“I came to UMBC as a master’s student because I was drawn to the ICARE program’s mission. I am passionate about conducting applied research with practical implications for my community,” shares Aiman Raza ’22. Continue Reading Meet a Retriever—Aiman Raza ’22, applied environmental researcher in UMBC’s ICARE graduate program
With a Department of Energy fellowship, Jessica Novak will pursue better understanding of Cellvibrio japonicus, a bacterium with biofuels potential. Novak’s time at NREL “will also train me in some of the biochemical analyses that I’m going to do back at UMBC,” she says. “I think the results we’re going to get from this fellowship will spark new ideas.” Continue Reading Ph.D. candidate Jessica Novak to study biofuels at National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Protein misfolding “underlies a lot of diseases and aging,” says Erin Green. Her new line of research hopes to uncover how different cellular pathways contribute to maintaining a healthy balance of proteins in our cells. Continue Reading Erin Green receives $1.2 million NIH grant to study cellular pathways involved in cancer, neurodegeneration
Achuth Padmanabhan’s research group, which includes graduate, undergraduate, and high school students, is revealing new potential treatment options by expanding understanding of the basic biology of ovarian cancer. Overall, “our goal is to eliminate ovarian cancer mortality,” he says. Continue Reading UMBC’s Achuth Padmanabhan to pursue promising ovarian cancer research with $1.5 million in grants
Study author Adam Dixon, Ph.D. ’21, understands that protected areas alone are not enough to solve the biodiversity, food, and health challenges the world is facing—so his work seeks to help “integrate conservation solutions into our most intensive places.” Continue Reading UMBC alum leads successful pilot of method for monitoring biodiversity on farms
For Grant Clifton, teaching English effectively requires a combination of intensive technical training in English language instruction and a passion for building community. Clifton was a Peace Corps volunteer in Indonesia from 2017 to 2019, where he taught English to high school students. After returning to the U.S., Clifton continued his combined focus on learning and community impact through UMBC’s Shriver Peaceworker Fellows program. Continue Reading Helping English language learners gain confidence through community
Natural dust particles and pollutants in the atmosphere affect Earth’s overall energy budget in nuanced ways. A new project will study how dust, pollutants, and water vapor in the atmosphere interact, to increase understanding of their overall effects on the global climate. Continue Reading UMBC’s Zhibo Zhang to clarify atmospheric dust’s role in climate with NSF grant
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
“When I arrived in Spain as a teenager, my teachers did not expect me to go to college because I was an immigrant and because I didn’t have the resources to access certain learning opportunities,” says Melisa Argañaraz Gomez, Ph.D. ’22, geography and environmental systems. “Now, as a graduate student in the U.S., remembering my experience as a teenager helps me connect with the students I support and empathize with their lives.” Continue Reading Giving voice to immigrant experiences
A new study that tested thousands of fruit flies may eventually give doctors the ability to make better-informed decisions about which medications to prescribe for older adults. “Our genetics matters,” says Mariann Gabrawy. “Humans don’t all react the same to various prescription medications. So it’s really important to be able to look at an individual patient and figure out if some particular medication is going to work for them or not.” Continue Reading UMBC researchers discover genes linked to medication response, laying foundation for precision medicine
Two new papers from Can Ataca’s research group at UMBC set the stage for further advances in solar power and other renewable energy technologies. Graduate students Daniel Wines and Gracie Chaney led the projects. Ataca’s group’s work is theory- and computation-based, but these projects took advantage of collaboration with experimental researchers. As work in this field develops from theory to implementation in devices, “There’s a need for both kinds of research at every stage,” Wines says. Continue Reading UMBC research group tackles ongoing hurdles to efficient solar power tech
“These results are important because spatial variation of dust around the globe can help determine whether dust is cooling or warming the planet overall,” which is still unknown, Qianqian Song says. Using new techniques to identify dust among all atmospheric particles opens up new avenues for research in this area. Continue Reading New study led by UMBC’s Qianqian Song furthers understanding of atmospheric dust’s role in climate
