kayland huckaby - 2023 UMES RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM AWARDS
1st place (Oral Presentation)
Kayland Huckaby (Ph.D, ‘22) Photo Courtesy: UMES
May 11, 2023 - Congratulations to our very own Kayland Huckaby (Ph.D., E&O) who at the 2023 UMES Research Symposium Awards was awarded 1st place in the oral graduate category! The Oral presentations were judged by a panel of at least 15 judges comprising of UMES faculty, and each graduate student entry consisted of a 10 minute presentation followed by an intensive Q & A session. Kayland Huckaby, advised by Dr. Paulinus Chigbu, is a MEES Ph.D. student at the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore and a LMRCSC Fellow working on a collaborative project with NOAA NEFSC dealing with Assessment of Variations in Fatty Acid Composition of Forage Species in the Northwest Atlantic Shelf and Estuaries. Her oral presentation was entitled: “Comparison Study of Coupled vs. Decoupled Aquaponics Systems: An Assessment of Lettuce & Tilapia Crop Quantity & Quality”. The study will be complementary to the NEFSC’s ongoing project on variations in the condition and energy densities of forage species in relation to latitude, season and year in the Northwest Atlantic Shelf. Prior to joining the MEES Graduate Program, this Trojan earned her Master’s degree in Biology in Spring 2022 from Virginia State University (3.84 cum GPA) while working as an 8th grade physical science teacher at Dinwiddie County Public School, before taking the plunge in Fall 2021 to pursue full time graduate study at VSU. This National Geographic Certified Educator earned her B.S. degree in Biology (cum laude) and a minor in Chemistry from South Carolina State University in Spring 2013. Since joining the program, Kayland’s research interests include: aquaculture, conservation, and fisheries science. We at the MEES Graduate Program extend our congratulations to Kayland; this is a well earned recognition of all your dedication & hard work! The MEES program is very proud of you! For more on Kayland, please click here.
Congratulations to our 2023 Graduates!!!
The MEES Program is proud of all of our graduates! For more information on each campus' commencement activities, please click on the links below.
University of Maryland at Baltimore (UMB) - May18th at 9:00am
- School of Dentistry* Spring 2023 Commencement - May 19th at 8:00a.m. (*houses the MEES Graduate Program)
University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) - May 19th at 10:00am
University of Maryland College Park* -- (for MEES students matriculating at College Park, the College of Mathematical and Natural Sciences has allowed Summer 2022 and Fall 2022 graduates to participate and join the Spring 2023 graduates in the CMNS (College) commencement ceremony.)
-- University-wide Spring 2023 Commencement - May, 22nd at 7:00pm
-- CMNS (College) Commencement -- May 22nd, 10:00am *Graduate only
University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) - May 24th at 10:00am *Graduate only
University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science - May 19th at 1p.m.
2023 USM BOARD OF REGENTS EXCELLENCE IN MENTORING AWARDEE - Dr. ERIC SCHOTT
Dr. Eric Schott Photo Courtesy: UMCES/IMET
April 2023 - Congratulations to our very own Dr. Eric Schott, who was recently awarded the 2023 Board of Regents Excellence in Mentoring Award! Dr. Schott, who is an Associate Research Professor at the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology (IMET) at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. (UMCES), is a marine ecologist whose research focuses on understanding aquatic health, specifically the discovery and tracking of pathogens in blue crab and other shellfish. Dr. Schott, a MEES faculty member, was recognized by the USM Board of Regents for his commitment to mentoring and inspiring students, including strong contributions to high school, undergraduate, and graduate mentoring and a passion for increasing the diversity of students following careers in the marine sciences. He was selected by UMCES’ graduate student body to receive the Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award for his dedication to both science and his students. Dr. Schott has mentored many and is currently mentoring MEES graduate students, for more information on Dr. Schott, click here.
