Between the Columns: March 2017

in this issue FUNGUS FIGHT PG. 2 / COSTUME CHARACTER PG. 3 DISCOVERY DISTRICT PG. 6 / ACCOLADES PG. 7 BOOKSHELF PG. 7 / NEW APPLAUSE PG. 8

between the columns a newsletter for faculty & staff of the university of maryland MARCH 2017

HUMANS OF COLLEGE PARK

FIGHT FUNGUS WITH FUNGUS UMD Researcher in Eye-Opening Battle Against a Coffee Scourge

BY CHRIS CARROLL don’t sPit out your Coffee, but there’s a fungus stalking your morning cup.

Worse, it’s targeting the livelihoods of millions of people involved in the industry worldwide. The culprit is Hemileia vastatrix, or “coffee rust,” an orange fungus that damages coffee leaves and renders plants unable to produce the seeds, more commonly known as beans, from which the beverage is brewed.

With help from a recent $2 million National Science Foundation grant, Priscila Chaverri, an associate professor in the Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture, is on the hunt for fungi that occur naturally in coffee plants that could be combined to fight coffee rust. She’s working with partners from Ohio State University.

“The point of our research is finding different microorganisms—in this case types of fungi called endophytes—that can be introduced into the coffee plant and grow inside of it, producing chemicals that may protect the plant from diseases and other harmful things,” she says. “It is analogous to probiotics people take to improve their immune system.”

Although ensembles of beneficial fungi haven’t yet been applied to coffee plants, Chaverri has

2

|

btc M A R C H 2 0 1 7

helped isolate endophytic microbes that live inside and protect another plant that’s important to the economy of her native Costa Rica.

“Using the same approach, we found several things that can be used for diseases of the rubber tree,” she says. “So we’re confident this approach can work.”

The primary goal is to protect coffee plant seedlings as they grow, she says, but the team will also test whether the fungi can cure sickened mature plants. Although scientific literature suggesting coffee rust is reversible with such techniques is scarce, if successful, it could quickly reignite coffee production in areas where plants have stopped yielding.

Coffee rust is a worldwide disease, but Chaverri’s home region—where hundreds of thousands of jobs have been lost and many formerly productive coffee plantations have been abandoned—is always in her mind as she works.

“I’m always trying to use my research to find solutions for my region, the place I grew up,” she says. “It’s why I’ve always worked with Central and South American crops.”

PHOTO BY EDWIN REMSBERG

He’s Got Wings Clarice Employee Takes Flight as D.C. United's Talon the Eagle

BY SALA LEVIN ’10

BY DAY, REUVEN GOREN is the scene

shop coordinator at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, overseeing the crews who assemble sets for productions. But for much of March through October, Goren spends his off-work hours parading through RFK Stadium, leading cheers, kicking soccer balls with youngsters and urging D.C. United fans to dance like fools on the Jumbotron—all while wearing a tight-fitting, heavily-eyebrowed eagle costume.

The costume’s not just for kicks: For the past 13 years, Goren has played Talon, D.C. United’s mascot.

He first donned a mascot’s head in high school when no one else would put on a tiger costume after it got soaked during the rainy homecoming parade.

“It was one thing,” Goren says. “I was done, I didn’t think of it ever again.”

He later worked as a T-shirt shooter for the Washington Capitals and occasionally played villainous mascot foils to the Capitals’ Slapshot in promotional videos. But it wasn’t until several years later that his buddy, who played the hockey team’s giant eagle, called him with a question that changed his life: “What are you doing today?”

The friend was on his way over with the mascot costume in the car and the plan of having Goren wear it because the regular Talon—another acquaintance—was unavailable.

Since then, Goren has been promoted from fill-in to regu-

The University of Maryland’s third annual Giving Day takes place on March 8—and its success depends in part on faculty and staff.

The 24-hour marathon raised $379,789 last year, raising critical financial support for scholarships, academics, the arts, athletics and more.

