By Cate Carrejo
Growing up, Emma DeGrace, FRCH ‘17, always saw a place for herself in the science world. Her mother, Nancy, is an analytical chemist who has worked at major corporations including Astra Zeneca and Polaroid, developing and manufacturing pharmaceutical chemicals. “I think a lot of times, when girls say they want to do science, people say, ‘Oh, be a nurse,’” said Emma. “Growing up with someone who was a scientist kind of opened the door for me to think that I had a place there.”
Emma’s decision to pursue science was not always easy. She struggled with her career path, as she has many artistic passions in addition to her love of science. Yet, she ultimately decided that a liberal arts education was more suited to her personality. “Can you imagine me at an art school?” Emma joked.
Emma has continued her artistic work at Rose Hill as a visual arts minor, but she devotes the majority of her time to her biology major and scientific research. Currently, she works as a lab assistant in Dr. Patricio Meneses’ lab here at Fordham, studying the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). She hopes to find a broad-spectrum vaccine for the virus’ numerous strains.
“Some of the forms of [HPV] can cause genital warts and then the more serious ones are cancerous,” Emma said, highlighting the need for an umbrella vaccine that can protect people from the virus’ potentially devastating effects.
Meneses said Emma has a meaningful perspective on the impact of her work. “Emma understands the details of the experiments, but most importantly understand why she is working on understanding the infectious process of HPV,” he said
Emma hopes to parlay her research here at Fordham into a career studying human diseases. “Even in my art, I’ve always been interested in people and I would paint them,” Emma said. “That followed into my biological interests, which is more like studying humans and human disease.”
Andrew Mazzie, FCRH ’17, also minors in visual arts. He finds that Emma’s artistic work is no less impassioned than her scientific endeavors. “It is very interesting to see the meticulous detail she tends to enjoy putting into her work. For me that would be sadistic, but she tends to find it cathartic most times, and it contributes to her overall aesthetic of detail and perfectionism looking easy in her work,” he said.
Emma could probably get a bachelor’s degree and make it look easy. On top of all her other responsibilities, she also holds leadership positions on campus as the social media coordinator for the Fordham Undergraduate Research Journal and the events coordinator for Fordham Ballroom Dance. Emma thinks the bureaucracy of maintaining a Fordham club can sometime be cumbersome, like when keeping meticulous paperwork records. “If you make one mistake, [the Budget Committee] will dock your budget, and then you have $79.91 for something that costs $80.”
Despite the frustrations, Emma says her experiences as a club leader have helped her learn. “The more experience I gain having to deal with this stuff, it gets easier because now I know what to expect,” she said.
There are some serious perks to her position too — through her capacity as events coordinator, Emma organizes trips to Manhattan dance studios like Club 412 and recently took a group of students to appear on Good Morning America’s pre-Oscars show.
When she is not studying, drawing or dancing, Emma spends her time with her friends and roommates trying new restaurants in Manhattan or supporting her Rams at almost every Fordham football and basketball game. Once hesitant and uncertain about her decision to attend Fordham, Emma is now one of the most involved and spirited kids on campus, and this school is lucky to have her.
