If you saw a senior engineering student sitting on a bench on Academic Row, furiously typing away on his laptop, you might assume he was working on a lab report or a capstone presentation. If that student was Zack Smedley ’17, chemical engineering, though, you’d be wrong. While his peers were fretting about classes, finals, and post-graduation plans, Smedley spent the first half of his senior year working on the manuscript that eventually became his debut young adult novel, Deposing Nathan.

Garnering praise from the likes of Kirkus and the New York Times since its May 2019 publication, Deposing Nathan centers around Nathan and Cam, two high school-aged boys from very different backgrounds whose tumultuous relationship eventually results in a brutal fight, leaving Nathan stabbed in the stomach. As Nathan delivers a deposition about the events leading up to the fight, he unveils a year-long story of friendships, adventures, secrets, and tragedies, eventually revealing the unexpected truth of his injury.

Smedley has been surprised and moved by the effect his book has had on readers. “Every week, I get really, really long emails from a few readers saying it helped them,” he says. “I wasn’t expecting that kind of a response.”

The composition of Nathan’s deposition

The idea for his debut novel didn’t come to Smedley all at once; he describes it instead as an amalgam of several smaller ideas. He knew that he wanted to write a “courtroom drama that was a little less soap opera-ish,” which is how he got the idea to use a deposition as a framing device. He also knew that he wanted to write a book about LGBTQ+ teenagers. A bisexual man himself, Smedley felt that a lot of mainstream young adult LGBTQ+ literature was fluffy and unrealistic, and wanted to come up with a story that was more gritty and complex. From there, he began working to construct a story that incorporated each of these ideas. 

The process began with almost six months of outlining and conducting research—including taking both a biomedical engineering class and a medical terminology class at UMBC in order to better write the character of Cam, a self-taught genius of all things medicine. After completing the manuscript, he started sending query letters to literary agents over winter break. The daunting process was old hat to Smedley; he had queried agents before, once for one of the many novels he wrote in high school, and again for a project he completed during his freshman year at UMBC. However, Deposing Nathan was his first successful venture—he received an offer of representation from an agency just after graduation. 

You never know where inspiration will strike

UMBC was the perfect place for Smedley to launch his writing career; he credits the campus’s environment as a huge motivator for starting Deposing Nathan. In high school, he explains, writing was more of a hobby than something he wanted to seriously pursue. But that changed when he came to UMBC. “The atmosphere it established, I’m convinced, is what helped pull this book out of me,” he says. “I still think of it, a little bit, as my home.” 

Though Smedley didn’t study English or creative writing at UMBC, he did take one screenwriting class the summer before his junior year. That class ended up being a favorite of his—and it was a major source of inspiration during the book’s early stages. “[Deposing Nathan] actually started in my head as a screenplay,” Smedley explains, but he later decided to write the story as a novel instead.

The course’s professor, John Carillo, also played an important role in the novel’s early stages. “He took a look at my opening book pages and gave me feedback on them and encouragement,” Smedley says. “That was the summer I had started writing the book, so it definitely had an influence on me.”

Other than Carillo, Smedley also cites two of his chemical engineering professors, Taryn Bayles, who now works at the University of Pittsburgh, and Mariajose Castellanos, senior lecturer and undergraduate program director of chemical engineering, as great supporters of his creative work. “During my senior year, [Castellanos] knew I was writing a book, and she kept saying, ‘Hey Zack, some day, when it’s published, be sure to give me a signed copy,’” he recalls. Two years later, he received a Facebook message from her asking for that signed copy. Smedley replied, “I’ll do you one better. You’re in the acknowledgements.”

“My engineering students have such full schedules that when I learned that Zack was writing a book, it floored me!” Castellanos says, explaining that while many of her students have creative hobbies and interests, Zack was unique in his ability to balance his studies with his writing. “That, I don’t see very much, and I’ve been teaching here for 15 years.”

Post-publication plans

Since Deposing Nathan’s publication, it has received enthusiastic responses from readers and reviewers alike. The Kirkus Review gave it a coveted starred review, and it appeared on lists published by Book Riot and Publisher’s Weekly. It even received a glowing review in the New York Times’ list of “Y.A. Novels That Let Teenage Boys Be Vulnerable,” where it was called “a superb story, told in an original and masterly way.” 

But the most fulfilling feedback Smedley gets is from his fans themselves, many of whom are moved by the book’s depiction of a young Christian boy from a strict family struggling to understand his sexuality. “I got an email one day that was four paragraphs long that said, ‘This is the book I’ve been waiting for. This is like the missing piece in my life,’” he says. Since then, he’s received many similar emails from fans expressing their gratitude.

So, what does the future hold for this emerging author? Originally, he hadn’t planned to start another book right away, but after Deposing Nathan accrued so much positive attention, he and his agent agreed that he should put out another in order to avoid losing momentum. Now, he’s working diligently to complete the first draft of what will eventually become his sophomore novel, all while working full-time as a chemical engineer. His fans are sure to be waiting eagerly to see what he comes up with.

*****

Header image: Zack Smedley ’17 celebrates graduation with True Grit. All photos provided by Smedley. 

Decades after the start of the internship boom, internships continue to be invaluable for both undergraduate and graduate students. As UMBC students demonstrate, gaining real-world experience and networking within an area of interest can have a lasting impact when it comes time to search for a full-time position.

“Most employers use internships as a recruiting tool to find their future full-time employees,” says Christine Routzahn, director of the Career Center. “Nearly 60 percent of our recent graduates who were employed at graduation indicated that they accepted full-time offers with an organization that they interned or worked for while at UMBC.”

These students were able to use the skills and tools they acquired as interns to transition to full-time positions after their UMBC graduation. Many took advantage of the opportunities afforded by UMBC’s Career Center to secure their positions. According to Susan Plitt, associate director of the UMBC Career Center, “Nearly 800 employers visited the UMBC campus last year to connect with our students. Each semester, we coordinate career and internship fairs to aid in making these connections.”

This year’s Fall Career and Internship Fair on September 25 will host 160 organizations, many of whom are seeking summer 2020 interns, from first-year undergraduates to advanced graduate students.