Several of this year’s hourly challenges specifically target University of Maryland employees, allowing them to earn bonus

lar. He thinks of Talon as a character with his own personality.

“He’s a pretty fun and carefree character,” he says. “He’s a bit of a goofball, but not as much as you’d normally expect from a mascot. Talon wants everybody to feel like they belong. Sometimes he’ll get a little flirty with someone, but it’s universal. If everybody in the stands is making a big deal about Talon hugging a girl, Talon will turn around and hug the boyfriend also.”

The job has its challenges. Staircases can pose a logistical difficulty, and sometimes Goren will encounter fans who “don’t know how to handle the no-talking” rule, which he breaks only in case of emergency, like the time a child became lost in the stadium and approached Talon, the closest thing to a safe adult available. But even in that case, “I won’t talk to the kid, because I don’t want to shatter the illusion of being a giant cartoon character.”

What Goren loves most about the job, though, is its “therapeutic” aspect. “Everybody wants a hug or a high-five or a picture. I can be in the worst mood ever and no one will ever know it, and it’s very hard to stay in a bad mood when you’re getting hugs from everybody.”

funding for their college, school or other unit: 11 A.M.—1 P.M The unit receiving gifts from the

biggest number of faculty and staff will win $3,000 for that unit.

1—2 P.M. The best photo of faculty and staff posted on social media with the #givingdayumd hashtag will be selected for a $250 prize.

4—5 P.M. The unit receiving gifts from the biggest number of faculty and staff will win $1,000 for that unit.

Visit givingday.umd.edu to see the full list of giving options and check the leaderboard to follow the competition between units.

PHOTO COURTESY OF D.C . UNITED

M A R C H 2 0 1 7 btc

|

3

’17, SPANISH AND RUSSIAN When Moira Rogers [executive director of Education Abroad] asked the Spanish department if there were any students that might be good for the Disabilities in a Global Context program, my name came up. I had actually just written an essay about how I couldn’t study abroad because I was too sick. I was like, “I don’t think I can do this,” but Moira really pushed and I ended up saying, “Okay, we can give this a try.”

I didn’t believe it was happening until I was literally in Ecuador. It was a way to push my boundaries in a safe location.

The experience not only of going there but of being empowered to go there made a huge difference in terms of where I am now and my decision to apply to grad school. It was the first time someone said, “Your academic record doesn’t define you as a person. I think you can go on and do great things.”

HUMANS COLLEGE If a university’s stately buildings and manicured quads are its bones, and its classes and research are the brain, then its people are certainly the heart.

Every day, thousands of faculty, staff and students come to UMD with all of their hopes, dreams and aspirations, with their histories of heartache and joy and all the small everyday moments that

CATHOLIC CHAPLAIN I’m always talking to the kids about balance. I often talk to kids that are putting in so many schoolwork hours and they say, “It’s OK because I’m praying.” I’m like, “Great.

What are you doing for sleep? What are you doing for exercise? What are you doing to chill with your friends?” We’re not about agendas. We’re not about corporations. We’re all about the individual.

4 | btc M A R C H 2 0 1 7

make College Park such a vibrant place.

With a hat tip to the popular blog “Humans of New York,” BTC here and online at terp.umd.edu/humans presents a glimpse of the people who you may walk past every day and make our community so unique.

’17, MECHANICAL ENGINEERING PEER ADVISOR FOR VETERAN EDUCATION (PAVE) MENTOR When I got back from deployment I was all right, probably better off than a lot of guys I know. A good friend of mine killed himself in December of 2014. That really hit me hard. I went through a time of what my therapist would call survivor’s guilt. I was just like, how come I was able to come back and some guys I knew came back, but they didn’t really. And then I started to fall into that same realm.

