News

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Department of Chemistry is One of Five Nationally to Receive Dreyfus Foundation Grant

August 8, 2017 — The Department of Chemistry was one of five departments across the United States to receive a 2017 Jean Dreyfus Lectureship for Undergraduate institutions award, from the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation.  The Jean Dreyfus Lectureship awards provide an $18,500 grant to bring a leading researcher to a primarily undergraduate institution to give public and technical lectures in the chemical sciences and to support two undergraduates in summer research.  The primary investigator at TU for this grant was Mary Sajini Devadas, Ph.D., and her co-PI was Keith Reber, Ph.D..  Both Reber (2016-19) and Sajini Devadas (2017-2020) are current Fisher endowed chairs.

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Rachael Huxford '18 and Hamna Ali '18 Are Poised To Make an Impact in the Field of Physics

August 7, 2017 — If you Google “famous physicists,” 50 images pop up at the top of the browser window.  Two are women.  But Fisher College physics majors Rachael Huxford ’18 and Hamna Ali ’18 are poised to make an impact in the field.  “They are truly curious about nature and its secrets. Such a simple thing, yet so few students have it,” said James Overduin, a TU physics professor who has co-supervised both women in research projects with colleague Thomas Krause. “I don't mean fleeting excitement about the latest news, but a deep and searching determination to understand. We're lucky to have them.”  “Hamna and Rachael both have strong mathematical ability, which is necessary to succeed in physics. But it isn't as rare as you might think. More rare, and more important, is perseverance, which both women have as well. But even that isn't the most important thing. The rarest and most important trait for success in physics is genuine passion for the subject, and that is where Hamna and Rachael stand out. It will carry them as far as they want to go.”

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MB3 Director, Nadim Alkharouf, Receives $40,000 Grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture

June 23, 2017 — Professor of computer science and bioinformatics Nadim Alkharouf looks to help stop millions of dollars in U.S. agriculture losses.  Alkharouf’s team is studying the sugar beet maggot, a destructive pathogen that causes millions of dollars in losses to US agriculture. They use computers and bioinformatics tools, like sequence alignment tools, to pinpoint genes within sugar beets that can be turned on or off to make them more resistant to the maggots or, alternatively, kill the pest before it invades the plant.  TU students Shaina Furman and Cherokee Lake are working at the USDA research campus in Beltsville, Maryland. Lake, a bioinformatics major, is designing a database to store the gene sequencing data. Furman is more involved in lab work, taking on tasks like PCR and maintenance of cultures.

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Fisher College’s Christopher Cornwell is Towson University’s Third Project NExT Fellow

June 15, 2017 — Assistant professor of mathematics Christopher Cornwell received a 2017 Project NExT (New Experiences in Teaching) fellowship from the Mathematics Association of America (MAA).  As a fellow of the yearlong cohort, he will participate in a Project NExT workshop; Mathfest, the summer meetings of the MAA; and other workshops and sessions throughout the year that will explore and discuss issues that are relevant to beginning faculty.  Project NExT (New Experiences in Teaching) is a professional development program for new or recent Ph.D.s in the mathematical sciences. It addresses all aspects of an academic career: improving the teaching and learning of mathematics, engaging in research and scholarship, finding exciting and interesting service opportunities, and participating in professional activities.

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Biological Science Professors Receive a National $1 Million Grant for Minority Student Success in STEM

June 7, 2017 — Fisher College of Science and Mathematics faculty members Laura Gough, Matthew Hemm and their team will receive $1 million over five years from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) as part of their inaugural Inclusive Excellence initiative.  The TU proposal was one of over 500 pre-proposals submitted, one of 90 invited full proposals and one of just 24 grants awarded.  “Research shows that undergraduates engaged in authentic research are more likely to persist in science and math classes, to graduate, and to pursue STEM careers,” said David Vanko, dean of the college. “The Howard Hughes Inclusive Excellence grant provides us with an opportunity to truly transform how we encourage and engage students in undergraduate research.”  The Fisher College of Science and Mathematics has seen an 84 percent increase in minority student majors since 2012.

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Computer & Information Sciences Professor Receives USM Regents’ Awards

May 3, 2017 — Dr. Jonathan Lazar, professor of computer & information sciences won the 2017 University System of Maryland (USM) Board of Regents' Faculty Award for Excellence in Scholarship, Research or Creative Activity.  Dr. Lazar has removed a number of barriers that make user interfaces inaccessible to Blind users. One such contribution is the development of accessible web security features known as CAPTCHAs; his research has resulted in two US patents and two licensing agreements between TU and outside organizations.

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Chemistry Professor Earns Fulbright Award

February 14, 2017 — Dr. Sonali Raje, associate professor of chemistry, has received a 2017-18 Fulbright US Scholar grant, which she will undertake at the Homi Bhabha Center for Science Education (NBCSE) in Mumbai, India.  "The overarching goal is to develop assessment materials — specifically a conceptual question bank in chemistry that is aligned with the course sequence in India," said Raje.  "I will be working with faculty from the science education center and HBCSE chemistry education faculty, and I will lead and mentor Chemistry Olympiad teams for undergraduate students. I am hoping to gain an understanding of how they prepare students for it — to be able to translate that experience to my chemistry content teaching and mentoring student teachers at TU."

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Chemistry Professor Receives Prestigious $500,000 NSF CAREER Grant

February 14, 2017 — Dr. John Sivey, assistant professor of chemistry, received a CAREER grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) totaling $500,536 over five years to examine the chemical reactions that can result in the formation of so-called “brominated disinfection by-products” in chlorinated drinking water, wastewater and pool water.  The CAREER grant is the NSF’s most prestigious award for early-career faculty members who have demonstrated potential to serve as academic role models in research and education.

