“Ten recent UMBC alumni are recipients of 2020 – 2021 Fulbright U.S. Student Program awards, including seven from UMBC’s Class of 2020. Each year over 11,000 students apply and just over 2,000 are selected from hundreds of colleges and universities across the United States. The award secures funding for U.S. students to pursue international graduate study, research, internships, or teaching.

While COVID-19 has presented a range of challenges and uncertainties for Fulbright recipients, UMBC is proud to celebrate their hard work and achievements.  “This year’s recipients have demonstrated great flexibility and maturity as they navigate the changes that our current global situation requires,” explains Brian Souders, M.A.‘19, TESOL and Ph.D. ’09, language, literacy and culture. He serves as associate director of global engagement opportunities in UMBC’s office of International Education Services. 

Read the full article from UMBCNews here:  UMBC celebrates 2020 – 2021 Fulbright recipients

#1 Visit new OneLogin link: https://stateofmaryland.onelogin.com/

#2 Enter your SPS ID/W# (Your SPS ID can be found on your timesheet, POSC, and your myUMBC profile)

#3 Enter the Temporary password* made up of the following digits (your current password will not work here):  

• Capital first letter of your first name
• Lower case first letter of your last name
• 4 digit birth year
• Last 4 digits of your social security number
• End by entering $ (the dollar sign character on your keyboard)

*Temporary Password Example: 

For employee John Smith, birth year 1960, last 4 digits of his SSN 8567

Password is: Js19608567$

OKLAHOMA SUPERCOMPUTING SYMPOSIUM 2020
    Wed Sep 30 2020, 9:00am-5:00pm Central Time
    Our first all-videoconferencing edition!
    Contact: Henry Neeman (hneeman@ou.edu)
    
    http://symposium2020.oscer.ou.edu/
    
    Please feel free to forward this to anyone who might be
    interested -- undergraduates, graduate students, faculty,
    staff, professionals, colleagues etc.
    
    If you've received this note in error, or you've
    already registered, please ignore it, or forward it to others.
    
    DETAILS:
    
    Are you interested in the FREE Oklahoma Supercomputing
    Symposium 2020 on Wed Sep 30, live via videoconferencing
    all day?
    
    SPEAKERS WILL INCLUDE:
    
    * Amy Friedlander, National Science Foundation
    Office Director (Acting), Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure
    
    * John Shalf, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
    Department Head for Computer Science
    
    * Dan Stanzione, Texas Advanced Computing Center, U Texas Austin
    Executive Director
    
    * Tom Lange, Technology Optimization & Management LLC
    
    For the 2020 Symposium, we've already had:
    
    * 50 registrations in under 15 hours;
    
    * 100 registrations in under 19 hours;
    
    * 150 registrations in less than a week;
    
    * 200 registrations in less than a month!
    
    Over the past 18 Symposia, we've had over 4500 attendees from
    127 academic institutions from 28 US states and territories,
    178 private companies, 36 government agencies (federal, state,
    municipal, foreign) and 21 non-governmental organizations.
    
    The 2019 Symposium had 175 attendees, from l7 academic
    institutions in 5 states, 11 private companies,
    8 government agencies and 3 non-governmental organizations.
    
    We'd be delighted to have you participate. It's a great way to
    learn what's happening on the advanced computing side of your
    research, teaching and professional areas.
    
    And, if you know of students -- graduate, undergraduate, community
    college, career tech, high school -- who are interested in these
    areas, this is a great opportunity to introduce them to
    conferences, especially because it's FREE.
    
    Contact:
    
    Henry Neeman (hneeman@ou.edu)
    Director, OU Supercomputing Center for Education & Research (OSCER)
    Associate Professor, Gallogly College of Engineering
    Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Computer Science
    OU Information Technology
    The University of Oklahoma
    

Salamanders regenerate their tails. Sea stars regenerate their arms. Most species of planaria, a type of flatworm, can regenerate everything from their heads (complete with brain) to their digestive organs. But if you lose part of a finger in a shop class accident, or while chopping vegetables for dinner, you’re out of luck—for now.

