Six English Department Students to Present at URCAD 2026!

Six English department students have been selected to present at UMBC's Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement Day (URCAD) during its thirtieth anniversary event. Find their presentation titles, times, and locations in the list below. We hope to see you there!

English Department Student Presentations at URCAD

URCAD will be held Wednesday, April 22, 2026 in the RAC. Access the full URCAD schedule here: urcad.umbc.edu

Due to budget constraints, the Dresher Center is changing how we will award scholarly research funds for the remainder of this Academic Year. Instead of rolling deadlines and rather than applying to our three distinct research funds (development, completion, and teaching faculty funds) we are implementing these guidelines.

One deadline for all applications: April 21, 2026.

One Research Fund for all applicants.

Priority will be given to Humanities faculty (full-time, tenure track/tenured faculty and teaching faculty) and LLC PhD students. MA students, part-time faculty in the Humanities, and faculty in other disciplines engaged in Humanistic work may apply but will be assigned lower priority

Amount: Awards will generally be no more than $1,000 depending on the number of applications. A budget is required.

Eligible expenses: Priority will be given to expenses related to the completion of humanities publications and projects; research travel and expenses directly advancing publications and projects in the humanities; and related expenses to produce humanities scholarship directly related to promotion and tenure.

Use of award: expenses must be incurred BEFORE August 20, 2026.

______________________

A complete application will include:

A letter of need explaining the purpose for the funds, the precise amount of the request, and why this support would make a difference in the scholarly goals of the applicant. Reference should also be made to why no other DRIF, departmental or CAHSS support is available or sufficient to this need.
A brief memo (1-2 paragraphs) of support from a Chair or Graduate Program Director noting that all available departmental and CAHSS funds have been tapped first.

If you have any questions, please reach out to dreshercenter@umbc.edu

URCAD is Wednesday, April 22, 2026 in the RAC!

For the full schedule see:

Suzi Agyako-Wiredu | Synthesis of Riboflavin-Functionalized Gold Nanorattles as Targeted Drug Delivery Platform | Marie-Christine Daniel | Chemistry and Biochemistry | RAC Arena, 10-11am, Poster #4 

Naomi Aruna and Tammy Hong | Asian American Adolescents' Internalized Stereotypes Moderates the Socioemotional Impact of Racial Discrimination | Charissa Cheah | Psychology | RAC Arena, 10-11am, Poster #13 

Noreen Baroya | Mind & Muscle: Evaluation of Western Dentistry and Holistic Medicine for Myofascial Pain Care | Tiffany Gierasch | Interdisciplinary Studies | RAC Arena, 2-3pm, Poster #5 

John Bui | Equilibria in Classical and Quantum Strategic Games | Mohammadhossein Mohammadisiahroudi | Mathematics and Statistics | RAC Arena, 10-11am, Poster #23 

Aum Chordia | The Relationships Among Performance Anxiety, Social Support, and Sleep in College Athletes | Raimi Quiton | Psychology | RAC Arena, 2-3pm, Poster #10 

Shaylee Chubin | Developing A Prototype GenAI Tool for Enhancing Early Literacy Through Dialogic Reading | Shuling Yang | Education | RAC Arena, 10-11am, Poster #27

Arun Dahal Khatri | Fiscal-Monetary Policy Misalignment and Its Impact on Inflation Persistence and Real GDP Growth | Nandita Dasgupta | Economics | RAC Arena, 10-11am, Poster #31 

Elise Delaporte | Elucidating the Symbiotic Interaction Between Lactobacillus Iners and Gardnerella Vaginalis in Bacterial Vaginosis | Corine Jackman Burden | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering | RAC Arena, 2-3pm, Poster #14 

Jada Iwuoha | The Campus Connect: A Centralized Digital Marketplace for Student Entrepreneurship and Campus-Based Services | Kevin Fulmer | Interdisciplinary Studies | RAC Arena, 2-3pm, Poster #34 

Sanjana Jain | Silencing Ogoniland: Oil, Power, and the Politics of Neglect in an Exploited Region | Jé St Sume | Political Science | RAC Arena, 2-3pm, Poster #35 

Isabel Kendall | Missionary Position: Power and Cultural Mediation Through the Lens of 16th-Century Missionaries and Postwar Sex Workers | Julie Oakes | History | Special Exhibit, RAC Upper Track, 1st Floor 

Tsion Lemi | Preparation of Directed Discrete Assemblies of Gold Nanobipyramids and Quantum Dots | Marie-Christine Daniel | Chemistry and Biochemistry | RAC Arena, 10-11am, Poster #55 

Jay Leveton | Speciesism, Animalistic Dehumanization, and Hostile Masculinity: Culpability Ratings in Sexual Assault Scenarios | Christopher Murphy | Psychology | RAC Arena, 10-11am, Poster #56 

Peter Lombardo | Submerged Culture Viscosity (Rheometry) of Aspergillus Nidulans Kinase Deletion Strains | Mark Marten | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering | RAC Arena, 2-3pm, Poster #42 

Tyler Moody | Layer-By-Layer in Cell Viability for Schwann Cell Peripheral Nerve Recovery and Hmsc Manufacturing | Jorge Almodovar | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering | RAC Arena, 10-11am, Poster #63 

Natasha Navarro | Tendency-Strategy Fit in Emotion Regulation: The Impact of Sequencing Reappraisal and Mindfulness | Lira Yoon | Psychology | RAC Arena, 10-11am, Poster #66 

Quynh Nguyen | The Impact of Parenting on Asian American Adolescents' Bicultural Identity and Socioemotional Adjustment | Charissa Cheah | Psychology | RAC Arena, 10-11am, Poster #68 

