and Rolf Karlstrom (Biology). Without your vision, iCons would simply not exist!

Best wishes for the coming year, and thank you for being part of the iCons family. You can always keep up-to-date with the iCons program by visiting http://www.cns.umass.edu/icons-program.

Scott Auerbach, iCons Director and Professor of Chemistry