I had a conversation with my father when I was going through a bad time. I’d been drinking heavily one night, and my dad asked me if I was okay and I was like, “No, I am not okay.” There’s nothing like having a conversation with your father, telling him that his son died in Iraq, and that the person that he was looking at is not his son. What I’m going through is not just a one-and-done thing. It’s been years. I’ve gotten better at coping and identifying situations that will take me down a path of suicidal thoughts, but it’s something I battle with to this day.

S OF E PARK

PH.D. ’17, COMPUTER SCIENCE For me, piano playing and computer science are both creative activities.

The reason I became a competent pianist is that I could play for a long time without losing focus. That is key to becoming good at anything, including computer science. If I hear a song on the radio and I want to play it, I never get it right the first time. What you do initially is form what you call a “line of attack”—it sounds OK but not great. But you fine-tune it and fine-tune it and fine-tune it— sometimes for a period of months, and then you’re done.

And that’s exactly how computer science works. You want to solve a problem at the Ph.D. level no one has ever solved before.

You have a line of attack, but it almost never works the first time, even if you’re a genius.

But you backtrack a little, fine-tune it repeatedly, and then one day you have solved it.

DIRECTOR OF GIFT PLANNING, INCENTIVE AWARDS PROGRAM MENTOR I started volunteering as a mentor three years ago. I went to the reception to meet my student, and discovered she went to my high school, and we had an instant connection. I think I’ve been a sounding board as she has come through her collegiate experience, and just seeing the way she has matured and the confidence that she has built over four years, it’s wonderful.

We talk about boyfriends, sometimes she’s stressed about exams, or she’s asking about applying to graduate schools. We had a stirring conversation about an internship that she didn’t want to do. I had to tell her to get over yourself and this is something you need to do. Working at Chipotle for the summer—you’ve got to do that for the money, but you also need to do this internship for your career. And it was so funny, I could see her head working. She called me the next day and said she was going to apply for the internship.

M A R C H 2 0 1 7 btc | 5

DISCOVERY DISTRICT DEBUTS the university of maryland is rebranding and reimagining part of its campus to take a more prominent role in Greater College Park.

The Discovery District encompasses the former M Square Research Park off River Road and the revitalizing area along Baltimore Avenue, anchored by the Hotel at the University of Maryland, slated to open in July. The luxury hotel will include leasable space for UMD, as well as alumnus Scott Plank’s food, arts and entertainment space next door.

All are important components of Greater College Park, an effort between the city, university and other partners

to create a hub for academics, research and residential amenities and an economic engine for the state.

The $2 billion public and private investment boom features more than 30 projects, including the Brendan Iribe Center for Computer Science and Innovation and the new Cole Field House on campus; community assets such as the Riverdale Park Station plaza (accessible from the Discovery District) and the MilkBoy ArtHouse performance space and café; and business growth such as the 75,000-square-foot office building under construction at 5801 University Research Court, next to the College Park Metro station.

DIVERSITY TIP

BY PETER DECRESCENZO

We all must dedicate time and energy to learn about the many cultural and social identities in our local and global community.

We can read online articles, get memoirs from the library or attend community-sponsored events featuring speakers from different identity groups. By first taking the responsibility to educate ourselves, we lift the burden on others to consistently educate us, and we become better allies.

6 | btc M A R C H 2 0 1 7

UMD President Wallace Loh greets graduates at December's Commencement ceremony.

PHOTO BY MIKE MORGAN

ACCOLADES Environmental Science and Technology Professor REGGIE HARRELL was named a 2016 American Fisheries Society fellow.

KAREN BRADLEY, associate professor of dance, won the Excellence in Advocacy for the Field of Dance Education award from the 2016 National Dance Education Organization.

UMD was named the best suburban/ urban venue and the best venue for youth/sports groups in the 2016 Unique Venue awards.

Architecture Professor DAVID CRONRATH was honored by the American Institute of Architects Potomac Valley with the Paul H. Kea Medal.

Merrill College Knight Chair DANA PRIEST received the John Peter Zenger Award for Press Freedom from the University of Arizona.

