MEES IN THE NEWS

APRIL 2025 - foundation spotlight:

Environment, health & Society (EHS)

NEWS ARCHIVE

UMB sustainability champion - DR. SHILADITYA DASSARMA (UMB)

April 22, 2025 - The MEES Program would like to congratulate our very own Dr. Shiladitya DasSarma (UMB), who was recently recognized by the University of Maryland Baltimore Office of Sustainability as a Sustainability Champion! Dr. Das Sarma, a professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Maryland Baltimore (UMB) School of Medicine, has been at UMB since 2010, a professor since 1986, is active in the MEES program as the UMB MEES representative in the MEES program committee and currently serves as the MEES Environment, Health and Society Foundation Chair. The MEES Graduate Program is so very proud of our faculty whose exemplary skills, leadership, creativity, mentoring, and passion for cross collaborations to discover real world solutions to climate and environmental challenges have been recognized! Congratulations, Dr. DasSarma! For more on Dr. DasSarma, please click the link the UMB article feature on Dr. DasSarma here.

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ALUMNI CORNER

Applied Biotechnology: Marine Shell Regeneration, water purification and consumer product safety

SUSAN addo-ntim (‘06, M.S.)

Susan Addo-Ntim (‘06, M.S) is currently the Branch Division Chief at the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) in Washington, DC. Under the advisement of Dr. Joseph Dodoo, Susan graduated with her Master’s in MEES from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) in Fall 2006. Susan’s thesis focused on analyzing the role certain inorganic ions play in the shell regeneration process of the hard clam (Mercenaria mercenaria); a critical shellfish aquaculture species found in the Chesapeake Bay and Maryland Coastal Bays (MCB’s).   This species historically had seen a 20% year over year average population decline from the 1953 benchmark, but due in part to the dredging ban of 2008, in some areas had regained 72% of its 1953 level.  This unique research in marine shell regeneration has led to further research and discoveries on the potential and challenges of marine biomaterials for future (human) bone healing and regeneration applications. Prior to joining the MEES program, Susan’s passion for the environment began back in her native Ghana which exemplified the environmental challenges of Africa’s transition from a developing country to a developed continent.  Susan sought to gain skills that would aid the effort to establish proper environmental impact assessments that would optimize industrialization while maintaining a healthy environment.   As a secondary school student, she joined the Wild Life Club of Ghana, a body interested in protecting the environment particularly focusing on endangered species, and took on an undergraduate project that sought to evaluate the environmental impacts of recycled plastic waste.  The project involved chromatically analyzing the fumes produced from thermoplastic containers thermally recycled into decorative beads. Susan’s research project results showed the fumes contained very harmful and high concentrations of known human carcinogens and other toxins found resulting in a paper published in the journal of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). Susan earned her Bachelor’s in Chemistry in July 2002 from KNUST and was awarded the Bentil Prize for Promising Woman Scientists. Susan joined the MEES graduate program at UMES in 2004, and through a collaborative effort with Gordon’s Shellfish, LLC an aquaculture land based clam growing facility at Public Landing Snow Hill, Maryland, Susan monitored and recorded the regeneration process in baby claims, presenting the progress on this study at a Research Day meeting hosted by the Appalachian Laboratory in Frostburg.  The results showed that the growth rate was higher on the injured clams during the first week of regeneration.  The study also demonstrated that shell regeneration appears to increase the overall growth rate, but while key inorganic ion concentrations for normal shell formation and shell regeneration were comparable, there were comprising growth in the clam's shell soft tissue; with the research concluding that higher amounts of other inorganic ions (like Barium and Iron) were needed for shell regeneration.   Susan also served as a teaching assistant, preparing and teaching organic chemistry and marine ecotoxicology laboratory sessions, and was invited to join the nation's oldest, most selective, and most prestigious all-discipline honor society: Phi Kappa Phi.  This “invitation only" society selects UMES’s top 7.5 percent of second-semester juniors and top 10 percent of seniors and graduate students.  In only two short years, Susan graduated with her Master’s (summa cum laude) in MEES with a perfect 4.0 cumulative GPA in 2006.   