MAY 2023 - Environmental health MONTH
Monthly Spotlight: Environmental Health (May 2023) - Isabel Sanchez-Viruet (‘19, ECOL SYS) is a MEES Ph.D. graduate student at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science interested in understanding how coastal ecosystems respond to nutrient enrichment and how these further respond to nutrient concentration decrease and other mitigation strategies. Currently, her research at the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory (CBL) is focusing on floating wetlands and their potential for nitrogen removal on mesohaline water of the Chesapeake Bay. Advised by Dr. Jeremy Testa, Isabel conducted experiments aimed at providing well-constrained estimates of nitrogen uptake by floating wetlands and providing information about how floating wetlands can help mitigate the effects of nitrogen pollution. Prior to joining the MEES Graduate Program, Isabel earned her Bachelor’s of Science in Environmental Science from the Universidad Metropolitana in Puerto Rico in Spring 2015. Isabel has also garnered a wealth of research experience, selected to participate in an NSF funded pilot REU, researching the influence of water quality gradients on the spatial distribution of copepods at the bioluminescent lagoon in Fajardo, Puerto Rico in 2013, where she had the opportunity to present the results of this project at three international conferences: The Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS), The Association for the Science of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) and Ana G. Mendez University System (AGMUS) Research Symposium, where Isabel was awarded the best poster presentation at both the SACNAS and AGMUS conferences. Isabel also was selected to participate in the prestigious and highly competitive University of Maryland Sea Grant REU program where she studied the dynamics of algal blooms in the Maryland Coastal Bays ecosystem at Horn Point Laboratory in Maryland under the direction of Dr. Patricia Glibert. Those research results were also presented at SACNAS & AGMUS. After graduation, Isabel was accepted to the Governor Tauese P.F. Sunia Memorial Coral Reef Conservation Summer Internship Program through the U.S. Coral Reefs Task Force (USCRTF) where she worked on coral disease prevalence & mapping at the Boquerón Wildlife Refuge in Cabo Rojo, PR. Through these experiences, Isabel had the opportunity to present the results of this project at the Coral Reef Tasks Force Meeting and Ocean Science meeting and won best poster presentation at the CRTF Conference. Since joining the MEES Graduate Program, Isabel has earned an award for nearly every year she’s been in the program: the prestigious CMNS Dean’s Fellowship (2019, 2020), 3M MEES Colloquium Student Poster Award (2021 - 1st place) and is set to defend her dissertation this Spring 2023 entitled: “ Floating wetlands and their potential for nitrogen removal in estuarine waters”. For more information on Isabel, please click here.
Alumni Corner: Dr. Nikisa George (Jordan) (Ph.D, (Concentration: Atmospheric Physics (prior to AOS), ‘09), earned her Ph.D. in MEES from the University of Maryland Baltimore County in Fall 2009. Prior to joining the MEES Program, this Bulldog alum double majored in Computer Science and Biology and earned two Bachelor’s of Science degrees from Bowie State University in 2003. Entering the MEES program in Fall 2004, advised by Dr. Raymond Hoff, Nikisa earned the prestigious Jessica Soto Perez Memorial Award (2008), won 1st place at the 2010 American Meteorological Society annual conference in Atmospheric Chemistry (2008), as well as won the NOAA CREST Annual Symposium (2008), and served as President of the UMBC MEES GSO, building community and was an active collaborator in the MEES Program committee meetings. After graduating, Nikisa was a post-doc at the Joint Center for Earth Systems and Technology (JCET) performing research that concentrated on remote sensing of the atmosphere with a focus on aerosols and aerosol properties. Nikisa went on to be the 2013 National Women of Color STEM Conference Technology Rising Star award winner, and her doctoral dissertation was the first large-scale observational study of planetary boundary layer (PBL) heights using Cloud Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) that revealed certain issues with a NASA climate model. Dr. Nikisa George (nee Jordan) currently has over 20 scientific publications and has held numerous leadership roles including working as a Systems Engineer for over ten (10) years at Northrop Grunman Electronic Systems (NGES) Space Division in Asuza, California, where she was responsible for modeling and analysis, specifically phenomenology and algorithm development for ATMS and SSMIS, to determine the retrieval of brightness temperatures along with temperature and humidity sounding. Dr. George is currently the Senior Project Leader at the Aerospace Corporation, and, continuing her dedication to increasing diversity in STEM fields, also serves as the Executive Director and Co-founder of Linguate Academy, a non-profit organization dedicated to equipping students with second language acquisition and expanding student learning in Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics (STEAM). Nikisa recently presented “The NESDIS NGES Cycle 2 Analysis Results” at the January 2023 AMS annual meeting in Denver, Colorado.
MEES Research Corner: Dr. Jennifer Mullinax is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Science and Technology (ENST) in the College of Agricultural and Natural Resources at the University of Maryland, College Park. Dr. Mullinax, a long time MEES Faculty member, is featured in this Maryland Today article entitled: “Why This Bird Flu Is Different”. Dr. Mullinax co-authored a study by a team of University of Maryland researchers who have been tracking the arrival and progression of a deadly bird flu in North America and was published in the journal of Conservation Biology. According to the article, this current variant, labeled H5N1, was found to have a shift from seasonal to year-round infections and “potentially posing risks to food security and economy”. Check out more from this recent April 19th, 2023 interview with Dr. Mullinax by the ScienceX Network (Phys.org) - “Scientists say new avian influenza requires urgent coordinated response”. Dr. Mullinax has mentored many MEES students, and her research interests are in defining the interactions between humans, animals, and the environment. For more information on the Mullinax lab, click here.