Research @ UMBC

Studying Moon Dust to Aid Astronauts and Robots

2008-04-14T16:46:48Z

Timothy Stubbs, a scientist at UMBC and NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center, recently won funding for a project that sounds like equal parts Ray Bradbury and early David Bowie: studying how electrically charged dust moves across the moon and how it could be a hazard to humans and robots exploring the lunar surface. Stubbs was selected by NASA to join the science team for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) mission, being built at Goddard and scheduled for launch later this year. The LRO is NASA's first step in plans to return humans to the moon by 2020. Stubbs is an assistant research scientist with UMBC’s Goddard Earth Sciences and Technology Center. Most of the evidence for a lunar dust “atmosphere” dates back to the Apollo mission era. NASA scientists analyzing images returned by the Surveyor landers noticed a ‘horizon glow’ close to the surface after lunar sunset, believed to be caused by sunlight scattered by ultra-tiny (smaller than a few microns – a millionth of a meter) dust particles. While astronauts in orbit observed a high-altitude horizon glow (over 62 miles high) just as their spacecraft was passing out of the shadow of the Moon. According to the “dust fountain” model developed by Stubbs and colleagues at NASA Goddard, the high-altitude dust grains inferred from the horizon glow are probably highly-charged and have been lofted upward by electric fields close to the lunar surface. Once above the lunar surface electric field, the dust grains then fall back toward the Moon under gravity, with their trajectories resembling the arc of a water fountain. Like the rest of the lunar soil, the dust was created over billions of years by the countless impacts of tiny meteorites. It gets its electrical charge from the sun’s ultraviolet light, X-rays and the moon’s surrounding plasma (electrified gas of ions and electrons) environment. The dust’s electrostatic charge makes it move about the moon’s surface and also gives it a static-cling stickiness that can be hazardous to astronauts and their equipment. The tiny dust fragments are sharp and jagged since there is no air or water on the moon to smooth them over time. The dust was a nuisance to the Apollo astronauts, sticking to their spacesuits and tracking inside their spacecraft. But what was a minor annoyance for the relatively brief Apollo missions could be dangerous during the next-generation, long-duration missions being planned by NASA. Astronauts who regularly inhale the sharp dust fragments over time could develop lung diseases similar to those caused by asbestos or coal dust. The dust could also cause problems with sensitive equipment and instruments. “I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to be directly involved with NASA’s return to the moon, as well as very excited about all the great new science that will be achieved with this historic mission,” said Stubbs. Stubbs’ project will use instruments on the LRO and other spacecraft to measure how much lunar dust there is and map the moon’s electric fields to better understand when and where the dust is most likely to be a problem for the manned missions planned for 2020 and beyond.

