Noted Maryland poll founder Mileah Kromer will be center’s inaugural director 

University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) President Valerie Sheares Ashby announced today the founding of the UMBC Institute of Politics (IoP)—an academic, political research, and public outreach center that will harness the university’s robust research capacity and civic-focused public mission to provide a regional base for local, state, and national political analysis. 

The IoP will open with the start of the fall 2024 semester on August 28, and will begin public opinion polling and other public-facing initiatives on issues related to the 2024 general election and the upcoming 2025 Maryland state legislative session. The IoP’s most important purpose will be to provide UMBC students with unique opportunities for experiential learning and to build career-ready skills. 

Mileah K. Kromer, will serve as the IoP’s inaugural director. She will join UMBC’s Department of Political Science as an associate professor and teach courses on American politics, Maryland state politics, and survey research methodology. Kromer previously served as director of the Sarah T. Hughes Center for Politics at Goucher College and founder of the influential Goucher College Poll.

“There has never been a more crucial time in our democracy for credible, high-quality research and information on our political systems and electoral processes,” said Sheares Ashby. “As a public R1 institution located in the greater Washington, D.C., region, UMBC is ideally situated to enrich political understanding, elevate the level of public discourse, and better prepare our students to be active, engaged citizens of our state, our nation, and our world. We are delighted to welcome Mileah Kromer to the UMBC family and excited to add the Institute of Politics to our campus community.”

The IoP will be housed in UMBC’s College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences and will build on the civic engagement, public affairs, and social science research work already being done by the university’s Center for Democracy and Civic Life, Sondheim Public Affairs Scholars Program, and Center for Social Science Scholarship. Ian Anson, associate professor of political science, will serve as associate director.

“I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to build an Institute of Politics at UMBC. As a first-generation college graduate, I know firsthand that public institutions like UMBC—with their focus on inclusive excellence—have the power to change the lives of students from all backgrounds,” said Kromer. “I’m excited to build an institute that supports learning opportunities for the next generation of policymakers and builds on the already excellent work done by faculty in the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences.”

About the Inaugural Director 

Since 2012, Kromer has led the Sarah T. Hughes Center for Politics at Goucher College, where she founded and directed the Goucher College Poll. She brings with her nearly two decades of public opinion polling and teaching experience from Louisiana State University, Elon University, and Goucher College. 

Kromer is a recognized expert on Maryland politics and public opinion polling. Her opinion writing has appeared in POLITICO Magazine, CNN, The Washington Post, The Hill, The Baltimore Banner, Maryland Matters, and The Baltimore Sun. She is a frequent guest on state and local public affairs programs like WYPR’s Midday with Tom Hall, WBAL-TV’s 11 TV Hill, and MPT’s State Circle, among others.

Kromer is the author of Blue State Republican: How Larry Hogan Won Where Republicans Lose and Lessons for a Future GOP (Temple University Press, 2022). Her work has also appeared in Gender & Politics, Survey Practice, Social Science Quarterly, and the Social Science Journal.  Her forthcoming article in State and Local Government Review examines how academic-based survey centers can play a role in real-time state and local political discourse.

Kromer earned her B.A. in economics from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 2003 and a Ph.D. in political science from Louisiana State University in 2008.  

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University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) is a top-ranked national university with an inclusive culture that connects innovative teaching and learning, research across disciplines, and civic engagement.

For more information contact Cherie Parker, Director of Media Relations, at cheriepa@umbc.edu or 240-930-1169.

In an email to the campus community, UMBC President Valerie Sheares Ashby has announced that Paul A. Meggett will join the university as general counsel, and that Yaakov “Jake” Weissmann ’06 will assume the role of vice president for government relations and community affairs. The letter follows in full:

Dear UMBC Community, 

With great pleasure, I write to share the news of two key appointments in UMBC’s senior leadership team. Both are highly specialized roles, and in the two individuals who will fill them, UMBC will have the very best people to lead these areas into the future. 

