Tagide deCarvalho, director of the Keith R. Porter Imaging Facility in UMBC’s College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, produces artistic images that reveal microscopic life in vivid, thought-provoking ways. Her work combines her skill at the lab bench and behind the microscope with her artist’s eye, and it continues to earn her accolades worldwide. 

deCarvalho has been recognized repeatedly in the Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition. In 2020, she won the 2019 Olympus Image of the Year Global Life Science Light Microscopy Award for an image of a tardigrade, also known as a “water bear.” This year, she won the 2022 Zeiss Microscopy Image Contest in the Life Sciences category. 

“We use their equipment. I’m a big fan of their instruments, so it was nice to be recognized by that company,” deCarvalho says of the Zeiss award. The winning image portrayed bacteria that she scraped from her own tongue. At the time, she simply needed a quick sample to test some new materials for preparing specimens in the lab. Only later did she decide to refine the image into something beautiful. 

“My superpower is finding everyday specimens and making them glamorous,” deCarvalho says, a bit tongue in cheek. She recently learned that her images will now reach a larger audience than ever before.

Putting her stamp on the art world

This summer, deCarvalho received an exciting request: An art curator wanted to include two of her images in an upcoming collection—except this was no typical art exhibit. A United States Postal Service (USPS) curator wanted to include deCarvalho’s work in a stamp collection featuring microscope images. USPS officially announced the “Life Magnified” collection in December, and the stamps will become available later in 2023.

The USPS recognition holds special significance for deCarvalho, whose grandfather collected stamps. When he passed away, deCarvalho inherited his collection. Her grandfather was a physician-scientist, and deCarvalho enjoyed looking through his microscopes as a child. He always told his granddaughter she would be a scientist one day. 

deCarvalho has had a lifelong interest in art, too, and began her academic career as an art photography major. As an undergraduate, she wanted to learn to use microscopes to create art in a biological context. To that end, she worked for a faculty member at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine creating transmission electron microscope images. 

The professor was thrilled to work with a student who already knew how to develop film—the hardest thing to teach, and something deCarvalho had been doing for years in her own darkroom. In the lab, she started to learn techniques essential to her work today, but she never got to put her artistic talents to work. Instead, deCarvalho launched a scientific career, fulfilling her grandfather’s prophecy and eventually landing at UMBC in 2016. 

Once she arrived at UMBC, art finally returned to her life. “Suddenly I realized I could do it,” deCarvalho says. “I’d say it was about 20 years later. I came full circle.” 

Creating art, informing scientific research

The process of creating an artistic microscope image begins the exact same way as creating a research image. It’s only the post-processing that differs, deCarvalho explains. 

“I take things further than what might be considered ethical for a research image, where there are clear guidelines as to what you can do,” she says. In a research image, “You can’t manipulate the image to alter any of the content.” For her art, she removes distracting elements like debris around the main specimen, and emphasizes the specimen’s key elements in a way that makes it more visually engaging.

Her modifications “allow you to focus your attention on [the specimen] more, and to find it more aesthetically pleasing,” explains deCarvalho. She believes this makes viewers “more interested in the content than you would be if I hadn’t slightly altered it,” she says. “I think it makes it more compelling.”

Her artistic work can still inform scientific image production. “I push the limits of my expertise by doing these art images,” deCarvalho says. “I can bring some of the experience and new techniques that I learn in doing that back to the research. It goes both ways.” 

For example, for the winning tardigrade image, “I came up with that staining just to create that pretty picture, and I’ve had tardigrade experts all across the world and people that use tardigrades in classrooms ask me for my technique, because they could see structures stained that they weren’t able to see before with the traditional staining techniques,” deCarvalho says. “So it informed research, just from me trying to make a nice picture.”

Public art, amplified

One of the images selected for “Life Magnified” features moss that deCarvalho scraped off the exterior of the UMBC Biological Sciences Building. “I feel like it’s kind of an homage to UMBC that one of the samples was taken right off the building,” she says. 

When asked about her motivations for turning microscope images into beautiful works of art, her answer was simple. “It’s super cheesy, but I just get so excited when I see things under the microscope,” she says. “I look through the microscope, and I just think, ‘Wow, I can’t believe that’s real, and that it just looks so amazing.’” Her art, she says, is “a way to capture the excitement and share it with other people.”

In addition to the connections to UMBC and to her grandfather, having her work on stamps is special because it grants her images the ultimate visibility, she explains. Stamps “are like a public art museum,” deCarvalho says. “Each one is like a little piece of art—it’s the most public art form. So when USPS approached me, I thought, ‘This is the highest honor.’” 

To the UMBC Grant Community,

This is a reminder that Effort Reports for Fall 2022 are available and ready for certification. The Fall 2022 period includes Payroll 2023-001 through Payroll 2023-014 (from June 19, 2022 through December 31, 2022). Certifications are due March 30, 2023.

Please remember that Effort Reports are both a Compliance Tool and a Grants Management Tool. After reviewing payroll charges, work with your business managers if any changes are needed. Payroll cost transfers (retros) should be processed prior to certification of Effort Reports as retros will re-open any previously certified effort due to adjustments.  

To find out whether you have open effort reports for Fall 2022 (see page 6, Year: 2022 Period: Fall) and to learn how to certify them, see the attached Effort Report Quick Guide with screenshots for your convenience. This guide provides instructions on how to access the Effort Reports.

*NOTE:  All Effort Reports for periods prior to Fall 2022, including Spring 2022, 2021, and 2020 should be in Finalized status. In order for UMBC to be in compliance, please check Open effort reports for these previous periods under your name to ensure they have been Finalized. Any payroll cost transfers (retros) for previous periods will re-open effort reports and they need to be certified and finalized again.