UMBC Presents "Ethical Implications of Synthetic Life" Symposium

2008-03-07T16:03:46Z

April 2, 2008 4:00-5:30 pm
(reception to follow)
Albin O. Kuhn Library
7th Floor Conference Room
UMBC The J. Craig Venter Institute recently announced the creation of the world's first wholly synthetic bacterial genome. For better or worse, this achievement by the celebrated and controversial scientist and his team marked the beginning of human-designed life on Earth. On April 2, the entire campus community and the public are invited to an interdisciplinary symposium, "The Ethical Implications of Synthetic Life," featuring discussions from top experts in bioethics, genomics and policy on the social, political and moral implications of this rapidly growing technology with vast potential to be either friendly or a 21st-century Frankenstein. Directions to UMBC and Parking Information. Welcome and Introductions by: Andrea L. Kalfoglou, Ph.D. Department of Sociology/Anthropology Health Administration and Policy Program UMBC Moderator: Stephen Freeland, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Biological Sciences UMBC Panelists: Glenn McGee, Ph.D. Director Alden March Bioethics Institute Albany Medical College Albany, New York Glenn McGee is the founding director of Alden March Bioethics Institute, a comprehensive, university-based bioethics research, clinical and outreach program in New York's state capital. His research focuses on the impact of new technologies on our personal, social and political lives. He is the Editor-in-Chief of The American Journal of Bioethics. Prof. McGee is the author of five books, including Beyond Genetics (2004). His upcoming book explores ethical issues in the diagnosis and treatment of autism. Professor McGee has authored hundreds of essays and articles in journals of medicine, science and bioethics such as Science, JAMA, and Nature Genetics. In addition, his work reaches a wider readership through his regular columns for MSNBC (2000-2003) and for Hearst Newspapers, distributed by the NYT News Service. Prof. McGee has testified in 23 state legislatures, and before committees of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate. He has assisted California, New York and Rhode Island in the authorship of proposed legislation dealing with cloning and stem cells. He has conducted bioethics training for incoming members of Congress and for the Counsel of Chief Judges of the Courts of Appeals. He was recently named one of the top ten influential people in Albany, and in 2006, was named to the inaugural Google, Nature and O'Reilly Science Foo Camp. He is one of the 2004 Seed magazine’s Third Culture, "scientists and thinkers who have a propensity for writing directly and very eloquently for the general public." Prof. McGee holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from Vanderbilt University and completed a post-doc through the National Human Genome Research Institute’s Ethical, Legal, and Social Issues program. Jaydee Hanson, M.A. Policy Director/Political Activist International Center for Technology Assessment Washington, DC Jaydee Hanson directs the CTA's work on human genetics, including work on stem cell research, cloning, and gene/embryo patenting. He also works on the convergence of biotechnology and nanotechnology. He is a fellow of the Institute on Biotechnology and the Human Future. Prior to coming to CTA in 2004, he served as The United Methodist Church's staff director of genetics and bioethics issues from 1981 to 2004. From 1991 to 2004, he also was the legislative director for the church. Mr. Hanson has testified to many state and US congressional hearings on human cloning, animal and gene patenting, and related issues. He coordinated the 1995 religious leaders' statement opposing gene and animal patenting, which was endorsed by over 200 leaders from every US religious tradition. Hanson has served on many committees related to public policy and genetics. He chaired the National Council of Churches' Exploratory Commission on the New Human Genetics and chaired the National Council of Churches' Eco-justice Working Group biotechnology taskforce. He is a member of the World Council of Churches' genetics and nanotechnology committees, which developed new policy for that world-wide body of 400 denominations. He served on the American Association for the Advancement of Science's Science and Religion Advisory Committee and the Ecumenical Roundtable on Science and Religion. Jef Boeke, Ph.D. Professor Molecular Biology & Genetics Johns Hopkins Medical Institute Baltimore, MD Dr. Jef D. Boeke is Professor of Molecular Biology & Genetics, Professor of Oncology, and Director of the High Throughput Biology Center at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He elucidated one of the major forms of DNA movement (transposition) in yeast cells, in which Ty1 elements move via reverse transcription of RNA. He coined the term “retotransposition” to describe this unusual process. His work elucidated the intricate molecular mechanisms involved in retrotransposition in yeast and human cells. Retrotransposition formed about half of all human DNA and has been a major force in the evolution of the genomes of many organisms. His recent work suggests that retrotransposition may have profound effects on the expression of those genes and could thus contribute to common genetic diseases. His laboratory has also constructed highly active synthetic retrotransposons with a wide variety of practical and academic uses. His interest in Synthetic Biology has led to an interdisciplinary effort to redesign and synthesize the genome of the brewer’s yeast, in part using a team of undergraduates in the new course “Build A Genome” being taught at Johns Hopkins. Gautam Mukunda, Ph.D.(c) Political Science Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Mr. Gautam’s doctoral research is focused on international relations. He was a consultant with McKinsey & Company focusing in the pharmaceutical and financial sectors. He is currently the Founding Managing Director of the Two Rivers Group, a consulting firm that brings the insights and knowledge of the academic world to bear on the problems facing the private, public, and non-profit sectors. He was Administrator of the Russian Investment Symposium and Program Coordinator of the Kommersant Program on Executive Education in Russia at the Kennedy School of Government. His current research interests include leadership in competitive organizations, the implications of black swan events on international politics, and the security and economic implications of emerging technologies, particularly Synthetic Biology. He is a member of MIT’s Security Studies Program and Program on Emerging Technologies, and he is the social sciences representative on the Student Leadership Council of the National Science Foundaton’s Synthetic Biology Engineering Research Center (SynBERC). He graduated from Harvard College with a degree in Government in 2001, magna cum laude. He is a 2005 Paul and Daisy Soros New American Fellow, a 2006 Carnegie Endowment Biosecurity Fellow, and a 2007-2009 National Science Foundation IGERT Fellow. Sponsored by: The Dresher Center for the Humanities UMBC Department of Sociology and Anthropology UMBC Department of Biological Sciences UMBC College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences UMBC College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences The UMBC Bioethics Student Association For more information, please contact Prof. Andrea Kalfoglou at akalfogl@umbc.edu or 410-455-2061.

