All posts by: UMBC News Staff

UMBC Presents Roundtable on Environmental Issues, Hosts Former VP Al Gore

This year’s Mosaic Roundtable –“If now what then, if then what now?”– is a timely opportunity to showcase UMBC’s faculty and student research on the environment, an area of emerging focus for the university. “If now…,” a multidisciplinary discussion of former Vice President Al Gore’s Oscar-winning film, “An Inconvenient Truth,” is a prelude to Gore’s upcoming lecture at UMBC on May 8, part of The Maryland Forum lecture series.

The Mosaic Roundtable, sponsored by UMBC’s Interdisciplinary Studies Program, on Monday, April 9 will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. on the 7th Floor of the Albin O. Kuhn Library & Gallery. The week prior to the event, the Interdisciplinary Studies Council of Majors and the Campus Climate Initiative will host free film screenings of “An Inconvenient Truth.” Founded in 2002, the Mosaic Roundtable is an annual discussion of controversial, timely issues. More information about Mosaic and the screenings is available online.

Roundtable participants are:

Scott Farrow, Chair
Department of Economics
Scott Farrow’s current research focuses on risk management and micro-economic performance while his teaching focuses on benefit-cost analysis and the economics of risk management. His work related to global climate change includes academic articles on methods to quantify the precautionary principle and economic approaches to sustainability as well as his authorship of Making the Environment Count on which then-Senator Gore held hearings.

He served twice in the Executive Office of the President, in the Department of the Interior, and carried out domestic and international consulting work for Dames & Moore, Inc. Consulting clients and funding sources have included: the US Environmental Protection Agency, ExxonMobil, Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania, American Chemistry Council, Harvard Institute for International Development (for the US Agency for International Development) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Jeff Halverson, Associate Director
Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology
Associate Professor
Department of Geography and Environmental Systems
Jeffrey Halverson’s present research and teaching interests focus on the climatology and severe storms of the Mid Atlantic region, including nor’easters, severe thunderstorms and tropical cyclones undergoing extra-tropical transition. Prior to UMBC, Jeffrey Halverson investigated severe storms for NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. He also worked at NASA Headquarters, where he helped manage NASA’s Tropical Cloud Systems and Processes (TCSP) and NASA African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Activities (NAMMA) experiments to study the birth and intensification of hurricanes. He has extensive field experience investigating hurricanes, serving both as an Instrument Scientist for NASA’s ER-2 high altitude research aircraft and as Mission Scientist on NASA’s DC-8 research aircraft.

Halverson writes a regular column for Weatherwise magazine. Most recently, he wrote the scientific content for author Stefan Bechtel’s new release, Roar of the Heavens (Citadel Press), which tells the story of the catastrophic Hurricane Camille flash flood in Nelson County, Virginia.

Robert Neff, Assistant Professor
Department of Geography and Environmental Systems
Robert Neff has been studying human dimensions of global climate change for the past 10 years. He has published findings of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Assessment, which was part of the national assessment of the impacts of climate change in the late 1990s, and more recently has published findings of the Human-Environment Regional Observatories (HERO) project, which was funded by a five-year grant from NSF to enhance infrastructure for studying vulnerability to climate change and variations.

Neff wrote his master’s thesis on the economics of a gasoline tax and his Ph.D. dissertation on greenhouse-gas emissions from transportation in urban places. He is currently working with the Baltimore Ecosystem Study, an NSF-funded Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) study site to analyze energy-consumption patterns in multiple urban places. Neff is the chair of the Human Dimensions of Global Change Specialty Group of the Association of American Geographers (AAG), the national disciplinary organization for geographers in the United States.

Ellen Handler Spitz, Honors College Professor of Visual Arts
Honors College
Department of Visual Arts
Ellen Handler Spitz teaches interdisciplinary seminars in the arts and humanities. She lectures internationally and is the author of numerous articles and five books: Art and Psyche, Image and Insight, Museums of the Mind, Inside Picture Books, and, most recently, The Brightening Glance.

