{"id":231658,"date":"2025-06-11T07:30:06","date_gmt":"2025-06-11T11:30:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=231658"},"modified":"2025-06-12T08:01:37","modified_gmt":"2025-06-12T12:01:37","slug":"at-uconns-queer-science-conference-new-futures-take-shape-for-young-scientists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2025\/06\/at-uconns-queer-science-conference-new-futures-take-shape-for-young-scientists\/","title":{"rendered":"At UConn\u2019s Queer Science Conference, New Futures Take Shape for Young Scientists"},"content":{"rendered":"

The fourth annual UConn Queer Science Conference took place on Sunday, June 8, 2025, welcoming high schoolers from across Connecticut to a fun and free day filled with hands-on learning opportunities.<\/p>\n

Attendees learned about genetics <\/span>in a workshop on fly phenotypes. <\/span>They looked directly at the sun<\/span> (safely!)<\/span> through the lens of a solar telescope.<\/span> They <\/span>learned microscopy techniques<\/span>, and the more intrepid dissected sheep brains to learn about neuroscience, one of UConn\u2019s <\/span>core<\/span> <\/span>research strengths<\/span><\/span><\/a>.<\/span> They took a tour of UConn\u2019s <\/span><\/span>pathobiology<\/span><\/span><\/a> facilities<\/span>, <\/span>which help <\/span>monitor<\/span> human, animal, and environmental health across the state<\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Two
Queer Science Conference attendees Kaeden Falcigno of Cromwell High School, foreground, and homeschooled student Dante Loperena, background, dissect a lamb’s brain. Loperena likened the dissection to “cutting into a mushroom and hair.” (Sydney Herdle\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

They took a structural biology workshop focusing on virus capsids (the protein shells encasing viruses) and how they form. They also tie-dyed keepsake T-shirts and witnessed the wonders of liquid nitrogen on ice cream. Finally, they tested their engineering mettle with the annual egg-drop competition. Who could design the apparatus that could help an egg drop from the greatest height without breaking?<\/p>\n

This year, the event was chiefly organized by Michael Vaccaro, Jr, a fourth-year structural engineering Ph.D. candidate. Queer Science is housed under UConn\u2019s Vergnano Institute for Inclusion<\/a>, which provides funding for catered meals, and supported by an all-volunteer team of students. Undergraduate volunteers assist with logistics, and graduate students lend their scientific expertise to the hands-on workshops.<\/p>\n

\"A
Edan Tulman, instructor in residence of pathobiology at UConn, leads a pipette tutorial in Atwater Building during the Queer Science Conference on Sunday, June 8, 2025. (Sydney Herdle\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIn the past, I\u2019ve run demos myself,\u201d says Vaccaro. \u201cIt\u2019s very different now to be the person walking around who\u2019s making sure everything\u2019s going well. We start planning in the fall semester, and we have monthly meetings with volunteers. The spring semester is all about making sure people show up \u2013 emailing high school principals, guidance counselors, and teachers.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to cold-emailing Connecticut high schools and posting flyers in public places, the Queer Science team also utilized \u201cwarm connections,\u201d according to Jacob Pfund, a fifth-year physics Ph.D. student.<\/p>\n

\"A
Katerina Talbert-Slagle, an eighth-grader from Frank Ward Strong School in Durham, looks at a guide to tick species while observing some through a microscope in Atwater Building during the Queer Science Conference on Sunday, June 8, 2025. (Sydney Herdle\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe do a lot of science shows at middle schools,\u201d says Pfund, \u201cso for the last couple of years we\u2019ve been trying to target the eighth graders and be like, \u2018Hey guys, next year, you can come to UConn and hang out with us.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The organizers also helped spread the word about Queer Science at SOGIECon<\/a>, the world\u2019s largest LGBTQIA+ youth convention, in Hartford.<\/p>\n

\"A
Queer Science Conference attendee Milahni Lawrence uses a pipette to move microliters of liquid in Atwater Building on Sunday, June 8, 2025. (Sydney Herdle\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Celebrating the Diversity of Science<\/strong><\/p>\n

Queer Science is designed to introduce participants to the wide rainbow of possible career paths in science, and its organizers similarly run the gamut of disciplines, identities, and backgrounds.<\/p>\n

\"Sun
Nicole Tillquist \u201823 Ph.D. looks through a solar telescope as the sun peeks out from behind the clouds during the Queer Science Conference on Sunday, June 8, 2025. (Sydney Herdle\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cGetting here [to UConn], I felt like people were very open, and that I finally didn\u2019t have to hide myself,\u201d says Nicole Tillquist \u201823 Ph.D., who is now a postdoc in the lab of animal sciences professor Kristen Govoni, associate dean of academic programs in the College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources (CAHNR). \u201cI\u2019m still one of the only queer students on that side of campus\u201d — meaning the east side, where agricultural buildings and facilities cluster around Horsebarn Hill — \u201cbut I\u2019ve had lots of undergraduates come up to me and say, \u2018Hey, I\u2019m also queer!\u2019 I think they\u2019re just excited to see representation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shania Kalladanthyil, a third-year molecular and cell biology Ph.D. student, ran this year\u2019s fly genetics workshop. She says connecting with other queer scientists at UConn has been \u201ca really validating and really enjoyable experience,\u201d and she\u2019s excited to pay it forward to the next generation.<\/p>\n

\"Left:
A side-by-side view of volunteer Shania Kalladanthyil, a third-year molecular and cell biology Ph.D. student at UConn, looking at flies through a microscope in the Gant Science Complex, left, and a fly through the lens of the microscope, right, during the Queer Science Conference on Sunday. (Sydney Herdle\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI was not aware that \u2018scientist\u2019 was a job that I could do,\u201d says Kalladanthyil. \u201cMy entire family is in health care \u2013 like, everyone’s a nurse — and so I was unaware that that was something that I could do for the longest time, let alone be queer and do it.\u2028 I had no one to ask questions about this growing up. So, I\u2019ve loved being able to reach out and interact with students who come from different backgrounds, who aren\u2019t aware of science as a career path.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of this year\u2019s volunteers was a former attendee: Oliver Przech \u201927 (CAHNR), now an undergraduate student focusing on pathobiology, came to the first Queer Science Conference in 2022 as a student at Farmington High School. He says this year’s event was a \u201cfull circle moment\u201d for him.<\/p>\n

\"A
Oliver Przech ’27 (CAHNR) helps attendees of the Queer Science Conference adjust microscopes to look at samples in the Gant Science Complex on Sunday, June 8, 2025. Przech attended the first Queer Science Conference while in high school and volunteered this year as a current UConn student. (Sydney Herdle\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really important to me that other people have a better time than I do, especially in science,\u201d says Przech, adding that being able to show both identities as a queer person and a scientist at the same time \u2014 rather than one or the other \u2014 makes scientists such as himself feel even more supported within the industry.<\/p>\n

Pfund recalls that at his own high school, \u201cBeing queer was not an issue, but being queer in science did not exist. Seeing people that are like you in that field, it helps you envision yourself there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Microscope
Queer Science Conference attendees look at specimens through the screen of a microscope in the Gant Science Complex on Sunday, June 8, 2025. (Sydney Herdle\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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