News

By Emily C. NunezThe scent of eucalyptus and tea trees carried on a breeze, and the bizarre charm of long-snouted marsupials were a few of the natural wonders two faculty members and two graduate students from the University of Maryland’s Department of Geology experienced on a recent research trip to Tasmania. But their real focus was a different—and literal—kind of gem. 

By John TuckerThe four small crystals found on the land in County Cork where a farmhouse had been torched a century ago stood out among more typical artifacts. There were no natural deposits of quartz in this rustic hillside near the Irish coastline.University of Maryland anthropologist Stephen Brighton and his students digging 23 inches into the soil in the summer of 2018 had also revealed a foundation with a kitchen and cast-iron pot still attached to a wall, along with buttons, cufflinks, a glass inkwell and a copper alloy candlestick.

By Emily SchusterIn 1966, Jody Olsen Ph.D. ’79 joined the Peace Corps as a young newlywed, yearning to explore places very different from the conservative Mormon community in Utah where she grew up. She soon did at her first posting in Tunisia, spending time daily with a Muslim extended family and learning about their views on patriarchy, elders and in-home religious ceremonies as they built a deep friendship.

By Fid ThompsonIn a small village in the lush blue-green hills of Tanzania’s southern highlands, farmers are sharing their biggest challenges with a group of graduate students from University of Maryland. 

By Mahelate Solomon

The UMD Global STEWARDS program welcomed its newest cohort of graduate student fellows this month. The 10 new Global STEWARDS Fellows come from four UMD schools and colleges (SPH, AGNR, AEED and CMNS).