W2s have been mailed by Central Payroll Bureau and are available on the Payroll Online Service Center (POSC). 

It appears that you can view/print your W2 from Chrome but you may need to "enable popups" for the W2 window to display.  

Several payroll updates have been posted on the Human Resources website  to include how to read your 2018 W2 and how to request a duplicate W2.   The 2019 W4 is not currently available but the site will be updated as soon as we receive it.

Kudos: Sandra Lacy Presents in 36th Annual Choreographer’s Showcase

We are absolutely delighted to note that the Dance Department’s Sandra Lacy has been selected once again for the 36th Annual Choreographer’s Showcase Saturday, January 26th, 3:00 PM and 8:00 PM at The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center.This evening of works by new and established choreographers has been inspiring dance audiences and supporting scores of dance makers since 1983. Called a “rite of passage in the DC-area dance community”, the Showcase gives area choreographers the chance to demonstrate their talent on a professional stage.

LAB: Empirical Evidence: John Ruppert

January 31 – March 16
Opening Reception: 
Thursday, January 31, 5 – 7 p.m.
Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture

The Center for Art, Design and Visual Culturepresents an exhibition of work by artist John Ruppert entitled LAB: Empirical Evidence: John Ruppert. The exhibition will span the artist’s recent explorations with installation, sculptural objects, photography, and sound as it relates to the world around us. Influenced by his intense interest in natural phenomena, Ruppert’s overarching investigation will focus on the intersection of the natural world and humanity. In a broader sense, he seeks to develop a heightened consciousness of our precarious existence on the planet.

Professor Lisa Moren selected as CIRCA-IMET Artist in Residence, Spring 2019

CIRCA and the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology (IMET) are pleased to announce that UMBC Visual Arts Professor Lisa Moren has been selected as the inaugural CIRCA-IMET Artist in Residence. Her project FLOCKING: A Social Narrative in Marine Biology will be supported in Spring of 2019.

Professor Moren’s project will investigate marine bio-mimicry, documenting chaotic patterns found in nature that are difficult to visualize, such as flocking, murmurations, and “organic differentiation.” The goal is to simulate found bio-phenomena digitally, allowing the public to experience it through virtual reality and digital fabrication.

The residency awards the selected artist research support funds, a course release and a studio space on the IMET campus. Professor Moren will have opportunities to engage scientists  and to present work and have discussions with IMET stakeholders, including faculty, students, start-up companies in the IMET Harbor Launch business incubator and partner institutions. Professor Moren will share her residency work in a public program when IMET hosts an “Open Day” on Saturday, May 4, 2019.

Corrie Francis Parks featured in UMBC Magazine story on Art-Sci Intersections

Her most recent work, “Foreign Exchange,” an animated short about imaginary borders, combines both worlds, with individual pieces of sand journeying across frames dotted with inked winks of paper presidents.

“I think the really interesting part of what I’m doing right now is this idea of looking closely at things,” she says. “You start to see all of these little details, and I think that it’s a broader metaphor for the way we need to approach social problems, political problems. It’s about looking at the needs of the individual as well as this big, giant generalization.”

https://magazine.umbc.edu/tiny-beautiful-things/

The School of Public Policy and Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) are hosting a one-day Public Policy Camp at UMBC on March 12, 2019. 

The purpose of the program is to introduce the field of public policy to a group of students who might not otherwise be familiar with it. APPAM is looking to increase knowledge, particularly among people who are members of groups that are underrepresented in public policy work.

This is a great opportunity to identify local students from diverse backgrounds who could pursue future education and career in a public-policy-related field. 

The one-day program will consist of networking opportunities, group table activities, policy simulations, and panel sessions. Dr. Hrabowski and Dean Casper will be opening the event with remarks. There will also be discussions with the students about what public policy is, what the core competencies are in a graduate program of public policy or public affairs. 

Students will also be able to hear from and speak with people who have MPP, MPA and PhD degrees and see what they do for a living, what a typical day is like for them and how their career paths have lead them to their current positions.  

Registration for the event is FREE.

UMBC Students can register for the event through this link: https://goo.gl/forms/X38b0DEBAN9AdZbR2. 