“Why can the worm do it, and we cannot?” asks Daniel Lobo, assistant professor of biological sciences. That’s not really the question, though, he explains.

“We were able to generate ourselves when we were embryos. So we have all the information of how to generate a new hand, for example,” Lobo points out. “The genes are there. You have the same information in your cells.” So why can’t humans generate body parts after that early stage of development? 

“Actually, we could,” Lobo argues, if we could somehow reactivate the same genes that enabled us to develop in the womb. So, “Can we reactivate them?” he asks. That’s the real question, which he is working to answer with a five-year, $1.9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health.

Restoring independence

Lobo is tackling this question through a unique combination of techniques: wet lab experiments with planaria, and machine learning approaches that use computers to help deduce genetic regulatory networks. Previous work successfully restored the regeneration capacity of a species of planaria that had lost that ability. While still a long way from growing a human finger back, it’s a sign that the promise of reclaiming regeneration is not so far-fetched.  

This line of research could eventually make it possible for people with limb loss, such as injured veterans, to regrow lost body parts. By increasing understanding of genetic regulation, Lobo’s work might also enhance knowledge of development and developmental diseases, and how cancerous tumors work around regulatory networks to grow unchecked.

The right worm for the job

Lobo uses an approach known as systems biology to tackle these big ideas. “We mix the fields of math, computer science, and biology,” he says. “We use computational techniques to extract knowledge from biological data sets.” The result is mathematical models that can explain observations the team makes in the lab. The models can also make predictions, which researchers can test in the lab.

Planaria are the ideal model organism for lab work, because of their astonishing ability to regenerate. Even a worm in eight pieces will grow back into eight complete worms with proper proportions. Like mammals, the worms also grow when they have enough to eat. However, when hungry, rather than simply getting thinner, their whole bodies shrink to maintain proper proportions. So, beyond regeneration, “The general idea is to understand how gene regulation works to specify shapes and forms in biology,” Lobo says.

Teamwork and flexibility

“This program is too hard to do with just wet lab or just computational approaches,” Lobo says. “You need both.” 

Because the work requires such a range of techniques, it also requires team members with a range of skills. Lobo’s lab includes undergraduate and graduate students in math, computer science, bioinformatics, and biology. The new grant will also allow him to bring on two new postdoctoral fellows, one on the wet lab side and one computational.

“We will be able to create that synergy and get people trained in both fields in the same lab,” says Lobo. He describes the interactions between lab members from different fields as essential to the success of the research.

Rather than fund a specific project, Lobo’s new Outstanding Investigator Grant will fund the lab as a whole. “It gives you a lot of freedom to adapt to whatever discoveries you make,” he says. “You have the flexibility to pursue the details that you need to.”

Teaching computers so they can teach us

The computers the team uses are powerful, but for now, they still benefit from some human guidance. To give the computers a head start on figuring out the genetic regulatory networks, the team inputs certain rules before they add loads of data from their own experiments and other labs’ work. That also ensures the computers don’t come up with a solution that is biologically impossible.  

“We know that genes generally interact in certain fashions, and those interactions can be represented in different ways mathematically,” Lobo explains. “So we can tell the computer what kinds of interactions a gene can have. And then it is free to put those interactions together in ways that make sense.”

Lobo compares it to working with Lego blocks. “How many structures can you make with Legos? Unlimited, right?” he asks. “So the computer also has an unlimited space to search, but only with things that can be put together. You cannot make a perfectly round Lego ball, for example, if you only have square blocks.”

Speeding up the science

Combining wet lab and computational approaches will drastically increase the pace of discovery. A high performance cluster of computers can come up with a probable solution by testing more than a billion possible models of a regulatory network in a few days—a task that would take infinitely long for a team of humans.

Using computers to come up with plausible models, testing the models’ predictions in the lab, and then feeding the new data back into the computers to refine the model will bring researchers ever closer to understanding how different biological systems work. Research teams can apply the same investigative process to any number of biological questions, from regeneration to metastasis.

