Recognizing Outstanding Faculty Research

 

Two UMBC faculty recently received one of the highest honors in the humanities and related social sciences. Professor of English Christoph Irmscher and Associate Professor of History Marjoleine Kars were awarded National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowships for University Teachers. This year, only 14 percent of applicants received this prestigious one-year fellowship, which recognizes faculty research that contributes to scholarship or to the general public’s understanding of the humanities.

Irmscher will use his award to complete a cultural biography of biologist/geologist Louis Agassiz (under contract with the University Press of Virginia). Regarded as the most famous scientist in 19 th century America, Agassiz was a prolific writer known for his opposition to evolutionism and his theories on the Ice Age. “He was a cultural force whose work provides valuable insight into mid-19 th century American society and culture,” said Irmscher.

Irmscher’s previous books have received numerous awards, including the dissertation prize of the German Association of English Studies, the American Studies Network Prize, the Literature and Language Award of the Association of American Publishers and The Bloomsbury Review ’s “Editor’s Favorite.”

Kars, an historian of early North America, will use her award to complete research on a longtime interest in Latin American and African history that also allows her to use her Dutch language skills. She is writing a book on one of the largest 18 th century slave rebellions, which took place in Berbice, a Dutch colony in the Caribbean, now part of Guyana. “The only two books on the rebellion were written in Dutch in 1770 and 1888, so it is important to bring this rebellion to the attention of an English-speaking public,” said Kars.

In 2004, Kars received a Mellon Research Fellowship by the John Carter Brown Library at Brown University, where she is currently studying the role American Indians played in the Berbice rebellion.

Thomas Field, Professor of Modern Languages and Linguistics and Director of the Center for the Humanities, received a NEH Fellowship in 2003, but chose to delay his award until June 2005. Field will build a Web-based database on the earliest texts in Gascon, an endangered Romance language spoken in parts of France and Spain. His work will also be incorporated into a larger database on medieval texts at the University of Birmingham.

A former Maryland Teacher of the Year (Awarded by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching) and Presidential Teaching Professor at UMBC, Field frequently gives lectures and workshops in linguistics, culture and the uses of computing in language teaching.

Read a Q&A with Irmscher, Kars and Field on how faculty research connects with the undergraduate experience at UMBC.

(3/25/05)

 

Making a Mark on Research

 

Ishita Shah has, in her own words, a passion for science. Just ask her about molecular biology, and as she talks about her research, her experience, and her time at UMBC, it becomes clear.

“My research is about bacterial transcription activation,” Shah said. “Mainly we study the bacterium E. coli. We look at oxidative stress responses and how certain transcription activators work and respond to stresses, and then regulate genes that combat superoxide and other oxidative stresses.”

A Ph.D. student in the molecular and cell biology program, Shah is co-author of several papers, most recently a 19-page entry published last October in the Journal of Molecular Biology. The paper, which she co-authored with her faculty mentor, Richard E. Wolf Jr., provides evidence for “pre-recruitment,” a new mechanism for regulating gene expression recently proposed by Wolf and his research group in the Department of Biological Sciences. “This work might change the way future textbooks write about regulation of bacterial transcription,” Shah said.

Born in India, Shah earned a B.S. in Biochemistry and Biotechnology from Saint Xavier’s college in Ahmedabad and an M.S. in Microbiology from the University of Baroda before making the move to UMBC. In 2000 she was accepted into the molecular and cell biology program with a full stipend, allowing her to concentrate on research.

While the diversity of academic and research programs convinced her to come, she credits hard work and great faculty support for her success. “Faculty support has been a key ingredient in my graduate studies because a perfect blend of guidance and independence forces the generation of new ideas which can result in developing new research designs,” Shah said.

Wolf says that Shah’s contributions to his research have been invaluable. “As a graduate student and a colleague, Ishita represents the best of the best. She’s bright, hard-working and creative. More importantly, she has an engaging personality and freely gives her time and energy to others in the lab who have questions or would like to take advantage of her vast research experience. She’s irreplaceable, but her mark on our lab and her field will remain for many years.”

Shah plans to finish her Ph.D. in the spring of 2005 and will begin a post-doctoral fellowship at the Hillman Cancer Center at the University of Pittsburg Cancer Institute.

(3/1/05)

 

Studying Iraqi Fire Pollution

 

Beyond its massive human and financial cost, the ongoing war in Iraq has also had an impact on the environment. Recently, UMBC volcano expert Simon Carn led a group of earth scientists to study how an explosion at a sulfur plant near Mosul, Iraq produced pollution rivaling one of the most powerful volcanic eruptions in recent history.

On June 24, 2003, dense clouds of sulfur dioxide were produced by an explosion at the Al-Mishraq State Sulfur Plant when arsonists set massive amounts of the gas ablaze. The fire burned for nearly a month, causing widespread respiratory problems in residents and at least two deaths, and by the time it was extinguished, its sulfur dioxide emissions equaled more than half of those released by the 1980 eruption of Mt. Saint Helens.

“That’s nearly 30 times as much as the most polluting power plants release in a year,” said Carn, a research associate at UMBC’s Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology (JCET). “It was the largest man-made release of polluting sulfur dioxide ever recorded.”

