A new paper in Nature Communications illuminates how a previously poorly understood enzyme works in the cell. Many diseases are tied to chronic cellular stress, and Aaron T. Smith and colleagues discovered that this enzyme plays an important role in the cellular stress response. Better understanding how this enzyme functions and is controlled could lead to the discovery of new therapeutic targets for these diseases. Continue Reading UMBC’s Smith lab discovers enzyme ATE1’s role in cellular stress response, opening a door to new therapeutic targets
The balloons have been a mystery to much of the campus community for years, with the colorful orbs dotting the campus sky in about the tenth week of almost every semester. But for the students in Charlie Kaylor’s class, the balloons represent a culmination of the knowledge and skills they’ve gained over the preceding 10 weeks, including disciplines like ecology, statistics, botany, and sociology. Continue Reading Getting Your Research Off the Ground—Balloons Give Students New Perspectives
Tagide deCarvalho produces artistic images of microscopic life that combine her skill at the lab bench with her artist’s eye. Her artwork continues to earn her accolades worldwide. “I just get so excited when I see things under the microscope,” she says, and her art is “a way to capture the excitement and share it with other people.” Continue Reading New “Life Magnified” USPS stamp series features Tagide deCarvalho’s images of microscopic life
On a sunny fall day in October, a handful of student and faculty researchers are scuttling around outside the Albin O. Kuhn Library and Gallery. High-tech instruments sprawl across folding tables, alongside lower-tech equipment like a hole-punch, glass jars, clippers, and Ziploc bags. A drone about the size of a couch cushion sits on the grass nearby, awaiting instructions. Continue Reading UMBC’s Matthew Baker and team study how urban trees respond to heat stress
On a chilly morning in early spring 2022, Eileen Meyer, Roy Prouty, and Erik Crowe were on the roof of the UMBC Physics Building. They were inside the observatory dome, trying to figure out what had gone wrong with the 32-inch telescope installed when the building was constructed in 1999. They had already determined that the shutters designed to keep dust off the mirrors were jammed, rendering the telescope temporarily unusable. “So we’re up there with flashlights and ladders that are not quite tall enough,” Meyer recalls, “trying to figure out what is happening and realizing that some of the… Continue Reading A Space of One’s Own
“All of that heavier stuff we see here on Earth and throughout the cosmos, like gold, and platinum, and lead—where did it come from, and how did it get distributed?” asks Nicholas Cannady. He serves as operations lead on TIGERISS, a new mission recently funded for up to $20 million over five years, that aims to help answer that question. Continue Reading UMBC partners in NASA-funded TIGERISS mission to determine source of heavy elements on Earth
An eye protein called melanopsin can affect everything from our mood, to our sleeping and eating patterns, to our ability to adapt to time zone and seasonal changes. Robinson’s new work will focus on how certain modifications to melanopsin affect its function. “We’re looking at this cool molecule that affects our light-dependent behaviors in ways we’re not conscious of,” Robinson says. “It’s really exciting stuff within our field.” Continue Reading Vision beyond sight: UMBC’s Phyllis Robinson to advance study of critical eye protein with $2.5M NIH grant
Maurice Roots and Kylie Hoffman, UMBC Ph.D. students in atmospheric physics, have received competitive Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology (FINESST) awards that will support the remainder of their graduate studies. Roots’s research project will focus on air pollution and Hoffman will target thunderstorms, both using remote sensing techniques. Continue Reading Ozone and thunderstorms: Two UMBC Ph.D. students receive prestigious NASA grants, mentor undergraduates
The HARP cubesat, in orbit from November 2019 to April 22, was just the beginning of UMBC researchers’ efforts to increase understanding of how particles in the atmosphere affect climate and air quality. This month, HARP2 will be delivered to NASA for inclusion in a new mission. Continue Reading UMBC researchers build next-gen satellite tech to examine Earth’s atmosphere
