Emily Ferketic

Degrees: B.S., Physics
Hometown: Pittsburgh, PA
Post-grad plans: Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics from UMBC

As a scholar athlete, Emily Ferketic has excelled in both the research lab and on the volleyball court. Ferketic is a physics major who participated in the quantum thermodynamics research group with Sebastian Deffner, associate professor of physics.

A key mentor, Deffner helped guide Ferketic through the process of writing and submitting the article “Boosting thermodynamic performance by bending space-time,” which examines how to unlock the mysteries of black holes. It was published this January in the journal Europhysics Letters. She plans to continue working with Deffner for her Ph.D., focusing on quantum thermodynamics and shortcuts to adiabaticity.

While completing this intensive academic work, Ferketic also shined as a student athlete on UMBC’s Division 1 women’s volleyball team for four years. In 2021, she was named the America East Elite 18 Award winner, which recognizes the top performing student-athlete in the America East championships, and she later became captain of her team. She credits volleyball for teaching her valuable communication skills and discipline, and she has also developed connections with international teammates from around the world.

Given Ferketic’s extraordinary accomplishments, she was asked to co-host the spring 2023 inauguration dinner for UMBC President Valerie Sheares Ashby.

Has there been a mentor or fellow student who influenced your time at UMBC?

“Sebastian Deffner has been my mentor for about a year and a half (since the beginning of my junior year). I was taking his PHYS 303 class called Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics and I ended up doing well and really liking it. Given that, he invited me to audit some of his research group’s weekly meetings and, shortly after, I joined. We began working on my first research project and had my first professional paper published a little over a year later. He saw potential in me that I didn’t see myself, and I certainly wouldn’t have the success I do today if it weren’t for him. Now I am staying at UMBC for my Ph.D. as his research assistant.”

What has been the best part of your UMBC experience?

“My best UMBC experience was hosting President Sheares Ashby’s inauguration dinner. President Sheares Ashby personally asked Chris Slaughter ’23, M31 computer engineering, and me to host a dinner the night prior to her inauguration. I was exceptionally honored she asked me to represent the student body. In addition to the extraordinary experience, it also connected me to people I never thought I would have the privilege to meet.”

Brandon Gouin

Degree: B.A., Music Performance
Hometown: Laurel, MD
Post-grad plans: Teaching and performing in Baltimore and D.C.

Brandon Gouin arrived at UMBC with a love for percussion music, but unsure of his future direction as an artist. He was also not very engaged in the contemporary music world, but his experience with musicians such as Tom Goldstein, associate professor of music,and Patrick Crossland, affiliate artist, completely changed that.

Gouin played in several ensembles at UMBC, including the percussion ensemble, new music ensemble, and improvisation ensemble. He credits the improvisation ensemble, directed by Crossland, with shaping his artistry and musical growth. In the class, which he took five times, he fine-tuned his musical ear and experimented with music as a vehicle for ever-shifting self-expression.

Crossland says Gouin developed and nurtured a passion for adventurous and experimental music during his time in the ensemble. “His enthusiasm is palpable and infectious, inspiring others to take the plunge along with him,” Crossland says. “He has been working with young school groups, introducing students to new ways of making and thinking about music. He is truly an ambassador for contemporary music.”

Is there a particular academic achievement you’re most proud of?

“Performing Vinko Globokar’s 1985 work “Corporel” at my senior recital is a highlight of my UMBC experience. This piece is a solo for the human body. The performer is shirtless and seated on the stage. They beat, scratch, smack, and tap various parts of their own body. This work is a discovery of self and musical potential that resonates deeply within me.”

Has there been a mentor who influenced your time at UMBC?

“Dr. Patrick Crossland, who directed the improvisation ensemble and the new music ensemble, has influenced my experience. He thinks about music in incredibly detailed and focused ways. His knowledge and technical ability of the trombone and contemporary music are unmatched. I am grateful to have learned from him.”

New exhibit showcases Appalachian music legend in memorabilia, music, and film

Ask your favorite old-time music aficionado to name the most important musicians working in the 20^th century, and odds are you’re going to hear Ola Belle Reed’s name.

A singer/songwriter who rose to national prominence in the 1960s performing traditional Appalachian music with her powerful voice and signature clawhammer banjo, Reed’s songs (including “High on the Mountain” and “I’ve Endured”) are now considered part of the country and folk canon. High profile artists regularly pay tribute to Reed; Robert Plant and Alison Krauss covered Reed’s “You Led Me to the Wrong” for their 2021 collection Raise the Roof. While Reed is now widely recognized among the most influential bluegrass and folk musicians, it was not always the case.