Some biologists may shy away from programming, but as Lobo says, “Biology is more and more computational. We are reaching a point that without a computer to process the data you cannot do almost any experimental work in biology.” 

He argues that interdisciplinary teams like his are the future—that diverse groups of researchers will increasingly combine multiple approaches to answer the big questions, to speed up scientific progress in ways that will have real, positive impact.

Banner image: Daniel Lobo in front of the Biological Sciences Building mural. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

Eleven recent UMBC alumni are recipients of 2020 – 2021 Fulbright U.S. Student Program awards, including seven from UMBC’s Class of 2020. Each year over 11,000 students apply and just over 2,000 are selected from hundreds of colleges and universities across the United States. The award secures funding for U.S. students to pursue international graduate study, research, internships, or teaching.

While COVID-19 has presented a range of challenges and uncertainties for Fulbright recipients, UMBC is proud to celebrate their hard work and achievements. 

“This year’s recipients have demonstrated great flexibility and maturity as they navigate the changes that our current global situation requires,” explains Brian Souders, M.A.‘19, TESOL and Ph.D. ’09, language, literacy and culture. He serves as associate director of global engagement opportunities in UMBC’s office of International Education Services. 

Souders, who is also UMBC’s Fulbright program advisor and scholar liaison, says that these hurdles have also not deterred UMBC faculty, students, and alumni from applying for the 2021 – 2022 Fulbright award.

Souders with Fulbright class of 2019 – 2021.

UMBC’s 2020 – 2021 Fulbright U.S. Student Program award recipients

Middle East

• Kiplyn Jones, M.P.P. ’20, public policy, Jordan, English Teaching 

East Asia

Osia on campus.
Photo courtesy of Osia.

• Hannah Jang ’20, global studies, Korea, English Teaching Assistant
• Phillip McKnight, M.A. ’19, instructional systems design, Laos, English Teaching Assistant
• Samina Musa ’20, chemical engineering, Malaysia, English Teaching Assistant
• Uchenna Osia ’19, computer science, Malaysia, English Teaching Assistant

Europe and Eurasia

• Brandon Ables, M.F.A., ’20, intermedia and digital arts, Romania, English Teaching Assistant
• Alida Hartwell ’20, bioinformatics/computational biology, Latvia, English Teaching Assistant
• Matthew Linz ’20, modern languages, linguistics, and intercultural communication, Kazakhstan, English Teaching Assistant
•  Idania Ramos ’20, psychology, Spain, English Teaching Assistant
• Jocelyn Wilkins ’20, mechanical engineering, University of Porto, Portugal, Master’s Program

Kashett in Costa Rica, where he previously studied abroad. Photo courtesy of Kashett.

Western Hemisphere

• Daniel Kashkett ’19, global studies, Mexico, Bilateral Internship Program

Top Fulbright producer

The Fulbright U.S. Student program is highly competitive, and recipients are chosen based on academic or professional achievement and demonstrated leadership potential. UMBC’s ten 2020 – 2021 recipients include students from a broad range of majors. And they’ve been selected for a diverse range of experiences, as English teaching assistants, interns, and graduate students in Europe, East Asia, Western Hemisphere, and the Middle East. 

This success comes after UMBC was named a Fulbright Top Producing Institution for receiving fourteen Fulbright U.S. Student awards in 2019 – 2020. Only a small portion of institutions participating in the Fulbright program are designated as top producers each year, an honor granted by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. 

Both the Fulbright U.S. Student Program and the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program are designed to help build networks to support cross-cultural understanding. They connect people from the United States with people from around the world to dispel stereotypes and help each other reach common goals.

Faculty Fulbright for research in Southeast Asia

Beyond the student program, faculty are eligible to apply for the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program to further research on critical world problems in all disciplines. This year, UMBC’s John Rennie Short, professor of public policy, has received a Fulbright award to conduct research in Southeast Asia on the geopolitics of the South China Sea.