Spitz was recently named a 2007 summer fellow at the Erikson Institute for Education and Research. She held fellowships at the Getty Center for the History of Art and the Humanities, the Bunting Institute (now the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study), the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford, the Camargo Institute in France and the Center for Children and Childhood Studies at Rutgers.

Moncie Wright, President
Campus Climate Initiative
Moncie Wright is the first student to present at a Mosaic event. A senior environmental science major, she is the president of the Campus Climate Initiative, an organization devoted to reducing UMBC’s impact on global warming

As a student at the Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC), Wright was mentored by Chris Fox, head of the CCBC Environment Project, who has studied global warming for 20 years. After receiving her A.A. in Environmental Science Technology, Wright transferred to UMBC in fall 2005. While attending the 4th Annual N.E. Climate Conference in 2006, she learned how hundreds of schools across the country were combating global warming on their campuses and working with administrators to reduce their campuses’ impacts on climate change. When she returned to UMBC, Wright started the Campus Climate Initiative and did independent research under the guidance of geography and environmental systems professor Chris Swan on an invasive species.

The Campus Climate Initiative is completing a greenhouse gas emissions inventory and the group also applied for an EPA grant to investigate student attitudes and perceptions toward energy efficiency. In addition, the Campus Climate Initiative is performing energy efficiency research.

Wright is also a member of the Campus Sustainability Research Group and treasurer for the Geography and Environmental Systems Council of Majors.

(4/2/07)

© 2006-07 University of Maryland, Baltimore County • 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250 • 410-455-1000 •

UMBC Music Department Building Global Reputation

UMBC’s music department continues to distinguish itself as an academically and musically talented department, and the world is listening. Faculty, staff and students in the department are building connections with renowned composers, music conservatories and other music institutions worldwide. Here are just a few programs offered by the department and performances that are bringing international recognition to UMBC:

Music of Japan Today 2007
UMBC Camerata Performs at Carnegie Hall
Italian Exchange Program

Music of Japan Today 2007
UMBC’s music department will host Music of Japan Today 2007, one of the largest events of Japanese contemporary music outside of Japan, and the only festival to combine scholarly presentations with musical performances. The three-day symposium will explore and celebrate the development and evolution of Japanese music with performances, lecture-recitals, panel discussions and paper presentations from the widest possible range of disciplines and expertise.

The symposium features performances and lectures by three world-renowned composers: Hiroyuki Itoh, Hiroyuki Yamamoto and Shirotomo Aizawa, and special guest performer Retsuzan Tanabe, master of the shakuhachi, a traditional Japanese bamboo flute. Three student groups (the Chamber Players, Percussion Ensemble and students in the American Contemporary Music certificate program) UMBC faculty and guest musicians from the region and international new music centers will also perform.

Co-directors E. Michael Richards, associate professor of music, and Kazuko Tanosaki, director of the certificate program, co-founded the event 15 years ago as faculty at Hamilton College in New York. “Japan has a long musical tradition (over 1500 years) and a variety of music,” said Tanosaki. “This symposium examines how western culture and traditional Japanese music influence the country’s contemporary music,” said Richards.

Music of Japan Today receives support under the auspices of the Embassy of Japan. It also receives funding from the Northeast Asia Council and Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission, Japan Foundation, the Japan Commerce Association of Washington DC and UMBC.

For a schedule of the events, visit www.umbc.edu/newsevents/arts/calendar/.

UMBC Camerata Performs at Carnegie Hall
The UMBC Camerata, a select chamber choir, has been invited to perform at Carnegie Hall, one of the nation’s premiere concert halls, on April 2. The group, under the direction of David Smith, will perform with famed English choral conductor and composer John Rutter.