On Board for a Mission of Mercy

2008-01-09T15:32:29Z

Photo Caption: Devin Hagerty on the flight deck of the U.S.S. Tarawa. He’s more accustomed to students in flip-flops instead of combat boots, but Associate Professor of Political Science Devin Hagerty was proud to sail with the U.S. Navy and Marines as he educated officers en route to South Asia. For a week in November 2007, Hagerty was one of three “embedded Ph.D.s” through a U.S. Navy program that looks to include lessons from academic experts as part of military mission training. Hagerty sailed from San Diego, California to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii with an Expeditionary Strike Group led by the amphibious assault ship U.S.S. Tarawa, as it headed to the Indian Ocean. Originally slated to conduct joint exercises with regional militaries, the Group was chosen to lead humanitarian relief efforts in Bangladesh after Cyclone Sidr struck the region on Nov. 15, killing over 3,200 people. Hagerty commuted from ship to ship by helicopter or inflatable speedboat to deliver briefings on Bangladesh, the Maldives, Asian-Pacific culture, and U.S. strategic interests in the region. His deployment was part of the Regional Security Education Program, run by the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterrey, California. During his week aboard, he picked up naval lingo like “cranials” (ear plugs and goggles for braving flight deck and helicopter winds and noise), “floaties” (life preservers), and “mobys” (cellphone-size, salt-water-detecting beacons to alert the bridge in case of a person overboard). Hagerty bonded so well with his hosts that by week’s end the Marines offered to give him a regulation flattop haircut and take him to the Indian Ocean with them. “It was a blast, but more importantly, I felt like my efforts had some immediate relevance as our sailors and Marines helped victims of the cyclone,” said Hagerty.

Putting People in the Map: Ecologists Remap Biosphere to Include Humans

2007-11-26T12:05:54Z

Photo Caption: Ecologist Erle Ellis has helped design a new way of mapping the Earth to include human impact. Editor’s Note: Since its publication, Ellis and Ramankutty’s research has received international media attention, including coverage in Science and a video feature on Discover.com. Other coverage included: Wired magazine’s “Wired Science” blog, United Press International, Der Spiegel, Earth & Sky, Earthtimes UK, DailyIndia.com, Science Daily, Digg.com, Propellor.com, the Agricultural Biodiversity Blog, www.terradaily.com and others. Pristine wilderness is a thing of the past and it’s time to adjust our vision of the biosphere accordingly, say a team of American and Canadian eco-geographers in newly published research. Erle Ellis, associate professor of Geography and Environmental Systems at UMBC, and Navin Ramankutty, assistant professor in McGill University’s Department of Geography and Earth System Science Program, used global data from satellites and land management statistics to map a new system of “anthropogenic biomes” or human biomes, that describe the biosphere as it exists today, the result of human shepherding and reshaping of ecosystems. Their map provides a 21st century challenge to the classic images of Earth's wild ecosystems that appear in nearly every ecology and earth science textbook. Their research was published in the Nov. 26 issue of the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment together with maps viewable in Google Earth and Google Maps at the Encyclopedia of Earth (a sort of Wikipedia for earth scientists and ecologists) and a printable classroom wall map for use by ecologists, educators and the public. “The fact that an area is now covered by forests depends more on human decisions than it does on climate” said Ellis, who has studied anthropogenic landscapes in the field across rural China since 1992. He was inspired to investigate human landscapes globally during a research sabbatical at the Department of Global Ecology of the Carnegie Institute of Washington at Stanford University. Photo Caption: Ellis has studied human biomes in rural China since 1992. “The classic biomes, such as tropical rainforests or grasslands, were based on differences in vegetation caused by on climate,” said Ellis. “Now that humans have fundamentally altered global patterns of ecosystems and biodiversity, these biomes are rarely present across large areas any more. It is time for our map of the biosphere to reflect this new reality- that nature is now embedded within human systems” said Ellis. Another key message from Ellis and Ramankutty was that ecologists should turn their focus to the changing ecosystems right underneath their feet. “A section of our paper is entitled ‘ecologists go home,’” said Ramankutty, an expert on global agriculture’s connection to environmental change. “Ecologists go to remote parts of the planet to study pristine ecosystems, but no one studies it in their back yard,” he said. “We can no longer study ecology while ignoring humans,” Ellis said. “Humans are now as much a part of nature as the weather and human and ecological systems are so intricately linked that focusing just on nature gets in the way of conserving nature for future generations. We need to sustain positive interactions between human systems and ecosystems, not avoid these interactions. Focusing on so-called wilderness areas ignores more than four-fifths of Earth’s ice-free land. Ecologists need to do more research in places where humans live,” said Ellis. Other key findings of the research:

More than three-quarters of our ice-free land surface is human altered. Wildlands cover just 22 percent of ice-free land today, and most of this land is barren and relatively unproductive.
Rangelands are the largest anthropogenic biomes, followed by cropland and forested biomes.
More than 80 percent of people live in dense settlements and village biomes, though these cover just seven percent of the Earth’s ice-free land surface. Village biomes are about five times as extensive as urban biomes and are home to about a quarter of Earth’s human population.
Anthropogenic biomes are mosaics. Instead of distinct vegetation or land-use types, anthropogenic biomes are complex mixtures of different land uses (settlements, crops, pastures, forests) that are classified by degree and type of human influence. For example, village biomes, which are found mostly in Asia and Africa, are crowded networks of towns and rural settlements embedded in intensively managed croplands and rice paddies alongside patches of less disturbed vegetation in hilly areas.