Rennie Short with local university students and staff in Nanchang, China.
Photo courtesy of Rennie Short.

The award will support Rennie Short’s research in Malaysia and the Philippines and allow him to visit Cambodia, Indonesia, and Vietnam. He will interview scholars and foreign policy analysts while at the Asian Center at the University of the Philippines Diliman and the Centre for ASEAN Regionalism at the University of Malaya, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Rennie Short also plans to give public lectures and seminars about U.S. public policy and other topics while in Southeast Asia.

Kuala Lampur, one of the places Rennie Short will visit for research.
Photo courtesy of Rennie Short.

This research will inform Rennie Short’s second book on East Asian maritime issues. “The book will widen our understanding of the complex and troubled geopolitics of the South China Sea,” he explains. “It will provide an Association of Southeast Asian Nations perspective to counter the dominant Chinese and U.S. narratives.” 

Rennie Short’s first book on East Asian geopolitical issues, Korea: A Cartographic History (2012, University of Chicago Press), tackled the East Sea versus Sea of Japan naming dispute between South Korea and Japan. He has also written “Troubled Waters: Conflict in the South China Sea Explained,” republished in U.S. News & World Report.

Other recent UMBC faculty recipients of Fulbright U.S. Scholar awards include Charissa Cheah, professor of psychology; Guenet Abraham, associate professor visual arts; Chuck Eggleton, professor and chair of mechanical engineering; and Marc Zupan, associate professor of mechanical engineering.

Abraham in Ethiopia as a Fulbright Scholar in 2018. Photo courtesy of Abraham.

Banner image: International hanging from the ceiling of UMBC’s Commons. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 unless otherwise noted.

With Covid-19 being something we all face in our daily lives, malicious actors are not giving up on scamming people out of not only their personal and financial information, but are also trying to get their victims’ money or even just installing a malicious software onto their victim’s devices.

The article linked below from Forbes is a good reminder that there are still many types of Covid-19 themed threats from phishing scams to fake websites.

Phishing Scams

Phishing emails are one of the biggest scams out there. As time goes on the scammers get more and more creative with their phishing techniques. With many people worried about Covid-19 and working from home, scammers are posing as loan specialists, health officials, and national authorities. For example, some scammers send emails that appear to be from the World Health Organization (WHO) or the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Here are some tip to look for to try and spot a phishing email:

• Unfamiliar email address

• Generic greetings

• Spelling and grammatical errors

• Sense of urgency or demand for immediate action

• Request for banking or personal information
  
  

At UMBC we see phishing emails with scammers saying that they are from places like Cisco or Corestaff trying to give work from home opportunities to students. We have also seen attempts in which a compromised umbc account will be used to send out phishing emails. For more information on these scams or other tips please check out the DoIT security articles which are linked below.

If you do receive any email that you suspect is a scam, please do not click on any URL or reply. Either of those actions confirms to the sender that your email address is valid. Please forward the message (with the email headers) to security@umbc.edu. 

How do I forward full email headers?

https://wiki.umbc.edu/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=1867970

Bogus Websites

Another common scamming technique is the use of fake websites. Scammers will provide a link to these websites in their phishing emails to make the scam more believable. The scammer tries to make the website look as legitimate as possible. They may do this by using similar domain names such as <www.umbc.net&gt; instead of <www.umbc.edu&gt;.

There are ways to try and make sure the website you are visiting is legitimate. Before you click, check the link! If you move your cursor over the link without clicking, the real link address should appear at the bottom of your browser. 

Here are some other tips to help verify that a website is legitimate:

•  Check to see if the website has a secure connection, this can be seen at the top left of the search bar where there is a little lock icon.

• Look for https in the URL instead of http, (the s stands for secure).

• Verify the website's privacy policy if possible.

• Check for contact information on the website, if there is no privacy or contact information that is a big red flag.

• Watch out for signs of malware, meaning suspicious pop-ups and fake-looking ads.

Fake Advertisements

Similar to the creation of fake websites, scammers are creating fake ads. Scammers use fake ads to trick people into providing information for things like Covid-19 loans and stimulus checks. 