The Camerata will perform Rutter’s “Magnificat,” a piece the Camerata performed last fall at UMBC in preparation for the prestigious opportunity. Camerata member Catherine Gerlach, a freshman mechanical engineering major, is a fan of Rutter’s work. She began singing his compositions while in high school when she performed in a female-only musical group. “Just to be seen with the man himself is a chance of a lifetime,” said Gerlach.

Smith hopes to continue providing his students the opportunities to learn and work with some of the world’s greatest musicians and conductors. Just last October, the group sang with award-winning, multi-platinum country artist Kenny Rogers at the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore.

Students traveling to New York are still in need of financial support. Persons interested in contributing tax-deductible donations toward the trip should contact David Smith at 410-455-2922 or smithdav@umbc.edu.

Italian Exchange Program
UMBC faculty and students now have the opportunity to participate in the music department’s newest exchange program in Italy. The program is a result of a collaborative work between faculty in the department, particularly Linda Dusman, chair and professor of music, and faculty at the Conservatorio “G. Nicolini” di Piacenza in Italy.

Last November marked the program’s beginning with the exchange of two faculty members – Dusman and Carlo Alessandro Landini, chair of composition at the Conservatorio. Due to differences in the Conservatorio’s academic semester and UMBC’s, when Landini came to campus in November, he finished Dusman’s course in instrumentation, while Dusman began Landini’s composition course in Italy. While there, Dusman worked one-on-one with Landini’s students, whose ages ranged from 16 to 40. Graduate students at the Conservatorio also had the opportunity to coach with Dusman in “Incontro con Linda Dusman” (“Encounter with Linda Dusman”), a concert of music written by Dusman. At UMBC, Ruckus, the professional contemporary music ensemble, premiered Landini’s new work, “Coming to Life. Generation, Transition, Interlocking of Phases.” Landini’s work was commissioned by Ruckus to commemorate UMBC’s 40th Anniversary.

“This program establishes a European connection for our department and especially for our student-singers,” said Dusman. “This experience will give them the opportunity to study singing in Italy, which is the source of the European operatic tradition.”

Dusman hopes the program will take place annually. The first student from the department is currently studying in Italy. Peter Kuyatt, a music education major and guitarist, started in January and will remain until June. Kuyatt is interning at a middle school in Italy where he is learning the techniques that Italian music educators use in the classroom.

(3/26/07)

UMBC Announces New Undergraduate and Graduate Programs

UMBC has recently added several new degree and program track opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students. With these programs recently approved by the Board of Regents and the Maryland Higher Education Commission, the university continues to provide students with the knowledge and skills to be successful in their careers and employers with talented graduates in a variety of fields.

UNDERGRADUATE

Bachelor’s Degree in Media and Communication Studies
As communication becomes increasingly digital, interactive and pervasive, knowledge of new media technology is essential. The B.A. in Media and Communications Studies is an interdisciplinary program that combines a liberal arts education with an understanding of the dynamic and complex changes in communication, culture and knowledge. Students will gain critical media literacy while learning to use relevant new technologies to communicate effectively. Internships and capstone projects will introduce students to the worlds of radio, television, print and web journalism; public relations and advertising; non-profit policy work and advocacy; as well as careers in education, health and administration. Students in the program must complete an additional major, minor or certificate. Visit the Media and Communications Studies web site at www.umbc.edu/mcs or contact program director Jason Loviglio loviglio@umbc.edu) in the Department of American Studies for more information.

Bachelor’s Degree in Gender and Women’s Studies
Gender and Women’s Studies is an interdisciplinary field of inquiry that seeks to understand and articulate how gender makes a difference – in the lives and experiences of women, as well as men; in the practices and institutions of human societies; and in the cultural products of societies, such as art and literature. Emphasizing the importance of historical, cross-cultural, and international perspectives, Gender and Women’s Studies critically examines the intersections of gender, class, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age and ability to make visible structures of power that otherwise remain hidden. Graduates with a degree in Gender and Women’s Studies enter careers in business, education, public service, healthcare, social services, law, politics and news media. Contact program director Anne Brodsky (brodsky@umbc.edu) in the Gender and Women’s Studies Program (www.umbc.edu/wmstudies/) for more information.