UMBC’s national reputation for excellence in earth and environmental science is growing. According to Thomson Scientific's Science Watch, UMBC's geoscience research ranked third nationally in citation impact for 2001-2005. The only other U.S. universities producing more frequently cited geoscience research papers were Harvard University and the Georgia Institute of Technology. UMBC ranks third nationally in NASA research funding and is home to two major collaborative NASA earth science research centers and the U.S. Geological Survey’s Maryland/Delaware/D.C. Water Science Center.

Civil and Environmental Engineering to Host Biosolids Conference

2007-11-02T14:24:01Z

UMBC’s department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) will host environmental professionals from around the region on Nov. 7 at a conference on bio-solids, byproducts of water treatment that can be recycled into fertilizer. The conference, “Hot Topics/Hot Tools for Effective Biosolids Management,” will bring members of the Mid-Atlantic Biosolids Association (MABA) to campus for a full day of idea-sharing on environmentally sound biosolids management. “MABA is comprised of environmental professionals in the water pollution control field,” said CEE professor and chair Brian Reed. “We are committed to keeping waters in our rivers, lakes and aquifers clean. MABA and its members are clean water experts who know that biosolids recycling is often the best tool for managing biosolids.” CEE is part of a growing cluster of collaborative environmental research entities headquartered at UMBC, including the Center for Urban Environmental Research and Education (CUERE), the Baltimore Ecosystem Study (BES) and the U.S. Geological Survey's MD/DE/DC Water Science Center. The conference will be held starting at 7:15 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 7 in the University Center Ballroom. For more information or to register, visit http://www.mabiosolids.org/index.asp

IBM Gift to Bring 'Orchestra' of Powerful Computer Chips to UMBC

2007-08-23T12:27:56Z

Photo Caption:
According to UMBC computer scientists Milt Halem (left) and Yelena Yesha (right), the Multicore Computing Center will give UMBC researchers access to some of the world's most powerful information engines.

UMBC and IBM have announced a new collaboration to create The Multicore Computing Center (MC2), a unique facility that will focus on supercomputing research related to aerospace/defense, financial services, medical imaging and weather/climate change prediction. IBM awarded UMBC a significant gift to support the development of this new center, which researchers describe as an “orchestra” of one of the world’s most powerful supercomputing chips. The MC2 will bring to UMBC a high-performance computational test laboratory based on the Cell Broadband Engine (Cell/B.E.), jointly developed by IBM, Sony Corp., Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCE) and Toshiba Corp. This ground breaking processor is used in products such as SCE's PlayStation3 and Toshiba's Cell/B.E. Reference Set, a development tool for Cell/B.E. applications, as well as the IBM BladeCenter QS20. Cells have a wide range of capability – able to serve as engines for image and video-intensive computing tasks like virtual reality, simulations and imaging for aerospace, medicine and defense; high-definition TV and high-speed video for wireless devices; and highly complex physics based computer models to better predict weather, climate change and biochemistry. The MC2 is the latest development in a strong, long-time partnership between IBM and UMBC. IBM employs over 100 UMBC alumni, and UMBC faculty have received numerous IBM research awards and fellowships over the past decade. The MC2 at UMBC is expected to focus on supercomputing research related to aerospace/defense, financial services, medical imaging and weather/climate change prediction. One of the challenges for researchers at the MC2 will be making clusters consisting of hundreds of the powerful information engines run effectively together. “Cell processors are groups of eight very fast, independent but simple PC’s with their own tiny memory all on a single chip each with its own leader,” said Milt Halem, director of the MC2 and professor of computer science at UMBC. “The challenge is choreographing all the chips to work efficiently in parallel. It’s like a distributed orchestra with 224 musicians and 28 conductors connected with head phones trying to play Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony together,” said Halem, who retired in 2002 from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, where he served as Assistant Director for Information Sciences and Chief Information Officer. "The Multicore Computing Center highlights UMBC's role as a national leader in information technology research and education, and will contribute to Maryland's economic growth and national security," said Freeman Hrabowski, president of UMBC. “We are so pleased to become an early adopter of this revolutionary shift in semi-conductor chip design,” Halem said. “UMBC is committed to growing its computational science expertise and hopes this collaboration with IBM will allow the university to become a national leader in the applications of future multicore computers as they grow more massive.” UMBC is a member of IBM’s Academic Initiative, a program sponsored by IBM to upgrade IT skills for a more competitive workforce. Through the Academic Initiative, IBM works with more than 2,200 institutions, 11,000 faculty members and 650,000 students worldwide to build integrated business, science and technology skills to be applied in today’s global economy. "The opening of the UMBC Multicore Computer Center is yet another example of how IBM innovations are being used to help further the advancement of research and science that benefits business and our communities," said Rod Adkins, senior vice president of development & manufacturing, IBM Systems & Technology Group. "We are convinced of the endless possibilities that can, and will, emerge from this type of collaborative relationship, and are proud to play a role in the launch of the new information technology research center." In the future, UMBC and IBM officials plan to collaborate on new interdisciplinary research possibilities in chemistry, mathematics and other fields of engineering and information technology. The Multicore Computing Center is expected to be installed and operational by fall 2007.

