All posts by: UMBC News Staff

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)

 

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)

 

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)

 

Adventures in Ancient Studies

 

From the History Channel to sword and sandal epic movies, 21st century citizens remain fascinated by the mysteries of the ancient world.

In UMBC’s Department of Ancient Studies (ANCS), students from various disciplines enroll in classes with topics ranging from elementary Latin to women and gender in the classical world. Faculty members emphasize teaching as the cornerstone of the department and consequently draw up to 100 students in some lower-level courses. Through their creative teaching methods and the practical field experience offered to majors, ANCS connects with undergraduates and enables them to reach, sometimes literally, into the annals of western civilization.

With faculty specializing in archaeology and the history, language and literature of the ancient world, ANCS is able to offer holistic instruction in the classics. Many faculty members contribute to the department’s study/travel program, which gives students the opportunity to participate in digs and discover ancient sites firsthand. Past destinations have included China, Egypt, England, France, Germany, Italy, Greece, Israel, Spain, Tunisia and Turkey. ANCS also reserves departmental funds for travel scholarships, making it one of only a few classics programs in the country to do so.

In 1969 Rudolph H. Storch, associate professor and chair of ancient studies, founded ANCS and helped develop the program, recruiting professors for both ANCS and the history department. He has written extensively about the military history of the ancient world and is currently researching Greek warfare during the archaic period. Storch edits issues of the departmental newsletter, organizes trips to museums in New York and Washington, D.C. and plans events for Ancient Studies Week.

Walter Sherwin, associate professor of ancient studies, is also a founding member of ANCS and has taught at UMBC since 1967. Sherwin has used his expertise in Greek and Roman literature to consult with the U.S. Supreme Court in research and library affairs. He chaired a University committee aimed at improving the undergraduate experience and was recently an advisor to the Ancient Studies Club. Sherwin also coordinated recent study/travel trips to Italy, London and France.

In 1969 Jay M. Freyman, associate professor of ancient studies, helped create the ANCS study/travel program and has since organized trips all over the world. He was instrumental in establishing a Phi Beta Kappa chapter on campus and received a University System of Maryland Regents Faculty Award for Excellence in Mentoring in 1999. Using his background in ancient Greek and Latin, Freyman developed courses in etymology and medical terminology. He also provided historical instruction to theater troupes performing Greek dramas at UMBC and in Washington, D.C.

Marilyn Y. Goldberg, associate professor of ancient studies, has been an ANCS faculty member since 1978. She championed several projects designed to improve pedagogy at UMBC and is bringing technology to ANCS with a pilot project using Web-based images in the classroom. Goldberg also designed an ANCS course for UMBC’s First Year Seminar program. She is currently working on a manuscript that examines communities and gender in the public space of classical Athens.

A recognized expert in ancient trade and transport amphoras, Carolyn G. Koehler, associate professor of ancient studies, has taught at UMBC since 1978. She recently wrote a book on the results of an excavation of Corinthian amphoras in Athens to be published by Princeton’s American School of Classical Studies at Athens and is the president of AMPHORAS Project, Inc. Koehler also works with students to find field-related internships and coordinates trips for the department’s study/travel program.

(1/25/05)

 

Art as Collaboration

 

For over 20 years, composer Anna Rubin has collaborated with dancers, musicians and video artists. As director of UMBC’s Linehan Artist Scholar and InterArts Studies Programs, she brings the spirit of collaboration to the University’s undergraduates. “Some of the most exciting work occurs in collaboration,” said Rubin, who is also an associate professor of music. “All of my roles at UMBC allow me to work with a variety of students and faculty members to help enhance the arts environment at UMBC. There’s a great interest in collaborative work here, which I find very stimulating.”

In addition to exploring individualized study in more than one discipline, students in the VPA/InterArts Studies Program have the opportunity take classes with established artists who visit campus each year. This spring, Rubin and Carolyn Tice, associate professor and chair of social work, will teach Art in Community—open to all students—in conjunction with the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange (LLDE) and Charlestown Retirement Community. LLDE has pioneered dance education with senior citizens as well as the inclusion of older dancers within their company.

Art in Community will give arts, social work, public policy and sociology students a hands-on experience in the use of the arts to promote self-expression, a sense of community and health in senior citizens. Participants will create a collaborative work to be shown on April 29. (Liz Lerman Dance Exchange will also present a public concert at UMBC on February 4.)

“There is an enormous opportunity for our arts students to learn about entrepreneurship in community arts projects such as our collaboration with Lerman Dance Exchange and Charlestown Retirement Community,” said Rubin. “Professional artists often have to be their own fundraisers, teachers, marketers and promoters. In addition, they work with diverse audiences. It is important for our students to see the model of an established company like LLDE, which has created many successful collaborations. The course is also a research opportunity for students from other majors as they examine the efficacy of the program and how it affects a social organization like Charlestown.”

Rubin is excited about the potential for courses like Art in Community, just one example of her lifelong passion for collaboration. After falling in love with composition as a master’s student at CalArts, Rubin began seeking out opportunities to work with other artists. “Once I discovered composition, I couldn’t get enough and pursued every opportunity I could get to work with virtuoso performers, collaborate with other composers and artists and explore computer-generated sound,” said Rubin, who has created over 35 compositions and won numerous awards for her work, most recently from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) and the Aether Festival of Radio Art#1 (Radio Station KUNM, Albuquerque). In May, the acclaimed Da Capo Chamber Players will perform one of her works at New York’s Knitting Factory in a concert showcasing works which integrate electronics with acoustic instruments.

(1/10/04)

 

Using Physics to Synchronize Clocks

 

Even the most accurate timepieces are almost certain to disagree by at least a few seconds, which can be problematic for applications such as telecommunications, satellites, wide area networks (WANs) and global positioning systems that rely heavily on time synchronization. But thanks to sophisticated computations and high-speed electronics, distant clocks with separations of thousands of miles can be synchronized within a just few nanoseconds—one billionth of a second.

Physics Ph.D. students Alejandra Valencia and Giuliano Scarcelli, under the mentorship of Dr. Yanhua Shih, conducted an experiment to show that tighter synchronization of distant clocks may be possible by utilizing quantum physics. “We used the quantum entanglement of photon pairs to achieve clock synchronization,” said Scarcelli.

By sending two entangled photons down optical fibers, the research team was able to detect synchronized events with picosecond—one trillionth of a second—accuracy over a distance of three kilometers. Synchronizing clocks in global positioning satellites to within a picosecond might make it possible to locate objects at the earth’s surface within millimeters. The team’s research, first published in Applied Physics Letters and Science News last September, might have a role in a future space-based observatory.

Valencia and Scarcelli enjoy working under the guidance of faculty members who are considered among the top-ranking physicists in the U.S. In addition, since the University— ranked 16 th nationwide for NASA funding—has close relationships with NASA, the National Institute of Science and Technology and other research institutions, Ph.D. students also have the opportunity to network with other scientists in the region.

Having traveled from their respective native countries, Italy and Colombia, Scarcelli and Valencia have found UMBC to be a home away from home. Alejandra appreciates that Shih and other professors here treat their students like fellow researchers and value their ideas. “Back home this kind of relationship does not exist. We are not as close to professors as we are here at UMBC,” said Valencia.

(1/4/05)