Following a national search supported by Major, Lindsey & Africa, a leading global legal executive search firm, I have appointed Paul A. Meggett as our next general counsel, the university’s chief legal officer. Paul, who has served since 2018 as general counsel at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, has deep and broad experience in all aspects of higher education law and in leading such work at public institutions, including top-tier research universities and healthcare systems. 

At Appalachian, Paul successfully launched a Division of Institutional Integrity comprising enterprise-wide legal, risk, and compliance functions, helping to drive institutional excellence and a comprehensive approach in those areas. Because that institution owns and operates a regulated electric utility, his experience also extended into the utility regulatory field.   

Paul’s career has spanned legal counsel in academic and healthcare systems, as well as faculty and administration roles in higher education. He spent more than a decade at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, serving from 1999 to 2011 concurrently as assistant university counsel and as associate general counsel for UNC Health, an integrated healthcare system of 11 hospitals and more than 33,000 employees. Prior to his time at Appalachian, Paul served on the faculty and briefly as interim dean of the Charlotte School of Law in Charlotte, North Carolina, and he served from 2004 to 2009 as an adjunct professor of law at UNC School of Law. 

Paul earned his bachelor’s degree from North Carolina State University and his law degree from UNC School of Law. After graduating from law school, he clerked for Chief Justice Burley B. Mitchell Jr. of the North Carolina Supreme Court. In 2023, Paul was awarded the John B. McMillan Distinguished Service Award from the North Carolina State Bar.

I am delighted that Paul has accepted our offer to join the UMBC community. I also am grateful to the team in our general counsel’s office, including John Burke, who has taken on a great volume and scope of work since joining the office in 2023. I know John and the team join all of us in welcoming Paul, who will begin at UMBC on September 16. 

For another very specialized role, the best candidate was already in our midst. Yaakov “Jake” Weissmann ’06 has been serving for nearly a year as associate vice president for government relations and community affairs. He will now assume the role of vice president, and I am thrilled that UMBC will continue to benefit from his leadership, his deep knowledge of local and state politics, and his love for UMBC. 

Jake majored in social work and psychology at UMBC, and it was here that he became passionate about a life in public service and community engagement. Before returning to UMBC as associate vice president in 2023, he served for two years as the assistant chief administrative officer in Montgomery County and spent 14 years with the Maryland General Assembly, including two years working in the House of Delegates and 12 years in the Office of the Senate President. During his time in the state Senate, he served in many roles, including as chief of staff for two Senate presidents. 

Jake earned a master’s degree in social work from the University of Maryland, Baltimore, and a law degree from the University of Baltimore. In 2023, Governor Wes Moore appointed him to the State Board of Elections. Anyone who has had the opportunity to work with Jake—and that is a great many of you, I am sure—undoubtedly have come to know how knowledgeable and talented he is, how infectious his energy is, and how his deep relationships throughout Maryland and his belief in UMBC’s mission and vision are helping to advance our goals every day. 

With these two appointments, we are making great strides. Our senior leadership team is growing even stronger, and UMBC’s future is brighter than ever. 

Sincerely,

President Valerie Sheares Ashby

Meet Lola Akinmade Åkerström ‘98, M.S. ‘02, award-winning visual storyteller, international bestselling author, and travel entrepreneur. Originally a geographic information systems professional, she eventually made the shift to rely on her passport and storytelling skills to travel the world. Her work has been featured in National Geographic, The New York Times, The Sunday Times, The Guardian, BBC, CNN, Travel Channel, Travel + Leisure, Lonely Planet, Forbes, and many more. She has collaborated with commercial brands such as Dove, Getty Images, Mercedes Benz, and National Geographic Channel, to name a few. Take it away, Lola!

Q: Tell us about your current job. What do you want Retriever Nation to know about you?

A: As an entrepreneur, I run the Stockholm-based creative storytelling agency Geotraveler Media and online academy, Geotraveler Media Academy, which runs photography experiences around the world and is dedicated to visual storytelling and helping the next generation of travel storytellers put the heart back into the craft.

