All is not lost, at least when it comes to plant species richness, the number of different plants, in an ecosystem.  Erle Ellis and his colleagues suggest in their recent paper, All is Not Loss: Plant Biodiversity in the Anthropocene, published in PLoSone, that rather than human interventions decreasing species richness they’ve increased it.

“The evidence is quite strong,” says Ellis, “that we are increasing plant species richness overall in most regional landscapes.” Ellis says increased species richness is due largely to human-facilitated introduction of exotic species.

But what does that mean for biodiversity?  Ellis says that, “if you want to live on a planet full of undisturbed native ecosystems, that planet is long gone.” But he adds, “if you want to engage in conserving biodiversity and building a better, more sustainable human nature, the prospects are good, and getting better as we learn more about how to better manage biodiversity in novel ecosystems.”

For more information see:

• the Web site for the project which summarizes the major results and offers online maps and data
• Erle Ellis’ blog post about the paper
• Erle Ellis’ piece for the New York Times blog, Dot Earth

Lansdowne Community Association president Brian Bailey ’07, public policy, is moving to Arizona, taking with him a wealth of devotion to a town he’s called home his entire life, the Baltimore Sun reports.

“It’s the personal relationships here that I’ll miss the most,” Bailey said. “I’m excited to continue hearing about the things that are happening here.

“Lansdowne will always be my home,” Bailey said…”

Over the years, Bailey has served on numerous community committees in Lansdowne, as well as serving as chairman of the Baltimore County Democratic Party, co-chairman of the Southwest Area Educational Advisory Council, treasurer of the Southwest Leadership Team and chair of a committee for the Wilkens Police and Community Relations Organization.

Bailey, public policy manager for the American Urological Society, will leave for Phoenix next month where he will head up the Arizona Petroleum Marketers Association.

Read the full story in the Sun.

UMBC political science professor and national political commentator Thomas Schaller appeared on CurrentTV’s “Young Turks” show last night, weighing in on the question “Should liberals root for Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich?” Schaller suggested, “Newt will get the base fired up, but… a vote cast with intensity counts the same as a vote cast reluctantly. It doesn’t matter how juiced up the conservative id is. The votes in the middle are going to matter.”

Schaller also weighed in on the GOP candidates’ abilities to collect delegates, in The Daily Beast‘s primary coverage. Whereas neither Gingrich nor Santorum will appear on the Virginia ballot, Schaller says Romney is “going to collect delegates at every stop. He’s on the ballots; he’s going to get his 25 percent … He’s the best prepared.”

On Saturday, January 21, more than 200 people attended Create Baltimore, an “unconference” organized around the idea of building a creative community in Baltimore. Among them was Lee Boot, associate director of the Imaging Research Center, who presented a session with photographer John Dean on bringing street commerce to Baltimore.

“I spent time in Istanbul and John spent time in Florence this fall and we were both blown away by how different the concept of street commerce is in other parts of the world from the way we do it here in Baltimore (and most of the states),” Boot wrote on the website, explaining their topic. “We think it could be the missing link for jobs, making the city a destination, and bringing life to struggling neighborhoods.”

The “unconference,” and Boot’s session, were covered in a January 24 Baltimore Brew blog post entitled “Arts and tech community gather for Create Baltimore.”

Deer are cute, but pigeons are “rats with wings.” And rats are just gross. Why do we love seeing some wild animals in the city, and loathe others? Dawn Biehler, assistant professor of geography and environmental systems, discussed this issue on the Canadian Broadcasting Company program “DNTO (Definitely Not the Opera).”

“Humans have a little bit of an anti-urban bias,” she explained. “So when one of these representatives of the wild comes to the city, we feel really flattered that they would want to come and be in this place where we have this concentration of human life.”

The episode, “City, meet wildlife… wildlife, meet city” aired on the program on January 21. It can be heard here; Biehler’s segment begins at 43:45.

By day, Sam Eitel ’10 works in business administration for Beltway International Trucks. By night (and weekend, and every other spare moment he can find), Eitel indulges his true passion: dreaming up and making his own line of longboard skateboards.

Though Sam has only been out of college a few years, it’s clear from the moment you meet him that he is passionate about his labor of love: Roots Board Company. After a childhood spent body surfing and longboarding during family trips to Ocean City, in fall of 2009, Eitel found himself wondering just how hard it would be to make his own board. He combined his own experiences as a rider with some guidance from his uncle on the finer points of woodworking, and voila: his own hand-made long board.

“I just tried making one,” says Sam. “My friends loved it.” And since that first board, Eitel hasn’t looked back. He’s been refining the process ever since, experimenting with different types of wood, painting styles, and hardware. He started making boards for friends, and in the last two years, he’s made more than 70 custom longboards.