Michael Summers, UMBC/HHMI, Discusses STEM Education in Science Magazine

2007-07-11T15:34:16Z

Michael Summers, Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and professor of chemistry and biochemistry, was part of a recent panel discussion sponsored by Science magazine on improving science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education in the U.S. “Straight Talk About STEM Education” appeared in the July 6 issue of Science.

Two UMBC Students Receive Prestigious NSF Graduate Research Fellowships

2007-06-25T16:02:29Z

Columbia Natives Patricia Ordóñez, Jason Reid to Pursue Ph.D.s at UMBC, MIT Note to Readers: Click on photos below to view high-resolution version. Patricia Ordóñez, a UMBC second year graduate student, and Jason Reid, a UMBC class of 2007 graduate, both from Columbia, MD, have received National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships (NSFGRF), which are among the most competitive and prestigious academic awards for American college students as they begin graduate studies. Both students are products of UMBC’s College of Engineering and Information Technology. The NSFGRF is a three-year award that funds tuition and an annual stipend to support graduate studies for students showing the potential to contribute significantly to research, teaching and innovations in science and engineering. About 1,000 were awarded across the U.S. this year. Ordóñez, who received a B.A. in Hispanic and Italian Studies in 1989 from Johns Hopkins University, began to pursue her career in computer science attending UMBC part-time in the fall of 2001. She was admitted to the graduate school full-time in the fall of 2005 and will remain at UMBC to pursue a Ph.D. in her field as well as continue research developing medical applications using pervasive computing to help personalize operating rooms for patients and surgeons. “I would be crazy to leave such an encouraging and supportive environment,” she said. “I love being somewhere where the president of the university greets you as he walks by and takes a personal interest in the students.” Reid, who received a B.S. in mechanical engineering, will attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to pursue an M.S./Ph.D. in mechanical engineering and conduct research in the use of robotics to accelerate rehabilitation in stroke and spinal cord injury patients. “The NSF award is great because you can work on pretty much anything that interests you,” said Reid. “While I look forward to embarking on the new experiences and challenges of the future, I will always appreciate my time spent at UMBC.” A Meyerhoff Scholar, Reid also received a Society of Automotive Engineers Scholarship, the UMBC Mechanical Engineering Alumni Award and the Hillel of Greater Baltimore President’s Award. Reid’s winning research proposal for the NSFGRF came from his work in the lab of UMBC mechanical engineering professor Dwayne Arola, with whom he studied ways to improve dental tools and practices for senior citizen patients as the enamel of their teeth grows brittle with age. For Ordóñez, the award makes her doctoral dreams obtainable. “Without it I think I would have settled for the masters rather than the PhD because I am 40 years old and have the financial responsibilities of a 40-year-old,” she said. “Now I have the financial support I need to focus solely on my research.” Ordóñez, part of the UMBC computer science and electrical engineering department’s eBiquity Research Group, thanked UMBC faculty members Anupam Joshi, Marie desJardins, Renetta Tull, Tim Finin, Penny Rheingans, Janet Rutledge, Charles Nicholas, Krishna Sivalingam, and Marc Olano for supporting her in her graduate studies and Shon Vick in her undergraduate studies.