I am honored to be one of Condé Nast Traveler‘s 2024 “Most Powerful Women in Travel.” I’m also an award-winning visual storyteller recently shortlisted for the Global Peace Photo Award and an international bestselling author.

My book, Due North, received the Lowell Thomas Gold Award for Best Travel Book. I am also the author of the international bestseller LAGOM: The Swedish Secret of Living Well, available in over 15 foreign language editions. My internationally acclaimed novel, In Every Mirror She’s Black, was a Good Morning America Buzz Pick, Apple Editors’ Pick, Amazon Editors’ Pick, Independent UK’s “Best Thought-provoking Story,” and was shortlisted for the Bad Form Review Book of the Year. My latest novel, Everything Is Not Enough, is an NAACP Image Award Nominee for Outstanding Literature, Jennette McCurdy Book Club Pick, and a Washington Post, Sunday Times, and Amazon Editors’ Pick, among others.

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

A: My WHY really is to fight isolation within my sphere of influence by using my work to make people feel seen, heard, and acknowledged through cultural connection. But I didn’t always start out in the creative industry.

I started at Montgomery College, in Rockville, Maryland, a few days after I turned 16 years old. After a year, I transferred to UMBC to study information systems, while minoring in geography.  I got my bachelor’s from UMBC at the age of 19.

Pictured left: Lola holding an issue of UMBC Magazine in the snow, next to a reindeer.

Q: What are some long-term takeaways from your years at UMBC?

A: My time at UMBC remains one of my most memorable life experiences—from joining the women’s rugby team and African Student Association (ASA) to getting into geographic information systems (GIS) through my minor in geography and meeting my favorite math professor, Manil Suri.

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

A: UMBC helped tease out my passions and true career paths. Once I graduated, I went on to specialize in GIS, first as a programmer, and then as a system architect for 12-plus years before switching to my current career as a visual storyteller. 

Many Nigerian parents have a cultural mindset that feels being a doctor, lawyer, or engineer means their children have become successful. Understandably, my parents were worried when I decided to freelance full-time as a writer and photographer. Ultimately, they both wanted me to be happy. Now they are my biggest fans.

As a storyteller, I have been featured on Condé Nast Traveler‘s 2024 Women Who Travel Power List. I was named one of the 2023 Most Influential Women in Travel by Travel Pulse, a 2022 Hasselblad Heroine, and the 2018 Bill Muster Travel Photographer of the Year. I was also honored with a MIPAD 100 (Most Influential People of African Descent) Award within media and culture in 2018, and with a Newsweek 2021 Future of Travel Award – Storytelling.

Q: How have you stayed connected with the UMBC community?

A: Through the lifelong friendships I’ve created in both the rugby team and African Student Association that has seen us through marriages and children too. I am still in contact with some of my former colleagues and fellow students from the geography department as well. 

My days with UMBC rugby led me to form the Dayton Women’s Rugby Club, which previously had only a men’s team. I walked onto the field and said, “I’m here to help you start a women’s rugby team.” Their expressions were priceless. It became my international community in Dayton and the team went on to win their division and develop some of the best rugby players in Ohio. 

I then went on to play for an elite team in Northern Virginia before relocating to Sweden. 

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

A: Once a Retriever, always a Retriever. As an example, from taking Professor Manil Suri’s calculus class in 1996 to still connecting with him in 2024 over social media is a testament to the lifelong impact the incredible people I’ve met through my UMBC community have made on me.

Pictured right: Lola’s UMBC women’s rugby jacket.

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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.

On a warm and humid day in January, about 40 children, five teachers, and 10 volunteers spill out of a school bus at the Saigon Zoo and Botanical Garden in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam—one big bundle of anticipation, full of chatter and bounce. The children, who live at a home for orphans and rarely get opportunities like this, are especially excited. 

The busload fans out across the zoo in small groups led by enthusiastic college student guides, searching for answers to “challenge questions” that encourage them to learn about the animals. The trip, envisioned and organized by rising senior Nhi Nguyen—an international Vietnamese student at UMBC—is one of her many endeavors to use her talents to serve others. When the groups reconnect over lunch, they share what they learned. Most groups managed to complete the vast majority of the challenges, and the children’s curiosity and imagination inspired even more questions. Finally, exhausted but happy, the group piles back into the bus and heads home. 

