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UMBC and U.S. Navy celebrate partnership establishing Maryland’s first NROTC unit

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On Monday, November 30, 2015, Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Navy Dennis McGinn and U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski joined President Freeman Hrabowski for a ceremony to formally celebrate the establishment at UMBC of Maryland’s first Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) program. The program, which is part of the new Maryland NROTC consortium that includes the University of Maryland, College Park, provides an opportunity for students to earn a commission in the U.S. Navy or Marine Corps while completing their undergraduate degrees. During the event, McGinn spoke highly of UMBC as an institution with exceptional leadership and innovative approaches to… Continue Reading UMBC and U.S. Navy celebrate partnership establishing Maryland’s first NROTC unit

Contrary to Darwin’s assumptions, female and male songbirds can be equally musical, say UMBC biologists

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Contrary to the popular belief, made famous by evolutionary theorist Charles Darwin, that only male songbirds sing, female birds can be as musical as males of the same species. This is the conclusion of UMBC’s Karan Odom, a biological studies PhD student, and Kevin Omland, professor of biological sciences, from their intensive study of songbirds in Maryland and Puerto Rico. Their research on the subject, originally published in Nature Communications, is highlighted in a new article in National Wildlife Federation magazine. The current research includes four oriole bird species. Odom and Omland studied the Baltimore oriole and orchard oriole in… Continue Reading Contrary to Darwin’s assumptions, female and male songbirds can be equally musical, say UMBC biologists

Inaugural Inventors’ Luncheon honors UMBC faculty innovators across disciplines

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UMBC’s inaugural Innovators Luncheon, held November 30, 2015, celebrated faculty innovators from across the university who are forging new paths in their fields. Sponsored by the Office of the Vice President for Research, Office of Technology Development (OTD), Office of Institutional Advancement (OIA), and bwtech@UMBC, the event acknowledged accomplishments of UMBC Technology Catalyst Fund (TCF) and Maryland Innovation Initiative (MII) awardees. In addition to recognizing the TCF and MII awardees, five UMBC faculty were presented with awards for outstanding initiatives in disclosing their inventions. Christopher Geddes, professor of chemistry and biochemistry and director of the Institute of Fluorescence (IOF); Fow-Sen… Continue Reading Inaugural Inventors’ Luncheon honors UMBC faculty innovators across disciplines

NASA’s Operation IceBridge confirms observations on ice shelf collapse, JCET researcher Shuman explains

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NASA’s Operation IceBridge, a survey of polar ice, carried out parallel flights in the north and south poles for the first time in seven years. The mission to the Antarctic Peninsula recorded a big drop in height of the two glaciers at the south pole. The mission to the Arctic collected measurements of depleted land and sea ice at the end of the summer melting season. In an article on the NASA website, Christopher Shuman, research associate professor at UMBC’s Geography and Environmental Systems department, faculty at UMBC’s Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology (JCET), and research scientist in the… Continue Reading NASA’s Operation IceBridge confirms observations on ice shelf collapse, JCET researcher Shuman explains

UMBC researchers raise Atlantic bluefin tuna on land for first time in North America

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A team of UMBC researchers has made history by successfully raising Atlantic bluefin tuna from eggs to juvenile stage in a recirculating, land-based mariculture system for the first time in North America. Scientists at the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology (IMET) overcame significant challenges in creating the successful, sustainable aquaculture system — roadblocks that had previously frustrated researchers for years. A sharp increase in demand for bluefin tuna in the sushi industry has intensified fishing of the species, fueling seven-figure prices for individual fish and depleting populations. In 2015, the World Wildlife Fund’s Living Blue Planet Report identified Atlantic… Continue Reading UMBC researchers raise Atlantic bluefin tuna on land for first time in North America

Yoni Zohar says FDA approval of genetically engineered salmon could have environmental benefits

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has just approved the first genetically modified animal for sale as food: AquaAdvantage salmon,. The FDA determined that the salmon is not biologically different than nongenetically engineered salmon and is safe to consume. A CNN article on the news shares comments by UMBC’s Yonathan Zohar, professor and chair of the department of marine biotechnology, on the environmental benefits of the fish, which is designed to grow more quickly, to meet the continually increasing demand that is currently threatening salmon populations. Zohar’s research focuses on developing environmentally sustainable aquaculture techniques, and he has previously… Continue Reading Yoni Zohar says FDA approval of genetically engineered salmon could have environmental benefits

Anthony Johnson to chair national advisory board promoting diversity in physics

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Anthony Johnson, professor of physics and computer science and electrical engineering, has been named chair of the American Physical Society (APS) Bridge Program’s National Advisory Board (NAB). Johnson was involved with the Bell Labs Cooperative Research Fellowship Program for Minorities, a precursor to the APS Bridge Program, in the 1970s. “The Bridge Program had its genesis with the Bell Labs Diversity Program, which I participated in, and thus it was quite an honor to be nominated Chair or the APS Bridge Program’s NAB,” he shares. The Bridge Program was created in 2013, funded by the National Science Foundation and the… Continue Reading Anthony Johnson to chair national advisory board promoting diversity in physics

Ramon Goings spotlights possible harm to minority-serving institutions from new teacher-prep policy

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Writing on the website Diverse: Issues in Higher Education, Ramon B. Goings raises red flags about a federal regulation-in-the-making that will require states to come up with formulas to evaluate teacher-education programs. Goings, the program coordinator of the Sherman STEM Teacher Scholars Program, and co-author Larry J. Walker, an educational consultant, argue that such evaluations are likely to threaten minority-serving institutions (MSIs) more than other higher-education institutions because MSIs typically enroll a higher proportion of students underprepared for college work. If teacher- preparation programs don’t meet the new standards, they may lose federal funding, including grants that support students who… Continue Reading Ramon Goings spotlights possible harm to minority-serving institutions from new teacher-prep policy

UMBC researchers collaborate to improve sustainability, with impacts in Maryland and across the nation

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Local sustainability researchers and thought leaders took center stage on October 16, 2015, at a forum for urban sustainability in Baltimore, hosted by UMBC’s School of Public Policy. The forum was designed to examine how collaborations among government agencies, companies, and nonprofits can improve sustainability policies and programs. It also emphasized how a broad range of perspectives is needed to effectively assess and address environmental concerns. This isn’t news to Claire Welty, professor of chemical, biochemical, and environmental engineering and director of UMBC’s Center for Urban Environmental Research and Education. Welty is the associate director of research for the Urban… Continue Reading UMBC researchers collaborate to improve sustainability, with impacts in Maryland and across the nation

NASA renews partnership with UMBC’s JCET for $46 million over five years

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For twenty years JCET has brought leading scientists to UMBC in research areas that align with NASA’s Earth science interests, such as climate and radiation, atmospheric chemistry and dynamics, and solar system sciences, including geophysics. UMBC is now ranked among the world’s top universities for geosciences. Continue Reading NASA renews partnership with UMBC’s JCET for $46 million over five years

Renetta Tull shortlisted for GEDC Airbus Diversity Award

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Renetta Tull, associate vice provost for graduate student development and postdoctoral affairs, is one of ten impressive candidates shortlisted for this year’s GEDC Airbus Diversity Award. The GEDC Airbus Diversity Award honors people and projects worldwide that “have encouraged students of all profiles and backgrounds to study and succeed in engineering.” This year’s shortlist includes scholars from Germany, South Africa, Australia, Canada, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States. Tull’s profile in the GEDC/Airbus announcement reads: Renetta Tull leads the PROMISE Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP), a program that has grown to include a global STEM diversity and… Continue Reading Renetta Tull shortlisted for GEDC Airbus Diversity Award

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