Dear Graduate Students at UMBC,
As part of the National Science Foundation grant supporting PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP, University of Maryland College Park faculty members are conducting a multi-campus survey study of how graduate students are supported by their programs in pursuit of their career goals. To participate, please go to the following website. We recommend using a stable internet connection and using the same device to begin and finish participation.
Survey Link: https://umdsurvey.umd.edu/SE/?SID=SV_0oBN4RIqKfg4K8d
Incentives: Survey completion incentives include the option to enter drawings for Amazon gift cards in several denominations (be sure to enter via a link on the final page of the survey).
· Those who completed the survey by October 13, 2014, had a chance to win one $500 Amazon card
· Those who complete the survey by October 20, 2014 may enter to win one $100 Amazon card (one winner per campus; those who do not win will continue to be eligible for all subsequent drawings).
· Those who complete the survey by October 24, 2014 may enter to win one $50 Amazon card per campus (one winner per campus; this will be the final drawing).
Participants
will agree to our consent form and take an online survey that takes 20 minutes
to complete. Questions will focus on the perspectives you have adopted, and the
actions that you have taken to pursue your career goals. We will also ask about
aspects of your department environment, and your field/discipline that
influence your career choice.
The data used for this study will only be reported in aggregate, so your name and identity will never appear in any reports that result from the project. The study will, however, help our research more broadly understand how graduate students develop their career aspirations and what departments, faculty, and external agencies can do to support them.
Please contact the PROMISE: Maryland's AGEP Research Team with any questions or concerns: promisestudymd@gmail.com
Best regards,
Renetta Tull
Associate Vice Provost for Graduate Student Development & Postdoctoral Affairs
]]>This month, the founder of SustainablJoes biked to UMBC to meet UMBC students, staff and faculty. He is biking across country to raise awareness about sustainability! We asked him a few questions to share with you:
What does sustainability mean to you?
“Ensuring every generation has everything it needs forever. To live a life of abundance”What made you decide to do this trip across North America?
"It has always been a dream of mine to travel around and share my passion for a sustainable society with other people. My dream is to one day travel the world with the same purpose."
How long have you been on tour? How much longer?
"I've been traveling since June 4th and have accumulated about 2500 miles. I'll finish whenever my mission is done and I can engage as many people as possible. But my current plan is to end between American Thanksgiving and the Winter Solstice"
Where did the idea for the solar bike come from?
The bike was manufactured by Organic Transit and is sponsored by No Commission Annuity and multitude of other sustainable minded companies"
What big sustainability advance do you want to see in the next 10 years?
"I want to see all of our energy drawn from renewable resources as well as significant policy changes to our water and waste management."
Who would you say is your biggest influence when it comes to being green?
"Kids. Kids are the future and there is no reason they shouldn't have all of the greatest resources at their fingertips when they're ready to start making an impact of their own."
What book/article/tedtalk would you recommend to students?
"There are so many good TedTalks and books I could recommend because you should always be learning and expanding your knowledge. Definitely check out my website as well. Check out this Ted Talk as well!
How should we, as students, get involved in making a difference?
"College kids have more opportunity than anyone else. They have a vast amount of resources. It's a lot harder to find money outside of college. Use it while you're here. For a long time I didn't do what I was passionate about. I did well in high school and college, but didn't apply myself enough. If you're not happy with what you're doing or studying make a change and you will find new energy. Don't listen to what society wants you to do. Do what you want to do and you will find out it can change your outlook on life, as well as the way people perceive you."
What is your sustainability pet peeve?
"I don't really have a pet peeve. I may have a one point, but I realized that negativity just drains my energy. I want to encourage people I meet to apply sustainability into whatever their life style is."
What will you do after your tour is over?
"My dream is to have a tv show where I travel the world and share my passion for sustainable change with cultures and societies everywhere."
Stephen's Five E's when he engages with people on his tour.
"Engage in an Entertaining manner Educate then and make them Empowered to make more sustainable choices and to make those choices Easy to incorporate into their lives."See the attached flyer for more information.
Do you think we are alone in the universe?
This image, produced in 1995 by the Hubble Space Telescope, suggests that the visible universe comprises at least ~130 thousand million galaxies. Each of these galaxies contains something in the order of 100 thousand million stars. Recent estimates suggest that there may exist an average of more than one planet per star.
At least once, this chemistry and physics has given rise to sentient life. What are the chances that it happened more than once? What about other types of life? How could we possibly know?
INDS430 Astrobiology combines physics, astronomy, biology, chemistry, and geology to ask what science can contribute to such questions. If you want to learn about the discovery of planets orbiting other stars (“exoplanets”), the chemistry of space, the originand evolution of life on Earth, or habitable environments within our solar system this course is for you!
If interested in the course then please contact Dr. Stephen Freeland at
freeland@umbc.edu