“It was incredibly difficult for a woman singer/songwriter in the ‘60s to get their work out and be heard,” says media and communication studies Professor Bill Shewbridge ’80, history, who is completing a documentary on Reed’s legacy. “Her music is still very relevant today. It’s very much of her time, but she speaks to our time as well, often in really profound ways.”

A new exhibition, Ola Belle Reed: I’ve Endured, on view at the Albin O. Kuhn Library Gallery at UMBC through June 30, traces and contextualizes Reed’s achievements through the lens of her migration from her Southern roots to the mid-Atlantic states where she rose to renown. Drawn from UMBC’s Maryland Traditions Archive, the exhibition collects photographs, concert flyers, instruments, audio, video, and memorabilia spanning Reed’s career. Ola Belle Reed: I’ve Endured is co-curated by Shewbridge with curator of exhibitions Emily Cullen and music scholar Tim Newby (Baltimore: The Hard Drivin’ Sound & its Legacy).

Tributes in Film and Performance 

The exhibition will also feature special events, including a concert and a preview screening of Shewbridge’s work-in-progress documentary, I’ve Endured: The Music and Legacy of Ola Belle Reed. The documentary screens May 11 at 5 p.m. in the AOK Library Gallery. The screening is free and open to the public, followed by a reception.

“A lot of her story hasn’t been told,” says Shewbridge. “When I started, I thought this was going to be a 15 minute film, but it’s now 45 minutes. I didn’t think it would be hard to breathe life into this, and it’s still evolving.”

Featuring some 17 interviews with musicians, scholars, and Reed’s contemporaries, the documentary is nearing completion. Shewbridge expects to add footage before calling the film complete and sending it on the festival circuit in the coming months—including footage from the upcoming tribute concert to be held June 2 in Earl and Darielle Linehan Concert Hall.

Musicians and family members who worked with Reed will join an all-star band to celebrate Reed’s musical legacy. This special event will be free and open to the public, and will feature music by Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer, The Honey Dewdrops, Hugh Campbell, and Dave Reed, with remarks from Cliff Murphy, director of the Smithsonian’s Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.

For those yearning for more, Shewbridge says there is no shortage of material about Reed available.

“We dug up a lot, and there is so much that never made it into the film. We put a lot of extra material online,” he says. Indeed, the Ola Belle Reed Project website contains hours of footage, including interviews, live music performances, and vintage clips.

Reed’s Enduring Maryland Legacy

Reed’s musical journey began the 1930s, when she joined the North Carolina Ridge Runners. As a teenager, in the wake of the Great Depression, Reed left her Appalachian home to resettle in the North—first in Pennsylvania, and then Maryland—bringing her music with her. During this time, an estimated two million migrants left Appalachia to find work in northern industrial centers, bringing along cultural and musical traditions that helped shape the cultures of their adopted homes.

By the 1950s, she was working with a new band, The New River Boys; and meanwhile she and her brother Alex founded and operated popular country music parks, including the famed New River Ranch in Rising Sun, Maryland. Their parks hosted the biggest names in country music, including Johnny Cash, Ernest Tubb, Bill Monroe and the Louvin Brothers, not to mention Hank Williams and Dolly Parton, drawing faithful audiences from D.C., Pennsylvania, Baltimore, and beyond.

As the folk revival of the 1960s gained steam, Reed broke out as a solo artist and began to make her name known. And like many folk singers of the era, Reed was devoted to advancing social justice and civil rights causes via her music.

“She was very interested in social justice,” Shewbridge says. “In the film, Marcy Marxer characterizes her as a civil rights songwriter. So many of her works are about the community and bringing people together.”

Before Reed passed in 2002, she had been awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Maryland, an NEA National Heritage Fellowship, and a Distinguished Achievement Award from International Bluegrass Music Association. In 2019, the Library of Congress added her 1973 album Ola Belle Reed to the National Recording Registry, securing her legacy for generations to come.

* * * * * *

Learn more about UMBC’s Ola Belle Reed: I’ve Endured exhibit and related programming. The exhibit will be on view at the Albin O. Kuhn Library Gallery through June 30. The premiere screening of the 45-minute documentary “I’ve Endured”: The music and legacy of Ola Belle Reed will be held May 11 at 5 p.m.​​ “I’ve Endured,” a concert honoring the music and legacy of Ola Belle Reed, will be held on June 2 at 8 p.m. in Linehan Concert Hall.

