When UMBC history professor Sandra Herbert first saw the Charles Darwin Archives at Christ’s College, Cambridge as a graduate student, “It was like finding out Shakespeare had left unpublished plays behind,” she said.

To celebrate the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth on February 12, Herbert, one of the world’s leading authorities on Darwin, gave a lecture at the Library of Congress on February 18. She discussed her book “Charles Darwin, Geologist,” which explores how geology changed Darwin and how Darwin changed science.

As a distinguished visiting scholar for 2006-07 at Christ’s College in Cambridge, Herbert assisted the university with its plans to celebrate Darwin’s bicentennial and the 150th anniversary of his seminal work “On the Origin of Species.”

Like most students, Herbert, an expert on the history of science, first studied Darwin in high school. “Back then his work was buried in our textbooks,” she said. “I became interested in how evolution affects all things, especially human nature.”

While writing a graduate school paper, she came across one of Darwin’s notebooks. Her curiosity grew, leading to a Ph.D. dissertation and finally a trip to Cambridge to see other Darwin manuscripts.

Along the way she was surprised to find that the naturalist often most associated with biology was actually more of a geologist as a young man. This discovery led to Herbert’s recent book “Charles Darwin, Geologist,” which won the Geological Society of America’s Mary C. Rabbitt Award, the American Historical Association's George L. Mosse Prize and the History of Science Society’s Levinson Prize for Historical Work in the Life Sciences as well as the Albion Book Prize given by the North American Conference on British Studies.

“Sandra is simply one of the world’s leading authorities on Darwin and one of UMBC’s preeminent scholars,” said John Jeffries, Dean of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at UMBC.

When asked her thoughts on Darwin’s lasting legacy and the ongoing challenges to his theories across the globe, Herbert referred to one of her favorite Darwin writings from his 1838 “Notebook B.” In it, Darwin refers to animals as “our fellow brethren” and muses that “we may be all netted together.”

“Darwin is seen as a hero and a villain,” she said. “The reason we react so strongly is because of the profound implications of his work on our understanding of human nature. I agree with his sentiment that we are all netted together. We are closer to animals than we sometimes think.”

Herbert recently retired as director of the program “the Human Context of Science and Technology” and professor of history at UMBC. She is also editor of the “Red Notebook of Charles Darwin” (1979) and “Charles Darwin’s Notebooks, 1836-1844: Geology, Transmutation of Species, Metaphysical Enquiries” (1987).

Each year, the UMBC Alumni Association presents awards to honor alumni for their professional and personal achievements and service to the University.   Learn more about our past award winners.

ENGINEERING AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Dr. James P. Clements ’85, ’91 & ’93, Information Systems, was recently appointed President of West Virginia University in Morgantown, WVa. He is the first UMBC alumnus to lead a major university. Prior to his appointment, Dr. Clements was Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs at Towson University. A TU employee since 1989, he also served as a faculty member, Vice President for Economic and Community Outreach and Chairman of the Department of Computer and Information Sciences. Dr. Clements has published and presented more than 70 papers on management, information systems and technology. The fourth edition of his project management book is used in more than 20 countries and published in four languages.

HUMANITIES

Jeffrey “Duff” Goldman ’97, History, is known for turning traditional confections into out-of-this-world creations on his Food Network show “Ace of Cakes.” After completing his UMBC degree, Goldman attended the Culinary Institute of America in Napa Valley, Calif. His company, Charm City Cakes, has baked cakes for events including the “Kung Fu Panda” premier and the Maryland Zoo’s annual Zoomerang gala. In 2000 he was a featured speaker at UMBC’s Alex Brown Center for Entrepreneurship. He also holds a Guinness Book record for baking the world’s largest cupcake, created in March 2008.

NATURAL AND MATHEMATICAL 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.

SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

The Honorable Jon S. Cardin M.P.P. ’96, Policy Sciences, represents residents of northwest Baltimore County in the Maryland House of Delegates where he serves on the Ways and Means Committee. Much of his legislation focuses on election, tax and education reform. In February he was awarded the Humane Society of the United States’ Humane Legislator Award for developing legislation that gives shelters access to drugs needed to properly sedate animals prior to euthanasia. Cardin also serves as a member of the Board of Directors/Advisors for the Baltimore Shakespeare Festival, the Camp Shohola Scholarship Fund, Baltimore Hebrew University, UMBC Hillel, The American Council of Young Political Leaders, Institute for Progressive Leadership and the Maryland Public Interest Law Project.

VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTS

Laura Pasquini ’98, Visual Arts, is the director of Youth and Family Programs at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in the Washington, D.C. She oversees the operation of all classes, programs and camps for children and their families. In her time there she has redefined the overall vision and mission of the Corcoran’s after school program, Corcoran ArtReach. She installed and supported fundraising efforts for the annual ArtReach exhibit. At UMBC, Pasquini worked in the Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture as an undergraduate intern where she worked to make art exhibits accessible and interesting to public school students through a series of creative projects based on gallery exhibits.

DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD

Gustavo Matheus, Esq. LLC ’90, Biological Sciences, is always thinking of new ways to connect with UMBC alumni and is particularly interested in engaging alumni in the Washington, D.C. area. He is intimately involved in growing and maintaining the Esperanza Endowment, which supports and inspires current and future UMBC students of Latino or Hispanic ancestry and/or students who are committed to the advancement of minorities. Matheus, who practices law in Rockville, Md., mentors student members of the scholarship committee and has been instrumental in connecting with alumni who choose to support the fund.