UMBC/NASA Study Shows Increasing Snowmelt in Greenland

2007-05-29T21:13:23Z

New Area the Size of Maryland Starts to Melt Each Year; Long-term Satellite Data Showed First-Ever High Altitude Melting in 2002 Some sobering findings on the extent of Greenland's melting ice sheets were published today as part of a long-term study of earth observing satellites’ data by researchers with the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) and NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center. Marco Tedesco, a scientist at the Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology (JCET) of UMBC and NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center, was lead author of a study published in the American Geophysical Union's journal Eos. By using a new method for detecting melting snow from satellites, Tedesco found that in 2006 Greenland experienced more days of melting snow and at higher altitudes than the previous trends from the past 18 years. Tedesco used a new method for detecting melting snow based on readings from the Special Sensor Microwave Imaging radiometer (SSM/I), an instrument aboard the U.S. Air Force’s Defense Meteorological Satellite Program spacecraft. The SSM/I can see through clouds and can measure data without sunlight. Tedesco has tracked the data annually since 1988, allowing him to study big-picture trends in the duration and extent of Greenland's snowmelt. Certain areas of Greenland were melting over 10 days longer than average in 2006. Greenland’s 2006 melt index, or the number of melting days times the melting area, continued on an upward trend seen in data from 1988 to 2005. Results from another study by Tedesco published on Geophysical Research Letters on January 2007 show that the year 2002 showed signs of extreme melting. “We identified an extreme melting event in June 2002 that showed for the first time in 18 years snow melting in inner Greenland at high altitudes,” said Tedesco. “During the same year, over 80 percent of the entire Greenland ice sheet surface experienced at least one day of melting. This corresponds to an area the size of France, Spain and Italy put together,” he said. The area experiencing at least one day of melting has been increasing since 1992 at a rate of 35,000 square kilometers per year, or about two percent of the entire Greenland surface. “That means that, on the average, every year since 1992 an area equivalent to the state of Maryland has been subject to new melting,” Tedesco said. Left: UMBC JCET Researcher Marco Tedesco According to Tedesco, tracking melting snow in Greenland, which contains enough water to raise global sea level by approximately 7 meters, is important for several reasons. “Although wet and dry snow look similar, they absorb sun’s radiation in a different way, with melting snow absorbing three to four times as much energy as dry snow, greatly affecting Earth’s energy budget,” said Tedesco. “Also, melting snow produces liquid water that will seep down to the interface of ice and bedrock, lubricating the ice sheet and increasing the speed with which ice moves,” Tedesco said. “This means that ice might react to a warm climate faster than thought, contributing more rapidly to sea level than previously thought.”

Anne Spence, Mechanical Engineering, Honored by FIRST LEGO League of Maryland

2007-03-21T17:23:55Z

Anne Spence, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, received the Outstanding Volunteer of the Year award at the 2007 FIRST Chesapeake Regional, held March 15-17, 2007 at the United States Naval Academy. FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is an international non-profit organization that creates accessible, innovative programs that build self confidence, knowledge and life skills in young people while motivating them to pursue a future in science, technology, and engineering. Spence was recognized in front of thousands of students, mentors, families and VIP's for her work on the Chesapeake Regional Planning Committee, as Lead Pit Administrator at the Regional for the past 3 years, as the FIRST LEGO League Affiliate Partner for Maryland and for her other volunteer and mentorship work with Project Lead the Way and students at UMBC.

Best-Selling Author Naomi Wolf to Speak at UMBC

2007-03-12T21:38:18Z

‘Beauty Myth’ Author to Discuss “The Changemakers: Ethical Leadership & Real Power” at UMBC Humanities Forum on March 14 Best –selling author Naomi Wolf will give a lecture on ethics and leadership on Wednesday, March 14 at 7 p.m. at UMBC as part of the University’s annual Humanities Forum speaker series. The lecture is free and open to the public. Wolf has written essays for The New Republic, The Wall Street Journal, Glamour and The New York Times. She is the author of a number of best-selling books including "The Beauty Myth" (1991), which was named one of the most important books of the 20th century by The New York Times. The lessons Wolf passionately shares raise awareness of society's pervasive inequities and encourage her audiences to voice their concerns, and enact change. In her lecture, Wolf will address ethics and leadership, drawing on models using courage, justice, compassion, and a respect for all to change the world for the better. Her talk will spell out how we can be ethical leaders and make a monumental difference. Wolf is co-founder of The Woodhull Institute for Ethical Leadership, an organization that teaches young women how to become leaders and agents of change in the 21st century. Wolf will speak Wednesday, March 14, at 7:00 p.m. in Lecture Hall VII, on the first floor of UMBC’s Information Technology and Engineering (ITE) Building. The event is sponsored by the UMBC Center for the Humanities.

Andrew Sears, UMBC Information Systems, Discusses Booming IT Job Market on Maryland Public Television

2007-02-07T21:32:23Z

Andrew Sears, chair and professor of UMBC's Information Systems department, was recently an in-studio guest for Maryland Public Television's "Business Connection." Sears discussed how the information technology (IT) job market is doing much better than conventionally thought. According to Sears, trends like decreased outsourcing, increased hiring and even signing bonuses for talented IT grads all add up to a booming IT job market for the Class of 2007. Sears was invited by the show's producers based on UMBC's growing reputation as a statewide and national leader. According to the January 2007 issue of Computing Research News, UMBC ranks # 2 in IT degrees awarded by major US research universities. UMBC also continues to be the largest producer of information technology graduates in Maryland. To watch the video online, visit the UMBC Informations Systems department's website.

