UMBC Faculty Violinist Airi Yoshioka Honored for Music Education and Outreach

Assistant Professor of Music Airi Yoshioka was recently honored with the McGraw-Hill Companies’ Robert Sherman Award for Music Education and Community Outreach. The $10,000 award recognizes outstanding musicianship and includes a program of her live performances on prominent New York City classical music radio station WQXR.

A violinist and graduate of the Juilliard School of Music, Yoshioka plans to use her award to start a Web site for music teachers and music education majors with resources for exploring teaching skills and personal development as a musician.

She has created two programs at UMBC that provide music majors teaching experience in local elementary schools. Teaching Artist Fellows collaborate with classroom teachers to give each child an opportunity to make connections with music from his or her own perspective. Instrumental Fellows learn to teach their respective instruments in a group setting. (The Teaching Artist Fellowship was originally known as the Burchard Fellowship, in honor of Robert Burchard, professor emeritus of biological sciences, who established the award.)

Yoshioka has performed throughout the U.S., Europe, Asia and Canada as a recitalist, soloist and chamber musician. She was an original member and concertmaster of The New Juilliard Ensemble, is a founder of the Damocles Trio and a member of various new music ensembles, including Ruckus, UMBC’s resident new music ensemble. Yoshioka taught music at New York City public schools through the Morse Fellowship program, Lincoln Center Institute and the New York Philharmonic, and brings her aesthetic education work to Japan this fall.

UMBC Teaching Artist and Instrumental Fellows often pursue careers in education. For example, Charlene Woo ’05 received a master’s degree in education from the Johns Hopkins University and is currently teaching in a first grade classroom where every student takes music lessons. Robert Zuzin ’06 has built a reputable guitar studio while sustaining an extensive performing career.

(11/27/07)

© 2007-08 University of Maryland, Baltimore County � 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250 � 410-455-1000 �

UMBC Students Collaborate with Elementary and High School Students to Map the Community

Fourteen UMBC cartography and graphic design students are collaborating with seven elementary and high school students from Baltimore city and country schools to research and create maps that focus on important issues in their community. The project, “Mapping Their Community,” is the latest outreach program coordinated by the University’s Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture (CADVC).

The UMBC mentors are teaching elementary and high school students the relevance of maps and visual literacy in their lives, as well as critical geography and graphic design skills. Students gather information for the maps, develop the technical and conceptual development of designs and participate in group discussions and critiques.

The exhibition includes over 100 maps by participating students and additional maps and designs by their UMBC mentors. It will be on view from November 29 through January 5 at The Commons and Department of Visual Arts hallway gallery at UMBC. A winner from each school will be announced at a public opening reception on November 29, 5-7 p.m., at the CADVC. 

”Mapping Their Community” concludes in the spring with bus trips for the participating students to see a map exhibition at the Walters Art Museum. Selected maps from “Mapping the Community” will also be shown in a weekend exhibition at the Museum in April.

Schools involved in “Mapping Their Community” include the Academy for College and Career Exploration, Augusta Falls Savage Institute of Visual Art, Baltimore City College, Lansdowne High, Samuel F.B. Morse Elementary, Towson High and Woodlawn High.

(11/27/07)

© 2007-08 University of Maryland, Baltimore County � 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250 � 410-455-1000 �

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.

UMBC Faculty and Staff Experts Discuss �Mental Illness and the Campus Community�

UMBC faculty and staff experts from across the campus will discuss “Mental Illness and the Campus Community,” at this year’s Mosaic Roundtable, sponsored by the Interdisciplinary Studies (INDS) program. The free, public event will be held Tuesday, November 27, 4-6 p.m. in the University Center Ballroom.

“Substance abuse, anxiety, depression, mood disorders, and other dimensions of mental illness have reached crisis proportions on campuses nationwide, and suicide is among the top three causes of death among college students. One in three Americans will experience a form of mental disorder at some point in their lives,” said Patricia LaNoue, INDS director. “The Mosaic Roundtable, created to address complex issues from a multidisciplinary perspective, is one way we can contribute to sharing knowledge and provide an opportunity for the campus community and the public to ask questions.”

Speakers for this event are:

J. Lavelle Ingram, director of University Counseling Services, who will address what kind of support is available at UMBC, what behaviors signal danger and reasonable responses.

Charles Milligan, executive director of the Center for Health Program Development and Management, will discuss patient confidentiality and counselors’ responsibilities in protecting the safety of third parties.

