On a sunny and unseasonably warm Halloween this past fall, a group of costumed UMBC students strolled the banks of the Inner Harbor in Baltimore. The costumes were in good fun, but the spirit driving them to the city that day was more scientific than spectral: They were there to check on samplers they had installed around the harbor to measure the concentrations of certain chemicals called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, in the water. 

PFAS are used in a diverse range of products, including cleaning products, clothing, and fire-fighting foam, and have earned the nickname “forever chemicals” because of the way they persist in the environment. There are growing concerns about the health effects of the chemicals, and in recent years there have been efforts to eliminate PFAS from some consumer products and regulate their concentration in drinking water.

The UMBC students’ work to measure PFAS in Baltimore Harbor is one of the first projects aiming to get an understanding of how much of the chemicals are found in the waters around Baltimore and where they might be coming from. Margaret Siao, a master’s student in chemical engineering, took a lead role in the work as part of the ICARE program, which links researchers and Baltimore community members on environmental projects around the city.

Donya Hamidi, an environmental engineering Ph.D. student, also took part in the project, which served as a test case for a larger project she is working on, seeking to expand the utility of innovative passive samplers to measure PFAS in any water source. 

“I’ve lived in Baltimore most of my life,” says Siao. “The harbor is a big part of the city, although many people don’t go out on the water. And that’s one of the reasons I wanted to look at the water quality.”

PFAS are everywhere

There are thousands of different PFAS chemicals. Because of their widespread use and resistance to degradation, they are found throughout the country in the water, soil, air, and food, and in the blood of humans and animals. 

Exposure to some forms of PFAS has been linked to a range of health problems, including decreased fertility in women, developmental effects in children, reduced immune function, and increased risk of cancer and obesity. 

“The PFAS issue just gets more and more complicated by the day,” says Lee Blaney, the environmental engineering professor who leads the lab where Siao and Hamidi work. He notes the EPA recently released an initial risk assessment for certain PFAS found in biosolids, which are a byproduct of wastewater treatment and are sometimes applied to agricultural land as fertilizer. “It’s a big, far-reaching issue.”

Partnering with the community

Blaney is an expert on PFAS, and as concerns about the prevalence and potential health effects of the chemicals have grown, his lab has been a leading partner with Baltimore community members who advocate for and are responsible for the quality of the water.

Siao’s ICARE project was a partnership with the United States Geological Survey Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Water Science Center and Blue Water Baltimore, a non-profit organization with the mission to restore the quality of Baltimore’s rivers, streams, and harbor. Blue Water Baltimore shared their knowledge of the harbor and area waterways and their connections with the community, while lab members shared their expertise and will share their PFAS data once it has been analyzed.

“PFAS is a hot topic, so Margaret’s project is really good timing,” says Barbara Johnson, who was Siao’s mentor at Blue Water Baltimore. “I think her data will be very useful for us in helping the public understand what PFAS are, for example just understanding how many different kinds there are. Margaret has taught me so much about PFAS.”

As part of the field work, Siao and Hamidi also sampled water at the outlet of the Patapsco Wastewater Treatment Plant in Baltimore. That partnership arose when Mohammed Almafrachi, who works as an engineer for the Baltimore City Department of Public Works, became interested in the PFAS issue and sought out a local expert.

“Last year, I found Dr. Blaney’s name on the internet. I drove to the campus, found his office, and he was there. I introduced myself as an engineer at the city of Baltimore, and we sat down and started talking,” Almafrachi says. From that conversation grew not only the collaboration to measure PFAS at the wastewater treatment plant, but also a tour of Baltimore’s largest drinking water treatment plant that Almafrachi gave students in Blaney’s class on environmental physicochemical processes last spring. Almafrachi said he was happy to provide students with a window on a real-world workplace where their skills might one day be applied.

“If you have not gone to the field, then you are not yet a full engineer,” says Almafrachi. “We can talk about theories and textbooks endlessly, but the field is where you really test your skills.”