Weather Forecasts Help Fight Disease Outbreak

2007-01-26T20:14:01Z

GEST Center's Assaf Anyamba Helps to Slow Deadly Fever in Kenya Photo Caption: UMBC/NASA scientist Assaf Anyamba. Update: Feb. 9, 2007. Read more about Dr. Anyamba's work in the Baltimore Sun. Recently, Assaf Anyamba, a research associate scientist at UMBC’s Goddard Earth Sciences and Technology (GEST) Center, got a first-hand look at how his research helped save lives. Anyamba, an expert on using earth science satellite data to see the links between weather, disease and famine, was on personal travel in East Africa when an outbreak of Rift Valley Fever -- a deadly hemorrhagic disease -- began in Kenya. A similar outbreak the same time of year in 1997-1998 killed about 400 people. But this time Anyamba and a team of earth science and public health colleagues from NASA, the Department of Defense and the USDA had seen the outbreak coming. Back in October, Anyamba and other scientists tracked satellite imaging data and weather forecasts predicting warmer ocean temperatures that would result in widespread and heavy rainfall and a spike in the mosquito population -- perfect conditions for Rift Valley Fever. Photo Caption: Assaf Anyamba (right) surveys a typical breeding environment for Rift Valley Fever-carrying mosquitos northeast of Nairobi, Kenya. He is joined by Kenneth Linthicum (left) director of the USDA Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology, and Elizabeth Kioko, a research entomologist with the DOD-Walter Reed Project, Kenya. Thanks to their work, the Kenyan government partnered with international science and public health teams and had time to take preventative steps, such as outlawing the ritual sacrifice of cattle, sheep and goats during the Muslim Eid festival. These and other steps helped reduce human contact with likely animal carriers of the disease. This year's outbreak death toll was limited to 104 people so far. Anyamba was tapped by the Department of Defense - Global Emerging Infections Surveillance and Response System (DoD-GEIS) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to monitor conditions associated with vector-borne disease outbreaks and provide early warning information to prevent and minimize the impacts of outbreaks such as the one in Kenya. In recent months, he presented his findings on using earth science to prevent diseases like Rift Valley to various prestigious international health groups, including the WHO, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the U.S. Rift Valley Fever Working Group. In February and March, he will be doing assessment fieldwork in Kenya to monitor the success of the disease prevention efforts. Image Caption: A map produced by Anyamba's research team predicted the Kenyan outbreak of Rift Valley Fever. Anyamba's work helping to contain the outbreak received international media attention from the Associated Press, The Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, New York Times and many other major news outlets. "This is a culmination of 10 years of dedicated work," said Anyamba. "It is a great pleasure to have the opportunity to translate scientific data and analysis results into products that benefit global public health."

Stephen Auvil to Speak on ACTiVATE Program at International Conference on Women's Entrepreneurship

2007-01-17T01:09:05Z

Stephen Auvil, of UMBC's Office of Technology Development and the ACTiVATE Program, is invited to speak at the FemStart Conference in Stuttgart, Germany from February 14-15. The ACTiVATE Program will be featured as a best practice for training women to commercialize technology out of universities. FemStart is an initiative funded by the European Commission’s 6th Framework Programme for Research and Technology within the Science and Society Priority. It will start a public debate on the issue of how female scientists can be motivated to start their own businesses after university. For more information about FemStart visit the website at www.femstart.eu.

The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation Awards $2 Million to Fund Entrepreneurship at UMBC