Our “presence matters”

Nguyenhas made it her mission to find ways to improve others’ lives, whether through conducting cancer research in Chuck Bieberich’s lab at UMBC or at the MD Anderson Cancer Center, proposing a winning project to increase the availability of freshwater for agriculture, or supporting Retriever Essentials at UMBC. She also tutors in the Academic Success Center and Chemistry Tutorial Center and serves as the vice president for the Biology Council of Majors. The zoo outing, organized under the auspice of ToTheZoo, a non-profit Nguyen founded, was one of her most ambitious endeavors to date. She hopes to repeat it in the future.

Nguyen’s personal journey has inspired her efforts to serve others: An evolutionary biology class at UMBC helped her overcome depression by opening her eyes to the miracle of every human being. After the class, “I was more thankful to be born as a human with unique value and identity,” she shares, noting the lengthy evolutionary process required to arrive at Homo sapiens and the originality of every human. “I hope people around me will feel the same way I did,” she says, “that their presence matters, and their existence is invaluable.”

Taking children to a zoo—where they could explore the variety of living things found on Earth—was a natural fit. The project satisfied both of Nguyen’s goals: “to make people aware of their wonderful existence through biology knowledge and to inspire people to pursue education.”

A driving force for good

There were plenty of challenges in organizing the event—everything from building trust with the children’s shelters in Vietnam, to recruiting volunteers and fundraising—but Nguyen persevered with the support of mentors at UMBC. Ariel Barbosa, program coordinator for Retriever Essentials, provided guidance for starting up a new organization, grounded in Barbosa’s own experience growing Retriever Essentials at UMBC. Maria Cambraia, assistant director for research and international affairs in the College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences (CNMS), also offered support as Nguyen’s mentor through the CNMS Scholars program.

“As an international student—she moved by herself to the U.S. when she was only in high school!—Nhi’s journey has given her a unique perspective on life,” Cambraia shares. “This experience has instilled in her a strong sense of compassion and a genuine desire to make a positive impact on the lives of others. Her ability to empathize with people from all walks of life is truly remarkable and serves as a driving force behind her endless dedication to helping others.”

Making the world brighter

In the future, Nguyen says she would like to organize a similar trip or an in-house science fair for children at The Children’s Home, which is less than two miles from UMBC. As a biochemistry and bioinformatics double major, she is also hoping to pursue an M.D./Ph.D. so that she can continue to contribute to biomedical research and education and inspire the next generation of young people in the sciences. 

As a believer in the butterfly effect, Nguyen says, “I think even my small actions can help light up a person’s day, or I can inspire others to bring positivity into the world.” In the end, her philosophy is simple, and she strives to live it every day: “This world would be brighter if people helped other people a little and appreciated what they have.”

Anil Shaji was pretty content going to UMBC for classes and returning to his home in Elkridge, Maryland, as soon as his academic obligations were over. Until one day, a notice on myUMBC caught his eye—the Career Center was organizing an exploratory trip to Morgan Stanley for potential interns that week. As a senior studying political science, Shaji had originally imagined a role for himself at a security agency or somewhere in politics, not a financial institution. But expanding his perspective, he stepped out of his comfort zone and thought, “Why not take the trip?” 

Shaji took a UMBC bus with about 20 other interested students and spent the day chatting with Morgan Stanley recruiters about what the three-month, full-time paid internship would look like. Shaji went home and quickly updated his resume, completed a virtual interview, and submitted his application. Later, Shaji was invited to SuperDay, where top candidates undergo multiple rounds of interviews with the firm. Eight months later, he’s wrapping up his placement as an operations summer analyst in Morgan Stanley’s institutional securities group and he sees a viable future using his major in a financial services career.

“There are multiple paths—many that are not linear—to get to your longer-term goal,” says Marykate Conroy, associate director of internships and employment in UMBC’s Career Center who often coaches students through the internship application process. “Diverse experiences also may open doors for students that they didn’t even see as possible.”

