UMBC launches holistic student support initiative following White House STEM education workshop on campus.

Faculty researchers, administrators, and staff across UMBC cheered when the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced by teleconference on October 22, 2014, a groundbreaking series of awards for the university. NIH has granted UMBC over $18 million to create a national model of comprehensive support to expand and increase the success of students seeking degrees in the sciences, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

This funding is part of a $240 million, five-year NIH investment to enhance diversity in the biomedical research workforce. Ten projects across the United States were awarded Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity (BUILD) grants, including the STEM BUILD@UMBC initiative. This initiative includes collaborations with five community colleges, Gallaudet University, and the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

The STEM BUILD@UMBC initiative combines innovation with leveraging effective components of existing UMBC programs to create a multifaceted new student support model. It builds on the best that UMBC has to offer, from the supportive peer networks of our living-learning communities to the experiential learning of the Shriver Center and internship opportunities of the Career Center. The initiative pulls in the rigorous undergraduate research preparation that is a hallmark of the MARC U*STAR program, McNair Scholars Program, and our partnership with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. It expands the community college partnerships of the Gates STEM Transfer Student Success Initiative and the proactive mentorship of the Meyerhoff Scholars Program, and much more.

Bill LaCourse, dean of the College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, and UMBC Provost Philip Rous, together serve as the award’s principal investigators and will direct the STEM BUILD@UMBC initiative.

“At UMBC, we believe large numbers of students from all backgrounds have the potential to excel in the sciences,” shares Bill LaCourse. “Through a university culture that values both innovation and assessment, we’re constantly developing more effective ways to support learning and degree completion, building on the diverse strengths our students bring to the table.”

Philip Rous shares, “This award recognizes the commitment of our faculty and staff and their demonstrated record of achievement in supporting the success of all students. It recognizes our ability to develop transformational initiatives that have a profound impact on the lives of our students and also serve as national models of student support.”

Unlike programs that focus on supporting students at extreme ends of the achievement curve, STEM BUILD@UMBC will focus on high-potential students who are at risk for not completing their STEM degrees but who, with extra support, are likely to succeed.

After a planning period, the program will launch with 20 BUILD Trainees from UMBC and 18 BUILD Affiliates from collaborating institutions and grow to provide direct support to a total of 80 trainees and 72 affiliates. Hundreds of additional undergraduates will benefit indirectly from BUILD initiatives that expand UMBC’s STEM success infrastructure, including new active learning courses, student professional development workshops, faculty training opportunities, a STEM milestone certificate, and group research experiences. The program will seek to establish a model that can be implemented on a national scale.

A White House College Opportunity Initiative workshop held September 16, 2014, at UMBC revealed a real hunger for well-evaluated approaches to improving STEM education nationwide, as many other universities struggle with lagging retention rates and achievement gaps, particularly in STEM. Building on momentum from President Obama’s College Opportunity Summit, the workshop engaged education leaders in discussing ways to improve STEM teaching and learning, to make STEM degrees more accessible to underrepresented students, and to increase degree completion and the production of highly skilled professionals in STEM areas.

STEM BUILD@UMBC directly responds to the concerns of top education leaders and the workforce needs identified by the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. The initiative represents an exciting step forward in developing an effective model to boost the success of more students in STEM and in all fields, at UMBC and nationwide.

(10/22/2014)

The research projects of 119 undergraduate and high school students was featured at the 17^th Annual Summer Undergraduate Research Fest (SURF), which was held on August 6, 2014 at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). The student-focused conference, which was hosted by the College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences (CNMS), featured a plenary session, two poster sessions, and a closing ceremony. Forty-three faculty mentors from UMBC and neighboring institutions supported the student investigations.

After the welcome by CNMS Dean William R. LaCourse, an interdisciplinary plenary session featured oral presentations on five projects by seven students. Two poster sessions followed the plenary session with each session featuring 56 posters presented and co-presented by student researchers. A traditional closing ceremony recognized the student researchers, their mentors, and their projects. A comprehensive list of the SURF oral and poster presenters, their faculty mentors, and their research project titles, is available on the SURF website.