Ify Jacob

Degree: B.S., Computer Engineering
Hometown: Gaithersburg, MD
Post-grad plans: Software engineer at Northrop Grumman

Ify Jacob’s mentors describe him as someone who has worked tirelessly to create community among Retrievers in on-campus student housing, particularly as they dealt with the challenges and traumas of COVID-19. Jacob currently serves as vice president of UMBC’s Residential Student Association, but his journey of leadership through service has taken place over the course of years at UMBC.

Jacob has served as a Welcome Week leader (known as a “Woolie”) and as an office assistant in Residential Life. On the academic side, he has been a teaching fellow in engineering and computer science courses. He has also served as captain for UMBC Men’s Club Soccer. 

Jacob also served in several leadership roles as a member of the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity, saying that joining the fraternity helped him to step outside of his comfort zone. “Being a member of Pi Kappa Phi gave me the confidence that I could adapt to any situation. The positions I held gave me firsthand leadership experience, which applies to my other campus roles,” says Jacob. 

Following a systems engineering internship at Northrop Grumman in summer 2022, coordinated with the support of UMBC’s Career Center, the company offered Jacob a full-time position. He will begin that role after graduation. 

Has there been a mentor or fellow student who influenced your time at UMBC?

“Jamie Gurganus ‘20, mechanical engineering, has been a professor, mentor, and advisor to me since my freshman year. I took her Introduction to Engineering course and she later gave me the opportunity to serve as a teaching fellow for the course, which I’ve done for four consecutive semesters. I’m also currently taking a two-semester seminar course that will lead to an associate undergraduate teaching certification through the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning, facilitated by Dr. Gurganus. She has had a huge impact on my undergraduate experience, and I’m forever grateful for the opportunities she has given me.”

What has been the best part of your UMBC experience?

“The best part of my UMBC experience has been interacting, collaborating, and holding events with several student organizations, such as the Filipino American Student Association, the Vietnamese Student Association, Club Soccer, and my fraternity. UMBC, being as culturally diverse as it is, has given me the opportunity to look at life from different perspectives and have amazing experiences with great people. These organizations that I have been a part of have done big things for the community through their philanthropy events and finding great ways to raise awareness for real-world issues.”

New findings in Science co-authored by UMBC researchers reveal details of the complex relationship between atmospheric dust and vast populations of phytoplankton at the ocean’s surface. These tiny photosynthetic organisms form the foundation of the ocean food chain and play a key role in the global carbon cycle, so the new research will be especially useful as dust patterns shift with climate change.

“Phytoplankton photosynthesis is fundamental to Earth’s carbon cycle,” says Lorraine Remer, an atmospheric scientist with UMBC’s Goddard Earth Sciences Technology and Research (GESTAR) Center II and a co-author on the study. “Change dust patterns, and you change phytoplankton health, which will subsequently affect carbon,” she explains.

Desert dust impacts ocean ecosystems

While most nutrition for phytoplankton rises up from the deep ocean, a meaningful portion comes from dust that’s traveled through the atmosphere from the world’s deserts. That dust delivers vital nutrients when it’s deposited in the ocean, but scientists lacked specifics about how dust affects phytoplankton health and abundance.

With their new Science paper, the research team, led by Toby Westberry, an oceanographer at Oregon State University, became the first to find a phytoplankton response to dust deposition across the global oceans.

“This is really the first time it has been shown, using the modern observational record and at the global scale, that the nutrients carried by dust being deposited on the ocean are creating a response in the surface ocean biology,” Westberry said.

The team analyzed their model’s results in conjunction with satellite observations of phytoplankton around the world, revealing how dust is affecting ocean ecosystems. By developing a baseline understanding, scientists now have a better chance at predicting how phytoplankton will change when patterns of dust deposition change, which will have cascading effects throughout the ocean and beyond.

Models fill the gaps

For the new study, the Oregon State contributors focused on using the satellite data, which measures color changes in the ocean’s surface, to determine phytoplankton health and abundance across time and space.

Remer and UMBC researchers Yingxi Shi and Huisheng Bian focused on the dust model. “Determining how much dust is deposited into the ocean is hard, because much of the deposition occurs during rainstorms when satellites cannot see the dust. That is why we turned to a model,” Remer says. Remer and colleagues used observations to verify an existing NASA model before incorporating the model’s results into the study.

Combining their efforts, the research team found that dust’s effects on phytoplankton vary by region. Nearer the poles, more dust contributed to greater overall abundance of phytoplankton and improved health. Nearer the equator, dust primarily affected phytoplankton health and physiology, but not abundance.

