All posts by: UMBC News Staff

“Answers in the Sky and the Classroom”Michele McCourt, atmospheric physics Ph.D. student, looks to the sky to understand the physics of carbon monoxide produced on earth. McCourt is a GEST (Goddard Earth Sciences and Technology) fellow in atmospheric physics at UMBC.For her dissertation, McCourt studies the effects of biomass burning in southern Africa on the earth’s troposphere. “Fires burning to clear fields for cropland in the southern hemisphere produce roughly as much troposphere carbon monoxide as cars and industrial parks do in the northern hemisphere,” she says. McCourt analyzes data collected from the international Southern Africa Regional Science Initiative (SAFARI… Continue Reading Answers in the Sky and the Classroom

“Learning from Post-World War II Germany”UMBC faculty are recognized for creating new perspectives in history and often help shape the present and future by serving as advisors to governmental and organizational programs.Rebecca Boehling, associate professor and graduate director in the Department of History, is researching denazification in post-World War II Germany under Allied occupation. Denazification was an important part of the Allies’ program to transform Germany from an authoritarian state into a democratic nation that would again cooperate in international life. Boehling proposes that because there was not a structural change-oriented, consistent approach to denazification during the U.S. occupation period,… Continue Reading Learning from Post World War II Germany

“A Fresh Start for High-Risk Children”Christine Reiner Hess, a Ph.D. student in UMBC’s applied developmental psychology graduate program, helps high-risk children get a fresh start at life.Hess has always had a strong interest in child psychology. When she read about the child intervention work that Douglas Teti, professor of psychology at UMBC, was conducting, she knew she wanted to work in applied developmental psychology.At the time, Teti was studying how mothers adjusted after giving birth to infants hospitalized in a neonatal intensive care unit due to prematurity and low birth weight. “I was fortunate to be able to join the… Continue Reading A Fresh Start for High-Risk Children

“UMBC’s First Division I Champion”UMBC Retrievers know how to win both on and off the field.Senior Cleopatra Borel won the women’s shot put in the NCAA Division I Track and Field Championships, held at the University of Arkansas’ Randal Tyson Track Center on March 9. Borel’s next-to-last throw, a personal best of 17.50 meters (57’5″), outdistanced Kansas State’s Austra Skujyte (55’9″) and Iowa State’s Lisa Griebel (54’10.25″) to capture UMBC’s first Division I national title.“Last year was my first time competing in the national championships, and I was nervous. But the competition is a lot of fun, something I always… Continue Reading UMBC’s First Division I Champion

became director of the Center for Women & Information Technology. McCann is known for her scholarly contributions to the history of American reproductive politics in the 20th century, and her book Birth Control Politics in the United States, 1916-1945 (Cornell University Press, 1994), was the first to place the birth control debate in the wider political context of the period. McCann is working on a follow-up, Birth Control, Eugenics and the Foundations of Demography, under contract with the University of Pennsylvania Press, which examines gender and race in international population politics after 1945. This year, Routledge will publish McCann’s Feminist… Continue Reading 20 Years of Women’s Studies at UMBC

  Sari Bennett, director of geographic education, works with educators to strengthen the teaching of geography. “The Power of Geography”    For more than a decade, Sari Bennett has worked with educators in Maryland to strengthen the teaching of geography in grades K-12.  “All too often students think of geography only as maps or the memorization of place names. We’re working to show teachers and students the power of geography in understanding the world around us.” As head of the Maryland Geographic Alliance, an initiative funded by the National Geographic Society (NGS) and the State of Maryland, Bennett has provided… Continue Reading The Power of Geography

“A Collaborative Approach to Improving Eldercare”  Kevin Eckert, professor of sociology and anthropology, and co-director (with Jay Magaziner) of the new interdisciplinary Gerontology Doctoral Program with University of Maryland Baltimore, frequently works with other prominent scholars to advance the field of gerontology. Most recently, he has co-authored a new book, Assisted Living: Needs, Practices, and Policies in Residential Care for the Elderly (with S. Zimmerman and P.D. Sloane of UNC Chapel Hill), published by Johns Hopkins University Press.Additionally, he is embarking on a new four-year, $1.7 million study — with UMBC sociology professors Robert Rubinstein and Leslie Morgan and UNC Chapel… Continue Reading A Collaborative Approach to Improving Eldercare

“An Advocate for the Liberal Arts”  Ancient studies professor Jay Freyman, a member of the faculty since 1968 and director of the Honors College, is a tireless advocate for the liberal arts and a role model, personal counselor, career advisor, and mentor to hundreds–if not thousands–of UMBC students. His actions have inspired a tradition of mentoring at UMBC, and he was instrumental in UMBC’s successful application for Phi Beta Kappa, serving as the chapter’s first president. In 1999, he received one of the University System of Maryland Board of Regents’ highest honors, a Regents Faculty Award for Excellence in Mentoring.As director… Continue Reading An Advocate for the Liberal Arts

“Teaching That Makes a Difference”  UMBC is a leader in assisting Maryland’s most troubled public schools through Project SUPPORT (School-University Partnership to Prepare Outstanding Responsive Teachers), a remarkably successful federally funded program that will ultimately place 1,100 teachers in Baltimore City and hundreds more in Anne Arundel and Baltimore Counties.“Our school-university partnerships will break a tradition of neglect by recruiting, preparing, mentoring and retaining the high-quality teachers necessary to improve student learning and achievement,” says UMBC Clinical Associate Professor of Education John Lee, who heads the project.The program is a win-win for public school students, their schools and UMBC’s urban teachers-in-training.… Continue Reading Teaching That Makes a Difference

“An Eye on Air Quality”  As a environmental economist focusing on transportation issues, Virginia McConnell knows a lot about cars and trucks – more specifically, the impact of policies to reduce air pollution through vehicle emissions regulations, inspection and maintenance programs, fuel regulations, emission taxes and land use changes. She became interested in the intersection of urban and environmental problems as a graduate student, and has taught and pursued research in these areas ever since. Her recent work is on differential fuel taxes for introducing cleaner fuels, and land use policy changes and their impact on air quality. She enjoys working… Continue Reading An Eye on Air Quality

“U.S. Presidential Award for UMBC”  The usually casually dressed Michael Summers put on a suit and tie for the occasion–he was, after all, going to the White House to receive an award from the president of the United States. Summers, UMBC professor of chemistry/biochemistry and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, accepted the 2000 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring from President Clinton. He was one of 10 national recipients of the award. Administered and funded by the National Science Foundation, the award honors leadership in encouraging minorities, women, and people with disabilities to pursue careers in scientific,… Continue Reading U.S. Presidential Award for UMBC

/a> “Probing Our Impact on the Environment”    A member of the physics faculty since 1984 and a 1974 UMBC graduate, Larrabee Strow is one of the chief scientists behind NASA’s $30 billion international Earth Observing System project. He developed a new satellite instrument, the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS), and complex algorithms that will be used to measure climate change. The data collected by AIRS will be used by scientists around the world to better understand weather and climate change and by the National Weather Service and others to improve the accuracy of weather and climate models. Strow’s work on… Continue Reading Probing the Environment