*NOTE:  If you are new to Effort Report certifications, please see page 10, #1 in the Quick Guide for information on how to gain certification access.

Additional resource: Effort Report Certification Guidance webpage, which includes definitions of Effort

Your timely commitment to this process is appreciated.

The deadline to apply for the Spring 2023 MLE Cohort has been extended to Wednesday, February 8th, 2023 and will close at 11:59pm.
Apply here: tinyurl.com/umbcmle2023.

The Multicultural Leadership Experience (MLE) is a collaboration between Campus Life and Initiatives for Identity Inclusion & Belonging (i3B), that seeks to: 

The sessions are as follows:

- Monday, February 13th, 3 - 4:30pm 

- Monday, February 27th, 3 - 4:30pm 

- Monday, March 13th, 3 - 4:30pm 

- Monday, April 17th, 3 - 4:30pm 

- Monday, May 15th, 3 - 5:00pm 

***All sessions will take place in The Commons 2B23 | The Mosaic: Center for Cultural Diversity***
 

Participants will be exploring the concept of Authentic Leadership, Legacy Building, and Breaking Barriers of White Supremacy within Leadership. We will do this in a leadership learning cohort by: 

• Enhancing participants' leader identity and leadership capacity using an identity-conscious lens and student development theories;
• Increasing participants' awareness of their personal abilities, identity development, and intersections that shape their story through authenticity, self-reflection, and cultural humility;
• Exploring the role they play in developing relationships while building intra/intercultural connections; 
• And capitalizing on their differences, specifically in relation to their racial, ethnic, national, and other salient identity social groups. 

The purpose of all MLE programs is to provide a space for students and student leaders who identify within diverse or marginalized backgrounds to discover their own capacity to lead, while also promoting a better understanding of their experiences, issues, strengths, and outcomes in navigating their own collegiate careers. However, ALL students are welcome to apply!   

Registration is due Monday, February 6th, 2023 at 11:59pm. If you are interested in signing up to be a part of our 2023 cohort, you can sign up using this form. Both undergraduate and graduate students are eligible to participate. In order to be accepted into the program you must commit to all 5 sessions. Please answer all of the questions before submitting your registration. Any questions can be sent to campuslife@umbc.edu and i3b@umbc.edu.

In a recent survey of faculty who used Ultra during the FA2022 semester, 86.5% of faculty who responded said they would use Ultra again, citing its ease of use and consistent experience for students. 

"It's easier to use in general," said one instructor, "and I find that I can prep and roll out my course faster and faster each semester as I learn more and adapt to the tools." Another instructor noted, "I'm anxious for ALL classes to be on Ultra so students can have a more consistent experience." 

Likewise, 87.45% students are also satisfied with Ultra, also noting ease of use as well as its clean interface and tools to track course progress. The response is consistent with previous student surveys (SP2021, FA2019).

Well organized Ultra courses were also praised by students. "Ultra shows all relevant content right away," said one student. "It's tuned for a better learning environment." Another student agreed, "It's my favorite course to log into because I love the interface." 

For more information about Ultra, please visit umbc.edu/go/ultra.

It's cold and rainy on campus today, but our thoughts are looking ahead towards sunny and warm summer. If you're not sure yet how you'd like to spend your summer break, there are tons of options available - keep reading for more information! 

Summer Study Abroad in Japan with Dr. Oakes

Dr. Oakes is leading a study abroad program this summer in which UMBC students can spend three weeks exploring the history and visual culture of Japan. The itinerary will take participants to Hiroshima, Nara, Kyoto, and Tokyo, including visits to temples, museums, and other important places. 

Information sessions will be held on campus in the coming weeks. Click here for more details about the program and the information sessions! 

Summer Internship with the Baltimore Museum of Art

The Baltimore Museum of Art is reinstalling its historic Asian art collection, and is hiring an intern to assist with this exciting process! If you have an interest in Chinese art and art history, curatorial work and research, or working in museums, this is a fabulous opportunity to gain meaningful experience! 

Learn more about the position and the BMA at the posting on their website. 

The deadline to submit an application for this position is January 29! 

Language Intensive Programs with Indiana University

Indiana University's popular and excellent Summer Language Workshop will take place again this summer! 

Earn a year of language-study credits in two months of intensive online learning, and take advantage of in-state tuition rates! A wide variety of languages are available, including less-common options such as Vietnamese, Mongolian, Pashto, and Kyrgyz! 

You can find more information about this opportunity, including program dates, costs, and options, at the workshop's website. 

The deadline to submit an application for priority consideration is Feb 3!

Lunar New Year Event on Campus

The Center for Global Engagement and the International Student & Scholar Services team have put together an event to celebrate the lunar new year. 

On January 30, red envelopes will be left around campus for students to find. One lucky participant will find the golden ticket and win a great prize! 

Check out the attached flier for more information about participating! 

Virginia Diversity Day is a partnership between the Antonin Scalia School of Law at George Mason University, Liberty University School of Law, Regent University School of Law, University of Richmond School of Law, Washington and Lee University School of Law, and the William & Mary Law School to promote diversity in schools across the Commonwealth.

Virginia Diversity Day 2023 will take place on Saturday, January 28 from 11:00 AM to 3:00pm with an optional Logic Games Immersion session offered an hour earlier for those closer to the point of taking the LSAT.   

The event will be conducted over Zoom.  

The event is free and open to all prospective students interested in law. 

Click here to register or see link below.

https://professional.richmond.edu/register/diversityday23