Joining forces across scientific fields

The research team plans to continue to work together to better understand the relationship between dust and phytoplankton—and how it may change over time. They are particularly anticipating more advanced satellite data from NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) satellite mission, some of which will be collected by the HARP2 instrument designed and built by UMBC.

There are many questions still to answer. “We still don’t understand how the specific nutrients in the dust become available to the phytoplankton in the water,” Remer says, “nor do we understand the role of individual dust sources providing specific nutrients to different regions of the ocean.”

Part of what made this work possible was collaboration between researchers in different fields. “One exciting aspect of this study was working with the oceanographers, who brought an entirely different perspective,” Remer says. “The scientific advances became possible only after the atmospheric scientists and oceanographers joined forces.”

It’s that interdisciplinary collaboration that will enable the team to continue asking and answering important questions about our global ecosystems.

Connor McPherson

Degree: B.A., History; Minor in Naval Science
Hometown: Bel Air, MD
Post-grad plans: Surface Warfare Officer (Intel option), stationed in Yokosuka, Japan

As a student in the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC), Connor McPherson understands the implications of relationships—both friendly and hostile—between the United States and other countries. As a history major, he brings a historical perspective to how those complex relationships evolved.

He focused his studies on post-Cold War developments in Europe and East Asia, while also taking classes in Korean. His favorite class was a course on the U.S. intelligence community’s origins, operations, and management. Taught by Mary Laurents, Ph.D. ‘18, language, literacy, and culture, adjunct associate professor, the course gave him a historically-rooted understanding of the intelligence community he will ultimately join after graduation. 

McPherson’s choice of a history major was unusual for the NROTC program. “He speaks very eloquently about his passion for history and the value of his degree,” says Denise Meringolo, associate professor of history. McPherson says his studies have given him a better understanding of the culture and past of the regions of the world where he will work as a Navy officer. 

After graduation, McPherson will sail to Yokosuka, Japan, where he will serve as a surface warfare officer (intel option). He was awarded the fourth choice in the nation for his after-graduation Naval appointment, a recognition of his achievements.

Has there been a mentor or fellow student who influenced your time at UMBC?

“Prof. Van Wyck has been an inspiration to me because of the way he teaches his history classes. He truly cares about his students and gives feedback that helps their continued growth. It is that type of mentality that I hope to adopt and apply to the sailors I will lead in the near future.”

What has been the best part of your UMBC experience?

“Finding a sense of community and like-minded people as part of UMBC’s NROTC program has been an important aspect of my college experience. All the members of this organization are bound to one another through a commitment to serve our nation. NROTC members value the principles of honor, courage, and commitment, which in turn results in a group of highly motivated students who always strive for academic excellence. ”

Tim Edwards

Degree: B.A., Music Education and Jazz Studies
Hometown: Severn, MD
Post-grad plans: Music educator

Tim Edwards is a student leader who serves his community through music, making an impact one note at a time. In addition to performing in UMBC’s Jazz Ensemble, Musical Theatre Club pit orchestra, and Wind Ensemble—including leading the arrangement, rehearsal, and conducting of an original composition last fall—he has focused his energy on music education.

Edwards has served as both president and vice president for UMBC’s chapter of the National Association for Music Education. He has supported music students in Baltimore city through a two-year internship with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s OrchKids program, working with students at Booker T. Washington Middle School. He took the lessons he learned from that experience with him to the Maryland Music Educators Association conference, where he co-presented with James Dorsey, affiliate artist, and Brian Kaufman, associate professor of music. Their talk was part of a professional development program for music teachers on employing equity-focused and student-centered approaches in their classrooms.

Through all of these experiences, Edwards has remembered his home community in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. While at UMBC he returned to his high school pit orchestra to direct the group and he plans to return to the area longer-term after graduation to teach and perform music as a woodwind specialist.

Has there been a mentor or fellow student who influenced your time at UMBC?

“Matt Belzer and Brian Kaufman were my two most influential mentors at UMBC. Matt Belzer instilled in me a level of discipline and professionalism that I could not have led without. Brian Kaufman sought to give me many opportunities for leadership and community-building, which has, in a big way, jump-started my career. Also, Patrick Smolen, a fellow UMBC student and friend who is graduating with me, has been more than crucial in my development as an educator. We have always sought ways to collaborate in our lessons and in building community.”

What has been the best part of your UMBC experience?

“The community has been the best part of my time at UMBC, plain and simple. Throughout my years at UMBC, the people I have met have had a huge impact on my growth as a person. I have made social and professional connections that I am determined to hold onto throughout my life.”