Carn and his team probed the 800-mile plume for 18 days, taking measurements of the emissions based on data collected from TOMS, located on NASA’s Earth Probe satellite. Composite photos of the sulfur clouds were also taken from the Aqua and Terra satellites, showing the concentration of polluting gases and the plume that stretched as far as Syria, Iran, Azerbaijan and the Persian Gulf.

The explosion ultimately cost the region $20 million in refined sulfur and $40 million in local crops, and would have seriously damaged surrounding villages and released dangerous pollutants in the Tigris river had it not been contained. Despite its immediate consequences, scientists speculate that the fire will not have long-lasting effects on the environment.

As part of the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) volcanic emissions research group Carn helps develop techniques to detect volcanic gases and activity using satellite monitoring systems.

Carn’s team announced their findings in the Oct. 29 issue of Geophysical Research Letters. The research was also featured in Nature News on October 25, 2004.

In the future, the team hopes to monitor coal-burning power plants using an Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI), which can track smaller amounts of sulfur dioxide discharge. “With actual measurements, we can find out if a power plant is putting out more sulfur dioxide than it says,” said Carn. Information from OMI, which is based on NASA’s Aura satellite, is expected to reach the team in the next few months.

(2/14/05)

 

Each year, the UMBC Alumni Association presents awards to honor alumni for their professional and personal achievements and service to the University.  Learn more about our past award winners.
Life Sciences
Sheldon Broedel, 1984 M.S. and 1990 Ph.D. Biological Sciences, is chief executive and science officer of Athena Environmental Sciences. This 10-year-old company, headquartered at techcenter@UMBC, specializes in “ecologically responsible and economically sound solutions to environmental problems.”
Humanities
Sean Carton, 1990 English, is Dean of Digital Design at Philadelphia University, the author of Dot Bomb and a frequent contributor to Wired magazine. As co-founder of Carton Donofrio Interactive, a web and multimedia design firm in Baltimore, he created a multi-million dollar company with numerous Fortune 500 clients.
Visual and Performing Arts
Brian Dannelly, 1997 Visual and Performing Arts, whose first feature film “Saved!” was released in 2004. It was reviewed by major national media and is now on DVD. Dannelly has several other feature projects under way.
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Renato A. DiPentima, 1984 Ph.D. Public Policy, is president and CEO of SRA International, a leading provider of technology services to clients in national security, government, health care and public health. Fortune magazine has named SRA as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For” for five consecutive years.
Engineering and Information Technology
Dr. Yue (Joseph) Wang, 1995 Ph.D. Electrical Engineering, an associate professor at Virginia Tech, leads a $5.5 million breast cancer research effort. He was recently inducted into the College of Fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering for his contributions to biomedical informatics.
Distinguished Service Award
Walter Kerr, 1996 B.S. and 1997 M.S. Emergency Health Services, a flight paramedic with the Maryland State Police, provides in-flight clinical training for UMBC paramedic students, a unique opportunity available only at UMBC thanks in large measure to his efforts.

UMBC’s Best Excel in Diverse Careers

 

UMBC’s success in forging leaders in a wide array of fields will be celebrated February 9 at the Alumni Awards ceremony in Annapolis. Six graduates will receive the Alumni Association’s highest honor.

Sheldon Broedel, 1984 M.S. and 1990 Ph.D. Biological Sciences, is chief executive and science officer of Athena Environmental Sciences. This 10-year-old company, headquartered at techcenter@UMBC, specializes in “ecologically responsible and economically sound solutions to environmental problems.”

Sean Carton, 1990 English, is Dean of Digital Design at Philadelphia University, the author of Dot Bomb and a frequent contributor to Wired magazine. As co-founder of Carton Donofrio Interactive, a web and multimedia design firm in Baltimore, he created a multi-million dollar company with numerous Fortune 500 clients.

Brian Dannelly, 1997 Visual and Performing Arts, whose first feature film “Saved!” was released in 2004. It was reviewed by major national media and is now on DVD. Dannelly has several other feature projects under way.

Renato A. DiPentima, 1984 Ph.D. Public Policy, is president and CEO of SRA International, a leading provider of technology services to clients in national security, government, health care and public health. Fortune magazine has named SRA as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For” for five consecutive years.

Walter Kerr, 1996 B.S. and 1997 M.S. Emergency Health Services, a flight paramedic with the Maryland State Police, provides in-flight clinical training for UMBC paramedic students, a unique opportunity available only at UMBC thanks in large measure to his efforts.

Dr. Yue (Joseph) Wang, 1995 Ph.D. Electrical Engineering, an associate professor at Virginia Tech, leads a $5.5 million breast cancer research effort. He was recently inducted into the College of Fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering for his contributions to biomedical informatics.

“We are all inspired by the success of these outstanding alumni, all of whom are leaders in their fields.”
– President Freeman A. Hrabowski

(2/7/05)

 

Authors, Journalists, Policy Experts to Speak on Education, Prison Reform, Gender, Health Policy, Cuba, More

UMBC hosts a diverse group of expert speakers on social and political challenges facing Maryland and the U.S. this Spring in the University's 2005 Social Sciences Forum series.

