What happens when you discover new ways of learning, confront a world of rapid change with resilience, and challenge yourself to mature through experiential learning? At Gettysburg College, Cailin Casey ’20 learned to embrace all these qualities through a liberal arts and sciences education. Today, she is ready to apply the knowledge and enduring skills obtained through the Gettysburg Approach through her work in science policy.
Upon graduating from Gettysburg, Casey took her passion for studying natural and constructed elements in our world to Montana State University (MSU), where she graduated last spring with a doctorate in mechanical and industrial engineering. She is one of only two women in MSU’s history to earn a doctorate in a field in which women are historically underrepresented.
Casey acknowledges the continued struggle for representation among women and minorities for leadership positions in mechanical and industrial engineering. She appreciates the fortitude of those who demonstrated tenacity in their quest to achieve their dreams.
“Looking back, the women working in the labs helped me feel like I could belong there,” she said. “I hope I can have a lasting impact.”
Moving beyond her doctoral program, Casey has now joined the Idaho Science & Technology Policy Fellowship (ISTPF) program, which fosters collaboration among science, social sciences, and engineering leaders. The program supports its fellows by providing opportunities to learn about policymaking firsthand and address environmental and societal challenges facing Idaho’s residents.
“Research is about making a difference. What drew me to science policy is being able to more directly see the impact of what I’m doing.”
– Cailin Casey ’20
Looking ahead to her work in science policy with the ISTPF, Casey believes the analytical and communication skills she practiced and refined in the research labs at Gettysburg and MSU will prepare her to provide critical insights on topics from a scientific perspective to Idaho’s legislature.
“It’s translating complex scientific ideas into concepts lawmakers can understand,” she said. “Research is about making a difference. What drew me to science policy is being able to more directly see the impact of what I’m doing.”
A multidisciplinary approach to scientific inquiry
For Casey, these accomplishments are a product of the consequential education she received at Gettysburg College.
When Casey was applying to colleges for her undergraduate degree, she wanted to study at an institution that would invite her to immerse herself in a broad education in the liberal arts and sciences—and she found that at Gettysburg. Here, she could delve into diverse subjects through multidisciplinary courses, such as her First-Year Seminar: Cancer in Society, Molecular Genetics, After the War: Memory, Violence and the Body in Contemporary Central American Literature and Film. Casey also valued learning more about people and cultures and jumped at the chance to study abroad in Mexico during her junior year at Gettysburg.
“The fact that I was able to double major in biology and Spanish [was special],” Casey said. “I don’t think there are a lot of colleges where you can major in two subjects, study abroad, and have a math minor,” she said. “There aren’t a lot of places where you can explore all those different subjects and still graduate in four years.”
Casey, a native of Concord, New Hampshire, also honed her interdisciplinary thinking through the Cross-Disciplinary Science Institute (X-SIG) research during the summer between her junior and senior year. Casey gained hands-on experiential learning that complemented her computational knowledge-building through math courses, such as her introductory course on MATLAB coding. Casey also conducted student-faculty research with Biology Prof. Steve James and Prof. Kazuo Hiraizumi. Her research involved understanding microtubule associated proteins in fungi.
Beyond the classroom and laboratory, Casey connected with Gettysburg College’s Center for Public Service, teaching swimming in Spanish to youth in the Gettysburg community—a proud accomplishment for Casey as a Spanish major who wanted an opportunity to make an impact through her service.
Paying it forward through knowledge and support
In the fall of 2020, Casey began her doctoral program at MSU, building upon her knowledge, skills, and diverse co-curricular experiences from Gettysburg. There, she studied the biomechanics of insect flight, a subject that combined natural science and engineering. Her lab experiments, rooted in her knowledge of biology, traced the evolution of insect flight. Her findings yielded information that could allow engineers to build technology, such as drones with flapping wings, that could mimic the movements of insects’ flight muscles.
Casey’s multidisciplinary approach to scientific inquiry is only one aspect of her zeal for learning, which enabled her to thrive on MSU’s research team. Her ability to effectively communicate her research was also integral—a skill she developed through her undergraduate coursework at Gettysburg.
“I think I had a leg up of having a liberal arts and sciences experience where I had been exposed to many different communication types through literature analysis and Spanish classes.”
– Cailin Casey ’20
“It doesn’t matter how good of a researcher you are; if you can’t publish well-written papers or if you can’t write grants, then you’re not going to succeed,” she said. “I think I had a leg up of having a liberal arts and sciences experience where I had been exposed to many different communication types through literature analysis and Spanish classes. Gettysburg does a good job of focusing on writing in our science classes.”
Casey, a recipient of a National Science Foundation (NSF) fellowship in 2021, believes so strongly in the importance of writing in the sciences that she taught writing workshops to help MSU students apply for the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program. She has helped 40 students apply, five of whom received the award.
“It feels really good to help people achieve what they want to achieve,” said Casey.
By Michael Vyskocil
Photos provided by Cailin Casey ’20
Posted: 07/16/24