Burge paper on managing disease in oyster aquaculture

Jan 24, 2019

The potential spread of disease from farmed oysters to wild oysters is a frequent concern for oyster producers and consumers alike. Contrary to common perceptions, new UMBC research in Aquaculture Environment Interactionshas found that properly managed oyster aquaculture operations can actually help limit the spread of disease among wild oysters.

“This is another line of evidence saying that oyster aquaculture can be a good thing,” says Colleen Burge, assistant professor of marine biotechnology at UMBC, and a co-author on the study.

“The established way of thinking is that disease spreads from aquaculture, but in fact aquaculture may limit disease in nearby wild populations,” adds Tal Ben-Horin, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Rhode Island and the lead author on the study.

Creative conversations

At a workshop funded by the NSF as part of the Ecology of Infectious Marine Disease Research Coordination Network, Burge co-led a session on disease transmission among sea creatures. Prior to the workshop, Ben-Horin began working on mathematical models to examine the interactions between farmed oysters, wild oysters, and the common oyster disease Dermo.

Once at the workshop, Ben-Horin, Burge, and others further explored how best to refine Ben-Horin’s models. “It was exciting to be in the room, talking to experts, bouncing around ideas about different biological systems,” Burge says.

One of the results of the NSF-sponsored workshop was the new paper. Burge and colleagues from Rutgers University, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science contributed their expertise regarding oyster biology and the ecology of the oysters’ environment, and Ben-Horin used that input to inform the model.

Oyster aquaculture boom a boon?

According to Burge, disease is a major factor in limiting wild oyster populations. Dermo, one of the most prevalent oyster diseases, is caused by a single-celled parasite that occurs naturally in the environment and proliferates in the tissue of host oysters. When infected oysters die, their decaying tissue spreads the parasite to other oysters. But it takes two to three years for the parasite to kill the oysters, and as long as the oysters are harvested before that time, the the spread of the parasite (which is harmless to humans) is limited.

This new research suggests that it’s time to “start thinking about oyster aquaculture as being a sink for disease, rather than a source,” says Burge. She adds that the study “furthers the idea that you can plant a large number of oysters in aquaculture, and it won’t (from a Dermo disease perspective) negatively affect the wild oysters if you harvest them early enough.”

That’s important, because “oyster aquaculture is growing in Maryland right now,” Burge says. In addition, conservation groups are using oyster reef restoration as a tool to improve the Chesapeake Bay’s water quality and ecosystem health overall.

“This paper suggests this growing aquaculture industry could actually support restoration efforts and also the wild fisheries,” Burge says. That is, as long as aquaculturists employ proper management techniques. Oyster farms that grow their product on the bottom surface of the Chesapeake Bay or other bodies of water are unlikely to recover all of their oysters, increasing rather than reducing the spread of the disease, explains Ben-Horin. Growing the oysters in cages or bags above the bottom solves that problem.

It’s all connected

Beyond this new study, Burge’s research more broadly explores how oysters and other bivalves work as some of nature’s most efficient water filters. She examines how they filter out pathogens that affect a range of species. In addition to supporting the current work led by Ben-Horin, she recently received funding to investigate how oysters filter out an eelgrass pathogen from water.

Eelgrass populations have been on the rise in the Bay in recent years, which is a good sign for overall Bay health. “Eelgrass is a foundational species and can provide structure for lots of different animals to live in, including fish, scallops, and other invertebrates,” Burge says. In addition, it’s been shown to moderate the water’s acidity in its immediate vicinity, possibly counteracting the negative effects of ocean acidification.

Eelgrass might even affect oysters and their diseases. “Sometimes ecosystem-level effects are overlooked, but,” Ben-Horin says regarding the new research, “in this case they’re front and center.” He reflects, “Everything that happens in the water is connected.”

All photos by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

URCAD is on Wednesday, April 24th, 2019.  

Applications are due by Feb. 22nd. Any student with completed mentor-led research, scholarship, or creative work that is ready to present by April 24th is eligible to participate.The application is simple- a 200-word abstract and mentor support statement. 

We strongly encourage social science students to apply! The Center for Social Science Scholarship will be selecting four submissions to feature as a themed social science panel. 

Retriever Essentials - Free Non-Perishable Food and Free winter clothing (coats, hats, scarves and gloves)