Susan continued her academic endeavors by joining and earning a doctoral degree (Ph.D.) in Environmental Science from the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) in 2012.  While at NJIT, under the advisement of Dr. S. Mitra, Dr. Carol A. Venanzi, Dr. Edgardo Tabion Farinas, Dr. Haidong Huang, and Dr. Pradyot Patnaik, Susan’s doctoral research focused on the applications of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), which are used in multiple industrial and consumer applications including: electronics, energy storage (batteries & supercapacitors), water purification systems, dental implants, and was explored in Susan’s master’s research on marine tissue regeneration.  CNTs have unique mechanical properties and biocompatibility and its mass production and widespread use also result in the raw, unrefined, and hydrophobic carbon nanotubes tending to settle in aqueous media/environments which contaminate water resources.  Susan’s doctoral research aimed to develop an understanding of the fate of F-CNTs in aqueous media and also exploring the potential for water purification using CNT’s  adsorptive removal of arsenic from water among other pollutants. Throughout her career at NJIT, Susan was awarded for nearly each year in the program: Schlumberger Foundation Faculty for the future fellow (2009), Outstanding Graduate Student (College of Arts & Sciences) (2010),  and was awarded the Gold Medal at the Dara Knox Research Showcase (2012).  In her final year at NJIT, Susan was invited to join the National Honor Society for Graduate Students (Alpha Epsilon Lambda).  While pursuing her doctoral degree at NJIT, Susan also tutored and organized general chemistry sessions and served as Chemistry Proctor Coordinator in charge of recruiting, training and coordinator proctors for the Chemistry common exams. In 2013, Susan was selected to participate in the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FD) leading an interagency (FDA/CPSC/NIST) nanotechnology regulatory science research on food contact products containing nanomaterials to develop methods for assessing potential nanomaterial release from nanoenabled food contact materials (FCMs) in line with existing FDA protocols for assessing migration of small molecules from FCMs. This led to Susan serving in progressively increasing roles over the next several years (Biologist, Supervisory Toxicologist) before being appointed this past June 2024 as Branch Chief. Susan and her work group (The Menthol Cigarettes and Cigar Flavors Product Standard Workgroup (CTP)) was recently recognized by the FDA this past year (2024) for  “outstanding multidisciplinary collaboration & expertise” in developing the scientific foundation for landmark regulations prohibiting menthol cigarettes & flavored cigars to protect public health.  For more information on Susan, please click here. 

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Dr. MATTHEW HOUSER

Environmental Policy & Engagement Strategies: Increasing RESILIENCE OF ECOSYSTEMS & HUMAN COMMUNITIES

Dr. Matthew Houser is a Research Assistant Professor and has a joint appointment at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science’s (UMCES) Horn Point Laboratory and The Nature Conservancy’s Chesapeake Bay Agriculture Program.   Dr. Houser is also a recent addition to the MEES faculty, actively advising MEES students, and is currently the course instructor for MEES 620: Environment & Society, a required foundation course.   Dr. Houser is an environmental sociologist who conducts interdisciplinary research programs to inform the development of “policy and engagement strategies toward increasing the short- and long-term resilience of managed ecosystems and human communities to environmental change.” (link)

Prior to joining the MEES program and UMCES, he was a Faculty Fellow and Assistant Research Scientist with the Environmental Resilience Institute and Department of Sociology at Indiana University.  Dr. Houser has also researched agricultural nitrogen fertilizer management, farmers’ decision-making in response to climate extremes, and the general public's climate change beliefs and support for policies to reduce its impact.  Dr. House’s work supports the Chesapeake Bay Agriculture Program's science-based approach to conservation and aims to understand the barriers to farmers’ and agricultural landowners’ voluntary adoption of new nutrient management practices, and through this work, develop interventions that more effectively accelerate sustainability efforts across the Chesapeake Bay watershed.  Dr. Houser, along with faculty from the Department of Agricultural & Natural Resources in College Park, the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Sciences as well as others took part this past April 2024 in a webinar hosted by the Harry R. Hughes Center for Agro-Ecology where Dr. Houser discussed barriers farmers face with nutrient management in relation to climate change, drawing on studies from both the U.S. Midwest and Maryland, including a study funded by the Hughes Center. The Hughes Center for Agro-Ecology is a nonprofit affiliated with the University of Maryland College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.  In a recent article featuring Dr. Houser by the Nature Conservancy, Dr. Houser expressed his passion for "sharing farmers’ stories to create better understanding and foster more meaningful and effective efforts to promote an agricultural system that works for both people and nature." (link)  