The value of field work

Siao and Hamidi agree with Almafrachi about the value of field work. They installed their PFAS samplers at three of the four trash wheels around Baltimore Harbor—personified contraptions named Mr. Trash Wheel, Professor Trash Wheel, and Gwynnda the Good Wheel of the West that collect floating trash and keep it from dirtying the harbor. To get to the trash wheels, they took a flat-bottomed wooden boat, “more like a floating platform with a little cabin,” Siao says. 

“Almost every time we collected a sampler, we saw something new or unexpected, for example algae growing on the sampler, and we had to figure out what was going on at that particular site,” says Hamidi. The team’s work and the measurements they collected and are currently analyzing will serve as a foundation for future studies about PFAS in the local environment.

Both Hamidi and Siao say they valued the teamwork of their trips, and the chance to meet people in the community impacted by their research.

“If you are stuck in a lab all day, it’s easy to forget why you’re doing research,” says Siao. “This project gave me a chance to interact with people outside of academia, to learn about what’s important to them, and to learn how to communicate about science with them, which is a really important skill.”

A multidisciplinary team of UMBC researchers was recently awarded $3.8 million from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop new computational methods for assessing the feasibility of scientific claims. The project is motivated by the speed and volume of new developments in science and the need for tools to help evaluate the soundness of new claims.

“Some scientific claims are peer reviewed by independent experts, but others, such as from company press releases, or papers posted to pre-prints sites, are not,” says Frank Ferraro, an associate professor of computer science and lead researcher on the award. And even when science is peer-reviewed, there can still be errors, Ferraro notes. For example, recent research highlighting the danger of flame retardant chemicals leaching from black plastic into food was widely reported on, before it was discovered that an error in the paper led to a significant overstating of the exposure risk. 

An AI science assistant 

The idea of an AI assistant specifically designed to tackle complex research questions has been catching on recently. OpenAI, the creators of ChatGPT, recently debuted their “DeepResearch” tool, which the company says can use reasoning to synthesize large amounts of online information and complete multi-step research tasks.

Ferraro says the tool he and his colleagues hope to develop should stand-out from other approaches by employing a strongly iterative process, necessary to really take apart and analyze claims. The tool will break down a scientific claim into constituent sub-claims, and apply a wide range of evidence and reasoning approaches to assess the feasibility of each one. 

The team, which includes UMBC faculty Tejas Gokhale, computer science and electrical engineering, and Tyler Josephson, chemical, biochemical, and environmental engineering, as well as colleagues from Stony Brook University, the University of Texas at Austin, and the University of Cambridge, will develop and test the tool on three leading areas of scientific research: materials science, AI, and quantum computing.

“It’s a little meta that the AI will be analyzing AI,” Ferraro says. More than 20 UMBC undergrads, grad students, and post-docs will take part in the project. “They’ll get opportunities to network with peers on a highly relevant topic,” Ferraro says. “They’ll be helping guide the national conversation on these issues.”

During a recent trip to Normandy, France, UMBC student Rebecca Smith hopped over to Lüneburg, a historic town in northern Germany, to visit Gertrud Krause-Traudes, her partner in UMBC’s Virtual Tandem Conversation project. After three semesters of virtual conversations in German and English, Smith was more than happy to go the extra kilometer (plus a few hundred more) to meet her in person. Krause-Traudes, a professional tour guide, was excited to show Smith Lüneburg’s historic sites. 

The Virtual Tandem Conversation project was created by Susanne Sutton, a teaching professor of German, and Talke Macfarland, a visiting lecturer of German in UMBC’s Department of Modern Languages, Linguistics, and Intercultural Communication. They established the program during COVID-19 to help UMBC students learning German and German students learning English socialize while continuing to improve their language skills.

“I asked the director of the International Center at Leuphana University Lüneburg to post a call for participants on their listserv,” says Sutton, who, while visiting her hometown, had met the director in nearby Lüneburg to discuss UMBC study abroad credit equivalencies. “That generated 35 applicants! It just grew from there,” Sutton says. Now, Sutton is managing partnerships and recruiting collaborators from two additional institutions: University of Kassel and BBS-1 Wirtschaftsgymnasium, a business vocational high school.