Authors, journalists and policy experts including Alan Elsner of Reuters, Tom Gjetlen of National Public Radio and Mary Ann Saar, Maryland's Secretary of Public Safety, will bring new insights to issues such as testing and standards in public education; state and federal prison crises and reform; gender and health policy; and the future of Cuba after Castro.

All lectures are free and open to the public and will last approximately one hour, followed by a question and answer period and a reception.

Wednesday February 9 at 4 p.m.
Albin O. Kuhn Library, 7th floor

"High-Stakes Education Testing and the 'Lost Curriculum'"

Panel Discussion featuring Lori Meyer, National Association of State Boards of Education and UMBC Public Policy graduate student; Dan Ritschel, Associate Professor of History and Director of the Center for History Education, UMBC; Linda Baker, Professor of Psychology, UMBC; Mary Ann Mears, sculptor and Chairperson, Arts Education in Maryland Schools Alliance.

Tuesday, February 22 at 4 p.m.
University Center, Room 312

"Neuroeconomics: Brain Imaging and Economic Decision-Making"

Kevin McCabe, Professor of Economics and Law, George Mason University.

Tuesday, March 1 at 4 p.m.
Albin O. Kuhn Library, Room 767

"Gender and Health Policy: An Historian Activist's Perspectives"

Susan Reverby, Wellesley College and Organization of American Historians Distinguished Lectureship Program

Monday, March 7 at 4 p.m.
Albin O. Kuhn Library, 7th floor

"The Crisis in America's Prisons and Why You Should Care"

Alan Elsner, National Correspondent for Reuters

Thursday, April 7 at 4 p.m.
Albin O. Kuhn Library, 7th floor

"A Crisis in Confidence? Ethics and Accountability in the Nonprofit Sector"

Peter Berns, Maryland Association of Nonprofit Organizations

Monday, April 11 at 1 p.m.
Albin O. Kuhn Library, 7th floor

"Cuba after Castro: Predicting the Unpredictable"

Tom Gjelten, National Security Correspondent for National Public Radio

Monday, April, 25 at 4 p.m.
Albin O. Kuhn Library, 7th floor

"Maryland's Project RESTART: A New Direction in Corrections"

Mary Ann Saar, Maryland Secretary of Public Safety and Correctional Services

Monday, May 2 at 4 p.m.
Albin O. Kuhn Library, 7th floor

"Promoting Employment for Persons with Disabilities: Are the New Incentives Sufficient?"

David Salkever, Professor of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins University Professor of Public Policy, UMBC (effective August, 2005)

Directions to UMBC and campus locations of the lectures

For directions go to: http://www.umbc.edu/socsforum/directions.html"

sound vision motion

 

UMBC’s IRC Fellows Program, a partnership between UMBC’s Department of Visual Arts and the Imaging Research Center (IRC), has quickly built upon the existing successes of the IRC Internship Program and the Visual Arts Undergraduate Program to create a national model for the recruiting, retention, education and support of talented digital artists. “Students are transferring to UMBC with the hope that they will get into the IRC Fellows Program,” said IRC Director Dan Bailey.

Designed to recognize, reward and encourage UMBC juniors and seniors who have displayed exceptional artistic talent and technical proficiency over the course of their first two years as undergraduate art students, the IRC Fellows Program supports these student artists as they pursue careers in either academic or professional art settings. Through a series of specially designed seminar-style courses, IRC Fellows are exposed to new technologies and artistic practices. IRC Fellows have access to the Center’s labs, visiting researchers, and to mentoring by visual arts faculty and IRC staff.

The IRC Fellows Program also fuses the research initiatives of UMBC’s visual arts faculty with the national significance of the IRC, which is dedicated to investigating new technologies and using them for interpreting and presenting content. Since its inception in 1987, artists and researchers across disciplines have collaborated in the IRC’s creative environment to develop new strategies and techniques in digital media. State-of-the-art facilities enable research in 3D visualization, immersive technologies, interactivity, installation, animation, high definition video and sound.

On February 4 and 5, Baltimore audiences can see the product of a collaboration between the IRC Fellows and Associate Professor of Visual Arts Timothy Nohe, who directed the program during the fall ’04 semester, and modern dance company movement/addiction, directed by UMBC alumni Renée Brozic and Sarah D. Seely. The evening length concert, *blink*, will be held at the Creative Alliance and includes body.txt, in which sweeping live video is projected onto canvasses made of latex sheets. The dancers press their bodies against the sheets, creating a stunning visceral background, and time delay video techniques allow the dancers to duet with images of themselves. The words of New York City-based slam poet Noel Jones glide across the screens and the dancers.

*blink* takes place at 8 p.m. February 4-5 at the Creative Alliance at The Patterson, 3134 Eastern Avenue in Baltimore City. Tickets ($15) can be ordered in advance through MissionTix, or call 410-752-8950.

Watch a video clip from body.txt.

Watch a feature on the IRC from MPT “Artworks.”

(1/31/05)