The iCARE NRT master’s degree is a 2-year interdisciplinary degree program with a dual mission of diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice combined with research focused on improving the health of Baltimore Harbor as a socioecosystem. Students will be mentored by a UMBC faculty member and a non-academic scientist from a government agency, non-profit, or industry. That research team will be embedded in a larger stakeholder team, meaning that each student and their mentors will identify one or more community members (non-scientists) with a stake in the research to be engaged in the research from development to completion. Students will also be taking skills courses (community leadership, DEIJ, oral and written communication) and disciplinary courses appropriate to their research project. Students complete requirements for the program while earning a degree from UMBC in Biological Sciences, Environmental Engineering, Geography & Environmental Systems, or the cross-campus Marine Estuarine Environmental Science (MEES) program. Students need to apply to their respective program at this link and complete a supplemental ICARE NRT application by January 1, 2021 for the Fall 2021 cohort.

An individual with experience and interest in urban hydrology is sought to

1. deploy and maintain hydrologic field equipment including sensors, data loggers, power supplies, and telemetry; 
2. collect and process field data and field samples; 
3. assist faculty and graduate students with field experiments; and 
4. carry out data QA/QC, data compilation, and hydrologic analysis on UMBC computers using a variety of software tools. 

Requires a Bachelor's degree in environmental science, geology, engineering, or related field. Familiarity with hydrologic field equipment is required. Work will be carried out at the Center for Urban Environmental Research and Education at UMBC in collaboration with USGS and university partners in a new Critical Zone Network project. Requires a Bachelor's degree in environmental science, geology, engineering, or related field.  Familiarity with hydrologic field equipment is required. Must have completed at least one introductory hydrology course. Salary is commensurate with qualifications and experience. Position is full-time and includes full UMBC benefits package. This is a grant-funded position wherein employment is contingent upon the renewal of the grant. For best consideration, submit a cover letter, resume, transcripts and contact information for three professional references to UMBC’s employment system by September 25, 2020.  Questions on the position can be directed to Dr. Claire Welty, weltyc@umbc.edu.

Note, however, that departments/programs may have their own, unique deadlines. 

Environmental Engineering Master's Program application is due January 1, 2021.

The ICARE program will begin reviewing applicants after January 1, 2021. Also worth noting is that the ICARE program will be running for the next 5 years, and plans to train 3 cohorts of students, earning degrees in 2023, 2024, and 2025.

Please browse the ICARE website for links to potential UMBC faculty mentors (All Environmental Engineering, ENEN, Faculty are potential faculty mentors), their research interests, potential thesis projects (more coming soon!), and other helpful information, including the application portal.

ICARE looks forward to hearing from you!

If you have any questions about the Environmental Engineering Program email cbegrad@umbc.edu. 

The article is titled "Rapid COVID-19 tests now available in some Maryland doctors’ offices but questions about accuracy persist" 

By MEREDITH COHN

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY | AUGUST 26, 2020 | SARAH HANSEN

BIOLOGY, CNMS, STEMBUILD, UNDERGRADRESEARCH

The 19 members of UMBC’s STEM BUILD Cohort 5 and their instructors had been looking forward to a summer wet lab experience. When that wasn’t possible due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they worked together to convert their eight-week, in-person program into a successful online learning experience unlike anything they’d tried before.

“It was different,” says Maria Cambraia, postdoctoral teaching fellow in the STEM BUILD program and one of the instructors, “but we kept the main goal. We wanted to offer them an authentic research experience, and we did.”

Independent exploration

This year, BUILD Trainees worked in groups to analyze the genomes of bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacterial cells. They also viewed and analyzed phages that previous UMBC students had isolated, including some that were unknown to science before the students discovered them. After some initial analysis, each group came up with its own research question to explore using bioinformatics tools.

“Students gain exposure to research techniques in the Bioanalytical Phage Module, but the larger benefit is their experience in self-directed research without predefined results,” says Steven Caruso, principal lecturer of biological sciences. “Because participants are engaging in real research, the experience is different every year.”

Caroline Moore ’23 (left, offset) presents her team’s research at SURF. (Screenshot from the SURF website)

Caruso has been teaching the Phage Hunters lab to UMBC students since 2008, and he adapted the full-length course for STEM BUILD five years ago. “This experience prepares them for their next step, working with an individual mentor in their own lab,” he says. “It also allows them additional opportunity for productive collaboration with their peers, and for scientific communication during lab meetings and poster presentations.”

Feedback for success

At the end of the eight weeks, the students presented their findings at UMBC’s virtual Summer Undergraduate Research Fest (SURF). The VoiceThread platform allowed students to give and receive feedback in written, audio, and video format, all in real time.

“Leading up to SURF we practiced using VoiceThread and got tons of helpful feedback from our instructors,” shares Caroline Moore ’23, biological sciences. Even though the online format made some things more difficult, she adds, “I think having such a supportive cohort and instructors helped me push through and end up creating an amazing presentation.”