RISING STAR AWARD

Alicia Wilson ’04, Political Science, is an associate at Gordon Feinblatt, Rothman, Hoffberger and Hollander, LLC. Prior to her position the firm’s Litigation Practice Group, she served as a clerk for the Honorable David Young for the Circuit Court of Baltimore City. Wilson spent her third year of law school at Susan Leviton’s Juvenile Law, Children’s Issues and Legislative Advocacy Clinic. She also coached the Mock Trail team at the Baltimore Freedom Academy – a high school with curriculum and culture focused on social justice and activism.

“Raaarrggh!”

If the bouncing Q-tip had heels, the humongous-eared monster would be hot on them.

“He just hates his job, man,” said Micah Betts ’07, who did the 3-D animation for “Q-Tip Nightmare,” a game where a disgruntled Q-tip tries to flee his waxy fate.

Laughter broke out among a group of bleary-eyed but proud UMBC students, alumni and video game enthusiasts, who had just brainstormed and built several short video games as part of the Global Game Jam, a worldwide, weekend-long sprint of creativity held Friday, January 30 through Sunday, February 1.

The jam was also a labor of love by the two faculty members behind UMBC’s Games, Animation and Interactive Media (GAIM) Program – Neal McDonald from visual arts and Marc Olano of computer science, who guided five teams made up of 15 UMBC students and eight guest participants throughout the process.

“It was 48 hours of frantic activity,” said Olano. “It was exciting to be part of something that involved 53 sites in over 20 countries, with more than 1600 participants creating over 300 games.”

The idea of the jam is to get students interested in gaming careers to learn by doing – serious programming and animation/digital art skills are required even to build a simple game – and have fun doing it.

The GAIM Program brings together teams of students with arts and computer science backgrounds to team up and compete on game designs by the end of their senior year. The end result is a skill set that can lead to a gaming career or have applications in aerospace, architecture, healthcare and many other fields.

“It’s good energy, lots of laughing, but more importantly, learning to do things just like they’re done in the industry,” said McDonald, who teaches several courses on the visual arts side of the program, including Art 380, which covers the history and theory of games from ancient Egypt to modern video games.

The games were required to be less than five minutes long, and somehow express the statement, "as long as we have each other, we will always have problems", as well as one of the adjectives "illusionary", "pointed,” or "persistent.”

“Feather Tether,” a game where two birds tied together try to eat the most bugs and reach outer space, claimed the bulk of the peer-voted awards from the UMBC site, winning best art, best technical contribution, best gameplay, and best expression of the constraints.

To learn more about and play the games produced at UMBC’s Global Game Jam site and across the world, visit http://globalgamejam.org/category/baltimore-md-usa.

Read Catonsville Times coverage of the Global Game Jam here.

Watch video from the Global Game Jam at UMBC below. (Turn speaker volume up for best sound quality)

Erickson School Helps Launch Nation’s
First Elder ER

In partnership with aging experts from the Erickson School at UMBC, Holy Cross Hospital (Silver Spring, Md.) recently launched one of the nation’s first emergency medical centers designed specifically for older adults.

The Seniors Emergency Center at Holy Cross Hospital opened its doors November 5, 2008, featuring a specially designed environment to reduce patients’ anxiety and risk of falling. After a 90-day observation period and review of patient outcomes conducted with Erickson School researchers, the center becomes fully operational in February.

Erickson School faculty, including internationally renowned geriatrician Bill Thomas and long-term care reformer Judah Ronch, led a team of researchers in designing the Seniors Emergency Center and providing specialty training in geriatrics for Holy Cross medical staff.

Holy Cross Hospital is part of Trinity Health, the nation’s fourth-largest Catholic healthcare system. Holy Cross provided emergency care to over 12,000 seniors in its emergency centers and admitted over 5,700 to its hospital in 2008. The hospital projects a sharp increase in older patients during the next decade as the nation’s population of older adults increases.

The Erickson School at UMBC offers graduate and undergraduate degree programs in the Management of Aging Services and cutting-edge research through its Center for Aging Studies.

The Washington Post reports: “Serenity in Emergencies.”

(2/2/09)

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Photo Caption: Hillol Kargupta’s ideas to help airlines reduce their carbon footprint were honored with an IBM Innovation Award.

Hillol Kargupta logs thousands of frequent flier miles each year to do research, conduct business for a successful, global firm and to visit his family. But it was his quest to make those flights friendlier to the environment that recently won him a highly competitive IBM Innovation Award and a $20,000 grant.

Kargupta, an associate professor of computer science, is an expert on deep data mining in mobile environments. He is also the founder and president of Agnik, a company that pioneered the use of sensor technology to improve efficiency in ground transportation.

Now he’s looking to take his research and business skyward. And when the European Union includes aviation pollution in its ambitious cap-and-trade emissions market system next year, Kargupta hopes his sensors will analyze the data that makes Europe’s skies greener.

“Every second of flight burns about a gallon of fuel.” says Kargupta. Airplanes already have sensors that monitor and adjust fuel/air ratios to yield the best fuel economy, he observes, but analyzing that data for emissions purposes “is a chance to meet a real market need.”

The available information is staggering. New York’s JFK Airport, says Kargupta, produces a continuous stream of about 100 megabytes of data per minute. “Multiply that times all the world’s airports,” he continues, “and it equals a huge amount of data changing rapidly over a large area.”

Kargupta is enthusiastic about the daunting task, however: “It’s just the type of challenge we like at UMBC.”