UMCES Faculty Convocation 2023

UMCES Faculty Convocation
May 18-19, 2023
Appalachian Laboratory
University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
Frostburg, Maryland

THEME:  Research Grand Challenges

Agenda

THURSDAY, MAY 18th

10:00 am Pre-Convocation Meetings 

  • Faculty Senate (Room 315)
  • Graduate Faculty Council Meeting (Room 210)

12:00 Lunch and Convocation Registration 

1:00 Research Grand Challenges (Lobby and first-floor conference room)

        Convocation Welcome - Andrew Elmore, Faculty Senate Chair

        AL Welcome - David Nelson, AL Director

1:10 Plenary Presentation - Mike Sieracki, HPL

  • Insights from 10 years at NSF from the new HPL Director.

1:40 Charge to Breakout Groups organized by research topic          

  1. Artificial Intelligence in Environmental Science
  2. Research Translation and Industry Partnerships
  3. Evaluating Nature-Based Solutions
  4. Dimensions of Biodiversity (Sequence the Bay?)

2:40 Coffee Break (Lobby)

3:00 Breakout Report back (First-floor conference room)

  • Highlight opportunities and define challenges to overcome

3:40 Coffee Break (Lobby)

4:00 Research Discussion Round Two:  Next steps 

  • Define next steps for ideas generated in the first breakout exercise.  What help is needed or what needs to be put in place for this work to be      successful?

5:00 Check-In at Hotels

6:00 Dinner at Cornucopia Cafe,146 Casselman Rd, Grantsville, MD 21536

FRIDAY, MAY 19th

8:30 Breakfast (Lobby)

9:00  State of the Center:  UMCES President, Peter Goodwin (First-floor conference room)

9:20 Education Update:  Larry Sanford, Vice President for Education (First-floor conference room)

9:40  Coffee Break (Lobby)

10:00 Plenary

  1. State of the units (MDSeaGrant, IAN, HPL, CBL, IMET, AL):  Brief reports from each of the directors.
  2. Panel discussion:  Opportunities and challenges for scientific productivity in the new work landscape.

11:40 Lunch (Lobby) and prepare for Commencement (Admin Conf Room-210, Blue Room-315)

1:00  Commencement (Patio/Tent)

  • Invited Speaker:  Kandis Boyd, Chesapeake Bay Program Director

2:00 End of Commencement

Download pdf version of agenda

Hotel Accommodation Information

Blocks have been set up  for one night (May 18) at both the Hampton Inn and the Quality Inn in Frostburg (25 rooms at each hotel).  If your faculty/attendee is planning on staying an additional night, you'll need to make sure that you clarify when you make the reservations.

Please note that the block release dates are different for each hotel:

Quality Inn and Suites - Travelers will need to call the hotel direct (301-689-2050) and mention the "Appalachian Laboratory".  Room block will be released April 15, 2023.

Hampton Inn - Link to Room block can be found here.  Room block will be released on May 4, 2023.

Additional Accommodations

To use the AL EV charging station, you will need a Semaconnect account.  Please contact Heather Johnson (hjohnson@umces.edu) to request an account.

If you have any other issues while in Frostburg, Heather Johnson can be reached at:  (301)268-4483.

Locations of other charging stations in Frostburg can be found here.