In addition to practicing with the platform, students presented updates on their work every week throughout the summer and got support with designing their posters. “Dr. Cambraia gave detailed feedback, which allowed us to develop skills for creating the abstracts and posters,” shares Angela Kim ’23, chemical engineering.

“We needed to teach them not just how to present, but instead, ‘This is how you present, and this is how you make it effective online,’” Cambraia says.

The students also received helpful feedback at SURF itself. “The questions our group received made me think about what can be improved in our research and gave me some ideas for future research as well,” Kim says. Sharath Velliyamattam ‘23, biological sciences, adds, “I learned from this experience to give visual cues, how to engage my audience, and I learned to interact with different types of people, from faculty to students.”

A new field and new confidence

The Bioanalytical Phage Module introduced many of the students to bioinformatics—and bioinformatics tools—for the first time. “The online bioinformatic work with our phage genomes was really interesting,” says Kevin Gibbons ’23, biological sciences. “I never thought I’d be interested in computational or bioinformatic work, but I feel like I gained a lot of skills that will be helpful no matter what type of research I do in the future.”

For Grace Tugado ’23, chemical engineering, the experience sparked a powerful interest in phages. “Whenever I went out with my family on hikes, I brought up phages and what we learned in lecture,” she says.

Overall, “I think this research opportunity has helped me become more confident in my ability to communicate in a research group and has made me better prepared to work collaboratively,” Moore says.

Angela Kim ’23 (left, offset) presents her research at SURF. (Screenshot from the SURF website)

READ MORE: https://news.umbc.edu/bedrock-to-treetops-nsf-awards-4-8m-to-urban-environment-study-led-by-umbcs-claire-welty/

Dipanjan Pan, professor of chemical, biochemical, and environmental engineering, has received two new grants from the National Institutes of Health to support research poised to improve COVID-19 testing. 

Pan and his team recently developed an experimental diagnostic test to rapidly detect the novel coronavirus causing COVID-19, potentially as early as the first day of infection. The test shows results visually, through a color change visible with the naked eye when the virus is present. Their preliminary results were published in the journal ACS Nano, and the biosensors behind this work have generated substantial academic and commercial interest.

Pan received funding from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) to support the development of a mediated colorimetric biosensor. This technology greatly reduces the possibility of misinterpreting the results of COVID-19 sensing tests. 

“These awards are very timely. Two back-to-back grants from NIBIB will help me to further develop and optimize the technology and help cover the cost for conducting a clinical study for validation purposes,” says Pan. “The key here is the fine balance between the accuracy of the results and the ability of the testing platform to provide a rapid response.” 

The second grant will support Pan’s work to develop a COVID-19 diagnostic platform that will work like a home-based glucometer. Currently, with limitations in sample collection and transportation, it often takes several days for patients to receive their COVID-19 test results. The delay between when the test is taken and when the results are available can lead to the continued spread of the virus. 

To reduce the time between when a person takes a COVID-19 test and receives their results, Pan will develop a test that includes an electrochemical biosensor that can detect the virus in about 3 minutes. If patients can receive their results within minutes of taking the test, Pan notes, they can quickly self-isolate and avoid exposing others to the virus.

Pan explains that the test will limit the possibility for inaccurate results. “We adopted a molecularly targeted approach to detect RNA from the virus. Since every living organism has unique RNA, targeting a distinctive genetic material of COVID-19 causative virus SARS-CoV-2 ensures remarkable accuracy and specificity,” he says.

In addition to his appointment at UMBC, Pan is a professor of diagnostic radiology and nuclear medicine and pediatrics at the University of Maryland School of Medicine as part of his dual appointment with the University of Maryland, Baltimore.

Ouriel Ndalamba is a Sophomore Chemical Engineering major. She is a CWIT Scholar, member of the Honors College, a summer LSAMP participant, and a URA Scholar.

Title of your research project: 

Dissolved carbon dioxide flotation for nutrient extraction and recovery from poultry litter.

Land application of poultry litter and other agricultural wastes by farmers causes nutrient runoff into water bodies and creates dead zones, which negatively impact water quality and aquatic life. My research aims to develop a new technology to effectively remove and recover the nutrients in poultry litter and agricultural waste to not only protect the environment, but also generate valuable fertilizers and soil amendments that can be sold to offset operating costs.

My mentors are Dr. Lee Blaney and Michael Fleming in the Department of Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering (CBEE). I was introduced to Dr. Blaney by Dr. Miller and Dr. Wagner as I expressed an interest in engineering after I graduated high school. In the lab, I work alongside Michael Fleming, a graduate student. I asked Dr. Blaney to mentor me for this project, because I am interested in solving water pollution problems. 

Lavik lab is looking for a postdoctoral fellow with experience in drug delivery and polymer synthesis for a project looking at developing new ocular therapeutics. If you are interested in learning more, email Dr. Erin Lavik (elavik@umbc.edu)

Lavik's Tweet: https://twitter.com/ErinLavik/status/1280199389357760514