Meet Jok Abraham Thon, UMBC’s first Peaceworker Global Fellow and the first Retriever from South Sudan. Thon is pursuing his master’s in entrepreneurship, innovation, and leadership and plans to use these skills to continue to promote educational opportunities for other South Sudanese people.  

Q: Tell us about yourself. What are the essential things you’d want another Retriever to know about you? 

A: I am the father of four beautiful kids from the world’s youngest country, South Sudan. I left behind my young family in search of knowledge and skills so that when I return, I can play a part in transforming the lives of vulnerable children in my country.

When I was a refugee, it was not easy. We had our classes under trees; we didn’t have toys to play with, but I turned my bitter memories into positive energy to change the cycle of violence in my country by establishing Promised Land Primary and Secondary School with the motto of “Changing Minds from Bullets to Books.” 

Let’s be great libraries for our children where they can find great stories of peace, love, and humanity. This message is for the parents and students who are our future leaders and policy makers. This principle will help them change policies that discriminate and instead create policies that embrace inclusion and equality. 

Q: Tell us about your primary WHY, and how it led you to UMBC.

A: I need to use the leadership and entrepreneurial skills I will get from UMBC to help transform South Sudan into a peaceful and democratic country.

Q: What do you love about your academic program?

A: My first course was Introduction to Community Leadership and my biggest takeaway was what I called a ‘”spiderweb” from placemaking—how public parks are great places to build more inclusive and peaceful communities; they’re great places for communities to come together for entertainment and family outings; they’re great places for communities to build back trust and take away fear and misinformation. In South Sudan there are some cultures that negatively affect women and girls—I want to see how we can use this placemaking idea to create parks that will bring all people together. 

In my Developing the Entrepreneurial Mindset class, I am learning skills that will help me to establish a company to sustain my school and help in establishing more schools in the hard to reach villages in South Sudan. We want to provide education to the vulnerable 2.5 million children who are not in school in South Sudan and break the cycle that prohibits many girls from finishing their schooling—about 75 percent of girls don’t finish high school due to early forced marriage and poverty. 

From my classes so far, I came up with two projects—one is Jonglei Multipurpose Memorial Park. It will not only be a park but also provide a great solution to the flooded villages along the River Nile as a way we can beautifully live with water as we fight climate change.

Second, is the Central Nile Paper Company that will produce paper sustainably from local sources of bamboo and papyrus for school workbooks and use the revenue from sales to support the Promised Land School while opening more schools across the country.

Q: Tell us about someone in the community who has inspired you or supported you, and how they did it.

A: My journey to UMBC came as an inspiration from the love I received from Joby Taylor (Ph.D. ’05, language, literacy, and culture) in the Shriver Center, Kenneth Baron in Academic Advising, David Di Maria in the Center for Global Engagement, Gib Mason (’95, economics) in the entrepreneurship, innovation, and leadership program, and Kimberly R. Moffitt, dean of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. This team and many more great faculty as well as staff from International Student and Scholar Services have changed my life.

I want to particularly thank Dr. Joby Taylor and his wife and children for being such a great host family. I am glad to call UMBC my sweet home far away from home.

* * * * *

UMBC’s greatest strength is its people. When people meet Retrievers and hear about the passion they bring, the relationships they create, the ways they support each other, and the commitment they have to inclusive excellence, they truly get a sense of our community. That’s what “Meet a Retriever” is all about.

Learn more about how UMBC can help you achieve your goals.

Amid a bustling day filled with Homecoming excitement, GRIT-X returned to UMBC this month for its sixth year, delivering a wide-ranging lineup of Retriever excellence in action. Held in the Fine Arts Recital Hall, this year’s GRIT-X was the first for new UMBC President Valerie Sheares Ashby. Enjoying one engaging talk after another, she deemed the event “the essence of UMBC.”

“What a beautiful day,” said President Sheares Ashby, in her remarks to the GRIT-X audience. “Not only were [the presenters] brilliant, they were people-centric. They were thinking about things that were real and important to each one of our lives being better, the universe being better, our bodies being better, and our communities being better. I cannot have experienced a better first GRIT-X.”