Hundreds of Retrievers are completing internships this summer, putting their skills to use in real life settings and trying out roles in industries they might want to pursue after graduation. Many of these students are discovering how their goals could be supported and strengthened by an internship not originally on their radar.

Looking for creative freedom

When Kayla Moore saw a LinkedIn post advertising a graphic design internship for the communications department at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), she was initially hesitant to apply for several reasons. Moore, a senior studying visual arts, was aware of Johns Hopkins, but didn’t know anything about APL, and she was nervous about the communications-side of things—would she be required to write? She didn’t see what she did yet as a designer as a way of communicating content to an audience.

She went into her internship search “wanting to find something in the middle of having creative freedom and being structured. And this role has been ideal,” Moore says. So far, she’s designed graphics for papers, posters, and her favorite project—a sticker for a company family fun day. She pitched the design as a “draw your own picture” sticker that includes an APL logo or phrase, and to her surprise, that’s what the team went with. 

The biggest skill she’s learned so far? Communication, she laughs. In past roles, she says, she’s finished her design and passed it along to her supervisor or professor and that was it. At APL, “I have to talk to at least four or five people before anything goes to print,” says Moore. “Someone reviews my design and offers feedback; someone checks for spelling. And then I need to talk to the print shop and ask if things look good. So communication was definitely the biggest thing that I’ve learned in order to make sure I’m not slowing down the process to get a project out.”

Let your motivation lead you

Misan Ayomike is spending the summer at the University of Chicago in an economics internship with Pietro Veronesi, a preeminent economist and a dean at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. The catch? “I’m not really that cognizant in the econ field,” Ayomike freely admits. “I’m an information systems major senior.” But Veronesi was open to any major “with strong quantitative and analytical backgrounds” and good references to work on his project researching the R&D costs for oncology, and Ayomike knew she’d get what she wanted out of the internship—feedback on her own ongoing research project. 

Left: Headshot of Misan Ayomike. Right: Ayomike at the Leadership Alliance Conference after presenting her own research project conducted during her internship at the University of Chicago. Photos courtesy of Ayomike.

When Christine Routzahn, director of UMBC’s Career Center, brought this opportunity to Ayomike, she jumped at the chance to earn a sizeable stipend, experience life in a different city, and have dedicated time and feedback while conducting her own manual and statistical review on how accurate and efficient Chat GPT’s 4o AI model is at reviewing and replicating data from annual reports of pharmaceutical companies. The internship, coordinated through the Leadership Alliance, culminated in a conference where Ayomike presented her work. 

Ayomike’s advisor Bill Ryan, a lecturer in information systems, was one of her references when she applied. Looking back, he knew she’d be a good fit because “she liked and enjoyed research, as well as understood and sought out articles of interest in her topic areas,” he says. “This opportunity would provide her with that research opportunity and to also demonstrate some of the learning she’s done in information systems. It was an opportunity to pull everything together that motivated her.”

Relying on different strengths

Within his major, Shaji says, his favorite classes have been intelligence-based or about international relations, so originally he thought that meant pursuing an internship at a place like Northrop Grumman or the CIA. But after visiting Morgan Stanley, he saw the social sciences connection. “The banking industry is heavily regulated and there are laws in place that banks need to follow, so what Congress passes affects the firm as well as the clients.” 

For Shaji’s role at Morgan Stanley, he’s looking at new types of data every day. “When we lend securities out to hedge funds, we need to observe whether they’re in compliance—whether Morgan Stanley is properly making those transactions or actions—and we’re ensuring that we’re following all protocols internally as well as with government regulations,” says Shaji. “We are working to ensure that the numbers are all adding up correctly as they should.”

Shaji’s biggest takeaway from Morgan Stanley was how necessary voices are from all perspectives. “When you bring in a group of people who are quantitative majors or political science majors and art majors and you put them into a group,” he says, “they can truly build out some awesome solutions to existing problems. But it requires all those different perspectives—all those different strengths—put together.”