Here, six recent UMBC alumni share how they used campus resources and connections to secure full-time positions and move forward in their career, with advice for today’s UMBC students.

#1 Don’t worry if it doesn’t go according to plan

Jordyn McKenzie ‘19 thought she was coming to UMBC with it all figured out. She’d earn a degree in biology, then pursue a career in the field. A graduate of North Hagerstown High School in Maryland, McKenzie focused on taking STEM courses at UMBC, but over time she found her passion shifting.

After switching to a major in media and communication studies at the end of her first year, McKenzie wasted no time in working towards her new career goals. She completed three internships by the start of her senior year, including one with a local news station in her hometown.

“That experience provided me the knowledge and courage I needed to continue pursuing television,” says McKenzie. Then, when it came time to establish connections for her post-graduation career, she says,“I did what most UMBC students do in times of career-related problems—I turned to the Career Center.”

After polishing her resume and getting advice from the Career Center, McKenzie attended UMBC’s Fall Internship and Career Fair in 2018 and sought out WBFF Fox45. This meeting led to an internship with BMORE Lifestyle, a lifestyle show that’s part of the WBFF corporation. As McKenzie geared up to graduate in spring 2019, a production assistant position opened at Fox45—perfect timing for her next move.

McKenzie’s current position requires a cool head, strong communication skills, and the ability to wake up before sunrise without hitting the snooze button. The morning news show she works on runs from 4:30 to 10 a.m. throughout the week. McKenzie is charged with keeping anchors aware of upcoming camera shots, running the teleprompter, and communicating with the control room.

The Career Center was an enormous help to McKenzie as she prepared to make the transition from intern to employee. “The support I was given throughout the entire process was incredible, and I am so lucky to have had such a smooth transition,” she says.

In addition to receiving professional guidance from the Career Center, McKenzie also served as their social media intern, where she connected closely with her mentor Caroline Bodnar, assistant director for career development in the UMBC Career Center.

“Mentor, to me, doesn’t necessarily mean someone you work alongside or shadow. I think it’s someone you go to in times of need,” reflects McKenzie. “Caroline is someone that I leaned on throughout my time at UMBC. She helped me navigate my way through career and intern ups and downs and provided meaningful advice.”

“I’ve spent some time reflecting on my experiences as a Retriever. When I’m asked, ‘If you could do it all again, would you?,’ my answer is ‘yes’ every time,” McKenzie shares. “UMBC truly became a home to me.”

#2 Distinguish yourself by getting involved

Mamadou Diallo ‘19, mechanical engineering, took advantage of numerous professional organizations while at UMBC to help prepare himself for his future career. He was an active member of the National Society of Black Engineers, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and was a Mechanical Engineering S-STEM Scholar. When he began connecting with employers, this high level of involvement helped distinguish him among other candidates.

“My advice to other students is to be involved in extracurricular activities. After being hired [for my internship], I spoke with one of the recruiters as to why I was selected out of the many applicants. She replied that my involvement outside of the classroom were what stood out the most,” says Diallo.

To find this dream internship, Diallo didn’t have to go any farther than the Retriever Activity Center (RAC). At the annual Career Fair, he met with representatives from Regal Beloit and followed up through UMBCworks to secure his internship, which later led to a full-time engineering position.

As an engineering design and applications intern for a manufacturer of electric motors, Diallo worked to best meet the needs of customers. This included making recommendations to ensure pricing was fair and accurate, and tools continued to meet industry standards.

Diallo was able to boost workflow efficiencies at the company. Thanks to his strong track record as an intern, he was hired as a full-time application engineer prior to graduating from UMBC this past spring.

“UMBC was invaluable in helping me to secure my internship and career,” says Diallo. “The Career Center helped me work on my resume and practice my interviewing skills, and reverse interviews allowed me to interview alumni and learn so many valuable lessons from them.”

#3 Pursue your passions

A long way from her hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico, Shannon Cole ‘18, biological sciences, works at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in Silver Spring, Maryland. As an Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) fellow for the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) Patient-Focused Drug Development (PFDD) program, she works to ensure that patients’ voices are heard throughout the processes of developing and evaluating medical products.

As a UMBC student, Cole had a strong interest in public health, which led to internships with the Red Cross, the Institute of Fluorescence, and the ORISE program at the FDA.

While she was working to advance her career with multiple internships, Cole was also greatly involved at UMBC. She was a Sondheim Public Affairs Scholar, a member of the Honors College, a Global Brigades participant, and a mentor with the Refugee Youth Project’s College JUMP program, among others activities.

Cole took advantage of UMBCworks and the Career Fair to make connections and find internship and job opportunities. She also sought help from her professors and mentors.

“Jodi Kelber-Kaye, associate director of the UMBC Honors College, put me in touch with a contact from the FDA before I even knew about the ORISE internship,” explains Cole.

This contact would later help Cole transition to her current position. Utilizing UMBC’s Career Center, she was able to confirm that her resume was polished and professional, and she was presenting the best version of herself in interviews.

“The people I was fortunate enough to interact with regularly gave me helpful advice and access to resources that ultimately allowed me to tie all of these experiences together,” says Cole.

#4 Take advantage of the Career Fair

When Erin Patrice ‘19 was deciding where to go to college, she chose to follow in her older brother’s footsteps. Well, more accurately, she decided to run in them.

Older brother Randolph graduated from UMBC in 2015 as a financial economics major and an accomplished sprinter. Patrice followed the same path with the same major and the same love of running. Patrice’s twin sister Kara also continued the family tradition, attending UMBC and pursuing biology while running.

Patrice feels her decision was an easy one, saying, “I chose UMBC because I wanted to attend a school that could create a strong base for me, academically and athletically, to build from.”

Just like Patrice knew what she wanted out of her college experience, she also knew what she was looking for in an internship. “When I started my internship search, I was looking for an experience that would allow me to collaborate with individuals my age, and provide me with an environment where I could constantly be tested,” she says.

After networking at the Career and Internship Fair and uploading her resume through UMBCworks, Patrice secured a summer internship in fixed income derivative confirmation operations with Morgan Stanley. After completing the internship, Patrice was offered a full-time position as a trading operations analyst upon graduation.