Smith, who is a professional harpist, enrolled in UMBC’s Golden ID Program at the beginning of the pandemic to continue taking classes with Macfarland, whom she first met at Anne Arundel Community College. “To my delight, faculty and students warmly welcomed me into their German classes,” says Smith, who was returning to take classes and rekindle her love of German after raising her family and pursuing her music career. “In 2023, I became involved with the tandem program, where my German counterpart, Gertrud, and I instantly developed a friendship through our mutual love of music and foreign languages.”

“How fortunate and privileged I feel to be part of this vibrant international community at UMBC, who seek not only to advance their students’ language abilities, but even more importantly, to build bridges between the two countries, one person at a time—diplomacy at its best!” says Smith.

Getting to know you

Macfarland and Sutton grew up in the state of Lower Saxony in northern Germany. Their joy for teaching their heritage language is a key reason the program has grown from one semester to a sequence of three semesters, each with increasing difficulty and 35 – 40 tandem participants per year. 

The tandem project is now a required component of the German course sequence to increase proficiency in reading, writing, speaking, and listening, emphasizing intercultural communication and global awareness. However, the actual tandem meetings are entirely student-driven and take place outside of the classroom—each tandem pair arranges virtual meetings according to their schedule. UMBC students keep a weekly diary, where they document their conversations. During the first three weeks, partners learn about each other, exploring their respective cities and universities.

“I provide questions that relate to what we currently do in class,” says Macfarland. “For instance, when we read about an exhibit by German visual artist Gerhart Richter, I asked partners to discuss art: Do you visit museums? What interests you? What’s nearby? Are you artistic? What art or work resonates with you and why?” The journal also allows instructors to monitor and give feedback on students’ weekly meetings. Some of these conversations have led to more personal exchanges, such as discussing video games they play or playing together, sharing the latest music, or exchanging photos.

“My students take what their tandem partners say seriously, and it sticks better than when we just cover the grammar in class. I think it is because they really get to experience the language in action and receive feedback from someone their age who can confirm (or deny) what they have learned in class,” says Dawn Nichols, a tandem faculty partner and lecturer of English at the University of Kassel in central Germany, an official UMBC exchange partner. “Their partners also add a little bit of context and experience to specific language choices and give them 1:1 attention, which is not always easy to do in every lesson.”

Overcoming linguistic and cultural barriers

The Tandem Conversation Program has evolved to be a vehicle for dismantling stereotypes and misconceptions about the United States and Germany. Liana Grosko, a geography and environmental systems junior with a German minor, was apprehensive about participating in the project. “German was halting for me, and no matter how much I prepared for it, there was always a learning curve when interacting with a native German speaker,” says Grosko. “My German fluency has much improved since we started talking, as well as my knowledge and appreciation of my culture’s place in the world and, of course, my friendship with Malin Heinrich, my tandem partner. I ended up getting to meet her in person in Munich early last year.”

Nichols attests to the improvement in fluency and accuracy, but also more unexpected benefits like a decrease in anxiety some German students experience when speaking English. She continues to be excited each time she hears students learn day-to-day language that is sometimes left out of textbooks and knowledge that helps them better understand American culture and critique their system. 

The program continues to have far-reaching effects. Smith has taken four classes with Macfarland and six with Sutton to date. She plans to visit Vienna this summer, where she hopes to connect for a second time with classmate and former German teacher Doris Hoelscher-Stanley, an MMLIC senior currently living in Hamburg, Germany. She first visited Hoelscher-Stanley in Hamburg on her trip to meet Krause-Traudes. Smith is not the only tandem participant to go beyond the virtual classroom. Last summer, Sutton and Macfarland had their own exchange in Leipzig, Germany, four hours from Lüneburg, where they attended a workshop on teaching German as a foreign language in the U.S. 

The tandem program inspired Emma Gebhard ’23, a psychology major with a German minor, to apply to the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange for Young Professionals program to study and work in Germany. She was one of 74 Americans chosen as a 2024 – 2025 fellow. Desire Hayes ’24, an English major with a German minor, put her skills to work studying abroad at Leuphana University Lüneburg, where she met Nele-Sophie Bauer, her German 202 tandem partner.