Right: Anil Shaji in the offices at Morgan Stanley in downtown Baltimore. (Marlayna Demond ’11/UMBC).

No such thing as a “perfect internship” 

While some students may have difficulty thinking about options other than their ideal placement, says Conroy in the Career Center, eventually students become excited about the increased options and opportunities that won’t throw them off track with their future goals. “The pressure to get the ‘perfect internship’ is released,” she says.

Moore, at APL, was excited to dive into the world of digital design but says she knows now she wants to explore positions that also let her work with her hands. When thinking about advice for other Retrievers looking for internships, she says, “Think about it as an extended job interview—there’s always a chance you can get hired on afterward, but also it’s an experience for you to see if you actually really like this industry.”

Ayomike concluded her internship by presenting her own research at a Leadership Alliance conference in Harford, Connecticut. Thinking back over her summer at the University of Chicago, she says, “I hadn’t ever really thought of going into econ or research, so this experience broadened my field of thinking. I learned about a lot of things I did not know that I did not know.”

A few weeks into her summer internship with pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, rising senior Ortisemoyowa “Moyo” Ikomi, chemical engineering, attended an event celebrating a milestone in the company’s construction of a new drug manufacturing plant in Rockville, Maryland. During the event, the organizers played a video featuring a young girl whose seemingly terminal cancer was cured with immunotherapy drugs—the same type of drugs that would be manufactured in the new facility.

“This girl was in hospice care, at home with her family who thought they might just have to wait for her life to end, and this drug gave her a new lease on life. It drove home for me how important this work is, and how I would love to keep working in the pharmaceutical industry,” says Ikomi.

Ikomi landed her internship with AstraZeneca after talking with a company representative at the UMBC Career Fair. She worked on the company’s management of the planned Rockville plant, investigating a software tool that could track construction progress.

“It’s not traditional chemical engineering, more within the realm of project management of large-scale engineering projects. I’m definitely enjoying it,” Ikomi says. “I’ve learned so much during the internship. The experience has made me think I’d like to continue working in the engineering project management sphere.”

Ikomi credits the UMBC Career Center with supporting her throughout her internship application process—consulting with her on application timelines, uncovering resources for finding job openings, and offering tips for honing her resume and interviewing skills. “They offer an invaluable service,” she says. “Even more students could benefit from using them.” 

Ikomi, who came to UMBC from Lagos, Nigeria, says she arrived thinking she wanted to be a scientific researcher. When she realized basic research wasn’t the best fit for her, faculty and fellow students listened as she talked through her dilemma and offered advice on other options. She found that her true passions lay in shepherding discoveries from the lab to the wider world, where they could directly impact people’s lives.

Since that celebration event at AstraZeneca, Ikomi says she often thinks back to the video of the young girl who was cured of cancer. “When I think of this internship as a whole, my mind always goes to that experience. That moment crystallized that this type of work is what I want to dedicate my career to.” 

With plans to become a professional photographer, Luna Siesko, a rising senior in visual arts, has already generated an impressive portfolio of work, ranging from portraiture to landscapes to event photography. But Siesko knows that in order to succeed as an artist, in today’s world, that also means succeeding as a small business owner—promoting herself and her work in the marketplace.

For Siesko, a summer internship at the Baltimore County Arts Guild (BCAG) in nearby Catonsville provided a key opportunity to broaden her skills, expanding her background in social media, website posts, space management, and event planning, developing capabilities that she feels will ground her in the future. “I’ve always had this dream of having my own studio space, and some sort of exhibit space for my work,” Siesko says. “And so this internship has been really applicable to that—making sure that the space is managed and accessible, and everything is running smoothly.”

Young artists like Siesko who study in UMBC’s dance, music, theatre, and visual arts programs often choose to establish themselves as independent practitioners, whether performing on stage, creating artwork, or expressing their work in other ways. Siesko says this will allow her to continue doing what she loves: “I just really enjoy working with people and being able to capture how multifaceted people can be.”