Carlo DiClemente, professor of psychology, will address addictions and the overlap between drinking, drug use and mental illness, as well as how abuse can contribute to emotional programs and mental illness.

Carolyn Tice, associate dean of the School of Social Work, will focus on how the media portrays people with mental illness – stigmas and stereotypes – and how these portrayals serve as a barometer of social awareness and public beliefs.

For more information, visit www.umbc.edu/mosaic.

(11/16/07)

© 2007-08 University of Maryland, Baltimore County � 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250 � 410-455-1000 �

UMBC Peaceworker Alumni Remain Engaged in Baltimore Communities

While nearly 85 percent of UMBC’s Shriver Peaceworker Fellows originally come from outside the Baltimore region, 60 percent have settled and remain engaged in service careers in local communities.

“With 100 percent of Peaceworker alumni continuing in public service careers and more than half staying in our region to engage in community service careers, the Shriver Peaceworker Program is proving to be a ‘creative-class’ infusion for the City,” said Program Director Joby Taylor ’05, Ph.D. language, literacy and culture.

The Peaceworker program at UMBC’s Shriver Center was founded by Sargent Shriver in 1994, and now has 100 alumni. The program focuses on finding ways for returning Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs) to serve their states and communities when their missions abroad are completed.

Few people have had a greater impact on public service in America than Shriver, who founded and directed the Peace Corps under President John F. Kennedy. Both men envisioned a powerful impact of RPCVs on American society, and as a native Marylander, Shriver realized this vision concretely in the establishment of the Peaceworker program at UMBC, with an urban problem-solving focus on the Baltimore region. Shriver will be honored in an upcoming PBS documentary to be pre-screened on Thursday, November 15, at the Patterson Theater at the Creative Alliance in Baltimore.

“Shriver’s genius in the Peace Corps and Peaceworker programs was his ability to marshal a sense of ‘practical idealism,’ which is optimism about making a difference matched with realism about the hard work this involves,” said Taylor.

Peaceworker alumni working in the Baltimore region include:

Erin Hood ’07
Graduate Degree: UMBC Master’s Degree in Public Policy focused on Human Services, with a Certificate in Nonprofit Management.
Peace Corps Volunteer: Jamaica.
Peaceworker Fellowship: UMBC Coordinator for Service and Volunteerism to foster student’s sense of social responsibility through community service.
Where she is now: Director of Development, Community Mediation Program, Baltimore City

Brian Greenan ’05
Graduate Degree: UMBC Master’s Degree in Intercultural Communications focused on Spanish language study and Latin American history and politics
Peace Corps Volunteer: Niger
Peaceworker Fellowship: Centro de la Communidad, serving Baltimore’s growing Latino community. As a mayoral fellow and then with the Downtown Partnership, he provided direct outreach to homeless persons in the downtown area for which he was given a commendation by the Baltimore City Council.
Where he is now: Organizer with Neighborhood Housing Services

Sarah Morris-Compton ’07
Graduate degree: UMBC Master’s Degree in Public Policy focused on Human Services Policy
Peace Corps Volunteer: Turkmenistan and Kenya.
Peaceworker Fellowship: Coordinator of a service-learning project that linked college Web design classes to non-profit organizations at the University of Baltimore’s School of Information Arts and Technologies
Where she is now: Program Associate for the Annie E. Casey Foundation in Baltimore working on large-scale state child welfare and juvenile justice system reform.

Sargent Shriver’s legacy through the Shriver Center at UMBC was featured on WYPR 88.1-FM’s Maryland Morning with Sheilah Kast on November 12. Click here to listen.

(11/13/07)

© 2007-08 University of Maryland, Baltimore County � 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250 � 410-455-1000 �

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

An Eco-Opportunity Employer

Now that the U.S. Geological Survey’s Maryland-Delaware-Washington, D.C. Water Science Center is on campus at bwtech@UMBC, research partnerships with faculty and career opportunities for students are growing.

For example, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association recently awarded a three-million-dollar grant to UMBC, USGS, Lawrence Livermore Laboratory and Princeton University to provide real-time, wireless, online data on Baltimore’s Gwynn Falls watershed. As the USGS-UMBC team’s eco-research reputation increases, more opportunities for student internships and employment will take root. Just ask Lonnie Lanham ‘98.

