News

What happens when sustainability becomes a shared language across cultures? At the University of Maryland, the Global Terps for a Greener Future (GTGF) initiative is showing how environmental action can also build connection, belonging and community across differences.

By School of Public Health StaffVARANASI, India – Outside the ancient city of Varanasi in northern India, UMD undergraduate Zoe Baber ‘27 co-leads a workshop with middle school students at the Vidyashram-South Point School on a book they created telling the story of “Esha” (or E.coli), how it spreads in water and what actions can prevent it.

University of Maryland President Darryll J. Pines will join global higher education leaders at the Universitas 21 Annual Network Meeting and Leadership Summit hosted by the University of Glasgow April 20–23, 2026.

When Annabella Davis transferred to the University of Maryland two years ago, she wanted to focus on conflict, identity, reconciliation, and the real-world consequences of political violence. Now a senior majoring in International Relations and minoring in International Development and Conflict Management (IDCM), Annabella has taken that ambition beyond the classroom.

On a summer morning in Seoul, eight students gathered around a whiteboard and filled it with ideas, from legal knowledge to insight on how migration looks in their home countries. Their challenge: develop a solution to support climate refugees. By the end of the week, their brainstorming evolved into a website tool that earned their team third place in the Climate Corps competition.

In October 2025, early-career researchers and doctoral students from U21 member institutions and a policy leader convened in Dublin for the biannual Universitas 21 Health Research Exchange (U21HREx) symposium. Chaired by Dr. Negin Fouladi of the University of Maryland (UMD), the U21HREx network brings together participants from UMD, the University of Birmingham and University College Dublin as a growing global community of practice.