Watch the GRIT-X 2022 talks

Rethinking digital divides: Creating access, experiential learning, and empathy in the digital world

Delali Dzirasa ‘04, computer engineering, opened this year’s GRIT-X event with a presentation detailing how his company, Fearless, led the development of the Searchable Museum to complement the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) “Slavery and Freedom” exhibition. Dzirasa elaborated on how his team, including several UMBC alumni, was able to reimagine this exhibit specifically for online audiences amid the pandemic. The Fearless CEO was the third in his family to deliver a GRIT-X talk, following his wife, Baltimore City Health Commissioner Letitia Dzirasa ‘03, biological sciences (GRIT-X 2021), and his brother Kafui Dzirasa ‘01, M8, chemical engineering (GRIT-X 2017).

Can we reduce the deluge in sea levels with a data deluge?

Vandana Janeja, professor and chair of information systems, discussed the research she’s leading as the director of the NSF HDR Institute for Harnessing Data and Model Revolution in the Polar Regions, or iHARP. Janeja outlined how she and the iHARP team are utilizing data science, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and polar science to analyze enormous volumes of climate data as well as Arctic and Antarctic observations in ways that could help populations respond to the harmful impacts of climate change. 

Sounds of the world through the violin

Airi Yoshioka, professor of music, delivered her presentation on how the cultural background of a composer manifests in the music they create. Yoshioka played excerpts of music from several composers around the world, explaining how they were able to express their cultural identities through their music. The violinist then captured the imagination of the audience with her striking performance of “Sentimental” from “Five Little Milonguitas” by composer Pablo Ortiz from her 2015 album Sueños Misticos.

Community building: How to build with materials that are stronger than brick and mortar

Alicia Lynn Wilson ‘04, political science, serves as vice president for economic development at Johns Hopkins University. She has taken part in some of the largest redevelopment efforts in the country, overseeing more than $10 billion in redevelopment projects in the last decade. Wilson shared her perspective on how every person is involved in construction, being actively engaged in the community-building enterprise. Her presentation outlined five principles that she relies on when forging and maintaining community connections.

Glucosome: 4D Visualization of the secret society of metabolic enzymes

Minjoung Kyoung, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry, started her presentation on metabolic enzymes in an unexpected way: by showing the audience a picture of donuts. The image helped to entice the audience as they listened to her research on how the food we eat transforms into glucose and the metabolic process that happens as a result. The presentation explored the glucose metabolism and its 4-dimensional network with mitochondria in living cells, and how Kyoung’s team built the Lattice Light Sheet Microscope to better visualize small features inside of living cells.

Green walls or greenwashing? Tree planting dreams meet reality

Matthew Fagan, associate professor of geography and environmental systems, delved into his research related to forest restoration and reforestation showing that sometimes, planting trees can cause more harm than good. He educated the audience on the rise of tree planting initiatives around the world and the reality of what has happened as a result of reforestation efforts. 

The many faces of immune cells: Building back tissues after trauma

Kaitlyn Sadtler, ‘11, biological sciences, who earned an honorary doctorate from UMBC in 2022, presented on immunology and how the body works to heal after injuries. Sadtler is an investigator and chief of the section on immunoengineering at the NIH’s National Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering. She earned a Ph.D. at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at MIT. She described her lab’s research into different immune cells and how they respond during injuries. She also shared how her team is working to develop new methods to help modulate the immune response to injury and implantation of medical devices.

The quantum universe is weird, but our world is not: Schrödinger’s cat is dead, right?

Sebastian Deffner, associate professor of physics, focused his presentation on demystifying the world of quantum physics and the quantum universe. He offered the audience an introduction to the components of this growing field of study. He also explained different interpretations of quantum mechanics with his analysis of the “Schrödinger’s cat” thought experiment.

Sometimes systems fail us: Designing alternatives for domestic violence survivors

Nkiru Nnawulezi, associate professor of psychology, has been working with the D.C. Coalition Against Domestic Violence to collect data on the experiences of domestic violence survivors in Washington D.C., particularly related to housing services. She closed the afternoon’s program by detailing her experience of conducting research interviews with the survivors. She explored what can be done to create more inclusive community responses that support domestic violence survivors in more effective and sustainable ways.

