News Highlights

Call for iCons Research Participants

Radha Dave and Meg Davis Research

The undergraduate research team of Radha Dave and Meg Davis, working under the direction of Dr. Justin Fermann (Chemistry), are seeking participants for a study looking at water usage and time spent in showers to facilitate water conservation in the public.

iCons Student, Emily Laus, Takes Part in United Nations Sustainability Course

UMass iCons | Emily Laus Takes Part in United Nations Sustainability Course

iCons sophomore and Physics major, Emily Laus, is one of thirty UMass students to be taking part in the UN Global Sustainable Solutions Winter School, a ten-week course focused on ecosystem-based climate adaption and disaster risk reduction that kicked off this week.

Auerbach Delivers 2020 CHC Plenary Lecture

Auerbach Delivers 2020 CHC Plenary Lecture

Dr. Scott Auerbach, Mahoney Family Sponsored Executive Director of the UMass iCons Program and Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at UMass Amherst, gave the 2020 Commonwealth Honors College Plenary Lecture in a pre-recorded lecture made available on September 21, 2020. In his lecture, Dr. Auerbach addressed the question “Is Racism a Science Problem?” and featured guest speaker Roderick Anderson, MA, co-founder and CEO of Elateq, Inc. Dr. Auerbach’s interest in this topic is both old and new. His long-standing interest in the role of human diversity in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) prompted the launch...

UMass iCons Hosts Application Support Session

UMass iCons Hosts Application Support Session

UMass iCons hosted a virtual application support session to help recruit the next amazing cohort of iCons students.

UMass iCons Innovation Portal Highlights Student Research and Problem-Solving in A Digital Space

UMass iCons Innovation Portal

The UMass iCons Program, hosted by the College of Natural Sciences with students in science-intensive disciplines across the university, has launched the online UMass iCons Innovation Portal that provides a searchable database of student research presentations, and even allows users to suggest new research problems for students to solve. Since May, the portal has received over six dozen solutions to research questions on a range of topics from the effects of climate change on soil nutrition to the future of wound healing.

UMass iCons Hosts Summer Webinars

UMass iCons Summer Webinar 2020

Due to the challenge of not having students on campus for the Fall 2020 semester, UMass iCons held two summer webinars for first and second-year students in STEM-intensive majors to help recruit the next amazing cohort of iCons students.

iCons Program's Statement on Institutionalized Racism

iCons Students, Alumni, Faculty, Staff, and Friends,

I write to you today with deep sadness and with a renewed sense of urgency in the face of recent cases of extreme police brutality against Black communities. I am also deeply troubled by the militarized police responses to Black Lives Matter demonstrations across the country. While so many are lamenting the global pandemic and its resulting economic recession, many others are fighting an even uglier battle – one against institutionalized racism and cruelty. Given all this, I feel compelled to ask – what can we do today to make a difference?

Healey Awarded 2020 Chancellor's Leadership Fellowship

Healey Awarded 2020 Chancellor's Leadership Fellowship

The Office of Faculty Development is pleased to announce that Jenny Adams, Associate Professor of English, Sonya Atalay, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Chrystal George Mwangi, Associate Professor in Higher Education, and Christiane Healey, iCons 1 Instructor and Senior Lecturer of Biology, have been awarded the 2020 Chancellor’s Leadership Fellowships.

iCons Students Receive 2020 Sustainability, Innovation and Engagement Fund Award

We are proud to announce that iCons rising seniors, Hansen Tjo (Chemical Engineering) and Joshua McGee (Chemical Engineering), are the recipients of a 2020 Sustainability, Innovation and Engagement Fund Award.

Summer 2020 Job Opportunity for iCons Students

Summer 2020 Job Opportunity for iCons Students

iCons students who have completed iCons 2 or iCons 3 are eligible to apply for a funded iCons educational internship for summer 2020. The iCons Program is developing new curriculum for the iCons 3 course in the Biomedicine track - one specifically built by and for the iCons students.