Other partners are making more plans to meet. “Now that the project has concluded for me, I can confidently say that it was a success. I have learned a great deal about American culture, and I feel much more confident in my English abilities. I no longer hesitate to start speaking English in everyday situations without any prior preparation,” says Heinrich, who was paired with UMBC student Liana Grosko. “The greatest success has been forming a friendship with Liana. We still communicate weekly, and I eagerly look forward to meeting her again in person this spring.”

“This tandem has put Baltimore on the map for some of my students, who generally only know something about California, Florida, and New York,” says Nichols at the University of Kassel. “Putting a very human and relatable face to the abstract concept of the United States—it’s normal to have some (mis)conceptions about people we don’t know. One part of this exchange that cannot be overvalued is how it helps our students see each other as real people and not just some image they see or read somewhere.”

Learn more about UMBC’s Modern Language, Linguistics, and Intercultural Communication German track options.

Meet Harish Reddy Manyam, M.P.S. ’24, data science. Harish is a data scientist and AI governance advisor at Marshfield Clinic Health System, where he gets to put his interest in AI/machine learning (ML) in healthcare to work. At UMBC, he co-developed a no-code generative AI chatbot and made strong connections with peers and classmates. As an international student, he found a network of professional support at bwtech, UMBC’s research and technology park. In his free time, Harish loves traveling—he’s visited 25 states so far! Take it away, Harish!

Q: What is your WHY? What brought you to UMBC?

A: I came to UMBC because I wanted an education that went beyond textbooks—something practical, impactful, and connected to real-world problems. As an international student, I applied to several universities, but my final choice was between the University of Arizona and UMBC. 

One major reason I chose UMBC was the Master of Professional Studies (MPS) in Data Science, a program that focuses on hands-on learning rather than just theory. I’ve always believed education should prepare us to solve real-life problems, and UMBC gave me that foundation.

I came here with two big dreams: to become a data scientist and to create something of my own as an entrepreneur. I’m proud to say that I now work as a data scientist and AI governance advisor for Marshfield Clinic Health System (MCHS), a nonprofit healthcare organization, where I use data and AI to improve healthcare outcomes and support underserved communities.

My time at UMBC also gave me incredible research opportunities. I worked on an independent research project under Ergun Simsek, UMBC data science program director, and together, we published a paper titled “Classification with Electromagnetic Waves” in The Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET), an esteemed engineering journal. This research experience taught me how to approach complex problems and think critically—skills that I now use every day in my job.

Beyond academics, UMBC empowered me to co-build a no-code Gen AI chatbot product with one of my professors, and this experience fueled my entrepreneurial spirit. I am now exploring launching my own startup through bwtech@UMBC, the university’s business incubator.

But more than anything, UMBC gave me a community that supported me both professionally and personally. As an international student, being welcomed, encouraged, and supported was something I never took for granted—UMBC became my second home.

So, my WHY for choosing UMBC was to learn, grow, and create something impactful—and today, because of UMBC, I’m well on my way to making that dream a reality. UMBC gave me not just knowledge, but a community that believed in me and helped me find my purpose.

Q: Where have you found support in the UMBC community?

There are six pillars to my life in the U.S.—people who have inspired and supported me throughout my journey. First is Simsek, who became my role model from the very first speech he gave to our Fall 2022 incoming student batch. His incredible work inspired me, and I was fortunate to work with him on independent research that led to our publication in the IET journal.

Second is Mehmet Sarica, one of my professors. I took two courses under him—Data 601: Introduction to Data Science and Data 602: Introduction to Data Analysis and Machine Learning. He taught me valuable lessons beyond coursework and later recommended me to work as a graduate teaching assistant under his guidance, which was a significant milestone in my career.

Third is Abdullah Karassan, another professor and mentor. I took Financial Data Science with him and later collaborated on developing LeverBot, a no-code Generative AI chatbot. I served as the product owner and AI developer for this project, which was a great learning experience in applied AI.

Fourth is the UMBC Career Center, especially Christine Routzahn, the director, who provided immense support in shaping my career path and preparing me for professional opportunities.