Bachelor of Arts in Physics Education
There is a chronic shortage of secondary school science teachers, especially physics-trained teachers, in Maryland and throughout the U.S. In response, UMBC has created a Bachelor of Arts in Physics Education that will graduate fully trained physicists who are able to teach physics at the secondary level. The program is offered in collaboration with UMBC’s Department of Education. Contact program director Philip Rous (rous@umbc.edu) for more information.

Program Track in Computer Science: Game Development
Program Track in Visual Arts: Animation and Interactive Media The Baltimore/Washington region is ranked third in the number of computer game companies nationally. Employers are looking for talented programmers and artists to meet increasing demands in the gaming field. Based on employer feedback, UMBC has created a game development track for students pursuing a B.S. in Computer Science, and an animation and interactive media track for students pursuing a B.A. in Visual Arts. Visit http://gaim.umbc.edu/ for more information, or contact program directors Marc Olano (olano@umbc.edu) in the Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering or Eric Dyer (dyer@umbc.edu) in the Department of Visual Arts.

Program Track in Health Administration and Policy: Public Health
The Health Administration and Policy Program (HAPP) is designed for career-oriented students who recognize that health and health care in the U.S. are major public concerns and plan to seek employment in one of a variety of administrative, supportive, planning, research or policy positions. The new track in Public Health provides students the opportunity to add courses in the natural sciences as part of their program requirements. Visit www.umbc.edu/happ or contact associate program director Joyce Riley (riley@umbc.edu) in the Department of Sociology for more information.

GRADUATE

Master’s Degree in Professional Studies: Biotechnology
Designed for current and aspiring biotech professionals, the M.P.S. in Biotechnology program incorporates advanced life science courses with regulatory and management courses. In addition to providing advanced instruction in the life sciences, the program provides practical instruction on how to successfully bring new products to market. The program also includes coursework in leadership, management and financial management to a life science-oriented business. Visit the M.P.S. Biotechnology program web site (www.umbc.edu/biotech) or contact program director Rick Wolf (biotechinfo@umbc.edu) for more information.

Master’s Degree and Ph.D. Degree in Geography and Environmental Systems
The environment is an emerging focus on the UMBC campus, and the graduate programs in Geography and Environmental Systems (GES) will emphasize the kinds of interdisciplinary collaboration needed to address critical problems affecting the natural environment and human society. Students will have the opportunity to earn an M.S. or Ph.D. degree in three areas: Environmental Systems, including water resources and earth-surface processes, ecosystem science and atmospheric processes; Human Geography, with an emphasis on coupled human-natural systems including impacts of human activities on the environment, the socioeconomic consequences of environmental degradation and environmental policy; and Geographic Information Science and Remote Sensing. Visit the GES graduate program web site (www.umbc.edu/ges/GES_graduate_program) or contact program director Andrew Miller (miller@umbc.edu) in the Department of Geography and Environmental Systems for more information.

Master’s Degree in Professional Studies: Industrial and Organizational Psychology (Pending Approval by the Maryland Higher Education Commission)
UMBC’s Master’s in Professional Studies: Industrial and Organizational (I/O) Psychology program will be offered at the Universities at Shady Grove campus in Rockville. The program will offer an applied curriculum for early and mid-career students planning to enter or advance in the I/O workforce. It explores and integrates such topics as organizational behavioral management, human factors, and professional human resources practice, and culminates with a professional capstone experience. The program enables students to develop a portfolio while building strong relationships with faculty and industry professionals. Upon completing the M.P.S., students will possess advanced knowledge of organizational behavior management, ethical issues in organizational psychology, the dynamics of interpersonal relationships, the dynamics of teamwork, and employee motivation. Evening, weekend and select online courses will be available for busy professionals. For more information, contact Diane Alonso at 301-738-6318 or dalonso@umbc.edu or visit www.umbc.edu/shadygrove/iop.