Patrice credits the lessons she learned from both athletics and academics for her career success. “The skills I acquired while learning to handle athletics and the rigorous course load made my transition into working full-time very smooth,” says Patrice. “I was able to prioritize my duties easily and allocate my time efficiently.”

#5 Continue your work outside the classroom

As a computer science major, Chris Mills ‘19 figured out how to stand out from the crowd when vying for a position with one of the biggest names in technology: Google.

“I think what set me apart from other students (especially ones applying from big name schools such as MIT) was the amount of programming outside of class I did,” he explains. “HackUMBC played a large part in my practical proficiency, allowing me to create a product from scratch, to utilize other people’s libraries, and to work with other teammates on a singular project.”

Mills attended on-campus career fairs and spoke with recruiters on-site to find an internship that best suited his interests. His goal was to work in a well-established business in the technology industry with a strong work/life balance and positive workplace culture. He was offered a position as a software engineer intern at Google for summer 2017 and returned the following summer to continue his work.

The coursework Mills completed while at UMBC benefited him greatly in his position at Google, he says. “In many of my required courses, the class lectures gave a good foundation of the theoretical knowledge, while the projects/homework showed practical applications that can and will be used in a software engineer’s career,” he explains.

Since Mills completed two Google internships, he was able to bypass the traditional interview process and start full-time at Google this past summer, immediately after graduation. Mills now works with the Google shopping team as a software engineer building solutions to reduce both latency and space of shopping data that is served to users.

#6 Build relationships with those around you

It was love at first sight when Priyanka Ranade ’18, M.S. ’19, information systems, joined the UMBC community.

“As soon as I stepped foot onto UMBC’s campus, I could see that it replicated the world I wished to see around me,” says Ranade. “The level of diversity, sense of community, as well as UMBC’s clear repertoire of grit and support showed me right away that this was the community I wanted to learn in.”

Ranade found an incredibly strong support system in her campus mentors: Anupam Joshi, chair and professor of computer science and electrical engineering; Karuna Joshi, information systems; and Cindy Greenwood, assistant director of the Cyber Scholars program. Ranade actually discovered her internship through an on-campus event through the Center for Women in Technology, a partnership with the Cyber Scholars Program.

“I knew I wanted to learn about cybersecurity issues beyond the undergraduate classroom level,” she says. She actively sought out opportunities through networking, which led to an internship at Northrop Grumman. “Northrop Grumman gave me a big picture idea of cyber and allowed me to spend time in different parts of the company, as well as hear the experiences and journeys of other employees,” Ranade explains.

To prepare for her interview, Ranade had her resume reviewed by UMBC’s Career Center and took advantage of mock interview opportunities to be fully prepared. After a successful summer as a cyber strategy intern, Ranade’s manager recommended her to the Pathways Program, one of three rotational programs at Northrop Grumman.

Ranade currently works in research and development doing machine learning work for military systems at Northrop Grumman. She credits the relationship-building skills she developed at UMBC for her success.

“Out of the many lessons UMBC has taught me, the most prominent one is the strong combination of sincerity in your work as well as fruitful relationships. Relationships are key in building your career,” says Ranade. “Sharpening your skills is one thing, but having mentors who see your potential and guide you to greater heights than you could imagine is key.”

Banner image: Shannon Cole at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC. All other photos supplied by alumni unless otherwise noted.

UMBC’s Sander Goossens designed and implemented code that’s helping NASA scientists better understand the evolution of planets, starting with Mercury.

He’s part of a research team applying sophisticated new computer programs to data collected by NASA’s MESSENGER mission, which orbited Mercury between 2011 and 2015. They’ve “put together a self-consistent model of the interior of Mercury,” including its inner core, outer core, mantle, and other layers, explains Goossens, associate research scientist at UMBC’s Center for Space Science and Technology.

The study initially sought to confirm scientists’ understanding of Mercury’s gravity and spin. Instruments on the MESSENGER satellite detected variations in the planet’s density as they passed over its surface, to better understand its gravity. By tracking MESSENGER’s location compared to the planet’s surface, the scientists were also able to precisely locate its poles, which determine the axis along which the planet rotates.

Instruments on Earth had suggested measurements for Mercury’s spin state—the combination of how long it takes the planet to rotate on its axis (how long each day is on the planet), and the orientation of that axis. The Earth-based measurements confirmed that the relationship between Mercury’s angles of rotation and orbit were very close to an equilibrium state, but couldn’t say for sure if the planet’s spin was exactly in equilbrium. So when Goossens and his team’s new analysis of the MESSENGER data showed that the planet is exactly in the equilibrium state, “We thought, ‘Wow, this is really good!'”, Goossens says. “To be able to confirm it really is in that state was pretty exciting.”

Taking it further

Confirming Mercury’s spin and gravity opened up an opportunity to take the study to the next level. Goossens says that the team decided to “interpret the data to see if there was anything we could say about the planet’s deep interior that people hadn’t been able to say before, because the measurements weren’t good enough.”

To do that, Goossens had to design new code to analyze the data in a fresh way and get at the underlying core structure of Mercury. The team was particularly curious to know how much molten metal was in the planet’s core, which contributes to its magnetic field and influences how it spins.

“We had to use information from different disciplines to do this, then put that all together into a computer program,” Goossens explains.

Before this study, scientists already knew that Mercury’s core occupied 85 percent of the planet’s total volume, and that the core was at least partly molten metal, as opposed to solid. The new analysis determined that the core was about 52 percent solid. Earth’s core is only about one-third solid.

Data makes the difference

Learning more about Mercury “gives you a clue about the evolution of the planet,” Goossens says. Much of the study of outer space is limited by the data we are able to collect on planets, other bodies, and events that happen extraordinarily far from Earth. So adding just one more set of observations can powerfully inform future work.

This project is also special to Goossens because of his connection to MESSENGER. He joined the NASA team in 2011, just as the MESSENGER mission was embarking on its journey to Mercury. “We have a long history of working with the MESSENGER data,” he says.

Goossens is now excited for future work that builds on previous research and takes advantage of the new findings and the new code. For example, the method has been applied to Mars before, and in fact some of the efforts of Goossens’ team were based on that work. Now, Goossens would love to see the method applied to new, more accurate Mars data coming in from the InSight lander, a mission currently on the surface of Mars.