Precious Nwanna | Beyond the Gate: A Guide to Reentry Reform in Urban America | Elaine Macdougall | Political Science, English | Film Presentation, 10-10:20, RAC Track (First Floor) 

Oluwanifemi Oyejide | Role of Preadipocyte-Derived CTRP6 in Extracellular Matrix Stiffness of Epididymal White Adipose Tissue in Obesity | Diana Elizondo | Biological Sciences | RAC Arena, 10-11am, Poster #71 

Matthew Quintanilla | Isolating Cell Wall Strength Will Affect the Mechanical Strength of Mycelial Materials | Mark Marten | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering | RAC Arena, 10-11am, Poster #79 

Lauren Rivarde | Narratives and Philosophy: Teaching High School Students Ethics One Trolley Problem at a Time | Greg Ealick | Philosophy | RAC Arena, 10-11am, Poster #82

Charles Rogers | Assessing the Reliability of Neural Network Bird Song Detection | Kevin Omland | Biological Sciences | RAC Arena, 10-11am, Poster #84 

Laci Rothblum, Alexander Joshua | Synthesis of Novel Heterocyclic Thiols as Potential Inhibitors of NDM-1 β-Lactamase | Paul Smith | Chemistry and Biochemistry | RAC Arena, 10-11am, Poster #87 

Kevin Schwanebeck | Palladium-Catalyzed Synthetic Strategies Toward Novel Metallo-β-Lactamase Inhibitors Targeting NDM-1 | Paul Smith | Chemistry and Biochemistry | RAC Arena, 10-11am, Poster #90 

Ipsa Sindhwani | Development of Analogical Reasoning After Learning a Vocabulary in Two Languages | Mirela Cengher | Psychology | RAC Arena, 10-11am, Poster #92 

 Jessica Slaughter | Open-Source Software Suite of Bioinformatic Tools for Dynamic Omics Data Analysis | Mark Marten | Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering | RAC Arena, 2-3pm, Poster #65 

Sabrina Tan | Amplifying Asian American Voices: Teachers' Explorations of Picture Books Centering Asian American Characters | Amy Tondreau | Education | RAC Arena, 10-11am, Poster #100 

Mack Watkins | How Victim Participation Influences Judicial Decision-Making: A Comparative Analysis of Extraterritorial Courts | Jeffrey Davis | Political Science | RAC Arena, 2-3pm, Poster #71 

Gwyneth Watson | Synthesis of Motion: Navigating the Interdisciplinary Roles of Choreographer, Director, and Editor in Screen Dance | Ann Sofie Clemmensen | Dance | Film Presentation, 10:20-10:40, RAC Track, First Floor 

Tyler Watson | Visualizing Natural Disaster Inequality in America | Dena Aufseeser | Geography and Environmental Systems | RAC Arena, 10-11am, Poster #108 

Applications will open Monday, March 30th and will close Friday, April 10th. Apply here: https://forms.gle/mroPc9UyNycQKWxg9

United States Toll (Washington D.C.) +1-202-860-2110

Dear UMBC Community,

We write to you today to share the following updates and reminders.

We distributed federal immigration enforcement cards across campus. The card and related FAQs are available on our Federal Orders and Actions website. The cards have been printed in English and Spanish and have been distributed to locations such as the Center for Global Engagement and the Mosaic Center.

The Office of General Counsel created a guide for supervisors and employees whose departments may be visited by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The purpose of these visits is to verify information in certain employment-based visa petitions, such as those supporting H-1B employees. The USCIS immigration officers may take photographs of the workspace, review documents, speak with the sponsored employee, and interview other personnel to confirm the employee’s work location, hours, duties, etc. It is important to note that these are fact-finding visits, not ICE enforcement operations. Please refer to the guide for instructions on what to do if your department is visited by a USCIS immigration officer.

David Di Maria, vice provost for global engagement, shared an email, “Responding to International Incidents,” on Friday, March 6. The email details how UMBC monitors and responds to international incidents and the resources provided to our community. We encourage you to review this email to be aware of how UMBC supports our community during these times.

Finally, here is an update on our Division of Research and Creative Achievement grants and budget for this year:

As of February 12, 2026, nine previously canceled federal awards have been reinstated.

Our total impact following the reinstatements remains a loss of approximately $14 million, which represents about 4 percent of UMBC’s annual federally funded research portfolio.

Research expenditures totaled $151 million in FY24 and $185.8 million in FY25. We anticipate that FY26 (closing September 30, 2026) will not exceed FY25’s total but will remain consistent with FY24, the year with the second-highest level of research expenditures in UMBC’s history.

If you have any questions about this information, please reach out to a member of the Federal Orders and Actions Team.

Thank you.

Regards,

The UMBC Federal Orders and Actions Core Team

Valerie Sheares Ashby, President
Manfred H. M. van Dulmen, Provost and Senior Vice President, Academic Affairs
Tanyka M. Barber, Vice President, Institutional Equity and Chief Diversity Officer
Kacey Hammel, Chief of Staff to the President
Renique T. Kersh, Vice President, Student Affairs
Paul A. Meggett, Vice President and General Counsel
D. Paul Monteiro, Vice President, Government Relations and Community Affairs
Karl V. Steiner, Vice President, Research and Creative Achievement
Lisa K. Van Riper, Vice President, University Communications and Marketing
David L. Di Maria, Vice Provost, Global Engagement
Yvette Mozie-Ross ’88, Vice Provost for Enrollment Management and Planning
Ana Oskoz, Vice Provost, Faculty Affairs

All awardees will receive a plaque and a $250 honorarium