The annual SURF serves as a culminating event for many undergraduate research programs at UMBC and provides a professional setting for students to present their research; some for the first time. A new offering this year was a SURF Workshop that was sponsored by STEM@UMBC to introduce the event and its requirements to future student researchers. More than 150 persons, including faculty, staff, lab group members and other guests, attended the event, which was made possible by the support of UMBC, CNMS and numerous sponsoring agencies and institutions, including:

• CSST/CRESST - Center for Space Science and Technology / Center for Research and Exploration in Space Science & Technology
• DREU – Distributed Research Experiences for Undergraduates
• HHMI Scholars Program–Howard Hughes Medical Institute
• HPC REU – Interdisciplinary Program in High Performance Computing – A National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates Site

• JCET– Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology
• MARC U*STAR (Maximizing Access to Research Careers) U*STAR (Undergraduate Student Training in Academic Research) Program – NIH/National Institute of General Medical Sciences
• The Summer Biomedical Research Training Program–The Leadership Alliance, CNMS and the UMBC Graduate School
• UBM –Interdisciplinary Training for Undergraduates in Biological and Mathematical Sciences – National Science Foundation
• UMBC – University of Maryland, Baltimore County

The College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences is pleased to announce the appointment of Jacinta D. Kelly as Assistant Dean of Financial Management effective July 28, 2014. Kelly comes from the National Labor College (Silver Spring, MD), where she served as the Director of Finance. Previously, she held the positions of Senior Budget Analyst at The George Washington University and Associate Fiscal Officer at the National Academy of Sciences.

In addition to her financial management expertise and experience, Kelly has a Master of Public Administration (Southeastern University), Master of Forensic Sciences (The George Washington University), and a Bachelor of Arts, Biology (Hood College).

As an Assistant Dean in the College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, Kelly will support the Dean in the financial management of the college, its departments, and affiliated units. Also, she will direct and oversee the formation and implementation of CNMS Business Central.

Congratulations to Isaac Kinde and Michael Adelstein.

Rising Star
Isaac Kinde ’05, Biological Sciences
M.D./Ph.D. Candidate, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Natural and Mathematical Sciences
Michael Adelstein ’96, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
CEO, Potomac Photonics, Inc.

Outstanding Alumnus
Natural & Mathematical Sciences

Outstanding Alumnus
Natural & Mathematical Sciences

Dr. Kimani A. Stancil ’94, physics and mathematics
Howard University, Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Specialty Area – Soft Condensed Matter Physics

Outstanding Alumnus
Natural & Mathematical Sciences
Ronita L. Marple ’05, Ph.D., Chemistry
Senior Scientist, The Procter & Gamble Company

Dr. Ronita Lee Marple received her Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from UMBC in 2005 and is a Senior Scientist in the Global Analytical Capability Organization for Procter and Gamble in Cincinnati, OH. Dr. Marple currently leads global technical teams to deliver new consumer products and has traveled to multiple European and Asian countries to establish technical connections and build new analytical capabilities. Dr. Marple is affiliated with the American Chemical Society and serves on steering committees for two P&G Affinity Groups for female scientists. She continues to contribute to UMBC through the Professional Network Mentoring Program and the Annual Fund. In her free time, Ronita and her husband Jeff enjoy running marathons and going to movies and are avid ‘foodies’ in the Cincinnati area.

Outstanding Alumnus
Natural & Mathematical Sciences
Michael I. Nishimura ’80 BA ’84 MS ’89, PhD Biological Sciences

Michael I. Nishimura ’80 BA ’84 MS ’89, PhD Biological Sciences, has devoted his career to developing novel immunologic approaches for cancer therapy and is recognized for his talents as a scientific mentor. Building upon his strong genetics and immunology training acquired at UMBC, he pioneered the use of retroviral vectors encoding T cell receptor (TCR) genes to engineer an individual’s own lymphocytes to be able recognize and control the patients cancer cells or virus-infected cells. The first clinical trial using TCR gene modified T cells was conducted in Denmark using one of Dr. Nishimura’s TCR’s targeting the melanoma protein MART-1. Dr Nishimura serves as the Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Surgery at the Medical University of South Carolina and has assembled a strong clinical and scientific team committed to bringing this and other novel cellular therapies to the clinic.

Outstanding Alumnus
Natural & Mathematical Sciences
Dr. Crystal Watkins ’95, Biological Sciences

Dr. Crystal Watkins ’95, Biological Sciences, studied at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She received the David E. Rogers Award for the highest standards of professionalism, medical ethics and community leadership. Dr. Watkins’ graduate research was featured in the Wall Street Journal and led to a U.S. patent for a treatment of diabetic disorders. She has also traveled to Ghana and worked with the Princess of Ada and Ministry of Health to implement HIV/AIDS health education and prevention programs.