“Getting clues to Mercury’s structure will help people modeling the evolution of planets,” Goossens says. “It will give them better constraints to test their models and see what kind of predictions they can now make.”

Banner image: An artist’s depiction of the MESSENGER spacecraft approaching Mercury. Credit: NASA.

Just days after U.S. News again recognized UMBC as one of the nation’s top universities for teaching and innovation, the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings have named UMBC a top global university.

In the new 2020 THE World University Rankings, UMBC is listed as among the top 800 universities worldwide, and #130 among U.S. universities on the global list. UMBC performs particularly well on an important measure of faculty research: citation impact. This reflects the visibility of UMBC faculty research on a global stage.

The Wall Street Journal / Times Higher Education College Rankings 2020 were also released earlier this month, with a focus on U.S. institutions. In this ranking, UMBC performs particularly well in student outcomes and learning environment. Outcomes include factors like graduate salary, university reputation, and debt after graduation, as well as graduation rate. Environment includes faculty and student diversity, international students, and student inclusion.

While recognizing that there is so much more to UMBC than rankings, President Freeman Hrabowski recently shared that UMBC’s standing reflects the university’s continued growth and the respect that colleagues at universities across the country and around the world have for UMBC.

Earlier this year, Times Higher Education spotlighted UMBC for advancements in graduating more low-income and minority students in the sciences, referring to this strength as “the holy grail of academia.” As President Hrabowski explained in the article, lessons learned in one area can inform others, and UMBC’s work to support underrepresented students in STEM has led to investments in supports for students of all backgrounds and in a broad array of majors across UMBC.

At UMBC, says Karl Steiner, vice president for research, “We take pride in our culture of inclusive excellence.”

UMBC was also again recognized by The Chronicle of Higher Education as a “Great College to Work For” this month. The University received special honors in two categories: (1) Confidence in Senior Leadership and (2) Respect and Appreciation.

As one employee shared with The Chronicle:

UMBC has now appeared on the Great Colleges to Work For list for ten years.

Featured image: Students on the stairs in front of the UMBC library. All photos by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

Information about UMBC’s “Great Colleges” ranking went live on Sept. 16, and was added after initial article publication.

For decades, UMBC’s Erle Ellis, professor of geography and environmental systems, has examined the history of humanity’s impact on the planet, but he’s had lingering questions about just how far back in time scientists can trace that impact. To answer these questions, he and a team of colleagues from all over the world created ArchaeoGLOBE, an international collaborative for archaeologists to document the history of human impacts on the environment. Their crowdsourced findings, dating back thousands of years, now appear in Science and the New York Times.

Archaeological perspective

The ArchaeoGLOBE crowdsourcing project brought together research from over 250 archaeologists from around the world. The experts shared their historical knowledge on how humans have used land across 146 regions, spanning all continents except Antarctica, through a questionnaire.

“Archaeologists have unrivaled tools for investigating human changes in environments over the long term,” explains Ellis. “The ArchaeoGLOBE project brought this expertise together at global scale.” 

The results represent the first global inventory of archaeological research about how humans have impacted the Earth through hunting and gathering, raising livestock, and cultivating crops for millennia. Findings suggest that foraging was common around the world 10,000 years ago, raising livestock began 8,000 years ago (originating in Southwest Asia), and by 6,000 years ago agriculture was practiced in some form across nearly half of the world, becoming common by 3,000 years ago.

 From this data the first global archaeological map of long-term changes in land use was created. “Human use of land created the transformed planet of the Anthropocene that we live in now, by driving species extinct, deforesting the planet, tilling Earth’s soils, and releasing carbon into the atmosphere, changing Earth’s climate,” explains Ellis.

Importantly, the research team found that these changes began earlier than other studies have reported. ArchaeoGLOBE brings clarity to this transformation by using archaeological expertise to map global land use, the underlying cause of these changes, past, present, and future.

Collaborative approach to research

Ellis and former UMBC post-doctoral fellow Lucas Stephens, current senior research analyst at the Environmental Law & Policy Center, led the process of analyzing data from the 250 archaeologists, with critical support from three undergraduate researchers. Alexa Thornton ‘18, environmental science and geography; Santiago Munevar Garcia ‘18, environmental science and geography; and Jeremy Powell ‘18, geography, made essential contributions to the work, focusing on geospatial analysis and mapping the data set.

Stephens recollects how challenging it was to collect a data set that would be a first approximation of the global history of land use. “Figuring out how to split the world up into analytical regions was a big challenge in and of itself. Clicking through an unsolicited email to participate in someone else’s project is a very generous act, so to receive over 700 contributions from over 250 archaeologists was fantastic,” remembers Stephens. 

He notes that the response from the scholarly community was, “surprising and uplifting,” and he hopes this example will spur more synthetic research in the future.

“Our hope is that this is only the first achievement of what will become a new, massively collaborative scientific approach to understanding the global environmental changes caused by humans over the long term,” shares Ellis.

The ArchaeoGLOBE project was conducted in collaboration with the Global Land Programme. The Programme is scientific community promoting the study of land systems and the co-design of solutions for global sustainability. ArchaeoGLOBE is also an extension of the NSF-funded GLOBE (Global Collaboration Engine) project. GLOBE is a platform for researchers to share, compare, and integrate local and regional studies with global data, and to measure the global relevance of their research.

Learn more

Ellis will be speaking about Understanding Human Transformation of Earth at The Center for Social Science Scholarship on Wednesday, September 25, 2019 at noon in the Information/Technology building room 229.

The complete findings on this research can be found in the Science article “Archaeological assessment reveals Earth’s early transformation through land use.” Additional insights comparing previous mapping projects can be found in “Humans Dominated Earth Earlier Than Previously Thought” (The New York Times). 

The Conversation published an article by Ellis and Stephens, as well as Ben Marwick of the University of Washington and Nicole Boivin of the Max Planck Institute, which reviews different points of view on the history of human impacts on the Earth. This piece has surpassed 120,000 views and has been republished by Popular Science, EcoWatch, ScienceAlert, EarthSky, and Live Science. (Click here for a complete list of media coverage.)