Karl V. Steiner, vice president for research and creative achievement, was the master of ceremonies for GRIT-X 2022. Moderators included: Keith J Bowman, dean of the College of Engineering and Information Technology; Kimberly R. Moffitt, dean of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences; and William R. LaCourse, dean of the College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences.

Two UMBC Ph.D. students in atmospheric physics, Maurice Roots and Kylie Hoffman, have received competitive Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology (FINESST) awards that will support the remainder of their graduate studies. Roots’s research project will focus on air pollution and Hoffman will target thunderstorms, both using remote sensing techniques. Each will receive up to $150,000 over a maximum of three years for tuition, research, professional development, and other expenses.

Tracking ozone’s journey

Roots will further his study of ozone found near the Earth’s surface. Unlike ozone in the upper atmosphere, which is critical for protecting organisms on Earth from powerful solar radiation, ozone near the surface is a form of air pollution. It can lead to respiratory issues in animals (including humans) and reduce crop yields by damaging plants’ leaves. 

Combustion engines are the main producers of surface-level ozone, because they release molecules that can convert to ozone when they interact with sunlight. Roots is particularly interested in ozone prevalence in the Chesapeake Bay region and other urban areas on bays, such as New York City and San Francisco, because “water is like a mirror,” he says, and with more light bouncing around, there are many more opportunities to generate harmful ozone.

Roots will use a network of ground-based remote sensing instruments to improve understanding of how ozone forms and moves around, with a focus on the Eastern United States.

It’s an exciting time to be in remote sensing and ozone studies, Roots says, in part because “we’re still finding out things about simply when and where high ozone is happening.” At the same time, the instrument network “is becoming a teenager. It’s grown up a lot, and a lot of changes are about to start happening.” One of Roots’s main goals with the new project is to generate a “synergy of NASA’s ground-based instruments,” where all of the data they produce can be easily gathered and interpreted together to form conclusions.

Understanding not just where ozone forms, but where it travels from there, is important, Roots says. For example, phenomena called “nocturnal low-level jets” can move air (and ozone and other pollutants with it) from Georgia to New York in one night, he explains, which “changes the whole regulatory perspective.” Right now, states or cities can be fined for having too many instances of high ozone—but if the ozone may have come from several states away, the picture gets more complicated.

While Roots isn’t directly involved in policy, his work to improve “process-level understanding” of where ozone is created, how it moves, and where it ends up could influence regulation in the future.

Predicting thunderstorms, protecting farmers

Hoffman’s work will explore how severe thunderstorms form in the southern United States, especially at night. The genesis of these storms is currently poorly understood, despite their important implications for community safety and agriculture.

Belay Demoz, professor of physics and director of the Goddard Earth Science Technology and Research (GESTAR) II Center, and also Hoffman’s and Root’s Ph.D. advisor, co-led the Plains Elevated Convection at Night (PECAN) mission in 2015. It used ground- and aircraft-based instruments to collect a huge amount of data about storms in the U.S. southern plains, much of which has the potential for more in-depth analysis, Hoffman says. She will develop a few in-depth case studies using PECAN data, seeking clues about which variables are most important for forming these storms, such as temperature, wind speed, and water vapor concentrations. After that, she’ll expand to determining the frequency of severe storms and what features differentiate them from milder events.

“A lot of people research these storms with weather models and simulations, but there hasn’t been a ton of research done with remote sensing observations yet,” Hoffman says. “I plan to use the PECAN datasets to calculate atmospheric quantities that are typically only evaluated in model-based research, and determine what potential uses this approach has for improving our understanding of these storms.” Her eventual goal is to develop better forecasting for thunderstorms, especially to benefit the many farmers in the southern plains. 

Hoffman’s research is interdisciplinary and brings together the work of NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which previously awarded her a research fellowship. Better weather forecasting is “also one of NOAA’s main missions,” she explains, “to help us become a weather-ready nation, and improve our ability to inform people and small businesses” about the risks severe weather can pose to lives and livelihoods.