Master’s Degree in Management of Aging Services
The newly formed Erickson School is offering an applied professional M.A. degree program focused on preparing leaders in practice and scholarship who will improve society by enhancing the lives of older adults. The unique program is designed for professionals working in the growing array of aging-related services, including in government, business and non-profit sectors. It will provide a solid interdisciplinary foundation in human aging, management and policy. Graduates will leave the program with the skills and knowledge to make a unique contribution to organizations addressing the needs of an aging society. Contact program director Leslie A. Morgan (lmorgan@umbc.edu) in the Erickson School (www.umbc.edu/Erickson) for more information.

Master’s Degree in Systems Engineering (Pending Approval by the Maryland Higher Education Commission)
The Master’s of Science in Systems Engineering will provide the technical background required for successful systems engineers in the 21st century. The program is designed for engineering professionals who want practical experience that can be immediately applied on the job. Students will learn from industry experts how to develop complex systems that meet customer requirements. The core curriculum will consist of five courses developed and taught by senior systems engineers to equip students with the processes, techniques and tools required to practice systems engineering. These courses will address the entire systems engineering life cycle, including requirements analysis, systems architecture and design, modeling, simulation and analysis, and system implementation and testing. The elective portion of the program consists of courses that provide an overview of technical disciplines that lie at the heart of today’s systems and courses in a related technical discipline chosen to meet the specific career needs of each student. Contact program director Ted Foster (tfoster@umbc.edu) for more information.

(7/23/07)

© 2006-07 University of Maryland, Baltimore County • 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250 • 410-455-1000 •

Realizing Their Potential: UMBC Interns and Co-ops

Through the Shriver Center at UMBC, hundreds of students stepped outside the boundaries of the classroom this summer and gained real-world experience by participating in an internship or co-op. These students were able to obtain professional opportunities, grasp the links between theory and practice and learn valuable job-related habits and skills at Wyeth Research, Maryland Department of Labor, Department of Defense, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Otto Bock HealthCare, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, W.R. Grace, T. Rowe Price, U.S. Department of State, GE and the Maryland Department of Transportation, among others.

Employers, on the other hand, were given a chance to evaluate potential new employees. John Sheridan, special agent and regional recruiter for the FBI, said, “At UMBC, I always meet a qualified, intelligent, eager and mature student body. UMBC should be very proud.”

Christine Routzahn, associate director of internships and co-ops, said, “The Shriver Center is dedicated to providing employers with the talent and energy that UMBC students offer. By complementing classroom teaching and research with the internship and co-op program, UMBC continues to develop our students as tomorrow’s leaders.”

Click here to read about some of UMBC’s summer interns and co-ops.

(8/29/07)

© 2006-07 University of Maryland, Baltimore County • 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250 • 410-455-1000 •

Realizing Their Potential:
UMBC Interns and Co-ops

Name: Nadeesha Ranasinghe Arachchige
Major: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Graduation: December 2008
Placement: Wyeth Research

“What I liked most about my internship with the drug safety and metabolism group was the opportunity to work with extremely talented and skilled scientists in sophisticated labs.”

Duties:

© 2006-07 University of Maryland, Baltimore County • 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250 • 410-455-1000 •

Celebrating Student Research

UMBC is a place that believes hands-on research and discovery is an essential part of the student experience. This week, two campus events put the creativity and curiosity of UMBC student research from across the disciplines on public display.

Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement Day (URCAD) starts things off on Wednesday, April 25, followed by the 29th annual Graduate Research Conference (GRC) on Friday, April 27. The week presents an extraordinary opportunity for the public and campus community to explore original, interdisciplinary research findings through oral and poster presentations and to enjoy free arts performances and exhibits.