Banner image: Val de Navarrés, País Valenciano, Spain with permission from Michael Barton. All maps courtesy of Lucas Stephens.

UMBC’s Sherman Center for Early Learning in Urban Communities recently welcomed to campus early childhood educators from four Baltimore City public schools. They gathered for a Summer Teacher Institute focuses on improving literacy and outcomes for pre-K-2 students, particularly young English language learners. 

Participants represented four of UMBC’s partner elementary/middle schools: Lakeland, Maree G. Farring, Curtis Bay, and Bay-Brook. These schools have strong connections with UMBC, including providing placements for UMBC student teachers and welcoming volunteer tutors. The institute addresses topics identified by the teachers as essential focus areas, explored through a series of interactive, research-based workshops.

Our language toolbox 

Jennifer Mata-McMahon, associate professor of early childhood education, led the main two-day workshop. She shared with the teachers her research on translanguaging and early literacy strategies for diverse learners. Translanguaging, the use of a person’s unique linguistic repertoire shaped by their cultural and social context, can be a powerful instructional tool.

Mata-McMahon offered teachers a deep dive into how to use students’ formal, informal, home, school, and playground languages to access curriculum content. Her presentation responded to a crucial need teachers are experiencing: effective strategies to support the increasing number of English language learners in their schools.

Quiana Zamarron, a first grade teacher at Curtis Bay Elementary/Middle School, experienced the benefits of having additional resources to support English language learners last year. UMBC literacy volunteer, Maia Parker ’22, English, a Sherman STEM Teacher Scholar, worked with students in Zammarron’s class as part of the Sherman Center/Shriver Center Literacy Fellows Program.

 “Many of my students are English language learners. Maia, who was learning Spanish at UMBC, was not only able to work with small groups but also to provide support to my Spanish non-English speaking students,” explains Zamarron. “What she gave my class was something I wasn’t able to offer.” 

She notes that continuing to learn about literacy strategies for English language learners will make her more confident in her classroom, and help her meet the needs of her students.

Diverse books

The institute also focused on how teachers can use diverse books in the classroom as an effective translanguaging strategy. Each teacher received a copy of Derrick Barnes’ The King of Kindergarten and Crown:Ode to the Fresh Cut. Mavis Sanders, director of the Sherman Center, invited Barnes as the keynote speaker to share his path as an award-winning author of children’s literature and perspectives on the importance of culturally diverse books in early childhood classrooms.

Barnes described his core motivations for writing books that place the experiences of young black families front and center. “I set out to write the blackest children’s books I could write to show the diversity within black culture and simply because there are so few that show that strength,” he said. “Teachers need more books that reflect not only their students’ cultural and social experiences, but also their language.” 

Patricia Escafer has been teaching since 1997 and is currently teaching second grade at Lakeland Elementary/Middle School. She finds translanguaging training through the use of diverse books has been pivotal for her and her students. 

“This training is about representing the whole child. It gives me and the children hope because it shows how they can also be heroes and that they matter,” says Escarfuller. “Through diverse books students can reflect on their talents and know that those career choices are an option for them. Learning through diverse books is about respecting all of who a child is, socially and academically.”

Reading together

Kindel Nash, associate professor of early childhood education, and doctoral student Josh Michael ’10, political science and education, assistant director of UMBC’s Sherman STEM Teachers Scholars Program, also presented their Read Two Impress Plus research, funded by the Sherman Center.

Nash discusses this new research in the article, “Parents can help kids catch up in reading with a 10-minute daily routine,” published in The Conversation. “By activating the senses of hearing, seeing and touch, this approach makes recognizing familiar words easier and faster, increasing fluency,” explains Nash. “The strategy works best when it’s repeated regularly – ideally 10-15 minutes per day.” 

Nash points out that this approach is enhanced by involving family members. Further, she writes, “We also found that when families read books that reflected their culture and language, they enjoyed reading together more.”

Skill integration

Teachers walked away from the conversations on translanguaging, literacy, and diverse books with strategies to help their students access content knowledge at a higher level. Olivia Grimes ‘19, individualized study, also demonstrated how the educators could apply their new strategies to teaching specific topics in a science classroom. 

Grimes, a current first year early childhood teacher at Maree G. Farring Elementary/Middle School, presented each teacher with a copy of Integrated Learning: Science Through Diverse Books, a lesson guide she created. The guide is based on her research as a Sherman STEM Scholar and program assistant at the Sherman Center for Early Learning in Urban Communities. The center funded and provided support for the research, development, creation, and dissemination of the guide. It provides lesson plans and learning activities based on 13 books covering ecology, space, engineering and design, the senses, and weather from the Sherman Center’s Diverse Books Collection. 

This type of applied, research-based resource is the reason teachers value this professional development event and want to return for future trainings.

“Integrating science into our lessons, along with diverse texts, exposes students to science content beyond state-tested subjects. The books help reflect the diversity of the science field and allow students to see themselves as scientists, making science personal,” explains Grimes. “These strategies support and build on the skills students have and open worlds of unexplored possibilities.”

Banner image: Zamarron with colleague reviewing Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut. All images by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

By Richard Forno, assistant director, UMBC Center for Cybersecurity, director, Cybersecurity Graduate Program, UMBC

Almost two decades after thousands died in the attacks of 9/11, there remain many active efforts underway to protect America from international terrorism.

Since 9/11, American domestic and international security policy has been focused on individual terrorists, terrorist groups and rogue countries as the primary threats. The country’s defensive response has been focused on the military and law enforcement capabilities. That’s natural, because the military knows how to shoot, drop and launch things at threats like that. And those dangers still exist.

However, as someone who routinely analyzes threats, vulnerabilities and risks, I see the U.S. again falling prey to a decades-old problem, which the 9/11 Commission termed a “failure of imagination.” That’s when leaders miss important, relevant connections or alternatives to what they’re focused on.

Specifically, there are other, equally, if not more, dangerous risks to American national sovereignty and security, not to mention citizens’ peace of mind that they are able to live and work in a safe and secure society. The economy, climate, transportation and public utilities are all vulnerable to nonmilitary threats. Unfortunately, those weaknesses tend to receive little attention from elected officials – much less any meaningful efforts to solve them. I believe this is because dealing with such concerns isn’t immediately evident, easily profitable, politically expedient or exciting to show on TV.

