Come to URCAD on Wednesday, April 25 where Information Systems student Satyajit DasSarma will present his research, "HaloWeb: An Integrated Web Application Suite for Prokaryotic Genomic and Transcriptomic Analysis".

HaloWeb is a web application suite for highly integrated genomic and transcriptomic analysis of prokaryotic microorganisms. With the arrival of new high-throughput sequencing technology, more genomic information is available than ever before, with an accompanying need for bioinformatic analysis tools.

Read the rest of his abstract here...

Video Games

10:00-11:30am- Patchwork Knight, Spook Room, Marscapone, Abduction, Steel Giants, Project Fadoodle

1:00-2:30pm- UMBC Game Developers Club Projects:  Star Marten, Project Phantom, Fansail, Top Cop, Marzipan, Baby Dragon Assassin, Little Golem, Ultrariah

This Wednesday, April 25th

Location: UC Ballroom

Games will be interactive in front of the UC Ballroom stage and projected on the big screen. Come test them out!

To read more about these projects, go to:

URCAD.umbc.edu

URCAD Film and Animation Festival

2:30pm- Emma Ayala, Strata: Layers in Space and Time

2:45pm- Mehki Adams, Super Predator

3:00pm- Courtney Culp, Color of me

3:15pm- Ezra Pailer, The Poetry of Jordann Allen: An Animated Documentary

3:30pm- Luke Ferguson, The Longfellow Hill

3:45pm- Rachel Morin, Freely You Have Received, Freely Give: A Documentary of Catholic Missions in Peru

Films will be shown in UC 310 this Wed. April 25th

Moderator: Prof. Corrie Parks

Filmmakers will discuss their films after the screenings.

Free popcorn!

To read these students' abstracts: URCAD.umbc.edu

This is Ms. Ruby Powell of the Semi-Suburban Housing Plant (Area 67).  She predicts that she will easily win the URCAD selfie contest.

"A lot of my friends are kind of jealous of me," Ms. Powell admitted. "They think I'm really too good to be taking selfies. That I should move up to another level, you know? Like maybe get a bigger phone and take pictures of mountains and galloping horses and that kind of thing."

Think you can beat Ms. Ruby Powell?

Upload your original photos to FaceBook and/or Twitter using  #umbcURCAD for a chance to win one of four gift cards to the UMBC Bookstore!

Categories:

• Best overall selfie: Take a photo with a UMBC celebrity (President Hrabowski, Provost Rous, Dean Cole…) or get creative!
• Best with mentor
• Best with family member
• Best with student presentation/poster

The contest starts on the evening of April 24 and will continue until the 27th at 6:00 p.m. To be eligible to win the contest, you must follow the steps outlined below including uploading your original photo to FaceBook, Instagram or Twitter using #umbcURCAD.

Come to the Dance Cube (337 PAHB) this Wednesday to see live performances by URCAD presenters!

Dance, Theatre, and Music Performances

10:00am- Melissa Hudson, The Weight of Waiting (dance)

10:20am- Madison Bramley, Standing on Two Feet (dance)

10:40am- Jolee Cohen, Jaques from As You Like It and Maria from Twelfth Night (Shakespearean Monologues)

11:00am- Zakari Jaworski, Scheduled Interruption (dance)

11:20am-Maia Schechter, Now Elsewhere (dance)

11:40am- Ellington Carthan, Black Radio: The Robert Glasper Experiment (music performance)

Dance performances will take place in the Dance Cube, 337 PAHB

Moderator: Prof. Doug Hamby

For the full URCAD schedule and to read these students' abstracts, see: URCAD.umbc.edu

This is Mr. Randy P. Blott of the Southern Port Area (garret).  He predicts that he will win the URCAD selfie contest.

"I believe in myself," noted Blott, who works in a factory and enjoys crashing sleds into trees in his spare time. "I read some magazines and half a book and I think I have a handle on who I am, what I can do, the power of ME. So, I feel like I'll win."

Think you can beat Mr. Randy P. Blott?

Upload your original photos to FaceBook and/or Twitter using  #umbcURCAD for a chance to win one of four gift cards to the UMBC Bookstore!

Categories:

• Best overall selfie: Take a photo with a UMBC celebrity (President Hrabowski, Provost Rous, Dean Cole…) or get creative!
• Best with mentor
• Best with family member
• Best with student presentation/poster

The contest starts on the evening of April 24 and will continue until the 27th at 6:00 p.m. To be eligible to win the contest, you must follow the steps outlined below including uploading your original photo to FaceBook, Instagram or Twitter using #umbcURCAD.