Dr. Houser graduated with honors (summa cum laude) with a B.S. in Interdisciplinary Studies (Focus: Nutrition, Food & Sociology) from the Pennsylvania State University in 2013 and in two short years earned his Master’s in Sociology from Michigan State University in 2015. Under the advisement of Dr. Jennifer Lau and Dr. Sandra Marquart-Pyatt, Houser’s thesis research aimed at identifying the social processes that drive agro-ecological systems using Michigan corn farmers’ application of nitrogen in excess crop demand as a case study.  Houser’s research further expanded to his dissertation on nitrogen fertilizer management in the Midwestern corn agro-ecological system.  Dr. Houser earned his doctoral degree (Ph.D) from Michigan State University in Sociology in 2018. Dr. Houser is passionate about interdisciplinary research, engaging non-academic audiences, mentorship, and developing meaningful partnerships with agricultural stakeholders. He lives in a fixer-upper on Maryland’s Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay with his wife, two daughters, a timid puppy, and five very bold chickens.  For more on Dr. Houser, please click here.

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MEES RESEARCH CENTER

Chronic Disease Mortality & Pollution in Salisbury, MD: A STUDY UTILIZING MACHINE LEARNING (ML)

Katrina Kelly (‘22, M.S.) is the Program Manager at the Center for Student Excellence at the School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES).  Under the direction of the Center’s Director, Dr. Kausiksankar Das, a longtime MEES faculty member, Katrina assists a diverse student population through collaborating with existing Center programs, like the Honors program, LSAMP, REU and NOAA programs which build scholastic and research self-efficacy through activities such as personal advising, group study, internship/research placement, career readiness preparation, and aspirational scholarship application.  Advised by Dr. Joseph PItula, Katrina is also a second year Master’s student at UMES slated to graduate this Spring 2025. Katrina’s thesis research focused on utilizing machine learning to investigate the environmental and nonmedical relationships between prolonged exposure to a specific type of pollution, PM2.5 and chronic disease mortality within the Eastern Shore region community of Salisbury, Maryland.  

Prior to joining the MEES program, Katrina exemplifies the non-traditional path discovering a passion for environmental science as an adult while having always had a curiosity and passion for the environment.  Katrina earned her Bachelor’s in Environmental Science from the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) in 2019 through an opportunity to participate in a unique UMBC Returning Women Student Scholars program which accepts about 20-25 students each year, and targets women who are UMBC students 25 years and older seeking their first undergraduate degree. Student scholars in this program not only receive scholarships, but also have tailored support from staff through personalized meetings, programs, and events aimed at meeting the specific needs of older students.  Katrina transferred from SUNY Empire State College in New York as a Business Management and Economics major to the Geographical & Environmental Systems (GES) program at UMBC in Fall 2016.  While taking a full credit load, Katrina worked part-time and full-time, participating and serving in various roles as an intern with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation in oyster restoration, Director of the Communications Department of the UMBC Student Government Association, and also as a intern in the University System of Maryland (USM) Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) undergraduate research program.  Katrina credits the moral and financial support she received through the center, and the Newcombe Scholarship as irreplaceable and invaluable.   

Since joining the MEES program, while pursuing her graduate degree, Katrina has continued to actively engage with the local community and through a Research!America Civic Engagement Microgrant, launched in summer 2024, along with other UMES graduate students, Groundswell - a podcast about grassroots community change & collaborative advocacy.  This unique podcast is dedicated to grassroots community change-making and collaborative advocacy across stakeholders and consists of the faculty advisor,  UMES Graduate Dean, Dr. LaKeisha Harris, Katrina Kelly (host), Annette Kenney (co-host), a UMES Food, Science & Technology doctoral candidate, and fellow organizational leadership UMES graduate students, Rosalina Bray and Melody Colebrook-Jones.  Katrina’s thesis research looks at the relationships between chronic disease and very specific types of pollution.  Katrina’s research results showed evidence of an upward trend in the incidence of chronic disease mortality related to fine particulate air pollution exposure given the residential proximity to major roadways and higher traffic volume driven by expansion of population and industry in the area. Katrina was recently featured by a local ABC news outlet (WMDT) showcasing the 2nd annual Dean’s Award for Student Leadership or DASL Expo hosted by the School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences.  This expo is meant to show how students have been excelling in STEM fields, and how their work will benefit the entire community.  In the video, Katrina emphasizes the importance of events like these: “The essentialness of our presence in this community, is really key to providing access, but also to the health of our country, to the health of our nation.” (link) Katrina is set to graduate with her Master’s in MEES this Spring 2025. For more information on Katrina, please click here.

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