Borrowing weakness

I see America’s growing indebtedness as a huge economic vulnerability.

The United States government is US$22 trillion in debt, its highest level ever, and $2 trillion more than in 2017. The national debt is expected to rise to just below the amount the entire nation’s economy produces in a single year by 2029.

If an external adversary intentionally caused or worsened U.S. economic problems, the effects in the U.S. and on the global economy could present extremely significant risks to American security, domestic stability and peace of mind.

Many countries invest some of their national treasuries in U.S. debt, such as Treasury bonds or government-backed mortgage securities, because they are viewed as low-risk. However, a country holding large amounts of American national debt might decide to suddenly sell some or all of its bonds, as Russia threatened to do in 2008. Certainly, nations like Japan hold significant amounts of debt, but presumably these countries are not likely to sell it for political leverage. By contrast, Russia or China, who also hold large quantities, may be more inclined to do so, especially during a prolonged trade war.

A bulk sale of American debt would roil U.S. and global financial markets, slow economy grown by raising the costs of borrowing and rattle global investors’ confidence in the stable value of the U.S. dollar.

Admittedly, if China or Russia sold significant amounts of their American debt, it would hurt them too. For example, the U.S. dollar likely would weaken, making multinational companies more competitive, and American bond prices would fall, reducing the value of those countries’ remaining holdings.

To put this in perspective, the 2008 financial crisis gave Americans a taste of economic unrest, with job losses, evictions, billions lost in retirement accounts and citizens of all ages forced to reassess their personal financial, career, family or life plans.

Climate threats

In recent years, hurricanes, blizzards, summer storms and flooding have all gotten worse both in the U.S. and around the world. The changing climate is affecting cities and nations, as well as entire industries and supply chains, like food production, transportation and the energy sector.

As climate effects worsen, both in the United States and around the world, flooding and storm damage may drive some people from their homes. Many others may suffer from poor air quality, higher commodity prices, grocery prices or even outright food shortages. Moreover, the consequences of climate incidents, such as flooding, can threaten public health with poor sanitation, diseases and epidemics, and disrupt global supply chains.

Climate change also affects the U.S. armed forces. Drought, heat, flooding and wildfires are all increasing global worries for the Pentagon. A 2019 Pentagon report found that climate change is affecting military operations, including threatening two-thirds of the 79 critical military bases the report’s authors surveyed.

Beyond creating problems for U.S. military operations, parts of coastal Florida are looking at multi-billion-dollar costs just to build sea walls to protect against rising ocean levels. The city of Honolulu is planning to reduce development near its coastline, in an organized retreat from rising seas. And it’s not just the United States that’s affected by climate change, either.

Deteriorating roads, bridges and buildings

According to a 2017 report from the American Society of Civil Engineers, America’s roads, bridges, railways, levees, air traffic control systems, schools, and power and water distribution networks are in significant disrepair, and have been for years.

None of this damage has been caused by an outside enemy, but rather by neglect on the home front.

It could cost trillions of dollars to fix everything that needs fixing – but money to fix these problems always is in short supply and often diverted to other priorities. Politicians can’t even agree to commit the dollars needed to fix roads and bridges – which means the repairs won’t come anytime soon, and the risks to everyday life and business will worsen.

Looking more broadly at all threats

The United States remains vulnerable not only to foreign terrorist attacks and mass shootings by domestic terrorists, but to many other problems that people may not think of as seriously as they do terrorism. Unfortunately, the “military-industrial complex” that former President Dwight Eisenhower warned about in 1961 continues to dominate U.S. security thinking.

If the United States is to remain a leading world power into the future, it must continue to be economically productive and competitive on the world stage in ways beyond military firepower. Its planning to meet the contingencies described above must embrace a wider perspective that provides citizens and companies alike peace of mind – namely, assuring them a safe, secure and stable future society.

At some crisis point, Americans will be forced to confront the effects of these other vulnerabilities within their lives, families, communities and companies. The solutions to these problems won’t come from more aircraft carriers, fighter jets, airport body scanners and upgraded nuclear weapons. Rather, they will come from objective research, evidence-based planning and investment in long-term projects at home to address these critical problems and ultimately provide lasting security in return.

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Header image: Ominous clouds gathering. Photo by Andree Brennan from Pexels.

Richard Forno, Senior Lecturer, Cybersecurity & Internet Researcher, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

As we get older, our body systems just don’t work quite like they used to. Why this happens is still somewhat murky. Erin Green, assistant professor of biological sciences, has just received a two-year, $500,000 exploratory grant from the National Institute on Aging to help unravel one piece of the aging puzzle.

Green and her team study how adding a small group of atoms called a methyl group—three hydrogen atoms bound to a carbon atom—to certain proteins affects how the cell functions. The new grant will allow her to focus on a specific protein, an enzyme called Set6, that adds methyl groups to other proteins. Based on preliminary data, Green believes Set6 adds methyl groups to proteins involved in the body’s ability to do “quality control” when it produces proteins. 

When a protein is made, it starts as a string of building blocks called amino acids. Then, with the help of a set of enzymes, the protein folds into a three-dimensional shape that allows it to do its job. Usually, the folding process goes off without a hitch. And if there is a problem, usually a misfolded protein is quickly destroyed by the cell. But as we age, proteins are misfolded more often, at the same time that the mechanisms for protein destruction start to fail. That means more problem proteins build up in the cell. In severe cases, this can lead to diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

A lot to learn

Green’s team conducts its research in budding yeast. Yeast is a valuable study organism because it’s one of the simplest eukaryotes, a type of organism whose cells have the same fundamental characteristics as human cells. They’re easy to work with, and they still have enough in common with humans to provide useful information.

“Genetic and biochemical manipulation in yeast is all very easy and available,” Green says. “We can combine information from many different tests to get a much more comprehensive look at the molecular role of these proteins in a faster, easier, cheaper way.” Some of those tests will be conducted by Green’s collaborators at Stanford University in California and the Van Andel Institute in Michigan.

