News Highlights

From iCons Classroom to Global Adventures

Heather Bortolussi and Fay Paicos walking on wooded street in Thailand

Heather Bortolussi '24 and Fay Paicos '24, both recent graduates of the Environmental Science program and the UMass iCons Program at UMass Amherst, discovered that an iCons classroom is not just the beginning of a professional toolkit but a gateway to enriching experiences beyond academia. Their journey began in an iCons 2 classroom, where their teamwork sparked a friendship that extended far beyond those four walls, taking them all the way to Thailand for a study abroad adventure.

Announcing the 2024 Winners of the Crowley-Nowick Award for iCons Student Leadership and Philanthropy

Crowley- Nowick Scholars | Claudia Figueroa-Pabon and Shiven Patel

We are excited to announce the 2024 recipients of the Crowley-Nowick Award for iCons Student Leadership and Philanthropy: Claudia Figeroa-Pabón ’25 (Biomedical Engineering and Commonwealth Honors College) and Shiven Patel ’26 (Computer Science and Commonwealth Honors College).

iCons Program Graduates Largest-ever Cohort, Including First ISOM Students

Pic of new certificate holders as 2024 Senior Expo

The UMass Amherst Integrated Concentration in STEM (iCons) Program held its 11th Annual Senior Exposition – the culminating event of the iCons Program – and celebrated significant milestones in the program’s history. The event, held May 13, marked both the awarding of 46 certificates, the largest iCons graduating class to date, as well as the graduation of the first iCons students from the Isenberg School of Management.

Wei Fan Honored with Distinguished Teaching Award

Wei Fan and Scott Auerbach at the Faculty Awards Ceremony on May 2, 2024

Dr. Wei Fan, Professor in the Chemical Engineering Department and the UMass iCons Program, has been named a recipient of the 2023-2024 Distinguished Teaching Award by the Center for Teaching and Learning at UMass Amherst.

UMass iCons Expands Horizons with New Policy Option: Making a Difference via Policies and Strategies for Social Change

Image of paper cut-out people around globe

In fall 2023, the UMass iCons Program introduced a new policy option for the 3rd-year “laboratory” requirement. In collaboration with the School of Public Policy (SPP), iCons students were eligible to take SPP 312 – Making a Difference: Policies and Strategies for Social Change. This course provided an opportunity for iCons students to explore policy and societal impact on problems related to the two iCons tracks of Biomedicine/Biosystems or Renewable Energy. This collaboration emphasizes the intersection of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) with policy, paving the way for a diverse generation of change-makers.

French Professor and Researcher Visits with Sustainability Programs, Including iCons

Picture of Cécile Renouard

Story from UMass News: The UMass Amherst Energy Transition Institute (ETI) recently hosted professor and researcher Cécile Renouard, president and co-founder of the new Campus of the Transition in France, while she was on a limited tour of U.S. college campuses to build collaborations and investigate innovative ways to incorporate equity and other social issues into sustainability education and in living labs.

What's In a Name?

Image of Messier 14. Courtesy of NASA.

UMass iCons is an academic program deeply entrenched in the ethos of exploration and innovation. Therefore it should not be surprising that the inspiration for the 14th cohort's name originates from the final frontier of exploration: space.

UMass iCons Program Launches 14th Cohort with Focus on Urban Climate Change

Picture of students brainstorming real-world problems to solve

The 14th cohort of the UMass iCons Program, 72 diverse students spanning 29 majors across seven colleges, was launched on Saturday, December 2, 2023.

iCons' Jared Starr shares insights with The Guardian on Elon Musk's environmental journey

Pic of Musk from The Guardian

Story from The Guardian: Elon Musk was once an environmental hero: is he still a rare green billionaire?

Elon Musk was once lauded as a sort of green Tony Stark – the genius inventor who leads a double life as superhero Iron Man – for single-handedly tackling the climate crisis one Tesla at a time, helping to forge a clean energy future and pushing for new taxes to drive down fossil fuel use.

iCons Students Present at Department of Energy Conference in Washington, D.C.

Picture of iCons students on TOP team in DC

Story from UMass News: A team of students from the UMass iCons Program presented “Improving Access to Electrical Power for Climate Resilience,” a project conducted in collaboration with the Department of Energy’s Office of Economic Impact and Diversity, at the Justice Week 2023 conference in Washington, D.C., in early November.