The University of Connecticut hosted its fifth annual "Queer Science" conference on Oct. 17, bringing 18 high school students from across the state to campus for free science activities, laboratory tours, and meetings with LGBTQ+ researchers.
The event also drew attention to the university's request for volunteers who identify as LGBTQ+, even as organizers welcome students and supporters from other backgrounds.
The conference, organized by UConn's College of Engineering through the Vergnano Institute for Impact, aims to introduce teenagers to careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
Activities included extracting DNA from a pumpkin, learning about neuroscience, building a Rube Goldberg machine, and making ice cream with liquid nitrogen.
However, the event's volunteer guidelines have raised questions about who can help lead the activities. A registration form for this year's conference thanked straight, cisgender allies for their support but asked that scientists and engineers volunteering during the event also identify as queer or LGBTQ+.
It remains unclear how the program is funded beyond the university institute's sponsorship or whether any taxpayer money supports it.
The conference is part of UConn's broader effort to introduce younger students to STEM fields through practical learning experiences.
It has operated since 2022 and is designed to help LGBTQ+ teenagers and their allies connect with researchers who can share their experiences and demonstrate different career paths.
UConn's Queer Science Connects LGBTQ+ Researchers
UConn describes "Queer Science" as a chance for high school students to explore scientific work while meeting researchers who identify as LGBTQ+.
The university's event materials say the program is open to allies as well, with the goal of making STEM careers more familiar to students who may not often see people like themselves represented in these fields.
The program defines queer science broadly. According to a UConn Today article about the 2026 conference, it can refer to scientific work carried out by a queer researcher.
Organizers say the event seeks to challenge the common image of a scientist as a straight, white, cisgender man. By bringing LGBTQ+ researchers and teenagers together, the conference aims to help students picture themselves working in laboratories, engineering teams, and other scientific settings.
The first Queer Science conference took place in 2022. Its stated purpose has been to support young people in Connecticut while giving them access to advanced laboratory settings and hands-on demonstrations.
The 2026 gathering was the fifth annual conference. Unlike previous events held in June, this year's program took place in October, allowing organizers to add activities tied to the fall season.
The university's Vergnano Institute for Impact sponsored the event, allowing the 18 participating students to attend without paying a fee. The institute supports STEM education through activities and programs aimed at students from kindergarten through high school.
The conference's organizers are LGBTQ+ researchers at UConn who volunteer their time to plan and run the activities. Their work includes preparing demonstrations, coordinating laboratory visits, and helping students take part in experiments.
Michael Vaccaro, the event's chief organizer, has helped put on the conference every year since he was a doctoral student in civil engineering. He is now an assistant research professor in the same department.
Vaccaro said he hopes students leave with a better sense of what they enjoy and what they might want to study after high school. He also said it is acceptable if a student discovers that a particular scientific field is not the right fit.
For the organizing team, the value of the event lies in giving teenagers a chance to explore different subjects and meet people who work in them.
Pumpkin DNA and Neuroscience Activities
The conference offered students several ways to explore science beyond a classroom lesson. One of the featured activities involved extracting DNA from a pumpkin, led by Nicole Tillquist, a 2023 graduate who earned a Ph.D. and now works as a research scientist in the genomics laboratory of Professor Rachel O'Neill.
During the experiment, students were able to see the material collected from the pumpkin. Tillquist said the visible DNA was an exciting part of the activity.
She also recalled doing a similar experiment while she was in high school. At the time, she extracted DNA from a sample taken from her own cheek. The experience stayed with her and helped spark her interest in DNA research.
Tillquist hopes the pumpkin experiment will leave students wondering what other materials could be used to study DNA. The activity offered a simple introduction to a subject that researchers use to understand living things.
Students also toured UConn's pathobiology facilities, where researchers study and test for diseases affecting humans and animals. The visit gave participants a look at scientific work that can take place behind the scenes in a university laboratory.
Engineering was another part of the program. Students took part in a competition to build a Rube Goldberg machine, a device designed to complete a simple task through a chain of connected actions.
These machines often use ramps, levers, and other objects to trigger one another in a sequence. The activity gave students a chance to apply problem-solving skills while working with engineering ideas.
The program also included an introduction to neuroscience through a dissection activity. Students who were uncomfortable using a scalpel could choose an alternative that did not require one. This allowed participants to learn about the subject while choosing an approach that suited their comfort level.
At lunchtime, students watched and took part in a demonstration showing how liquid nitrogen could quickly freeze fresh cream to make ice cream.
Maggie Willson, a doctoral researcher in the chemistry laboratory of Professor J. Nathan "Nate" Hohman, said the liquid nitrogen demonstration had become a popular part of the conference because students enjoy it. The experiment showed how chemistry can produce a familiar food through a process that looks very different from ordinary ice cream preparation.
Together, the activities introduced students to several scientific areas, including genetics, disease research, engineering, neuroscience, and chemistry. The schedule also gave them opportunities to speak with researchers about their work.
Volunteer Requirements and Funding Questions
Although UConn presents Queer Science as a welcoming event for LGBTQ+ students and their allies, its volunteer registration form set a specific expectation for the scientists and engineers helping during the conference.
The form expressed appreciation for straight, cisgender allies but asked that the researchers and engineers volunteering on the day of the event also identify as queer or LGBTQ+.
That request distinguishes the program's approach to volunteers from its broader invitation to students and allies. The conference encourages students who support LGBTQ+ people to attend, while asking for volunteers who share the identity at the center of the event.
According to the publication, UConn's media relations office did not respond to repeated phone and email requests over a two-week period.
The available information identifies the Vergnano Institute for Impact as the event's sponsor. The institute's stated mission includes helping students discover opportunities in STEM through educational programs for younger students.
However, the supplied information does not provide a detailed budget for Queer Science or establish whether public tax revenue is used to support it. The university's sponsorship confirms the institute's role, but it does not by itself answer questions about the program's full funding sources.
The issue comes as universities continue to r