Set6, the methyl group-adding enzyme that’s the focus of the new grant, is in a group of enzymes called the SMYD family. There are two SMYD proteins in yeast and five in humans. One of the yeast proteins has been studied extensively by Green’s group and others, but little is known about Set6.

Deepika Jaiswal, a postdoc in Green’s lab, has been studying Set6 since 2016. “I started working on Set6 when there was no strong information about what it does in the cell,” she says. It is her work that has started to reveal the role of Set6. “It has been a long journey, but it’s satisfying to see it going in the right direction.”

“Because Set6 is so closely linked to the same family of enzymes in humans, we thought we could take advantage of the fact that there’s still a lot to learn,” Green adds, “and hopefully break open a broader understanding in the field of what its role is, especially in the context of protein quality control.” 

Uncharted territory

Green will employ several techniques to gain a better understanding of the role Set6 plays in protein quality control. She wants to find out exactly which other proteins it adds methyl groups to, and also learn more about when in the protein production process Set6 is adding the methyl groups. Initial data suggest that it’s very early in the protein production and folding process. 

Since much of what she’ll be exploring is uncharted territory with Set6, Green expects occasional setbacks. However, she’s optimistic that the endeavor will provide valuable insights into the role of Set6. The results could eventually have implications for pharmaceutical development, particularly for the SMYD family of enzymes. Today, companies are exploring possible targets for therapies without fully understanding their functions. Knowing more about proteins like Set6 could point them toward new targets, or help them avoid heading down dead ends.

“It may not work exactly how we think, but I think at the end we’ll learn something about this particular enzyme family,” Green says, “and uncover more of its biological role in the protein quality control pathway.”

Banner image: Erin Green in the lab. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

U.S. News & World Report rankings announced today affirm that UMBC’s strength in teaching and innovation go hand in hand. UMBC is once again a leader on two closely-watched lists, ranked the #9 most innovative university and #12 top university for undergraduate teaching in the nation. 

“We are encouraged by our success in these rankings,” says UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski. “Our standing reflects the respect that colleagues at universities across the country have for the quality of teaching and innovation at UMBC.”

The university appears on these innovation and teaching lists alongside universities like MIT, Stanford, Carnegie Mellon, Princeton, and Dartmouth. UMBC is the only university in Maryland to appear in the top 20 on either list.

“UMBC’s continued recognition affirms our unwavering commitment to delivering a top-notch education,” says Yvette Mozie-Ross ’88, health science and policy, vice provost of enrollment management and planning.

The UMBC experience

U.S. News also recognized UMBC as the #79 top public university in the nation and one of the country’s Best Value colleges, as well as a top university for ethnic diversity and for veterans. Still, numbers don’t tell the whole story.

“UMBC is unique in that we are pushed to have agency over our own journey throughout our time here,” says Vrinda Deshpande ‘20, biological sciences, president of UMBC’s Student Government Association. 

“I’ve experienced this firsthand in so many aspects of campus,” Deshpande explains. “On the social side, it’s student organizations planning every detail of their events that create our exciting campus life. On the academic side, it’s professors that emphasize the use of peer-led review sessions and group discussions. We, as undergraduates, have the power and autonomy to build the campus around ourselves.”

Katharine H. Cole, vice provost and dean of Undergraduate Academic Affairs, echoes this feeling. “We are delighted that UMBC was recognized for our extraordinary undergraduate educational experience,” she says. “This external recognition reflects our inclusive learning environment, which provides students with broad perspectives and innovative experiences that empower them to shape the future.”

Top engineering programs

In addition to the overall rankings, this year’s publication highlights the nation’s top engineering programs. UMBC appears on the list at #93, tied with the University of Alabama, Tulane, Villanova, and Texas Tech. 

Keith J Bowman, dean of the College of Engineering and Information Technology (COEIT), shares that faculty, staff, and students have been hard at work, making the most of new opportunities brought by the College’s growth. “We have hired twenty-one full-time faculty across the past two years that will help us continue to produce outstanding engineering and computing graduates who help fulfill the workforce and research demands of our region.”

COEIT also continues to grow its connections with UMBC’s College of Natural and Mathematical Science and College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. Faculty in all three colleges are collaborating on creative and impactful research in UMBC’s brand new Interdisciplinary Life Sciences Building. The facility offers innovative features that set it apart as a space for learning and discovery.

https://www.facebook.com/umbcpage/videos/540465086725943/

Tradition of impact and achievement

For Karl Steiner, vice president for research, the latest U.S. News rankings recognize UMBC’s long tradition of innovation and research with impact.

“At UMBC we take pride in our culture of inclusive excellence,” says Steiner. “Here, undergraduate and graduate students, representing the diversity of the communities we serve, work closely together to address some of today’s most pressing societal and technological issues while creating new economic opportunities in the state. Our research motto ‘Innovation that Matters’ provides exciting opportunities for our students to succeed.”

Beyond U.S. News, the Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education college rankings also recently recognized UMBC as one of the top 300 universities in the nation. This came just a few months after Times Higher Education’s new impact ranking named UMBC #3 in the nation for achieving social and economic impact.

“It is not surprising that UMBC is ranked so highly as it is this type of societal and economic impact that is at the very core of UMBC’s mission and values,” said Vice Provost Cole, when the news was announced. “This is a place where people are committed to taking on global challenges to make the world a better place.”

Internationally, UMBC was recently ranked in the top 3.3% of universities worldwide by the Center for World University Rankings. Earlier in the summer, Q3 World University Rankings 2020 named UMBC one of the top universities in the world for faculty research. 

See UMBC’s full profile on the U.S. News website. See additional rankings on UMBC News.

Featured image: Orientation Peer Advisors celebrate the start of a new school year. All photos by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC. 

Video produced by Corey Jennings ’10 for UMBC.

In their work with communities in Baltimore, the Latino Racial Justice Circle (LRJC) observed a recurring issue: immigrant, white American, and African American communities share faith-based spaces but rarely engage in community dialogue. As a result, members of these communities may never get to know each other – or may even live in fear of each other. 