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Two Faculty Awarded a nearly $350,000 NSF Grant

February 10, 2017 — Fisher College of Science and Mathematics faculty Joel Moore and Ron Hermann received a $348,182 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to promote geoscience education and career paths and help address that shortfall. They are working in collaboration with Dean David Vanko as well as Rommel Miranda (science education) and other geosciences faculty Rachel Burks, Wendy Nelson and Amy Williams.  Moore and Hermann’s grant has two main goals—to strengthen recruiting and retention into the three geoscience majors at TU and to determine the effectiveness of recruiting and retention practices to publish the findings for the broader geoscience community.

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Faculty Team Designs a App to Improve Crime Scene Investigations

January 18, 2017 — The proliferation of police procedural television shows has made crime scene investigations familiar to the public: Detectives swoop into a crime site and talk about fingerprints, DNA and blood spatter and then call for CSI.  Subrata Acharya, Associate Professor of Computer & Information Sciences, and Kelly Elkins, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, received a grant from the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) Technology Validation Program to design and implement Crime Scene Investigation Presumptive Inquiry (CSIpi), an app to improve interpretation, data recording and security of colorimetric tests for tentative drug identification for crime scene investigations. 

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Diana Cheng, Department of Mathematics, Links Mathematics and Labyrinths

January 9, 2017 — What does math have to do with minotaurs? Towson University assistant professor of mathematics Diana Cheng has been working with master’s alumnus David Thompson ’16, a Baltimore City Public School teacher, since 2014 to develop instructional activities on classical labyrinths for middle and high school students.  The activities are based on a life-sized, walkable labyrinth at the St. John’s Lutheran Church in Parkville, Maryland, and they include the use of patterns and functions, area and perimeter, coordinate geometry, and geometric constructions using semi-circles and quarter-circles. 

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Martha Siegel, Professor Emertia of Mathematics, is Honored for Her Service to  Mathematics

January 5, 2017 — In recognition of her many years of service to the mathematic community, Dr. Martha J. Siegel, Professor Emertia in the Department of Mathematics, won the 2017 Mathematical Association of America (MAA) Gung and Hu Award.  Dr. Siegel received the award for her remarkable leadership in guiding the national conversation on undergraduate mathematics curriculum, particularly as it is affected by fields in applied mathematics, and especially from the perspective of the MAA and its mission.

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Fisher College’s Chao Lu Receives Towson University Distinguished Faculty Service Award

December 21, 2016) — In recognition of his outstanding achievements throughout 26 years as a member of Towson University’s faculty, Dr. Chao Lu, Professor in the Department of Computer and Information Sciences, will receive the 2016 Towson University Distinguished Faculty Service Award at the December 21, 10:00 a.m. Commencement Ceremony. His contributions to academic excellence, as well as his distinguished record of scholarly accomplishments, exemplify his commitment to the university and his dedication to advancing knowledge within computer and information sciences.  Please join us in congratulating Dr. Chao Lu on this well-deserved recognition.

 
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How Safe are Safeners?

October 31, 2016 — TU professor-student collaboration investigated what happens if herbicides containing safeners run off into Maryland’s freshwater resources and end up in the Chesapeake Bay.  Safeners are chemicals added to some herbicides to protect crops from the herbicides themselves. They are an inert ingredient in herbicides, so they are not subjected to the level of regulatory scrutiny active ingredients receive when it comes to their environmental effects.  Professor Susan Gresens of biological sciences oversaw a collaborative research project between her master’s student Kasey Bolyard, assistant professor of chemistry John Sivey and Chris Salice, director of TU’s environmental science and studies program, in examining that question. Bolyard studied the toxicity of the safener benoxacor in comparison with its herbicide partner, a mixture of the two chemicals, and a break-down product of benoxacor.

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Seven FCSM Faculty Awarded Over One-half Million Dollars in NSF Research Funds

October 17, 2016 — Jess and Mildred Fisher College of Science and Mathematics (FCSM) faculty Vonnie Shields (PI, biological sciences), Mary Sajini Devadas (Co-PI, chemistry), Rajeswari Kolagani (Co-PI, PAGS), Vera Smolyaninova (Co-PI, PAGS), Amy Williams (Co-PI, PAGS), Kathryn Kautzman (senior personnel, chemistry), and Ellen Hondrogiannis (senior personnel, chemistry) were awarded a Major Research Instrumentation Grant (MRI) from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Division of Materials Research for over $530,000 to span 2016-2019.  The proposal, entitled “MRI: Acquisition of a field emission scanning electron microscope with STEM and EDS capabilities for interdisciplinary research and education at Towson University,” supports the purchase of a state-of-the-art low vacuum field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) capable of obtaining images of various materials and biological specimens with extremely high (nanoscale) resolution.  It will be used to analyze the chemical composition of materials with high precision and to advance research in several areas of biological, chemical, geological and physical sciences in Fisher College.

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Christina Romano, a STEM Education and Outreach Specialist for the TU Center for STEM Excellence, Won a National Excellence in Teaching Award

September 30, 2016 — Towson University’s Christina Romano received the inaugural Outstanding Educator of the Year award at the national Mobile Lab Coalition (MLC) annual meeting in Columbus, Ohio, over the summer.  Romano, a STEM education and outreach specialist for the TU Center for STEM Excellence, won the award for engaging in innovative teaching and learning, using reflective teaching practice, pursuing professional growth and leadership and bringing unique contributions to the MLC member organization and/or program.

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