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UMBC Class of 2026: Ready to contribute their voices
With full hearts and eyes fixed on the future, the UMBC Class of 2026 stepped across the stage last week, crossing the threshold into life’s next chapter. Surrounded by family, friends, and mentors, UMBC’s newest alumni embody the university’s spirit of curiosity, resilience, and community.
UMBC Magazine
Fall 2025 Issue
ARTS+YOU
Magazine
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Business—not as usual
At UMBC, entrepreneurship transcends a traditional business education: It empowers scientists, artists, and technologists to transform their expertise into real-world impact. Through business accelerators, ambassador programs, interdisciplinary courses, and other innovation pathways, the…
Quick Posts
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UMBC to honor faculty and staff at presidential awards ceremony
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Anupam Joshi named 2025 AAAS Fellow
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Senior Caly Ferguson recognized with National Society of Black Engineers’ ‘25 Under 25’ award
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Celebrating the misunderstood: Mercedes Burns featured in new book on North America’s overlooked critters
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UMBC physicist wins Amazon award to build AI-orchestrated scientific assistant
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UMBC’s Steven Caruso honored for leading authentic undergrad research in the classroom
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UMBC hosts 2025 IEEE Baltimore Technical Colloquium
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Chemical engineering professor Tyler Josephson chosen as Simons Foundation Pivot Fellow
Community
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Darter detective: Ph.D. student Payton Barry on ecosystems, outreach, and grant hunting
Payton Barry, a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate in biological sciences, is diving into the world of Maryland’s streams. Under Tamra Mendelson’s mentorship, he studies how introduced species of darters, a family of freshwater fish, are affecting native ones. Equal parts dedicated researcher and enthusiastic science communicator, Payton has creatively pieced together funding from organizations like The…
Policy & Society
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From Baltimore City to Bergen, Norway: Fulbrighter Shanika Freeman ’24 researches the reentry process of women in one of the world’s most humane systems
After Shanika Freeman ’24 walked across the stage, she had something on her mind—basic human rights. For the past four years, Freeman’s research has focused on the reentry experiences of formerly incarcerated women in the United States and Maryland. Basic human rights—including access to healthy food, education, housing, healthcare, clothing, and job skills development—are difficult…
Science & Technology
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For the leaf peepers: How NASA’s PACE is improving fall color forecasts
UMBC researchers are using NASA’s PACE satellite to map fall colors by tracking changes in leaf pigments like chlorophyll, anthocyanins, and carotenoids. The new method provides more precise timing of peak autumn color than traditional indices, with applications for tourism, monitoring plant stress, and understanding climate impacts.
Arts & Culture
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Humanities Books: A Room in Bombay
Manil Suri moved to the United States after spending the first 20 years of his life living in a 400-square-foot room in Bombay, India, with his father, Ram, and mother, Prem, to whom he dedicated his latest book, A Room in Bombay. The
Previous Stories
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Vunnathi Ankem ’26—finding community and her place at UMBC
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Chinonso Ezeobi, Ph.D. ’26, channels his own challenges to become a better teacher and mentor
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Zareen Taj earns her Ph.D., publishing the first autoethnography by a Hazara Afghan woman about the ongoing genocide of Hazara women under Taliban rule
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Rileigh Mansfield ’26—a mathematician with contagious enthusiasm and a ‘Survivor’ spirit