Through a partnership with LRJC, UMBC’s Felipe Filomeno, professor of political science and global studies, a member of LRJC, and Tania Lizarazo, assistant professor of modern languages, linguistics, and intercultural communication and global studies, worked to develop, design, execute, evaluate, and disseminate the Honest Conversations on Immigration project. Through a course of dialogue, interviews, and digital storytelling, the program aims to foster dialogue between U.S.-born citizens and immigrants.

“Our goal as researchers was to use dialogue and digital stories as two ways to bring different communities together around religion, race, and immigration,” explains Filomeno, “and through that process create the potential to change the relationships within individuals, and between communities and society for the better.”

Community intersections

The Latino Racial Justice Circle (LJRC) is a volunteer, faith-based, immigrant support group based in Baltimore. It funds legal services, scholarships, and advocacy for federal immigration reform on behalf of Latino communities. This new project – similar to one addressing racism that has been implemented in more than 18 Catholic parishes in Baltimore – aims to bring faith-based groups from different backgrounds together to reveal their commonalities and build on shared strengths.

“We fear what we don’t know. And what we need to learn is vast,” shares Ryan Settler, president of the Maryland Chapter of Call To Action (CTA), a progressive social justice organization that created the Racial Justice Circle (RJC ) five years ago. “Immigrant and refugee stories in the media leave us confused, concerned, and even fearful.  Honest Conversations begins to address those concerns.”

Through the Honest Conversations projects, volunteers from the LRJC, immigrants, and U.S.-born citizens in faith communities agree to engage in dialogue about perceptions of immigration and race. These initial steps towards understanding highly politicized issues can lead to collective action for racial justice and immigrant rights. 

“Our project crosses boundaries between the humanities and the social sciences, academia and community, between immigrants and U.S.-born citizens, inner-city and suburbs,” explains Filomeno.

https://youtu.be/YFAKEE-X3EQ

Defining dialogue

The goal of the Maryland Humanities-funded project is for communities to move from confusion and anger to collaboration. For that to happen, participants first took part in two group dialogues consisting of 12-14 members from three faith-based communities. The dialogues were followed by the collection and sharing of personal experiences of religion, race, and immigration in Baltimore through digital storytelling. Both processes centered around the power of community dialogue to create respectful places in which difficult conversations might be had.

“Dialogue is a process of listening to others with the purpose of understanding. It does not aim to pass judgment, ‘just talk,’ mediate, debate, or negotiate,” explains Filomeno. He led the scientific implementation of structured dialogue and provided a framework for active listening. He also served as the facilitator at four churches in and around Baltimore: St. Ann’s Catholic Church; St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church; Church of the Annunciation; and St. Clement Mary Hofbauer Church.

“Because the dialogues happened in a familiar shared faith space the participants began with prayer, which was an entry point into a shared experience,” explains Filomeno. “I was then able to support where the participants wanted to take the conversation and guide them through clarifications,” he reflects.

Giuliana Valencia, co-chair for the LRJC, found the structured talks powerful and hopes other faith-based organizations will begin the program in their communities. “We recognize dialogue is the best way to change the human heart,” Valencia shares. “No matter how controversial the topic, you can always find common ground.”

Dialogue through digital storytelling

Digital storytelling is another key aspect of community-engaged research because it shifts the focus from the researcher creating information towards information being created by the community.

“Collaborative audiovisual pieces can share personal perspectives. These not only complement academic writing but help disrupt mainstream narratives as the only sources of knowledge,” explains Lizarazo. They can also create new ways for academics to think about primary sources. “Digital stories can serve as primary sources in different fields because they engage audiences and give access in ways writing doesn’t.” 

This type of community-based digital storytelling also addresses the issue of access. Lizarazo explains how academic journals, while useful in academic circles, also limit who shares in the knowledge. The power of digital storytelling is in its accessibility – often opening spaces for nonacademic conversations through social media networks. “These stories where the narrative and the message is controlled by the community member can be used for pedagogical and research purposes,” notes Lizarazo. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PNZi3PyZyE

The digital stories Lizarazo helped create for Honest Conversations on Immigration present personal experiences of faith, race, and immigration in Baltimore. Some delve into the first reactions of relocation to Baltimore. Others focus on employment experiences as well as how faith-based organizations supported their transition into Baltimore.

The research also shows lived experience is linked to scholarship and the context in which it’s produced, explains Lizarazo, who brings a personal component to her work. “As a Colombian immigrant, I understand first-hand global hierarchies of passports that affects mobility. I also know how stereotypes affect people’s daily life and recognize the privilege a tourist, student, and work visa brings.” 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5AzE_wQszA&authuser=1

Romi Pal ‘20, assisted Lizarazo in recording, transcribing, and producing the video testimonials along with a multimedia story for the overall project. Pal appreciated the opportunity to see the theories about race and immigration, learned through her global studies and political science majors, play out first-hand in a unique and relevant project.

Similar to Lizarazo, Pal was drawn to the project because of her immigrant background. “The dialogue emphasized how immigrant communities are not a monolith,” notes Pal. “As the daughter of immigrants myself, it made me feel thankful for the sacrifices my parents made when they came to the U.S. Baltimore still has a long way to improve race relations within religious communities.” 

Lessons from Baltimore communities help others 

After the talks, Filomeno and Lizarazo presented the research results to the general public at the Enoch Pratt Southeast Anchor Library in Highlandtown. The data revealed that private structured group dialogues had great advantages.

With the support of faith leaders and in collaboration with familiar community organizations, Honest Conversations on Immigration helped facilitate critical dialogue about controversial topics in a respectful manner. Participants also developed empathy toward each other and organized a multi-parish potluck as an initial step to collaborate across differences.

This initial project serves as a foundation for organizations across the United States who are working with similar issues and need support. Filomeno has created a digital guide for communities outside of Baltimore to implement their own Honest Conversations on Immigration project.

“As xenophobic discourses become mainstream,” notes Lizarazo, “I’m committed to learning and collaborating with members of immigrant communities. I want to help produce knowledge and show the nuances of our experiences.”

Learn more about Honest Conversations on September 10, 4 – 5:30 p.m., in the Theatre Rehearsal Space of the Performance Arts and Humanities Building (PAHB 127) at UMBC.

Banner image: (L-R) Pal getting ready to record and Lizarazo storyboarding with participant.  All images and digital stories courtesy of the Honest Conversations project.