Summer Session I tutoring is now open and available from May 29th to July 5th, Monday - Thursday, 12pm-4pm. All tutoring will be by appointment only, and students are free to choose whether they prefer an online, or an in-person appointment. 

Tutoring for all major courses including: Biology, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Computer Science, Physics, Math, Economics (Summer II), and  Statistics will be available this summer; along with Writing Center support.

All writing center support will be by appointment only, and will solely be provided online. To see schedules or to book a tutoring appointment, please visit our Academic Success Center Website.

The Climate Reality Project is a nonprofit organization founded by former US Vice President Al Gore. Our mission is to catalyze a global solution to the climate crisis by making urgent action a necessity across every sector of society.  

At The Climate Reality Project, we come to work every day to help solve the climate crisis. We do it by working from the ground up, empowering people and communities worldwide to fight for their future and together drive a just transition to clean energy.

We are committed to building a more just and equitable world, one where all voices are heard and respected regardless of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, or physical ability. Hence, we strongly encourage applications from people with these identities or who are members of other historically marginalized communities. We encourage applicants to read our diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice statement on our website.

POSITION SUMMARY

The Northeast Regional Organizer plays a critical role in this work and is responsible for supporting chapters across the northeast region of the United States, working with Chapter Chairs, Leadership Committee members, and Climate Reality Leaders, to provide resources, trainings, and dedicated support. This position will work closely with Chapters running or interested in running Climate Reality campaigns, building tools for them to use and amplify amongst their Chapter membership, helping to train organizers, and generally acting as a personal point of contact for engaged volunteers.

As a representative of the Global Field team, this position also assists in efforts to meet strategic program and organizational goals through outreach and partnership-building with new constituencies, building strong relationships within this region. States served in this region include West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, and the District of Columbia.

Currently reporting to the US Field Senior Manager, the Northeast Regional Organizer has no direct reports.

This position is within a union-represented collective bargaining unit, and specific terms and conditions of employment will be subject to a collective bargaining agreement between Climate Reality and the union.

This is a full time, hourly, non-exempt, benefits-eligible, hybrid position. The Climate Reality Project offers a flexible hybrid schedule, with staff working from our office in downtown Washington, DC at least two days per week to enable and encourage collaboration within and among teams. The salary for the role is $55,000 USD per year.

On the first weekend of April, hundreds of chemical engineering students from across the Mid-Atlantic converged on the UMBC campus for two days of learning, networking, and friendly competition. They heard talks from academic and industry leaders, attended workshops and a career fair, competed in rounds of ChemE Jeopardy, mixed chemicals to power small cars along a track in the ChemE Car competition, and mingled over catered lunches, dinners, and cups of evening hot cocoa. 

The activities were all part of the 2024 Mid-Atlantic Student Regional Conference of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE)—hosted by the UMBC student chapter of the national group. Around 400 people attended the event, an increase from last year’s conference at Virginia Tech. Organizing the logistics, recruiting speakers and sponsors, securing rooms, and ordering thousands of plates worth of food presented a formidable challenge—one that the UMBC students tackled with aplomb. 

“I am feeling fantastic after the conference,” says Pavan Umashankar ’25, chemical engineering and biochemistry and molecular biology, who served as the chair of the conference organizing committee. “I am super proud of everyone’s commitment and dedication to make it a resounding success.”

“Truly, I could gush about the UMBC conference planning team all day,” says Alyssa Block, the membership associate of ChemE student programs for AIChE. “These students really are the future leaders of their profession and of AIChE: engaged, excited, collaborative, supportive of each other, and willing to lend a hand.” 

A club on the upswing 

Hosting an AIChE regional conference for the first time at UMBC marked a milestone for a student club that has seen increasing levels of engagement and success in recent years. While many college clubs across the country are in decline post-Covid, UMBC’s AIChE student chapter is on a clear upward trajectory. The club sent its first team to compete in ChemE Jeopardy at the spring 2019 AIChE regional meeting. Just three years later, the UMBC team won the national ChemE Jeopardy competition. 

Neha Raikar, a senior lecturer in the Department of Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering (CBEE) and one of the advisors to the student AIChE chapter, remembers attending the 2019 meeting: “Back then, we wondered if we would ever be able to host a regional conference at UMBC,” she says. “We’ve achieved that goal.” 

It was especially remarkable, she adds, to see some members of UMBC’s first ChemE Jeopardy and ChemE car teams return to this year’s conference as industry representatives.

Strong attendance and smooth conference logistics weren’t the only successes of the weekend—UMBC also triumphed in the ChemE Jeopardy and ChemE car competitions. 