Having grown steadily since being founded in 1997 by the Office of the Provost, URCAD is now a project of the Office of Undergraduate Education. The URCAD experience gives students valuable experience preparing for graduate school or future careers. Many URCAD projects are funded by Undergraduate Research Awards (URA), competitive grants of up to $1,500 given annually to support student research over an academic year.

UMBC has declared this week Graduate Student Week, and UMBC’s Graduate Student Association has planned lectures, workshops, and a variety of festivities to enrich the lives of the University’s over 2,300 graduate students. The GRC is a chance for UMBC and University of Maryland, Baltimore grad students from different disciplines to share research ideas and learn more about the process of preparing for a scientific meeting.

Visitors to URCAD and the GRC will experience a broad spectrum of outstanding student research, including:

• Like many of his peers, chemistry Ph.D. student and Wyeth Fellow Orrette Wauchope spends long hours – he estimates 10 per day – in the lab. Wauchope studies compounds that could lead to new drugs to fight cancer and help prevent viral and parasitic diseases.
• Salutorian, Phi Beta Kappa member and former UMBC women’s basketball team captain Erin Voss is working to better understand how the body’s nerve cells heal and recover from injuries and disease. Voss, a fifth-year senior majoring in biochemical engineering, is headed to medical school at the University of Wisconsin after graduation.
• Senior interdisciplinary studies and visual arts major Truc Nguyen’s project, “Call Me Brother,” is a photo documentary chronicling the American immigration stories of four generations of her extended family. The project helped her learn living history while honing her design and photography skills for a future career in communications or marketing. Nguyen’s work will also be on display at The Commons Mezzanine gallery space all this week, with daily multimedia presentations between noon and 1 p.m.

URCAD will be held on Wednesday, April 25 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the University Center and Fine Arts Building. A full morning session will be devoted to dance and film presentations. For more information, please visit the URCAD Website.

The 2007 Graduate Research Conference will be held on Friday, April 27, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the University Center. Graduate Student Week is April 26 – May 3. For more information, please visit the GSA’s Website.

(4/23/07)

© 2006-07 University of Maryland, Baltimore County • 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250 • 410-455-1000 •

Men’s Lacrosse Heads to NCAA Tournament

For the second consecutive year, the UMBC men’s lacrosse team will compete in the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Tournament. The Retrievers received an at-large bid and will play the seventh-seeded Maryland Terrapins in College Park, Md. on Sunday, May 13 at 7:30 p.m. The game will be televised live by ESPNU.

This will be UMBC’s fourth appearance in the field since 1998. The Retrievers earned at-large bids in both 1998 and 1999 and earned an automatic qualifier by winning the America East Conference in 2006. All four appearances by UMBC have come under the direction of Head Coach Don Zimmerman. It will be the 11th time in Coach Zimmerman’s 21 years as a Division I coach that he has taken a team to the tournament.

The Retrievers are 10-5 and had their six-game winning streak snapped in Saturday’s 15-14 loss to Albany in the America East title game in Albany, N.Y.

Maryland (also 10-5) defeated UMBC, 11-7 in College Park on March 17. The two teams have not met in UMBC’s previous three tournament appearances. The Retrievers lost, 11-8 to seventh-seeded Princeton in Princeton, N.J. in the first round of the tournament last season.

There will be a fan bus which heads down to College Park for the game. The bus will depart in front of the RAC at 6:00 p.m. Tickets for the Maryland-UMBC game can be purchased in advance through the Maryland Ticket Office at 1-800-462-TERP (1-800-462-8377) or they can be purchased at Byrd Stadium upon arrival. Tickets prices are $10.00 for adults and $5.00 for students. If you are interested in the bus, please contact Joe Sisler at 410-455-2205 or stop by Room 331 in the Retriever Activities Center.

The winner of the Maryland/UMBC game will meet the winner of the Virginia/Delaware first round game in the quarterfinals on Sunday, May 20, at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Md.

(5/9/07)

© 2006-07 University of Maryland, Baltimore County • 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250 • 410-455-1000 •