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
To trace the Moon’s poles over time, the research team examined the combined effects of more than 5,000 craters on the Moon’s surface. “All this cratering is like a record” of the Moon’s history, Vishnu Viswanathan says. The team found relatively stable poles over time, which would have created favorable conditions for accumulation of resources like water near the poles. Continue Reading UMBC’s Viswanathan uses the Moon’s craters to track its shifting poles over 4.25 billion years
The U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) has funded Urban Integrated Field Laboratories in three American cities (including Baltimore) to generate resilience-enhancing solutions to urban climate challenges in collaboration with community organizations. “What we want to try to do is partner with the communities to come up with solutions to these climate impact problems,” Claire Welty say, “and then what we’re bringing to the table are our tools to implement that.” Continue Reading UMBC to co-lead new Baltimore Social-Environmental Collaborative with $2.3M grant
A virus’s ability to sense its environment, including elements produced by its host, adds “another layer of complexity to the viral-host interaction,” says Ivan Erill. Right now, viruses are exploiting that ability to their benefit. But in the future, he says, “we could exploit it to their detriment.” Continue Reading New UMBC research finds that viruses may have “eyes and ears” on us
Bats as biomonitors, community connections to the zero-waste movement, and oyster aquaculture are just a few of the topics that students in UMBC’s Interdisciplinary Consortium for Applied Research in the Environment (ICARE) master’s program are exploring through Baltimore-centered community-engaged research. As the first cohort in the program heads into their second and final year, they are excited about their work and looking ahead to becoming the next generation of environmental science leaders. Continue Reading Students in UMBC’s ICARE program connect scientific research with community