Engaging the community in the arts

A special focal point of Siesko’s work this summer was promotion of BCAG’s Arts & Drafts Summer Music Festival, held at Guinness Open Gate Brewery in late June. “A lot of the work I’ve been doing for them I would consider to be outreach work,” Siesko shares. “So I’ve been making posts on their website and doing social media. And for Arts and Drafts, I voiced a video, a little commercial they made to promote the festival.”

Established in 2012, the non-profit Baltimore County Arts Guild fosters the arts throughout Baltimore County, and is also the managing entity of the Catonsville Arts District, which is centered along downtown Frederick Road. “Luna’s creativity always shines through in her work,” says Gloria Fajimolu, programs and events manager at BCAG, who supervised Siesko’s internship. “Throughout her internship, she’s engaged with clients for rentals, liaised with contractors, established connections with a myriad of businesses, and fostered collaboration with talented artists.She’s always exploring new ideas and growing, despite any challenges along the way.”

Two untitled portrait photographs by Luna Siesko, courtesy of Siesko.

On campus, Siesko has been able to hone her skills through work at commonvision, UMBC’s print and design center, where she has focused on event photography and videography—images of people on campus and signature events such as Homecoming and Quadmania, as well as helping film a promotional video for the Woolies at UMBC.

Looking forward to what comes next

Siesko gives a special shout-out to the Career Center, where she  found her summer internship opportunity. “My first two years at UMBC I didn’t really go to any career fairs, because I wasn’t sure what I was looking for at all. But then I went to one to try to find an internship, and that was very helpful to me,” says Siesko, “and that’s how I am where I am now.”

After graduation next spring, Siesko plans to continue work as a freelance photographer, basing her work in the Baltimore area. “I’ve really fallen in love with the arts scene, and have met a lot of great people here,” she says. “I can’t imagine myself ever being too far away from Maryland.”

In early August, 124 students from seven states and the District of Columbia participated in UMBC’s Summer Undergraduate Research Fest (SURF), sponsored by the College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences (CNMS). The students came from UMBC and other universities, community colleges, and three high schools, and they presented 106 posters and gave six “lightning talks” about research projects they completed over the summer. Almost all participants had completed their research under the mentorship of UMBC faculty.

CNMS Dean William R. LaCourse encouraged the students to carry their experience at UMBC with them after the summer ends. 

“I hope this summer has lit a flame of passion that will drive you to greater undertakings, accomplishments, and accolades. I hope that you did it all with joy and wonderment,” LaCourse said in his opening remarks at SURF. “It has been our privilege to host you here at UMBC—your spirit is an inspiration to us all. We hope that UMBC will always be a part of you.”

A grand scholarly community

SURF included student researchers involved in 14 different programs, such as the Howard Hughes Medical Institute HHMI Scholars Program, Beckman Scholars Program, National Science Foundation-funded Research Experiences for Undergraduates, and National Institutes of Health-funded research opportunities such as the U-RISE program and the National Institute on Drug Abuse internship.

Student projects included research on cancer biology, neuroscience, alternative energy, machine learning, and so much more. In addition to the presenters, their mentors, and members of the UMBC community at large, CNMS invited faculty members at other institutions affiliated with UMBC’s Build a Bridge to STEM Internship program to bring their students to SURF. Prince George’s Community College brought 15 students to observe, learn, and be inspired.

The student research on display at SURF impressed Provost Manfred H.M. van Dulmen. “I truly enjoyed learning more about all the research being conducted on campus this summer, including how experimental research with flies can improve people’s lives,” van Dulmen shared after his first experience with SURF. “I loved talking to several students and learning about how their research experience plays a critical role in their education and prepares them for their future journey.”

Preparing students for their next steps is exactly what LaCourse hopes summer research and SURF will accomplish. “This event defines the summer STEM experience, where the focus is on high-quality STEM classes, opportunities for research and applied learning experiences, and building a strong scholarly STEM community,” he says. “By practicing and applying the skills of performing research this summer, you follow in the footsteps of great scientists and researchers—making you part of a grand scholarly community, and a community of support.”