With a new NOAA fellowship, Emily Faber is doing important work to improve climate models. She’s supported by two UMBC alumni—her UMBC research mentor, Adriana Rocha Lima, Ph.D. ’15, and her NOAA mentor, Barry Baker, Ph.D. ’14. Continue Reading Ph.D. candidate Emily Faber improving climate modeling with NOAA fellowship
The third time’s the charm. Against a calm and crisp dark night sky on Florida’s Cape Canaveral on February 8, 2024, just after 1:30 a.m., the Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, Ocean Ecosystem (PACE) spacecraft rocketed to orbit carrying on board Hyper-Angular Rainbow Polarimeter (HARP2)–UMBC’s wide-angle imaging polarimeter. The launch marked the first time NASA deployed a university payload on a large operational Earth science space mission. Continue Reading On PACE to Unravel Earth’s Mysteries
Faculty, staff, and students in the College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences gathered to distribute dozens of awards supported by donors, departments, and the college honoring members of the community. Continue Reading CNMS Awards and Recognition Day honors students, faculty, and staff
This year, UMBC partnered with the EPA to host more events than ever before for Earth Day: a total of 18 throughout the month of April. “A tradition we are really proud of is that this event is 100 percent planned and implemented by our graduate students,” shared Zhibo Zhang about the concluding Earth Day Symposium. Continue Reading Month of Earth Day events culminates with 8th Annual Earth Day Symposium
CNMS GradFest featured six lightning talks and 46 posters, all given by CNMS graduate students. The successful pilot event responded to a specific request from graduate students and postdocs in the college. Continue Reading First CNMS GradFest fosters interdepartmental interaction among grads, postdocs
Data collected by HARP2, an instrument designed and built by UMBC scientists and engineers, is already available to the public, as is data from the other instruments on NASA’s PACE satellite, which launched February 8. Continue Reading First data from UMBC’s HARP2 instrument on NASA PACE mission goes public
By Adi Foord, Assistant Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics, UMBC Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com. If the James Webb telescope was 10 times more powerful, could we see the beginning of time? – Sam H., age 12, Prosper, Texas The James Webb Space Telescope, or JWST for short, is one of the most advanced telescopes ever built. Planning for JWST began over 25 years ago, and construction efforts spanned over a decade. It was launched into space on Dec. 25,… Continue Reading Could a telescope ever see the beginning of time? An astronomer explains
Sebastian Deffner, associate professor of physics, attended “Quantum Science and Technology: Recent Advances and New Perspectives,” a workshop hosted by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences in Vatican City from November 30 to December 2. Deffner was among only about 70 global experts invited to the workshop, and the guest list included numerous Nobel laureates. “The leading experts in quantum science met in a unique place for a unique workshop to discuss the past, present, and future of quantum technologies,” Deffner says of the workshop. For Deffner, it was an exciting and rare opportunity. The invitation recognizes his leadership role in… Continue Reading Sebastian Deffner attends selective quantum science conference in Vatican City
UMBC physicists Eileen Meyer and Adi Foord are on the leadership team for AXIS, a proposed x-ray satellite with the potential to revolutionize our understanding of the universe’s ancient past. Continue Reading Advanced X-ray Imaging Satellite science team hits major milestone
Adi Foord explains how wormholes, relativity, telescopes, and more play into the potential for time travel in this Curious Kids piece. Continue Reading Is time travel even possible? An astrophysicist explains the science behind the science fiction
“One of the reasons we’re excited about the variability is that there are two main models for how x-rays are produced in these jets, and they’re completely different,” Eileen Meyer explains. “And one of those models is completely incompatible with any kind of variability.” As such, the new findings appear to rule out one leading theory of how particle acceleration works in black hole jets. Continue Reading X-ray emissions from black hole jets vary unexpectedly, challenging leading model of particle acceleration
Kayla Tomas ‘23, information systems, maintained a challenging schedule during her undergraduate years. There were days she rose early, studied, and attended classes in the morning and afternoon, headed to volleyball practice in the late afternoon, paused a half hour for dinner, and then dashed off to lead a dance class in the evening. “It was the support of my friends, my family, and the mentors here at UMBC that made it easier,” she says. Continue Reading Class of 2023 reflects on UMBC as a community that values and supports the whole person