Lanham, a geography and environmental systems (GES) major with a certificate in Cartography, connected with USGS during his last semester at UMBC thanks to the advice of GES mentors like Joe School, Keith Harries and Tim Foresman. His internship and work experience in departmental laboratories helped Lanham land a job at USGS combining his geographic information systems (GIS), mapmaking, technical illustration and Web design skills.

“The experience that I gained while actually working within my major was very valuable,” Lanham said. “I feel that it gave me a definite edge when it came to getting ‘a real job.’” Lanham has remained at USGS since, working his way up from webmaster to lead information technology specialist for the USGS Center.

In his job, Lanham makes sure a multitude of USGS servers, workstations, network equipment, printers, scanners, cameras, data projectors, hand-held devices, and as he puts it, “lots of other things that a geography major would not likely want to get involved with,” are all working reliably. He credits several USGS officials for their mentorship, including USGS acting chief information officer Paul Exter, publications unit chief Jean Hyatt and Jim Gerhart, director of the MD-DE-DC Water Science Center.

Dan Soeder, hydrologist and information and outreach coordinator for the USGS Center, notes that while the USGS is seeking to be more efficient and streamlined in staffing, they are always looking for talented interns to fill highly competitive student positions. “We want to attract students who demonstrate the talent, skills, and abilities the USGS needs,” Soeder said.

“The work is fascinating and there are many opportunities in the Federal Government as well as in the private sector,” said Lanham. “A major in the arena of environmental sciences, especially geography, can offer a good foundation on which to build a career.”

Students, faculty and staff looking to learn more about the USGS should attend the MD-DE-DC Water Science Center’s Open House event on Wednesday, Oct. 24.

(10/19/07)

© 2007-08 University of Maryland, Baltimore County � 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250 � 410-455-1000 �

UMBC Presents Work by Award Winning Playwright, Alumna

Kara Lee Corthron ’99, theatre, is emerging as one of theatre’s most promising playwrights. Her new play, Wild Black-Eyed Susans, which will be performed at UMBC October 17-21, received the 2007 Helen Merrill Award for Emerging Playwrights. In addition, her play Like a Cow or an Elephant was awarded the 2007 Theodore Ward Prize for African-American Playwrights and was produced at the DePaul Theatre School in Chicago. She was also the winner of the 2006 New Professional Theatre Writer’s Award, is a three-time recipient of Lincoln Center’s Lecomte du Nouy Foundation Award and was a semi-finalist for the 2007 Sundance Theatre Lab and Princess Grace Award. Corthron’s plays have been developed with the Ensemble Studio Theatre, Center Stage (Baltimore), African Continuum Theatre (D.C.) and at the Julliard School.

Corthron says UMBC’s theatre department helped to prepare her for the challenges of a career in theatre, encouraging her to understand the business of theatre as well as the research and work that goes into a production. Classes in script analysis gave her an appreciation for dramatic literature and helped to inspire her passion for writing.

She also believes that taking classes in theatre will benefit non-majors as well. “Even takng a class in dramatic literature can help you to learn about the human experience,” says Corthron. “You read about people who have to make decisions and work through problems. Or, if you choose to get involved in a production, when you are in character you have to figure out how you will work with that person is going through. In theatre, you learn to understand other perspectives, empathy and compassion.”

Lynn Watson, chair of the theatre department, says that students are benefiting from working with Corthron’s play. “As I watch the actors in rehearsal and work with them on the text of Wild Black-Eyed Susan’s (as a voice specialist, I coach our students as well as professional actors in speech and text), I’m particularly struck by the sophistication of Kara’s writing. She has a keen ear for the emotional underpinning of a casual comment. Her characters are believable and identifiableóworking class people living in a region where jobs are drying upóyet she imbues their speech with poetic imagery and lyricism. Her ability to intermingle lyricism and rough urgency in the speech of contemporary characters is exceptional.

“For our students, the opportunity to play these roles has made for marvelous acting lessons,” adds Watson. “As actors dig into it, the play constantly yields up more and deeper layers. It’s exciting to see Kara’s talents passed on through her play to the development of another generation of UMBC theatre students.”

A schedule and ticket information for Wild Black-Eyed Susans is available online. The production is also part of UMBC’s Homecoming and Family Celebration events. For more information, visit www.umbc.edu/homecoming.

(10/15/07)

© 2007-08 University of Maryland, Baltimore County � 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250 � 410-455-1000 