When asked how he finds the time outside of his career and family obligations, Eitel explains that his passion for the work inspires him to make the time for it.

“I like to be on the go constantly and I delegate time to it, especially on the weekends,” he says. “If the sun is up, I’m out there [in the woodshop] cutting, sealing, and shaping boards.”

Right now, Eitel makes most of his boards for custom orders, but he’d love to branch out into local shops and to even establish his own storefront in the next 5-7 years. In part, Eitel says, this dream is the direct result of his education at UMBC.

“I’d always been infatuated with business and how to run one, but I never thought about how to start my own company,” admits Sam. “UMBC pushed me in that direction.”

“I really enjoy this,” says Eitel. “I can see myself doing this [making longboards] as long as I can ride them.”

Learn more about Roots Board Company.

UMBC junior Liam Paddock and seniors Vince Savarese and Andy Streilein were named to the National Soccer Coaches Association of American 2011 University Division Men’s Scholar All-East Region team.

Paddock earned second team All-East honors, while Savarese and Streilein were tabbed as Honorable Mention. All three had been previously named to the America East Men’s Soccer All-Academic Team in the fall.

Read more on umbcretrievers.com.

UMBC public policy professor and chair Donald Norris offers insight on Maryland political developments for both the Baltimore Sun and Patch this week. The Sun reports that possible contenders for Howard County executive are already raising campaign funds. Although the current size of their bank accounts might not indicate electability at this point, Norris suggests, viable candidates should begin fundraising soon.

In Patch, Norris reflects on the opposition to Gov. Martin O’Malley’s state redistricting plan, arguing that the issue will likely end up in court. On the impact of public opinion Norris notes “it is unlikely any of the letters will make a difference” at this stage, echoing the conclusions of an O’Malley spokesperson.

“This year, Barack Obama may become America’s first billion-dollar candidate. […] Can he do it and, more to the point, will he even need all that much cash?” This is the question UMBC political science professor Thomas Schaller asks in his latest Salon article “The Obillionaire candidate.”

Schaller compares in detail the Obama campaign’s fundraising in 2007-08 versus 2011 and finds that the evidence he’ll hit new record is mixed. Further, Schaller writes, “the $1 billion goal creates something of a dilemma for Obama’s reelection campaign” at a time when the public is increasingly concerned with income inequality and campaign financing issues. To learn more, read the full commentary on Salon.

UMBC President Freeman A. Hrabowski, III takes your questions.

Q. Considering that Time magazine named The Protestor as its 2011 Person of the Year and knowing your own active involvement in the civil rights movement, what are your thoughts on the amount of violent opposition present-day protesters are facing across the nation?

— Joseph Cooper IV ’08, English

A. People have the right to protest. I have to remind people about that at times. America was built out of protest. If we had not protested, we would not have America.

At the same time, a number of institutions have not known how to be effective in responding to these protests.

People tend to protest out of frustration, when they feel that the regular process used for change is not effective. At the national level, people are frustrated by the widening gap between the rich and the rest of America. What’s challenging is that people don’t know how to change the direction in which the country is moving.

What some may not know is that it’s not just students or young people who are frustrated by that widening gap. When I talk to Nobel laureates in economics, I hear them raising the same concerns about the future of America. And some of the wealthiest donors we have also express those concerns, and are very generous in giving gifts. When you listen to the Gates family, for instance, they understand that there is a certain level of responsibility that you have when you have that much money.

Unfortunately, some people don’t feel that way. They get wealthy and they think: “Wow, I just did this on my own.”

The most important point is how we use these opportunities to have robust conversations on campuses as to why these things are happening and about the deeper meaning of things – whether it’s the role of protest in society or what is happening in the economy. How do we prepare students to be responsible citizens as they think about what role they may play in all this?

Q. You’ve chosen to use the $500,000 Centennial Academic Leadership Award that you received in November from the Carnegie Corporation to create the Hrabowski Fund for Academic Innovation at UMBC. Will specific initiatives receive immediate assistance? How will faculty, staff and students be encouraged to further these goals?

— Richard Byrne ’86, English

A. The award is the seed money for a much larger fund that will focus on innovation in teaching and learning and entrepreneurship. I expect that we will be raising money over the next few years. We’re already getting contributions. It will help us keep taking more steps in the direction for which UMBC is becoming known as a place for innovation in teaching and in learning.

There will also be a university-wide competition established this semester for departments to look specifically at courses where they need to redesign to help students more actively engage with the subject matter. Because we also tie innovation to entrepreneurship at UMBC, we want to see what comes out of the campus community. It will be a chance for people to think broadly about the possibilities.

Have a question for Dr. Hrabowski? Please visit retrievernet.umbc.edu/askthepresident