2006-12-14T20:27:00Z

Initiative Seeks to Develop Entrepreneurs Outside of Business, Engineering Schools UMBC has been awarded a $2 million grant to build entrepreneurship programs across the campus, joining a select group of colleges and universities receiving funding for entrepreneurship endeavors through the Kauffman Campuses Initiative. The Kauffman Foundation initiated the three-year-old Kauffman Campuses Initiative to catalyze entrepreneurship programs outside of business and engineering schools. The Kauffman Foundation grant complements two substantial commitments already received by UMBC to support its Alex. Brown Center for Entrepreneurship. The first commitment is $1 million from Constellation Energy Group. The second is $1 million from the Herbert Bearman Foundation to establish The Bearman Family Chair in Entrepreneurship at UMBC. The Kauffman Foundation grant acknowledges the success and potential of the Alex. Brown Center for Entrepreneurship, created six years ago through a gift of $1 million from the Alex. Brown Foundation to develop a leading university entrepreneurship center for the Baltimore region. UMBC has developed three broad strategies to make entrepreneurship education a common and accessible experience for students in all majors: exposure of students and faculty to entrepreneurs and their expertise, creation of formal education opportunities and development of programs to give students and faculty experience in entrepreneurial settings. UMBC, recognized for its culture of entrepreneurship education despite the absence of a business school, joins a prestigious group of institutions selected by the Kauffman Foundation for funding. The others are Arizona State University, Brown University, Carnegie Mellon University, Georgetown University, New York University, Purdue University, Syracuse University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. UMBC learned of its selection after a campus delegation, led by President Freeman A. Hrabowski, III, presented its proposal before an independent panel of judges at Kauffman Foundation headquarters in Kansas City, Mo., on December 12. “This partnership gives UMBC the opportunity to take entrepreneurship programming to the next level,” says Vivian Armor, director of the Alex. Brown Center. “It will allow UMBC to expand course offerings for current undergraduates, graduate students and working professionals. It will improve programming that exposes students and faculty to important entrepreneurial concepts. Finally, the partnership will help develop systems to support individuals as they work to launch successful business ventures or address urgent challenges facing our communities through social entrepreneurship.” The Alex. Brown Center supports the kind of entrepreneurial creativity and action exemplified by the creation of OpenPosting.com, the first online classified community for college students. Students Wan Hsi Yuan and Jason Servary, members of the Center’s student-run CEO Club, created the site. It has 1,500 registered users and receives roughly 4,000 page views per day. Entrepreneurship at UMBC also thrives via the Alex. Brown Center’s summer entrepreneurship institute. In summer, 2006, UMBC’s first Faculty Summer Institute was held for eight faculty members representing the departments of music, dance, theater and visual arts. The institute was created to broaden faculty exposure to concepts of entrepreneurship and integrate into their curricula career development skills, internships and mentoring relationships with established entrepreneurs. Participation by faculty was determined based upon proposals that demonstrated interest in learning more about entrepreneurship. Winning proposals from faculty included the exploration of marketing and audience development initiatives, the development of courses to help students understand professional careers in the arts and arts and non-profit organization management. The Center also serves as one of the University’s partners in the ACTiVATE program, funded by the National Science Foundation to address the unique needs of accomplished women interested in starting technology companies. Eight women in the ACTiVATE program, established two years ago, now lead their own tech companies. The Alex. Brown Center’s activities are complemented by such other initiatives as techcenter@UMBC and bwtech@UMBC, which offer specialized support geared specifically toward research and technology businesses. Through UMBC’s Shriver Center, a national leader in promoting community-based service and internship programs, businesses are introduced to undergraduate and graduate students interested in internship experience in career-related fields. “The Alex. Brown Center augments the excellent education UMBC offers by giving students the proper toolset to interface with business leaders in their field of choice,” said Greg Barnhill,” chair of the Alex. Brown Center Board of Visitors and partner and member of the board of Brown Advisory Securities. “We offer students guidance on how to deal with people on a daily basis, compose quality written communication and verbalize opinions effectively.” The grant is awarded with the expectation that UMBC will raise an additional $8 million toward entrepreneurship programs during the next five years. The Kauffman Campuses Initiative began in 2003 with $25 million in funding to eight schools that provided entrepreneurship education within liberal arts, engineering and other non-business programs. Selection of this latest round of Kauffman Campuses schools was based on a series of criteria, including the ability to generate a partnership with other foundations and funders and the potential to create new representative models. “Our initiative is creating a cultural change and making the entire university system more entrepreneurial,” said Kauffman CEO Carl Schramm. “We want all students, not just those in business schools, to see the value of thinking like entrepreneurs. We want them to be able to recognize and seize opportunity when it presents itself, no matter what field they find themselves in.” About the Alex. Brown Center Established in 2000 through a gift of $1 million from the Alex. Brown Foundation, the Alex. Brown Center for Entrepreneurship is the hub of entrepreneurial-based activity at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). It provides an active link between the academic community and the corporate environment. Since its inception, the Center has worked closely with the Baltimore business community to create one of the leading university centers for entrepreneurship in the country housed at a mid-sized university. Information about the Alex. Brown Center is available at http://www.umbc.edu/entrepreneurship. About the Kauffman Foundation The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation of Kansas City is a private, nonpartisan foundation that works with partners to advance entrepreneurship in America and improve the education of children and youth. The Kauffman Foundation was established in the mid-1960s by the late entrepreneur and philanthropist Ewing Marion Kauffman. Information about the Kauffman Foundation is available at www.kauffman.org.