“Planning for the conference was already a significant undertaking, and on top of that, many of our students participated, and excelled, in the competitions,” says Raikar. “Their achievements not only showcased their individual capabilities but also the strength of our club as a whole, which is growing and thriving.”

A winning formula

AIChE chapter members and their advisors ascribe the club’s success to the hard work and dedication of the students coupled with the support of the CBEE department, college, and university. Thirteen CBEE students formed the conference planning committee, which met regularly to ensure all conference planning efforts were on track. An additional 37 students and 14 faculty and staff also volunteered their time—as check-in staff, poster and presentation judges, and more. About 10 UMBC alumni actively participated in the conference, and others contributed to fundraising efforts, helping the organizing committee secure sponsorships from notable companies such as AstraZeneca, ExxonMobil, Advanced Thermal Batteries, and Astek Diagnostics and from the chemical engineering department of Columbia University. 

An Dang ’24, chemical engineering, led the fundraising efforts. She gamely approached industry representatives at the UMBC career fair and made the pitch. “I’m not an extrovert, and being in these roles forced me to go out of my comfort zone,” she says.

“Securing sponsorships was vital for making the conference possible, and An did a remarkable job” says Mariajosé Castellanos, another CBEE faculty who advises the AIChE chapter. Castellanos also praised the management skills of conference planning committee chair Umashankar. “Despite his modesty, Pavan is a true mastermind in everything he does,” she says.

For their part, the students applauded the support of the CBEE department, especially the work of their two advisors, Raikar and Castellanos, and the event planning support of Andrea Miller, the CBEE graduate program coordinator. 

The conference was both a marker of the club’s success and an opportunity for individual students to grow their skill sets.

“I have developed leadership and project management skills, which will be incredibly useful throughout my professional career,” says Umashankar. 

Ben Welling ’25, chemical engineering, the leader of the UMBC ChemE car team, believes his experience with the competition helped him land internships. “I talked about it extensively with employers. They like leadership experience and it shows you are willing to do more than is required.” 

Raikar sees a bright future for the student stars of this year’s conference and for the club as a whole. “I hope the conference will boost the club membership and participation of students in other AIChE activities,” she says. And, she adds, the conference shows that with support, “UMBC students can accomplish any task.”

Congratulations Dr. Gautom Das on the successful promotion to the rank of Senior Lecturer!

Two students working with Dr. Lee Blaney, professor in chemical, biochemical and environmental engineering, participated in the student poster competition at the 2024 Chesapeake American Water Work Association and Chesapeake Water Environment Association (CSAWWA/CWEA) Joint Spring Meeting in Perryville, MD in May. 

The students received the top two awards in the poster presentation competition. 

First Place -- Sahar Souizi, environmental engineering doctoral student

Second Place -- Margaret Siao,’23 chemical engineering biotechnology and bioengineering track, chemical and biochemical engineering master’s student and an ICARE fellow. 

Sahar Souizi 

Poster Title: Sustainable and rapid nutrient recovery by advanced Donnan dialysis reactors.

Authors: Sahar Souizi, An Hong Dang, Hui Chen, Lee Blaney

Abstract: Donnan dialysis leverages electrochemical potential gradients across ion-exchange membranes to selectively separate nutrients from wastewater. This project aimed to improve the rate of nutrient recovery and scale-up potential through development of novel Donnan dialysis reactors.

A batch-recycle system was used to evaluate the impacts of mixing, flow rate, and waste-to-draw solution volume ratio. With the optimal conditions, 90% orthophosphate recovery was achieved, and nutrient flux was increased by 30%. These results informed development of modular, tube- in-tube Donnan dialysis reactors, which enabled rapid nutrient recovery as struvite. These results support the role of Donnan dialysis systems to achieve circular nutrient economies.

Margaret Siao

Poster title: Influence of water quality on PFAS uptake by ion-exchange membrane-based passive samplers.

Authors: Margaret Siao, Donya Hamidi, Alvin Bett, Ke He, Lee Blaney

Abstract: Recently, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) were regulated in drinking water. Many monitoring studies have reported variable PFAS concentrations in water resources. To inform the long-term, average PFAS levels, we developed and validated the performance of a novel passive sampling device comprised of anion-exchange membranes. Impacts of solution pH, salinity, and dissolved organic matter were evaluated for over 20 PFAS. Equilibrium PFAS and chloride concentrations were measured in the water and membrane phases and used to calculate selectivity coefficients. Trends between selectivity coefficients and PFAS properties enabled generation of a universal calibration for passive sampler deployment in different water sources.