Another person who has made a big impact on my journey is Marjie Cota, director of entrepreneurial services at bwtech@UMBC. She encouraged me to think bigger—to believe that I could start my own company. Her guidance opened a new door for me to pursue my entrepreneurial dreams, and today I’m actively exploring launching a startup through bwtech.

Finally, my uncles Raj and Mahesh have been my strongest personal support system since day one in the U.S., helping me settle and navigate life as an international student. I’m also grateful to my friends who stood by me and made my journey memorable. As an international student, having friends who understand you and stand by you is priceless. They made the hardest days easier and the good days even better.

Q: What’s your favorite part of being a part of Retriever Nation?

A: My favorite part of Retriever Nation is the strong sense of community and lifelong connections. Even after graduation, I feel supported by professors, mentors, and peers. It’s a network that continues to inspire, uplift, and open doors for personal and professional growth.

Q: What do you love most about the data science program?

A: What I love most about my academic program is how supportive and collaborative everyone is—from professors to classmates. The faculty are always approachable and genuinely invested in students’ success, providing both academic and career guidance. I also love that the program focuses on practical, real-world applications of data science, which helped me gain hands-on experience through research and projects.

Q: What’s one thing you’d want someone who hasn’t joined the UMBC community to know?

A: One thing I’d want someone to know is that UMBC truly cares about its students—both academically and personally. Whether it’s professors, the Career Center, or fellow students, there’s always someone ready to guide, support, and help you succeed. You’ll never feel alone in your journey here. It’s a family for me.

What makes UMBC special is that it’s more than a university—it’s a community of people who lift each other up. They believed in me when I was just learning to believe in myself. Their HOW—the way they supported, mentored, and cared—has made all the difference in my life.

Because of UMBC, I’ve grown into a data scientist working in healthcare, a researcher, and an aspiring entrepreneur. And none of this would have been possible without the amazing people who stood beside me. For that, I will forever be grateful.

Q: How have you remained connected with UMBC?

A: As an alum and professional, I value my ongoing partnership with UMBC through research collaborations and mentorship opportunities. UMBC builds meaningful relationships that extend beyond graduation—focused on innovation, real-world problem-solving, and community support. I would tell anyone that partnering with UMBC means working with passionate, talented individuals committed to making a difference. It’s a partnership that fosters growth, creativity, and mutual success.

* * * * *

UMBC’s greatest strength is its people. When people meet Retrievers and hear about the passion they bring, the relationships they create, the ways they support each other, and the commitment they have to inclusive excellence, they truly get a sense of our community. That’s what “Meet a Retriever” is all about.

Learn more about how UMBC can help you achieve your goals.

The TowerCares Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Laurel, Maryland-based Tower Federal Credit Union, has partnered with UMBC’s Cybersecurity Institute to create a new scholarship fund for UMBC students studying cybersecurity. The scholarships will support students in the university’s Cyber Scholars Program, a program with a track record of more than 10 years nurturing the next generation of cybersecurity professionals. The program provides financial aid, a welcoming community, unique courses, mentoring, and the chance for students to take part in cybersecurity research and internships early in their academic careers.

 “Our mission is to help our community thrive, and partnering with institutions like UMBC—recognized as a leader in information technology and cybersecurity—is a key part of that effort,” says Allen Brisentine, chairman of the TowerCares Foundation. “The entire Maryland region benefits from UMBC’s renowned and highly regarded cybersecurity program.”

As cyber threats, ransomware, and data breaches have become daily realities in our increasingly digital world, the demand for skilled cybersecurity professionals remains strong. The Cyber Scholars Program has launched the careers of over 100 graduates, many of whom have gone on to jobs safeguarding the digital data of government agencies, businesses, and everyday consumers.

“Last year we celebrated the 10th anniversary of the program, and it was such a great feeling to meet program alumni who have become cybersecurity leaders,” says Anupam Joshi, acting dean of the College of Engineering and Information Technology. “We’re deeply grateful to the TowerCares Foundation for supporting this important work that both helps grow the cybersecurity workforce and makes it more inclusive.”