Clair Volkening 

Degree: B.A., English
Hometown: Boonsboro, MD
Post-grad plans: Technical editor, Defense Intelligence Agency

Humanities Scholar Clair Volkening has used her voice as a writer, editor, and facilitator to help UMBC community members build connections with one another and to inspire social change. 

Volkening, who is also a member of the Honors College, was a participant and a coach in UMBC’s Center for Democracy and Civic Life’s (CDCL) STRiVE program, where she developed her leadership and civic engagement skills. Because of her contributions to STRiVE, Volkening was recruited to participate in CDCL’s first cohort of the ConnectionCorps program, a year-long facilitator training program for students. As a ConnectionCorps facilitator, Volkening facilitated community conversations involving students, faculty, staff, alumni, and local and state leaders on various issues. She also facilitated workshops for students involving reflection, storytelling, and discussion.

Volkening extended her coaching and leadership work further by helping students along their academic journeys. She was a tutor in UMBC’s Writing Center, assisting fellow Retrievers with strengthening their writing skills. This experience inspired her to join the editorial team for UMBC Review, the university’s student-organized, peer-reviewed undergraduate research journal. That work, she says, was an “incredible learning experience” that informed her burgeoning career pursuits as an editor. 

Has there been a mentor or fellow student who influenced your time at UMBC?

“David Hoffman, who earned his Ph.D. at UMBC and is director of the CDCL, and Elaine MacDougall, lecturer in English and the director of the Writing Center, influenced me the most during my time at UMBC. Working with Hoffman at CDCL events and learning from him has changed my outlook on life in all areas, not just school. MacDougall is a role model and someone who has taught me so much. She helped me find myself as a tutor and leader.

“There have been so many mentors and students who have made a huge impact on my time here, including many of my fellow Humanities Scholars who have made UMBC feel like home. Sally Shivnan, principal lecturer in English, and Lia Purpura, UMBC’s writer in residence, have helped me grow in my creative writing and have shown me what it is to live like a writer.”

What has been the best part of your UMBC experience?

“The people, by far, have been the best part of my time at UMBC. From my professors to my friends to the teachers in classes at the Retriever Activities Center, the people at UMBC make the university what it is. So many of the conversations that I’ve had with people on campus—whether they were serious and introspective, or silly and fun—have taught me about how community is formed and how we can all exist as people in our world.”

Joana Hernandez

Degree: B.S., Chemical Engineering
Hometown: Hyattsville, MD
Post-grad plans: Applying to biochemical engineering Ph.D. programs

McNair Scholar Joana Hernandez is a research enthusiast who found her interest in scientific exploration and mentorship while at UMBC. Since 2019, Hernandez has worked as a research assistant in the lab of Fernando Vonhoff, assistant professor of biological sciences. The lab uses fruit flies as a model to study human neurological diseases. It was in Vonhoff’s lab where she realized that there were opportunities to turn her love of learning into a career in research. 

Hernandez has taken her interest in conducting research to the next level by helping to guide fellow students who may be unfamiliar with the academic research process. As a teaching fellow in the McNair Scholars Program, Hernandez led workshops in a class dedicated to teaching students how to develop research proposals. During these workshops, she presented on topics ranging from how to give a research presentation to how to apply to Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REUs). 

Hernadez shares that she’s proud to be a McNair Scholar. “As a first-generation college student, it can be difficult to navigate academic spaces and obtain resources on applying to graduate programs,” Hernandez says. “McNair welcomed me with open arms and helped grow my confidence by providing me with opportunities to conduct research and present at national conferences.”

Has there been a mentor or fellow student who influenced your time at UMBC?

“My mentors Fernando Vonhoff and María Célleri, assistant professor of gender, women’s, and sexuality studies, have both had a positive influence on me. As a first-generation college student, I was unaware that undergraduates could participate in research or present at research conferences. When Dr. Vonhoff enabled me to join his lab my freshman year, it opened the doors to a lot of future opportunities. I am very grateful to have had a research mentor that was so understanding and encouraging.

“Dr. Celleri, my McNair mentor, is someone I can always count on to give me advice about navigating academic spaces as a Latina, and how to balance my life between my immigrant household and school. I appreciate all the wisdom I have gathered from her.”

What academic achievement are you most proud of?

“I am most proud of when I presented the research I did in the Vonhoff lab at the 2019 Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minoritized Scientists (ABRCMS). That was the first time that I had attended a national conference and flew out to the West Coast. It was an eye-opening experience being able to see other undergraduate researchers from diverse backgrounds who were also just as passionate about communicating their work.”