Making it official

Hoffman’s research as an undergraduate meteorology major also used remote sensing data, which she enjoyed. As a result, “I was looking specifically for a meteorology or atmospheric physics graduate program that worked with remote sensing data,” she says, “and that’s one of the strengths of the UMBC program.”

In preparing her FINESST application, “I felt very supported by Belay [Demoz] and the whole office. It was exciting. It felt really official,” she says. “Writing the application helped me clarify where I want to go with my research. And even if I hadn’t gotten the grant, it was helpful just to know the process.”

Demoz is thrilled to have two students receive the FINESST award—a rare event for any Ph.D. advisor. “I know firsthand how competitive this was, and I am very proud of their accomplishment,” Demoz says. 

He’s also proud of the work they do outside the lab, supporting other students and choosing projects that could have real public impact. “This is what I would like all our grad students to do, since it prepares them well for entering the professoriate,” he shares. “I’m honored to say they are my graduate students.” 

Paying it forward

Roots and Hoffman have already begun to pay forward the support they received from mentors at UMBC. This past summer, they and three more graduate students, including Emily Faber, M.S. ’21, atmospheric physics, a current Ph.D. student in the same field, served as mentors in the eight-week Student Airborne Science Activation (SaSa) program. The NASA-funded program offers high-achieving first- and second-year undergraduates at minority-serving institutions (MSIs) the opportunity to gain experience with airborne field research campaigns through a paid internship.

This year, SaSa welcomed 24 students, including four from UMBC, to UMBC’s main campus for four weeks. Participants spent the other four weeks at the NASA Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Virginia. The graduate students served as the participants’ primary mentors, Hoffman explains, from helping them develop research questions to guiding them through final presentations. 

Two of the UMBC participants decided to continue conducting research with Demoz’s group during the academic year. Trisha Joy Francisco ’25, mechanical engineering, is working with Hoffman on pollution measurements. Eric Ekey ’25, computer engineering, will start work soon with Roots.

Hoffman recalls a transformative summer internship that gave her the confidence to apply to graduate school. “That’s part of what I wanted to do for the students—replicate what my mentor did to help me during that experience,” she says. 

SaSa was mutually beneficial for the students and their mentors; it helped Roots boost his confidence, too. After answering student questions for a month, “by the end,” he says with a smile, “I realized, I guess I actually know a lot.”

With their FINESST awards, Hoffman and Roots will continue to put their knowledge and mentoring skills to work as they conduct research to answer big questions about how atmospheric dynamics impact our daily lives.

Dear Faculty and Staff,

We hope that you will join us in celebrating the Class of 2022 by participating in UMBC's Winter Commencement ceremonies at the Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena.

• Graduate Commencement will be held at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, December 21, 2022
• Undergraduate Commencement will be held at 10 a.m. on Thursday, December 22, 2022

There are a number of ways you can come together with the UMBC community to congratulate our graduates.

March in the Commencement procession

Academic regalia is required to march. You may use your own regalia or order it through the UMBC Bookstore through November 22, 2022. Specific instructions are included on the RSVP form. Please note: UMBC will subsidize the rental of academic regalia for faculty and staff; however, to ensure timely delivery, you will be responsible for an expedited shipping fee if you place your order after November 22, 2022.

RSVP Here

Serve as event staff

We need help! It takes more than 50 staff from across campus to make this event possible and to support graduates and their families on their special day. We will provide detailed instructions and also host a training session on Tuesday, December 20, 2022, at 3 p.m. on the arena floor.

Sign Up Here

In addition, if you or your immediate family member is graduating this winter, we can reserve up to six seats for you and your guests. Please email commencement@umbc.edu to reserve your seats by December 9, 2022. Please note: this amenity is only for current UMBC faculty and staff members and is not for the general student body.

For questions pertaining to the Graduate School ceremony, please contact Lisa Morgan at limorgan@umbc.edu. For questions pertaining to the Undergraduate ceremony, please contact Becky Bosstick at bbosstic@umbc.edu.

We look forward to seeing you at the Commencement ceremonies!

UMBC Events Team