A Message from the President
As we continue to monitor developments of coronavirus across the state, our first priority is to protect the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science community to ensure that our students, faculty, staff, and community stay healthy. UMCES is committed to world-class research and providing an extraordinary experience for our graduate students, and we strongly believe that actions taken now will have the greatest chance of decreasing risk and the spread of the coronavirus in Maryland.
We are fortunate in Maryland to have the guidance of Governor Larry Hogan and his excellent COVID-19 response team. We have been working closely with our outstanding University System of Maryland colleagues and Chancellor Jay Perman, and we are prepared to adapt our protocols quickly as circumstances change.
UMCES is still open but in a modified manner. Since the end of the day on March 13, we have gone to a teleworking environment. Classes took a two-week pause but resumed online on March 30, 2020, and will continue online through the end of this academic year.
All laboratory and field work requiring a physical presence at an UMCES campus or field site has ceased with faculty focusing on research activities that can be done remotely. A few exceptions are made for projects related to human health, food systems, and safety. Even for those projects, there is a new way of doing work that requires minimal interactions between scientists.
Events at all of our campuses have been cancelled through June 1. This includes our special in-person Commencement activities, although degrees will still be conferred on time. We continue to explore options for honoring our 2020 graduates.
UMCES' greatest strength is its community, and we are exploring new ways to support one another while working apart, and how to press ahead with our important work of advancing scientific knowledge about the environment, communicating that knowledge to decision makers and the public, and training the next generation of environmental leaders.
We are also reaching out to serve the community around us, offering emergency supplies to local health departments and volunteering in local food banks. Chesapeake Biological Laboratory donated 400 N95 masks, plus boxes of nitrile examination gloves, reusable goggles, and disposable aprons to Calvert Memorial Hospital. Researchers at the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology donated over 200 boxes of gloves, N95 masks, and single-use to the University of Maryland Medical Center.
UMCES has thrived for nearly 100 years, and we will make it through these difficult times. The months ahead will be challenging, but please take peace in knowing that we have taken strong early actions to protect our family and yours, and we remain committed to each other and to this most amazing university.
Kind regards,
Peter Goodwin
President