Just as with phishing emails, these ads will have a sense of urgency to them. Using terms like “Act now before funds run out.” The important thing to remember here is to not click on ads on unfamiliar websites and pages. Please do not give out personal or financial information online if the person or site that you are giving it to is not secure and trusted.

Phony Phone Calls and Texts

Phishing campaigns are not limited to emails, but can appear in phone calls, text messages, and direct messages (DMs) on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. If you receive a strange message or voicemail from an unknown sender or caller, do not respond or click on any links.

For text messages and DMs, use the same precautions as with phishing emails. Do not click on links from unsolicited messages, watch out for spelling and grammatical errors, and do not provide any personal or financial information.

For more information on tips to help protect against phishing scams done over text or DMs (also known as “smishing”) please check out this article: https://itsecurity.umbc.edu/critical/?id=94345.

When it comes to phone calls, use caution. Do not give away any personal or financial information over the phone, especially your Social Security number or bank account information. If you feel the call is suspicious, hang up. If the scammers are claiming to be from a company or a bank and you feel the call is suspicious, do not interact try to find the actual customer service number from the company’s website, to confirm if the call was legitimate or not.

For more information, please check out: 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikekappel/2020/08/05/cybersecurity-threats-during-covid-19/#68b36c80113c

To read more articles published by DOIT visit: 

https://itsecurity.umbc.edu/critical/?tag=notice. 

https://itsecurity.umbc.edu/home/covid-19-news/?tag=covid19

With Covid-19 still very present in our day to day lives, many states have started to roll out contact tracing programs to help control the spread of disease. This is done by informing people who have come in contact with someone who has tested positive and warning them to watch for symptoms. But with anything new that starts, malicious actors are quick to jump on the bandwagon and exploit the chance to try and scam people out of personal and financial information.

These scams work by sending an unsolicited message to you via text, email, or a social media app. These messages will explain that you’ve come in contact with someone who has tested positive for Covid-19.  The message will instruct you to self-isolate and provide a link for more information. The link can contain malware that could cause harm to your device.

Another version of this scam involves a robocall claiming to be part of “contact and tracing efforts.” The call will inform you that you have come in contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19. After you elect to speak to a representative, the “contact tracer” asks to verify your personal information. This starts with your full name, date of birth, but can quickly move to personal identifiable information and/or financial information.

Here are some tips to help tell if you are talking to a real contact tracer:

• Contact tracers will ask you to confirm your identity, but not financial information. They will ask for you to confirm your name, address and date of birth. They may also ask about your current health, medical history, and recent travels. They will not ask for any government ID numbers or bank account details. 

• Contact tracers will identify themselves. They should start the call with their name and stating that they are calling from the department of health or another official recognized organization.

• Contact tracing is normally done by phone call. Not through social media or texting.

• A real contact tracer will never reveal the identity of the person who tested positive. 

• If you receive a link and are not sure if it is real, double check it. If the contact tracer is claiming to be from the government the URL should end in .gov (for the United States) or .ca (for Canada). 

If you live in Maryland, please visit https://coronavirus.maryland.gov/pages/contact-tracing for more information on Maryland’s contact tracing efforts. According to the link above, the caller ID for a Maryland contact tracer should be marked as “MD COVID”. If you do not have caller ID, the phone number you are looking for is (240) 466-4488.

If you do receive a message that you suspect is a scam, please do not click on any URL or reply. Either of those actions confirms to the sender that your email address or phone number is valid. Please forward the message (with the email headers) to security@umbc.edu.

How do I forward full email headers?

https://wiki.umbc.edu/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=1867970

For more information, please check out: 

https://www.bbb.org/article/news-releases/22560-scam-alert-covid-contact-tracing-work-inspires-copycat-scams

To read more articles published by DoIT visit: 

https://itsecurity.umbc.edu/critical/?tag=notice. 

https://itsecurity.umbc.edu/home/covid-19-news/?tag=covid19