SHIRLEY FISKE,

research professor in the Department of Anthropology, received the American Anthropological Association’s Solon T. Kimball Award.

The Baltimore Ravens honored PERLA GUERRERO, assistant professor of American studies, as their Hispanic Heritage Leadership Award recipient.

History Professor Emerita MARY KAY VAUGHAN received the 2016 Conference on Latin American History Distinguished Service Award.

SARIKA S. GUPTA, assistant

research professor in the Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, was selected to serve as associate editor of the journal Young Exceptional Children.

DUSHANKA KLEINMAN, profes-

sor of epidemiology and biostatistics, was named co-chair of the National Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Advisory Committee for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

AWARD NOMINATIONS WELCOME The President's Awards Advisory Committee is seeking nominations for the President’s Medal and the President’s Distinguished Service Awards, which will be presented at Convocation 2017. The deadline for nominations is April 24.

For details or to submit a nomination, visit go.umd.edu/5b9

BOOKSHELF Anthropology Professor JUDITH FREIDENBERG

takes on a national conversation with a local lens in CONTEMPORARY CONVERSATIONS ON IMMIGRATION IN THE UNITED STATES: THE VIEW FROM PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY,

In COUNTERING TERRORISM, GARY LAFREE, co-author and director of the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and the Response to Terrorism, explores the challenges of creating effective policy solutions to domestic and foreign threats.

MARYLAND.

REVOLUTIONARY HORIZONS: ART AND POLEMICS IN 1950S CUBA, by ABIGAIL MCEWEN, associate professor of art history, examines the artistic and political goals of Cuban artists during the Batista dictatorship.

Classical scholarship and its role in the culture wars is the focus of CLASSICS, THE CULTURE WARS AND BEYOND,

by ERIC ADLER, associate professor of classics.

M A R C H 2 0 1 7 btc

|

7

STUDENT HANDS CREATE “APPLAUSE” Architecture Class Designs New Clarice Café

BY LIAM FARRELL When the ClariCe smith PerforminG arts Center decided to renovate its 15-year-old Applause Café, it found the right design consultant close to home: UMD’s own School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation.

Ten graduate students spent the fall semester coming up with design plans and even prototyping furniture for a more cohesive eatery that will serve fresh, West Coast-inspired culinary options.

“The reality of the project really stimulated the students,” says Associate Professor Madlen Simon, who taught the course designing the café. “It was no longer, ‘Does our design look great?,’ but ‘Does our design look great and work for people?’”

The students focused on uniting the separate serving and eating areas with colored carpet and a sculpture of hanging leaves, visually connecting the areas and providing the feeling of eating outside. Kelly Haley ’19, who is studying for master’s degrees in architecture and historic preservation, says shifting from drawings into reality was a great intellectual challenge, different from any theoretical classroom exercise that has more room for flights of fancy.

“We are very conceptual in our thought, but this furniture has to stand and support a person’s weight,” she says. “It’s a shock to us this is actually going to get built.”

The Applause renovations will be done in two phases: first, revamping the aesthetics and updating the menu and equipment; second, improving the seating area. The café’s makeover is expected to be completed this summer, says Erica Bondarev Rapach, associate executive director of The Cla-

RENDERINGS AND PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CLARICE SMITH PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

rice, and will include a plaque to acknowledge the students who helped make it a reality.

“We couldn’t have done it without them,” she says. “It was really great to reach across campus and have students connected to the project in very real ways.”

BETWEEN THE COLUMNS is published twice per semester by University Marketing and Communications. Story ideas are welcome and should be sent to Liam Farrell, managing editor, at lfarrel1@umd.edu or by calling 301.405.4629. The mailing list is generated through University Human Resources. Any changes to names and addresses should be made through ares.umd.edu.

BETWEEN THE COLUMNS UNIVERSITY MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS 2101 TURNER HALL, 7736 BALTIMORE AVE. COLLEGE PARK, MD 20742