Author: Travis Swaim

With a team of researchers and his own wing of offices, Dr. Xin-Zhong Liang is a well-known figure within the ESSIC community.  Yet his high profile today begins with a humble start.

In 1999, Liang was hired as a professor at the University of Illinois Champagne, bringing with him an ambitious vision for system modeling.   He wanted to create a system model to predict patterns in things including extreme weather, extreme climate, air quality, water quality, invasive species and

Antionio Busalacchi was quoted in the University of Maryland’s newspaper, The Diamondback, on his new appointment as chair of the university’s new environmental council to solve global issues. The acticle can be viewed here: http://www.diamondbackonline.com/news/univ-launches-environmental-council-to-solve-global-issues-1.2715810#.TtaRWWOIm0s?compArticle=yes…

A publication outlining the Climate Information: Responding to User Needs initiative at the University of Maryland. Covers program purpose as well as an in-depth look at current research taking place.

Steve Halperin knows what it’s like to have a big job in front of him. The former Dean of the College of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences stepped down from his position earlier this year to return to his position as professor of mathematics and take over another leadership position as Director of CIRUN (Climate Information: Responding to User Needs). The dean of CMNS is ultimately in charge of thousands of people. That department in particular consists of nearly 1,000 faculty and …

ESSIC hosted the second annual NOAA User Workshop on the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Missions this year from November 29 to December 1, with about 60 participants from the government, private sectors, or academia.
The three day meeting, co-sponsored by NESDIS/STAR and NWS/OHD, followed up on last year’s highly successful workshop and focused on user applications of GPM-era data and products.   The Global Precipitations Measurement Mission is a joint mission with JAXA, the …

Bottom line: Slick-looking place, pricey – might as well go to McDonald’s if you want more bang for your buck. Beer-battered onion rings ($3) … huge slabs of onion in a mundane batter, served soggy. The “Napa Valley” burger … fresh goat cheese, watercress, Myer lemon honey mustard – not worth the money to me. The restaurant has cool decor in 60s retro colours but for a first visit, I wasn’t impressed with the food. People were hanging out there around 5pm (students and campus …

Bottom line: Food’s good but nothing special; prefer the nighttime ambiance. I’ve been to the place twice – for lunch and for dinner. If you’ve been to the Tara Thai in Bethesda, you get the idea about the food. I had the chicken panang and it was milder than advertised (prefer the spicier tofu panang at Siri’s). The place is small and does get busy in the evening, making conversation a bit difficult. But the place glows in soft light from the wall lighting creations … very pretty. And I …

After a workout at the campus pool, I had something of an appetite so headed out to the latest food joint to pop up along Rte.1 – Azteca. Nice decor and a menu consisting of typical Salvadoran food (nothing spicy). I had the "Combination Guanaca", which hit the spot (see attached photo – from left to right, sausage and fried plantain, scrambled eggs, rice, avocados and re-fried beans). I recommend that dish if you want to pick  at a bit of this and a bit of that. Nice …

The College of Computer, Mathmematical, and Natural Sciences has decided to establish a monthly College Communicators Group, which will meet to share information on up-coming departmental news and events. University Communications personnel will be invited to attend. The meetings will be  valuable in providing both University Communications and the Dean’s Office with timely news items/stories and encourage increased collaboration. The respresentatives from …

Bottom line: Perfectly fine place for typical bar fare like burgers, etc. and pretty good happy hour deals. Popped into the place this weekend past, curious to visit the area off PG Plaza that they’re trying to develop into some sort of “town center”. Well, empty storefronts abound but there is a big movie theatre there and Hank’s is right beside it. Nice bar area with small flat screens at each booth and a decent menu. I had the pepper jack cheeseburger sliders with onion rings. The sliders …