By Tom Moore

Close your eyes and picture, if you will, something scientific. Perhaps your mind conjures up an image of space exploration, or a melting glacier affected by climate change, or the eyes of a mosquito enlarged by an electron microscope. Whatever you imagined, it was almost certainly influenced by the field of photography, which since its invention in the early 1800s has cast its eye on the world around us, allowing us to see, share, and interpret our surroundings in new ways.

The intersection of photography and science has long intrigued UMBC visiting senior research scholar Marvin Heiferman. “I’ve been fascinated by science photography for years—pictures of microbes too small to be detected by the human eye, of stars or galaxies too distant to be directly experienced, and of processes that unfold too quickly or slowly to be easily perceived,” he says.

In 2016, Heiferman organized a multi-year project, Seeing Science, funded by the Office of Research and the Center for Art, Design, and Visual Culture. He engaged faculty, students, and alumni from across the disciplines (joined by other eminent scholars around the country) to explore how we see science via a series of public and online events, film screenings, an exhibition, and a website designed to spark interdisciplinary dialogue.

Now, Heiferman’s work has culminated in the publication of a book, Seeing Science: How Photography Reveals the Universe, released this spring as a partnership between UMBC and Aperture, a non-profit foundation and publisher dedicated to the advancement of photography. Replete with images from the dawn of photography through the present day, the handsome volume features dozens of essays—on subjects ranging from facial recognition to the discovery of x-rays to science fiction and more—and, of course, hundreds of photographs.

Retired astronaut Scott Kelly, who attended UMBC in the 1980s, provided the book’s foreword, in which he describes his year on the International Space Station, taking photographs of the cosmos, of Earth’s geography, of snowstorms, and of cities illuminated at night.

Two UMBC faculty contributed essays to Seeing Science: Mark Alice Durant, professor of visual arts, writes about “The Wonder of Evidence,” tracing a dance between knowledge and wonder, documentation and astonishment, and fact and fiction; and Joseph Tatarewicz, associate professor of history and director of the human context of science and technology program, penned “Science Fiction and Moving Images,” examining film from the time of Georges Méliès’ famous Le voyage dans la lune (A Trip to the Moon, 1902) to Walt Disney’s Man in Space (1955).

Rebecca Adelman, associate professor of media and communication studies, participated in several online discussions, and her perspectives on images are found throughout the book. Heiferman also explores the photography of Lynn Cazabon, professor of visual arts, and Melissa Penley Cormier, M.F.A. ’17, visual arts, program specialist in visual arts.

“Specialized images have become so ingrained in our everyday lives that we forget how profoundly they’re helping us understand the world around us,” shares Heiferman. “An MRI on an injured knee, a sonogram displayed on a refrigerator door, the facial recognition technology that lets you unlock your smartphone: they’re all are routine examples of the ways we use science photography as an everyday tool.”

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Header image: Studio process of Fret & Focus project, a year of documenting worries using microscopic slides, 2016. Art by Melissa Penley Cormier.

On UMBC’s second annual Giving Day last week, campus and social media buzzed with creative call-outs and challenges for 1,000 donors to participate in the 24-hour window. Mama’s Boys, True Grit, and other student-led entertainment drew a crowd to Main Street where the festivities celebrated the ongoing gifts rolling in, while different departments and athletic teams took to Twitter to playfully compete with each other, using car karaoke and other incentives to spur on supporters.

In typical UMBC fashion, students, staff, and alumni rallied to go well beyond the goal and by midnight, 1,554 donors had raised $106,906 to support an array of campus programs and scholarships.

So what did this Black and Gold Rush of philanthropy look like on campus and beyond?

Grateful Dawgs

The day underscored UMBC’s culture of gratitude and generosity. By 9 a.m. the University reached 25% of the donor goal, and while most of the giving was online, the IRL experience was just gearing up. Main Street in The Commons came to life as employees and student volunteers set up for a massive thank you card writing effort awash in black and gold. Students also participated in philanthropy trivia, earning prizes and snacks.

Soon hundreds of grateful notes filled the space. “I can achieve because you gave. I will achieve because you supplied opportunities,” wrote student Sam, ’21.

Chalese Cathran ’20, psychology and education, took part in the events and paused to consider the impact of donations as she wrote a thank you note to donors. “I learned that 54% of new freshmen receive scholarships. I’m one of those students. I didn’t realize how many of us there were.”

The Alumni Endowed Scholarship Fund and the Scholars Programs were two of the top three recipients of donations, underscoring UMBC’s emphasis on providing resources for students to break through financial barriers. The Women’s Center was another program rewarded by their ongoing social media outreach, earning support from 78 individual donors.

Rising to the Challenge

“At one point, it felt like there was a gift coming it at every second,” said Joanne Meredith, director of annual giving, who credits the success of the day to involvement at every level. New to 2019 was the Quest, a game created to engage current students in the day’s activities. “This is going to be our next generation,” said Meredith. “Some of them now may be receiving scholarships or financial aid and this helps them understand why we do this Giving Day.”

The campus-wide game gave students clues to locations that featured a life-sized cut-out of mascot True Grit. After finding the correct spot and posing with philanthropy-related factoids, students from 26 different teams walked away with a better idea of the effect giving has on their student experiences.

One group of four was organized by Marygrace Reyes ’20, environmental science, who roped her friends into participating. “This gets me out there, having fun and being involved. And a free t-shirt,” said Nick Le ’21, information systems, joking that Reyes also rescued him from doing homework.

Navigating the Quest clues landed them at Lecture Hall 1, the entrance to The Commons, the Resource Learning Center, and the Residential Life office.

“This sounds really cliché, but I might actually go donate something,” said Lauren Chua ’21, mathematics and statistics, reflecting on what she learned during the Quest. “It doesn’t take that much time or money to help.”

In the 25 minutes it took Reyes and her friends to accomplish their task, the donor tally grew from 449 to 539, meaning the marathon surpassed half its goal right as the time hit the halfway mark at noon.

Raising the Bar

By 2:30 p.m., 75% of the goal had been reached but the day was far from over. The UMBC Swimming and Diving Team led the charge on social media and their supporters made a huge splash, earning the team the highest spot of the list of University ambassadors – as well as donors and dollars raised – for Giving Day.

While the whole UMBC community benefits from the philanthropic endeavor, an ongoing leaderboard tracked the top offices designated by donors to receive funds. Athletics encouraged donations with lively social media feeds that included car karaoke and other entertaining livestreams.

Other standout feeds worth following included the UMBC Bookstore, who highlighted staff and students in an impressive roundup of UMBC impact stories over the course of the day. The College of Engineering and Information Technology also stepped up to the plate, with Dean Keith J Bowman leading the charge, shamelessly using his pup Odo to elevate his college to fourth place in donors and donations.

As the clocked ticked down to midnight, support continued to pour in beyond the original goal. “UMBC is such a great community so this doesn’t surprise me, but when you raise the bar, they always jump to reach it,” said Meredith. “There is this grit here that leads to greatness.”

Unless from social media, all photos courtesy of Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC Magazine.