This is Ms. Constance (Connie) Throneberry of the Deep Suburban Western Area.  She predicts that she will quite easily win the URCAD selfie contest.

"I have hundreds of nearly-perfect selfies," averred Throneberry, who was interviewed while riding her bike on a treacherous mountain path. "I know that people like pictures of cats and pandas and all that, but my selfies are much more interesting."

Think you can beat Ms. Connie Throneberry?

Upload your original photos to FaceBook and/or Twitter using  #umbcURCAD for a chance to win one of four gift cards to the UMBC Bookstore!

Categories:

• Best overall selfie: Take a photo with a UMBC celebrity (President Hrabowski, Provost Rous, Dean Cole…) or get creative!
• Best with mentor
• Best with family member
• Best with student presentation/poster

The contest starts on the evening of April 24 and will continue until the 27th at 6:00 p.m. To be eligible to win the contest, you must follow the steps outlined below including uploading your original photo to FaceBook, Instagram or Twitter using #umbcURCAD.

Major: Psychology, Biology Minor; Biopsychology concentration (December '18)

Title of Research Project:  Impact of Internet Pornography and Gay Dating Apps on the Mental Health of Men Who Have Sex With Men (MSM)

Describe your project:  This research is less of a research project conducted in a lab and more of an extensive literature review that's looking to examine how exactly use of pornography and dating apps impact rates of mental health in gay and bisexual college students. Various articles focusing on LGBT student health, on the connection between sexual activity in LGBT populations and mental health, how factors of race and drug use play a role in mental health rates, and overall perceptions by the general public of LGBT populations will be reviewed as I go through my research. 

Who is your mentor(s) for your project? Dr. Shuyan Sun, UMBC Department of Psychology. I found my mentor through an advertisement posted outside of her office door in the psychology department of obtaining quantitative research experience while I was looking for research experience for my major. I initially was intrigued by Dr. Sun's focus on utilizing SPSS in data collection and analysis, and the exposure to more quantitative based analysis that her lab would provide, as I was a stats minor at the time when I joined her lab in Fall 2017. She also advertised that she required all of her students to present at URCAD, and you had to be at the very least interested in presenting at URCAD in order to join her lab. 

How did you become interested in this project? After speaking more with Dr. Sun about what was required to be in her lab, I found that I could choose any research topic that I was interested in and conduct research on it, as long as it involved secondary data analysis, which basically means that I would be looking at research articles with data in them and interpreting their results and presenting them. I was inspired to conduct research on this particular topic for I wanted to investigate issues pertaining to this population, understand from a more objective viewpoint some of the negative perceptions that I held and better understand issues that I faced while exploring my sexual identity. 

What has been the hardest part about your research/what was the most unexpected thing about being a researcher? The hardest part has been the time that this has taken for me to get through this, as well as actually committing to finishing the research. My data is essentially (and will be) almost 100 pages worth of text that I have to go through, sort into variables, pull quantitative data from based on trends presented in the data, and see how they match with my hypothesis. I didn't realize how extensive this would be, as well as how much I really didn't know about conducting independent research. I didn't realize how much I would learn about myself and about the topic that I was researching while going through this. 

What has been the most rewarding part? A better understanding of myself as a researcher, as well as my identity. Despite all the gloom about LGBT mental health that I found in my research that seemed to reinforce the already negative perceptions about my own sexual identity, I found that there was a lot of research going into this population to better understand these issues and create integrative solutions to solve problems with LGBT mental health, addressing increased rates of HIV, and creating a more supportive online atmosphere for LGBT individuals. 

How will you disseminate your research? A poster presentation at URCAD- this Wednesday, 10-11:30am in the UC Ballroom. 

What is your advice to other students involved in research? This may sound cliche, but for the love that all that is holy, don't procrastinate on getting your research done, especially if you are presenting at URCAD. You will find yourself rushing to get your research done, and may not have the most integrative experience in your research. Conducting research is a commitment that can be an amazing experience, though it can become a huge burden if you allow it to to slip out from underneath of you. Find a topic that you find incredibly interesting, and develop a strong working relationship with your research adviser. Not only will it make your research that much more engaging, but it will also make the process of getting your research completed and presented that much more seamless. 

What are your career goals? After graduation, I'll be heading into the workforce, though I'm most likely going into the Navy and becoming an officer. My eventual career goals would be to go to grad school to obtain a Ph.D. in psychology and either go into clinical work or conduct research.